"Thirty million Hong Kong dollars — what do you think, Mr. Lam?"
Hoyau Wah asked cautiously. Based on his estimate, Lin Baicheng's net worth should be around twenty to thirty million, so approving this amount as an unsecured credit loan wouldn't be a big risk.
Although the loan was unsecured, the bank could demand repayment at any time if necessary. As long as they recalled part of the loan before Lin went bankrupt — in the worst-case scenario — the loss would still be manageable.
Lin smiled. "Then I'll have to thank you, Mr. Ho."
He didn't bother to haggle. In his view, an extra ten or twenty million more or less wasn't worth fussing over.
Hoyau Wah returned the smile. "No, it's I who should thank you, Mr. Lam, for continuing to bring business to our bank."
Lin called his lawyer over, while Ho instructed his subordinates to process the 30 million HKD unsecured loan.
While waiting for the lawyer to arrive, the big boss of Standard Chartered stayed behind to chat rather than leave.
Once the lawyer confirmed that everything was in order, Lin signed the documents and received the thirty million Hong Kong dollars from Standard Chartered.
Afterwards, Lin immediately transferred the full amount to Baisheng Securities' company account. He also moved 65 million from the payment received from Phil Smith, for a total transfer of 95 million Hong Kong dollars into Baisheng Securities.
Lin wasn't worried about An Yuen running off with the money — he had already placed restrictions on the account. An could only use up to five million HKD per day, and if anything went wrong, Lin could act immediately.
This money was meant entirely for acquiring Wharf Holdings shares. With Wharf's current market value of about 1.1 billion HKD, not even 10% could be bought with what he had. To achieve controlling ownership, he'd need over 50% — around 500 million HKD at least.
But once news of the acquisition leaked, the stock price would inevitably rise as the original controlling shareholders and speculators rushed to buy in, driving the cost even higher. Lin knew that 500 million alone would never be enough.
In reality, he'd probably need 200–300 million more to complete the buyout. Yet even with the new loan, he had only about 100 million HKD available — still far from enough.
So for now, Lin could only hope that in the coming months, "Hong Kong Blocks" and the soon-to-be-developed "Pac-Man" would both bring in massive profits. Otherwise, he'd either have to delay the takeover or treat the operation as a market play — a way to profit from speculation rather than full acquisition.
Leaving Standard Chartered, Lin arrived at Baisheng Securities, which now had a few new employees.
He called An Yuen into his office.
"An, the company made another round of profits recently. I've just transferred 95 million HKD into the company account. Including the previous five million, and excluding the one million you've already used, that makes a total of 100 million Hong Kong dollars available."
"O–one hundred million?!"
An's eyes went wide in disbelief. He hadn't expected their investment capital to jump twentyfold overnight.
Lin continued calmly, "This 100 million is still for buying Wharf Holdings shares. Do it slowly — don't push the price up too fast."
An quickly responded, "Mr. Lam, that may not be easy. Wharf's market cap is only around 1.1 billion. With 100 million, we could almost buy 10% of the company already. Unless we spread the purchases out over a long time, it's bound to move the price upward."
"I know," Lin said. "Just make sure the price doesn't spike suddenly. You can buy some shares, then when the price rises, sell a little to suppress it, and buy back later at a lower point. Do it gradually — buy high, sell higher, buy back low."
He wasn't a finance professional, but he understood the basic logic of buying low and selling high.
An nodded quickly. "Understood, Mr. Lam. Don't worry."
"Good. You're the professional here — don't make me, an outsider, have to teach you how to do your job."
Lin gave a small smile, but his tone carried warning. With Baisheng Securities now backed by real capital, he could easily hire top-tier talent if An disappointed him.
An then added, "Mr. Lam, if you don't want anyone to know we're buying Wharf, we'll need multiple accounts — so no single one exceeds a 5% holding."
"Fine. I'll bring a few ID cards tomorrow — use them to open new accounts."
He figured he could simply use the IDs of his sister and parents for this.
An continued, "Also, since we have to buy in person at the Hong Kong exchange — there's no electronic trading — we'll need more staff. If only a few of us show up again and again buying Wharf shares in large quantities, people will notice. We should hire several more and rotate them."
Lin nodded thoughtfully. That was something he hadn't considered. "Good point. Handle it — and make sure confidentiality is tight. If you need extra people, I can have some of my company staff fill in occasionally."
"Understood, Mr. Lam. I'll ask for your help if needed."
"Good. This is your task. Don't let me down, An. The company's future looks bright — make sure you're part of it."
An nodded solemnly. "You can count on me, Mr. Lam. I won't disappoint you!"
He knew this was his big opportunity — do well, and his future was secure. Fail, and he'd be out.
Leaving Baisheng Securities, Lin went downstairs to the game company.
In the past two days, with him away, Shigeru Miyamoto and the team had only been familiarizing themselves with the hardware and game settings. Now, it was finally time to begin full development on "Pac-Man."