The birth of the Hong Kong Island family

Lin Zhichao came to the ‘Kwun Tong Industrial Building’ and walked into the ‘Changjiang Food Enterprise’ to inspect the work.

"Boss, here are the clothes and hats prepared for you!" General Manager Chen Ping handed over a brand new white coat and hat.

The production workshops of Yangtze Food Company have long implemented strict management of unified work clothes. Even when Lin Zhichao walks into the workshop, he needs to put on work clothes.

Lin Zhichao nodded, then put on his clothes, and walked into the factory together.

"I heard that cup noodles are not easy to sell?"

"Yes, it's too expensive! It costs 1.2 Hong Kong dollars, and only white-collar workers can eat it when they work overtime. Workers will definitely be reluctant to part with it."

Lin Zhichao was not surprised, and then said: "It doesn't matter! As everyone's income increases, more and more people will eat it. Also, promote more, at least let people know that our dolls have this one - Cup noodle."

Chen Ping nodded and replied: "Okay! But should we try to open the US market?"

Lin Zhichao said: "No, let Nissin open it! The two companies have similar tastes. Competing will easily hurt feelings and money."

The chicken noodle soups are somewhat different between the two, but the tonkotsu ramen is closer.

Therefore, for a long time, Nissin has not entered Hong Kong, and doll noodles have not entered Japan.

Of course, the most important reason is that Doll Noodles holds 49% of Nissin Ramen. No matter how much Nissin makes, half of it will go to Doll Noodles. Over the years, Momofuku Ando has kept his promise and asked Dollmen to send two directors to Nissin, which is considered a good partner.

Of course, Lin Zhichao is also more interesting. The Korean partnership profits were given to Nissin, while Doll Noodles only won the Japanese partnership. Not to mention, the research and development of cup noodles was proposed by Lin Zhichao.

In short, everyone cooperates happily and everyone makes money. Nissin has no idea of ​​going public, so everyone just divides the money every year.

Chen Ping said: "Well, if the doll noodles want to go further overseas, they can only wait to develop more flavors in the future; currently they can only develop in Hong Kong and Xingdao, and enjoy profit sharing from Taiwan and Japan."

Lin Zhichao said while visiting the production workshop: "The local market is the most important, and we will expand in the future."

Chen Ping said: "Noodles are very influential in Hong Kong. Every time we provide disaster relief, we send instant noodles."

Currently in the Hong Kong market, the profit of doll noodles is just over HK$1 million a year, mainly because of the low price, only 4 cents per bag. There has been no price increase in ten years, and it is definitely a conscientious enterprise in Hong Kong. Every time there is a typhoon or heavy rain disaster, Doll Noodles will donate more than 50,000 bags, which has a great effect on disaster relief.

The best products to fight against disasters are instant noodles and mineral water.

"Boss, the noodles are ready!" An employee brought the cup noodles over.

After Lin Zhichao took it, he began to taste it.

"Let the R\u0026D department develop the dough to be more flexible and give it a try."

Chen Ping nodded and said, "Well, I'll arrange it."

Soon, after finishing the cup of noodles, the clerk handed over a tissue and took the cup of noodles.

"Overall, it's pretty good. The dehydration of this vegetable is also very good."

"Well, it's all milestone research and development."

Lin Zhichao then continued: "Seafood instant noodles can also be studied slowly. After all, a new product takes almost two to three years, with hundreds of attempts in between."

Chen Ping said: "Yes, if seafood instant noodles are applied to cup noodles, white-collar workers will definitely like it more."

There is much room for improvement in instant noodles in this era, but Lin Zhichao is not in a hurry and plans to develop it gradually.

For example, the instant noodles of this era are all bland in taste, and this is the case in Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, Hong Kong and other places. In the previous life, Koreans developed spicy ramen, which can be regarded as the first spicy instant noodles. The instant noodles of this era did not have sauce packets. The so-called chicken soup noodles and tonkotsu noodles mixed chicken soup and bone broth into the noodles and only came with powder packets. Nowadays, cup noodles are equipped with vegetable wraps, which is already a great innovation.

