Song Tianyao laughed, "Actually, once my business stabilizes, I'm considering buying a new yacht. However, my passion for yachts might only last for a short time. Perhaps, I mean, you could consider keeping the yachts I bought but lost interest in."
"Ha~" Shek Chi-yik laughed heartily, "Of course, come on, I'll take you aboard and we'll go for a spin around the sea."
He led Song Tianyao onto the 22-meter-long wooden sailboat. After the six Australia crew members and three waiters from the yacht club were in place, Shek Chi-yik personally steered the yacht out of the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club pier on Gillette Island.
Song Tianyao stood on the deck, a cigarette dangling from his lips, enjoying the sea breeze. After Shek Chi-yik had finished enjoying the thrill of piloting the yacht and handed over the reins to the crew, the two of them, with fishing gear prepared by the boat's attendants, began Shanghai fishing on the deck. Only then, gazing at the calm sea, did Shek Chi-yik ask Song Tianyao:
"Japan? Just like you told me on the phone, trade between Japan and mainland China is more frequent than between Hong Kong and Mainland China?"
Song Tianyao baited a fishhook. "It's not that it's frequent, but rather that trade between Hong Kong and Mainland China has come to a standstill, while trade between Japan and Mainland China remains unaffected. Using my identity as Nanyang businessman, I visited many factories in Japan and Hong Kong that overlap in type, as well as some Japan ports. For raw materials that can be purchased cheaply and conveniently from Mainland China, Japan hasn't considered buying them from countries like Britain or Canada, regardless of whether the materials are on the Embargo Order list. It seems the Embargo Order is only for Hong Kong. However, the largest trade volume is still grain. Japan is rapidly industrializing, and rural farmers have been brought into factories by Japan conglomerate factory owners. Therefore, they exchange rubber, plastics, and aluminum sheets for grain with Mainland China. However, recently, mainland China seems to have reduced grain trade."
"Damn United States." Shek Chi-yik nodded angrily as he listened to Song Tianyao's words. "They slander the shrimp caught in Hong Kong as Communism, and forbid Hong Kong from doing even a single dollar of business with the mainland. But their Asian allies are selling embargoed goods to the Mainland China without restraint in exchange for food. That's the damn United States. United States turned Britain from a creditor nation before World War II into a debtor nation. Those United States have lost the spirit that white Europe should have; they're just a bunch of selfish flies chasing after profits."
"But this fly is a giant." Song Tianyao picked up a grape from the fruit plate brought by the waiter, popped it into his mouth, and turned to look at Shek Chi-yik as he said.
Shek Chi-yik also turned his head, his eyes fixed on Song Tianyao: "You must ensure that after this whole thing is over, the order numbers can only increase, not decrease."
"My factory warehouse has enough raw materials to last seven years. Even if we distribute them equally among the eleven factories, it would be enough for each factory to support production for a year. Moreover, raw materials are still being sent from India continuously," Song Tianyao said confidently to Shek Chi-yik, spitting out the grape seeds.
"You seem to have a lot of confidence in your girlfriend." Seeing Song Tianyao's expression, Shek Chi-yik grinned. "Alright, I'll get started investigating this."
After saying that, he couldn't help but add, "Damn United States."
"It's not that I have confidence in women, but rather in Britain. We can't expect the Britain Government to fail at something as simple as this when we have overwhelming evidence." As he spoke, Song Tianyao cast the fishing hook far out into the sea.
"Mr. Lin, Mr. Studwell and Mr. Lü Jiansheng have arrived and are waiting for you in the living room." Lin Xiaoze Lin Family's old servant Cui Xingyi, who was sitting in the backyard dressed casually and sawing wood with a handsaw, said with a smile.
Forty-seven-year-old Lin Xiaoze, lean and wiry, put down his handsaw. Cui Xingyi, standing beside him, promptly handed him a towel. Lin Xiaoze wiped the sweat from his face, looked at the unfinished work before him, Cui Xingyi, "Brother Yi, after I'm done, you won't need to use gas to cook anymore. When the weather is nice, you can just use sunlight. Please have some tea with these two first; I'll go change my clothes."
Cui Xingyi glanced at the wooden and aluminum strips spread out on the ground, smiled, shook his head, and stepped out first. This Mr. Lin had wanted to be an engineer since he was a child, spending his days making small items for his own amusement. He also studied engineering when he went abroad to study during his youth. Even now, as the owner of seven or eight large companies, he still hasn't changed his hobby.
When Lin Xiaoze entered the living room, his casual attire had transformed into a sharp suit, and his face was devoid of the relaxed ease he had displayed while doing carpentry in the backyard; only a blank expression remained. His eyes swept over the two people sitting and waiting for him in the living room, and they hurriedly stood up and spoke first:
Mr. Lin.
Mr. Lin.
"Sit down." Lin Xiaoze walked to the main seat of the living room sofa, first looking at Lü Jiansheng, the board secretary of Xizhen Properties, and then at Studwell, the Foreign Devil in charge of Xizhen Properties's stock affairs. "It's the weekend today, the stock market is closed. Mr. Studwell, is there something you need?"
Studwell, who was in charge of stock matters for Xizhen Properties, stood up and placed a thick stack of documents he had prepared beforehand on the coffee table opposite Lin Xiaoze: "Mr. Lin, there are some matters concerning the oil business, but before we get down to business, there's a strange little thing we can discuss first. Starting in December 1951, the price of Xizhen Properties's stock began to rise slightly, then stagnated, and then rose slightly again, continuously. Now it's March 1952, and each share of Xizhen Properties's stock has risen from Hong Kong dollars 0.63 before December to Hong Kong dollars 0.67 per share. Based on my analysis over this period, 5% of Xizhen Properties's stock has been traded on the stock market during this time, with a transaction value of approximately three to four million Hong Kong dollars."
Lin Xiaoze picked up the stack of documents and flipped through them expressionlessly, asking:
"Besides Xizhen Properties's stock?"
"Shares of British companies such Hutchison Whampoa, the Tramway Company, Kowloon Wharf Holdings, and Hongkong Land have also seen varying degrees of increase," Studwell said to Lin Xiaoze.