Chapter 283: Business and Charity

Chapter 283: Business and Charity

Chapter 283: Business and Charity

"It feels like it's possible." Lin Haoyu thought for a moment and said, "Brother Dong, your company is about to recruit 10,000 squatters, and there are other companies. In the past two years, Hong Kong's industry has developed rapidly, and real estate also needs people."

Changxing Industrial has more than 1.5 employees, and together with the employees of many suppliers, the total number of employees is almost . Among them, nearly were specially recruited to take care of the squatter groups.

Yang Wendong smiled and said, "You seem to be quite concerned about this. The number of people living in squatters in Hong Kong is indeed decreasing. I hope they will really disappear one day."

In fact, even if Yang Wendong had not appeared, most of the squatter groups would have disappeared by the 70s. The fundamental reason was that the economy had improved, too many jobs were in need of people, and with the expansion of urbanization, the young people in the squatter groups gradually left.

Of course, most people still live a hard life even if they go out, but because of the overall economic improvement, their lives have become much better than before.

The "cage dwellings" in Hong Kong promoted on the Internet in the past were also a portrayal of poor people, but in reality, at least there was electricity, fans, and mosquito prevention measures, and they would not go hungry, which was much better than shanty towns.

Lin Haoyu said: “I have paid some attention to it. In the past, rat extermination companies mainly recruited people from squatters. I have talked to them;

There is a new problem. There are many more refugees in Hong Kong now. The lives of these people are even worse than those we lived in the squatter huts.”

"I know. I also sent some food and water. I can't do much else." Yang Wendong nodded and said, "In the future, Changxing Charity Foundation can also buy some food and send it over."

When it comes to charity, financial resources are always limited, so Yang Wendong’s first principle is to protect the most basic survival needs; once this problem is solved, he can consider education, environmental protection, medical care, etc.

"Okay." Lin Haoyu agreed.

Yang Wendong added: "Then go back and tell the person in charge here to pay attention to safety issues and not let the people queuing here get heatstroke. This place is far from the hospital, and if you're not careful, someone might die."

Lin Haoyu added: "A few days ago, we arranged for someone to use a loudspeaker to announce that everyone should bring a fan."

"Okay." After Yang Wendong said that, he got in the car.

Then the car started and returned to the city.

The drought in Hong Kong continued for more than a year, and was only slightly alleviated in 64. The problem was not completely solved until the arrival of Dongjiang water in 65.

He will spend some time and energy on these things, but he will not just do this one thing all the time. After all, things have been arranged, so he can just do it and deal with problems later.

Although drought is a natural disaster, the reason why ordinary people live so hard is an economic problem. Only when the economy develops well can everyone get out of poverty. Otherwise, neither the government nor individual capital can achieve this.

After returning to Changxing Building, Yang Wendong called Zheng Zhijie, who was in charge of real estate business.

"Old Zheng." After Yang Wendong and he sat down, he said, "Do you know about the Changxing Water Storage Base Station?"

Zheng Zhijie smiled and said, "Of course I know. The newspapers have been reporting on it extensively these days. It's hard not to know."

Drought has now become a major problem for Hong Kong society. Even the wealthy Hong Kong Island area has been affected, with tap water often being cut off or water pressure being very low.

Of course, the wealthy group will definitely not be affected much. Nowadays, many villas have begun to purchase large water tanks to store water, and some even continue to use swimming pools, but they are a minority after all.

Under such circumstances, Yang Wendong's various operations were immediately deified after being exposed by the media. From the early purchase of cargo ships to buy water to the construction of water storage stations in various places in Kowloon, they were all aimed at solving the drought problem.

Not only their own media, but also many other media, including the water company, have come out to express their opinions and will complete the pipeline laying as soon as possible.
"This popularity is indeed beyond my expectations." Yang Wendong smiled.

Originally, the intention was just to create momentum to force the water company to stop slacking off, but unexpectedly, all media outlets were reporting on it crazily. Perhaps the words "drought" and "water supply" themselves were already hot news.

Zheng Zhijie said: "Mr. Yang, these publicity are not exaggerated, you deserve the reputation."

“Being famous is a burden.” Yang Wendong shook his head and said, “Originally, I wanted to build a few water stations near the squatter area, but now I want to take this opportunity to do something bigger.”

Zheng Zhijie asked, "Mr. Yang, do you mean to build water storage sites in other places?"

"Yes." Yang Wendong nodded and said, "I plan to build similar stations near several towns in Kowloon and parts of Hong Kong Island."

When Hong Kong was hit by a severe water shortage, basically every place was short of water, not just the squatters.

Zheng Zhijie thought for a while and said, "Mr. Yang, regardless of whether the Hong Kong government agrees or not, if we do this, our cost investment will be very high, and water will also be a problem.
Supplying ten stations is not a big problem with the number of ships we have at Changxing Shipping, but if there are dozens or even hundreds, it will be very troublesome. "

"Don't worry about that." Yang Wendong paused and said, "Zheng Yuhua is going to take over a few old large oil tankers, 5 tons, with much stronger water transport capacity. A few of them can replace the 20 ships I have now."

"A second-hand oil tanker? But in that case, it will be difficult to get the oil transportation business after the drought, right?" Although Zheng Zhijie was not proficient in shipping, he knew something about it.

