The unparalleled talent of the country started from Harbin Institute of Technology

Chapter 316 Sisi has a fever, and the guy with the question mark face.
In a flash, Wang Duoyu stood up and quickly ran out of the study villa.

Hela O'Brien, Zheng Baoyin, Wang Jianchao and others were all dumbfounded. It's just a child having a fever, why are they so nervous?
Unbeknownst to them, Wang Duoyu actually preferred his daughter, because the two brothers, Wang Junhong and Wang Junan, were both mischievous troublemakers who knew no manners.

My son is such a handful!
Daughters are better; they're less troublesome.

In the bedroom of the villa across the street, Wang Duoyu was taking his youngest daughter's pulse.

The little guy's face was flushed, and his forehead was a bit hot, but thankfully, the fever wasn't too high.

"Her temperature is probably around 38 degrees Celsius, not a high fever. Let's use physical methods to lower her temperature immediately."

After the diagnosis, Wang Duoyu immediately said.

Upon hearing this, his two younger sisters quickly got up to go out and get something, while Wang Duoyu had already started massaging the little guy.

The child is too young. Ways to help lower her fever include wiping her body with warm water and massaging her. There's no need to give her medicine yet.

As for wiping with alcohol, that's not suitable either, let alone fever-reducing patches.

To bring down the little guy's fever, Wang Duoyu massaged him for almost an hour straight, exhausting the old father.

"Sisi, when you grow up, don't make your old father angry, or I'll spank you."

Sisi is Wang Yifei's childhood nickname, given to her by Liu Xiaoli because she really liked the movie "Sissi".

Wang Yifei was chosen by Wang Duoyu, and Liu Xiaoli also thought it sounded nice. However, Liu Xiaoli herself also liked the name Qianqian.

So after discussing it with Wang Duoyu, we decided that her formal name would be Wang Yifei, and her nickname would be Qianqian.

Upon hearing his words, Liu Xiaoli rolled her eyes at him and said coquettishly:
"You're over thirty years old, why are you still arguing with a baby who's only a few days old? If you're so worried about the child upsetting you, then you should interact with the child more in the future."

"Have I not spent enough time interacting with Junhong and the other kids?"

Wang Duoyu immediately defended himself vehemently:
"When I went on business trips to other places before, didn't I take them with me? I spoiled them enough, didn't I? But as you've seen, these three bone-melting dragons often make us angry; they're so mischievous."

"Raising children is not that simple!"

Wang Duoyu gets furious just thinking about it.

Other people's children are the cutest because we only see the cutest side of the children and not the side of them climbing on the roof and tearing off the tiles.

But my own child isn't cute at all.

"I'm not going to argue with you. Just give me the baby when you've finished massaging her, otherwise she'll start crying..."

Liu Xiaoli was too lazy to argue with Wang Duoyu about this. For her, the most important thing right now was to breastfeed her child.

As long as Sisi can eat her fill quietly and her fever subsides, that's fine.

Wang Duoyu nodded and massaged the little one for a while longer. Sure enough, Qianqian started crying again.

Thankfully, she stopped crying after her mother hugged her.

The child is too young and prone to catching colds and fevers, so he/she needs special care.

"Dad, has my sister's fever gone down?"

As soon as they saw their father walk out of the bedroom, Wang Junhong and the other children surrounded him.

Li Rongrong, Lu Yuening, Wang Junan and the other children were all very worried about their little sister Qianqian. They even wanted to help wipe Qianqian's body to cool her down.

"Yes, it's retreated a little." Wang Duoyu nodded kindly, patted his boss's head, and said:

"September 1st is just around the corner, and you'll be starting school soon. Do you remember what I told you?"

"I remember!" Wang Junhong immediately stood up straight and replied crisply.
"Unity, friendship, and mutual assistance"

He will be a second-year student when school starts in the fall.

"Dad (Uncle), I want to go to school too!"

Lu Yuening, Li Rongrong, and Wang Jun'an also joined in the fun. Upon hearing this, Wang Duoyu looked at his two younger sisters and asked them to come and take the child away.

What kind of school should I attend?

Isn't it better to stay at home?

The reason there are kindergartens is because children lack companions, but do Wang Jun'an and his friends lack them?
They don't lack anything, so there's no need to send them to school; they're perfectly fine staying at home.

Back in the study villa, Wang Duoyu continued his meeting with Zheng Baoyin and the others. Hela O'Brien had already given her report, and now it was Li Efra, the head of Summit Global Investment Company, who was going to give his report.

Maple Leaf Holdings has more than 40 financial investment companies under its umbrella, as well as other controlling shareholders.

Summit Global is just one of them, and it's a capital firm based in Great Britain.

