Siheyuan: My wife is Xu Huizhen

The next morning, sunlight shone through the window into the room. Du Weifang walked into the room with light steps, holding a thick document in her hand and handed it to He Yuzhu who was sitting on the sofa.

He Yuzhu took the information curiously, flipped through a few pages casually, and a look of surprise appeared on his face.

He never expected that this information was actually a detailed introduction to the famous Cheung Kong Group!

Perhaps for many ordinary people, they are unaware of the existence of this company, but as long as the business tycoon known as "Superman Li" is mentioned, I am afraid that few Chinese will feel unfamiliar.

In the 1980s and 1990s of the last century, this Superman Li was the undisputed richest man in Hong Kong, and was also the richest Chinese in the world for many years in a row.

The huge industry he owns not only covers Hong Kong, but also has branches across the vast land of mainland China.

And Cheung Kong Holdings is undoubtedly one of its most important and influential core enterprises.

"What is going on?" He Yuzhu raised his head in confusion and looked at Du Weifang who was standing beside him, his eyes full of puzzlement.

Du Weifang smiled and explained, "As far as I know, he has an industrial building ready to rent out."

He Yuzhu actually did not have a particularly in-depth understanding of the detailed development history of Cheung Kong Holdings. Only after carefully reviewing the relevant information did he clearly realize that the business tycoon now known as "Superman Li" has shifted the focus of his career to the real estate sector.

Back in the early 50s, Li Chaoren took the lead in entering the plastic flower industry.

The so-called plastic is actually no different in essence from what we usually call plastic, it’s just that the two sides have different names.

Plastic flowers are simulated flowers used for home decoration. This kind of artificial flowers is very popular and highly favored in Europe and the United States.

After Li Chaoren accurately captured this business opportunity, he quickly expanded and strengthened the company with his keen business insight and outstanding management skills.

However, it is regrettable that the entry threshold of the entire plastic flower industry is too low, and in a short period of time, as many as five or six hundred similar companies have emerged in Hong Kong.

Faced with such fierce and saturated market competition, Li Chaoren was deeply aware that the future development space of this industry was relatively limited and it would be difficult to achieve more significant achievements.

So, after careful consideration, he resolutely turned his focus to the real estate industry with huge potential.

Prior to this, the company headed by Li Chaoren was called Yangtze River Industrial Company, which mainly engaged in the production and manufacturing of plastic flowers.

In 1958, Li Chaoren successfully sold the company to a buyer from the United States for a high price of HK$300 million.

Immediately afterwards, he established the new Cheung Kong Real Estate Company and in the same year built a magnificent 12-storey industrial building in North Point.

This building not only became a local landmark at the time, but also symbolized a solid step taken by Li Chaoren in the real estate field, thus starting his glorious journey in this new battlefield.

Time flies, and in the blink of an eye it is 1960. In this year, urban construction is in full swing, and the second industrial building is officially started.

Du Weifang said seriously:

"The Cheung Kong Industrial Building in North Point is currently being rented out, but it's not so easy to rent in other places."

She frowned slightly, seeming to find the current rental situation quite difficult.

Hearing this, He Yuzhu on the side couldn't help but ask:

“Aren’t there whole industrial buildings for sale?”

He crossed his arms over his chest, a look of anxiety on his face.

Du Weifang shook his head helplessly and replied slowly:

"I have collected some relevant information during this period. As the economic situation has gradually improved recently, almost no one is willing to sell the entire industrial building directly. In most cases, only a single floor is provided for rent."

After hearing this, He Yuzhu couldn't help but feel a headache.

After all, the number of newly built industrial buildings in Hong Kong is limited, and those willing to sell are even rarer.

In this case, if you want to find a suitable place as soon as possible, you may have to go to the Yangtze River Industrial Building owned by Li Chaoren to find out.

Thinking of this, He Yuzhu decisively ordered:

"How about this, you help to make an appointment, and we can find a time to visit Mr. Li."

You know, although Li Chaoren had become famous for his plastic flower business at this time and was called the Plastic Flower King, the well-known nickname "Superman" had not yet been born.

After receiving the task, Du Weifang did not dare to neglect it and immediately started to make arrangements. Not long after, she successfully agreed with the other party to meet at 2:30 p.m. that day.

In the afternoon, the sun was still blazing brightly. He Yuzhu and Du Weifang arrived at the downstairs of the Yangtze River Industrial Building early.

They stood there, looking up at the towering building, wondering whether they could gain anything from this visit...

This magnificent building rises into the sky with 12 floors, standing in the heart of the bustling city, and is particularly eye-catching.

The top floor is an office area for family use only.

The two of them went straight upstairs, contacted the secretary, and then stood quietly by and waited.

Time passed minute by minute, and after about a few minutes, it was finally 2:30 in the afternoon, and they were invited into the spacious and bright office on time.

As soon as we entered the door, the lady named Du Weifang spoke first:

"Hello, Mr. Li. I am Du Weifang from Yuzhu Company, and this is our big boss, Comrade He Yuzhu."

It turned out that in order to avoid possible troubles in the future, He Yuzhu deliberately made some changes to his name when applying for an ID card. He changed the original "Yu" to "Yu", and then registered and established a company called Yuzhu under this name, and planned to use this company to enter the field of machinery manufacturing.

After hearing the other party's introduction, Li Jiacheng, who was sitting behind the desk, stood up with a smile and responded politely:

"Hello, Mr. He, nice to meet you."

