Yuanhua Tower. Star International Company!
After ending his call with Li Futiao, Li Yi arrived at the company under the escort of Tie Ying and the others.
As for Li Yunbao’s kidnapping, he had temporarily set it aside.
For one thing, the timing for a rescue wasn’t right—after all, the kidnappers were already prepared to go on the run. If they sensed anything amiss, they would undoubtedly take drastic measures against Li Yunbao.
Attempting a rescue without fully understanding the situation could very well drive these men to desperation, potentially leading them to kill the hostage.
On the other hand, if the boy were rescued today—just two nights after being kidnapped—he might not learn much of a lesson.
So, Li Yi decided to focus on company matters first and handle the rescue later.
After all, the kidnappers’ boat had already been pinpointed. Huang Lixing had five speedboats and three large cargo ships on standby; the moment anything unusual happened, they would immediately move in to intercept them—those guys wouldn’t get away.
In fact, knowing that the kidnappers were heading for Siam, Li Yi could easily have Huang Lixing’s men waiting for them on the high seas ahead.
It’s safe to say that when it came to the rescue mission, Li Yi had everything under control—it was a sure thing!
Upon arriving at the company, Li Yi immediately summoned the entire management team to the conference room.
Now that the company’s framework was in place and all the funding had been secured, it was time to make his move.
Besides, he had been away from home for nearly a month now—the longest he had ever been away from home and from Jiang Xue.
Even when he had opened a store in Beijing, he would return home every so often, or at the very least have Li Gang pass on a message.
But this time, phone calls went unanswered, and letters were useless, so he was starting to miss home.
So Li Yi decided to wrap up the investment matters as soon as possible, and then he would head home.
Soon, Lan Xinyi, Cai Bingyan, Lan Xinming, Lin Xueyi, and the others had all arrived!
Li Yi looked around the room and asked Lan Xinyi, “Manager Lan, how much capital has our company raised from yesterday until now?”
Lan Xinyi immediately stood up and said, “Boss, as of last night, we’ve raised a total of 3.864 billion Hong Kong dollars. However, last night our investment department received calls from several clients requesting to add more funds!”
“Which clients are looking to invest more?”
“Mr. Li from Cheung Kong wants to add 100 million Hong Kong dollars, the Huo family also wants to add 100 million, and the Guo family wants to add 200 million!” Lan Xinyi replied.
Li Yi nodded, then turned to Zhao Xinlan, the head of the finance department, and asked, “Manager Zhao, how much of the funds have been received so far?”
“Boss, we currently have 900 million Hong Kong dollars in funds!” Zhao Xinlan replied.
Li Yi then turned to Lan Xinyi and said, “After the meeting, call those clients who’ve signed contracts immediately and urge them to get their funds in as soon as possible. The deadline is 6:00 p.m. today!”
“Yes!”
“Oh, and don’t worry about Chairman Li—I’ll call him myself!” Li Yi said.
“Yes!”
At that moment, Zhao Xinlan, the finance manager, immediately interjected, “Boss, won’t pushing clients like this make them resentful? After all, according to the contract, as long as the funds are in within three days of signing, it doesn’t count as a breach of contract!”
“It’s fine. I’m pushing them mainly for the upcoming investment. If the funds are in place, they can participate; if not, they’ll just have to miss out on this opportunity!” Li Yi said.
Hearing that Li Yi was about to make another move, Lan Xinyi and the others grew excited.
Whenever they recalled how Li Yi had led them to sweep through the Hong Kong stock market, Lan Xinyi and the others were filled with excitement.
So, they were eagerly anticipating Li Yi’s next move—but what he said next caught them completely off guard!
“Manager Lan, which bank offers the highest interest rates on savings accounts right now?”
Lan Xinyi paused for a moment, then replied, “Sir, what term are you looking for?”
“One year, I suppose.”
“Hang Lung offers the highest rate—2.19% for a one-year term. HSBC is at 2.16%, and Hang Seng is at 2.17%…”
“What about Citibank?” Li Yi suddenly asked.
“It was 2.17% two weeks ago, but I’m not sure if that’s still the case now—I’ll need to verify that!” Lan Xinyi replied.
Li Yi nodded, then said to Lan Xinyi, “Check this out as soon as possible, and while you’re at it, check the loan interest rates at all the banks!”
“Yes!”
“Manager Zhao, if we were to convert all of our company’s funds into US dollars and deposit them into a specific bank, would that be difficult?” Li Yi asked again.
“No, but since we’re moving such a large sum of money in and out, we’ll need to notify Hang Seng Bank in advance!” Zhao Xinlan replied.
“Alright, after the meeting, contact Hang Seng Bank and tell them we’re converting all the funds in our account into US dollars!” Li Yi said.
“And which bank should we deposit it into?”
“Deposit some in Hang Seng, Citibank, and Standard Chartered, but don’t even consider those small and medium-sized banks!”
Just as everyone was wondering what Li Yi meant by this, his next move left them even more baffled.
“Manager Zhao, after the meeting, contact the major banks and tell them our company wants to take out a loan, using the funds deposited in their banks as collateral.”
Hearing this, everyone in the room was dumbfounded, staring blankly at Li Yi!
Why would the company deposit its own money into a bank only to take out a loan from that same bank? What kind of strategy was this?
It’s important to note that there’s a huge gap between bank deposit interest rates and loan interest rates—in most cases, more than double.
In other words, when you deposit money, the bank pays you only about 2% interest, but when you take out a loan, you have to pay 4% or more—sometimes even higher.
In other words, if the bank were to lend the money Starry Sky had deposited with them back to the company, Starry Sky would effectively be subsidizing the bank with 2% to 3% in interest.
A few thousand here and there isn’t much, but when we’re talking about hundreds of millions or even billions of dollars, that’s no small sum!
“Boss, exactly what are you trying to do here…”
Before Zhao Xinlan could finish her sentence, Lan Xinyi, sitting beside her, interjected, “Don’t worry, Boss. We’ll handle this!”
Zhao Xinlan was instantly taken aback. She looked at Li Yi in confusion, then at Lan Xinyi sitting across from her.
Noticing Lan Xinyi giving her a subtle nod, Zhao Xinlan—who was no slouch when it came to picking up on cues—hurriedly added, “Please rest assured, Boss. I’ll contact all the major banks as soon as this meeting is over!”
Li Yi was very pleased with their reactions, especially Lan Xinyi’s—she clearly understood his temperament thoroughly.
“Manager Lan, I heard that the Hong Kong office of Zaiying has a batch of real estate properties up for sale. Get in touch with them. If the price isn’t too high, go ahead and secure them!” Li Yi said.
“Yes, I’ll get in touch with them right away!” Lan Xinyi replied.
“Hmm. At the same time, get everyone in your investment department moving. You must secure information on major land transactions on Hong Kong Island, and then await my orders!”
“Yes!”
“Dismissed…”
……….