Lin Zhichao also has ambitions for instant noodles. Overseas development is also needed, and the mainland also needs development, but he will do it step by step.

After chatting for a while, Chen Ping and Lin Zhichao walked into the 'Red Bull R\u0026D Room' again, where seven or eight people were busy.

"Bring me a sample and I'll try it!"

"Okay, boss!"

No need to ask too much, the best way to ask is to taste directly. He is very familiar with the flavor of Red Bull.

In fact, many of the recipes were told by Lin Zhichao. Even so, Red Bull has been developing it for four years.

Products can actually be released during this period, but Lin Zhichao is not in a hurry.

Even after the product is released, the formula will continue to be adjusted, because this is a research and development period. To this end, these R\u0026D engineers have signed strict confidentiality agreements, and of course the most important thing is patents.

After taking a bite, Lin Zhichao was full of memories: "We can produce products, but the research and development work should not stop and continue to improve. In the future, we can make reference tastes based on the market's response. In short, we have positioned the first ten years as the research and development period."

Chen Ping nodded and said: "Okay! But if you want to produce a product, it can only be packaged in cans. This product has been improved by the United States in 1963 and has been widely used. The cost is slightly more expensive than glass bottles."

In the 1940s, Europe and the United States began to use stainless steel cans for beer; it was not until 1963 that the United States invented the can and designed a pull ring, starting a revolution in the way.

If Red Bull wants to start launching products on the market in the next few years, it must introduce a can production line.

Lin Zhichao said with a smile: "It's a can! I will design a logo later. The can will be yellow with a red bull on it, which represents no fatigue and passion. In short, from the formula, to the packaging, and finally to the 'Red Bull' Brands need to register patents. Come up with a plan for me later."

Chen Ping said: "Okay, I'll write it down!"

Next, Lin Zhichao talked with everyone about his feelings, and the engineers involved in the research and development listened carefully. These people are all Chinese, but they all have university majors and have worked in pharmaceutical factories, which is very rare.

Of course, their salaries are also very high. It can be said that Red Bull has spent a lot of research and development expenses. But it doesn’t matter. From now on, all Red Bulls in the world will be sold by my own people. Let Audrey be the agent for the blue canned Red Bull in Europe and the United States.

"After registering the patent, and then recruiting R\u0026D personnel, I feel that this formula is only 60% to 70% progress, and the subsequent progress is very difficult. You have been with me for so many years, and you know that I value long-term interests, so no matter how much I invest up front, I will not You won’t frown.”

"I understand what the boss means!"

As expected, chaos broke out in early April. Hundreds of people were jailed, one person died, ten police officers were injured, and 16 civilians were injured because of the Star Ferry fare increase. Among them, many minors in their teens were also sentenced to boys' and girls' homes.

Of course, Lin Zhichao's view on these things is to just sit on the sidelines and make countermeasures based on what happens and how it affects his business.

The turmoil is good for him. He can take advantage of the opportunity to buy the bottom, which at least has an advantage over others. The turmoil is also good for Hong Kong, prompting the government to pay attention to people's livelihood and the welfare of citizens.

In this case, it doesn't matter to Lin Zhixuan, at least his own mood doesn't matter.

this day.

Lychee Garden.

Lin Zhichao is accompanying Sayuri Yoshinaga, who is traveling to Hong Kong, to visit Songcheng. This scenic spot is a Chinese antique building built with reference to "Along the River During the Qingming Festival".

Lychee Garden is not a children's amusement park. Many people who come to Hong Kong come to Lychee Garden. The most important thing to visit is Songcheng. After all, you can’t enter the mainland at this time, so you can come to Songcheng to visit the Chinese architecture. Some movie shootings will also rent Songcheng as a set, but the shooting time must be only before 9 am.

