In 2011, the peace of the Huo family was broken, and shortly after Huo Yingdong's death, the distribution of the inheritance became big news that shook society.
Huo Zhenyu, one of Fok Yingdong's sons, took his siblings and his mother to court, and the legal battle completely exposed the rifts within the Huo family.
In this struggle for family power, Lin Shuduan and her children were unusually silent.
Lin Shuduan, who was once favored by her beauty and gave birth to four sons, why did she choose to keep her distance in the battle for the Huo family's assets?
Fok Ying-tung, a heavyweight in Hong Kong's business community, has a family life that is in the spotlight for his polygamy.
At that time, Hong Kong law allowed men to have multiple wives, which allowed Fok Ying-tung's family structure to be established and maintained within a legal framework.
His three wives each play a different but equally important role, occupying their own unique positions in the Huo family's life.
Fok Yingdong has been married to his eldest house, Lu Yanni, for many years, and she has experienced the ups and downs of his business career with Fok Yingdong.
Lu Yanni was born in a traditional family, and she has always given firm support to Fok Yingdong's career.
As the big house of the Huo family, she manages the daily affairs of the family and ensures that everything is in order.
Subsequently, Huo Yingdong married Feng Jianni, as the second room, Feng Jianni's addition brought new vitality to the Huo family.
She is young, has a modern education background, and has her own unique insights and suggestions on Fok Yingdong's business expansion. Although the traditional values of the Fok family are still deeply rooted, Fung still plays an indispensable role in Fok Yingdong's business decisions.
The arrival of Lin Shuduan brought more private happiness to Fok Yingdong's life.
She was young and beautiful, and her relationship with Fok Yingdong began with a chance meeting, but it was not until decades later that the relationship became known to the public.
Unlike Lu Yanni and Feng Jianni, Lin Shuduan's role is more focused on the defender of family life, and she co-raises their children with Fok Yingdong.
In social situations, Fok Yingdong is often seen appearing with the three ladies, and although there is a lot of speculation and discussion about it from the outside world, there is a unique harmony within the Huo family.
Each lady has her own living space, and Fok Ying-tung shuttles between these residences according to his own schedule.
Fok Yingdong's relationship with Lin Shuduan began in 1968, but the relationship was not known to the outside world until after 1990.
During this long period of time, they were so cautious with each other that their private lives in Hong Kong, a small but dense place, were able to maintain a high degree of secrecy.
Fok Yingdong and Lin Shuduan first met at a social event. At that time, Fok Yingdong was already a business magnate, while Lin Shuduan was a dignified and beautiful lady.
Although Lin Shuduan comes from a relatively low-key family background, her temperament and cultivation naturally attracted Huo Yingdong's attention.
Their relationship began from then on, and Lin Shuduan gradually became an integral part of Fok Yingdong's life.
Although Fok Yingdong's life has attracted public attention, he has always carefully protected his relationship with Lin Shuduan and prevented this relationship from being disturbed by the outside world.
Their meetings are usually in Fok Ying-tung's luxurious private residence or remote holiday villa.
Even in such intimate spaces, Fok often ensures that all service staff are highly trustworthy, thus protecting their private time from outside interference.
In this relationship, Lin Shuduan's traditional virtuous image earned her a place in the Huo family.
Her dedication to her family and support for Fok Yingdong have made her place in Fok Yingdong's heart more and more important.
At family gatherings or special occasions, Lim often sets up the venue, selects the menu, and oversees the kitchen preparation under Fok Ying-tung's guidance to ensure that everything is in line with Fok's taste.
On these occasions, Fok Ying-tung always took extra care to protect Lin Shuduan from being overexposed to the media or the public eye.
The result of Lim Shuduan's union with Fok Yingdong was four sons, which was unique in Fok Yingdong's family, as no other wife had given birth to so many male offspring for Fok Yingdong.
In Fok Yingdong's family concept, it is very important for male heirs to inherit the family business and family style, so these four children have further consolidated Lin Shuduan's position in the family.
The environment in which these four children grew up is typical of a traditional Chinese family. The Huo family's family education attaches great importance to children's moral character and upbringing, especially the growth and education of boys.
Lin Shuduan plays a central role in the children's development, not only coordinating the children's daily life, such as food, clothing, and schooling, but also paying special attention to the children's behavior and etiquette and the inculcation of traditional values.
The educational environment at home is strict and orderly. The Huo family hired professional tutors to provide academic guidance to the children, while Lin Shuduan personally taught the children about family responsibilities and traditional Chinese virtues.
Every child is taught from an early age to inherit and carry forward the family business and glory, and to take responsibility for society.
In her daily life, Lim organizes and supervises the children's daily activities to ensure that their lives are orderly and educational.
