Seeing the expression of the Financial Secretary and the fact that he called out his name directly, Fang Lang's heart skipped a beat and he felt something was wrong. However, his expression did not change at all, and he still smiled as he extended his hand to shake the other party's.
The president of Morgan Global Bank on the side did not wait for the two to say anything more, and took the initiative to invite them:
"Boss, are you here for dinner too? I was just worried that my invitation to Mr. McCall might not be enough! Since we just happened to meet, boss, would you like to sit down and eat with us?"
This was originally Fang Lang's deliberate arrangement, but McCall's expression just now made Fang Lang have some doubts. He did not answer immediately, but looked at the Financial Secretary. Seeing that there was no strange expression on his face, he couldn't figure out for a moment whether he had just had an illusion.
Now that he was already here, he couldn't back down. This would make it easier for people to think that he looked down on the other party. After figuring this out, he said with a smile on his face:
"That depends on whether it's convenient for you, Mr. Director. If you want to discuss any work matters today, I'd better not disturb you!"
Hearing this, McCall smiled and shook his head:
"I was invited by Carioca today. I think if it's about your company's business, General Fang shouldn't have to avoid it!"
Upon hearing this, Carioca also smiled and said:
...
...
"Haha... Yes, yes, I invited Director McCall to dinner this time because I just arrived and wanted to make friends with him. If the boss can come with me, he will definitely feel my sincerity."
McCall didn't say anything after hearing this, but continued to look at Fang Lang with a smile on his face.
Seeing this, Fang Lang smiled slightly, nodded to McCall and said:
"Then I'll bother you today!"
After that, he stopped being polite and directly pulled out a stool and sat down. The other two also smiled and nodded, motioning the other party to sit down and chat.
After the three of them sat down, Carioca asked the waiter to order two more dishes, and then poured Fang Lang a glass of red wine.
As the director of the Hong Kong City Finance Department, McCall could be considered a local half-landlord, so he raised his glass directly to Fang Lang and said:
“I am very happy to meet General Fang here today. As a British, I want to express my gratitude to General Fang for leading the fleet to visit Hong Kong during this sensitive period!
You are the best friend of our British Empire. Let us drink to friendship!"
Hearing this, Fang Lang naturally smiled and raised his glass to McCall, saying:
"Okay, cheers to our friendship!"
The three of them clinked their glasses enthusiastically, and after a glass of wine, they seemed to break the unfamiliarity between each other and began to chat and laugh.
Fang Lang felt that Director McCall in front of him must have guessed that today's encounter was a deliberate arrangement, but the other party did not expose it, so there was certainly no need for him to expose it himself.
After everyone chatted and laughed for a while, Director McCall suddenly took the initiative to bring up the topic intentionally or unintentionally:
"Speaking of which, we should thank General Fang! Originally, everyone was very worried about the situation in the port city, but General Fang's words at the press conference at Admiralty Pier made many of us see the dawn of peace.
Many business celebrities who were originally planning to transfer their assets in Hong Kong City chose to wait and see after hearing General Fang's words. This has brought a turnaround in the financial environment of Hong Kong City, and my work has become much easier."
Upon hearing this, Fang Lang smiled and said to the other party:
"Haha... I am just telling the truth. Mr. Grantham and I have discussed this topic separately. In fact, my views are exactly the same as his. The turbulent situation will definitely pass quickly. We are both very optimistic about the future of Hong Kong City.
Therefore, although a lot of British capital has fled during this period, we have not hesitated to increase our investment in Hong Kong City. In the future, our group's business in Hong Kong City will have to trouble Mr. McCall for more support!"
"Haha... no problem, no problem! We in Hong Kong welcome successful people like Mr. Fang to come and invest.
As the Financial Secretary of Hong Kong City, if there is anything I can do to help you, please don't hesitate to ask. I will spare no effort to ensure the normal business activities of your company in Hong Kong City. "
Looking at McCall's smiling face, Fang Lang understood that the other party was waiting for him to speak. He had originally planned to directly explain the location of his museum land to the Financial Secretary, but thinking of the other party's previous strange expression, he decided to slow down a bit and see if he could test the other party again.
"Haha... Thank you for your support, Mr. McCall. Come to think of it, I actually need your help right now!"
