Chapter 789: Stock Market Turmoil

Xu Damao did not want to dwell on this topic any longer and quickly changed the subject: "Everyone, *Ghost Blows Out the Light* has been released. Shall we go watch it? This is the story of us brothers, after all."

Hu Bayi was a bit reluctant: "Forget it. I think I'll definitely be angry if I go watch it. Portraying us too well? Impossible. They probably wrote us as bad guys. When the time comes, who are you going to vent your anger on? Zhuzi? He's the one who made us earn so much money. But if we don't vent and they write us as villains, how boring would that be?"

Xu Damao said: "It shouldn't be that bad, right? I think at worst it's a mix of good and evil."

Dajinya chimed in: "Anyway, I don't really dare to watch it. My image definitely won't be good, and they might have even found an actor uglier than me."

Xu Damao disagreed: "I think differently from you guys; I still want to go watch it. I'm treating tonight, are you going? After the movie, let's go to Ye Dongjing and find Boss Lingzi. I don't know why, but I've actually started to like Jiangnan beauties."

Wang Pangzi cursed: "You old lecher, you have a wife and you're over fifty, yet your heart is still restless. I heard that woman's backer is Bao Zong. That kid has also earned a lot of money recently and is very handsome; how are you going to compete with him?"

Xu Damao was unconcerned: "Pangzi, I heard you've taken a fancy to her?"

Hu Bayi egged him on: "It's true. One day I went to knock on Pangzi's door, and he wouldn't open it no matter what. It turned out I jumped into his room from the balcony, and this guy wasn't even there. In the middle of the night, he actually went to knock on my door... he was drunk, and all he kept muttering was Lingzi..."

Xu Damao scolded: "Pangzi, you've been a bit flighty lately, spending money like water."

"Bao Zong is too much of a playboy; he not only has Boss Lingzi, but also a Miss Wang. I am truly good to her; I don't believe I can't marry her?"

Hu Bayi scolded: "Pangzi, you can't be in charge of the money anymore. You spend several thousand a day; this is corruption and degradation. Remember, it is easy to go from frugality to luxury, but difficult to go from luxury to frugality... From now on, you cannot go to Ye Dongjing alone."

"Hu, when is Shirley Yang coming over?" Pangzi was best at changing the subject.

"Don't change the subject, we're talking about your business!" Hu Bayi said.

Pangzi did not take Hu Bayi's bait, but instead said to him: "Hu, give He Yuzhu a call. I met a big brother yesterday who said the higher-ups are going to regulate the stock market, and he told me to sell all my stocks?"

Once Hu Bayi heard this, he really stopped pestering Pangzi. He took out his brick phone and called He Yuzhu directly.

He Yuzhu asked curiously: "Hu, are you guys still in Shencheng?"

"Yes."

"Is it about stocks?" He Yuzhu asked.

Hu Bayi said: "Indeed, we recently received news that the higher-ups are about to regulate the stock market, and they say stocks will plummet!"

"What stocks did you all buy?"

"Damao bought Vacuum Electronics and it rose threefold. I bought Aishi Shares, Yanzhong Industry, and Vacuum Electronics; all three stocks rose and doubled."

"Not bad! There will be a lot of big domestic and international news soon, and there will be short-term fluctuations, but make sure you hold onto your stocks and don't sell. When Vacuum Electronics rises to seven hundred yuan a share, sell it decisively."

Upon hearing this, Hu Bayi immediately said: "Master He, I understand. The niece's movie has been released, and I haven't dared to watch it. Xu Damao is clamoring to go see it. Have you watched it? Did they write us as villains?"

He Yuzhu said: "I've watched it several times. It's filmed very well. Don't carry any baggage; just treat it as an entertainment film. Rest assured, I didn't belittle you."

Only then did Hu Bayi say: "Thank you, I'll go watch it tonight."

In mid-July, He Yuzhu met Liu Xiaohua and Liu Rusi.

