Chapter 150: The Building Rebuild and Newspaper Launch
The two chatted casually over a hearty Cantonese lunch.
One had to admit, Bai Yushan truly lived up to her reputation as a top student in economics at the University of Hong Kong. Her theoretical knowledge was solid—at times even surpassing Yang Wendong's. After lunch, Yang drove her back to her apartment near the university.
"You've already started at HSBC, haven't you? Why are you still living near the campus?" Yang asked as she stepped out of the car.
"I'm still technically an intern at HSBC, so I'm not a full employee yet. Although I spend most of my time there, I still need to come back to school occasionally.
And this apartment was bought by my dad, so I've just stayed here," she explained.
"Oh, right. You're still a student after all," Yang smiled. Though he was also young, his soul came from a previous life—his memories of student life had long faded.
Yushan paused. "Actually, with your status in Hong Kong society now, you could easily get a student ID from HKU. It wouldn't be hard.
Though it wouldn't be a regular diploma."
"No need. I'm not interested in that," Yang waved it off. For someone like him, a degree didn't mean much. However, for his children in the future, even if they didn't inherit his business empire, a university education would be non-negotiable.
Yushan laughed. "Fair enough. You really don't need it."
Yang nodded. "You treated me this time. Next time, let me treat you."
"Deal," she smiled.
"Alright then," Yang said. "Better head back—this sun's scorching."
"Okay." She turned and walked toward the building.
Yang watched her disappear from view, then got back into his car and drove away.
—
Upstairs, Bai Yushan had barely returned when her sister Bai Yujie greeted her with a teasing grin. "Was that Yang Wendong dropping you off just now? You two getting cozy?"
"Don't talk nonsense," Yushan quickly denied. "We ran into each other at Concord Tower, and he just gave me a lift."
"Pffft, Concord Tower is crowded—funny how he just happened to be there for you," Yujie smirked.
"That's because we know each other, alright? Maybe all that jogging's scrambled your brain."
"You're the one who's scrambled," Yujie yawned. "Still, the Post-it King seems pretty into you. And you two… actually look good together."
"What's so good about us?" Yushan retorted. "You met him first."
"Like that matters," Yujie replied. "You're the economics prodigy—much more suited for a business tycoon. Me? I'm just good at sports. Not his type."
"I brought you snacks. Eat and quit talking nonsense," Yushan tossed a packet over.
"Hehe," Yujie grinned. "You better stock up on snacks, or I might just tell Dad. He'd be over the moon."
"Fine. But if you keep eating snacks like this, you'll gain weight," Yushan warned.
"No worries, I work out all the time. I won't gain anything," Yujie said confidently.
"Wish I had your metabolism," Yushan sighed. She had to avoid so many tasty foods just to manage her weight—unlike her sister who could eat anything without consequence.
"I'm gonna nap. Do what you want," Yujie yawned and walked off.
Yushan looked around her room and sighed. "Ugh, this place is a mess. I'd better tidy up."
—
One week later, in the office building in front of Changxing Industrial's factory in Tsim Sha Tsui:
"Mr. Yang, here are the proposals from a few construction firms," Qin Zhiye laid out five A1-sized blueprints on Yang's desk.
Yang glanced over them. "That quick? Already?"
Qin explained, "It's because our plot isn't very big. We can't go very tall. Plus, we want to get this building up quickly, so everyone just went with standard high-rise designs.
All the structures are clean and rectangular—just small tweaks in the details."
"Makes sense," Yang nodded.
If this were prime real estate in Central, he'd have to consider aesthetics, matching nearby buildings, and so on. That alone could take weeks to design.
But their lot, though technically in Central, wasn't in a prime location. The surrounding buildings were old and unremarkable, so a simple, practical design would do.
Yang looked more closely. "Twelve stories?"
"Yes," Qin confirmed. "We've got 12,600 square feet of land. With the connections we've made, the government granted us a plot ratio of 8. So we can build a total of 100,000 square feet.
