The next day, all the paperwork were settled, and the contracts signed. It was just like the partnerships between Feng Yu and Fu Guangzheng. Nothing was asked, and they signed the contracts after their lawyers had gone through the contracts. The money was transferred, and the shares ownership doc.u.ments were handed over. Both Feng Yu and Fu Guangzheng did not take on any roles in Li Zekai’s company. Both of them were not worried that Li Zekai would cheat them.
Li Zekai was also moved by their actions. It might be that both of them were confident of themselves or confident that Li Zekai would not dare to cheat them. After all, Li Zekai was from the Li Family, and if he were to deceive them, the Li Family’s reputation would be affected. The Fu Family was also influential in Hong Kong.
But this was also a form of trust. It felt good to be trusted.
“Guangzheng, Brother Feng, let’s have lunch together?” After signing the contract, Li Zekai smiled and invited them to have lunch.
Today, not only Fu Guangzheng and Feng Yu’s funds were transferred to him, even his father had transferred the invested funds. He was overjoyed to get the recognition from his father.
Although these second generations of the influential families were born with a golden spoon, they were also facing lots of stress. After selling the shares of the satellite TV station, Hong Kong’s media had given Li Zekai the nickname of Little Superman. This was an honor and also a form of stress on him.
Li Zekai could imagine what the media will write about him once he made a wrong decision. Media influences could sometimes cloud his judgment. He does not hope to take over his father’s businesses, but he wishes to receive his father’s support and investments to let him prove himself. He hopes to be worthy of the nickname!
Feng Yu and Fu Guangzheng had nothing to do and agreed to have lunch together. Fu Guangzheng had invested in Pacific Century Group, and now he wants to know the development plans of the company and how long does it take to see the returns of his investments.
The investments Fu Guangzheng made to Feng Yu’s company, had returned after about 1 year and he could get back his invested amount within 2 years. Sometimes, it was even shorter.
“Guangzheng, Brother Feng, let’s have a toast. For our future endeavors!”
Feng Yu and Fu Guangzheng raised their gla.s.ses: “Cheers!”
“Brother Feng, Guangzheng, when are the both of you going back to China? I would like to tag along.” Li Zekai said.
“Why? Are you thinking of investing in China? Is this your idea or your father’s idea?” Fu Guangzheng asked.
There was a significant difference in whose idea this was. If it was only Li Zekai’s idea, then Fu Guangzheng could just exchange some shares with him. But if it was Superman Li’s idea, then Fu Guangzheng could not help much. Only Feng Yu could a.s.sist him. Fu Guangzheng’s total a.s.sets were too little compared to Superman Li.
“It’s my idea. I am no longer holding any positions in Cheung Kong and Hutchison Whampoa.” Li Zekai said.
“Congratulations. Brother Kai, you are free now.” Feng Yu laughed.
“Congratulations? Why are you saying this?” Li Zekai frowned. He was no longer holding any positions in his father’s companies, and that means he was giving up his chance to succeed his father’s shares of the companies. What’s there to congratulate about?
“I am congratulating Brother Kai to be able to do whatever you want on the developments of your company. You do not need to have any reservations.” Feng Yu raised his gla.s.s for another toast.
“Hahaha. You are right. This was indeed worth celebrating! All this while, I am envious of Guangzheng. But now, I can also do the same.” Li Zekai laughed.
In Hong Kong, unless the eldest son was really a good-for-nothing, they will generally succeed the family’s businesses. But what if the family does not have sons? Then even when the head of the family was in his 60s or 70s, he will look for a young woman to have a son. Hong Kongers still believed in letting the eldest son take over the family businesses. This phenomenon was more severe in Hong Kong than in China.
Although Li Zekai does not want to admit it, his elder brother, Li Zeju was competent. If not, his father would not let him hold on to an essential role in his companies, and the rest of the shareholders also agreed to this decision.
Li Zekai’s elder brother was already so outstanding, and that means there was no chance for him to take over their family business. Maybe their father will leave some shares for him, but his elder brother will still have the overall control of the company. To compensate him, their father might still leave some other a.s.sets for him.
Most importantly, Li Zekai’s father will not interfere with his career and will not force him to follow his arrangements. Li Zekai could do whatever he wants.
“When it comes to investing in China, you should ask Brother Feng’s advice. To be honest, I had also invested in some small companies in China, but their growth was too slow. All of Brother Feng’s companies were doing well.” Fu Guangzheng said. He knew that Feng Yu want to be friends with Li Zekai and this was an excellent opportunity for both of them to be closer.
Feng Yu rubbed his nose: “Actually I have an idea. But I did not act on it all this while.”
Fu Guangzheng and Li Zekai looked at each other. Both could see the excitement in each other’s eyes. They both asked at the same time: “What idea is it?”
“Supermarket! Both of you should not be stranger to this. Both the Fu Family and the Li Family have successful supermarket businesses. Why don’t we set up a chain of supermarkets in China?”
Feng Yu had thought of setting up a supermarket chain a long time ago. But he was not familiar with the supermarket business. In his previous life, he had only heard that a successful supermarket chain could generate over 10 million sales every day. The two most important aspects of a supermarket were the suppliers and location. Feng Yu could settle the supplier part by himself, but the location should be picked by the professionals.
The Fu Family and the Li Family had Supermarket businesses and were doing well. They should have lots of expertise in this industry. Also, Feng Yu could leave the management of the supermarkets to them, and he can be a sleeping partner.
But there were already supermarkets in China now. One of the world’s top leading supermarket chain, Century Lianhua Group, had started operations two years ago.
Currently, Century Lianhua was only focusing its operations in Shanghai. It still had not entered the Zhejiang region. Although it so has branches in Beijing, the scale was still small. The market was still huge. Feng Yu was thinking of investing a vast amount at once and set up supermarkets all over China. He wants to set up a chain of supermarkets and build up a supermarket brand. This supermarket chain will be China’s top supermarket company!
Every hyper supermarket’s investment should be more than 100 million RMB. But Feng Yu should be able to get a loan for this. Even if he set up 10 supermarkets at the same time, his total investments might be less than 500 million RMB. Also, he could delay payments for the goods in the supermarket for about 1 to 2 months. The goods would use the least capital.
Fu Guangzheng and Li Zekai looked at each other again. Supermarkets? That’s right. China had a high population, and if they had picked an excellent location to set up a supermarket, they would surely make high profits! Both families had lots of talents that understand this trade inside out. They could just pick them to help them run this supermarket business!
“Brother Feng, tell us your plans.” Li Zekai asked excitedly.
Translator’s notes: Here is some information on the companies mentioned in this chapter.
Cheung Kong Holdings
Whampoa
Lianhua Supermarket