My capital is quite large.

Chapter 271 Wealth and Prosperity: Reflections on Causes and Conditions

In the blink of an eye, the Spring Festival of the Year of the Goat (2015) arrived as scheduled.

Returning home for the Lunar New Year is an unavoidable hurdle for Li Feng, even though he is now a powerful financial tycoon in the business world.

But in front of their own parents, they still have to obediently be half a head shorter.

With his EMBA final transcript showing that he had passed all subjects thanks to the overnight tutoring from his chief secretary, Xiao Zhang, Li Feng flew to Hong Kong.

This year's New Year's Eve dinner was held in a rather special location: Li Feng's detached villa in Deep Water Bay, Hong Kong.

Deep Water Bay is a traditional upscale residential area on Hong Kong Island.

Thanks to Weibo's record-breaking listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, Li Feng now has a considerable amount of cash on hand.

At the beginning of the year, he bought two adjacent detached villas in this prime real estate, one for his parents to live in and the other for himself.

The total cost of these two villas is as high as RMB 2.2 billion. Although the total price is not as high as that of the Mid-Levels Grand Mansion, which includes all twelve units, the Grand Mansion is a high-rise apartment with a large single-level layout, while in Deep Water Bay, there are only extremely rare detached mansions.

Not to mention, geographically, his two mansions happen to be neighbors with Hong Kong's richest man, Li Ka-shing. The potential premium of this neighborly relationship alone is beyond monetary value.

It was only after systematically studying Jinan University's EMBA program that Li Feng understood the true meaning of the capital market.

Group assets and personal assets are two completely different things.

With the help of professional legal counsel and a trust fund, he was able to isolate his assets and naturally obtained Hong Kong residency at the beginning of the year.

Haofeng Group's debt of 100 billion yuan is the debt of a limited liability company and is not equivalent to Li Feng's personal debt.

However, the huge profits earned by Haofeng Group can be legally and safely transformed into Li Feng's personal wealth through compliant channels.

……

Tonight's New Year's Eve dinner is an unprecedented spectacle in the entire Chinese business community.

Inside the spacious and luxurious restaurant, not only were Old Man Li and his wife Zhang Xiulan seated at the head of the table.

Li Feng was accompanied by five people, including his four sons and one daughter, all of whom attended the event.

This absurd scene of five families living together under one roof, with children surrounding their knees, would probably be met with a torrent of criticism if it happened in mainland China.

However, in Hong Kong, a special place, the custom of wealthy families taking concubines and having children has long been deeply ingrained in the minds of established families.

After all, there's still the renowned gambling tycoon Ho in Macau standing in front of them.

As for Mr. and Mrs. Li, they were already used to this scene.

Unlike a few years ago when their son had just become wealthy, the two elders, now nurtured by a life of ultimate luxury, have gradually developed a certain refinement in their every move.

It's clear that the two elders are working hard to learn how to play the role of proper old money.

Although the two elders still have much to learn due to their limited education and experience, at least tonight, the cheap pipe that Old Man Li had been smoking for half his life has been replaced with a Cohiba.

The old man leaned back in his rosewood chair, skillfully lighting his cigar with a blowtorch. Amidst the swirling smoke, he truly exuded the air of an old-timer.

......

As the exquisite and refined silver chopsticks moved up and down, this New Year's Eve dinner first transformed into a silent "precocious display".

The eldest son, Li Maozhen, is almost two years old now, and his speech is already very clear.

Under the care of the nanny and the caregiver, he sat obediently on a small chair. His big eyes, inherited from his mother Liu Yifei, shone with intelligence. He was incredibly sweet-talking, calling out "Grandpa, Grandma, Dad, Aunt" one after another, which made Old Man Li and Zhang Xiulan very happy.

Meanwhile, Yang Mi's one-year-old daughter, Li Yuxin, was not to be outdone. The little girl gripped the delicate silver spoon tightly, trying her best to demonstrate her independence and that she didn't need to be fed by an adult. She even recited two lines of Tang poetry that she had just learned to Old Man Li in a childish voice under Yang Mi's gentle guidance.

The two older children did their best to display their intelligence during the meal, waging a silent proxy war for their respective mothers.