Then, He Yuzhu said with a smile on his face: "Hello, Mr. Li, I have heard of your name for a long time. You are the famous plastic king! We have heard of your achievements for a long time!"

Li Ka Shing waved his hand modestly and said:

"You are so polite. Please take a seat first." He personally invited the two to sit down and signaled his secretary to serve them steaming hot tea. After everything was arranged, the two sides began to discuss the relevant matters of renting a house.

You know, if you just want to rent a house of a smaller area, usually the business manager only needs to come forward to sign the contract directly, and there is no need for Li Ka Shing to come out in person to receive the customer.

However, this meeting was different, which shows that this cooperation is of great significance to both parties.

However, before this, Du Weifang had always wanted to own the magnificent Yangtze River Industrial Building, but her purchase request was ruthlessly rejected.

Despite this, the persistent lady did not give up easily and immediately made a new proposal - she hoped to rent out the entire three floors that she had successfully controlled.

After hearing the news, Li Ka Shing decided to personally receive Du Weifang and his party.

At the beginning of the meeting, Li Ka Shing enthusiastically introduced the Cheung Kong Industrial Building to everyone in detail.

He stated with pride that most of the building had already been reserved and rented out by discerning tenants.

And right now, some floors happen to be vacant because the lease contracts have expired and the tenants have chosen to move out.

Then, Li Ka Shing further revealed that the construction of the Cheung Kong Industrial Building began in 1958. After more than a year of intensive construction, it was finally completed and put into commercial operation in early 1960.

In addition, Li Ka Shing has always adhered to an unswerving principle, that is, this building is only rented out and never sold. What he cares about is only collecting stable and substantial rental fees from tenants.

Finally, Li Ka Shing seemed to see through Du Weifang's possible concerns and added with a smile:

"If these three floors do not fully meet your actual needs, don't worry. I have another equally large industrial building in Shau Kei Wan for you to choose from."

Hearing this, He Yuzhu on the side nodded slightly, expressing his recognition and agreement.

He responded: "At this stage, the area of ​​these three floors is more than enough for our first phase of development plan. Therefore, it should not be a problem to rent these three floors for the time being."

In fact, at the beginning, He Yuzhu originally planned to purchase an entire building as the company's office space and business development base.

After all, with the abundant cash flow he already had, it was not difficult to complete such a real estate transaction.

But after some in-depth research and understanding, he found that the current real estate market is still in its infancy, and the developers active in it often have limited strength.

Moreover, they generally adopt a marketing strategy called "selling properties before construction".

Although this strategy reduces the initial financial pressure on home buyers to a certain extent, it is also accompanied by many potential risks and uncertainties.

After considering various factors, He Yuzhu finally decided to put the house purchase plan on hold and solve the immediate venue needs through leasing.

This practice can be traced back to a long time ago. It was originally invented by the famous Mr. Ho Ying-Tong!

At that time, when a house was just about to break ground, or even before there was any sign of breaking ground, it had already started to be sold to the public.

In this way, he can use the real money obtained from the buyers to build the building, thus greatly reducing the cost he needs to bear.

In fact, only about 10% of the total construction cost is needed to operate the entire project.

Specifically, you first have to pay a sum of money to buy the land, and then use the land to apply for a loan from the bank. Usually, you can get a loan equivalent to 70% of the land value.

Afterwards, we can officially start the process of selling the pre-sale properties, and the amazing thing is that almost every time we can successfully sell out all the housing units!

In this way, you can build a high-rise building smoothly without spending almost any cash of your own.

You should know that in the entire Hong Kong area, although the method of selling pre-sale properties is widely used, the occurrence of unfinished buildings is extremely rare.

Even if you are unlucky enough to encounter one or two unfinished buildings, the local perfect and sound laws and regulations will fully protect the buyers' legitimate rights and interests.

It is really a pity that the mainland has failed to grasp and make good use of this effective model and strategy.

Let’s take a look at the entire building in front of us. It’s brand new!

With only one year's investment in construction, the overall quality of the construction is naturally beyond doubt and without any problems.

Next, let’s move to the fifth, sixth and seventh floors downstairs. The construction area of ​​each floor is as much as 4000 square feet!

In the bustling Hong Kong area, people measure the area of ​​their houses not in square meters as we are familiar with, but in the unique square feet.

There is a fixed conversion ratio: 1 square meter is equivalent to 9 square feet. Therefore, when the area of ​​a floor is close to 400 square meters, it is equivalent to about 3600 square feet according to the local calculation.

He Yuzhu looked at the space in front of him attentively and carefully, and secretly estimated and calculated in his heart. After observing it for a while, he nodded slightly, indicating his approval and agreement to rent this place.

You know, in the current market environment, it is not easy to find a brand new industrial building.

Many industrial buildings have already been rented out by other companies, especially in the North Point area.

Although there are still some houses available for rent, they are generally small in size. Many factories only occupy a corner of the floor and are only slightly larger than small family workshops.

A factory with an area of ​​hundreds of square meters is considered to be quite large.

Take Wan Chai today for example, where four-storey buildings are almost everywhere, while buildings with higher floors are extremely rare.

On the other side of the peninsula, although there were a considerable number of industrial buildings, He Yuzhu was dissatisfied with their location, thinking that they were too far away, so he never took them into consideration.

At this time, the person in charge of leasing said:

"The current rent here is 7 cents per square foot. Since the area you want to rent is relatively large, I can calculate the rent for you at 5 cents per square foot per year."

It should be noted that the "hao" mentioned here actually has the same meaning as the "jiao" in the mainland, which is commonly known as "one mao".