Hong Kong, a land of little land, has always had many rich people, famous for the real estate of Kwok Tak-sheng, Lee Shau Kee, Li Ka-shing, Cheng Yu-tong, the "four major families in Hong Kong".
Generally speaking, when the rich reach a certain size, their brothers, sons, nephews and even grandchildren will enter the family business to help manage the company and consolidate the family empire.
But Lee Shau Kee, who ranked first in the List of Hong Kong's Richest People published by Forbes Magazine in 2020, and his younger brother Lee Siu Nam do not like the business world and are willing to stay in his hometown of Shunde in Foshan as an ordinary person.
Work away from home
The three brothers Li Zhaolin, Li Zhaoji and Li Zhaonan were born into a relatively solid family in Daliang Town, Shunde, Foshan.
Therefore, when they were young, the three brothers more or less received a certain education, read the Four Books and Five Classics, and did not worry about eating and wearing in life, which was considered to be able to live a stable life.
Before the eldest brother Li Zhaolin, his father Li Jiefu and two sons died prematurely when they were young, but the family still called Li Zhaolin the third, Li Zhaoji fourth, and Li Zhaonan fifth according to the generation.
Therefore, after Lee Shau Kee became the richest man who shook Hong Kong, people called him "Fourth Uncle" and Lee Siu Lin was "Third Uncle".
The Li family has two stores in Shunde, Tianbao Rong Gold Shop and Yongsheng Silver, mainly gold and foreign exchange business, Li Zhaolin and Li Zhaoji brothers have followed their father since childhood, watching how the people in the store take care of business and learn how to identify gold and silver.
The two were also gifted and learned first-hand business experience. Later, when the Japanese invaded China in an all-round way, Li Zhaolin followed his uncle to Zhanjiang to study, while Li Zhaoji continued to follow his father to take care of the shop business.
The masters of gold and silver in the gold and silver shops will always steal a little material while working, and this is also the case in the Li family's shop, but Li Jiefu can only turn a blind eye because of the skills of the masters.
When Lee Shau Kee, who was still young, discovered this situation, he felt that he could not let it go unchecked from a long-term perspective. Thinking about it, he felt that it was better to seek others than to seek himself, so he explored the technology of casting gold himself.
At the age of 12, Lee Shau Kee has mastered the core technology and related knowledge of gold, gold and molten gold, and his ability to identify gold is also praised.
Later, Lee Shau Kee stumbled upon a way to make old banknotes new, earning a lot of profits for the store.
Lee Shau Kee was only a teenager, and his father entrusted the shop to him to take care of, and he also kept the family's business in order. However, after Japan's defeat in the war, the currency depreciated rapidly, and although Lee Shau Kee was very capable, it could not withstand the decline of the business of the gold shop.
In 1948, Li Jiefu hoped that his son would go to a larger place to develop, not to be limited to the acre and three parts of the land at home.
At that time, the eldest brother Li Zhaolin also stopped school for various reasons and returned to Guangzhou, serving in the local gold and silver industry, and suffered a lot at first, but with his own efforts and diligence, he gradually became a manager.
Like his younger brother Lee Shau Kee, Li Zhaolin's gaze is not limited to the present, but in a larger and farther place, after hearing their father's thoughts, they have already rubbed their fists and are eager to try, wanting to go to the prosperous place to show their grand plans.
Lee Kai-fu then gave Lee Siu Lin and Lee Shau Kee a thousand yuan respectively and asked them to go to Macau and Hong Kong to develop. The brothers bid farewell to their hometown where they grew up, packed their bags, and began their journey of hard work.
When Lee Shau Kee first arrived in Hong Kong, he placed orders in several silver shops and engaged in the old business of buying and selling foreign exchange and gold, and made a lot of money. Later, Lee Shau Kee got involved in real estate and set up a company, and his guideline was that everything, no matter how big or small, had to be personally seen.
With far-reaching vision and excellent means in business warfare, Lee Shau Kee built a huge business empire, and then invested in hotel projects in the mainland to diversify its development, and its industrial fields included gas, funds, etc., jumping into the list of Hong Kong's top ten richest people in one fell swoop.
After years of development, Lee Shau Kee has become a pivotal figure in Hong Kong, worth more than 200 billion yuan in his later years, and even surpassed the richest man, Li Ka-shing.
As early as 1996, Lee Shau Kee's wealth value ranked fourth in the global rich list, the highest ranking of Chinese rich people in the global wealth list, and no Chinese have been able to break this record.
Lee Shau Kee's older brother Lee Siu Lin is also a prominent figure. At that time, my brother went to Hong Kong alone with a thousand yuan, and he went to Macau alone.