As for the remaining three sons, Li Maosong, Li Maobo, and Li Maochang, they are too young and are mostly still in the infancy and toddler stage. Apart from occasionally babbling a few words, they don't have much room to express themselves.

At this dinner party where the women "showed off their skills," the fifth wife appeared to do nothing.

They simply smiled gently, elegantly served each other food, and chatted about the latest health and parenting tips, but the subtle exchange of glances and the arrangement of their seating made it seem as if they had done everything.

The storms of fame and fortune are often hidden beneath the warm and tender atmosphere of clinking glasses.

……

After enjoying a decadent New Year's Eve dinner in Hong Kong, on the second day of the Lunar New Year, Li Feng, along with his chief secretary Xiao Zhang, braved the wind and snow to embark on a flight back to his hometown in northern Jiangsu to pay respects to his ancestors.

Speaking of which, my parents are becoming more and more ungrateful.

Having lived in Hong Kong's mild climate and the luxurious mansion of Ao Xuan for so long, with their grandson in their arms every day, the elderly couple are now so happy that they don't want to leave. They're even reluctant to return to their two-million-dollar Chinese-style villa in their hometown.

On the contrary, Li Feng makes it a point to come back every year without fail.

The black Rolls-Royce Phantom smoothly drove into Lijia Village.

Looking at the smooth, wide, and well-greened two-way asphalt roads in the village, and the massive infrastructure construction site at the entrance of the village, driven by the new campus of Jinling University, which is almost completed, Li Feng couldn't help but marvel at the earth-shaking changes that have taken place in just a few years.

He went alone to the back mountain of the village and respectfully lit an incense stick at his family's ancestral tomb, which was built with a white jade archway and flying eaves stone cap.

Of course, every time Li Feng returned to the village, he was constantly receiving red envelopes.

He would give a thick red envelope to anyone who was a member of the Li clan in the village or a familiar neighbor.

He can only come back a few times a year, so this money is just a drop in the ocean for him, but it is the most practical New Year's gift for his fellow villagers.

The saying goes that wealth and status are a reflection of causes and conditions; once you have money, you naturally start to pay attention to these things.

Today, thanks to the backing of Xiaomi and Huaxin's super factories, the Li family has become extremely wealthy.

With some extra money in hand, the elders in the clan naturally began to think about the rules and dignity of their ancestors.

"Xiao Feng, our clan has come up with a new major project for ancestor worship this year!"

Elder Li, the clan chief, leaning on his cane and beaming, pulled Li Feng along and said:

"Since we are descendants of Prince Qi, Li Maozhen, our ancestral worship ceremony must be no less grand than that of ordinary families! This year, we will 'walk the dragon boat'!"

"Dragon boat race?" Li Feng was stunned for a moment, not understanding how a dragon boat race could take place in the middle of winter.

"Yes! Dragon boat racing!"

The old man pointed with great interest to the Xuzhou section of the Grand Canal not far away:

"We've pooled our money to order three high-spec, antique-style painted boats from Yangzhou! On the third day of the Lunar New Year, all the elders and juniors of the clan will carry the white marble ancestral tablet of our ancestor Li Maozhen aboard the boats and sail along the Grand Canal! We'll be beating drums and gongs, proclaiming the prestige of our Xiapi Li clan to both banks of the canal!"

Hearing the old man's absurd project, which was a mix of nouveau riche and traditional clan superstition, Li Feng first found it amusing, but then he felt relieved.

In this world, when people have enough wealth, it is instinctive for them to seek spiritual sustenance and a sense of cultural superiority.

"Sure, I'll go and see the Li family's dragon boat too," Li Feng agreed with a smile.

On the third day of the Lunar New Year, the Grand Canal was filled with the sounds of gongs and drums, and white smoke billowed everywhere.

Three enormous, ornately decorated antique-style pleasure boats slowly lined up on the canal. Members of the Li clan, dressed in magnificent traditional attire, played the suona (a traditional Chinese wind instrument) at the bow of the boats, creating a grand and impressive spectacle.

Li Feng stood on the deck of the tall, painted boat in the very center, looking at the white marble shrine beside him and the countless people on both banks who turned their heads and stopped to look, their eyes filled with amazement.

Amidst the deafening sound of gongs and drums, Li Feng also experienced firsthand this grand ancestral worship project, which his family had just developed and which had a distinctly nouveau riche vibe.