The birth of the Hong Kong Island family

Bonham East Street, located in Sheung Wan, is a well-known "Golden Street" in Hong Kong. There are 20 to 30 gold shops and silver shops here, specializing in gold trading, foreign currency exchange, exchange and other businesses.

Bonham East Street and Bonham West Street are not completely connected. The east end of Bonham East Street is connected to Queen's Road Central, near Suhang Street and Wellington Street, and the west end is connected to Possession Street and the junction of Queen's Road Central and West; A section starts, the west end connects to Des Voeux Road West. The road is named after the third Governor of Hong Kong, Bonham.

"Boss, this is the landlord Huang Sheng, you are still from the same hometown!" Hu Zhaoxu introduced Lin Zhichao.

Hong Kong is a city in Guangdong Province, so it is not difficult to meet fellow citizens.

Lin Zhichao plans to open a "bank account" to engage in gold trading, foreign currency exchange, exchange and other businesses;

He doesn't want to get rich, he just wants to have a sign on Wenwen Street.

Therefore, he asked Hu Zhaoxu to look for a facade for him.

"Boss Lin, I didn't expect that you, a real estate tycoon, would come to Bonham East Street to rent a shop!" the landlord Huang Sheng said with a smile.

Lin Zhichao looked up at the surroundings casually, and then responded to the landlord: "Everyone says that I am a real estate tycoon, but I don't know that the house I live in is rented, and the office building is rented. Now the shop is still coming for rent. I haven't had any yet. It's a property! Huang Sheng, according to this statement, you are better than me."

When Huang Sheng heard this, he immediately laughed, and then said: "Lin Sheng is really a standard (excellent) businessman from Shunde.

After the two exchanged pleasantries, the landlord took Lin Zhichao on a tour.

"Lin Sheng is also very lucky. His previous landlord ran a store and couldn't pay the rent, so he refunded the rent (in fact, he increased the rent and kicked out the tenants). I asked him to consider opening a gold and silver shop on Bonham East Street. He can make money, but unfortunately he doesn’t have the guts.”

Lin Zhichao inspected the facade of the place. It was only over 350 square feet in area, with two floors upstairs and downstairs. It's a bit small to open a gold store bank account. It's obvious that the landlord is making random suggestions, not to mention that others who don't know the business enter this business rashly and are defrauded of their money within a few days.

Although he doesn't know much about it, he has a lot of financial strength and he doesn't care about drinking, so it doesn't matter.

"A little too small!" Lin Zhichao muttered.

The landlord Huang Sheng was also very shrewd and immediately said: "Boss Lin, I'm not going to lie to you, it's rare for a shop to be rented out on Bonham East Street all year round. It's just a coincidence that you came across it."

Lin Zhichao stopped talking nonsense. He didn't have time, so he said, "Okay, what's the price?"

Huang Sheng thought for a while and then said: "As Xu said just now, we are from the same hometown, and you are our Shunde native, so I have to give you face no matter what. In this way, you can give me 2,000 as a top hand fee, and add 10,000 more One year's rent is enough."

This price is not bad. It is market price without Meng Lin Zhichao. It seems that he is now considered a celebrity.

"Okay, then when the contract is signed, I still need to decorate the house and open it as soon as possible."

Huang Sheng said with a smile: "Boss Lin is so refreshing. No wonder his career is so big. By the way, what are you planning to do?"

Lin Zhichao looked at the landlord and said matter-of-factly: "Huang Sheng said that you can make a steady profit by opening a silver and gold store here. I have no reason not to listen to you. So, I will open a silver and gold store."

The landlord was stunned for a moment, and then said in disbelief: "Is this really a gold shop?"

"Of course! Definitely!"

The landlord was speechless. He might have planned to open a gold store from the beginning.

"Then congratulations on getting rich!"

But I don't understand that such a big boss still cares about such a small appearance.

Soon, the two parties decided to sign the contract the next day.

When opening a bank account this time, Lin Zhichao plans to set up a subsidiary in the name of Changjiang Real Estate. In this way, it is convenient for accounting arrangements and inquiries. Moreover, in the future, the bank account can also become a subsidiary 'finance company' or 'securities company' of the real estate company.

After negotiating with the landlord, Lin Zhichao took Hu Zhaoxu to visit Bonham East Street, and from time to time he would visit other people's shops.

"Boss, since you want to open a gold shop, I'm afraid you have to find trustworthy employees. I heard that in this industry, there are 'gold and stealing gold, and silver and silver stealing.' Those who are not trustworthy can easily be taken over by goldsmiths. It's cheaper." Hu Zhaoxu suggested.

Lin Zhichao nodded and said, "I've heard about it too. Do you know someone who has done this? You could introduce him to me."

Hu Zhaoxu was immediately moved, thinking that his boss trusted him, and so did the people he introduced.

However, he shook his head and said: "I don't know anyone who is experienced in the gold bank, otherwise I would introduce him to you!"

Lin Zhichao said nonchalantly: "It's okay! I don't think this bank is really interested in gold trading or foreign exchange exchange business. It's just that it plans to speculate in gold in the gold and silver trading market. As for the store business, it's slow Take your time, there is always someone who is willing to help me."

Hu Zhaoxu nodded and lamented that his boss had too much energy.

As for Hu Zhaoxu, Lin Zhishan also trusted him and recognized his abilities. The key was that he was willing to learn.

Just as Lin Zhichao was about to go back, he saw an "acquaintance" in a store called "Baosheng Bank".

