Chapter 70: The Hidden Contest

Franklin Lin did not pay much attention to the receptionist's inner fluctuations.

For him, he had no interest in engaging in any behavior with such people that might trigger conflict or face-slapping simply to derive pleasure or a sense of satisfaction.

Soon, Franklin saw an elderly British gentleman stepping out of the elevator.

"Hello, Mr. Lin. I am Alistair Centurion, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Green Island Cement. Welcome to Green Island Cement." Compared to that receptionist, this elderly board chairman, Alistair Centurion, appeared much more humble in demeanor.

However, Franklin understood that in the business world, age was often directly proportional to experience, and those seasoned elders were veritable "old foxes" who thoroughly understood human nature and strategy.

Therefore, against an opponent like Alistair Centurion, he always maintained a high degree of vigilance.

Franklin understood that one should never easily judge a person's capability and intentions based merely on outward appearance or initial impressions, especially someone like Alistair, who appeared composed yet was deeply scheming and had controlled Green Island Cement for over a decade.

Franklin shook hands with him and smiled, "Hello, Mr. Alistair. It's a pleasure to meet you for the first time. I look forward to your guidance."

"Mr. Lin, let's go into the office to talk."

"Alright."

The two of them took the elevator up to the 5th floor of the building.

"Would Mr. Lin care for something to drink?"

After taking a seat on the sofa, Alistair Centurion inquired.

"No thank you!" Franklin replied with a shake of his head.

"I am quite curious, Mr. Lin. Why are you interested in Green Island Cement?" Alistair Centurion looked at Franklin and asked.

"I am very optimistic about Hong Kong's real estate industry, and cement is the most indispensable material in the property sector. I have looked into Green Island Cement's performance over the past few years; although the annual profits are not particularly high, it undoubtedly has a very promising future. Therefore, holding shares in Green Island Cement will surely be a profitable investment with zero risk of loss," Franklin said with a smile.

He had no intention of revealing his true ambitions regarding Green Island Cement for the time being.

Because Franklin harbored a lingering doubt in his mind.

He had thoroughly studied the annual financial statements published by Green Island Cement. This company, which seemed massive in scale, reported an annual profit of merely over four million Hong Kong dollars—a figure that had greatly surprised him.

Had Franklin not been personally involved in the building materials industry, he might not have harbored so many doubts about this.

However, he currently owned Wah Fung Cement Factory under his portfolio and was well aware of the profit potential within the building materials sector.

His Wah Fung Cement Factory was merely a medium-sized cement plant. Even though its scale fell far short of Green Island Cement, it was still capable of generating a stable monthly income of one to two hundred thousand Hong Kong dollars for the company before it was targeted.

In contrast, the production scale of the Green Island Cement plant far exceeded that of Wah Fung by several multiples, and its customer base was unmatched by anyone else in Hong Kong. The Green Island Cement brand had long been deeply rooted in the public consciousness. Yet, its annual profit appeared so trivial and negligible—how could this not arouse suspicion?

When Franklin first reviewed those financial reports, his initial reaction was sheer disbelief, especially regarding the expense items, which appeared exceptionally peculiar.

He understood that Green Island Cement's advantage lay not only in its comprehensive production and sales system but also in its ownership of three commercial buildings in Hung Hom, Kowloon. Aside from Green Island House, which was for their own use, the other two buildings alone could contribute a rental income of one to two hundred thousand Hong Kong dollars per month. Theoretically, this should have brought considerable extra profit to the company.

However, these factors, which ought to have served as drivers of profit growth, were not properly reflected in the financial statements, further deepening his skepticism regarding the authenticity of Green Island Cement's financial condition.

Precisely because Green Island Cement's annual profits had consistently remained at a low level in recent years, its stock price had consequently hovered within a relatively low range.

Franklin held a conjecture in his mind.

"Mr. Lin, what is the exact number of Green Island Cement shares you currently hold, and what is your specific purpose in holding these shares?" Alistair Centurion directly and urgently posed the question that concerned him most.

After all, this question directly touched upon his personal interests and strategic planning.

Alistair Centurion was not entirely oblivious to this; in fact, as early as a month ago, he had already begun paying attention to the movements in Green Island Cement's stock market.

Yet, he was powerless to do anything about it.

Therefore, at this moment, he was all the more eager to understand Franklin's shareholding status and intentions to serve as a reference for his own next move, hoping perhaps to find a glimmer of turnaround from it to protect and expand his sphere of interests.

Alistair Centurion hailed from a declining British aristocratic family. A dozen years ago, he carried the family's final hopes and resources to Hong Kong, and through certain maneuvers and the help of friends, he finally succeeded in securing controlling rights over Green Island Cement.

However, the stability of this controlling stake was actually built upon paying hefty "pacification fees" to other British shareholders every year in order to maintain his position as chairman.

