Central, top floor of HSBC Building
A rare hint of suppressed irritation crossed Shen Bi's otherwise calm face. He put down the news his assistant had just presented: Jardine Matheson's chief executive, Newbigin, had left the company and was rushing to HSBC headquarters. Shen Bi knew exactly what Newbigin was up to.
The office door was violently opened, without even the secretary's permission. Newbigin rushed in like an enraged bull, his suit buttons unbuttoned, his tie askew, beads of sweat on his forehead, his face a mixture of anxiety, anger, and a desperate eagerness.
"Peter! You have to help me this time!"
Niubijian completely lost his usual gentlemanly demeanor. Without a word of greeting, he walked directly to Shen Bi's large desk, slammed his hands on the polished surface, leaned forward, stared at Shen Bi with a burning gaze, and almost spitted in his face. He pulled out a printed document, still smelling of ink, and slammed it hard on the table.
"Look! Hong Kong's share price! It just broke through HK$110 this morning! It opened at just HK$66! It's almost doubled! The market capitalization has already exceeded HK$7 billion! A record high!"
He poked the stock price graph on the paper with his fingers, as if trying to pierce it:
"The 17% stake in Hong Kong's Hong Kong Land I pledged to you is already worth over HK$1 billion! I'm only asking for an additional HK$300 million in loans! To HSBC, this amount is nothing. It's a drop in the bucket! The collateral is more than enough. Where's the risk? Risk!"
His voice trembled with emotion.
Shen Bi leaned back in his high-backed chair, his hands folded before his stomach, as calm as if he were watching a farce that had nothing to do with him. He watched Niubijian's face twisted with anger and excitement, his eyes even holding a hint of mockery. After the other's roaring speech came to an end, he spoke slowly and deliberately. His voice was not loud, but it was like a cold steel needle, accurately piercing the corner that Niubijian was most reluctant to face:
"Sir Newbigin, calm down. The issue isn't the paper value of the collateral. The issue is..."
He leaned forward slightly, his eyes sharp as a knife.
"What's the basis for this so-called 7 billion market value? It's the frantic buying spree by that Japanese guy 'Kobayashi Tenmo'! It's the market swarms of those crazy market idiots who are just following the trend! They've now turned Hong Kong into a 'Kobayashi concept stock'! What the hell is that? You've been in Hong Kong for so long, don't you know how it all ends?"
The corners of Shen Bi's mouth even curled up into a cold arc:
"When this rich young man from Japan has amassed enough stocks and reaches a certain percentage he desires, such as 5%, and secures a seat on the board of directors, or when he decides he's made enough money and walks away, the craze will immediately dissipate. Countless popular stocks that he previously manipulated will eventually fall even more drastically than before the boom! How many people have lost their fortunes because of this? Are your shares really worth a billion? Don't dream. By then, you might not even be able to sell them for 60 yuan a share! HSBC can't use its depositors' hard-earned money to gamble on a balloon that could burst at any moment!"
The smile on his face disappeared, and his eyes became serious and cold:
"My advice is to immediately stop thinking about using Hong Kong assets to fill overseas holes. Save your energy and think about it,"
Shen Bi's voice was filled with pressure.
"What if Hong Kong's share price collapses and falls below 60, or even lower? What will you do? HSBC will then sell off the pledged shares to secure the loan and cut losses. That's a natural business move. Friendship? It can't stop the risk of real money."
"Bastard!" Newbijian was so angry that his face turned from red to purple and he almost burst into curse.
"Jardine Matheson! We, Jardine Matheson, are one of the largest British-owned companies in Hong Kong! We own Hong Kong Land! It's the jewel in the crown of Hong Kong's real estate industry! As Hong Kong's quasi-central bank, isn't it your responsibility, HSBC, to maintain the stability of the Hong Kong economy? You're watching helplessly as a Japanese kid disrupts our market and our pillar companies, and not only are you not helping me stabilize the situation, you're even adding insult to injury? You're watching Jardine Matheson fall into a liquidity crisis? Shen Bi! Are you still British?!"
This accusation, almost pointing at someone's nose and calling them a "traitor," completely infuriated Shen Bi. He stood up suddenly, leaning forward slightly, and shot a lightning-like gaze at Newbigin across the desk. His voice was not loud, but it carried the force of thunder:
"British?! Okay! Let me be clear! Jardine Matheson! If you were truly rooted in Hong Kong Island, with your heart set on Hong Kong Island, would you have continuously funneled the massive profits earned from Island Land and the funds raised from pledging HSBC loans to London, Sydney, Canada, and the US for investment? Would you have left Hong Kong Island with a massive hole it couldn't fill, forcing it to rely on a stock market bubble to survive?!"
He mercilessly lifted the veil of tenderness:
"Don't play pitiful in front of me! HSBC's internal reports clearly document the flow of your funds! Using Hong Kong Island's money to cover your overseas investment losses? And you're accusing me of not maintaining stability in Hong Kong Island? Sir Newbigin, aren't you just ready to abandon ship at any moment?!"
Shen Bi's questioning was like a skinning knife, exposing Niu Bijian's deepest thoughts to the air.
Niubijian's face instantly turned the color of liver, and veins bulged on his forehead. The embarrassment of having his thoughts exposed and the extreme pressure almost suffocated him. He opened his mouth, wanting to argue, but was suppressed by Shen Bi's powerful momentum. After a while, he finally lowered his voice like a deflated ball, with a kind of eagerness to defend himself and comfort himself:
"We're forced to do this! Peter, you're a wise man! Who can predict the situation on the mainland? Who knows when the events of 1949 will replay themselves in Shanghai? How many industries could be wiped out overnight? We at Jardine Matheson are simply preparing for a rainy day, diversifying our funds and investments into the safer Commonwealth regions. This is normal asset allocation based on risk considerations! It's not abandoning ship as you say!"
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