Chapter 135: Wine Doesn't Intoxicate People, People Intoxicate Themselves

The Ning family had some fame in Hong Kong, but compared to the kings of various industries in Hong Kong and the several major wealthy families, it was far inferior. This time, the sudden news that they wanted to acquire an appliance mall in Falanxi, Europe, to build overseas sales channels, immediately attracted the attention of countless media.

In this era, not only had mainland companies not stepped out of the country, but even large companies of Hong Kong's wealthy families were also wandering around Southeast Asia. It would take more than a decade for Hong Kong's Li "Half-City" to take the lead in making large-scale investments in places like the UK, Australia, and Canada. Now, the Ning family could be considered to have fired the first shot!

"Ning Family Trading Company Wants to Build an Appliance Mall Empire!"

"Hong Kong's New Generation Appliance Queen, Ning Wenke!"

"A Concubine Smiles at the Sight of a Horse: Revealing the Wanjia Foundation. Rumor has it that a mysterious Hong Kong tycoon wants to marry into the Ning family, not hesitating to spend 200 million US dollars to make the beauty smile!"

The news first spread from Hong Kong, and various media reported it one after another. Major newspapers like the Oriental Daily News, Sing Tao Daily, South China Morning Post, and Ming Pao were better; they mainly dug into the background of the Wanjia Foundation, but besides digging out the scale of the Wanjia Foundation, they didn't find any other news.

But tabloid media were different. There were quite a few entertainment media and tabloid media in Hong Kong. If there was no news, they would "fabricate" news themselves.

These tabloid media directly imagined a drama where a mysterious Hong Kong tycoon, in order to pursue Ning Wenke, spent 200 million US dollars to jointly acquire an appliance mall in Europe with the Ning Family Trading Company, just to make the beauty smile. This speculation was extremely bloody, but there were quite a few people who believed it. After all, without a reasonable explanation, where did this Wanjia Foundation pop out from? Naturally, they imagined the most reasonable explanation.

Even some big figures among Hong Kong's wealthy began to believe it a bit. After all, they really hadn't heard that the Ning family had any overseas connections. Last year, the Ning Family Trading Company was almost about to go bankrupt, and it was Ning Wenke who turned the tide and pulled the Ning family back from the cliff.

Ning Wenke even pushed the Ning Family Trading Company to a height that even her father, Ning Wantian, hadn't reached, which made many wealthy families in Hong Kong very fond of Ning Wenke.

It was rumored that several wealthy businessmen, wealthy families, and major clans in Hong Kong, and even Taiwan and Singapore, were publicly praising Ning Wenke as a "heroine among women," wanting to recruit Ning Wenke into their families as a daughter-in-law, even saying that as long as Ning Wenke married in, they would hand over the company to Ning Wenke to manage, so as to keep the family business for their prodigal sons.

The reason why these major families were so fond of Ning Wenke, besides the fact that Ning Wenke saved the Ning Family Trading Company and became a leader among Hong Kong's younger generation, was another reason that everyone hadn't declared: Ning Wantian only had one daughter, Ning Wenke!

Marrying Ning Wenke was equivalent to getting the Ning Family Trading Company, and there was no need to worry about the family property being snatched away. Ning Wenke could also manage the company for them. It was simply killing two birds with one stone. How could those wealthy families not be active!

Now, in a VIP private room at Fook Lam Moon, known as the "Tycoon's Canteen," the top restaurant in Hong Kong, several people were gathered, eating and discussing matters.

Fook Lam Moon was the gathering place for news in Hong Kong and also the place Hong Kong and Southeast Asian tycoons loved to come to the most. Almost every famous wealthy businessman, star, and powerful figure in Southeast Asia had been here, and after concluding big business deals, they also celebrated here. Half of Hong Kong's gossip was born here.

"This Ning Wenke really has some ability. Not only did she save the Ning Family Trading Company, but now she has also taken the business to Europe. If she really manages to acquire that appliance mall in Falanxi, then she might really become Hong Kong's Appliance Queen!"

The person speaking was Boss Cai of Golden Crown Electronics, the appliance king of Hong Kong. Sitting with him were also big figures in Hong Kong's appliance industry, including Boss Lin of Ganghua Electronics, Boss Meng of Shun Hing, and Boss Li of Jardine Engineering.

Hearing this, Boss Lin of Ganghua, who produced his own televisions, and the others had normal expressions, but the faces of the two bosses of Shun Hing and Jardine Engineering were a bit ugly. It had nothing to do with anything else, because they were opponents of the Ning Family Trading Company.

Don't look at the fact that Hong Kong only had a population of six million, but as the window and bridgehead connecting the mainland and Southeast Asia, there were countless large and small agency companies. Among them, Jardine Engineering was the special agent for Mitsubishi, and Shun Hing was the general agent for Panasonic in Hong Kong and other places.

And the agency business of the Ning Family Trading Company was actually also mainly based on appliances, and they were direct opponents of Shun Hing and Jardine Engineering. Of course, before last year, giants of appliance agencies like Shun Hing and Jardine didn't treat the Ning Family Trading Company as an opponent at all.

But just this year, the Ning Family Trading Company suddenly soared into the sky. The electronic pet machine they acted as an agent for almost sold out, and the Shenzhou phone they acted as an agent for later also shone brilliantly. Whether it was revenue or influence, the Ning Family Trading Company was soaring straight up. Many brand companies were interested in working with the Ning Family Trading Company, wanting to replicate the experience of the electronic pet machine and Shenzhou phone.

