Chapter 255: Expansion of Media Channels and the Opening of the Maritime Academy
"Alright, Mr. Yang Wendong. No matter what direction we go with, content will always be the core," Qin Zhiye agreed.
Newspapers could cover all kinds of topics and themes, but content was always king. Even if the subject matter wasn't new, as long as it was well-written, it would find its audience. The challenge came when competing directly in other outlets' strongholds—after all, any publication that had remained successful for years certainly wasn't lacking in strength.
"Mm…" Yang Wendong nodded and added, "Aside from content, we also need to be strategic with advertising. In the beginning, keep ads minimal so it doesn't affect the reading experience.
But we should focus heavily on job listings. In the past few years, lots of people have poured into Hong Kong. With our industrial and real estate sectors booming, demand for jobs is high. I suspect many people buy newspapers just to job hunt—this is a need we should address."
In a time without the internet, newspapers were the primary means for both individuals to find jobs and for companies to post openings. TV and radio were options too, but in 1960s Hong Kong, newspapers dominated.
In fact, classified ads were a primary revenue stream for most papers. While Oriental Daily aimed to differentiate itself, monetization still came down to competing with other publications' business.
"Understood," Qin Zhiye nodded. "But since we're still a new paper, that side of the business hasn't started yet. I plan to dedicate a special section to recruitment.
Right now, the only ad we've run is the recruitment notice for Changxing Shipping's Maritime Academy. That one was placed alongside your 'Shipping King' article, so it didn't really disrupt the layout."
"Good," Yang Wendong said.
The shipyard in Kwai Chung wasn't finished yet, but the Maritime Academy had already been built.
Recruiting students was now the priority. Honghua Daily wasn't the right place to do this—it was a high-end paper. Its readers were mostly well-established professionals who wouldn't be interested in maritime careers.
But Oriental Daily, freshly launched and appealing to the working class, was perfect. That's why this business line was handed over to it.
Radio could also reach a wide audience and was suitable for broad promotion, but since it lacked a visual format, it wasn't ideal for something like school admissions, which required careful consideration and detail. Its ads were better suited to consumer products or domestic services.
"Mr. Yang Wendong, the next few days of content will return to a normal schedule. I'll adjust our promotional strategy based on sales data," Qin Zhiye said.
"Alright, content and marketing go hand in hand," Yang Wendong replied.
Marketing was a necessity for any business—unless your product was unparalleled or protected by administrative monopoly. Otherwise, there was no surviving without it.
…
Over the next few days, Oriental Daily transitioned to regular distribution. While sales dipped slightly after its opening-day headline buzz wore off, it still held steady above 10,000 copies per day.
The core reason was that the content remained strong, and the price—30 cents—was among the cheapest on the market.
Wan Chai, Hong Kong Island:
Inside the headquarters of Sing Sze Daily, Hu Xian frowned. "So this new Oriental Daily has already sold over 10,000 copies a day? How can a brand-new paper take off so fast?"
"Boss Hu, I looked into it," said Old Wu. "Their content is very close to the daily lives of ordinary people. Lots of first-person stories. I read a few myself—very compelling. They must've conducted many interviews with locals.
Secondly, the price—30 cents—is dirt cheap. Normally, papers at that price are garbage. But Oriental Daily's quality is quite good. Both content and paper quality are on par with ours.
Lastly, they're giving kickbacks to newsstand owners. With every copy sold, the vendor gets two extra cents. Naturally, those vendors are pushing the paper."
"High quality at a low price… how are they making money?" Hu Xian asked, puzzled.
As an industry veteran, he knew the margins inside out.
Old Wu said, "It's still unclear. They might plan to bring in revenue through ads. At their pricing, they'd need a lot of them.
But even with more ads, their base quality is good enough that readers might accept it."
"What I'm worried about," Hu Xian muttered, "is if they don't run many ads at all. Judging by their work on Honghua Daily, their new paper might follow the same style—clean layout, controlled ad space."
Old Wu nodded. "That would mean they're intentionally forgoing profits.
But given Yang Wendong's deep pockets, it's entirely possible."
"Exactly my concern," Hu Xian said. "If it were just a rich man playing around, I wouldn't care. They'd bleed money and quit eventually.
But Yang Wendong isn't just wealthy—he actually understands the media business. If he's not chasing profits, we're in trouble. Especially since our target demographics are so similar."
"It's hard to beat that," Old Wu admitted. "He hasn't gone overboard on pricing, so no one can accuse him of unfair competition.
