svetikya Page 644
Page 644
He Yuzhu, who had been leisurely sitting on the sofa, suddenly rushed to the table and quickly reached out his right hand to pick up the telephone receiver.
Before he could even speak, a slightly anxious voice came from the other end of the phone:
"Mr. He, something terrible has happened! A major problem has occurred at Liao Chuang Hsing Bank!"
The caller was none other than Li Ka-shing, a renowned figure in the business world.
His very first words were like a bombshell, completely stunning He Yuzhu.
He Yuzhu was startled and quickly asked:
"What exactly happened?"
All I could hear on the other end of the phone was Li Chao, panting heavily, saying, "There's a serious bank run going on right now."
Upon hearing this news, He Yuzhu's eyes widened, and he exclaimed in disbelief:
"What? How is that possible!"
It's worth noting that Liu Chong Hing Bank is a large and reputable financial institution, so how could this situation suddenly occur?
Following that, Li Ka-shing continued to explain:
"It is said that recently there have been some false rumors circulating about the bank's capital chain breaking down. Somehow, these rumors spread all of a sudden, which led many depositors to go to the bank to withdraw their money."
He Yuzhu frowned and quickly asked another question:
"How many people are actually withdrawing money?"
Li Ka-shing replied:
“There are so many! There’s already a long queue in front of Chong Hing Bank, and you can’t see the end of it.”
Upon learning of this situation, He Yuzhu was greatly surprised. He hurriedly hung up the phone and quickly searched through various newspapers from that day, hoping to find relevant reports about the matter.
Strangely, however, these newspapers made no mention of the incident, suggesting that it must have just happened.
After some thought, He Yuzhu decided to go and find out for himself.
So he quickly went downstairs, got in his car, and sped off towards the Chong Hing Bank branch in Wan Chai.
As the car approached the street where the branch was located, a large crowd of people could be seen gathering outside the bank to withdraw money. They all looked anxious and kept looking ahead, and the line stretched all the way to the street corner.
He Yuzhu then rushed to the Yangtze River Industrial Building.
As soon as he got out of the car, he saw Li Ka-shing, who had been waiting there, pacing back and forth with a worried look on his face.
Upon seeing He Yuzhu arrive, Li Ka-shing immediately stepped forward and eagerly asked:
"What exactly is going on? Why are these rumors suddenly popping up?"
Li Ka-shing said with a bewildered expression:
"Oh dear, this is really baffling! Suddenly a lot of people are saying that the bank is going to fail, but no one can explain the specific reasons."
He Yuzhu, standing to the side, thought to himself that he was fortunate to have been cautious and had only deposited 100 million in Chuangxing Bank. He figured the bank shouldn't collapse so easily.
However, he certainly wouldn't rush to the bank to withdraw money at this critical juncture, as that would seem too heartless and inhumane.
Thinking of this, He Yuzhu puffed out his chest and declared with righteous indignation:
"If the bank encounters any difficulties or needs help, I will definitely do my part without hesitation to help it overcome its current difficulties!"
Li Ka-shing quickly responded with a smile:
"You're too kind! In my opinion, these are mostly just baseless rumors, and they'll probably fall apart on their own soon."
Chapter 445 Support
He Yuzhu glanced at the calendar casually and discovered that today was already June 4th, 1961.
He pondered to himself that this day seemed to have nothing special about it; everything appeared so calm and uneventful.
However, to his surprise, the situation spread rapidly like wildfire the very next day.
In the early morning, as sunlight streamed into the room through the window, He Yuzhu habitually opened the day's newspaper.
But the sight before him left him speechless—the news was flooded with reports of a massive bank run on Liao Chuang Hsing Bank!
Those eye-catching headlines were like thunderclaps, making his heart race.
Many commentators have asserted that Liu Chong Hing Bank is now in dire straits, unable to provide enough cash to cope with the surging bank run, and that bankruptcy is likely only a matter of time.
Upon seeing these messages, He Yuzhu felt a chill run down his spine.
It should be noted that, prior to this, after conducting in-depth investigations and research, he was well aware that Liao Chuang Hing Bank had always been operating well.
Its deposits amount to over HK$100 million, and although its loans amount to as much as HK$70 to HK$80 million, the proportion is relatively high, and there have been no non-performing or bad debts.
Overall, the bank's operations are well-organized and its performance is steadily growing.
That's why He Yuzhu resolutely chose to cooperate with Liao Baoshan and deposited a full million yuan without hesitation.
Moreover, he harbored an even longer-term plan: to one day successfully join the company's board of directors.
