In the first half of 1982, international gold has been in a situation of sharp fluctuations, at the beginning of the year at 390 US dollars per ounce, and then all the way down; It reached a low of $315 an ounce in March, rose to $360 an ounce in April, and fell again by $325 an ounce in May.

In June, international gold continued to decline, and there is a big trend to fall below $300 per ounce.

This situation attracted the attention of Lin Zhichao, a 'speculator', and he came to the UNIQLO corporate headquarters office in the 'Crocodile Shirt Building' for the first time.

Lin Zhichao, who was sitting in the office, was very calm and thinking.

International gold fell to just over $300 an ounce, which is clearly an opportunity. Lin Zhichao did not know the specific trend of gold, but he also knew that it fell to $300 per ounce at this time, which was obviously a trough.

With the exception of the Asian financial crisis, when gold fell below $300 per ounce, there is unlikely to be any lower in the next 40 years.

This is like speculating in stocks, Lin Zhichao knows the 'bottom', he can completely copy the bottom and make a lot of money.

What's more, according to Lin Zhichao's understanding, Xie Liyuan Gold Shop, which has a history of 100 years, didn't it go bankrupt in this gold speculation!

"Boss, it's meeting time."

"Okay, I'll be there right away!"

After the clerk walked in to remind him, Lin Zhichao retracted his thoughts and walked towards the conference room.

Uniqlo Enterprises is a large listed company and one of the blue-chip stocks in Hong Kong. In fact, the listed companies controlled by Lin Zhichao can be described as terrifying.

Take the end of last year (1981) as an example:

Market capitalisation of Hong Kong-listed companies:

The first place is Cheung Kong Group, with a market value of 26 billion Hong Kong dollars.

The second place is HSBC, with a market value of 24 billion Hong Kong dollars.

The third place is Hang Seng Bank, with a market value of 19.5 billion Hong Kong dollars.

The fourth place is Hongkong Land, with a market value of 15 billion Hong Kong dollars.

The fifth place is Hutchison Whampoa, with a market value of 10 billion Hong Kong dollars.

The sixth place is the Wharf Group, with a market value of 9 billion Hong Kong dollars.

The seventh place is Jardine Matheson, with a market value of 7 billion Hong Kong dollars.

The eighth place is CLP Power, with a market value of 6.3 billion Hong Kong dollars.

The ninth place is Sun Hung Kai Properties, with a market value of 5.6 billion Hong Kong dollars.

The tenth place is the Hong Kong Electric Company, with a market value of 5 billion Hong Kong dollars.

In the entire top 10 list, Lin Zhichao controls three listed companies, with a total of 45 billion, exceeding the total market value of the two banks in the HSBC system of 43.5 billion.

However, Lin Zhichao also controls Uniqlo companies (market value of 1.5 billion, ranking more than 30 in market value), Golden Harvest Film (market value of more than 900 million, ranking more than 50); Moreover, this is only a listed company under direct control, such as Hutchison Whampoa, which has four other listed companies.

Walk into the meeting room.

Uniqlo's top brass are looking at their bosses, and Lin Zhi's super-sized daughter Lin Wanzhu, who is the CEO of fashion clothing retail, is also at the top level.

After Lin Zhichao sat down, he asked directly: "Who will report on the progress of UNIQLO and crocodile shirts in Japan!" ”

Since the 80s, crocodile shirts and Uniqlo have begun to enter Japan, in order to cope with the huge capital expenditure, in early 1981, Uniqlo enterprises also took advantage of the peak of Hong Kong real estate, sold 200 million worth of properties.

Of course, not all of this money has been spent, and the cash flow of Uniqlo companies is still quite sufficient.

CEO Cheng Xixian immediately said: "As the first clothing brand to enter the Japanese market, Crocodile Shirt currently has 20 stores in Japan. Uniqlo followed, and in a year and a half, it also opened 10 stores. At present, the two brands are doing well"

Listening to the report, Lin Zhichao was very proud in his heart.

Japan is also a big exporter of clothing, and it is also a fashionable place in Asia, and it is obviously very good that crocodile shirts and Uniqlo can do well in Japan.

The crocodile shirt is better to open the Japanese market, because it itself represents the top brand of Hong Kong clothing, and even has a certain popularity in Asia. In addition, mid-to-high-end brand positioning, the pursuit of comfortable fabrics, etc., are all points of purchase.

Uniqlo can open the Japanese market because of its excellent management system, the model that is 20 years ahead of this era, and the successful experience of Uniqlo in Japan in the previous life, etc., are all reasons for opening the Japanese market.

In itself, since the 80s, it has been the explosion period of Hong Kong brand clothing, and in the previous life, Giordano, Jeanswest, Bossini and so on emerged. Today, crocodile shirts and Uniqlo are at the vanguard of Asian clothing brands.