The worst part is—they're genuinely putting effort into content. Real stories. Authentic, interesting, relatable. It's got mass appeal."
"Could we write similar stories?" Hu Xian asked.
In the newspaper industry, as long as you didn't plagiarize exact content, covering similar themes was normal. Most outlets followed trends—few truly innovated.
"We can try," said Old Wu. "But Oriental Daily is already so invested. Catching up won't be easy."
"Let's just give it a shot," Hu Xian said with a sigh. "This kind of big-capital entry into media is giving me a headache."
In the past, media's influence had made it a tempting target for conglomerates. Some had tried to acquire Sing Sze Daily, but were turned away. These conglomerates usually didn't enter the field themselves—because having money alone wasn't enough.
But now someone had both money and capability—and it was hurting the competition.
"Don't worry too much, Boss," Old Wu reassured. "There are plenty of papers in Hong Kong. Even if his sales are strong, it won't impact us much. We have over a million people here, with all kinds of preferences.
Honestly, I don't think Oriental Daily is eating into anyone's existing readership. It feels more like they're creating a new market.
The kind of readers they attract—people who love real stories—probably weren't regular buyers before. And people with money won't mind spending 30 cents more on another paper if it's good."
Hu Xian smiled wryly. "You've got a point. But maybe we're just comforting ourselves. We have seven or eight different papers. Do you really think Yang Wendong will stop at one?"
"Well…" Old Wu couldn't deny it. "If this one succeeds, he might roll out others too."
"Then we'll do our best," Hu Xian said. "Let's pick one of our publications and try a similar approach. Maybe we'll pick up some new readers. The rest, we keep running normally and focus on content quality."
"Yes, Boss," Old Wu agreed.
A newspaper that hit 10,000 daily sales within just a few days—and held steady—was unprecedented in Hong Kong's publishing history.
Other publishers were already dissecting Oriental Daily's success and realizing it stemmed from three things: low price, high quality, and strong content.
But knowing the formula didn't mean they could replicate it.
Content was especially tricky—each paper had its own voice. Sure, better funding helped, but success still required real effort.
"But offering both low price and high quality is tough," Qin Zhiye said. "Unless we're willing to give up the high margins, it's nearly impossible."
Wen Wei Po Headquarters:
This was one of Hong Kong's well-known newspapers, with a clear pro-mainland stance.
"Mr. Liao, this is the latest sales figure for Oriental Daily—it's consistently above 10,000 copies per day," a middle-aged man reported.
Mr. Liao chuckled. "Haha, that Yang Wendong is really something. He seems to succeed in every industry—even in newspapers."
The middle-aged man nodded. "Yes, he's succeeded in everything so far. I visited that Carrefour supermarket they opened on Des Voeux Road—it's really impressive. If it becomes widespread, it could pose a threat to our state-run retail stores."
Mr. Liao shook his head. "That doesn't really matter. The mainland only cares about goods flowing into Hong Kong to earn foreign exchange. No matter how big Carrefour gets, it still has to buy from China Resources, right?"
"That's true," the man agreed. Then he asked, "Since Oriental Daily is becoming one of Hong Kong's key newspapers and Yang Wendong has such growing influence, should we try to sound him out—see if he leans left or right?"
"No need," Mr. Liao replied. "Haven't you noticed? Yang Wendong has been famous for years now, but he's never expressed any political opinions in the press."
"You're right," the man recalled. "Not even neutral comments, let alone political ones."
"Exactly. That means he's either very cautious, or he simply doesn't understand politics," Mr. Liao said. "I think it's the former."
"Must be. It's rare to see someone so young and yet so careful," the man said admiringly.
"His business is mainly export-driven, so leaning right would be normal," Mr. Liao added. "But since he hasn't expressed anything, it's also possible he leans left."
"That's the same as saying nothing," the man said with a laugh.
"Haha." Mr. Liao chuckled. "Honestly, it doesn't matter. Just look at what Yang Wendong has done—he's been helping Hong Kong's poor. That alone means he's not far right. That's good enough."
"True," the man nodded. "Neutral might actually be best."
The success of Oriental Daily had stirred up a frenzy across Hong Kong's media scene and beyond.
January 15, inside Honghua Tower:
Yang Wendong returned to the building. Both Qin Zhiye and Zhang Hui, heads of the media subsidiaries, came down personally to greet him.
"Good morning, Mr. Yang Wendong," they said politely at the entrance.