Therefore, in a very short period of time, more than half of the 20 million investment debt was paid off. The once worthless lychee garden has now become a popular business in the hands of Lin Zhichao, earning more than 3 million Hong Kong dollars in profits every year.

"Wow, it's so beautiful here! The four-story building is so beautiful, with the corners tilting upward!"

"That one is called a 'pavilion'. It has four light and three dark structures. The three-story red building is winding up, and the four eaves of the golden tiles are shining. Forget it, you may not understand it. Anyway, it is very beautiful!"

I originally wanted to give a serious explanation, but one look at Sayuri Yoshinaga's expression and I knew that Chinese culture was vast and profound, but she might not understand it. I'm afraid she only understood the breadth and depth of Lin Zhichao.

Sayuri Yoshinaga said happily: "Mr. Lin, you are so knowledgeable!"

Since the two confirmed their relationship in January this year, they have been dating once or twice a month, living in Tokyo and Hong Kong. Lin Zhichao also dealt with Hinaiko's side and spent his time with Sayuri.

Accompanying Sayuri Yoshinaga to visit Songcheng today, Lin Zhichao is not worried about being seen. After all, Hong Kong is still a place of polygamy. Even if it was changed in the 1970s, it would be impossible to change the concept quickly.

The whole Songcheng is not very big, only a few hundred meters, but it does have a lot of passengers, including many foreign tourists.

In the previous life, Qiu Dekan was only opened in the late 1970s. At that time, there was already the impact of Ocean Park. How much money could it make?

Nowadays, there is only one large amusement park in Hong Kong called "Lychee Garden". Coupled with the addition of Songcheng, there are a lot of tourists every year. Overseas tourists account for about half. When they come to Hong Kong, they almost come back to visit Songcheng. Now every year The number of tourists visiting Hong Kong already exceeds 700,000.

"There is a performance, let's go see it quickly!" In desperation, Sayuri Yoshinaga took Lin Zhichao's hand and pushed towards the crowd.

What a young girl!

Lin Zhichao sighed.

There are performances in Songcheng, and there are many, such as antique weddings, extraordinary tricks, and stunt performances;

Songcheng has a lot of delicious food, and there are snack shops on the street.

Consumption in Songcheng is also quite high. The average family in Hong Kong is almost only willing to go to the amusement park and zoo in Lychee Garden to spend time with their children. Songcheng generally will not choose to buy tickets to come in.

In fact, if you want to have fun shopping around Songcheng, including food and entertainment, you will probably have to spend dozens of Hong Kong dollars.

"It's an antique wedding, an ancient Chinese wedding!"

"The bride is so beautiful, these clothes are really nice!"

"Of course, your Japanese culture is learned from our Chinese, and the kimono is just a derivative version of our Hanfu. If you see the clothes of those people, it is our Hanfu."

"Really? No wonder our texts have many Chinese characters!"

The Japanese are good at not saying that they invented these things, such as Chinese characters and Hanfu.

In fact, whether it’s Hanbok or kimono, aren’t they all passed down from the Tang Dynasty?

In the past, this circle was called the Han culture circle.

After playing for a while, Lin Zhichao looked at the time and urged Sayuri Yoshino to return to the Miramar Hotel. He was still worried that it would be funny if his sons brought their classmates to play and met his father dating another woman.

Back at the hotel, Yoshinaga Sayuri liked Hong Kong food very much, so the two of them naturally had a good meal.

In a hotel suite.

"You have to hold her back again!" Sayuri Yoshinaga said with watery eyes.

"Don't you like it very much?" Lin Zhichao said with a smile.

In fact, he preferred it. Of course, he only tied his wrists behind his back at first, and then loosened them after playing with them for a while.

"No way! You obviously like it!" Sayuri Yoshinaga said shyly.

With a muffled groan, she felt her back tense.

The relationship between the two plays more of a role in this aspect.

Of course, there is no generation gap between the two. Lin Zhichao's ability to coax girls is still very good.

