Chapter 126: Investment Theory
Shanghai, Huangpu Beach Road 166, Huafu Fund
After receiving Aisha’s telephone call, Chen Yang casually found an excuse to leave the Transportation Department.
After all, now all the Transportation Department’s work had to prioritize the First Section, and many of the transportation missions in Chen Yang’s Third Section and Nagashima No-hiro’s Second Section had been halted.
Fortunately, he controlled Shanghai’s wharf, so some materials didn’t need train transportation and could go by water route under the name of customs supervision commissioner.
For him, the revenue wasn’t much different either way.
The Transportation Department’s dedicated sedan quickly entered the International Settlement and arrived at the address Aisha mentioned.
Huangpu Beach Road 166.
Chen Yang got out of the car and looked up at the building in front of him, sighing endlessly in his heart: as expected of a royal princess, her moves were indeed extraordinary.
In front of him was a typical Western-style house, its massive granite body deeply embedded in the mudflat, arrogantly slicing through the Republic of China’s sky.
The customs clock tower not far away stood like a monarch, with giant clocks on all four sides hanging in mid-air, their hands like knives cutting the chaotic daylight and dusk into neat hours.
The bell’s heavy toll rolled across the river surface, shattering amid the whistle sounds of passing small steamers.
Huangpu Beach Road, also known as the Bund in later generations, had Shanghai’s currently most famous buildings here.
Not far away, HSBC Bank’s eight sturdy Corinthian giant columns supported a heavy dome, with bronze lions perched on the lintel, their beast eyes indifferently scanning the ant-like crowd below.
Diagonally opposite it at Huangpu Beach Road 27, the Cathay Hotel, the Far East’s tallest building, had its green spire piercing the gloom like a cold crown.
Sassoon House’s copper roof glistened in the occasional sunlight, like the tallest metal tree in this stone jungle.
Compared to these famous buildings, the house in front of him seemed much more ordinary.
Chen Yang glanced at the “Huafu Fund” sign hanging at the entrance, pushed open the half-concealed iron door, and walked inside.
Although no staff were visible inside the building, someone was already cleaning.
Chen Yang asked the cleaning staff and, after confirming the office location, slowly went up to the third floor.
“General Manager’s Office?” Chen Yang looked at the sign hanging on the top-floor office and gently knocked on the door.
“Come in.” An English voice sounded.
Chen Yang pushed open the office door and saw Aisha sitting primly behind the desk, writing something with her head down.
Today’s Aisha was not dressed as before; gold-rimmed glasses rested on her nose bridge, a gray-white professional suit, her originally loose golden hair tied into a bun, every move exuding professionalism.
“Chen Yang, you’ve come.” Aisha looked up and showed a professional smile.
Immediately after, she pulled open the drawer and took out a stack of prepared documents.
“Boss Chen, these are the documents approved by the UK side; this part is about Huafu Fund, and this part is about Life Sunshine Co., Ltd.”
“Currently, besides your investment of five hundred kilograms of gold, we have no other income.”
“Strictly speaking, our current Huafu Fund is just a shell company, except this shell looks a bit bigger than others.”
Chen Yang took the documents, flipped through them quickly, and smiled: “Miss Aisha, rest assured, funds will soon be transferred in one after another.”
“Your task is to control the funds through Life Sunshine Company under Huafu Fund and launder them smoothly.”
Aisha shrugged and said: “That’s not difficult for me.”
“However, I suggest Boss Chen still needs to do some real business; pure money laundering is prone to problems.”
“To expand business, I decided to hire a professional investment team.”
“You don’t need to worry about salary; we rely on performance.”
“After all, to maintain the foundation’s normal operation, we also need to conduct some commercial activities.”
“This is the proposal I drafted; take a look, any problems?”
Chen Yang took the proposal from Aisha, read it carefully, and couldn’t help but be amazed in his heart.
Initially, Chen Yang chose Aisha only because of her royal princess identity.
And at this moment, seeing the proposal she made, he realized these second-generation heirs were indeed very capable.
Their insights absolutely surpassed ordinary people.
“The proposal is well done,” Chen Yang praised.
“Of course, I’m professional.” Aisha said proudly.
“By the way, I found a professional person to be in charge of advancing the plan; calculating the time, he should be here soon.”
Chen Yang was slightly stunned, and rapid footsteps sounded at the door: “Aisha, you’re serious?”
The office door was pushed open, and William Taylor shouted as soon as he entered: “When did I agree to be Huafu Fund’s business department manager plus legal team representative?”
“Aren’t you deliberately causing me trouble?”
Aisha stood up and said: “Taylor, I really need your assistance now.”