In Macau, he is still engaged in the gold and silver industry, which he is good at, and after a few years of accumulation, he decided to go to Hong Kong to develop.
Li Zhaolin, who first arrived in Hong Kong, did import trade, plastic gum products and other businesses, but they were not ideal, and then, like his brother, he devoted himself to real estate and set up a real estate company.
At that time, Hong Kong's economy gradually developed, the demand for housing was increasing, real estate was a potential development area, Li Zhaolin was down-to-earth, so that the company developed steadily, and soon earned the first bucket of gold.
In the 1970s, Li Zhaolin's "Zhaoan Real Estate Co., Ltd." became a listed company, and in the 1980s, his business expanded to Shanghai, Guangzhou, Foshan and other places.
Although Li Zhaolin's wealth is not as good as his brother Lee Shau Kee,but he has hundreds of shops in Hong Kong to collect rent, the annual rent is as high as several hundred million, known as the "shop king", coupled with the income of real estate companies, he is also a billionaire on the rich side of Hong Kong.
Li Zhaolin, who has become a rich man, is committed to contributing to the development of his hometown, donating hospitals and teaching buildings to Shunde, and is a philanthropist who is willing to dedicate.
Very different lives
After the two brothers went out to work, they both made great achievements and became famous rich people, compared with the younger brother Li Zhaonan's life.
In the 1940s, when Li Zhaolin and Li Shaoji's two older brothers were far away from home, his father also asked Li Zhaonan's opinion, but he chose to stay in his hometown, help take care of the family's shop, take care of his parents, and complete his studies.
Li Zhaonan has always been gentle, not as aggressive as his brothers, not so interested in business, does not like the disputes in Vanity Fair, and only likes a stable life.
People would ask him why he didn't go out with his two brothers to do business, and he would always say, "I'm gone, who's taking care of my parents at home?" And so it is.
Li Zhaonan, who is taking care of his parents in his hometown, is like the backing of his brothers, allowing them to travel with peace of mind.
The burden of the business of the two shops in the family fell on Li Zhaonan, and his father Li Jiefu also taught Li Zhaonan to do business by hand, but Li Zhaonan had no interest in business at all, he was not the material for doing business, and he did not have the courage to be able to stand alone.
Therefore, when Li Zhaonan works in the family shop, he is not like a treasurer, but more like a obedient guy.
Li Jiefu knows that the younger son is a person who does not have so much vigor, but he also hopes that his son can inherit his business and carry it forward. Unfortunately, he also knew that Li Zhaonan had no interest in this, so he went with him.
When the times drop a lot of sand, no one can resist. With the emergency of the domestic war and the turmoil in various places, the gold and silver currency business of the Li family shop became more and more difficult to do, and gradually depressed.
Li Jiefu and his wife are also old, unable to turn the tide in the chaotic world, and can only retreat and close the family shop before the loss is greater.
Li Zhaonan suddenly seemed to have "lost his job", but he did not have any resentment, after all, he had always been indifferent to business matters. In order to make ends meet, he chose to work in factories and live a nine-to-five life.
From the son of a businessman who has no worries about food and clothing to the mediocre migrant worker, such a gap may make many people feel uncomfortable.
But Li Zhaonan did not feel any sadness, from the factory to the home of the two points of life although plain, but stable, although the monthly salary can only maintain food and clothing, but this is enough, Li Zhaonan has never been a person who loves money.
When he reached the age of starting a family, Li Zhaonan married a girl he knew in the factory, and the two had a simple banquet.
As for the newlywed house, It is Li Zhaonan who took out his own savings and the financial support of his parents to buy a small house of sixty square meters.
After getting married, Li Zhaonan and his wife soon gave birth to several children, and the couple lived a life of rice, oil and salt that worked in the factory and took care of the children when they returned home, just like thousands of ordinary people.
At this time, Lee Shau Kee and Lee Shau Lin, who were far away in Hong Kong, were making great strides in their business empire.
The "invisible rich" who are willing to be poor
The two brothers are well-known rich people, naturally can not forget the feelings of the brother, Li Zhaolin and Li Zhaoji invited Li Zhaonan to Hong Kong many times, with them to manage the company, or the whole family moved to Hong Kong, with them to live in a mansion, but each time was rejected by Li Zhaonan.
Li Zhaonan feels that in such a fast-paced bustling city as Hong Kong, he is very uncomfortable, and he does not understand any business things, for him, there is nothing wrong with living a flat life in his hometown.
After the brothers knew that their brothers did not like the disputes over fame and fortune, they did not force their brothers. Lee Shau Kee helped his brother find a job as a mall worker in Shunde, so that he didn't have to do the hard and tiring work in the factory every day.