"Here, I brought you some tea," Yang Wendong said, handing over two boxes from the trunk. "It's a gift from China Resources. I figured I'd share some with you."
Although Changxing Group's main business wasn't trade, with nearly 20,000 employees—plus all its suppliers—the group consumed massive amounts of daily goods.
China Resources, as Hong Kong's largest materials supplier, often sent gifts to major clients, especially those they hoped to build long-term relationships with. Tea was a common choice—many people loved it, but getting high-quality mainland tea was difficult.
"Thank you, Mr. Yang Wendong," both Qin and Zhang said as they accepted the gifts.
"Let's head upstairs," Yang Wendong said.
Once inside, he asked directly, "What's Oriental Daily's recent sales?"
"We broke 13,000 copies yesterday," Qin Zhiye reported with a smile. "Looking at the trend, sales dipped slightly after the second day but have been steadily rising since.
According to feedback from readers, most are satisfied with the content and intend to keep buying.
The only issue is that most of our current vendors are in the more developed areas of Hong Kong Island and Kowloon. Our biggest potential customers might actually be outside those economic hubs."
"You're absolutely right," Yang Wendong nodded. "Even though people in less developed areas might not have much spending power, things have improved a lot in the last five years. Many of them can afford a paper now."
"So I was thinking," Qin Zhiye continued, "if we could get more newsstands in those neighborhoods, our sales would likely grow even more."
"You mean we invest in building our own?" Yang Wendong asked.
"That wouldn't work," Qin Zhiye said, shaking his head. "There's no law against it, but major papers haven't done it for decades. Back in the 1930s, some papers tried to monopolize distribution and even hired gangs to fight over newsstands.
The colonial government stepped in and mediated. No one really knows what agreement was reached, but since then, the government has used newsstand licenses as a form of social welfare."
"Well, that's an interesting bit of history," Yang Wendong said thoughtfully.
Once a newspaper reached a certain scale, controlling distribution became an obvious next step. It was the same as how Changxing Industrial eventually began producing some of its own raw materials. While controlling retail was difficult, investing in a company like Walmart could be a viable future strategy.
Qin Zhiye added, "Government licenses are only issued to locals under strict conditions. It wouldn't be worth it for us to get directly involved.
But if we identify suitable candidates who meet the government's criteria and encourage them to apply, they don't have to be exclusive to us—but they'd definitely be more inclined to prioritize Oriental Daily."
"Sounds good," Yang Wendong agreed. "We can offer them small loans at fair interest rates. In exchange, they give our paper priority."
Even if not direct investment, this was still an expansion of media distribution.
"Understood," Qin Zhiye said happily. Then he added, "By the way, Mr. Yang Wendong, the Oriental Daily ad for the Maritime Academy has generated a lot of inquiries. We've been getting calls nonstop. Seems it's quite effective."
"The Maritime Academy?" Yang Wendong nodded. "Good. That project is finally finished. I should go check it out."
The next morning:
Yang Wendong arrived at the Maritime Academy in Tsui Drunk Bay.
"Mr. Yang Wendong, you're early!" came a voice.
As he stepped out of the car, he saw Pao Yue-kong walking toward him from the school gates.
Yang Wendong smiled. "We agreed on a time—of course I'd be punctual. You're even earlier."
"Only by ten minutes," Pao Yue-kong chuckled. "The academy is about to officially open, and honestly, I was too excited to sleep."
Yang Wendong nodded. "Mr. Pao, work is important, but don't let it consume your life."
"Haha, I know. But sometimes, I just can't help it," Pao Yue-kong laughed.
"Please, after you," Yang Wendong said, not pushing further. It was enough to remind him once.
Many people placed work above all else. For a boss, it was understandable. But even regular employees sometimes did the same—and only realized how foolish it was after getting laid off.
"Alright, let's go together," Pao Yue-kong said.
The two walked inside. In an open area, over a hundred students stood in formation, split into four groups.
"Is this a military-style drill?" Yang Wendong asked curiously.
Though he had funded the academy, operations were managed by Pao Yue-kong's team. It was Pao's idea, and given his success in the shipping industry, Yang Wendong saw no reason to interfere.
Get 30% off on my Patreon and enjoy early access to new chapters.
You can also purchase the next 100 chapters of the novel directly from my Patreon page.
Hurry up! The promotion ends on March 2, 2026.
Read 40 Chapters In Advance: patreon.com/Johanssen10