Chapter 1126: Shocking statistics

As Xia Yu knows, the tallest building in the world is currently the Sears Tower in Chicago, USA. Built by the American retail giant Sears Group, it was completed in 1974, surpassing the World Trade Center in New York, which was completed in 1972, to become the tallest building in the world.

If we follow the trajectory of the previous life, before the trend of building tall buildings began, the Sears Tower was able to hold onto the title of tallest building in the world for more than 20 years, until it was replaced by the Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

'Mr. Pei, I am very satisfied with your design. These symbols are very good!'

Xia Yu leaned over and looked at it carefully for a long time before exclaiming.

Hearing Xia Yu's praise, the designer I. M. Pei could not help but be very happy. The result of nearly a year of hard work by himself and the entire design team was undoubtedly very precious. In his eyes, it was like his child. Now this 'child' has been recognised by his employer Xia Yu, how could he not be happy?

Xia Yu reluctantly took his eyes off the model and looked at Liu Shihao and Chen Jianping, asking, 'Have you made any plans for the construction of this building?'

Liu Shihao subconsciously looked at Chen Jianping, as the latter was the general manager of Jiuding Infrastructure Limited.

Chen Jianping immediately respectfully replied to Xia Yu, 'Chairman, we have already made plans. The entire construction is expected to take five years, and the estimated cost is 3.5 billion Hong Kong dollars.'

3.5 billion Hong Kong dollars?

Xia Yu's eyebrows rose slightly, and he asked, 'Are you sure 3.5 billion Hong Kong dollars is enough?'

Chen Jianping immediately said, "Chairman, this figure is enough. This is a relatively generous construction cost. If everything goes well, it is likely that we will not need to spend this much.'

Xia Yu immediately felt relieved.

He thought for a moment, and then asked, "What about the construction site? Are you sure there are no hidden dangers?'

Chen Jianping decisively shook his head and said, 'Chairman, please rest assured, this building will be built on the Central Financial Street in the Central and Western District of Hong Kong Island, facing Victoria Harbour. There are still some buildings on the construction site that have not been demolished, but we have bought them all, so there are no disputes.'

'As long as there are no problems, tear them down and start construction as soon as possible.'

'Okay!'

Chen Jianping nodded in response.

At this time, I. M. Pei suddenly asked, 'Mr. Xia, I wonder what name you plan to give this building?'

After a moment's thought, Xia Yu slowly said, 'Let's keep it simple and call it the Jiuding Building.'

'By the way, let's also give it an alternative name — the 520 Building, after the Chinese expression for "I love you". This will help spread the name worldwide.'

'Chairman, this alternative name is really innovative...' After Xia Yu had finished speaking, Liu Shihao immediately praised it, and it seemed from his expression that he really meant it.

However, Xia Yu gave him a look and then smiled, ordering, 'Since it has been decided, this construction plan can be announced, boosting the confidence of the people of Xiangjiang in life.'

'Understood.'

'...'

After continuing to observe the model of the Jiuding Building, Xia Yu went to the office with Pei and the others to drink tea and chat.

During the chat, Xia Yu learned that Xiangjiang Bank of China intended to build a building and planned to invite Pei to design it.

However, he had been busy designing the Jiuding Tower, so it had been put on hold. Now that the design of the Jiuding Tower was complete, Pei was planning to approach the Bank of Xiangjiang and contribute to the country again.

Xia Yu congratulated him and said nothing more.

At noon, Xia Yu invited Pei to lunch to express his gratitude.

Two days later, Jiuding Real Estate Group held a grand press conference to announce that it would invest 3.5 billion Hong Kong dollars to build the world's tallest building in Central, Hong Kong Island, as the headquarters of Jiuding Group and the financial centre of Hong Kong.

After the announcement, the whole of Hong Kong was abuzz. The public rushed to spread the news, and many people felt a sense of pride. While they were shocked by Jiuding Group's generosity, they also looked forward to the completion of the Jiuding Building.

The previously sluggish stock market suddenly burst with vitality, with the Hang Seng Index soaring more than 60 points in one day!

Many tycoons in Xiangjiang called Xia Yu to confirm the news, congratulating him while also inquiring about the meaning behind it.

The news that Xiangjiang would be building the world's tallest building naturally had an impact beyond Xiangjiang, but with Xiangjiang at its centre, the news quickly spread outwards, with many media outlets in Europe and the United States reporting on the story.

In particular, the newspapers in Chicago, USA, have reported on this news story a lot, and the local public opinion has also responded the most, because the world's tallest building is now located in Chicago.

But Xia Yu didn't bother paying attention to any of this.

The construction of the Jiuding Building will not be completed until 1987, which is a long wait of five years. No matter how much media hype there is now, it will cool down in no time, and it's not time for marketing yet...

So what should I do now?

Take my loved one to the movies, of course!

After more than a month of all-round media bombardment, the news that Galaxy Studios and Hollywood giant MGM Studios have jointly invested 50 million US dollars in the annual sci-fi blockbuster 'E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial', which took 16 months to produce, will be released simultaneously worldwide on 11 June, has already been heard so many times that people's ears are beginning to prick.

The beautiful poster and the excerpt from the shocking promotional video have already sown the seeds of curiosity for the film.

Not to mention that the creative team of 'Alien E.T.' also came to Hong Kong for a roadshow and appeared as guests on the Universal TV movie live broadcast, which made people even more excited.

At 10 pm Hong Kong time on June 11, Galaxy Studios and Universal Cinemas held a grand premiere at the Universal Cinema in Harbour City. In addition to the stars of Shaw Studios, almost all the famous stars in Hong Kong came, and the atmosphere was electric. If it weren't for the security guards trying to maintain order, there could have been a stampede.

The film premiere officially began at midnight on 12 June.

Xia Yu did not stay up late with Li Qian and He Chaoqiong.

Instead, at 9:30 a.m. on 12 June, he took Li Qian, He Chaoqiong, his parents and others to the nearest Universal Cinema to watch it. The cinema directly took out a small hall and opened it exclusively to Xia Yu and the others.

After watching the movie, everyone was very satisfied, especially Xia Yu's younger siblings, who were very excited.

Even in Xia Yu's opinion, the current 'E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial' was of a higher quality than the previous one, and it was clear that his money had been well spent, as Steven Spielberg had not disappointed him.

On this day, the entire Universal Cinema in Hong Kong was full, with an attendance rate of 100%. Many people, both adults and children, came to watch the movie together, which showed just how popular it was.

This scene did not only happen in Hong Kong, but also in Southeast Asia, the islands, the United States and other places, where the enthusiasm for watching the movie was also very high.

June 12, that is, Saturday, quickly passed.

But on this day, all the major entertainment newspapers in Hong Kong disrupted their work and rest schedules and were reluctant to print the next day's newspapers.

Reporters from all major newspapers were stationed outside the headquarters of Universal Studios, waiting, waiting for a figure, a figure destined to become tomorrow's front page headline – the local Hong Kong box office on the first day of 'E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial'.

Jiang Zhiqiang and Wu Siyuan also knew the promotional effect of the first day's box office, so they both kept an eye on the whole process and urged the staff to count it as soon as possible.

At 0:15 a.m. on June 12, a shocking figure was finally counted!