1982 Started from Hong Kong

Chapter 142 Panic
The decline of the Hong Kong dollar in September was so serious that Zhai Yuan had no choice but to ignore it.

Walking on the street, the entrances of any supermarket or shop are crowded with citizens. Everyone has lost confidence in the Hong Kong dollar and is eager to exchange the Hong Kong dollars in their pockets for daily necessities.

From rice and vegetables to towels and toilet paper, any product put on the shelves will be sold out in an instant.

Even though supermarkets have marked up their goods by more than 50%, there is still nothing left on the shelves.

When citizens learned that the Hong Kong dollar was still depreciating and that they could not buy goods with their money, the vicious cycle was further exacerbated. Crowds gathered around the supermarkets and refused to disperse. The panic could only be temporarily alleviated when the merchants rushed to transport new supplies from all over the docks for purchase.

"Dead, dead, dead! There are only two bags of new rice left at home, and the oil, salt, sauce and vinegar will only last until next month. I ran around two blocks and couldn't buy new ones."

Zhai Yuan saw the panic scene outside, and when he returned home, Zhao Meizhen continued to express her anxiety.

"Ayuan, how much savings do you have? Hurry up and change it all into US dollars. It will be too late if you don't go now!"

As soon as he stepped into the house, Zhao Meizhen immediately pushed him out, talking like a string of cannonballs: "I heard the neighbors around me say that the Hong Kong dollar will soon become worthless. Fortunately, you bought this floor, but now even the house price has fallen, and you still lose money! Before you bought that sports car, mom scolded you for spending money recklessly. I have no vision. Your aunt Ling called from Tuen Mun and asked us to exchange US dollars. Hey, why are you still standing here like an idiot? Go to the bank to exchange money quickly, it will be too late if you are late!"

"..."

Zhai Yuan looked at Zhao Meizhen speechlessly: "Mom, do you know what you are saying?"

Zhao Meizhen was stunned. When she took a deep breath and was about to continue creating anxiety, Zhai Yuan quickly made a gesture of surrender.

"I've changed it! All into US dollars, no need for you to remind me!"

"How much did you change?"

Zhao Meizhen pulled his collar and asked anxiously.

"The total deposit is 300,000 US dollars." Zhai Yuan said, "I changed it last year. Don't worry, I won't lose money."

Upon hearing this, Zhao Meizhen swallowed hard, as if she was swallowing her heart back into her throat.

She stroked her chest, took a few deep breaths, then walked to the sofa and sat down in fear.

"May the Queen Mother of Heaven bless me, may the Queen Mother of Heaven bless me, my Ayuanji will be blessed by heaven."

Zhao Meizhen sat for less than a minute before standing up from the sofa again.

She took out a handful of Hong Kong dollars from her pocket, some in small lots and some in whole lots, about one thousand dollars.

He rushed out with the money in his hand: "No, I have to go out and spend this money quickly, otherwise it might become waste paper tomorrow."

Zhai Yuan hurriedly stopped her and said, "Why are these the only ones left? Didn't I just give you 50,000 yuan for living expenses last month?"

"I asked Yaoyao to take the deposit to the bank and exchange it for US dollars!"

Zhao Meizhen looked up at the time on the wall clock and said, "Pretty girl! You haven't come back in more than two hours. Is there any accident?"

Zhai Yuan was a little anxious when he heard this: "You are not serious, are you? You let a little girl go out with tens of thousands of dollars?"

"That's not it."

Zhao Meizhen explained: "I asked Ah Chao and Jia Le to go with her. They also need to exchange money."

Zhai Yuan heaved a sigh of relief after hearing this.

While they were talking, the door was pushed open again.

Zhai Yao ran back panting, with sweat on her forehead, her clothes in disarray, and a red, white and blue woven bag on her shoulder. She pursed her lips and hunched her back, looking like a little old lady.

Zhao Meizhen rushed over to meet him and asked anxiously, "Where are the US dollars I asked you to change?"

Zhai Yao licked the corner of her mouth and waved her hand, threw the woven bag on the ground, dragged her heavy feet to the refrigerator, took a can of soda and took a few sips, then she let out a long sigh of relief.

"What about US dollars? It's like a war going on outside the bank. Brother Chao, Brother Le and I have been queuing for two hours, but the line is getting longer and longer."

Zhai Yao took two more sips of soda and said, "The bank is almost done with get off work, Brother Chao and Brother Le are going to queue up all night tonight, so let me come back and rest first."

Zhao Meizhen was so anxious that she paced around the room and kept complaining, "If one bank doesn't work, why don't you go to another one? Where in Hong Kong can't you find a bank?"

"It's the same everywhere! Several Chinese banks couldn't get money out, so citizens threw bricks at them and poured fire water on them. Now the streets are full of police officers trying to maintain order."

Zhai Yao said confidently, pointing to the woven bag on the ground: "But it's not all in vain. I passed by a supermarket on the way home and grabbed a lot of good things."

Zhai Yuan squatted on the ground and unzipped the woven bag. He found that in addition to daily necessities such as grain, oil, toilet paper, there were also small foods such as cola and snacks.

I seem to have returned to the era of hoarding salt!
Zhai Yuan knew that there would be no shortage of seasonings in his kitchen for at least the next one or two years.

He frowned and smiled helplessly, then gave Zhai Yao a thumbs up: "It's hard for you to carry so many things back."

Zhai Yao leaned against the refrigerator door and nodded in agreement, "This is the most exercise I've had this year."