On weekends and holidays, she arranges for the children to participate in a variety of cultural activities, such as museum visits, calligraphy and painting classes, and learning about Chinese history and classic literature.
Through these activities, the children not only learn knowledge, but also unconsciously absorb a lot of education about Chinese culture and family values.
Lim Shuduan is equally concerned about children's physical activity and physical health, and she ensures that each child has the right physical activity.
The Huo family's home is equipped with a variety of sports facilities, such as swimming pools and basketball courts, which Lim encourages children to use regularly to keep them fit and strengthen their physique.
In addition to focusing on the children's academic and physical development, Lin Shuduan also pays great attention to the children's social skills. She regularly organizes gatherings at home, inviting the Huo family's business partners and their families to attend, so that children can learn how to communicate with others and maintain social relationships from an early age.
These gatherings usually take place in the Huo family's spacious living room or garden, and Lim Shuduan always carefully arranges these activities to ensure that every guest feels comfortable and welcome.
In the distribution of Huo Yingdong's family property, although Lin Shuduan did not clearly express her pursuit of wealth, under Huo Yingdong's arrangement, she still got her due share.
Fok Ying-tung was very cautious in dealing with family property, and he set a family rule that family members were not allowed to engage in business activities, with the aim of avoiding disputes between family members due to conflicts of property and business interests.
This strategy seems to be effective in the early days, greatly reducing competition and controversy within the family.
Fok Ying Tung ensured the stability and future of Lim Shuk-duan and his children, especially in education and living conditions.
Lim and her children are carefully housed in a beautifully landscaped upscale residential area in Hong Kong, offering a high degree of privacy and security, ensuring they are kept out of the public eye and media attention.
Fok Ying Tung has set up separate trust funds for each wife and their children, which are managed by a professional financial management team to ensure their financial independence and security.
This arrangement eliminates the need for family members to be directly involved in the day-to-day operations of the family business and avoids potential conflicts of interest.
Although Fok Yingdong tried to maintain family harmony through these strategies, the long house still broke out in Fok Yingdong's later years, and property disputes broke out.
The main problem with the long house stems from dissatisfaction with Fok Ying-tung's property distribution plan, especially the perception of the trust fund that Fok Ying-tung has set up for his other wives and children.
Nagafang believes that these arrangements have weakened their position and control in the family business, and the power struggle within the Huo family has attracted widespread attention from the outside world.
Some members of the family began to seek a solution through legal means, which not only strained the family relationship, but also affected the share price and market performance of Fok Yingdong's conglomerate.
In this process, Lin Shuduan and her heirs tried to remain neutral as much as possible to avoid getting involved in the family's property disputes.
Fok Yingdong was very clear in his deathbed arrangements that he wanted to maintain the unity and harmony of the family, and this dispute undoubtedly brought challenges to his wishes.
The elders of the family and the family counsellor had to step in to try to mediate the dispute to avoid further family rifts.
In 2011, shortly after Fok Ying-tung's death, the issue of the Huo family's family inheritance sparked a complex legal battle.
Fok Zhenyu unexpectedly took his siblings and three mothers to court, and the battle for the inheritance quickly became the focus of widespread attention in Hong Kong society.
The case involved not only a huge distribution of property, but also years of power and status struggles within the family.
Huo Zhenyu accused the management and distribution of the estate of being opaque and unfair, and demanded that the assets left by Fok Yingdong be reassessed and distributed.
The lawsuit involves not only Fok Yingdong's direct descendants, but also his three wives, each representing a different branch of the family.
In this dispute, Lin Shuduan and her children did not have much hope for the inheritance. According to Fok Ying-tung's will and the family's arrangement, their position in the distribution of the estate is relatively marginal.
During the trial, the Huo family's assets were scrutinized in detail, including various types of real estate, equity investments and other valuable assets.
From time to time, the court has been the focus of media coverage, and all sectors of Hong Kong society are concerned about this family dispute that could change the city's financial landscape.
Unfortunately, in this battle for the inheritance, Lin Shuduan did not see the final result, and she died in 2011, leaving her children without her support and guidance, and had to choose sides in the infighting between the two factions of her children.
After a series of court arguments and debates, a settlement was reached with the plan that the three sons-in-law received 20 billion yuan of property and the other children each received 100 million yuan.
In 2013, after this seemingly settlement result, Huo Zhenyu and Huo Lina filed a lawsuit with the court, requesting that the settlement agreement be amended.
"Fok Yingdong's Family Turmoil"
Hong Kong Economic Herald: The Huo family's property dispute case|Asset distribution or officially start 370 million yuan of the mountaintop mansion was transferred to Huo Zhenyu and others