Chapter 448 A Heaven-Sent Opportunity
The next day, just as Lin Haoran had predicted, Hong Kong's property market took a huge hit.
The major pro-British media continued to sensationalize the news about Lin Haoran's sell-off of property projects, further spreading fear among the public.
Sales offices were deserted; once-bustling homebuyers had seemingly vanished overnight.
Real estate agencies' phones had stopped ringing; the entire market sank into an unprecedented slump.
Yesterday had been perhaps the most painful day for the real estate sector, with transaction volumes plummeting by over 90%. Many developments hadn't recorded a single sale.
Worse yet, numerous customers who had already placed down payments showed up at sales offices demanding refunds.
Scenes like this played out across nearly every sales center.
At the former Goldmen Tower, now renamed Ka Nin Tower, Chen Songqing sat in his office, his expression grim.
He had just received a report from the finance department—Ka Nin Group had seen virtually no revenue yesterday.
Worse, the company's stock price had tumbled significantly.
He knew all too well what this meant.
Ka Nin Group's survival depended not just on endless bank loans, but critically on pre-selling unfinished apartments to generate cash flow.
A day without revenue wasn't catastrophic, but a few months of this—and Ka Nin would collapse.
Clenching his fists, Chen Songqing's heart was filled with anxiety and dread.
Even though Lin Haoran had tried to reassure him yesterday, Chen Songqing remained uneasy.
He was even contemplating selling off controlling shares of Aimei Gao Company.
He had spent months maneuvering to fully take over Aimei Gao, only last month finally ousting its founder, Lau Luen Hung.
But after taking control, he quickly realized Aimei Gao wasn't the golden goose he had imagined.
Nonetheless, he couldn't let that news leak. Maintaining Aimei Gao's facade of prestige was essential to prevent the share price from collapsing—and dragging Ka Nin Group down with it.
If things got worse, even Ka Nin Tower and the recently purchased International Building might have to be sold off.
He cursed himself internally—he had moved too aggressively, expanding too fast.
"What on earth is Lin Haoran plotting?" Chen Songqing muttered bitterly, full of doubt.
Meanwhile, other real estate tycoons were scrambling to hold emergency meetings to discuss countermeasures.
Especially those companies with high debt levels—besides Ka Nin Group, there were firms like Hang Lung Properties, Great Eagle Holdings, and Carnival Properties.
In just one day, these CEOs had started panicking.
Everyone knew that once a real estate crisis struck, heavily leveraged companies would suffer the most devastating collapse.
In another world, Jardines Matheson itself would have been among them—by 1982, their debt would have ballooned past HK$10 billion, dragging even Jardine Matheson Holdings into chaos.
But in this world, Jardines Matheson had been completely transformed.
After Lin Haoran acquired the company, he had immediately cleared bad assets at high prices and halted all reckless investments.
Today, although Jardines Matheson officially still carried HK$4 billion in bank debt, their available cash exceeded HK$10 billion.
Even factoring in Lin Haoran's personal debts, they could easily cover everything.
Thus, Jardines Matheson's financial standing was extremely healthy—unlike a typical real estate firm burdened by crippling debts.
Across Hong Kong, almost every real estate firm carried some debt.
Even giants like Cheung Kong Holdings, Sun Hung Kai Properties, and New World Development had leverage.
However, these top-tier companies kept their debt ratios low enough to weather any downturn.
Meanwhile, amid the sector-wide panic, Lin Haoran remained calm and unhurried.
Today was December 31st—the final day of 1980.
Tomorrow would mark the start of 1981.
He sat in his office on the 51st floor of Kang Lok Building, coffee cup in hand, gazing out over the bustling streets of Central through the floor-to-ceiling windows.
"Boss, should we issue a statement?" Ma Shimin asked after placing a folder of intelligence reports on the desk.
"This incident hasn't affected Jardines Matheson much, but your personal reputation has taken a hit.
Some unethical media outlets are stirring trouble unnecessarily."
Lin Haoran took a slow sip of coffee and said lightly,
"No rush. Let the bullets fly for a while."
Ma Shimin nodded, then continued,
"Today, just like yesterday, sales offices are deserted.
Even the Land Registry reports that secondary property transfers are dismal—fewer than fifty appointments."
All this information came from Jardines Matheson's internal intelligence network.
"By the way," Lin Haoran asked,
"Tomorrow's government land auction is still scheduled for 3:30 PM, correct?"
"Yes, Boss," Ma Shimin confirmed.
"I reported earlier that aside from our group, three other real estate companies had registered.
But as of yesterday, Ka Nin Group has officially withdrawn.
Only Wheelock and Swire remain."
Ma Shimin added thoughtfully,
"But from what I observe, Wheelock and Swire don't seem seriously interested.
They appear to be attending only to save face with the Governor's Office."
Now, there were few British real estate firms left in Hong Kong.
The largest, Jardines Matheson, was already Lin Haoran's.
Wharf Holdings had been captured by Pao Yue-Kong, and Hutchison Whampoa by Li Jiacheng.
Effectively, only Wheelock and Swire still represented British real estate interests.
Hearing this, Lin Haoran smiled faintly:
"Then it's even better for us.
The fewer competitors, the easier it will be for us to win those plots."
After all, tomorrow's auction would offer prime land—true scarce resources.
If they missed it, the loss would be considerable.
Hong Kong's real estate crisis wouldn't fully hit until 1982—and it would be relatively short-lived.
By the mid-1980s, a massive new boom would begin.
Thus, missing out on tomorrow's auction would be a serious setback.
"Exactly," Ma Shimin said, his tone tinged with excitement.
"If no one else bids seriously, we might even get these plots at the starting prices—saving a fortune!"
Under normal circumstances, such rare core plots would spark ferocious bidding wars, sending prices soaring well beyond market value.
But now, with Ka Nin Group out and Wheelock and Swire unlikely to compete, the path seemed clear.
Was this not a heaven-sent opportunity?
"Do you think the Governor's Office might cancel the auction to avoid embarrassment?" Lin Haoran asked.
After all, most past land auctions had been major revenue sources for the colonial government, masked as funds for Hong Kong's use—but everyone knew the money ultimately flowed back to Britain.
With today's real estate panic, most developers had lost their appetite for buying land.
Would the government cancel to save face?
"Unlikely," Ma Shimin analyzed confidently.
"The auction has been widely publicized for over half a month.
Canceling now would send an extremely negative signal—implying even the government has lost faith in Hong Kong's future.
The Governor's Office would never risk that.
Besides, it's already so close to the auction date.
If they planned to cancel, they would have done so earlier."
Lin Haoran nodded slightly, agreeing with Ma Shimin's judgment.
Every government action had ripple effects on the market—especially in sensitive times like these.
Canceling the auction would only worsen public panic and damage government credibility.
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