Chapter 340: Attracting Three Billion! This Day, Hong Kong Island

That evening, in the Celestial Dome Banquet Hall on the top floor of the Xinghan Hotel, crystal chandeliers glittered like a river of stars, and the air was filled with the rich aroma of top‑grade champagne and the heated scent of victory. All the Yingzi magnates gathered together, glasses clinking, and each face radiated genuine exhilaration.

When the banquet was halfway through, the members of the Chinese Chamber of Commerce swarmed around Lu Qingshan and led him to a more private Chinese reception room beside the main hall, ready to sip tea and discuss the Dao.

"Brother Lu Qingshan, I guess today the twelve branches together have attracted at least five hundred million in deposits!" Bao Chenggang, just holding a tea cup, shouted with a flushed face, "This already breaks every opening record of banks on Hong Kong Island!"

"Brother Bao is too conservative," Li Zhaolong laughed, shaking his head, a shrewd glint in his eyes, "Given Mr. Lu's momentum today, a billion isn't impossible! This is a launch capital of staggering magnitude!"

Everyone nodded, their conversation brimming with anticipation for the future and admiration for Lu Qingshan.

At that moment, Liang Zhiwei strode in like a gust of wind. He was still in that crumpled shirt, hair disheveled, starkly out of place in the luxurious reception room furnished with rosewood furniture and scented with premium Da Hong Pao tea. Yet his blood‑shot eyes burned with a fire that could set the plains ablaze. He walked straight to Lu Qingshan's side and, with slightly trembling hands, presented a freshly printed report still warm from the ink.

The entire reception room fell silent in an instant, even the sound of breathing vanished, and everyone's gaze, like iron filings drawn to a magnet, fixed rigidly on the thin sheet of paper.

Liang Zhiwei's voice remained hoarse, yet sounded like a war drum, brimming with uncontrollable excitement: "Boss, up to 8 p. m. when the bank closes, our three flagship wealth‑management products—Gangdao Fazhai, Step‑by‑Step Rise, Wealthy Family Blessing—across the twelve branches, on the first day of operation, have collectively attracted deposits…"

He inhaled deeply, his chest heaving violently as if he had expended all his strength, each word forced out as if squeezed between his teeth, announcing a figure that would make the entire financial history of Hong Kong Island tremble.

"31.6 billion Hong Kong dollars!"

"Boom!"

The figure exploded like a self‑detonating cruise missile, booming through the dead silence of the reception room! The air itself seemed to warp from the shock!

"Clang!" Bao Chenggang's precious Zisha tea cup slipped from his hand, shattering on the expensive carpet; the scalding Da Hong Pao soaked his trouser leg, yet he didn't notice. He sprang up from his chair, his usually bold, unrestrained face now written with a ghost‑like horror. Stammering, he pointed at the report, his voice altered: "Liang… Bank President Liang, say it again, how… how much?!"

Li Zhaolong's voice also broke completely; the real‑estate magnate famed for his shrewd calculations now stared rigidly at the string of numbers. He didn't shout, but tapped his fingers on the table wildly, muttering: "Impossible… interest rates are twenty percent higher, the wealth‑management product yields are thirty percent higher… even if every Hong Kong citizen deposited money, this growth curve… the abacus in my head that's been calculating for decades was smashed to pieces by this figure at this moment! This… this is unscientific!"

His decades of business experience and proud actuarial skill were completely overturned by this simple, brute figure!

One day! Just one day! This is no longer a bank; it's as if we'd tapped a pipe into Hong Kong Island's dragon vein and pulled out a mountain of gold out of thin air!

After the dead silence in the reception room came a chorus of heavy, ragged breaths. Everyone stared at Lu Qingshan with eyes that seemed to behold a deity and a monster alike; they knew Lu Qingshan was formidable, but never imagined he could be so mind‑shattering, so beyond comprehension!

Lu Qingshan's expression on his face indeed changed little, but his left hand, hidden beneath the rose‑wood table, suddenly clenched into a fist, each knuckle turning white from the strain!

A torrent of scorching magma surged within his chest! Even though he has lived two lifetimes as a human, the massive impact of this figure shook his heart into a surge! 31.6 billion! It's not just money! It's a flood of trust forged by six million Hong Kong Island citizens voting with their feet! With this sum, Yue E and Xiao Xue, in this life and the next, will possess an unshakable stability and wealth! With this sum, the Ten‑year Agreement he made for the nation now has the most solid, most terrifying Ammunition Depot!

He slowly exhaled a cloud of foul breath, released the fist that had left red marks, and then lifted his eyes, deep as a night sky.

"Excellent," he said, looking at Liang Zhiwei, his eyes showing unmasked approval. "I promised that Xinghan's wealth management would channel citizens' money into our investments in mainland enterprises, sharing the nation's development dividends. That must be realized. The subsequent deposit‑attraction plan cannot stop; the six million Hong Kong Island citizens are an inexhaustible gold mine for us. Moreover, the selection of new branch locations can begin; within six months I will have Xinghan Bank's branches spread to every corner of Hong Kong Island, even those poor alleys dismissed by Yingzi banks!"

"Understood!" Liang Zhiwei nodded heavily, a blazing fire of loyalty to a kindred spirit burning in his eyes.

Lu Qingshan lifted his wine glass, rose slowly to his feet, and surveyed the faces still reeling from the massive surprise.

"Everyone, today is only a beginning." His gaze seemed to pierce the hotel's floor‑to‑ceiling windows, looking toward the British Capital Fortress across Victoria Harbour that symbolized the old era, his voice heavy as iron, "We have reclaimed Hong Kong Island's money bag. This 31.6 billion is our first cannonball aimed at London! Next, we must go to London and settle the accounts of the past hundred‑plus years with them!"

A chill ran through everyone's hearts; they had not yet fully recovered from the shock of the thirty‑billion figure.

At that moment, Lu Qingshan's ever‑present private phone emitted a short, sharp vibration.

He glanced at the incoming display showing "Ye Ning," gave a slight nod to the others, and turned to the massive floor‑to‑ceiling window. Outside, Hong Kong Island's myriad lights glittered, reflecting on his calm face.

He answered the phone.

On the other end, Ye Ning's voice came, characteristically cool yet edged with a faint icy smile.

"Boss, the fish have taken the bait over in London."

"The heir of the Keeserke Family, the future head of Yihe Group, Henry Kessler, has just funneled 50 million pounds through an intermediary account at a Swiss Bank into our Victoria Opportunity Fund, secretly."

Lu Qingshan listened, his face showing no surprise. He stared at his own young yet unfathomable reflection in the glass, a slow, cold, eerie smile curling his lips, tinged with a cat‑and‑mouse‑like teasing.

He whispered, in a voice only he could hear, toward the bustling nightscape beyond the window:

"Welcome, Mr. Henry… to the funeral prepared for him himself."