Chapter 427: Only I Am Unique Chapter 427: The New Era Arrives (1)

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Protagonist:

Chen Yi

In 2004, China's annual natural rubber consumption was 2 million tons, while production was less than 700,000 tons. In other words, its monthly natural rubber consumption was around 170,000 tons.

Jiangning Chemical Plant sold nearly 10,000 tons of natural rubber in a single month. Although it accounted for only 5% of market consumption, it took up one-sixth of production, so its impact was enormous—the market is the most sensitive animal, and those bosses who wanted to make money would never leave national standard rubber at 10,000 per ton unpurchased to go buy 12 million yuan worth, nor would they use their own produced tires.

The market price of natural rubber continued to fall, naturally affecting the futures market. Investors who had long been in this business knew that several thousand tons of rubber would not cause such a big change. Therefore, when downstream enterprises of natural rubber began to directly procure rubber in the market instead of using reserve rubber, the slump in the futures market naturally drove prices down further. And once a decline appeared, it was equivalent to the market acknowledging a new monthly supply of 10,000 tons of natural rubber; both short and long positions would preemptively withdraw prices in advance...

On this relatively transparent market, there were already established so-called rules and development trends, so Liu De believed in his own judgment and believed that market changes would still follow the rules.

What he didn't understand was that the area and output of the rubber forest owned by Chen Yi were already approaching one-quarter to one-third of China's rubber forests. Needless to say, this unregulated supply and suspension of materials would inevitably cause greater fluctuations in the futures market's expectations.

Actually, it abolished all previous rules.

Those rules were based on China's annual output of only 700,000 tons; now that the foundation was gone, the rules no longer existed at all.

In early June, at Chen Yi's request, Jiangning Chemical Plant temporarily stored the newly produced natural rubber in the storage room, and large-scale rubber tapping on the West Continent was also temporarily suspended, switching to training more slaves, waiting for the next round of rubber tapping. Market predictions failed again; the stubborn resistance of both supply and demand lasted only one week before being overwhelmed by the huge inflow and outflow of 10,000 tons of rubber. Prices began to rise back to mid-last month, slowly from 10,500 to 11,000, but once broken through, the 12,000 threshold was not out of the question.

Until the price rose to the 13,000 yuan threshold did Chen Yi sell off all his long positions, turning them over for 100 million yuan in income. Similarly, Liu De lost 2.5 million yuan; only by selling his car and house could he afford the guarantee deposit.

Chen Yi confirmed that Liu De was about to go bankrupt, so he had him brought over and asked: "If I help you pay off your debts, can you guarantee that you will never build a rat warehouse again?"

He knew my order!

Liu De was both embarrassed and uncomfortable. Secretly building a rat warehouse was not an aboveboard matter, and losing money made him feel ashamed. The losses from two round trips were simply unbearable, so he could only put on a brave front and say: "I believe prices will still fall. I don't need to close my position now; I can still hold on."

"Perhaps." Chen Yi shrugged, staring into Liu De's eyes, speaking with an aura of pressure: "You can transfer your short positions to me, or you can continue holding on. Choose one."

"I can choose whichever I want?"

Of course there's no such good thing!

Chen Yi leisurely crossed his legs, step by step forcing him: "No matter which you choose, you must guarantee stricter professional ethics from now on. The specifics I will write into the contract. Believe me, it will be thick as a book. After that, if you have rat warehouses or other violations or immoral behavior, I not only have the right to fire you, but also the right to reasonably and legally demand a large sum of compensation, including the 2.5 million yuan I am putting in now."

Not only was there no choice, but he had chosen a narrow single-plank bridge. Liu De put on a bitter face and argued: "This 2.5 million yuan will rise back."

The implication was that transferring the short position and filling it into the contract would make him lose even more.

Chen Yi repeated indifferently: "Perhaps."

Judging by current prices, his demand was very appropriate, and even generous.

"You are preparing to short again." Liu De finally discovered the causal relationship. He bowed his head and said unhappily: "I've seen plenty of rogue managers and rogue depositors, but a boss like you, I'm seeing for the first time."

Unhappy as he was, he had to comply.

"Not only do I want to short, but afterward I want to go long, then short again, cycling back and forth." Chen Yi smiled with narrowed eyes, but the pressure on his body grew heavier. Age was a very important and advantageous weapon. If Chen Zhongguo went out to handle affairs, he only needed to take the route of winning people over with virtue, making many of his own people and few of the enemy's. But Chen Yi did not have such virtue and authority; he had to add weight to his own side, pile up his background and strength, and only then could he have many of his own people submit and few enemies resist.

Liu De could no longer bear it and asked what he shouldn't: "How do you control the natural rubber price?"

"You guess?"

Without shouting, Liu De felt somewhat relieved and said softly: "Insider information?"

"No."

"National Reserve Bureau?"

"That's a fresh idea. No."

Liu De shook his head in disbelief: "Then I don't know."

"From now on, contact Jiangning Chemical Plant alone and control their output." Chen Yi had to hand over this kind of information and power to one person. The Martial Arts Hall Archive Division's evaluations of Liu De were not bad, so a little intimidation would make him usable.

