Seeing the expression of the Financial Secretary and the direct call to his name, Fang Lang felt something bad in his heart. But the expression on his face did not change at all, and he still reached out and shook hands with the other person with a smile on his face.
The president of Global Morgan Bank on the side did not wait for the two to say anything more, and took the initiative to extend the invitation:
"Boss, are you here for dinner too? I was worried that my invitation to Mr. McCall was a bit underwhelming! Since I happened to meet the boss, do you want to sit down and have something to eat together?"
This was 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 and saw that there was no expression on his face. There was no strange color, and for a moment I couldn't figure out whether I had just imagined it.
Since he has come now, he can't retreat. This will easily make people think that he looks down on the other party. After thinking about this, he said with a cheerful face:
"It depends on whether it is convenient for Mr. Director. If you want to discuss some work matters today, I'd better not disturb you!"
Hearing this, McCall smiled and shook his head and said:
"I was also invited by Carioca today. I think if it is about your company's official business, General Fang shouldn't have to avoid it, right?"
When Carioca heard this, he quickly smiled and said:
"Haha... Yes, yes, I invited Director McCall to have dinner this time. I just came here and wanted to make friends with Director McCall. If the boss can accompany him in person, it will definitely make Mr. Director more attractive. Feel my sincerity.”
McCall did not speak when he heard 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 be bothering you today!"
After saying that, he stopped being polite and directly pulled out the stool and sat down. Seeing this, the other two people also smiled and nodded, gesturing for the other party to sit down and chat.
After the three of them were seated, Carioca asked the waiter to order two more dishes, and then poured Fang Lang another glass of red wine.
As the director of the Hong Kong City Financial Department, McCall can be regarded as half a local 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 man, I would like to express my gratitude to General Fang for leading the fleet to visit the port city during this sensitive period!
You are our best friend in the British Empire, let us drink to friendship! "
Hearing this, Fang Lang naturally smiled, raised his glass and said to McCall:
"Okay, cheers to our friendship!"
The three of them toasted to each other enthusiastically. After drinking a glass of wine, they seemed to have broken the unfamiliarity with each other and started chatting and laughing.
Fang Lang felt that Director McCall in front of him must have guessed that today's encounter was deliberately arranged, but the other party did not expose it, so of course there was no need for him to expose it himself.
After everyone chatted and laughed for a while, Director McCall suddenly raised the topic intentionally or unintentionally:
"Speaking of which, we have to 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 the Admiralty Pier made many of us see the dawn of peace.
Many business celebrities who were originally planning to transfer the assets of the port city chose to wait and see after listening to General Fang's words. This made the financial environment of our port city turn around, and my job became a lot easier. "
Upon hearing this, Fang Lang smiled and said to the other party:
"Haha...I'm just telling the truth. Mr. Grantham and I have discussed this topic alone. In fact, he and I have the same views. The turbulent situation will definitely pass soon. We are both very optimistic about Hong Kong City. future.
Therefore, although a lot of British capital fled during this period, we still increased our investment in Hong Kong City without hesitation. In the future, our group’s business in Hong Kong City will need more support from Mr. McCall! "
"Haha... easy to say, easy to say! Our Hong Kong City very much welcomes successful people like Mr. Fang to invest.
As the Financial Secretary of Hong Kong City, if there is anything I can do to help, General Fang, please feel free to say so. I will spare no effort to protect your company's normal business activities in Hong Kong City. "
Looking at McCall with a smile on his face, Fang Lang understood that the other party was waiting for him to speak. Originally, he had planned to directly explain the location of his museum to the Financial Secretary, but thinking of the strange expression on his face before, He decided to slow down a little and see if he could test the other party again.
"Haha...Thank you Mr. McCall for your support. Speaking of which, I really need your help now!"
When McCall heard this, he raised his eyebrows and said:
"Oh! Is it about the land for the construction of Mr. Fang's private museum?"
