Chapter 817: Li Ye Can Definitely Afford It

The next morning, when Li Ye and the others arrived at Mitsubishi Company, the other side did not begin the meeting at the agreed time.

Li Ye was puzzled; the Japanese were known for their punctuality, so if something like this happened, it must truly be an emergency.

Liu Muhan and his colleague Xiao Hu went to communicate with them; Li Ye and the others could only wait helplessly in the conference room.

“Ding ling ling~”

Li Ye’s phone rang.

He glanced at it, turned, and left the conference room, finding a quiet corner.

“Hello, did you find out?”

“Hehe, how could I not get clear on what the top scholar asked? They really did exchange 2.8 million in foreign currency?”

“Two point eight million U.S. dollars? Old Song, you’re doing some big business!”

“No no no, Top Scholar, you misunderstood—it’s 2.8 million RMB, exchanged at 7.5 to 1, and they agreed that if they exchanged back, they’d only deduct five points.”

“Did the money arrive?”

“It was delivered in Jingcheng yesterday afternoon, and that same night they urgently demanded Chu Yunling buy Mitsubishi Heavy Industries futures immediately.”

Li Ye exclaimed, “So urgent? Have they already bought?”

Old Song paused, then chuckled awkwardly, “Top Scholar, are you trying to stop them from buying, or...”

Li Ye fell silent for a few seconds, then said coolly, “Old Song, don’t expect me to reveal anything.”

“Oh oh oh, Top Scholar, rest assured—this morning, Chu Yunling bought for them right away.”

“.”

This guy Old Song was sharper than a monkey; since Li Ye didn’t stop him, that meant he approved, right?

The Chinese love to grab leverage over others so they can control them later—why not help the Top Scholar stir things up?

“Sigh, let’s hang up!”

Li Ye hung up, shook his head helplessly, utterly baffled by Gu Jianqi’s madness—why rush headfirst into the fire?

Even Sun Wukong was tricked into the alchemical furnace by Laozi himself!

In truth, Li Ye, coming from the future, had underestimated how desperate and greedy these people were in the 1980s when faced with money.

Back in the early 1990s, that rich man from Xiamen, Lai Daheng, when founding Yuanhua, used nothing more than one or two years’ salary as a gift to befriend influential people.

Just one or two years’ salary!

If this were decades later, would you think one year’s salary could buy you a connection with me?

Who are you mocking? Even the head of a production team wouldn’t dare stoop so low!

But in 1987, gift-giving was rampant—a bag of tobacco and alcohol could get things done, and tens of thousands of U.S. dollars could stun anyone.

So the lure of money in this era was vastly stronger than decades later—even talents like Liu Muhan were already thinking about bringing back a few high-value items from Tokyo to make some quick cash.

If two point eight million could rise by ten percent, it would send anyone’s head spinning; if it doubled or tripled, even heaven’s king couldn’t stop them!

Half an hour later, Liu Muhan and Director Inoue arrived at the conference room.

Director Inoue entered and bowed deeply at seventy-five degrees, then sincerely apologized: “I’m truly sorry—something urgent came up, so we must postpone our meeting until next week.”

“To make up for it, we’ve arranged a one-day Tokyo tour for everyone—where would you like to visit?”

“.”

Everyone exchanged glances, stunned they’d been stood up.

But then they quickly began suggesting places: Mount Fuji, Tokyo Tower, even the Japanese Imperial Palace.

Director Inoue smiled and said, “No problem—we can arrange several cars to take everyone to their preferred spots. We’ll satisfy all your requests.”

Their moods lifted instantly; in this era, traveling meant taking plenty of photos to bring home.

But Secretary Guo suddenly said, “Let’s first visit Tokyo’s futures exchange—can we learn about Japan’s economic situation?”

Inoue paused, then proudly smiled, “Of course—Tokyo’s futures exchange is a magical place, well worth seeing.”

“Then we’re going too.”

“Yes yes yes! What’s so special about a mountain? We’ve seen it on calendars—let’s see something new!”

The group, who moments ago had different preferences, suddenly agreed unanimously—leaving Secretary Guo and Gu Jianqi frowning, but powerless to object.

They split into several cars and headed to the futures exchange, where they saw modern digital screens.

“Are those numbers the stocks and futures?”

“What do the red and green mean? Some don’t move for ages, others jump so fast!”

“Red means up, green means down—the numbers are percentages, showing how much higher or lower today is than yesterday.”

“Whoa, so that red 36 percent means it rose 36 percent today? My god, how do you even buy this? Can we buy it?”

“Pfft, do you have money? Do you have foreign exchange? Just look, that’s enough.”

“.”

Everyone was mesmerized by the flashing red numbers, calculating how much they’d earn if they invested a hundred yuan.

But Li Ye, quietly watching the colorful numbers, knew this thing truly devoured people.

