Chapter 203 A Sincere Apology
At noon, after having lunch with Chen Shoulin and others, Lin Haoran went to HSBC to transfer the payment for the stock purchases to Li Mingze and the others.
The funds from Hong Kong Electric Group's side would be handled by the company's finance department, so Lin Haoran was only responsible for his share.
After transferring the funds, they returned to the company, and Chen Shoulin called Li Mingze and the others to inform them that the payment had been made.
Lin Haoran's takeover of China Gas Company would surely keep Hong Kong's citizens buzzing for days.
Especially since it was still the Chinese New Year period, with many people visiting relatives and exchanging gossip.
Small talk could only last so long—soon enough, conversations shifted to the dramatic events surrounding China Gas.
First, Jardines Matheson had announced a high-profile acquisition of China Gas's shares. Then, after the market closed, they held a press conference triumphantly claiming they had become the actual controlling shareholder.
The most absurd moment was when Nobby Jamieson, in front of the outgoing chairman, declared himself the new Chairman—without anything being officially settled.
Only to be immediately slapped down by Lin Haoran.
No one had expected that the one to seize final victory would be such a young man.
Now, it was known to all that China Gas would remain a Chinese-owned company, with Lin Haoran holding 49.9% of the shares—making it impossible for anyone to wrest control from him.
Thus, when people talked about it, they smiled proudly.
Among Hong Kong's older generation—mostly immigrants from mainland China—there remained a strong patriotic sentiment.
Thus, seeing Chinese enterprises rise was something everyone was happy about.
Meanwhile, the stock market calmed down after the frenzy.
Without Jardines Matheson, Hongkong Land, or Lin Haoran aggressively absorbing shares, the battle was clearly over.
The stock price, which had been artificially inflated by more than 35%, began to fall.
Even though there weren't many shares left in the hands of ordinary investors, China Gas's stock price still dropped.
By the close of trading that afternoon, China Gas's market cap had fallen back to HK$650 million.
Still slightly higher than its pre-New Year figure of HK$590 million, but not by much.
It would be difficult to push it back down to the old levels completely, especially given the ongoing bull market in Hong Kong.
Unless bad news emerged, very few stocks were declining these days.
Lin Haoran, however, paid little attention to the market movements.
After all, unless he intended to privatize China Gas, the stock price didn't affect him much.
He stayed at China Gas until the afternoon, then left.
With Chen Shoulin and He Zhenxing overseeing things, he had little to worry about.
Afterward, Lin Haoran made a trip to Hong Kong Electric Group.
With Chen Shoulin needing to focus more on integrating China Gas, he wanted to check that everything at Hong Kong Electric was running smoothly.
There were no problems.
At Hong Kong Electric, he toured the company and activated his "golden finger" ability, quickly reviewing every employee and manager's loyalty scores.
Fortunately, he found no worrying cases today.
Back in his office, Lin Haoran began reviewing the 1979 financial reports from the finance department.
But before he could dive into them, his pager buzzed.
With a sigh, he put the reports down and returned the call.
"Hello, this is Lin Haoran. Who's calling?" he asked.
"Mr. Lin, this is Ge Zhixiong. I apologize for disturbing you during the New Year. Firstly, I wish you a happy New Year. May I ask if you're available now?" came the respectful reply.
Previously, Lin Haoran had asked Ge Zhixiong for an explanation.
Ge Zhixiong had originally planned to visit sooner, but with the busy holiday season, he had hesitated.
These past few days, Ge Zhixiong had been on edge.
Especially after seeing today's events at China Gas, he realized he needed to settle things with Lin Haoran quickly.
After all, Lin Haoran had stood firm even against Jardines Matheson. What could a gang like 13K possibly do?
He worried that if too much time passed, Lin Haoran would remember the incident in Mong Kok—and then 13K would truly be in trouble.
"I'm available. Go ahead, Mr. Ge," Lin Haoran said, not putting on airs.
"Mr. Lin, may I visit you in person? I wish to personally offer an explanation for that incident," Ge Zhixiong asked carefully.
"Alright, come ahead. I'm at Hong Kong Electric Group headquarters. You should know the location," Lin Haoran replied.
After hanging up, he continued reading the financial reports.
The reports confirmed that Hong Kong Electric remained a top-tier company: all its business divisions were profitable last year.
Electricity sales, property development, property management, technical services, retail, advertising, and finance—every division was in the black.
The riskiest sector was financial lending, where they had once suffered losses when a borrower collapsed.
Since then, Hong Kong Electric's management had grown much more cautious.
As for real estate development, Hong Kong Electric's model was different: they mainly developed their own land.
Thus, even in a housing crisis, they would not face serious losses.
Lin Haoran was very satisfied—his acquisition of Hong Kong Electric had been well worth it.
Half an hour later, a car pulled up outside Hong Kong Electric's headquarters.
Two middle-aged men stepped out—Ge Zhixiong, head of 13K, and Hu Xuyong, their Yau Tsim Mong district leader.
Gone was the swagger and arrogance typical of Hong Kong's gang leaders.
Today, they looked cautious and deferential.
In the underworld, they had once been kings.
But facing a business titan like Lin Haoran, they dared not show the slightest disrespect.
Though 13K claimed tens of thousands of members, if Lin Haoran ever chose to leverage his political connections, the gang would be finished.
Look at the fate of Crippled Ho and the Ma family brothers: once mighty, now broken.
Today's gang leaders all understood: no matter how powerful they seemed, they could never beat the government.
Ge Zhixiong and Hu Xuyong opened the car trunk and retrieved a large gift bag before entering the building.
Lin Haoran had already instructed security to expect their arrival.
Though Ge Zhixiong and Hu Xuyong were famous underworld figures, proper security procedures had to be followed.
Security staff frisked them thoroughly, ensuring they carried no weapons, before escorting them to Lin Haoran's office.
Outside the door, there was a knock.
"Come in," Lin Haoran said.
The door opened, and the security chief respectfully announced, "Boss, Mr. Ge and Mr. Hu are here."
"Hello, Mr. Lin. I'm Ge Zhixiong. This is Hu Xuyong. We brought a small gift for you. Please don't mind," Ge Zhixiong said humbly, placing the bag by the desk.
"Happy New Year, Mr. Lin," added Hu Xuyong respectfully.
At that moment, the two infamous gangsters behaved like deferential schoolboys.
No one would imagine these were once the dominant figures of Hong Kong's criminal underworld.
"Have a seat," Lin Haoran said, waving them toward the chairs.
The two men sat down cautiously.
"So, what brings you here today?" Lin Haoran asked, smiling lightly.
Hu Xuyong stood up immediately.
"Mr. Lin, we've thoroughly investigated the incident that night. Those six men were my subordinates. They failed to recognize your status and offended you. That's my failure of leadership.
Although I didn't order it, they are my responsibility. To show our sincerity, I have had those six men detained. You can punish them however you see fit.
Moreover, if Mr. Lin ever needs help with matters that are inconvenient for you to handle personally, 13K is at your service," Hu Xuyong said cautiously.
In Hong Kong, the relationship between triads and aristocratic families had always been complicated.
In truth, gangs often served as the "tools" of the wealthy—taking care of unsavory tasks that high society needed done but couldn't be linked to publicly.
In other words, the triads were the scapegoats for the powerful.
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