Maple Leaf Holdings has subsidiaries in Singapore, including Interstellar Financial Group, Infinite Group, and Horizon Capital, as well as in international financial centers such as Hong Kong, Paris, and Tokyo.

However, most of these companies are now on Wall Street because they are shorting US stocks.

Like Maple Tree Capital, if a leveraged position is required, then the short selling target must be a large company, since only large companies are likely to avoid margin calls.

For the next two hours, Wang Duoyu had to go back next door every twenty minutes to check if Qianqian's fever had completely subsided.

Even so, Lee Efra, Hela O'Brien, Zheng Baoyin, Wang Jianchao, and others dared not say anything.

Two hours later, the meeting ended, and Wang Duoyu invited them to stay at the villa for dinner. They didn't leave until after 9 p.m.

That evening, Sisi's fever had subsided.

However, Wang Duoyu was woken up by the baby four times throughout the night, twice for wanting to nurse and twice for wetting his pants.

Anyone who has ever changed a baby's diaper knows how smelly it is.

Although it wasn't Wang Duoyu's first time being a father, this was the first time he had been so patient in completing these tasks.

The saying "sons should be raised freely, while daughters should be raised with abundance" is indeed true.

The next day, Wang Duoyu picked up his fishing rod and asked Yuan Zuliang and the others to help him buy some fresh live loaches before he started fishing.

Zheng Baoyin and the others also came over to fish together.

"Uncle Jiu, fishing here doesn't seem that enjoyable. We might as well go fishing on the Songhua River."

"I remember you didn't like fishing before, did you?"

On the fishing spot by the shore of the island in the middle of the lake, Wang Duoyu glanced at Wang Jianchao next to him and asked curiously.

"Uncle, you don't know Jianchao. He's a typical hypocrite. Lately, he's been fishing a lot abroad, even deep-sea fishing. I heard he's trying to catch Hollywood actresses."

At this moment, Zheng Baoyin, who was standing to the side, directly contradicted him.

Upon hearing this, Wang Jianchao was furious. "Zheng Baoyin, no one will think you're mute if you don't speak. When have I ever hooked up with a Hollywood actress? We were just out at sea for fun. There's nothing like the nonsense you're talking about."

New York is a city of extravagance and decadence, and many wealthy people own luxury yachts, so going out to sea for leisure is quite normal.

As the head of Pandora, a high-end luxury clothing brand, Wang Jianchao naturally needs to interact with local tycoons, so it's normal for him to be part of those circles.

These are some very necessary social activities: going out to sea, night fishing, playing golf, etc. This is a very simple and unpretentious life for the wealthy.

"Hehe, let your uncle keep an eye on you, so your cousin-in-law won't always be crying," Zheng Baoyin chuckled. Upon hearing this, Wang Duoyu's smile vanished instantly.

Upon seeing this, Wang Jianchao quickly explained the situation.

He was extremely anxious.

Even though he was a billionaire with a net worth of nearly 100 million US dollars, he was still afraid of Wang Duoyu from the bottom of his heart.

"Jianchao, you'd better remember what I said!" Wang Duoyu didn't say anything more.

After all, Wang Jianchao is not a child; some warnings only need to be said once.

However, Wang Jianchao's reminder is correct; fishing on the island in the middle of the lake all the time can get a bit boring.

After a couple of days, once Xixi's fever had completely subsided and stopped recurring, and after dropping Wang Junhong off at school, Wang Duoyu went fishing in the nearby Songhua River.

For him, fishing is just entertainment, a way to relax.

To be honest, it's pretty much the same no matter where you fish.

But even the most delicious delicacies can become tiresome if eaten every day.

Therefore, going fishing in the nearby Songhua River is also a very good option.

For the next two days, Zheng Baoyin and his group came to the island in the middle of the lake every day, staying for about half a day each time.

They didn't leave until the last day of August.

After leaving, Zheng Baoyin and his team will need to keep an eye on things in the United States, as the stock market crash is likely to occur in September or October.

In fact, judging from the current stock market fluctuations, this is indeed the case.

However, most of them probably haven't realized the danger is coming yet.

Therefore, based on the market feedback provided by Hela O'Brien and others, there are far more bulls than bears on Wall Street.

The overall performance of the US stock market is shrinking because the growth rate of funds is much slower than before August.

However, most of the funds entering the stock market are chasing rising prices, meaning they are bullish.

Conversely, there are very few investors who are bearish on the market, especially international speculative capital.

These people are bullish on US stocks, not bearish on them.

Those who understand the market would probably have already shorted, rather than gone long.

After Zheng Baoyin and the others left, Wang Junhong couldn't wait to go to school.

In the bedroom, on the day Wang Junhong was about to start school, Liu Xiaoli asked with a smile:
"You're not going to cry, are you?"

"Mom, I definitely won't cry, don't worry. I will study hard and make progress every day."

