Chapter 238 Jade and Electricity

After seeing the jade and jewelry exhibition in the morning, Linda Yun was sent out after lunch to gather quotations from the merchants.

Not all exhibitors were willing to sell their prized possessions to Su Yehao. Some were considering waiting for their value to increase, or selling them at auction for a higher price.

For the vast majority of exhibitors, the goal was simply to make money.

In addition, they could take the opportunity to promote their brands with the gimmick of "selling items to Su Yehao." As a result, most of the exhibits appeared on the quotation list.

Some people wanted to cozy up to him and offered relatively low prices, including letters that pointed out the estimated market price to avoid wasting their efforts.

Different strokes for different folks.

Although Su Yehao was quite powerful, it didn't mean everyone had to fawn over him.

Several jade merchants, probably feeling that the gap between them and Su Yehao was too large and that there would be no further interaction, quoted prices that clearly aimed to rip him off.

Fortunately, the so-called high prices were only high relative to the current market price.

For example, Tianhuang stone and chicken-blood stone, which are non-renewable and scarce resources, were not yet too expensive in this era. It was suitable to keep them in one's own vault as a foundation for future generations, which was, in some ways, more suitable than holding gold.

He spent some time picking and choosing.

Including the imperial green pearl necklace with a quotation of 20 million RMB, the final calculation came to a total value of over 70 million RMB.

This included seven Tianhuang stones, five chicken-blood stones, several top-grade jadeite raw materials, more than ten Hetian jade and jadeite ornaments, as well as finished jewelry.

Nong Qingying received a set of violet jadeite jewelry, including a bracelet, a necklace with an oval pendant, and a ring, supposedly taken from the same piece of material, with a total value of 3.88 million RMB.

When his father returned drunk, Su Yehao told him about it.

Su's father lay on the sofa, hiccupping and asking, "Where are the items? Buying these doesn't count as spending money. Like your grandfather's collection, as long as there are no major disasters, the prices will rise every year."

"Yes, they're still on display. After signing the contract and buying them, I'll have to wait until the exhibition is over to get them. Otherwise, tomorrow's exchange activities will be impossible to hold, as the display cases will be a third empty."

Su Yehao didn't even blink when spending tens of millions of RMB. This really didn't count as spending money, and was similar to putting money in a fixed deposit.

Taking his Van Gogh painting "Under the Stormy Sky" as an example, thanks to Su Yehao, it went from being unknown to becoming famous around the world, and was often mentioned by the media.

If it were put up for auction now, the purchase price of $40 million could probably fetch $60 or $70 million, a significant increase in value.

Su's father drank a lot of wine during the midday reception, so he spoke about serious matters, saying:

"I had a frank discussion with several real estate developers at the dinner table. Roughly one or two hundred million RMB in financing for each, which isn't a huge scale. Any more would turn them into subsidiaries controlled by our family. Sihai International has enough funds on its books. The valuation work should be handled by your 5s investment bank. When the time comes, give them a heads-up, and don't push the price too hard. This place is different from Pengcheng. The real estate industry has less competition. If we push them too hard and they don't take money from us, they can still live comfortably."

Su Yehao, crossing his legs, replied:

"Not bad, that's the idea. First-tier city housing prices have already risen, and second-tier cities are following suit. My 5s asset management can also make some moves and invest more in reliable real estate companies with good performance."

His father reminded him:

"Don't only cooperate with private enterprises. Many state-owned enterprises are also busy doing real estate business. Building good relationships with them can save you 90% of the trouble. They have the most up-to-date information about where it's easy to sell and what pitfalls to avoid, and are more likely to develop."

"Of course I understand. It just so happens that, aside from the Three Gorges Power project, the promise of providing 60 billion RMB in financing hasn't been fully fulfilled yet."

Su Yehao spoke slowly and methodically. He suddenly remembered something and asked, "Dad, do you know any senior executives at Casino's power company?"

"I think I know some people. What's wrong?"

"Since the Emperor Crab Island project started, there's been more talk about damaging the marine environment. I originally wanted to position it as an ecologically friendly island, but sewage treatment and photovoltaic power generation aren't enough. My subordinates suggested that I directly acquire Casino's power company to clear the obstacles to building an offshore wind farm. Then, relying on wind power to provide electricity and using electric cars on the entire island, I can gain the upper hand in publicity. I want to avoid being targeted and labeled as destructive, which would be detrimental to my electric car plan."

Su Yehao spoke at length.

Su's father rubbed his temples and paused before saying:

"Since you think Casino has a good economic future, acquiring the power company shouldn't be a loss. I remember that its major shareholders are Sino-French and Sino-Portuguese companies, controlled by foreign enterprises. Years ago, a friend wanted to compete for a waste-to-energy plant project, but didn't win against those foreigners. I have a slight impression."

When he first heard about the waste-to-energy plant, Su Yehao thought he was talking about a power plant's waste.

After thinking about it, he realized that it referred to generating electricity by incinerating waste. Casino only had a small population. Even if the per capita consumption of resources was similar to that of American residents, it wouldn't amount to much.

However, if an offshore wind farm were built, coupled with the introduction of low-priced electricity from the mainland, the return on investment from acquiring Casino's power company would likely be much higher than that of the Yangtze Power Group.

Making more or less money was secondary.

If he could find a way to promote electric cars and switch to using only clean energy, striving to have Casino achieve carbon neutrality first, it would definitely have a positive impact on the electric car business that was being prepared.

Although Casino's carbon neutrality would have a negligible effect on the entire planet, it would allow Su Yehao to champion the cause of environmental protection and gain a certain advantage in the competition with traditional car companies.

Another important point was that because he was an "environmentalist," entering the car manufacturing industry would be justified.

In the future, whether it was recruiting people to build cars or acquiring other brands and technologies, anyone who dared to obstruct him would be destroying the earth's ecology and hindering the development of environmental protection.

This was one of the favorite tactics of Europeans and Americans.

Now, Su Yehao was trying to seize the moral high ground first, which was equivalent to adding a protective charm to his electric car project. Even if someone wanted to play tricks, they wouldn't openly obstruct him at the risk of being seen as anti-environment, which could reduce a lot of unnecessary trouble.

He got up to pour his father a glass of warm water, and Su Yehao continued, "Then when you have time, can you help me test the waters and see if I can get a controlling stake first?"

"What do you mean by getting a controlling stake first? Do you want to privatize the entire Casino power company? It's not appropriate for either of us to come forward, or we'll easily be seen as suckers. Everyone knows our family has money, and they all like to raise prices."

Su's father paused for a moment before adding:

"Why don't you let Grandpa Jiang ask? He has good connections in Casino and is good with his words. A free father-in-law is not to be wasted. Casino Power's annual net profit, I remember, is only a little over 100 million Hong Kong dollars. With Grandpa Jiang's current strength, it can be said that it's his own business, temporarily distancing himself from our family. Once the shares are in hand, he can do whatever he wants..."