Anyone who dares to use second-hand tankers to transport oil is taking a gamble.

Yang Wendong smiled and said, "Of course I know this. I bought a few very old oil tankers at a price almost like scrap metal. I bought them to transport water, and then sent them to be scrapped.

This deal can only be said to be less profitable than other cargo ships, but it is definitely not a loss. It is just a small profit. There is also a small profit in transporting water. " "That's good." Zheng Zhijie nodded and said, "But even so, the cost of water is a huge amount of money."

Yang Wendong shook his head and said, "I plan to provide free water in the squatter areas, but in other towns or Hong Kong Island, there will be a charge."

"Charge?" Zheng Zhijie quickly reminded: "Mr. Yang, this tap water is a monopoly of the Hong Kong government. Outsiders are not eligible to charge."

"I know." Yang Wendong said, "So I plan to cooperate with the water company. They can charge fees, and I will earn some property fees from it. And all this money will go to the Changxing Charity Foundation, and I won't take a penny.

In this way, it is charity on the surface, and the money earned can be invested in buying water. Otherwise, I will keep losing money and it will not last long. "

The highest way to do charity is not to donate money without limit, but to get rewards while doing good deeds, and then continue to invest with this reward.

People in Hong Kong Island or Kowloon towns are basically rich people. They spend some money to buy water, and then use the money to buy more water or help poorer people.

Just like the student loans provided by some mainland universities in the past, they first helped poor college students to go to school, and then they worked to repay the money after graduation, with low interest. This way, a cycle can be formed, allowing money to flow continuously, thereby continuously benefiting new students.

Zheng Zhijie said: "We need to discuss this with the water company, or you can discuss it with the Governor?"

"I won't bother the Governor with this little matter." Yang Wendong shook his head and said, "The Changxing Charity Foundation has just been established and lacks experience. You will be responsible for this matter. The land purchased in the process will also belong to your real estate company."

The Governor of Hong Kong was a man of high status. Even if he had a good relationship with me now, I couldn't go to him for every little thing.
If your subordinates can complete the task through normal business means or go through the government application process, it is better to go through the formal process.

"Okay." Zheng Zhijie agreed.

Yang Wendong added: "For this matter, hoarding land is just a side issue. The most important thing is to solve the local water supply problem."

"I understand." Zheng Zhijie nodded and said, "In fact, these plots of land will also be industrial land, and the profits may not be that great."

"Yeah." Yang Wendong smiled.

If you want to develop commercial use on industrial land, you need to pay additional fees for "industrial to commercial conversion", so many people think it is meaningless.

But in fact, the most important thing is to occupy a place first. Once the place is yours, you will have the opportunity to "transfer" it later.

As a time traveler, you can completely "convert industry into business" during the real estate crisis or the beginning of a bull market, and then develop it a few years later and make a lot of money.

Of course, these are just done by the way. My core business is still water supply. If you really want to make money, there are many ways to do it.

Lin Haoyu next to him asked: "Brother Dong, if we do this, the water company will have the final say. Why do we still need to do it? Won't the water company also supply water to the town by then?"

"You are wrong." Yang Wendong shook his head and said, "A government will certainly pay attention to people's livelihood, but some things are more important than people's livelihood, such as the economy?"

"The economy is more important than people's livelihood?" Lin Haoyu was a little confused: "If people's livelihood is gone, where will the economy come from?"

Yang Wendong replied: "The importance here is not about which one will suffer greater loss if one is cut off. If one survives, then people's livelihood is definitely more important. People's livelihood is the foundation of all economics.

But what if it is only a partial loss? For example, if the Hong Kong government needs to face a sharp economic downturn and some people are short of water but not dying of thirst, what do you think the Hong Kong government will choose? "

"This..." Lin Haoyu didn't know how to answer for a moment.

At this time, Zheng Zhijie said: "I would choose the latter to protect the economy. As long as people don't die of thirst, they can slowly be kept alive with a little bit of water. After the incident, it will be over, and people may even forget about it in the future.

But if the economy plummets, the impact will be long-term, and it will also affect unemployment, fiscal revenue, etc. The problem will be infinitely complicated. It is better to let some people be thirsty all the time. After all, it is a natural disaster, and it is fine as long as no one dies."

Yang Wendong nodded and said, "Yes, this is the perspective of those in power. Besides, Lao Zheng has been polite enough and has not mentioned the achievements of government officials."

“Yes.” Zheng Zhijie also said: “When future generations evaluate an official, they will only look at his economic achievements, such as how much the economy grew during his tenure, etc.

Even if this kind of large-scale drought is not handled properly, not many people will remember it.”

Lin Haoyu said: "So that's what happened. I didn't think too much about it."

Yang Wendong added: “The Hong Kong government may consider the issue from a different perspective than us, but it cannot be said to be wrong. After all, if power plants reduce production and factories stop working due to water shortage, it may lead to more serious social problems and the entire society will suffer greater losses.

So I will not interfere with the Hong Kong government’s way of doing things. I will do my own thing here, but because I don’t have the right to sell water, I can only cooperate with the water company;
From now on, we will only take care of the people’s water needs. For industry and commerce, if we have enough ships, we can also help the Hong Kong government transport some water, but the core is still our own purpose.”

"Okay." The two agreed.

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(End of this chapter)