Chapter 28: Gains

"18500... 18200... 18000, it's broken! The Nikkei Index has fallen below 18,000!"

"Mr. Di, should we close the position now?"

Di Ye sat in a wide boss chair, flipping through the latest issue of *Playboy*. Upon hearing the inquiry from the phone, he said without lifting his head, "No need, keep waiting. It hasn't reached the low point I predicted yet."

As the saying goes, the emperor isn't anxious, but the eunuch is. Xu Chaobo stood by the side of the desk, leaning over to stare at the computer screen, and reminded him with an anxious look, "Mr. Di, it's better to quit while you're ahead. The Nikkei Index has already fallen more than 800 points; it should hit bottom and rebound any moment now."

"Xiao Xu! Do not interfere with the client's judgment. Go wait outside."

The middle-aged man sitting opposite Di Ye stopped Xu Chaobo's unprofessional behavior and chased him out of the office. Then, with a face full of smiles, he flattered, "Mr. Di, you really are a figure like a stock god. You said it would fall 1000 points, and it fell 1000 points. Your foresight is truly accurate!"

"Just luck."

"You are being modest. You can't rely on luck alone for such accurate foresight. Mr. Di must have a secret technique. If you are willing to offer a bit of guidance, we won't charge a commission this time."

"I don't have any secret technique; I just exploited a time lag."

"How so?"

This middle-aged man was named Xiao Jun, the General Manager of this wealth management and investment company operating under the name Guangdong Investment. Seeing his eager expression, Di Ye casually gave an example: "If a person suddenly vomits blood, they will definitely go to the Hospital for a check-up, and a check-up takes time. Before the results come out, this person will harbor wishful thinking, believing that vomiting blood is just an accident, not a terminal illness. Isn't that the logic?"

"That's correct."

"A country is the same. A major earthquake occurred in Dongying on January 17th. Traffic in the disaster area was interrupted and information was blocked; no one knew how serious the losses really were. Under the influence of wishful thinking, the Nikkei Index didn't fall much in the first few days. But now, a week has passed since the major earthquake, and the losses should be about tallied up. That is why I specifically came to short the Nikkei Index today."

Hearing this explanation, Xiao Jun felt it was very logical, yet also felt it was too opportunistic. He asked, "Mr. Di believes the losses from this major earthquake in Dongying are very large?"

While reading *Playboy*, Di Ye said nonchalantly, "If you compare Dongying to a person, Osaka and Kobe are its two kidneys. Now that the kidneys have been ruined by the earthquake, it will never be able to do heavy labor again and can only linger on in a precarious state. How could the losses not be large?"

1995 was the final glory of the Dongying economy, after which it fell into the "lost 30 years." Although the root cause came from the Plaza Accord, the Hanshin Earthquake was the direct catalyst. Before the earthquake, the Tokyo and Osaka economic circles were advancing side-by-side, developing together. After the earthquake, the Osaka economic circle fell into recession, and a large number of small and medium-sized enterprises went bankrupt, making the Dongying economy a limping monster that couldn't keep up with the development speed of its competitors and began to fall behind.

The most representative example of this is Kobe Port. Before the earthquake, Kobe Port was Dongying's largest container terminal and ranked sixth in the world. After the earthquake, it never recovered and couldn't even make it into the world's top 50. From this, one can see how severe the damage to the local economy was from this earthquake.

Xiao Jun didn't know much about the Dongying economy and wasn't clear on the importance of Osaka and Kobe. Half-doubting, he said, "So you mean the Nikkei Index will continue to fall?"

"A centipede dies but never falls over; the Nikkei Index will probably fluctuate and fall for a while longer."

"If it fluctuates and falls, it will be hard to operate."

"Indeed, that's why I'm only doing it for today."

At this moment, the phone on the desk rang again. The trader in Hong Kong reported in an extremely excited tone, "Mr. Di, the Nikkei Index just fell below the preset value of 17800, and the computer has automatically closed the position!"

"Good work. Help me calculate the gains."

"There's still over an hour until the market closes. You're not playing anymore?"

"Not playing anymore."

Xiao Jun greatly admired Di Ye's composure. He gave a thumbs up in praise, then picked up the calculator on the desk. While calculating, he reported the account: "500,000 in principal, 10 times leverage, opened the position at 18800, closed at 17800, it fell exactly 1000 points... Mr. Di, you earned a total of 265,957 yuan on paper this time. I won't charge the commission or the handling fees from Hong Kong; I'll only deduct 20,000 in interest, so it's 245,957 yuan. Is that correct?"

Di Ye glanced at the data calculated by Xiao Honghua on the Light Screen and nodded, "Give me 245,000; keep the change."

"Then please wait a moment, I'll go transfer the money now."

Xiao Jun had barely left the office when Xu Chaobo slipped in and inquired, "Mr. Di, did the Nikkei Index really fall below 17800?"

"It did."

"Amazing! I admire you!"

Di Ye was amused by his exaggerated tone and said, "Didn't you also think the Nikkei Index would plummet the night before last? Why didn't you invest your own money and play a round?"

Xu Chaobo shook his head repeatedly and smiled bitterly, "My mental fortitude isn't good enough; I only know how to talk on paper. When watching others play, I can speak with great logic, but when I play myself, I immediately get dizzy and lose money every time I play."

"Then you'd better stop playing the stock market and switch to a stable business."

Di Ye offered a word of advice, threw the *Playboy* on the desk, and asked, "Manager Xu, are you going back to Yuncheng for the Spring Festival?"

Xu Chaobo showed a look of shame and said, "I didn't earn any money this year; I have no face to go home."

Seeing his expression, Di Ye knew it wasn't that he hadn't earned money, but that he had lost all the money he had earned. So he asked again, "How much can you get from this order today?"

"About 3000, not much."

Di Ye had intentionally sought financing from Xu Chaobo with high interest just to find a way to send him money, so that he could then subsidize his parents from his past life. Now hearing that he could only get 3000 yuan, he was somewhat disappointed, so he changed his strategy, preparing to get Xu Chaobo back to Yuncheng and then use him to contact his parents.

"Manager Xu, do you know how to drive?"

"I do, I've had a driver's license for four or five years."

"I purchased a batch of computer parts in Pengcheng this time and want to transport them back to Yuncheng tomorrow. Would you be willing to help as a driver? I'll give you 1000 for the labor fee."

Xu Chaobo was somewhat tempted and said, "I have to ask Manager Xiao to see if he will let me take an early holiday."

After Xiao Jun finished the transfer procedures and returned, he heard that Di Ye wanted Xu Chaobo to help transport goods and immediately agreed. He instructed, "Mr. Di is a distinguished guest of our company. You must serve him well and don't be lazy or shifty, otherwise, I won't spare you after the new year."

"Manager Xu's service quality is top-notch, I am very satisfied, otherwise I wouldn't have asked him to help drive."

Di Ye supported his uncle's face a little, then said, "I will come to Pengcheng again after the Spring Festival to do some foreign exchange trading. At that time, I will have to trouble your company to help with financing."

Upon hearing this, Xiao Jun immediately inquired, "Which kind of foreign exchange does Mr. Di plan to trade?"

"It's hard to say right now; I need to study it for a while longer."