At the end of the month, Lin Zhichao came to Singapore to attend the groundbreaking ceremony of Shangri-La Hotel.

He also had some friends in Singapore. In his early years, Lee Kong Chian invited him to join a club and met some people. Of course, his real friend was Lawyer Lee, with whom he had been communicating for more than ten years.

Although this kind of political and business relationship will not make Lawyer Li very biased towards himself, at least it will be convenient for Lin Zhichao to invest in Singapore. He is a dragon who has crossed the river, so he will inevitably be squeezed by local snakes, but with government connections, he will be worthless in business struggles.

To put it bluntly, Singaporean businessmen are just a bunch of little Luoluo, and they are not enough to look at in front of him.

Orange Grove Road, the western section of Orchard Road, is where the Shangri-La Hotel is located. Guests who came to attend the ceremony gathered Singapore's celebrities and wealthy businessmen, including important government figures.

This is Singapore's largest project investment since its independence, with the total investment exceeding HK$100 million (including land); because the Singapore Development Authority holds 40% of the shares, it is very high-profile.

"Mr. Lin, this is Mr. Huang Tingfang. He also owns a lot of land in Orchard Road, just like you!" Zhang Yanhe, chairman of the Development Bureau, introduced Lin Zhichao.

"It's a pleasure to meet you. It turns out that the person who is more discerning than me is Mr. Huang!" Lin Zhichao said with a smile.

Of course he knows Huang Tingfang, but he has never met him in Singapore. But in his previous life, he was probably a very successful businessman. He was a big real estate developer in Singapore and Hong Kong. Singapore is the largest real estate developer, and Hong Kong is also one of the top ten real estate developers. He has two sons. Six daughters, the result is two sons, one is in charge of Singapore and the other is in charge of Hong Kong. They are typical people who know how to diversify their investments.

"Mr. Lin is the one who deserves the prize! When you started your business in Orchard Road, I hadn't even bought the land yet! And the two pieces of land you own have an area of ​​over 100,000 square feet. They are first-class beautiful land; Daimaru Department Store It is also the most important retail business in Singapore." A trace of envy flashed in Huang Tingfang's eyes.

Lin Zhichao's two sites are not only large in area, but also in the best locations on Orchard Road.

Lin Zhichao said modestly: "It's just good luck! When I first thought that Singapore was the same as Hong Kong, I came up with the idea of ​​investing. If Mr. Huang comes to Hong Kong to invest that day, I will definitely treat you to a glass of wine to express his welcome."

Huang Tingfang was immediately overjoyed. He really wanted to visit Hong Kong in the future. He quickly handed over his business card and contacted her enthusiastically.

Lin Zhichao deliberately sells well, which is naturally a trick of the white wolf. Anyway, after Huang Tinghao caused a storm in Southeast Asia, he would come to Hong Kong to investigate investment; probably in the early 1970s, he came to Hong Kong to invest in real estate, but he became famous in the 1970s. Land in Tsim Sha Tsui East was auctioned in the mid-1990s.

Later, Lin Zhichao got to know some celebrities in Singapore. Many people also knew that Lin Zhichao had a close relationship with the government. Such a big project was won, which is definitely a great relationship.

Just because Singapore has just been established, you cannot think that investing in a 15-acre hotel is a simple matter. Others are asking you to invest; after all, such a large piece of land and a hotel supported by the government will definitely not be acquired regardless of the relationship. of.

At the groundbreaking ceremony, Lin Zhichao and Lawyer Li cut the ribbon together and shoveled the soil to lay the foundation stone with everyone else. Some businessmen knew what was going on.

During the reception, Lawyer Li asked: "Mr. Lin, when will the Shangri-La Hotel open?"

Although there was a public announcement, he cared about it very much. This project is very important. It is the first truly luxurious five-star hotel in Singapore, and it also represents the best treatment for foreign guests in the future.

He has always admired Lin Zhichao's confidence in Singapore. In the 1950s, the Hong Kong businessman made no secret of his optimism about Singapore's prospects, which has remained unchanged over the years.

