Old Mo, eating fish in a courtyard house, reigning supreme in Hong Kong.

Chapter 468: Old Mo Wants to Build a Villa

Seeing him hesitate, Lao Mo smiled and said, "You don't need to make a choice now. I'll give you two months. You can come and tell me within two months."

If you're sure you want to be governor, tell me as soon as possible, and I'll get things done for you.

Upon hearing this, Lei Luo immediately felt much more relaxed.

"Okay. Thanks, Brother Mo. I really need to go back and think about this carefully. But I'd like to ask Brother Mo's opinion: do you want me to do it, or not?"

Old Mo said nonchalantly, "I won't give you any advice to interfere with your judgment. But I do want to say that if you want to be the governor, I will still give you one percent of the shares."

However, you need to help me find a manager to run this company. You two are not young anymore, and I'm afraid you'll overwork yourselves.

If you're not going to be the governor, then it's simple; I'll just hand this company over to you to manage.

"Alright!"

Lei Luo nodded and said, "Give me a week, I'll think about it carefully, okay?"

"OK."

Old Mo nodded.

This conversation has now come to an end.

At this moment, Piggy interrupted, "Brother Mo, I have a question for you."

Old Mo nodded: "Go ahead and ask."

Piggy quickly said, "The problem lies with Kowloon. Kowloon Walled City is too chaotic; the people living there practically never see the sun. Now that we've built so many houses, is there any need for that place to exist?"

Upon hearing this, Lao Mo frowned.

"Brother Le, what are your thoughts?"

Old Mo looked at Lei Luo and asked.

Lei Luo thought for a moment and said, "Brother Mo, my idea is to demolish it. There's really no need for it to exist anymore."

Old Mo said, "If we demolish it, we'll have to compensate them with a new house. Wouldn't I lose a fortune?"

Although Lao Mo could afford to lose money, that's not how business is done.

Lei Luo said, "It's not necessarily about compensating them with houses. As long as we help them resolve their immigration status, they will generally agree. In addition, we will continue with the original plan to provide them with mortgages to buy houses."

Now that they have a place to live and legal status, they'll definitely be willing to have it demolished. I reckon the only ones unwilling will be some stubborn old fogies; we'll figure something out then.

Old Mo frowned and asked, "Don't any of the people in Kowloon Walled City have Hong Kong identities?"

Lei Luo nodded: "Basically none of them exist. Only a few highly capable people have them. Like Wu Shih-hao and his group."

"How can you not have an identity?"

Old Mo asked in confusion.

Renault smiled and said helplessly, "This brings us to the historical legacy. In the 1898 Convention for the Extension of Hong Kong Territory, Kowloon Walled City was not explicitly included in the British leased territory. The Qing government at the time retained nominal jurisdiction, making it a Chinese exclave."

Although British troops briefly occupied the walled city in 1899, they withdrew due to protests from the Qing government. Thereafter, while the Hong Kong government effectively controlled the surrounding area, it dared not formally enter the walled city to exercise jurisdiction, lest it trigger a diplomatic dispute.

So, nominally speaking, this land still belongs to China.

Fearing that recognizing the Walled City as Chinese territory would undermine Hong Kong's sovereignty, the Hong Kong government adopted a policy of "non-recognition and non-administration."

The residents there are mostly illegal immigrants, refugees, or undocumented individuals. Since you live within Chinese territory, you cannot apply for legal status.

Therefore, most people in Kowloon City don't have Hong Kong residency. That's how it is.

Old Mo was puzzled: "How could such a piece of land be set aside in an area that's only the size of two football fields?"

Lei Luo said, "Kowloon Walled City was originally a Qing government military camp. At that time, they resisted fiercely, and the British couldn't break through. So, it ended up like this."

Old Mo nodded, finally understanding. So this land used to be a Qing government military camp!

"Okay. Send someone to talk to them! I agree. As long as they're willing to move out, I'll get them Hong Kong residency."

Old Mo agreed very decisively.

With Hong Kong residency, they can no longer live there. It's inappropriate for Hong Kong people to still live in mainland China, right?

Piggy nodded: "Okay. Since Brother Mo said so, then I'll find someone to talk to them."

Old Mo said to Lei Luo, "Brother Le, didn't you say you acquired 500,000 mu of land? Tell me, where is all the land?"

Upon hearing this, Lei Luo immediately had someone bring a map of Hong Kong and placed it on the table.

Lei Luo picked up a red pen and circled several areas.

"This land, this land, and this land—it's all ours now. Brother Mo, what do you think we should use it for?"

Old Man Mo looked at it seriously for a while, and then pointed to the largest piece of land and said, "This area is divided into two parts. We'll build factories on this side, and residential buildings on the other side. People will live here and work here. That makes perfect sense, doesn't it?"

Lei Luo frowned and asked, "Why are you building a factory? Brother Mo, are you opening a factory?"

Old Mo shook his head and said, "Build it and rent it out! The next few decades will belong to the manufacturing industry. Just open any kind of factory, as long as you produce the goods, you won't have to worry about selling them."

With such a good factory building, are you worried about finding tenants? But remember, our factory buildings are for rent only, not for sale. Surely you can handle something as simple as attracting investment?

These plots of land will be incredibly valuable in the future; selling them would be a loss.

Upon hearing Lao Mo say this, both of their eyes lit up.

Indeed, in this day and age, as long as you make something, you'll never have to worry about selling it.

With Mo Ge's connection, the products sold in mainland China are always in high demand and short supply.

"Okay, let's do as Brother Mo said and build an industrial park here."

Lei Luo made the final decision.

Old Mo said, "You guys figure out what to do with the rest of the places! Do whatever you can, and if all else fails, build buildings or get into real estate. Hong Kong has plenty of everything, especially people."

If Lao Mo were to make a move and loosen the policy, a massive influx of people from the mainland would come to buy houses.

Old Mo thought for a moment and said, "I'll be staying in Hong Kong for the next few days. Are you free tomorrow? Could you take me around to see our land? My place is getting a bit crowded. Take me there so I can choose a spot to build a villa."

Lei Luo immediately replied, "Okay. We'll go and check it out in person tomorrow."

The next morning, a convoy set off in a grand procession.

Old Mo and his wives, led by Lei Luo and Piggy, arrived at the edge of a mountain forest.

Everyone got out of the car, and Lei Luo pointed to the lush forest in front of them and said, "This whole area in front of us is our land. This is the smallest piece, only five thousand acres."

Old Mo scanned the area with his divine sense and decisively said, "This is it."