Boss Meng of Shun Hing, after taking a sip of soup, also said, "The Ning family girl really has some tricks. But where did this Wanjia Foundation pop out from? That's 200 million US dollars, 1.6 billion Hong Kong dollars. Did she really get it for the Ning family girl to practice with?!"

Several people at the table were silent for a while. They gathered together today, actually also carrying the intention of probing for news, and how to deal with the Ning Family Trading Company in the future.

If the Ning Family Trading Company really joined forces with the Wanjia Foundation to acquire the Falanxi Brandt Appliance City, then it would certainly continue to expand in the future. By then, it might become the biggest opponent of companies like Shun Hing and Jardine Engineering!

And for companies like Golden Crown and Ganghua, if they could get on the line with the Ning Family Trading Company, perhaps they could sell their products to Europe. Compared to Shun Hing and Jardine Engineering, it was another thought.

"Was the Wanjia Appliance City established by people from those few families in Hong Kong, or by a family in Southeast Asia?"

Boss Li of Jardine Engineering also speculated. The "those few families" he spoke of were naturally the seven or eight top wealthy families in Hong Kong. These families all had unmarried sons, and wanting to recruit Ning Wenke into their families also made sense.

For a time, various thoughts flashed through the minds of everyone at the table. The possibilities were simply too many, and they couldn't quite grasp it.

At this time, Boss Lin of Ganghua Electronics suddenly said something shocking, "Could this Wanjia Foundation come from the mainland? During this period of time, the Ning family has been walking very close to that Dongling Gao Ke in the mainland, and many mainland appliance companies, and has acted as an agent for many mainland appliance brands to export to Hong Kong and Southeast Asia."

"From the mainland?!"

"That's 200 million US dollars, 1.6 billion Hong Kong dollars. Taking 200 million US dollars to acquire a chain appliance mall in Europe, and not knowing whether it will succeed or fail after buying it, would the Foreign Exchange Department in the mainland agree to such an acquisition?!"

Boss Cai of Golden Crown Electronics was the first not to believe it. How short of foreign exchange the mainland was, no one knew better than Hong Kong. Almost every industry in the mainland, including using it to purchase advanced weapons and equipment, needed a lot of foreign exchange. The adventurous move of acquiring Brandt Appliance City didn't look like the style of a mainland company no matter how you looked at it.

The speaker was unintentional, but the listener was intentional. Boss Meng of Shun Hing and Boss Li of Jardine Engineering looked at each other, and both of them showed inexplicable expressions in their eyes. If the money for the Wanjia Foundation really came from the mainland, then the Ning Family Trading Company would have a relationship with the mainland. In the future, even they would have to weigh the status of the Ning Family Trading Company!

"No matter which side the Wanjia Foundation belongs to, if the acquisition is really successful, then in the future, the Ning family will also become a new wealthy family in Hong Kong!"

Boss Cai of Golden Crown Electronics sighed and said. An acquisition of 200 million US dollars was definitely a big deal even in Hong Kong. In Hong Kong, only the major wealthy families like Li, Guo, Zheng, Zhou, and He could take out this huge sum of money. The Ning family could indeed be considered a new wealthy family in Hong Kong.

Not only were companies and big figures related to appliances in Hong Kong paying attention to this matter, but the mainland was also the same. A host of domestic appliance brands like Changhong, Gree, Haier, Hisense, TCL, Konka, Chunlan, Little Swan, Xinfei, Rongsheng, Lenovo, and Panda were all probing for news. Some had even contacted the Ning Family Trading Company in advance, wanting to get on the car early.

And the Foreign Exchange Department and various ministries in Yanjing, who knew the inside story of this acquisition, were even more concerned. The success or failure of this acquisition might affect the situation of domestic companies going overseas in the future. This was the first major overseas acquisition case in the mainland; no matter how much attention was paid to it, it wouldn't be too much!

"Welcome home, hero!"

Zhang Ao, wearing sunglasses, had just walked out of the Hanxi Provincial Capital Airport when he heard a voice, and then Gao Peng's figure rushed over.

After bumping into Gao Peng, a figure appeared in front of Zhang Ao and said to him, "You've worked hard!"

Li Dongling looked at Zhang Ao, whose figure had become much thinner and even had quite a few white hairs. He knew that during his time in Europe, he was likely under huge pressure, but he had also clearly undergone a transformation, and his entire spirit and energy were completely different.

After hugging Zhang Ao, Li Dongling raised his arm and waved his hand. A roar of an engine emerged, instantly attracting the attention of countless people at the airport. Immediately after, a fiery red Ferrari sports car drove up in front of Zhang Ao.

"Fuck!"

Zhang Ao, who had taken off his sunglasses, looked at this Ferrari and couldn't help but blurt out a European curse.

"Dongling Gao Ke's great hero, don't you want to go up and try it?" Li Dongling laughed at Zhang Ao.

Zhang Ao threw the things in his hand to Gao Peng on the side and jumped directly into the car. Li Dongling, Gao Peng, and the others also got into the Mercedes and followed behind the sports car.

With the current road conditions, the sports car couldn't speed up at all, but the roar of the accelerator was enough to make this sports car the most eye-catching existence on the streets of the provincial capital. After driving for a stretch, even newspaper reporters who heard the news ran over and started taking pictures.

The first Ferrari entered the country five years ago, but the number of people who could afford it could be counted on one's fingers. In Hanxi, this was the first appearance of a Ferrari!

"Cheers!"

The hot pot was boiling. In the courtyard behind the Dongling Gao Ke headquarters, a hot pot was set up. After Zhang Ao raised his wine glass high and clinked it, he buried his head and started eating.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 136 =====