I saw this acquaintance lightly scratching a customer's gold, then confirming it a few times, and then said: "Sir, the pure color of your gold is only 94%, and one or two grains of silver are added to it. look."

The customer didn't quite believe it: "How is it possible? I exchanged it at a big bank in the mainland. Do you, the master, know how to read gold?"

Li Shauji was moved by confidence: "Sir, I started learning this business when I was six years old. I will never be wrong. If you are worried, you can go over there and try again."

After the customer got to the counter and tried again, he got the same answer and returned to Lee Shau Kee to complete the transaction.

Lee Shau Kee got the gold and immediately wanted to leave.

"Sir, stay!" Lin Zhichao quickly called out to Li Shauji and went to greet him.

Li Zhao was a little nervous at first, but he felt relieved when he saw that Lin Zhichao and Hu Zhaoxu were well-dressed, and that they were people with bank accounts they knew.

"Hello, you are?"

Lin Zhichao smiled and said: "Sir, I just saw that you are very good at dividing money and doing the whole transaction with ease. To be honest, I am preparing a bank account and need a shopkeeper. I would like to invite you to sit down and have a chat. By the way, My name is Lin Zhichao, and this is my name card." After saying that, he asked for the business card and handed it to Li Shauji.

Li Shauji was stunned, then picked up the name card and looked at it, and found that he was the boss of a real estate company and a zipper company, so he knew that Lin Zhichao was doing business across industries.

But he said awkwardly: "Well, I haven't planned to find a job yet!"

He came to Hong Kong with some cash and stayed at his aunt's house without any expenses. Therefore, he could make a lot of money just by doing business on Bonham East Street, which was better than working part-time.

What's more, his elder brother Li Zhaolin also works for his uncle's Macau Po Cheong Bank. The bosses of Po Cheong Bank and Hong Kong Po Sang Bank (soon to be the predecessor of Po Sang Bank) are old friends from the same hometown. , have been partners for a long time. Therefore, it would be convenient for Lee Shau Kee to speculate in gold.

Lin Zhichao immediately threw out the bait and said: "You can only make a small profit by doing small things. If you come to my bank as the shopkeeper, I will give you enough freedom. You can also do your own business. You can borrow my money." It doesn’t matter to me to run my own business in front of someone else. To be honest, my opening a bank account is just a cover. I plan to go to the gold and silver trade market to speculate in gold and do big business, so the storefront business needs a skilled person to take care of me and treat me well. I won’t treat you badly.”

He added: "If you have considered it, you can call me and we will discuss it in detail."

When Li Zhaoji heard this, he was already moved, but he still had some concerns, so he said, "Okay, Boss Lin."

Lin Zhichao asked Li Zhaoji's name again, and after getting the answer, he left with satisfaction.

On the way, Hu Zhaoxu was dumbfounded. The boss must have been too convenient.

"Boss, is this person trustworthy?"

Lin Zhichao said with a smile: "It doesn't matter whether you can trust him or not. I only need to know one thing. He just came to Hong Kong and can't beat me. What's more, he just spoke with a Shunde accent and said that he entered the industry at the age of six. I must be from a family of silver and gold shops, so my skills should be pretty good."

Hu Zhaoxu nodded and said, "The boss is brilliant!"

He also understood that with the boss's shrewdness, if Li Zhaoji was found to have done anything illegal, he would just be fired.

This way.

Lee Shau Kee found the shopkeeper of Po Sang Bank and asked, "Uncle Shi, do you know the boss on this name sticker?"

The shopkeeper immediately took it over and took a look at it, and said in surprise: "Why do you have this famous post? He is not an ordinary person. He is our Biaoqing businessman in Shunde. He owns Changjiang Real Estate and Changjiang Industries. In short, he is better than Chaozhou. The businessman's reputation is even more impressive, and he is a business wizard. By the way, how do you know him?"

Lee Shau Kee was very shocked at this time. Such a powerful person wanted to win over him just because he saw him buying and selling gold?

However, he was very interested in that job at this time for three reasons:

First, this boss Lin is an outsider in banking, so he will definitely rely on himself;

Second, Boss Lin gives himself enough freedom. He can continue to place orders and buy and sell gold, as long as he uses his own capital.

Thirdly, this shopkeeper seems to have great power. Boss Lin does not seem to care about the facade business, it is just a cover; if he makes achievements by himself, then it can be regarded as repaying the trust of others.

Fourth, do it for a while, and when the time is right, just say goodbye. At that time, Boss Lin's bank account will also be organized, which can be regarded as a happy end.

"He wanted me to work for him, so he gave me a name card."

The shopkeeper immediately said: "Shau Kee, don't I also give you a job here? Your brother is in Macau and you are in Hong Kong. The two banks are on the same page." He knew that Lee Shau Kee was a "bank prodigy". 'The ability.

Li Shaoji said apologetically: "Uncle Shi, I'm really sorry. I'm quite reluctant and worried about getting you into trouble. But that boss Lin said that he doesn't value the front-end business and just let me do whatever I want. He mainly plans to go to the financial industry. The silver market speculates in gold, so it is enough to earn rent for the facade business, and I can do my own business."

The shopkeeper was stunned and suddenly said: "This may be true. He is a wealthy man and he really doesn't care about the commission. Well, in this case, I won't advise you. After all, you will also be the shopkeeper in the future."

"Uncle Shi, you are making fun of me."

"Haha, Zhaoji, you are lucky."