McCall raised his eyebrows when he heard this:
"Oh! Is it about the land for Mr. Fang's private museum construction?"
Upon hearing this, Fang Lang's heart moved, and he said with some doubt:
"Hey! Has the Governor given you the responsibility for this matter?"
McCall, who thought he knew Fang Lang's purpose, was also stunned when he heard this. He couldn't help but carefully look at Fang Lang's expression before saying:
"Yes! That's true. The Governor of Hong Kong has personally selected a site for Mr. Fang to build a museum, and is currently asking the Lands Department under the Financial Secretary to go through the land acquisition process!"
Hearing this, Fang Lang immediately understood the purpose of the Governor of Hong Kong asking him to meet at the Governor's Mansion tomorrow afternoon. Although, he had clearly told the other party that he needed to carefully investigate the issue of the museum land and then go through the formal application process.
He didn't want to trouble the Governor's Office to intervene in such a small matter, but now it seems that Grantham did not really let this matter go just because he said so.
Or maybe he had already started looking for a location for his museum when he agreed to pass on the message. It seems like he didn't want to owe me a favor!
Fang Lang looked at McCall in surprise and said:
"Ah? Haven't I already told the Governor about this? No need to bother him! We can just find a suitable place ourselves and apply to the Lands Department normally!
Mr. Governor, this is too polite. I wonder where the place Mr. Governor has chosen for me is! "
McCall, who had been carefully observing Fang Lang's expression, could not help but become a little suspicious after hearing Fang Lang's words, and quickly said with a smile on his face:
"Ah! So that's how it is. It seems that the Governor is planning to give Mr. Fang a surprise! Then I was just being nosy and accidentally disrupted the Governor's plan.
I am guilty, guilty. I am self-righteous. Please don't take my words to heart, Mr. Fang. If the Governor of Hong Kong mentions it to you, please help cover it up! "
"Haha... no problem. I've been looking around for a while and I'm not sure where to put the museum. If the Governor of Hong Kong comes forward to help me consider it, I'll be relieved.
Mr. McCall, rest assured, I didn't hear anything just now. Haha..."
To be honest, Fang Lang already had a location in mind for building his own museum. Now Grantham has helped him choose a location. If the location is not to his liking, he will be in a difficult situation.
It’s not good to offend the other party!
So, even though Fang Lang laughed heartily, McCall still saw a hint of unnaturalness in his eyes.
Thinking that the other party's behavior might be caused by his own self-righteousness, McCall felt a little uneasy. He quickly coughed lightly and said awkwardly:
"From what I heard from Mr. Fang, the matter you just asked me to help you with doesn't seem to be about the land for the construction of this museum?"
Fang Lang had just made it clear that he was not asking the other party to help determine the land for the construction of a private museum, so it was naturally not a good idea to continue talking about this matter now.
After thinking for a moment, he laughed and said:
“To be honest, although the reason why I want to trouble Mr. McCall is not about the land for museum construction, it is also related to land.
As you know, I am very optimistic about the development of Gangcheng. I have been very happy staying in Gangcheng during this period. But there is only one inconvenient thing. That is, I don’t have a home of my own in Gangcheng and need to live in a hotel, which is somewhat inconvenient.
Therefore, I would like to apply to the Hong Kong government for a piece of residential land, but I don’t know if I can get the approval.”
Hearing this, McCall couldn't help but let out a long sigh of relief. This little thing was certainly not a difficult task for him. Fortunately, he saw Fang Lang meet him in person. He thought he had something very troublesome to deal with him.
He even took the initiative to tell others about how the Governor had helped him find land for the museum, only to find out that he had made a mistake.
"Haha... That's not difficult! I don't know what place Mr. Fang has taken a fancy to, please tell me and I will arrange it for you right away!"
When Fang Lang said that he wanted to apply for residential land in Gangcheng, he had already started thinking quickly in his mind about where would be suitable for building a house.
To be honest, the most upscale residential address in Hong Kong during this period was of course on Victoria Peak, but Victoria Peak is now dominated by white people and Chinese are not allowed to settle here.
Fang Lang also didn't like living in Taiping Mountain. In his later life, Fang Lang had visited Taiping Mountain. When he took the car up and down the mountaintop road, he was really scared. The road was narrow and the curves were sharp. It felt like if he was not careful, the car would be destroyed and people would die.
