In the blink of an eye, two days had passed!
Over the past two days, quite a few major events had unfolded on Hong Kong Island.
First, news broke that warships from the mainland had been deployed to seize over twenty Royal Coast Guard patrol boats that were on active duty, and that these warships and patrol boats had already appeared in the waters near Hong Kong Island.
The news sent shockwaves through the people of Hong Kong Island!
Many speculated whether negotiations had broken down and if the mainland was preparing to use force.
As a result, Hong Kong’s already precarious real estate and stock markets took another severe hit, with property prices and stock prices plummeting once again.
Both large corporations and individual investors suffered heavy losses.
Real estate companies, in particular, saw their stock prices hit new lows, with many shares plummeting to rock-bottom levels.
In this situation, many people rushed to the Governor’s Residence to inquire about the situation, but officials there hemmed and hawed, unable to provide a clear explanation.
This terrified and enraged the public, who took to the streets in protest, causing tensions on Hong Kong Island to escalate instantly.
Finally, under pressure from the public and government legislators, the Governor’s Office could no longer withstand the pressure and issued a public statement.
According to the Governor’s Office’s public announcement, it turned out that on January 4, while the Coast Guard was conducting official duties in the relevant waters, they mistakenly identified an opposing government vessel as a smuggling ship. Not only did they intercept the vessel, but they also forcibly boarded it for inspection.
Coincidentally, a naval fleet from the other side was conducting training exercises nearby at the time, so they detained the Chinese Coast Guard vessel.
The Governor’s Office also stated that both sides are currently mediating this major misunderstanding and that there is no truth to claims that the other side used force.
Although the Governor’s Office provided a clear explanation for the incident, their account clearly contained inconsistencies and defied common sense, leading many citizens to remain skeptical of their version of events.
Overnight, panic spread across Hong Kong Island, and the situation became somewhat unstable!
Apart from this incident, another piece of news caught everyone on Hong Kong Island completely off guard.
However, compared to the incident involving the Coast Guard unit getting into trouble and being detained, this news was a major piece of good news: Starry Company officially moved its offices from Yuanhua Building to Starry Tower at 17 Happy Valley Road, and decided to distribute its semi-annual dividends to all shareholders and investors at the company’s new office location on the morning of January 7.
Rumors of this had been circulating for some time, and Star Corporation had even held a press conference, so the public was already mentally prepared.
The reason it still came as a bit of a surprise is that Star Company has now officially announced the specific amount of the dividend—HK$28.966 billion.
Of course, this was part of a publicity strategy devised by Star Company’s PR department, which continuously released new information to keep the story in the spotlight.
As it turned out, their strategy was a resounding success.
As soon as the news was released, it quickly caused a sensation across all social strata on Hong Kong Island, instantly going viral!
Within a very short time, Star Company and Li Yi made the front pages of major newspapers and news outlets. Both British-owned conglomerates and Chinese media outlets covered the story extensively.
In fact, the news even crossed the ocean to reach the “Thief Eagle” camp, with multiple mainstream media outlets—including The New York Times and The Washington Post—covering the story. However, these foreign media outlets took a very hostile stance toward Li Yi and Star Company.
After such a long period of brewing and fermenting, the Western world had already thoroughly investigated Li Yi’s background and discovered who was backing him.
Consequently, these media outlets and newspapers adopted a particularly aggressive and extreme tone in their coverage. For instance, The New York Times ran a headline reading: “The $10 Billion Dividend Frenzy: A Financial Genius Cultivated by a Mysterious Eastern Power Defeats Wall Street’s Elite!”
The Washington Post was even more scathing, publishing a detailed report under the headline: “The Red Butcher Runs Rampant on Wall Street—America’s Financial Sector Faces Its Darkest Hour!”
According to their reports, the hundreds of billions of Hong Kong dollars distributed by Starry Sky to investors and shareholders were largely earned by a man named Li Yi on the New York futures market.
Amid the intense coverage and hype in these newspapers and magazines, the gold short-selling incident from half a month prior was dredged up once again, generating unprecedented attention.
Overnight, nearly every major newspaper and television station across the United States was covering the story, and in virtually every media report, Li Yi was portrayed as the Butcher—a butcher who had bloodied Wall Street.
Furthermore, in their coverage, Starry Sky’s massive dividend payout was portrayed as a carnival for clowns…
But no matter how bitter these people might be, there’s no denying that Li Yi and his Starry Sky Corporation have truly made a name for themselves this time… No, they’ve gone viral!
Whether at home or abroad, whether investors or the general public, everyone has heard the names of Li Yi and Star Company.
The direct result of this is that Star Company’s business volume has skyrocketed, with a massive number of investors calling or visiting the company in person every day to seek partnerships!
Of course, what everyone is more concerned about is whether Star Company will really distribute nearly 29 billion yuan in dividends to investors…
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In addition, a major event has captured the attention of Hong Kong residents in recent days: the establishment of the Hong Kong branch of the Global Chinese Chamber of Commerce.
Old Li and his team moved quickly. Immediately after speaking with Li Yi that day, Old Li summoned all the members on the list for an emergency meeting.
The meeting had only one purpose: to discuss the specific details of establishing the Hong Kong Island branch, such as when and how it would be formed.
Since the Chinese business owners—who had been severely mistreated by certain unscrupulous organizations—were all very enthusiastic about this matter, they eagerly shared their views and successfully worked out a practical preliminary plan.
That evening, Li Futiao and his son Li Yunbao arrived at Cloudtop No. 1 with this freshly drafted “plan” and explained the results of their discussions to Li Yi.
After much discussion, they decided to celebrate the establishment of the Hong Kong Island branch with the most grand ceremony possible.
Not only did they plan to hold the inauguration ceremony at Hong Kong Island’s largest and most luxurious hotel, but they also intended to invite all the wealthy Chinese businessmen on the island—along with their wives—to attend the ceremony. They would also host a grand ball to make the occasion truly festive.
Of course, for such an important occasion, they would also invite media reporters to cover the event and celebrate in style.
In short, they intended to make this a spectacular event that would fully showcase the strength of the Chinese business community.
However, before proceeding, they needed to consult with Li Yi—after all, he was the driving force behind the Chinese Chamber of Commerce!
Li Yi, of course, fully supported the idea.
This Hong Kong Island branch was the very first organization established by the Global Chinese Chamber of Commerce, and its success or failure would have far-reaching implications.
Even if Old Li hadn’t mentioned it, Li Yi would have suggested throwing a big celebration—an event this important couldn’t possibly be handled on the sly!
After some discussion, the two finally decided to set the launch of the chamber for the evening of January 7th.
That meant distributing dividends to investors in the morning and attending the Hong Kong branch’s inauguration ceremony in the evening.
Li Yi also decided that after attending the ceremony, he would leave Hong Kong Island with his wife and children to return home for his third sister’s wedding.
Amid the collective attention of Hong Kong’s residents, January 7th finally arrived…
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