The firms all suggest twelve floors—around 8,000 square feet per floor. Plus, 11, 13, and 14 are considered unlucky. And ten floors just seems too short."
"Alright, twelve it is," Yang agreed.
Buying land didn't mean you could build as high as you wanted. First, there were government restrictions. Otherwise, developers would cover entire neighborhoods with high-rises.
Second, there were safety issues. Smaller plots couldn't support taller buildings.
"I'll have the firms submit formal bids based on this layout," Qin said.
Yang thought for a moment. "What about parking? Any basement levels?"
"One," Qin replied.
Yang shook his head. "Not enough. We'll need at least two. Hong Kong's economy is developing fast. Ten years from now, car ownership could be much higher. Not enough parking will be a problem."
"Understood. I'll relay that to the construction firms."
Yang then asked, "Have you read Xiong Yaohua's novel? I'm thinking of publishing it in Honghua Daily. What do you think?"
Qin considered it. "I think it's a great idea. Mr. Xiong's prose is very refined—different in style from Jin Yong, but definitely top-tier.
I've read the first 100,000 words of The Divine Sword of the Heavens. The story's excellent. I think it could attract a lot of readers. It'll be important for boosting our early circulation."
Yang nodded. "Alright. I'll leave the implementation to you. What about our paper layout?"
"Still not finalized," Qin admitted. "There's no major issue—it's just that we haven't reached consensus yet."
"Alright. Once it's ready, let me take a look."
There wasn't necessarily a right or wrong answer when it came to layout. As long as it wasn't problematic, he'd approve it.
Qin continued, "I've poached 12 staff from other newspapers. For overseas reporting, we've got two now—one in the US and one in the UK.
This should be enough for our launch. Once we're running, we can expand the team as needed."
Yang nodded. "Good. I look forward to seeing our first issue. Any updates from Heidelberg in Germany?"
"The machine's already packed and shipped. It'll arrive in three weeks. Then we'll need another week to install and calibrate. All in all, one more month, and we're ready to print."
Qin smiled. "Also, we've already reached agreements with over 100 newsstands on Hong Kong Island."
"Perfect," Yang smiled. "Let's hope our first issue makes a splash."
"With Mr. Yang leading the way, success is guaranteed," Qin said.
A month later, Tongwen Road, Central:
Yang Wendong stood in front of a building under construction, with a young woman in a pale yellow dress beside him.
Looking at the three floors that had just been erected, Bai Yushan asked, "Is this what you were talking about? The new headquarters of Honghua Daily?"
"Yes. In a little over two months, it'll be topped out. The upper floors will be constructed while the lower ones are being renovated." Yang smiled and added, "By the end of December, Honghua Daily should be ready to move in."
Over the past month, Yang and Yushan had met up several times, and their relationship had progressed nicely. Naturally, he shared more with her than he did with others. After all, if Honghua Daily really became the first Hong Kong paper to publish in color, the public was bound to uncover who the man behind the curtain was.
Yushan smiled, "That would make you a landlord in Central. Do you know how many developers dream of that title?"
"It's just a small office building," Yang shrugged. "Land and construction together cost a little over HK$1 million. Most of it's the bank's money anyway."
"Well, that's what real estate is—leveraging bank funds. Having access to credit is a form of wealth in itself," she replied.
"Then I must be pretty rich," Yang chuckled.
His new factory's Post-it production was ramping up rapidly. Last month's exports reached HK$1.6 million—and that wasn't even the limit, since not all equipment had been installed yet. His adhesive hook product was also exploding in popularity in Japan, Taiwan, and Southeast Asia. It hadn't caught up with Post-its yet, but with North America and Europe still untapped, the future was bright.
Though Yang hadn't yet paid off even half of his debts, both Liao Chong Hing Bank and Hang Seng Bank saw him as a VIP client, thanks to his earning power.
"You should think about buying another property in Central," Yushan said. "I heard there've been a few transactions recently."
"Those are just small, old buildings—not what I'd call real office towers," Yang replied casually. "A real tower has to be in the core zone."