Lin Zhichao said: "18 months to cap and 12 months to decorate, we will be open on time for Christmas in 1968!"

This speed is nothing, but it is a luxury hotel after all, so the engineering is very detailed.

In fact, even for a fifty-story building, it is not impossible to cap it off in 18 months.

Lawyer Li said with great satisfaction: "Mr. Lin is indeed very efficient in his work. The government will host a banquet for you tonight. Mr. Lin and I will discuss it in detail!"

"good"

It seems that the planning of Orchard Road has also made great progress. The government planning guidelines should be issued within a year or two. By then, the new government will definitely give priority to Lin Zhichao. Because it has three advantages:

First, he has successful shopping mall experience in Hong Kong and is extremely rich in commercial project planning.

Second, Daimaru Department Store has successful experience in Orchard Road and also has rich retail business experience in Sing Tao.

Thirdly, this project was proposed by Lin Zhichao, and Lin Zhichao owns a vacant land of 108,000 square feet. As for the large land of Daimaru Department Store, it is expected to be redeveloped in the late 1970s.

Lin Zhichao's two pieces of land both exceed 100,000 square feet. If it were Hong Kong, 100,000 square feet could be used to build two buildings and a shopping mall (base).

But Singapore obviously cannot operate this way and will not allow dense buildings to exist. Therefore, of the two pieces of land owned by Lin Zhichao, one piece of land will only be built with a shopping mall, plus a hotel or an office building.

In later Orchard Road buildings in Singapore, each building is surrounded by roads and trees. It is not crowded at all and is very beautifully planned.

Of course, the reason why this is so is because Hong Kong people gather on the very small land area of ​​Hong Kong Island, Kowloon, and Tsuen Wan in the New Territories. First, the Taiping Mountains occupy a large area of ​​Hong Kong Island. There is no development in the New Territories, so the buildings in Hong Kong are made of stone. Shit forest.

On the other hand, Singapore is almost all flat land and has half the population, so the planning is indeed very beautiful.

At the government reception dinner in the evening, as expected, Lawyer Li asked Lin Zhichao for advice.

If Lin Zhichao comes to Singapore to invest, he will indeed rely on government support; but if we look at global business impact, business achievements, etc., Singapore can also refer to Lin Zhichao's opinions.

"Mr. Lin, you are optimistic that Orchard Road will become a commercial street and a shopping mall. But as you know, Singapore's economy is not good at this time. How do you think about it?"

The implication is that Singapore’s economy is so bad, do you think there are prospects for building shopping malls?

In fact, it is a test.

Lin Zhichao said with a smile: "Singapore has a unique geographical location. I have been dealing with the new government for many years. I believe that Singapore will become a place with the fastest economic development in Asia like Hong Kong. In my personal opinion, Singapore is engaged in shipping, trade, It’s a great place for industry.”

After some chatting, the Singaporean government came up with a lot of words from Lin Zhichao. Lawyer Li even wanted to invite Lin Zhichao to become a government development consultant, but Lin Zhichao refused. Although this kind of thing can lead to better relations with the new government, he is a Hong Konger and cannot do that.

Lawyer Li and others are interested in Lin Zhichao's influence as the world's shipping king and the leader of Hong Kong businessmen, so they are wooing him like this; it doesn't matter if he refuses, but they must put their attitude here.

Finally, Zhang Yanhe from the Development Bureau said: "If the Orchard Road plan is launched, will Mr. Lin be willing to invest in the first shopping mall?"

Lin Zhichao smiled and said: "No problem!"

The first investment is naturally beneficial, that is, making money first; as for the brand that falls behind in the future, it can be completely renovated and upgraded. As long as the building design is beautiful enough, it will not be out of date even fifty years later.

Now in the late 1960s, the technology for modern construction of buildings and shopping malls has become very mature. As for the interior decoration, it can be upgraded and decorated later.