At this moment, anxiety surged into He Yuzhu's heart like a tide, and he could no longer sit still.
He gripped the telephone receiver tightly, his fingers trembling slightly as he dialed Mr. Liao Baoshan's number.
As soon as the call connected, Liao Baoshan's slightly tentative voice came through:
"Mr. He, are you calling now to withdraw your deposit in our bank?"
“Mr. Liao, you have misunderstood. If needed, I actually have a lot of cash reserves here, which can fully help your bank get through this current difficulty.”
He Yuzhu had a vague idea of the bank's future development in his mind, so he was very confident that Liao Chuangxing Bank would successfully resolve the crisis.
Liao Baoshan was originally worried that He Yuzhu would want to withdraw the one million yuan he had deposited, but he never expected that not only did He Yuzhu have no such intention, but he even offered to lend him some cash for emergency use.
This unexpected move greatly surprised Liao Baoshan, whose face immediately broke into a joyful smile. He quickly said:
"Oh dear, thank you so much, Mr. He, for your generous help! We must have a good cup of tea and catch up this afternoon!"
"No problem, I'll definitely be there on time!"
He Yuzhu readily agreed and then hung up the phone.
Immediately afterward, he quickly began to take stock of his cash situation. He opened a hidden space where stacks of banknotes were neatly arranged, most of them lying there quietly, roughly estimated to be more than two million.
In addition, a considerable sum of money was deposited in an account at HSBC.
Even after deducting the one million deposited in Liao Chuangxing Bank, he still holds a huge amount of cash, amounting to thirteen million!
Time flew by, and it was already afternoon. As agreed, He Yuzhu and business tycoon Li Ka-shing went to the teahouse where they had met before.
As the two walked side by side into the familiar private room, they found that the hospitable Fok Ying-tung had been waiting for them for quite some time.
The four business elites exchanged smiles, and without much pleasantry, quickly got down to business, engaging in a deep and heated discussion about the current banking crisis that was gripping the nation…
Liao Baoshan said with a solemn expression:
“Just yesterday, a whopping 500 million yuan was suddenly transferred from our accounts! If this continues, the amount lost today will probably exceed 1000 million yuan! In my opinion, this is clearly someone deliberately trying to ruin the Liao family!”
Huo Yingdong, who was standing to the side, nodded slightly in agreement, and then he spoke:
"Actually, I've also received relevant information. It seems there is indeed a mysterious force targeting you in the dark."
After a brief pause, he asked with concern:
"Is it necessary to urgently allocate a large amount of cash for emergency response?"
After a moment's thought, Liao Baoshan replied:
"The company still has some funds in its account that can be used. However, I plan to borrow some from within the company to tide us over. Of course, the final amount needed will depend on the specific circumstances. I have already arranged for people to publish notices in major newspapers, solemnly declaring to the outside world that our company's operations are proceeding as usual and there are no abnormalities. This incident is purely a malicious attack carefully planned by those with ulterior motives!"
Upon hearing this, Huo Yingdong patted his chest and generously declared:
"If you really need money urgently later, just say so, brother. I can probably come up with about 700 million in cash to help you."
At this moment, Li Jiacheng, who had been silent all along, looked embarrassed and interjected with a slightly apologetic expression:
"My apologies, gentlemen. You are well aware of my current situation. I am truly unable to spare a large sum of money to help you in the short term."
Having said all that, everyone present knew perfectly well that, in terms of sheer financial size, Li Ka-shing was undoubtedly the weakest link among the three.
After all, Liao Baoshan is a big shot in the banking business, and he has at least 20 to 30 million yuan in liquid funds.
Huo Yingdong has been involved in the business world for a long time and can easily come up with millions of dollars in cash to deal with various emergencies.
There's really no need to say much about He Yuzhu! Although he doesn't have many fixed assets, he has a staggering amount of cash on hand, easily exceeding 1000 million!
Then look at Li Ka-shing; he merely sold a factory and received a paltry HK$300 million in return.
Moreover, this was only after adding all the money he had painstakingly earned before, which allowed him to raise enough funds to invest in those two industrial buildings.
If you were to ask him to produce real money right now, he probably wouldn't even be able to come up with 100 million!
Liao Baoshan wasn't surprised at all by this situation, and simply said:
"It's already very kind of you to have this intention. As things are, they're not that bad yet."
However, in reality, Liao Baoshan was already as anxious as an ant on a hot pan!
You should know that one of the things banks fear most is a large-scale bank run!
Prior to this, they had lent out almost all the money deposited by depositors.