Upon hearing this, Fang Lang's heart moved, and he said with some doubts:
"Hey! Mr. Hong Kong Governor, have you been responsible for this matter?"
McCall, who thought he already knew Fang Lang's purpose, couldn't help but be stunned when he heard this. He couldn't help but look at Fang Lang's expression carefully before saying:
"Yes! That's true. Mr. Hong Kong Governor has personally selected a museum construction site for Mr. Fang, and is letting the Lands Department under the Financial Secretary go through the land acquisition process!"
Hearing this, Fang Lang immediately understood the purpose of the Hong Kong Governor's appointment to meet at the Government House tomorrow afternoon. Although he had clearly told the other party at the beginning that he needed to carefully examine the museum land and then follow the formal application process.
It is not troublesome for the Hong Kong 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 once you agree to help the other party pass the message, the other party has already started to look for a museum location for you. It seems that the other party does not want to owe him a favor!
Fang Lang looked at McCall in surprise and said:
"Ah? Haven't I already told Mr. Governor of Hong Kong about this matter! There is no need to trouble the other party! We can find a suitable place ourselves and apply to the Lands Department normally!
Mr. Governor, this is too polite. I don’t know where the place Mr. Governor has chosen for me is! "
McCall, who had been carefully observing Fang Lang's expression, couldn't help but become a little surprised when he heard Fang Lang's words, and quickly said with a smile on his face:
"Ah! So that's it. It seems that Mr. Hong Kong Governor is planning to give Mr. Fang a surprise! Then I was too talkative and accidentally disrupted Mr. Hong Kong Governor's plan.
My sin, my sin, is that I am self-righteous. Please, Mr. Fang, please don’t take what I just said to heart. If Mr. Hong Kong Governor mentions it to you, please help cover it up! "
"Haha... No problem. I happened to be looking around during this period, and I was really undecided about where to put the museum. Since Mr. Hong Kong Governor personally came forward to help me think about it, I would be happy and relaxed.
Don't worry, Mr. McCall, I didn't hear anything just now. Ha ha……"
Speaking of which, Fang Lang already has his own museum construction site in mind, and now Grantham has chosen a location for him. If the location is not what he wants, it will be really difficult for him.
It’s hard to refute the other person’s face!
Therefore, although Fang Lang smiled heartily, McCall still saw a hint of unnaturalness in the other person's eyes.
Thinking that the other party's performance might be caused by his own self-righteousness, McCall was also a little uneasy. He coughed lightly and said with a slight embarrassment:
"I heard from Mr. Fang that what you just said you wanted me to help 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 difficult to continue talking about this matter now.
After thinking for a moment, he laughed and said:
"Speaking of which, what I want to trouble Mr. McCall with is not about the land used for the construction of the museum, but it is also related to the land.
You also know that I am very optimistic about the development of Hong Kong City. I have been very happy in Hong Kong City during this period. However, the only inconvenience is that I do not have a home of my own in Hong Kong City. Staying in a hotel is somewhat inconvenient.
Therefore, I want to apply for a piece of residential land from the Hong Kong government, but I don’t know if I can get approval from the Hong Kong government. "
Hearing this, McCall couldn't help but let out a long sigh of relief. This little thing was certainly not a problem for him. Fortunately, when he saw Fang Lang encountering him in person, he thought he had something very troublesome coming for him. .
He took the initiative to tell the story about Mr. Hong Kong Governor helping him find land for the museum, but it turned out that he had made an own mistake.
"Haha... What's so difficult about this! I don't know what Mr. Fang is interested in. Please just tell me and I will help you arrange it right away!"
When Fang Lang said that he wanted to apply for residential land in Hong Kong City, he had already started thinking quickly about where would be a suitable place for him to build a house.
Speaking of which, the most high-end residential address in Hong Kong City during this period was of course in Victoria Peak, but now Victoria Peak is dominated by white people, and Chinese people are not allowed to settle here at all.
