Chapter Eighty-Two: The Banquet
Riding his BMW, Wei Hua arrived at the address indicated on the invitation. The place wasn’t far from his home, both nestled within the affluent Shallow Bay district. As he drove into the courtyard of the mansion, he noticed quite a few luxury cars already parked there. Presenting his invitation to the attendant at the gate, he handed over his keys and proceeded into the grand living room of the opulent residence.
The banquet was a Western-style buffet. After receiving a glass of champagne from one of the attendants, Wei Hua began to survey the men and women in the room. The men were all dressed in formal evening wear, while the women were dazzling in jewels and lavish attire. Most guests were middle-aged, with few younger faces among them. Standing amidst the crowd, Wei Hua felt somewhat conspicuous, a crane among chickens, as some of the guests had already started to take notice of him.
As Wei Hua sipped his champagne and observed the gathering, he sensed someone approaching from behind. Turning, he recognized an acquaintance and greeted him, “Editor-in-Chief Bai! Long time no see! What have you been busy with lately? How come you, the chief editor of the New China News Agency, have to personally attend this banquet for an interview?”
“Mr. Wei! I’m here today in a personal capacity to visit friends, so let’s set aside the titles. And please, I’m just a deputy editor—no need to address me as chief at all. I heard from the greeter that you had arrived, so I came over to find you. Come, let me introduce you to our host. If you wish to establish your business in Hong Kong, you’ll need to build good relations with the local tycoons. The Rong family counts among Hong Kong’s most prominent houses, and all the major local and British firms are well aware of the Rong family’s unique background. The Rong family will assist you with your investments in Hong Kong; this is a directive from above and a gesture of gratitude for your assistance with the industrial zone.”
With that, Bai Jianjun led Wei Hua upstairs to a study. Pushing open the door, they found a man in his forties seated behind a desk. Upon seeing them, he addressed Bai Jianjun, “Brother Jianjun! This must be Mr. Wei Hua?”
“That’s right, Brother Rong! Mr. Wei, this is Mr. Rong Zhijian, our host today and head of the Rong family of Hong Kong. I’m sure you know something about the Rong family’s history, so I foresee many opportunities for your two houses to collaborate. As you know, the British firms still dominate the Hong Kong economy, and Chinese businesses must unite to compete. Mr. Rong is also very well informed about your background, so there’s no need for reserve between you two,” Bai Jianjun said to Wei Hua.
“Mr. Rong, a pleasure to meet you,” Wei Hua replied politely after hearing Bai Jianjun’s introduction.
“Mr. Wei, the pleasure is mine! To be honest, I greatly admire your skills in financial investment. Starting with just over ten thousand US dollars, you’ve grown your assets to nearly forty billion in eight years—something others could hardly imagine, but you have done it. Not only I, but most investors around the world are sure to respect your abilities,” Rong Zhijian said.
“Mr. Rong, you flatter me. I do have some skill in financial investment, but the success of Excellence Private Investment Company is entirely due to the strength of our team. We have the best analysts and traders; that’s the real key to our consistent success,” Wei Hua replied. He had realized, ever since a senior leader had revealed his identity, that it would only be a matter of time before other financial institutions and magnates learned he was the man behind Excellence Private Investment Company. Although he had set up an offshore holding company, Xuan Yi, to control Excellence, his relationships with Selina, Jessie, and Mary—and the positions they held in the company, along with the company’s registration history—would make it easy for anyone determined to uncover the truth. Especially since Excellence Private Investment had made nearly thirty billion dollars in the recent oil crisis, he was sure plenty were investigating its background; his exposure was inevitable.
“I’ve learned that you’ve recently invested in a home appliance manufacturing company in Shenzhen. I’d like to know what prompted you to make such an investment. From what we understand, the current wage levels in the mainland make the market for home appliances rather limited—few can afford them,” Rong Zhijian remarked.
“You’re right, Mr. Rong. The reason I founded this manufacturing company is simple: to cultivate and capture the mainland market, and more profoundly, to check the advance of Japanese home appliance makers. You must know how swiftly Japan’s economy has developed in recent years. Its geography and resources compel it to pursue an export-driven model, and Japanese companies have consistently led the world in appliance technology, in some cases even surpassing the US. China lags far behind Japan in this field. Now that reforms have begun, we won’t take the old path of self-imposed isolation. Our products will go out, and, of course, we’ll import others’. Socialist countries also need to improve the standard of living and meet people’s material needs. Televisions, washing machines, refrigerators—these will soon become part of everyday life for ordinary people on the mainland. But as you know, there has been little planning in this area. So I expect that in coming years, Japanese products will flood the Chinese market. I have little fondness for Japan as a country, or for most of its people, so I want to squeeze the room for Japanese companies to survive.”
“One more thing, Mr. Rong: you underestimate the ingenuity of the Chinese people. Right now, few families in the mainland can afford televisions and the like, but in a few years, you’ll see that China will become a vast consumer market for such products. Our population is enormous, and the sheer numbers will create a market of unprecedented scale. I am very optimistic about the ongoing reform policies; I believe they will bring about earth-shaking changes, especially in the countryside. In just a few years, the rural population will have solved their basic needs, and then home appliances will become the main consumer products for them.”