Chapter 706: I Am Not Fighting Alone!

Kang Le Plaza, Jardine House!

Just as investors at Star Tower were celebrating the sky-high returns, Li Yi arrived at the Jardine Matheson headquarters with Zhao Xinlan, Li Yunbao, and others.

He had come here for one purpose only—to repay a debt!

That’s right—to pay off his debt!

During the previous battle with the Jardine Group over the New Territories warehouse, due to a lack of funds, those over 21 million shares were all backed by IOUs issued to Powell.

Now that he had the money, it was time to settle the debt!

When Powell received Li Yi’s call, he took it very seriously. He immediately summoned the company’s senior executives and waited at the Jardine Matheson headquarters for Li Yi and his party to arrive.

The God of Wealth has arrived—we dare not be disrespectful!

In fact, prior to this, many within the Jardine group had been worried that Starry Sky might renege on the deal.

Although they had clearly defined the liability for breach of contract when signing the agreement, the current situation was that, due to the broader economic environment, both the property market and the stock market on Hong Kong Island had plummeted.

In particular, just a few days ago, the mainland suddenly deployed warships to seize more than twenty coast guard vessels belonging to the British Hong Kong government. This made the Hong Kong property and stock markets, already feeling the “threat of war,” suffer another severe blow. Property prices were once again slashed in half, and the stock market was equally teetering on the brink; the share prices of many companies had plummeted to one-tenth of their original value.

Under these circumstances, New Territories Warehouse’s stock price has inevitably been affected, plummeting from a previous high of HK$110 per share to HK$55 per share—nearly halving in value.

If Li Yi were to fulfill the contract at this time, based on the current share price, they would face a loss of at least HK$1.1 billion.

However, if he were to breach the contract, he would only need to pay a penalty of less than HK$500 million.

That’s a difference of a full 600 million Hong Kong dollars. The choice was actually quite clear, and Powell and the others had even mentally prepared themselves for Li Yi to renege on the contract.

But what they didn’t expect was that Li Yi not only didn’t back out, but actually called them on the very day the company distributed dividends, saying he wanted to pay the outstanding amount. This truly moved Powell and the others to tears.

What a good man!

Consequently, even before Li Yi and his team had arrived, Powell personally led a group of Jardine Matheson executives to wait at the headquarters entrance to welcome them, giving Li Yi the utmost respect.

After a simple yet warm welcome ceremony, the group proceeded to the Jardine Matheson conference room to formally complete the final payment process for the New Territories Warehouse equity acquisition.

Although the transaction involved 2.3 billion Hong Kong dollars, since the contract had already been signed, Li Yi was simply paying the outstanding acquisition funds to Jardine Matheson, so the entire process was quite straightforward.

With the payment complete, the transaction was now fully finalized!

Both parties were extremely satisfied with the transaction.

For Jardine Matheson, had Powell not acted decisively two months prior to sell all of the Jardine Group’s New Territories Warehouse shares to Li Yi, they would undoubtedly have suffered massive losses by now.

In other words, Powell’s move not only spared the Jardine Group from retaliation by Li Yi and Starry Company but also prevented the company from suffering major losses—making this deal well worth it.

As for Li Yi, what he had his eye on was New World Warehouse’s enormous future potential.

Whether he makes a profit now or not is irrelevant; even if the stock price plummets, causing him to suffer heavy losses on his previous investment, it wouldn’t matter.

He knew full well that a few years later, once Hong Kong Island’s economy had recovered, both the property and stock markets would skyrocket.

For companies like New Territories Warehouse, which hold vast tracts of land and prime properties, share prices can easily multiply tenfold or twentyfold.

Every Hong Kong dollar invested now would yield a return of dozens of times that amount in a few years.

Therefore, in Li Yi’s view, while your Jardine Matheson Group might break even, I’m sure to make a killing!

Since both parties were pleased with this collaboration, after wrapping up the formalities, Powell invited Li Yi to his office for a chat, and Li Yi agreed.

In the office lounge, Powell poured Li Yi a cup of coffee and said, “Li, thank you so much for honoring our agreement. If you had backed out, I would have been in a very difficult position at the company!”

Li Yi smiled and said, “Powell, I simply did what I believed was right!”

“As a businessman, it’s fine to pursue maximum profit, but you must maintain a basic level of integrity. As you Westerners say, you need a spirit of contract; otherwise, you won’t go far!”

“Li, you’ve put it perfectly. But unfortunately, when faced with such enormous profits, very few people can stick to their principles.”

Powell continued, “To be honest, if I were in your shoes, I might not have been able to do the same, so I really admire your character.”

Li Yi merely smiled and didn’t dwell on the matter further. Instead, he looked at Powell and said, “I heard that not long ago, someone was trying to remove you from your position as general manager. It seems that the other party didn’t succeed?”

A hint of derision flashed across Powell’s face as he replied, “The Sassoon family only knows how to resort to these underhanded tactics, but they forgot that this is Hong Kong. The tricks they pull in Europe don’t work here.”

“Just like that incident a couple of days ago—they thought their plan was foolproof, but in the end, they suffered a crushing defeat. Li, you did a great job!”

The fact that Dolsen’s attempt to undermine Li Yi backfired and ended up screwing over the Governor’s Office might be hidden from the general public, but it certainly couldn’t be hidden from a business tycoon like Powell.

Moreover, given his own deep-rooted connections to British-owned conglomerates, it was impossible for Dowson to keep him in the dark.

Li Yi nodded and said, “Powell, you’re right. Underhanded tactics might give you a temporary advantage, but they can’t possibly prevail in the long run!”

Suddenly, Powell said with a mysterious look, “Li, I’ve got some good news for you!”

“What good news?”

“Dawson has been punished!”

“Oh, who punished him? What kind of punishment?” Li Yi asked curiously.

“Naturally, he was punished by the Sassoon family’s higher-ups. He’s been stripped of his status as heir!” Powell said with a smile, looking thoroughly delighted at his misfortune.

“That serious?”

“Yes, but it’s understandable!”

Powell continued, “Because of his reckless actions, he not only disrupted the balance in the Far East that London had been desperately trying to maintain—causing tensions in the region to escalate suddenly—but he also caused the already fractured British-owned business group to completely fall apart, nearly leading to its total disintegration!”

“The prestige the Sassoon family had built up over decades on Hong Kong Island was completely squandered by him and his uncle. This punishment is actually quite lenient!”

“He brought it upon himself!”

Li Yi then asked again, “So, will he leave Hong Kong?”

“Probably not. He still needs to clean up this mess here on Hong Kong Island!” Powell said.

“Good. If he left, I’d have to go all the way to Europe to find him—that’d be too much of a hassle. It’s better if he stays here,” Li Yi said indifferently.

Hearing this, Powell’s heart skipped a beat.

Li Yi’s words were all too clear—he clearly had no intention of letting Powell off the hook.

“Li, while I’d love to see you take care of that son of a bitch, I still want to remind you that the Sassoon family backing him is incredibly powerful…”

Powell continued, “No, actually, they’re downright terrifying. If at all possible, try to avoid a direct confrontation with them—that wouldn’t be a wise choice!”

Li Yi replied calmly, “Thanks for the warning, but we Chinese have an old saying: ‘Whoever dares to offend the mighty Han shall be punished, no matter how far away they are!’”

“Dorson’s family may be powerful, but I have a billion compatriots standing behind me. I’m not fighting this alone!”

Powell paused briefly, then said, “I understand. If you need anything regarding this matter, I’ll do everything in my power to help you!”

“Good. If I ever truly need it, I’ll definitely ask!”

“Alright…”

……..