"Well, I've looked at our stores in Japan, Hong Kong, and Singapore. I recently had an idea to strengthen our associateshire program. I think that an excellent service system is one of the elements of the long-term development of the brand, so we should treat the employees as a family, especially the store staff. So if you want these clerks to have a sense of belonging to this company, it is nothing more than salary and promotion channels. I believe that every staff member will be conscientious and responsible in doing this. In addition, how much paid training time each employee should achieve per month, and how much training time should be achieved each year, I also hope that your management will study this to be experimented and improved in UNIQLO, and finally incorporated into the system. ”

To put it bluntly, it is to copy homework according to Uniqlo in the previous life. Of course, in the 90s of the previous life, Hong Kong Giordano also did a very good job in this regard.

The reason why Giordano did not develop was because it did not take the path of fast sales, it was only a casual clothing brand, which eventually lost in the Internet economy.

Only Uniqlo survived, and it is getting stronger and stronger. As a customer in Lin Zhichao's previous life, he naturally had a very clear understanding of Uniqlo, plus he had research, so the overall model is not a problem.

A group of high-level officials seemed to foresee the bright light and took pens to record it.

In fact, it is not that they are poor, but that they are not the top decision-makers, and they have certain cognitive deficiencies in the company's development outline.

Cheng Xixian said: "The boss's understanding of the supply chain and talent system really made us all suddenly enlightened. ”

Gao Zhinian said: "UNIQLO's development in Japan depends on the overall business philosophy, and how can a low-end clothing brand develop so smoothly in Japan." ”

Everyone nodded, it was expected that the crocodile shirt would develop smoothly in Japan, and it was a bit unexpected that Uniqlo clothing would develop smoothly in Japan. After all, there is no shortage of 'high-quality and inexpensive' clothing brands in Japan.

After communicating with everyone about the three flagship businesses (Uniqlo, crocodile shirts), Lin Zhichao continued: "Manager Wang, how is the cash flow of Uniqlo enterprises? ”

Wang Shanqiang, manager of the finance department, immediately said: "At present, the cash flow of Uniqlo enterprises is 210 million Hong Kong dollars, which is very sufficient. The total debt is 36 million Hong Kong dollars, and the debt ratio is low! ”

Yes, the development of UNIQLO enterprises to this day is not only the operation of clothing brands, but also the receipt of investment properties, and the best time to raise funds for listing.

In the late 80s, crocodile shirts sold for more than 1 billion Hong Kong dollars; And the Uniqlo in this life (the core is currently a crocodile shirt) is at least 3 times more valuable.

Lin Zhichao said: "Hmm"

After the meeting.

CEO Cheng Xixian, Vice President Gao Zhinian, and Financial Manager Wang Shanqiang all came to Lin Zhichao's office.

"Convert all the cash flow of Uniqlo companies into U.S. dollars as much as possible and deposit them into U.S. dollar accounts."

The three of them had some questions, but Wang Shanqiang immediately said, "Okay! ”

As a treasurer, he realized that the boss felt that the dollar was appreciating. However, he did not expect that the Hong Kong dollar would depreciate wildly.

Subsequently, Lin Zhichao said: "What is the situation of Xie Liyuan's gold shop that I asked you to investigate?" ”

Wang Shanqiang then said: "In 1867, the sixth year of Tongzhi in the Qing Dynasty, a "Xie Liyuan Gold Shop" was born in Macau, and by 1982, it was already a veritable century-old shop, and it was also in full swing in Hong Kong. About 10 years ago, Hong Kong's Xie Liyuan transformed into gold finance and launched the "Thousand Feet Gold Accumulation Plan", where citizens can open an account to buy and sell gold at the gold price of the day as long as they buy a penny of physical gold. It is said that they have absorbed more than 20 million Hong Kong dollars"

Lin Zhichao said: "Take out 10 million Hong Kong dollars, go to Hong Kong Xie Liyuan Gold Shop to buy gold, and open a gold account." ”

Wang Shanqiang was stunned for a moment and said: "Boss, gold fell a lot in the first half of this year, and recently it was only more than 300 US dollars. ”

Lin Zhichao said: "It doesn't matter, only 10 million Hong Kong dollars, if we can win the bet, we will win the 'Hong Kong Xie Liyuan' company, which is just an opportunity for us to enter jewelry." ”

He is not interested in the 'Xie Liyuan' signboard, but on the management system and experience of Xie Liyuan's ten gold shops in Hong Kong.

The three managers were a little stunned and didn't understand what it meant!

Lin Zhichao smiled: "Don't worry too much, just do what I say!" In short, contact Xie Zhichao, the owner of Xie Liyuan Gold Shop in Hong Kong, and ask him to buy gold for 10 million Hong Kong dollars, and there is no need to worry about anything else, it doesn't matter if he buys gold or not. ”

Now, the three of them understood!