He started by saying: "I should set off."

Liu Xiaohua was a bit surprised: "Aren't you supposed to go next year?"

He Yuzhu shook his head: "I suddenly changed my mind. A big war is about to start in early August, and I want to go over and pick up some scraps."

Liu Xiaohua was a bit dissatisfied: "Zhuzi, our plan was for you to leave in December. What's the meaning of you leaving in mid-July?"

He Yuzhu said: "Don't worry, I'm just going to handle some things and will be back in a month at most. The subsequent plans remain unchanged."

Liu Rusi asked: "Did you take a fancy to something? Don't tell me it's oil."

He Yuzhu shook his head and said: "Babylon is about to attack Meishan Country. Although Meishan Country is small, it is very wealthy, and the gold in their banks is piled up like a mountain. Soon, their wealth will be taken away by Babylon. But in the end, Babylon's wealth will be snatched away by M Country. You tell me, if I don't take it, is that appropriate?"

Liu Xiaohua laughed: "You always have your reasons. I support this idea of yours."

Liu Rusi hesitated: "If Babylon finds out the gold is gone, will that war with M Country still happen?"

He Yuzhu nodded: "It will definitely happen. M Country will not allow Iraq to dominate the Middle East; they want to control the energy of the Middle East."

"Then I support it too. What do you need us to do? Just say it," Liu Rusi said.

"Tell Secretary Liu that I went to survey the terrain; don't say I went to get gold," He Yuzhu said.

"You wish. Do you think he wouldn't know? Let me tell you, no matter what you bring back this time, you must contribute at least half. If Secretary Liu didn't know you invested heavily in chips and lithography machines, he would have asked you for eighty percent," Liu Xiaohua said.

"Xiaohua, as long as you build large surface warships, I will sponsor you."

Liu Xiaohua said: "Good, it's a deal. Maybe we'll even need an aircraft carrier!"

He Yuzhu said: "Then I will strongly support you."

Liu Xiaohua frowned: "The country is still too poor; there's no money!"

He Yuzhu said: "Wait for me to bring you good news!"

As soon as He Yuzhu returned home, He Jia ran over happily and said: "Dad, do you know how much our box office has reached?" He Yuzhu shook his head: "Haven't you only been released for a week? Is it two million?"

He Jia said excitedly: "It's already sixty million now, and it's predicted to reach one hundred and twenty million!"

He Yuzhu asked again: "How is it over in Hong Kong?"

He Jia thought for a moment: "Zhao Yingyi called to say it's been released for two weeks, and the box office is nearly seventeen million. She said it could reach twenty-five or twenty-six million in the end."

He Yuzhu smiled: "Then haven't you made money this time?"

He Jia giggled and said: "To tell you the truth, the domestic box office is calculated at 120 million, but after layers of profit sharing, the producers can only get 14% of the total box office, which just breaks even. We might be able to get five million from Hong Kong. There's also the 1 million USD in copyright fees we sold to Europe and the United States. We can get 70% of that money. We might earn seven or eight million this time, right?"

He Yuzhu smiled: "You all are already very impressive."

"Dad, many viewers really want to see a sequel and are asking if we should publish a book. Do you think it's better to publish it or not?"

He Yuzhu said: "The advantage is that the next installment might have more hype and more viewers; the disadvantage is that you might get scolded—to be honest, in the current movie, only thirty or forty percent of the things in the script were realized."

He Jia sighed and said: "Duan Hongtao has the same opinion as you and suggested I don't publish a book because it would give the movie a sense of mystery. The audience is full of anticipation for the next installment now; if they finish the book, it's highly likely no one will go to the cinema to watch it."

He Yuzhu nodded: "Little Duan is right."

He Jia asked proudly: "How did Little Duan perform?"

"As the male lead, he's passable, but I hope he reads more books. His eyes are still too clear, lacking depth; he doesn't look as complex as those people who do Doudao," He Yuzhu said.