Liu De understood a little and no longer dwelled on the previous contract. He asked softly: "Does Jiangning Chemical Plant hold a batch of off-plan natural rubber?"

He could only describe it as off-plan. In his view, only smuggled natural rubber could appear in such large quantities, and it was very likely from Malaysia. Most of China's import gap was filled by Malaysia.

Thinking of this, he suddenly said: "Today a Malaysian businessman asked me about you."

"Oh?"

"It's a woman, very beautiful. She was asking us about the reasons for shorting and going long. At that time I didn't know and had no time to deal with her." Liu De was preoccupied, like a gambler who had lost his eyes red; let alone a beauty, even a harpy would only be treated as a person.

"Name?"

"Surname Wu, that's all I know. Quite young."

Chen Yi knew some Malaysian businessmen. After all, Jinsheng Securities made its fortune in Malaysia, and when it withdrew, it naturally left behind some personal connections. However, among so many people he knew, the young female businessman who would rashly ask about him was probably only Wu Jingjing.

Thinking of this quiet and capable girl, Chen Yi's heart softened a little. He just nodded to Liu De, then picked up his mobile phone and dialed her number. Regardless of whether it was her, asking wouldn't hurt.

After "beep beep" rang twice, Wu Jingjing asked in Malay: "Hello."

Chen Yi chuckled darkly and said in English: "I am Chen Yi. Are you in China?"

"Eh? How do you know?" Wu Jingjing's words had just fallen when she immediately added: "Let me guess. Those natural rubber hedging contracts—it was you, wasn't it?"

"In the name of the Chen Group. Of course it was me."

Wu Jingjing laughed "ling ling," saying: "As expected, you don't participate much in company management. The industrial companies under the Chen Group buy a lot of natural rubber every year. But contracts as obviously speculative as yours are rare, oh."

"Does the Paper Company also need natural rubber?"

"Natural rubber has many uses. However, my family has some rubber plantations in Malaysia." Wu Jingjing paused while speaking and asked half-invitingly: "Do you have time to meet and talk?"

"Okay, let's talk in person."

Wu Jingjing chose a Thai restaurant. Four or five stories high, as soon as you entered there was nothing but crabs and fish and shrimp; separated by the kitchen were large numbers of poisonous snakes and turtles, and even a few second-generation crocodiles crawling in glass boxes. Rather than saying it was Thai style, it was better to say it was a seafood restaurant forcibly remodeled by Chinese diners. For all guests who came here, the main dish had to be either reptiles or aquatic animals, and the other side dishes were left to the chef's interest, which instead earned a little fame.

Chen Yi came running. To avoid sweating, his speed was not fast, but he was only half a step slower than Wu Jingjing.

After sitting down, Wu Jingjing took the initiative to order dishes and politely asked: "Want to try some crocodile?"

Hearing crocodile come from the beauty's cherry-small mouth really gave Chen Yi a small surprise.

"Something lighter is better." The two talked while eating crocodile, making it hard to create a conversational atmosphere, especially with such strange-sounding reptiles.

Wu Jingjing pursed her lips and smiled, casually ordered a few dishes, then said: "The rest, leave to the chef."

After the waiter left, Chen Yi found a comfortable posture and asked with a smile: "You came to find me—not to participate in investment business, right?"

"There is some connection."

"Oh?"

"I want to sell the family's rubber plantations!"

This answer was indeed beyond Chen Yi's expectations. He thought for a moment, then suddenly laughed and said: "I thought among the second generation taking over family businesses, only I liked selling assets."

Wu Jingjing covered her mouth and laughed, yet said: "A total of ten thousand hectares of rubber plantations, respectively in four places……"

"Why sell them?" Chen Yi had just started dealing with natural rubber, only then learning of the rubber plantations' profits. As long as they are managed properly, there is basically no way not to make money. The world's synthetic rubber yield is growing larger and larger, merely because natural rubber yield cannot meet demand, not because natural rubber can be replaced.

Wu Jingjing seemed somewhat unwilling to answer, playing with a paper napkin with her chopsticks, saying quietly: "It's because of family internal reasons. Involves troublesome matters like family division."

Speaking of family, Chen Yi didn't ask further, nodding slightly and saying: "If you really want to sell, I'm willing to buy them. Let Fang Zhong handle the details?"

The waiter brought the dishes right on time.

Wu Jingjing acted like the host, inviting Chen Yi to taste, while saying: "The Chen Family is Jiangning's largest family, right?"

"As it stands now, it counts as such."

"Then why is the Mayor He Fuhan?"

Chen Yi was stunned for a moment, then laughed and said: "The City High Official is still Sun Maoxin."

"But he doesn't manage affairs, right? He belongs to the Party leader category." Wu Jingjing, although having stayed in China for not a short time, had little understanding of national conditions. Actually, even many Chinese university students don't clearly understand the difference between the Secretary and the administrative chief.

Chen Yi gave a bitter smile and said: "Although Sun Maoxin doesn't manage affairs, it's not because of the Party leader relationship."

"In any case, He Fuhan should step down, so you can have room to operate."

"Oh? You have a method?"

Wu Jingjing nodded, then said: "You help me, I help you."

……(Unfinished. If you like this work, welcome to Qidian (qidian. com) to cast Recommendation Tickets, Monthly Tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation.)