Chapter 245: The Brit Was Fooled! Seventy‑Billion Capital Becomes a Take‑Over Hero!

"Lu Qingshan!" Wilson slammed his fist onto the table, producing a dull thud. The teacups on the table rattled and jumped, "That cunning Chinese kid never concedes; he's pulling tricks! He's putting on a show! Damn it, we've all been duped by him!"

Wilson's eyes burned with a flame of anger, the humiliation of being toyed with nearly drove him mad. As the dominant figure of Hong Kong Island's financial world, he had never been mocked like this, especially by a Chinese young man he had always looked down upon.

"What's even more terrifying is that we don't know how many positions they actually hold," Yuehan Xun's voice trembled, cold sweat dripping from his forehead, "If their Long Position is huge and they now sell off en masse, it will trigger market Fear. When the stock price crashes, the more than 7.0 billion we have poured in will vanish completely!"

His voice grew even more panicked: "That's all the capital we can mobilize on Hong Kong Island, including money from insurance funds and pension funds. Those are funds that must be settled to clients; if a massive loss occurs, the consequences are unimaginable! We could face bankruptcy, even criminal prosecution!"

Wilson paced back and forth in the office, his leather shoes thudding on the carpet. Beads of sweat the size of beans formed on his forehead, and the haughty face he always wore showed fear for the first time.

He now finally understands that Lu Qingshan has been playing a grand game from the start. The apparent short selling loss was merely a Smoke Bomb; the real killing move was the Long Position built covertly. And Wilson, like a moth, flew toward the flame that Lu Qingshan lit for him.

"What do we do now?" Yuehan Xun asked, his voice laced with despair, "If we stop buying, the stock will plunge instantly, and all the capital we've put in becomes a sunk cost. But if we keep buying, we're taking over Lu Qingshan's position, cashing him out. It's a deadlock!"

Wilson's hand clenched into a fist, his knuckles whitening. This was the most complicated predicament he had faced in his thirty-year career. No way out, riding a tiger he couldn't dismount. Whatever choice he makes, massive losses could follow.

The feeling of being completely controlled by someone else almost suffocated him. He had always thought he was hunting Lu Qingshan, only to realize now that he was the prey being hunted.

"Investigate! Find out exactly how many positions Lu Qingshan and his team have!" Wilson roared, his voice echoing through the office, "I need to know what this Chinese kid is up to! Deploy all our connections immediately, no matter the cost, I must get to the bottom of them!"

Meanwhile, in Xinghan Group's Trading Room, the atmosphere was completely different.

The massive Trading Hall buzzed with excitement, a dozen traders sat before the latest Bloomberg Terminal, each with multiple monitors in front of them. Real‑time data flickered across the screens, red and green numbers alternating, like a symphony of wealth being performed.

Ye Ning hurried up to Lu Qingshan, her face radiating uncontainable excitement and admiration: "Boss, the morning settlement is proceeding smoothly; the other members of the Chinese Chamber of Commerce have already completed settlement of thirty billion in Long Contracts. If the full forty billion of funds are settled, net profit will exceed fifteen billion five hundred million Hong Kong dollars!"

Her voice trembled with excitement; the figure was beyond her imagination. Fifteen billion five hundred million Hong Kong dollars—a staggering sum, enough to buy several office towers in Central.

"And Xinghan Group has also essentially completed settlement of seventy percent of its contracts; after full settlement of the Long Index Futures Contracts, overall net profit will exceed 820 million Hong Kong dollars!" Ye Ning continued her report, a fanatical gleam in her eyes, "Adding our previous investment returns and the 500 million Short Index Futures Contract, Xinghan Group's total assets have already surpassed 2.5 billion Hong Kong dollars!"

The Trading Room erupted in enthusiastic applause, every face lit with excited smiles. This joy of success infected everyone present, even the usually stoic traders couldn't help shouting cheers.

820 million Hong Kong dollars—a figure enough to drive anyone mad. Everyone knows that just a few months ago, when Lu Qingshan first arrived on Hong Kong Island, his total net worth was under 200,000 Hong Kong dollars. In a short span of months, it has multiplied to astronomical levels; this rate of wealth growth is nothing short of mythic.

Zhang Qiming's face flushed with excitement as he shouted, "Boss, you are truly the Zhuge Liang of the financial world! This strategic brilliance makes us bow in admiration! Wilson, that old fox, could never have dreamed— the harder he scrambles to push the stock price up, the more we profit!"

Lin Yuchen also danced with excitement: "This retreat‑to‑advance strategy is brilliant! On the surface we appear to concede, but in reality we are harvesting! Wilson and his team are like diligent farmers, planting a field of gold for us, and now it's harvest season!"

Other traders also burst into admiration, each stunned by this miraculous maneuver. They finally understood why the boss had treated everyone to a celebration of a 'crushing defeat' days earlier. It turned out that it wasn't a defeat at all, but the prelude to victory!

Lu Qingshan remained calm, his face showing no trace of smugness. He watched the stock price still climbing on the screen, a deep glint flashing in his eyes. A barely perceptible cold smile curled at his mouth, a smile full of wisdom and calculation, like a sage who sees through everything.

He knew Wilson should have already sensed the anomaly, but it was too late. This meticulously planned Financial War had its outcome essentially decided. All that remained was the question of how to cast the net.

"Ye Ning, continue as planned," Lu Qingshan's voice was calm and firm, "Now we must shift strategy, Switch from Long to Short. This is the most critical step, no room for any sloppiness."

He rose, walked to the massive floor‑to‑ceiling window, and looked down at the bustling Central below. The skyscrapers soaring into the clouds glittered in the sunlight, each representing immense wealth and power.

"Wilson, Wilson," he thought to himself, "You think you're playing a grand game, but you're merely a piece on my board. The final stage of this Financial War is about to begin."

This ultimate showdown between the Chinese and Yingzi, the outcome will soon be clear. And Lu Qingshan will prove with concrete action what Chinese wisdom is, and what a true king's return looks like!