Chapter 200

"Mr. Li, the truth is, in this line of work, we care deeply about the trust between us and our clients. After all, there are risks involved. If there is no mutual trust, it will inevitably end in a very unpleasant situation."

The smile vanished from Liang Liang Jia Sheng's face, and he said coldly, "For a situation like Mr. Li's, I suggest having my assistant handle the trading. He is also a graduate of a prestigious university."

"I won't trouble Mr. Liang further, then. Thank you for your hospitality."

Li Ye didn't even wait for Liang Liang Jia Sheng to finish speaking before he stood up from the sofa, gave him a slight nod, turned, and walked out of the office.

It doesn't matter how impressive your professional skills are; if I sit there for half a day without even being offered a cup of tea, am I paying money just to be PUA'd?

Li Ye walked out of the brokerage firm with a cold face, and Pei Wencong hurried to catch up with him.

"Mr. Li, this... what Liang Liang Jia Sheng said is actually the truth. Even a gold-medal broker like him cannot fully predict the trend of the Hang Seng Index.

Besides, he doesn't usually handle such small business, but speculating on the Hang Seng Index is so dangerous that we must rely on his capabilities."

Pei Wencong already understood Li Ye quite well; from the conversation between the two just now, he knew that Li Ye was disgusted by Liang Liang Jia Sheng's arrogant attitude.

Liang Liang Jia Sheng was quite stuck-up when he was in school, but he had the capital to be stuck-up—a good family background and strong ability—and he wore an arrogant expression toward many people in Hong Kong.

For example, toward him, Pei Wencong.

But Li Ye stopped in his tracks and said to Pei Wencong, "Do you still need to tell me about the dangers of speculating on the Hang Seng Index? What I value is a person's professional ethics. No matter how strong his ability is, if he has the attitude of a god, do you think I should trust him?"

"I'll ask you this: who exactly is the god here?"

"..."

Pei Wencong was silent for a few seconds before saying, "Alright, Mr. Li. You're the one spending the money, so you have the final say."

After getting into the car, Pei Wencong asked Li Ye again, "My other classmate's office is a bit small. Does Mr. Li still need to go take a look?"

Li Ye was feeling annoyed, so he nodded expressionlessly, and A-Min hurriedly started driving.

Pei Wencong's other classmate's office wasn't far away, but it was indeed, as he had said, quite small.

It was a rented office in a dilapidated office building. The sign for Jinbo Financial Consulting Company at the entrance was somewhat worn, and inside, there were no assistants or female secretaries.

There were just two middle-aged female clients arguing incessantly with a man who was somewhat balding.

Damn it, this looks like a shell company at first glance!

Pei Wencong smiled awkwardly and said, "Mr. Li, if we are talking purely about professional ethics, he is even better than Liang Liang Jia Sheng."

After Li Ye and the others entered this consulting company, the bald man only gave Pei Wencong a brief greeting before going back to arguing with the two middle-aged women until his face was red and his neck was thick.

Pei Wencong wanted to interrupt his classmate, but Li Ye waved his hand, stopping Pei Wencong.

If you asked Li Ye to speak Cantonese, he certainly couldn't do it fluently, but he had no problem understanding it.

He had already realized that the bald man wasn't arguing with the two women, but rather trying to persuade them.

"The current market is very bad. You shouldn't be so impulsive. The price-to-earnings ratio of those two stocks is already nearly three hundred times; how can you still buy them?"

"I can handle the trading for you, but where is there a market right now that guarantees a fifteen-point profit... You shouldn't go to Zhu Datou! He will lose all your money."

It turned out the two women wanted to entrust this bald man to trade certain stocks and claimed, "We won't blame you if we lose money," even threatening to go elsewhere, but the bald man was earnestly trying to persuade them to be steady.

The three of them argued for at least twenty minutes before finally reaching a result: the bald man would try his best to trade for them, but he would have the final say on which stocks to buy.

The two women took bundles of Hong Kong dollars out of their bags and gave them to the bald man; it was unclear if this was their entire life savings.

"Bo-zai! We've been playing the stock market for so many years, and your place is the one that makes us feel most at ease, but with your business attitude, you'll never get rich."

"Whether I get rich or not doesn't matter. I can't be the cause of someone jumping off a building, can I? A person has to have a conscience!"

After hearing the last few sentences of their conversation, Li Ye became interested in this man who had gone bald early.

Because he was very similar to a fund manager Li Ye knew in his previous life.

The same hairless head, the same bit of "conscience."