"Okay, boss, I see!"

After the three of them left, a smile appeared on the corner of Lin Zhichao's mouth.

This time the gold plummeted, and he had to make a big profit again. At this time, Hong Kong gold futures/spot are very developed, and there are many channels to invest in gold, and he can make a fortune in a short time.

Originally, he was not very sure if he could make a big profit immediately if he bought gold for $300 per ounce. But he suddenly remembered that in his previous life, Hong Kong's Xie Liyuan gold shop closed down this year, isn't it the reason for the sudden rise in gold!

Therefore, he is sure that gold will rise sharply in the second half of the year!

Then, Lin Zhichao was ready to arrange for Cheung Kong Group, Wharf Group, and Victoria Harbour Investment to each take out 300 million Hong Kong dollars to invest in gold; In addition, Zhao Yazhi, Lin Qingxia, and Guan Jiahui cashed out a total of 225 million from HK Electric last time, totaling more than 1.1 billion Hong Kong dollars to operate gold futures from the London and Hong Kong markets respectively.

With the surge in gold in the 70s, Hong Kong's channels for investing in gold are also very large, and the market capacity is also very large, so 1 billion Hong Kong dollars is still no problem.

Hong Kong Xie Liyuan Gold Shop, a total of ten stores, was founded by Xie Zhichao, the eldest son of the third generation of the Xie family, and operated independently from Macau Xie Liyuan Gold Shop.

The Xie family has a history of 115 years since 1867 (Tongzhi of the Qing Dynasty) founded Xie Liyuan Gold Shop, and the family has multiplied to the fifth generation.

Xie Zhichao's eldest son, Xie Jialiang, is also the eldest son and grandson of the fourth generation of the Xie family, and when he grew up, he studied computer science at the University of Leith, and worked in the British central government department, and was the only Chinese civil servant in the department at that time. As his father expanded his business in Hong Kong and opened 10 "Xie Liyuan" gold shops in Hong Kong, Kowloon and the New Territories in one go, the eldest son Tse Ka-leung returned to Hong Kong to manage the group's four garment factories.

On this day, Xie Zhichao ushered in a big customer, which was Cheng Xixian, the chief executive officer of Uniqlo, and Wang Shanqiang, the financial manager.

Cheng Xixian didn't hide it, and said straight to the point: "Our Uniqlo company wants to buy 10 million Hong Kong dollars of gold as an investment in your bank, I don't know if your bank can take this deal?" ”

As the boss said, you should do it openly, not secretly.

Xie Zhichao was pleasantly surprised in his heart, he was sure that gold would only continue to depreciate, so if he accepted 10 million Hong Kong dollars at this time, he could not buy gold at all, and settle directly with Uniqlo at that time. Anyway, 10 million Hong Kong dollars, there will be only a few million left.

Moreover, the 10 million Hong Kong dollars can be used for investment, which is simply a two-way earning.

However, he still asked cautiously: "Is this investment what Sir Lin meant?" ”

Cheng Xixian said with a smile: "I am the CEO, and I can still call the shots with this small investment." ”

Xie Zhichao suddenly realized that Sir Lin has many listed companies, and not every company personally serves as the general manager/CEO, this Uniqlo listed company, although the market value was once as high as 1.5 billion, has always been a 'professional manager' system, that is to say, this Cheng Xixian is a powerful person.

"Excuse me! Thanks to Xie Sheng and Wang Sheng's trust, we can completely eat this transaction, do you want gold spot, or deposit it into a gold account? After speaking, Xie Zhichao looked at the two.

Of course, he wants the two of them to deposit into the gold account, and if he wants to spot it, he can earn some fees; If it's a gold account, he can make a lot of money.

"Gold account, of course! Many gold shops in Hong Kong have this kind of business, Xie Liyuan gold shop is a century-old signboard, we are very relieved! ”

"No problem!"

When things were negotiated and Cheng Xixian and Wang Shanqiang left, Xie Zhichao showed a smug smile.

"Buying gold is rising, it's simply no place to put it! In the future, your boss will trouble you, I'm afraid it's hard to get it! ”

On this day, Lin Zhichao took Tang Caiyun to Wan Chai Pier to look for a dumpling shop.

He also had a temporary idea, and suddenly thought of eating dumplings, and remembered whether there was a woman surnamed Zang at Wan Chai Wharf who opened a dumpling shop. As a result, someone was sent to check, and it was really true.

Under the leadership of the bodyguards, Lin Zhichao and his wife walked into a small shop, and the two found a place to sit down.

"Two, what kind of dumplings do you want to eat?"

"One for all flavors!"

"We have a lot of flavors here."

"It's okay, you just go up!"

The waiter left puzzled.