Instead of living in a high-rise building and climbing up and down every day, it is better to buy a luxurious large flat with sea view, which has many supporting services and convenient transportation.
Unfortunately, there are no such high-rise sea view flats in this era. If you live at the foot of the mountain, there will be many people around you, and when the area develops in the future, you may be surrounded by high-rise buildings, which will be even more uncomfortable.
Therefore, if you want to live comfortably in Hong Kong Island and not be surrounded by high-rise buildings, you can only go to the mountains. This is also the reason why luxury homes on the Peak are so precious.
Fang Lang's idea of the best location for a house would definitely be the famous Deep Water Bay and the adjacent Repulse Bay. These two locations were still considered remote areas in the port city of this era, and the land prices were not expensive.
Therefore, the first thing Fang Lang wanted was the land here.
With his status, if he mentioned this matter to McCall, the other party would definitely not refuse. But since Fang Lang had found the Financial Secretary, it was obviously not enough to just take over Deep Water Bay or Repulse Bay.
After hearing McCall's attitude of taking on so much responsibility, Fang Lang's heart moved, and he spoke directly:
“Will it be okay if it’s the top of Victoria Peak?”
After hearing this, McCall, who was smiling just now, could not help but freeze his expression, and a trace of embarrassment appeared on his face. After a long while, he slowly spoke:
"The Peak is quite special. The terrain there is complex and there are not many places that can be used as residential foundations. If Mr. Fang wants to build a house there, I may have to go back and have a good look with the Director of Lands to see if there is any suitable place."
Upon hearing this, Fang Lang understood that the other party was going to go back and communicate with the Governor of Hong Kong. After all, the current location of Victoria Peak is special, and there has never been a precedent of Chinese living there. He really cannot make the decision directly.
"Yeah! Then I'll wait for your good news."
Fang Lang obviously didn't like living here, so why did he ask for the homestead on the top of Taiping Mountain? The reason was very simple, which was to break the British monopoly on Taiping Mountain.
Although this is now a British colony, it will return to its homeland sooner or later, and the monopoly here will be broken sooner or later. But now that he has come to Hong Kong City, if there is a chance to break this unspoken rule in advance, Fang Lang will of course try it.
In the eyes of the Governor and other Hong Kong government officials, Fang Lang might be a Brazilian Chinese, not a local Chinese, so the resistance to approving him a residential plot in Taiping Peak would definitely be much smaller.
But even if he is a Chinese in Brazil, it cannot change the fact that he is Chinese. As long as he can break the unspoken rules of Taipingshan, it will open an invisible shackle for the entire Chinese community.
Therefore, Fang Lang’s request to build a house in Taiping Mountain seems to be just an ordinary housing land issue, but in fact it involves political issues.
With the first Chinese moving into Victoria Peak, there will soon be a second and a third, just as John Zeng had the opportunity to break the history of the Hong Kong Police Force having no Chinese inspectors. Once he broke this rule, the next one would follow.
Sooner or later, the entire police force will become a Chinese world.
As if sensing McCall's unnaturalness, Carioca very cleverly intervened at the right time and began to turn the topic to other romantic matters.
Soon, the dinner was over.
Fang Lang did not look very happy when he returned to the room. After all, his original plan had not been achieved. Now the location of the private museum depended on what kind of surprise Grantham had prepared.
After seeing McCall off, Carioca did not leave, but came to Fang Lang's room.
"Boss, is it that things are not going well?"
Fang Lang had not told his banker what his original plan was, but he could still see it from Fang Lang's expression. So, he took the initiative to stay and see if there was anything he could do to help.
Seeing this, Fang Lang smiled slightly, waved his hand nonchalantly and said:
“It’s not that it wasn’t going smoothly, but I didn’t expect that Grantham would take the initiative to help me find a location for the private museum. The location he provided was definitely different from what I had in mind.
But it doesn't matter. The other party is the Governor of Hong Kong, and the place he takes out won't be some messy place. It may very well be a concentrated area for cultural and artistic industries planned by their Hong Kong government.
It will not have much impact on the construction of my museum. The point is that I had planned to take advantage of the opportunity to acquire a large piece of commercial land to build the Hong Kong headquarters of the group company. But now it seems that this plan is going to fall through. "
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