“Needing assistance doesn’t mean touching my money bag.” William Taylor said discontentedly: “You told Mr. Madison I was jumping ship without my consent.”
“Do you know my house in the Netherlands relies entirely on this money to maintain? Without money, what should I do?”
Chen Yang said in surprise: “Mr. Taylor, I heard Mr. Lin say your remuneration as legal counsel at Asia is not low.”
“What house of yours needs so much money to maintain?”
Aisha laughed: “He bought a castle in Amsterdam; the labor and maintenance fees alone are enough to worry him.”
“Taylor, I’ve advised you long ago to think it through.”
“No way, Danny likes castles.” Taylor shrugged, but quickly snapped back: “Don’t change the topic; you’ve ruined my job, what about my castle?”
“Aisha, you’re going too far.”
Chen Yang raised his hand and said: “No problem, Mr. Taylor; I know you’re a very professional talent.”
“If you’re willing to come help Miss Aisha, I can offer you a salary that’s absolutely satisfactory.”
William Taylor’s expression shifted slightly: “How much?”
Chen Yang smiled: “Double your current salary; what do you think of that price?”
Before William Taylor could speak, Aisha on the side was displeased.
“Chen Yang, this price is too high.”
“Shut up.” William Taylor scolded her, then turned to Chen Yang with a smile: “Mr. Chen, you’re not joking with me, are you?”
“If it’s double the salary, I’d be happy to work for you.”
Chen Yang nodded: “Of course, but I also need to know if Mr. Taylor is worth that price.”
William Taylor was slightly stunned, pondered for a moment, and said: “I don’t know what Mr. Chen wants me to do?”
Chen Yang said calmly: “Mr. Taylor, I have a matter that I need to trouble you to handle.”
“I studied medicine and economics at Kyushu University; a few years ago, my teacher highly praised a paper about antibiotics.”
“As far as I know, in recent years, Dr. Qian En, biology professor at University of Sheffield, and Dr. Florrie, medicine professor, are trying to mass-produce this medicine.”
“I hope you can go to the United Kingdom as soon as possible and see if you can sponsor their research and development in the name of Life Sunshine Company.”
“Of course, the premise is that I need to obtain their exclusive authorization.”
“After the medicine research succeeds, we need to get complete patents and exclusive production rights.”
“On this basis, we can provide them with sufficient experimental funds for free.”
“These legal issues should be your specialty; leaving it to you should be no problem, right?”
William Taylor frowned: “Mr. Chen, I have to remind you that medicine research and development is a very long process.”
“Moreover, the invested funds are not a small amount; if it fails, it might drag down your business.”
“You don’t have that much capital to gamble now.”
Heh, Chen Yang chuckled inwardly; not seeing the result is gambling.
Knowing the result, that’s investment—um, a unicorn at that.
“I’m very certain,” Chen Yang said solemnly: “My mentor was very optimistic about this medicine, but few in Japan support new drug research.”
“They’d rather invest money in weapons and airplane research; for them, medicine research has too long a cycle and insufficient returns.”
“Since you insist, I have no objection.” William Taylor spread his hands: “Mr. Chen, when do you want me to depart?”
Chen Yang smiled: “Naturally, the sooner the better.”
William Taylor nodded: “Alright, I’ll hand over work with Asia, and depart as soon as it’s done.”
“You two chat first; I’m leaving.”
William Taylor was a very efficiency-focused person; carrying an alarm clock to meetings showed his strong sense of time.
After seeing off William, Aisha grumbled: “Boss Chen, the price you offered is too high.”
“From my understanding of Taylor, a 20% raise would make him happy, but you doubled it.”
Chen Yang waved his hand: “Miss Aisha, that’s not how it’s calculated.”
“For me, business is investment, and talent is also investment.”
“You’ve probably heard of New York’s Empire State Building, the world’s currently tallest building; it takes an hour from bottom to top, but only 8.8 seconds to jump down from the top.”
“Investment means preparing for losses; no loss, no gain.”
Aisha frowned: “Alright, you’re the boss; you decide.”
“Chen Yang, I feel like I’ve somewhat underestimated you; the purpose of establishing Huafu Fund and Life Sunshine Company doesn’t seem to be purely for money laundering.”
“Can I know what plans you have for the future?”
Chen Yang put his finger to his lips, making a hush gesture: “The timing hasn’t come yet; it’s too early to tell you.”
“What you need to do now is help me manage the fund well; rest assured, my plans will reserve a spot for you.”
“Alright, Your Highness, I’m leaving this to you; I’ll head back first.”
“I’ll see you off,” Aisha came up without another word…