Under the cover of the chairmanship at Green Island Cement, Alistair secretly hollowed out the company's profits, leaving only a fraction to be publicly disclosed. Through this, he had acquired a vast amount of wealth from Green Island Cement over the years.

However, this wealth flowed away like water, ultimately pouring into his massive and heavily burdened family back in Britain.

With over a hundred family members, their long-cultivated luxurious lifestyle resulted in astronomical annual expenses. Even with the substantial funds earned by Green Island Cement each year, he still felt under considerable pressure.

When the ripples in the stock market triggered his sensitive nerves, Alistair immediately realized that Green Island Cement might have become the target of covetous forces.

Although alarm bells were ringing in his heart, he also knew full well that with his own financial strength and the current situation, it would be difficult to single-handedly cope with the potential crisis.

This helplessness and pressure made him sigh, realizing that safeguarding this hard-won controlling stake was far more difficult than he had imagined.

If the profits Alistair Centurion had earned from Green Island Cement over the years had been retained, he would have possessed considerable financial strength—assets amounting to at least tens of millions of Hong Kong dollars.

However, the cruel reality was that the earnings from past years had mostly been used to support his sprawling family, leaving almost nothing behind today.

Faced with an unknown competitor in the stock market, he realized he might no longer have the capacity to engage in fierce capital competition with others.

Although he had considered using his identity as the chairman of Green Island Cement to take out a loan to raise funds and compete head-to-head with this unknown rival, he chose to give up after careful consideration.

He understood that while a loan could solve immediate troubles, the ensuing high interest rates and repayment pressure could add insult to injury for his already fragile financial condition.

More importantly, he was uncertain about the outcome of this competition; should he fail, the consequences would be unimaginable.

In the end, he gave up.

The underlying reasons why Alistair Centurion ultimately decided to abandon the idea of increasing his holdings in Green Island Cement were manifold and deeply considered.

First, through meticulous observation and analysis, he keenly perceived that his opponent possessed robust financial backing. Even if he chose to take out loans to increase his holdings, he might not necessarily gain the upper hand in this capital game. This sober self-awareness led him to decide against blind risk-taking.

Second, considering that using loans to buy more shares would have a profound impact on his financial arrangements for many years to come, as the financial pillar of his family, he knew he could not ignore his financial support for the family for long.

Once a massive amount of capital was poured into the stock market, he would be unable to meet the demands of his family members for several years and could no longer maintain the family's honor as "aristocrats."

Furthermore, time spares no one. Alistair Centurion had entered the twilight of his life. Compared to those young, ambitious, and passionate businessmen, he cherished the stability and peace before him all the more.

During his years at Green Island Cement, although he had achieved moderate success, he had lost the reckless drive and courage of his youth.

Finally, and most worrying to him, was the risk of failure.

Once he lost this stock market competition, not only might he lose his shirt, but he could also face the dilemma of a drastic depreciation of the Green Island Cement shares he currently held.

By then, offloading those stocks would probably only be possible through a fire sale at extremely low prices—an unacceptable outcome for him.

Therefore, he ultimately gave up the idea of increasing his holdings and chose to observe in secret.

His greatest hope in his heart was that this unknown opponent was merely a "market maker" intending to cash out quickly, rather than a powerful competitor truly bent on seizing control of Green Island Cement.

When Alistair Centurion learned that the person eyeing the equity of Green Island Cement was actually a young man, he secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Compared to those old foxes in the business world, Franklin appeared so young, which to a certain extent lowered Alistair's guard.

He understood that facing those seasoned veterans, he probably wouldn't be able to hold his ground, and the control of Green Island Cement might truly fall into someone else's hands.

Yet Franklin's youth offered him a major turning point—a glimmer of hope that he might still retain his controlling stake.

In Alistair's eyes, youth often signified impulsiveness and a lack of experience, which happened to be a weakness he could exploit.

He began pondering how to use his experience, connections, and deep understanding of Green Island Cement to counter the challenge from this young opponent.

A surge of confidence welled up in Alistair Centurion's heart. He considered himself seasoned through years of battling in the business world, and his accumulated experience was more than enough for him to easily handle a greenhorn like Franklin.

In his view, such an opponent was merely an unfledged fledgling, and attempting to shake his position was nothing short of an illusion.

This confidence revitalized him, but Alistair also knew that blind confidence was not a sound strategy.

To that end, he wanted to figure out exactly how many shares of the company this young man had acquired and what his ultimate goal truly was.

The members of the company's board of directors had already been bought off by him long ago and basically obeyed his every command.

Therefore, Alistair Centurion believed that as long as this young man before him did not possess as many shares as he had imagined, his position as the chairman of the board would remain firmly secure.

Looking at the young man before him, Alistair Centurion waited for his answer.