Tang Caiyun said curiously: "If you want to eat dumplings, let the family wrap it, why did you suddenly think of coming here to eat." Isn't this place famous? ”

She didn't dislike the crowding here, after all, she was very happy when the couple came out for a walk today.

Lin Zhichao said with a smile: "I heard that Wan Chai Pier is very famous here, and it has also been in the newspaper. I've heard that some people come here for a long time, so let's try it today! ”

Tang Caiyun said: "Hong Kong is so big, and there are so many newspapers, it's normal for this kind of store to be reported!" But since I'm here, I'll have to try it too. ”

"Lin Sheng"

"It's really Lin Sheng, Mrs. Lin"

After a while, the diners all recognized Lin Zhichao and greeted him.

After all, Lin Zhichao has reported more times in recent years, and he has gradually become well-known to Hong Kong people, even if he wears casual clothes and dresses up a little, the probability of being recognized is very high.

"Hello everyone, I heard that the taste here is very good, let's try it as a couple!" Lin Zhichao greeted politely.

He can't keep a low profile if he wants to!

An old man said: "Lin Sheng, then you are right, the boss here has the title of 'Dumpling Queen', No, it's her!" ”

The old man pointed to a chubby, well-dressed woman and introduced.

Then he said enthusiastically: "Dumpling queen, you have a distinguished guest in your store today, this is Mr. Lin Zhichao, our God of Wealth in Hong Kong!" ”

Zang Jianhe may not know Lin Zhichao very well, but she has heard Lin Zhichao's name, and after her face was shocked, she hurriedly said: "Mr. Lin, Mrs. Lin, hello! ”

Lin Zhichao smiled: "You're welcome, I'm just here for a meal, and you're just going to see outside!" ”

A grandmother said: "Dumpling queen, rest assured, Lin Sheng is very close to the people!" ”

Lin Zhichao replied: "This is not called being close to the people, I am originally a Hong Kong citizen, where can I say that I am close to the people." ”

"Haha"

Twenty or thirty diners in the entire small shop laughed one after another.

Subsequently, Lin Zhichao and the big guys, including Zang Jianhe, all chatted and mingled. Tang Caiyun also did not show weakness at all, she was very 'close to the people', without the hypocrisy of ordinary rich wives, and was very self-contained.

From chatting with everyone, I learned that Zang Jianhe's life experience was originally a woman from the mainland, married to a Thai Chinese who donated to China, and gave birth to two daughters; After that, the husband flew back to Thailand and promised to pick her up.

As a result, she flew to Thailand and found that her husband had remarried and given birth to a son. Her mother-in-law told her that polygamy is allowed in Thailand, and if she stays in Thailand, she will have no worries. Zang Jianhe disagreed, so he prepared to return to China, but he flew to Hong Kong and stayed here again.

As a result, I cooked a bowl of dumplings for a friend, and at the suggestion of my friend, sold dumplings at a mobile stall on the pier; Then the business was very good, so I opened this store. The business is divided into two, selling both frozen dumplings and boiled dumplings, and the business is not bad.

Obviously, Zang Jianhe is the founder of the 'Wan Chai Pier' that Lin Zhichao is looking for.

After a while, in everyone's surprise, the waiter served several plates of dumplings.

And Lin Zhichao first selected a part and asked the waiter to pack it for his bodyguards to eat, so that it would not be wasted.

Lin Zhichao and Tang Caiyun tasted it, especially Lin Zhichao, who tasted the taste carefully.

"Very good!" Soon, Lin Zhichao said with praise.

Although I can't say that the delicacies of the mountains and the sea are delicious, it is also a very attractive taste.

After eating, Lin Zhichao asked for a business card of Zang Jianhe, and left with Tang Caiyun.

This scene was seen by many diners.

"Dumpling queen, you are going to be developed, it seems that Mr. Lin is looking for you to cooperate!"

"It's not necessarily a cooperation, maybe the dumpling queen will be a private chef, haha!"

Zang Jianhe didn't know what to do for a while, so he could only greet these old customers and the God of Wealth with a smile.

Just now, she felt that Lin Zhichao should have come with some kind of purpose, so her heart was beating fast. After all, such a big shot.

But when it comes to private chefs, she's certainly not interested.

It's a small shop, but it's better than a private chef, right?

If it is a cooperation, Mr. Lin can see this kind of business?

For a moment, she was a little apprehensive.

Over the years, she has set up a stall in Wan Chai, and some associations can easily handle her and pay protection fees regularly every month. It's hard to rent a storefront, and with the improvement of law and order in Hong Kong, there is no trouble.

Now that the big man came, after eating his dumplings, he asked for his business card when he left, which made her think about it for a while.

If it's cooperation, is it a good thing or a bad thing?

Sir Lam is said to be a 'gentleman of business' and a decent person, not to mention a noble position.

So, that should be a good thing, right?

(End of chapter)