Chapter 641: The Star of Misfortune Returns!
The night passed without incident!
The next day, when Li Yi woke up in his luxurious villa, he realized it was already past ten in the morning.
He had slept for a full 12 hours!
After a quick wash, he instantly felt refreshed and invigorated, and his mood couldn’t help but lift.
Zhang Ziqiang had already prepared breakfast for him. After a quick bite, Li Yi had Zhang Ziqiang, Zhou Wen, and the others escort him to Starry Sky Company.
He had returned to Hong Kong Island before his project in New York was even finished for one reason: to declare war on the British Capital Group. He intended to let those foreign bastards know that Li Yi was no pushover to be pushed around.
But to declare war on those foreigners at the British-owned Group, he first had to make sure he had money in his hands—without money, what the hell was the point of declaring war!
They say the business world is like a battlefield, and in business, money is ammunition; ample funds are the confidence and capital to speak your mind.
Therefore, before taking any real action, Li Yi had to figure out exactly how much capital he currently had at his disposal and whether he needed to secure external loans.
When Li Yi and his entourage arrived at Star Company, the finance director, Zhao Xinlan, was already waiting in her office.
After a brief exchange of pleasantries, Li Yi asked straight away, “Manager Zhao, how much capital does the company currently have available?”
“2.86 billion!”
Zhao Xinlan replied without a moment’s hesitation.
As the company’s finance director, she was fully aware of the company’s total funds and their composition.
“That much?” Li Yi said, somewhat taken aback.
“Boss, of this 2.86 billion, 1.68 billion is tax the company was originally supposed to pay to the Hong Kong British government. However, since the payment deadline isn’t until the end of next month, it’s still temporarily on our books!”
Zhao Xinlan continued, “Additionally, 80 million is for the company’s daily operating expenses, and 150 million is in reserve funds. The remaining 900 million is all new capital raised by Dahai Private Equity recently.”
“Oh, how did you manage to raise so much capital in such a short time?”
Li Yi was somewhat surprised by this achievement!
After all, over the past few months, aside from major investors like Li Futao and He Dongying, the company had raised less than 800 million yuan in total.
He hadn’t expected that in just over ten days, they’d raised 900 million—which came as something of a surprise to him.
Zhao Xinlan smiled and said, “Ever since we released the company’s financial report for the first three months a while back, it caused quite a stir throughout the Hong Kong investment community. Since then, a large number of investors have been coming to our company every day seeking partnerships. At the peak, we raised 300 million yuan in a single day!”
As she spoke, Zhao Xinlan’s eyes sparkled with excitement.
As the CFO of an investment firm, Zhao Xinlan felt incredibly fortunate—she never had to worry about the company running short on funds, let alone struggling to raise capital.
After listening to Zhao Xinlan’s report, Li Yi fell into deep thought.
The 2.8 billion yuan figure was indeed somewhat unexpected, but for him, it was definitely a good thing.
Originally, he had planned to slowly chip away at the British-owned conglomerate and those foreigners step by step, but with such a massive sum of money, he could now go all out.
Back in the day, when Li Ka-shing’s Cheung Kong Holdings acquired assets worth 5 billion Hong Kong dollars from Hutchison Whampoa for just 693 million Hong Kong dollars, he now had nearly 3 billion at his disposal. Those foreigners would have to mobilize at least 5 billion to counter his offensive.
The problem was, given their current situation, raising 5 billion in such a short time wouldn’t be easy.
However, realizing that his goal this time was not merely a warehouse in the New Territories, Li Yi felt that Starry Sky alone would not be enough; he needed some allies.
With that in mind, he immediately called the Li Family Estate.
After speaking with Li Futao for a full twenty minutes, Li Yi left Star Company immediately and headed straight for the Li Family Estate.
……..
Downtown. The Castle Estate!
Just as Li Yi was busy mobilizing his forces to take on the British Capital Group, his rivals had also gathered together in response to his sudden return.
In the estate’s study, more than a dozen core members of the British Capital Group were gathered around a round table, sipping tea.
Although these people appeared to be at ease, a closer look revealed that something was amiss with their expressions; a faint look of worry lingered on each of their faces.
In fact, a clue to this could be seen from what was on the table!
In the past, when they gathered, it was always a grand affair. Even when discussing business, the table was often set with fine wine and gourmet food, and everyone would sip fine wine while talking business, exuding the utmost gentlemanly grace.
After eating and drinking their fill, they might even throw a dance party to really let loose.
Life was nothing short of blissful!
But ever since that young man from across the strait arrived, their lives have become a struggle, and they’ve lost all desire to eat, drink, and be merry at their gatherings.
Today was no different. In that vast study, aside from some plain tea, not even a drop of alcohol or a morsel of food had been served.
More importantly, the expressions on each of their faces were grave; if one were to describe their current state in a single phrase, it could only be likened to mourning the loss of a parent!
“Gentlemen, does anyone know what’s going on? Why did the Duke summon us here in such a hurry?”
“Smith, you’re the爵士’s most trusted man—you must know, right?”
“That’s right, Smith, you must know. Tell us what’s going on…”
Just as everyone was chatting back and forth, the study door was pushed open.
Immediately, everyone saw the Governor enter from outside, accompanied by two middle-aged men.
When they got a clear look at the two men accompanying the Sir, everyone was slightly taken aback. They hadn’t expected the Sir to have invited the Governor and Mark, the head of Citibank.
Seeing these two, everyone’s hearts couldn’t help but skip a beat. Something must have happened; otherwise, the Jazz wouldn’t have invited them.
Once the three had taken their seats, the Jazz spoke in a grave tone: “I’ve called you all here today to discuss several matters. First and foremost, we must address our internal crisis!”
“We have suffered heavy losses in the gold market this time, resulting in the bankruptcy of 13 Alliance members. Additionally, at least 38 families and companies are now facing operational difficulties. As a result, many who were already wavering in their loyalty to the Alliance have begun to side with the Li and He families!”
“Therefore, after consulting with the Governor and Mr. Mark, we plan to have the Governor’s Office and Citibank intervene to stabilize the situation. Does anyone have any objections?”
No sooner had he finished speaking than someone asked, “Sir, what role can the Governor’s Office and Citibank play in this?”
The Baron replied calmly, “The Governor’s Office represents the government. If they intervene, it will help stabilize public sentiment to some extent.”
“And Citibank has the funds; they can provide us with financial assistance to help us weather this crisis! As long as we ensure the Alliance doesn’t collapse, we still have a chance!”
“I have no objections!”
“I agree!”
“We’ll all follow the Sir’s lead…”
The Jazz was pleased with everyone’s response. He nodded and said, “OK,” then continued, “The second item on today’s agenda concerns that young man. According to our intelligence, he returned to Hong Kong Island yesterday afternoon!”
“Whoa!”
Hearing this, everyone present couldn’t help but gasp in shock.
To them, Li Yi’s every appearance meant trouble—he was a total disaster magnet!
“How did he come back already? Has his investment venture in New York already wrapped up?”
“It can’t be that fast. I heard he was shorting gold over there and made a killing!”
“He can’t be back just to stir up trouble again, can he…”
Just then, the Duke cleared his throat and said, “According to our intelligence, the young man went straight to see Li Futao upon his return, and Li Futao suddenly paid visits to the He and Luo families this morning. This clearly cannot be a coincidence.”
“Given all the signs, we have reason to believe that the young man’s sudden return to Hong Kong Island is specifically to target us.” Therefore, we must heighten our vigilance and prepare to fight back…”
Before the Jazz could finish speaking, a frantic knock sounded at the door…
……..