Even in the late '50s, Central still had plenty of old, low-rise buildings. Land prices weren't yet high enough to justify redevelopment.
It wasn't until the late '60s that Hong Kong entered a true real estate bull run, and the old buildings began to be demolished en masse.
"What, you're too good for them now?" Yushan teased.
"Not at all—I'm just not in a rush." Yang shrugged. "I'd rather invest in my business. If the business needs land or property, I'll buy it then. Just like I did with this headquarters for Honghua Daily."
No one could've guessed that in 1966, Hong Kong would face an unprecedented housing market crash—worse than the one in '83–'84.
Titans like Li Ka-shing and Lee Shau-kee made their fortunes by scooping up land at rock-bottom prices during that time.
Of course, if you weren't planning to hold for the long term but instead flip properties like a typical developer, that could also be profitable. Liao Chong Hing Bank was doing just that. Yang figured he might do the same next year.
"Oh," Yushan nodded. "By the way, did that color press from Germany arrive yet?"
"It did," Yang pointed in a direction. "About a kilometer that way. We rented a small warehouse for it."
Naturally, a printing press couldn't be placed inside an office building. So for convenience, Qin Zhiye had leased a warehouse about a kilometer away, which would serve as the print center.
"Not bad. That's pretty convenient," Yushan said.
"Come, I'll take you there," Yang smiled. "Also, I forgot to tell you—I found a writer who's on par with Jin Yong to write our newspaper's serial novel."
"On par with Jin Yong?" Yushan looked skeptical. "No way."
"You'll see once you read his writing," Yang grinned.
—
They quickly hopped into a nearby car. It was only a kilometer away, but with the scorching heat, there was no reason to walk.
Soon they arrived at the warehouse.
Yang hadn't informed the staff in advance, but they had sharp eyes. Seeing the boss's luxury car, someone immediately went inside to report.
Within minutes, Qin Zhiye, Xiong Yaohua (Gu Long), and several senior Honghua Daily staff came out to greet him.
"Mr. Yang," Qin said with a smile.
Yang nodded and looked over at the equipment being tuned. "When will it be fully operational?"
"In two more days," Qin replied. "We've already started test prints, but the ink composition still needs adjustment. Our team isn't quite as experienced as the German engineers."
"Alright. So we'll launch next week?"
"Yes. Even though the main office isn't finished yet, early circulation will be modest, so this setup is enough for now," Qin said. "Once the headquarters is ready in December and if sales are strong, it'll be perfect timing."
"Good. I'll leave it to you then," Yang said, not prying further.
Even as the boss, Yang didn't need to know all the details. That went for Honghua Daily as much as it did for Changxing Industrial. All he had to do was keep an eye on key metrics and channels.
A staffer handed him a copy of their first newspaper. "Mr. Yang, this is our debut issue."
Yang took it—16 pages total—and pulled out the third page. He handed it to Bai Yushan. "Here's the serial I mentioned. Take a look."
"The Divine Sword of the Heavens?" Yushan read the title and focused on the page.
Meanwhile, Yang flipped through the rest of the paper.
A few minutes later, Yushan looked up. "That was really well-written. I could never write something like that."
Yang smiled. "It's by Mr. Xiong here."
Xiong Yaohua noticed her glance and quickly said, "Please, just call me Ah Hua. That's what everyone calls me."
"No need to be formal," Yang said, laughing. "If even you were drawn in, then this novel will definitely help our newspaper take off."
"I think so too," Qin added.
Gu Long scratched his head, embarrassed by the praise, and didn't say much.
Yang said, "Then we'll stick to the plan—launch next week. Time to put it to the test."
"Understood," Qin nodded.
—
October 25th:
Honghua Daily, the first color newspaper in Hong Kong's history, officially launched.
Over 2,000 copies were distributed to more than 300 newsstands across the city.
Distribution wasn't even. Busy areas got 30 to 50 copies each; quieter places got three to five.
Amid a sea of black-and-white papers, one full-color paper immediately caught people's attention.
(To be continued...)
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