And Fang Lang didn't like living in Taiping Mountain. Later, Fang Lang visited Taiping Mountain. When he took the car up and down the mountain road, it was really frightening. The lane was narrow and the curves were sharp. He felt that if he was not careful, he would be in trouble. The car crashed and people died.
Instead of living above and climbing up and down every day, it is better to buy a luxurious flat floor with sea view, many supporting services and convenient travel.
Unfortunately, in this era, there are no such high-rise flat floors with sea views. If you live at the foot of a mountain, there will be many people around you. When it 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 without being surrounded by high-rise buildings, you can only run to the mountains. This is why luxury houses on the top of the mountain are precious.
In Fang Lang's mind, the best location for a residence must be near the famous Deep Water Bay and the adjacent Repulse Bay. These two locations were still 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.
Given his status, as long as he mentioned this kind of thing to McCall, the other party would never refuse. But now that Fang Lang has found the Financial Secretary, it is obviously not enough to just take Deep Water Bay or Repulse Bay.
After hearing McCall's all-encompassing attitude, Fang Lang's heart moved and he said directly:
"Is it okay if it's the Peak of Victoria Peak?"
As soon as these words came out, McCall, who had been smiling just now, couldn't help but his expression froze, and there was a trace of embarrassment on his face. After a long while, he slowly said:
"The Victoria Peak is really 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. See if there is a suitable place."
Hearing this, Fang Lang understood that the other party was going back to communicate with the Hong Kong Governor. After all, the current location of Taipingshan was special and there had never been a precedent for Chinese people to move in. He really couldn't 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 the other party for a homestead on the top of Victoria Peak? The reason is very simple, that is to break the British monopoly on Victoria Peak.
Although this is a British colony now, it will return to its hometown sooner or later, and the monopoly here will be broken sooner or later. But now that he has come to the port city, if he has the opportunity to break this unspoken rule in advance, Fang Lang will of course try it.
In the eyes of the Hong Kong Governor and officials of the Hong Kong government, Fang Lang may be a Brazilian Chinese, not a native Chinese, and the resistance to his approval of the Taipingshan homestead will definitely be much smaller.
But even if he is a Brazilian Chinese, it cannot change the fact that he is Chinese. As long as he can break the unspoken rules of Taipingshan, an invisible shackles will be opened for the entire Chinese community.
Therefore, Fang Lang's request to build housing in Taiping Mountain seems to be just an ordinary homestead issue, but in fact it involves a political issue.
With the first Chinese living in Victoria Peak, there will soon be a second and a third, just like John Tsang had the opportunity to break the history of the Hong Kong City Police Force without Chinese inspectors. Once he broke this rule, The next one will follow.
Sooner or later, the entire police force will become dominated by the Chinese.
Seemingly sensing McCall's uneasiness, Carioca very smartly intervened at the right time and began to lead the topic to other romances.
Soon, the dinner was over.
When Fang Lang returned to the room, he didn't have much happiness on his face. After all, his original plan had not been achieved. The location of the private museum now depends on what kind of surprise Grantham has prepared.
Carioca, who sent McCall away, did not leave, but came to Fang Lang's room.
"Boss, are things not going well?"
Fang Lang didn't tell his banker what his original plan was, but he still saw it through Fang Lang's expression. So, take the initiative to stay and see if there's anything I can do to help.
Seeing this, Fang Lang smiled slightly, waved his hands carelessly and said:
"It's not that it didn't go well, it's just that I didn't expect that Grantham would take the initiative to help me find a location for a private museum. The location he provided was definitely different from the location in my mind.
However, it doesn't matter. The other party is the Governor of Hong Kong, and the place he takes out will not be a mess. It is probably a concentrated area for the cultural and artistic industries planned by the Hong Kong government.
It won't have much impact on my museum construction. The key is that I originally planned to seize the opportunity to acquire a large piece of commercial land to build the group company's Hong Kong headquarters. But now it seems that this plan is going to come to nothing. "
(End of chapter)