Liu Muhan noticed Li Ye’s silence and assumed he was upset about the meeting’s cancellation, so she came over to comfort him.

“The Mitsubishi people said a technical team suddenly arrived at their lamp tower factory with an urgent issue, so our meeting must be moved to Monday—nowadays, the Japanese dare not neglect the Americans.”

“So they dare not neglect the Americans, but they neglect us, right?”

“Li Ye, don’t be angry—you study economics, you should understand Japan followed the same path we did decades ago.”

“Angry? Why would I be angry?” Li Ye smiled. “You don’t need to comfort me—I know the Japanese better than you do.”

“You’re just bragging! I’m not Xiao Yu—why are you trying to prove your manly dignity to me?”

“Heh, you noticed that?”

“Of course—don’t try to play tricks on me, you young pup.”

Was Li Ye bragging?

He wasn’t.

In his past life, one of Li Ye’s classmates worked at a German company in Shanghai; the firm had business ties with Japan and often sent him on trips there.

The Japanese treated his classmate with courtesy—always providing meals, lodging, and small gifts; his classmate reciprocated with favors within his authority.

But once, his classmate had personal business and sent another German colleague instead; when the colleague returned, they exchanged stories.

“How many Japanese female colleagues did you sleep with?”

“What do you mean—sleep with how many?”

His classmate was confused; after a deep discussion, he learned that though he and the German colleague had the same rank and mission, their treatment was worlds apart.

The Japanese female colleagues had clearly offered to help the German colleague relieve work stress.

“I fucking can’t believe this—do they think I’m not a cadre?”

From then on, his classmate deliberately sabotaged them within his authority, making them suffer until they were completely broken and submissive.

So the Japanese didn’t fear the Americans—they bowed to the West but looked down on the East.

You don’t feel right unless you’ve crushed them.

“It’s rising! Look!”

Li Ye’s sharp hearing caught Secretary Guo’s excited breathing.

He turned and saw Mitsubishi Heavy Industries’ futures suddenly surging like they’d been injected with adrenaline—rising eight points in minutes, with no sign of stopping.

Gu Jianqi, who had been calm and serious moments before, now flushed red with excitement, as if the flashing red numbers were tied directly to his heartbeat.

Liu Muhan asked curiously, “Li Ye, have you noticed how interested Gu Lao is in stocks and futures? Has there been any rumor about pilot stock markets in our country?”

Li Ye smiled, “If you don’t know, how would I?”

Liu Muhan gave him a sharp look. “You’re from economics—your teacher’s close to our economic departments—how could you not hear any rumors?”

“Hey hey hey, don’t speculate—this isn’t something to talk about lightly.”

“Pfft, you won’t tell me—I’ll ask Xiao Yu instead. Go ahead, try hiding it from her too.”

“.”

While Li Ye and Liu Muhan chatted, Gu Jianqi and Secretary Guo were staring with bloodshot eyes.

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries’ futures kept climbing until it finally stopped at 38 percent.

Li Ye murmured, “They don’t understand hedging, do they? Only bought long, no short positions?”

Li Ye didn’t know how Secretary Guo and the others operated, nor whether Chu Yunling had professional traders—but he knew that today, they’d made a fortune and were already getting cocky.

After dinner, everyone returned to the hotel; soon after, Secretary Guo knocked on Li Ye’s door.

Li Ye thought he’d come to borrow the phone to call home—but saw Secretary Guo pulling out his own mobile phone.

“Gu Lao’s Japanese friend gave him a portable phone—Li Ye, can you test if it works?”

“.”

Minutes later, everyone in the delegation learned that Gu Lao’s Japanese friend had also gifted him a mobile phone.

People gathered around, testing the two phones—calling one from the other, then the other back, marveling at the ringing sound.

“Listen up! It only rings—you can’t answer, or you’ll get charged.”

“Ah yes, we know—our colleague’s kid studying abroad calls home every weekend, lets it ring ten seconds then hangs up—just to say he’s safe.”

“Li Ye, when will we be able to use mobile phones like the Japanese?”

“.”

“Soon! I heard they started researching mobile communications in Jingcheng two years ago—Pengcheng will launch first this year, and Jingcheng won’t be far behind.”

"Whoa, so we'll be able to use this kind of phone too back then?"

"Dream on! You can't even afford a pager now—by then, a mobile phone will cost at least seven or eight thousand per unit. Can you afford it?"

"Seven or eight thousand? Who would they sell it to? Who can afford it?"

Xiao Jingen suddenly spoke softly: "I don't know if others can afford it, but our Deputy Factory Director Li Ye certainly can—after all, he drives a Santana worth a hundred or two hundred thousand."

Everyone turned to look at Li Ye, their expressions deeply complex.

But Secretary Guo held his phone tightly, a sneer curling at the corner of his mouth.