"Then what should I do with the several hundred Hong Kong dollars I have left?"

Zhao Meizhen still held the handful of change in her hand and looked at Zhai Yuan. Suddenly, she seemed to think of something: "A Yuan, doesn't your friend Peng Jiayan's family run a grain business? Ask her to send a few bags of rice over. It doesn't matter if the price is a little high. Spend the money quickly!"

Zhai Yuan rolled his eyes. He could not afford to lose face by going to Peng Jiayan for a business worth several hundred yuan.

But he still made the call because he wanted to get a business other than grain and oil from Peng Jiayan. "Hey, Director Peng, what are you doing?"

"Don't bother me today, I'm busy, boss."

Through the receiver, Peng Jiayan's voices sounded very noisy.

"What happened?"

"Supermarkets across Hong Kong are out of stock. Everyone is coming to my house to exchange Hong Kong dollars for food and oil. I was also called back home to help count the stock. I was so busy that I was whirring! Anyway, if you have something to say, please speak quickly. If not, I'll hang up first."

"Something!" Zhai Yuan took the phone and walked back to the bedroom, locked the door to avoid being disturbed, and then said into the receiver: "I want to use the two companies, Jiuyi Entertainment and Secret Garden, to borrow two million US dollars from my father."

“Hmm?” Through the receiver, one could almost see Peng Jiayan’s eyes widening: “Are you planning to run away?”

I was so surprised that I even ignored the word "our dad".

It’s no wonder that Peng Jiayan’s first reaction was like this.

With the Hong Kong dollar's depreciation in September, the chain reaction was a comprehensive collapse of real estate, banks and prices.

Not only that, in order to shift all the responsibility to the mainland, the foreigners are desperately selling Hong Kong dollars in New York, London and the neutral zone, causing further chaos in the Hong Kong market.

With an average drop of 15 percent every trading day, who can withstand this?

This triggered a large-scale immigration wave, and the immigrants also took away local foreign exchange, which was what the foreigners were most happy to see.

There is actually only one ultimate goal: to exert pressure and force the mainland to make concessions in the negotiations.

Isn't this nonsense?
Zhai Yuan was just a small pawn. He didn’t know many details, but he still had basic common sense.

This wave of Hong Kong dollar's downward trend will not last long, because he clearly remembers that for a long period of time afterwards, the Hong Kong dollar has been pegged to the US dollar, and many Hong Kong people are proud of this, which left a deep impression on him.

So as early as the beginning of the year when the exchange rate was still around 6:1, he opened a US dollar account at HSBC Bank in advance and converted all million Hong Kong dollars into US dollars.

Therefore, the money in his account now was not as little as the 300,000 US dollars he told Zhao Meizhen, but more than 3 million US dollars.

"I want to use my own three million, plus the two million U.S. dollars I pledged, to buy Hong Kong dollars on the market."

Zhai Yuan held his brother's phone and did not hide anything from Peng Jiayan.

Of course, this kind of thing cannot be concealed.

Then I heard Peng Jiayan suddenly swear on the other end of the phone.

"I lost it!"

After a moment's silence, Peng Jiayan seemed to walk to a secluded corner before continuing to speak.

She deliberately lowered her voice and said fiercely: "Are you crazy? Don't tell me you want to save the market so much. Throwing millions of dollars into the market won't even make a splash, but you will die!"

"I know, but I don't believe the foreigners will just let the Hong Kong dollar fall."

"It's no use if you don't believe it! It's already dropped to 10 yuan, and it might drop below 15 or 20 next week. Even if it stabilizes by then, you'll still lose so much money that you'll jump off the building!"

Peng Jiayan said in a tone of regret: "Why didn't I realize that you are such a heavy gambler before! Anyway, I won't help you. I am saving you, don't you know?"

Zhai Yuan was so touched that he wanted to beat her up. You are not saving me, but delaying my making money!

The US dollar market is now so scarce that many banks have been forced to close due to bank runs. He had already visited HSBC before returning home, but even if he mortgaged all his assets, HSBC was only willing to lend him a mere few hundred thousand US dollars.

Therefore, we can only focus on this kind of private lending.

Zhai Yuan thought for a moment and continued, "In addition to the two companies, there are a dozen video halls in Sau Mau Ping Estate, and my cassette factory as collateral. It's two million US dollars, and I'll give you an extra ten percentage points of interest!"

"Goodbye! Don't call me again after we're done!"

This time, Peng Jiayan was more straightforward and wanted to hang up the phone directly.

"and many more!"

Zhai Yuan called her over and sighed helplessly: "Then can you please send a few bags of rice over? My mother is forcing me to stock up on food."

beep-

An hour later, two delivery workers moved more than 20 bags of rice to the 13th floor of Biliyuan. The kitchen was full of space, so Zhai Yuan's study became a granary.

"She's a nice girl, why don't you have any knowledge?"

Zhai Yuan sat on the rice bag with his arms and legs spread out, and called Peng Jiayan to thank her again, but the other party hung up the phone as soon as he mentioned borrowing money.

I am worried! I can’t get the principal!
With more than three million, and at most a few hundred thousand borrowed from HSBC, he could barely make up four million.

Zhai Yuan was picking up the rice in his pocket, thinking about how to make the money.

"Let's spread some gossip first. At this time, everyone has to take care of themselves. Let's harvest some leeks first!"

PS: The exchange rate in Chapter 106 is wrong. The VIP chapter cannot be changed yet. Please refer to the data in this chapter.
(End of this chapter)