In his previous life, on the eve of the conflict between the big bear and the small bear, Li Ye had accidentally seen a promotion for a gold-medal fund manager on a certain treasure page and had been hooked in.

Then came a series of losses and pitfalls, leaving him covered in scars.

And during that process, there was a fund manager who didn't have much of a reputation but left a very deep impression on Li Ye.

The moment the conflict started, he restricted the subscription limit for his funds; investors could only buy one hundred yuan of his fund per day.

After the war had been going on for two months, he lowered the limit again, selling only fifty yuan per day, and in the end, he simply closed the subscription channel.

However, during the entire year of '22, in that phase where the fund market was wailing, the fund under this manager's name actually rose by fifteen points against the trend, truly a single red dot in a sea of green.

This was the only fund Li Ye had made money on, which is why he remembered it so vividly.

In other words, if this fund manager wasn't sure he could make money for his clients, he simply wouldn't take them on.

And during this period, what about those other gold-medal fund managers?

They had all sorts of promotions, all sorts of appearances, and analysis reports one after another; they might as well have put up a bright, flashing sign: "Sir, come play! It's super exciting here."

Damn it, either way, whether buying or selling, the fund managers made money. They were the ones who were guaranteed to win regardless of the weather, and they would peel a layer of skin off you even if you died.

And this "Bo-zai" in front of him seemed to really have some professional ethics, just as Pei Wencong had said.

"A-Cong, how did you end up running over to my place today? I heard you've made it big now. It's rare that you still remember me, Black Fish Bo."

Bo-zai sent off the two middle-aged female clients and, while busy pouring tea for Li Ye, Watching Watching Watching Jin Peng, and Hao Jian, chatted and laughed with Pei Wencong.

When pouring tea for Li Ye, he said quite embarrassedly, "Sorry, everyone. I was indeed a bit neglectful just now. My apologies, my apologies."

Li Ye thanked him for the tea first and then said, "No need to be so polite. I actually think it was quite good. Were those two ladies your long-time clients?"

Hearing Li Ye's Mandarin, Bo-zai was stunned for a moment, then said in Mandarin with a heavy accent, "Yes, yes! I've known them for four or five years. They made some money in the first few years, but the market hasn't been good this year, so I had to say a few extra words to them."

At this moment, Pei Wencong said, "This friend of mine from the mainland wants to speculate on the Hang Seng Index. You should talk to him properly."

"Speculate on the Hang Seng Index?"

Bo-zai was stunned, then turned his head and asked Pei Wencong quickly in Cantonese, "Does he know what the Hang Seng Index is? It's very easy to get liquidated."

Pei Wencong said helplessly, "He is very insistent, and his requirements are simple... good ethics, and he's looking for a drop to 700 points."

"Looking for a drop to 700 points?"

Bo-zai's eyes lit up, and he turned to look at Li Ye again.

He looked at Li Ye deeply for a few moments, then suddenly bent forward and reached out his hand: "What should I call you, brother?"

Li Ye reached out and shook his hand lightly, saying, "My surname is Li. And you, brother?"

"Oh, oh, I have a business card."

Bo-zai hurriedly rummaged through his things to find a business card and handed it to Li Ye.

Li Ye took a look and couldn't help but smile.

It turned out this man was named Luo Runbo, and he was actually a Master of Laws from the University of Hong Kong and held a solicitor's license. His working in the financial securities industry was actually "not attending to his proper job."

Luo Runbo was perhaps used to such smiles from Li Ye and didn't mind, saying, "Mr. Li is the most decisive investor I have seen in half a year. I also don't have a positive outlook on the prospects of Hong Kong stocks. The Hang Seng Index might indeed fall below 700 points, or even lower, and it won't be long before that happens."

Before Li Ye could say anything, Pei Wencong said in surprise, "A-Bo, why are you so pessimistic? I just came from Liang Liang Jia Sheng's place, and he doesn't even think the Hang Seng Index will fall below 700."

"How many people did Liang Liang Jia Sheng ruin in the past few years?"

Luo Runbo said this coldly and was silent for a long time before continuing, "I'm actually not pessimistic about Hong Kong; I'm pessimistic about... Britain."

Li Ye looked at Luo Runbo, who was feeling down, and finally began to take him seriously.

Most of the Hong Kong people he had seen these days believed that the British Empire was still powerful and that the Iron Lady would soon be able to resolve this dispute.

And Luo Runbo was the first Hong Kong person Li Ye had met who didn't have a positive outlook on Britain.

It was just that his vision was ultimately limited; he couldn't see that after this dispute, with the support from the north, Hong Kong's financial market would become even more prosperous.