Li Zhaonan kept such a job until he retired. Colleagues sometimes tease Li Zhaonan: "Uncle Li, you and the fourth uncle (Lee Shau Kee) are like brothers!" Li Zhaonan just smiled and didn't speak every time.
Colleagues do not know that Li Zhaonan and Li Shaoji are really brothers.
Li Shaoji has always liked children, daughter-in-law Xu Ziqi gave birth to four children for the Li family in eight years, made up two "good" words, and said that there may be a fifth child, deeply liked by father-in-law Li Shaoji, bought a mansion and a luxury car for him, and directly gave a billion yuan of huge money, which can be described as "heavy rewards, never soft".
For Li Zhaonan's children and grandchildren, Li Zhaoji also helped a lot, funding them to study abroad.
Although the identity is very different, Li Zhaonan has never left his hometown of Shunde, and several brothers have developed, but the feelings of several brothers have always been good, and they will always drink tea when they are free.
Once, Li Zhaonan went to visit Li Shaoji's villa and was photographed by reporters.
The reporter did not know Li Zhaonan, who rarely appeared, and saw that he and Lee Shau Kee were talking and laughing, and had a very good relationship, but they were simply dressed and did not look like business partners.
After Li Zhaonan and Li Zhaoji saw the newspaper, they did not feel angry, but only felt a little crying and laughing.
Li Zhaonan, who returned to Shunde, still lived in a small house, no mansion, no luxury car, and no nanny. He felt that in his later years, his children and grandchildren were full of cousins, brothers were harmonious, and family harmony was the best life.
In fact, Li Zhaonan is an unknown "invisible rich man". As early as 1993, Lee Shau Kee funded the establishment of Guangzhou Hengde Trade Development Co., Ltd. in the name of him and his sister-in-law, and took a stake in Ping An Insurance.
In other words, Li Zhaonan himself holds 2.72% of Ping An Insurance's shares, which is about 200 million shares.
In the beginning, the mainland's insurance industry had not yet developed, and the approval process for foreign investment to enter the Chinese insurance market was also very complicated.
However, at that time, Lee Shau Kee saw the development potential of the insurance market and had plans to enter the insurance industry, which showed that his vision was far-sighted.
Li Zhaonan acted in a low-key manner, and for this company, he only hung up a name, because in order to develop the insurance industry in the mainland, it is more convenient for mainlanders to do things, and "Hong Kong people need a lot of formalities to invest."
Despite this, due to the rapid development of Ping An Insurance in the past ten years, after the listing, the market value has risen steadily, and the wealth in Li Zhaonan's hands has exploded, with a peak value of 20 billion yuan, ranking 34th on the Hurun Rich List, and Li Zhaonan has been described by the outside world as a "mysterious and low-key rich man".
To this day, the wealth in Li Zhaonan's hands is still considerable.
At that time, Lee Shau Kee funded the establishment of a company in the name of his brother, on the one hand, so that the procedures could be facilitated, and on the other hand, it was also for the future consideration of his brother, so that his brother would not sit on the mountain without working.
If ordinary people had suddenly had a wealth of 20 billion yuan, they might have squandered it unscrupulously, but Li Zhaonan had not used this money for more than twenty years and had been living a simple and poor life.
After retirement, Li Zhaonan's life is even simpler, when he is free, he plays chess with his friends in the park, drinks tea and raises flowers at home, and every morning he will carry a basket to the vegetable market to buy vegetables.
Li Zhaonan has children settled in Canada and once brought his parents to Canada, but the two couples do not speak English, and they feel that living abroad is no different from going to prison, which is very boring, so it did not take long to return to their hometown to live.
Before his death, Li Zhaonan returned the shares worth 20 billion yuan given to him by Li Shaoji to his brother, and did not pass them on to his children, which was also his backbone.
On January 25, 2020, Li Zhaolin also died in Hong Kong at the age of 98, which is not much regret for his children and grandchildren and who have earned tens of billions of wealth.
Lee Shau Kee took a back seat, no longer directly in charge of the enterprise, handed over the company to his son to take care of, and enjoyed the joy of the world.
Every life looks different, people have their own aspirations, we often have difficulty saying clearly, what kind of life is good, what is bad, but plain or not, prosperous or not, can live a life in the way they like, is exceptionally wonderful.
Resources:
Phoenix.com, February 13, 2020 "The funeral of Lee Shau Kee, the 98-year-old brother of Hong Kong's richest man, Lee Shau Lin, is low-key and simple, and all three masters are billionaires"