Perhaps realizing he had said something inappropriate, Luo Runbo quickly adjusted himself and asked about Li Ye's plans: "How much principal does Mr. Li intend to invest?"

Li Ye said, "Five hundred thousand Hong Kong dollars. I'm looking for a drop to 700 points. You handle the trading for me."

Pei Wencong frowned and asked Li Ye in a low voice, "Mr. Li, are you sure you want to go all-in?"

Li Ye only had a little over five hundred thousand in funds on the books. He had originally wanted to take out two hundred thousand to exchange for US dollars as prize money for the manuscript solicitation, but now that he was suddenly investing it all into the futures market, Pei Wencong was still a bit worried.

"What do you mean by all-in?" Li Ye said, "I'm a person who receives a salary every month; how could I possibly go all-in?"

"Yes, yes, you do indeed have a sum of money arriving next month. Please, do as you wish."

The profits from "Soaring North Wind" were still flowing back to Treading Waves Publishing House, so Pei Wencong wasn't afraid that Li Ye's thirty thousand US dollars would fly away.

In the end, Li Ye signed a mandate contract with Luo Runbo, letting him handle the trading of those five hundred thousand Hong Kong dollars for him.

Hao Jian and Watching Watching Watching Jin Peng pondered for a while and began to discuss in low voices. The two of them had received a large sum of money as a bonus this year, but it was all in Renminbi, and it was very troublesome to exchange it for Hong Kong dollars; even on the black market, there was often no market for the price.

After finishing all this, it was already noon. Luo Runbo treated Li Ye and the others to a meal. Although it was just a small restaurant, both the taste and the sincerity were acceptable.

After the meal, Pei Wencong said apologetically to Li Ye, "Sorry, Mr. Li. I made an appointment with Master Huang many days in advance to have him calculate my fortune for the year. He notified me yesterday to go over this afternoon. I'll let A-Min take you all out for some sightseeing, alright?"

"That's fine. You go do your business; we'll just take a look around."

Li Ye had no objections, but Hao Jian said, "Mr. Pei, since it's calculating the fortune for the year, it wouldn't hurt for us to go calculate ours too. I heard back in Pengcheng that the masters here in Hong Kong have real skills."

The atmosphere of fortune-telling in Hong Kong was very strong, while in the mainland, because of the severe crackdowns in previous years, it had become mysterious, so Hao Jian was a bit curious.

"I wouldn't dare say they have real skills; it's just a custom. It's just that this Master Huang is very famous, and I'm not sure if he will receive you all... How about we go together, and I'll ask for you?"

Pei Wencong thought about it and decided to take Li Ye and the others along. He would have them wait outside, and if the master inside wasn't willing, they would just leave.

After arriving at the place, Master Huang's assistant indeed made Li Ye and the others wait outside, only letting Pei Wencong go in alone.

Li Ye didn't care; he didn't really believe in these things anyway, but Hao Jian was a bit disappointed.

He actually mainly wanted to calculate the fortune for his daughter, Hao Cuicui.

After Pei Wencong went in, he paid his respects to Master Huang very respectfully and then spoke of his worries.

"Master, I recently met a person from the north. Could you help me calculate whether his destiny is compatible or conflicting with mine?"

Master Huang stared at Pei Wencong's face for a long time, his calm eyes filled with great surprise.

Then he asked for Pei Wencong's birth date and time, started divining, and in the end, even took out ancient books.

Anyone who has seen a traditional Chinese medicine doctor knows that once the doctor starts flipping through books, it means things are about to go wrong.

So Pei Wencong was scared out of his wits.

The British Hong Kong government wasn't exactly a benevolent group; if he were to be gotten rid of because of his connection to Li Ye, who could he go to for justice?

"This shouldn't be!"

Master Huang calculated for a long time before saying suspiciously, "According to your face, birth date, and the divination, there is indeed a noble person in the north who can grant you forty years of great fortune."

"..."

Pei Wencong's soul had flown away; it had simply flown away.

Forty years of great fortune?

Is there such a divination?

Is there such a destiny?

Let alone forty years, even if he were given twenty years of great fortune, wouldn't he be not far from those top tycoons?

Pfft~, what is he thinking? He'd be burning high incense if he got ten years.

Thanks to book friend "Feng Wu Jiu Tian?" for the tip. Having you with me all the way, brother, I am very happy.

Thanks to the book friend for the 500-coin tip.

Thanks to book friend hatsuneakina for the tip.

Thanks to all the big bosses for your generosity.

(End of chapter)