The little boy said this with a bit of smugness, then kissed his sister again, and went out with his schoolbag on his back.

On his first day of school, his father naturally took him there.

Well, it's not very close, because it's about two kilometers away. But actually, this primary school is right next to the Harbin Institute of Technology Weizigou Campus; it's just an affiliated primary school.

However, the Weizigou campus is very large, especially since Wang Duoyu lives on the island in the middle of the lake, which is quite a distance from the affiliated primary school.

"Bye Dad!"

Upon arriving at the school gate, the little guy couldn't wait to get out of the car and then rushed into the campus.

The affiliated primary school isn't very big, but there are quite a few children of the same age.

After watching the little guy enter the school, Wang Duoyu smiled, then turned and left.

Li Rongrong, Lu Yuening, and Wang Junan didn't come along because they really wanted to go to school, and if they came along, they might start crying and making a scene.

Back on the island in the middle of the lake, Li Rongrong and the other two kids were still sullen until Wang Duoyu suggested going fishing in the Songhua River, at which point they jumped up with joy.

Xue Lisheng happened to come over, and when Wang Duoyu saw him, he smiled and asked, "Brother-in-law, let's go fishing, do you want to come along?"

“Okay!” Xue Lisheng did not refuse, but nodded with a smile.

Soon after arriving at the location, Wang Duoyu found a relatively good feng shui fishing spot and started fishing.

In early September, the weather in Harbin was no longer so hot, but it wasn't cold either; it was somewhere between cool and hot.

Of course, starting today, the temperature in Harbin will gradually decrease. Autumn will not be long, but winter will definitely come soon.

The bait I used this time was the same as before: loach.

This time, however, Wang Duoyu did not kill or chop the loach. Instead, he used a hook to pierce the loach's plump body and then threw it into the water.

In less than three minutes, the fish took the bait.

Unfortunately, what was served was a sturgeon that weighed only eight pounds.

To catch this type of fish, the fishing line needs to be long enough because it needs to sink to the bottom.

Since sturgeon mainly live on the riverbed, bait that sinks to the bottom is necessary to catch them.

"Old Jiu, you're pretty fast at catching fish!" Xue Lisheng exclaimed enviously upon seeing this.

"Practice makes perfect!"

Wang Duoyu said cheerfully, and just as he lowered his head to continue feeding, Xue Lisheng screamed in terror and jumped into the Songhua River.

The moment he looked up, Wang Duoyu was completely bewildered: What's going on?
At this moment, Wang Jun'an, standing to the side, was looking at his father with an innocent expression, while Yuan Zuliang had already helped explain:
"Professor, it's like this..."

It turns out that the reason Xue Lisheng jumped into the Songhua River in such a panic was because the little guy grabbed a snake and wrapped it around his neck.

At the time, Xue Lisheng thought it was something else, so he took the colorful snake off.

Upon realizing it was a snake, and seeing how soft it felt in his hand, Xue Lisheng was immediately terrified. He instinctively threw the snake away and moved away from it as quickly as possible.

Wang Duoyu: “.”

Mu Xiaowu and the others had already helped pull Xue Lisheng ashore. Seeing this, Wang Duoyu went over and asked him a few questions.

Then he grabbed Wang Jun'an, that brat, and pulled him in front of him, then swung his big hand at him.

Snapped!
The little guy's bottom suddenly made intimate contact with his father's big hand, and then a red mark appeared on his bottom.

With a loud "waaaah," the little guy burst into tears.

It hurts so much!
"I told you not to be naughty! Didn't you know that was a snake? How dare you throw a snake at your uncle's neck?"

Wang Duoyu is truly helpless when it comes to his three mischievous and naughty cats at home.

Just over an hour ago, I sent the eldest son, Wang Junhong, to school, and now the second son, Wang Junan, is already causing trouble.

Although the third child, Wang Junkang, is only a little over a year old, who knows when he will start to be naughty?

The two sisters, Li Rongrong and Lu Yuening, covered their faces with their fingers spread apart. They saw their uncle beating their younger cousin, who was crying loudly, which made them very worried.

What?

Let's watch it standing up!

This wasn't the first time; their mother had always stood by and watched when their uncle beat their cousins.

Xue Lisheng was soaked to the bone, but he still stepped forward to persuade him:

"Ninth Brother, stop hitting him. He's still young. Besides, he's just being playful; it's not a big deal. Don't make a big deal out of it."

"Brother-in-law, you'd better go change your clothes right now. I'm going to teach him a lesson today. He completely ignores me. I don't know how he can do that."

Wang Duoyu didn't let Xue Lisheng stay, but instead sent him away.

Kids like to play and have fun, but you can't do it like this.

That's really going too far.

Ugh!
Xue Lisheng sighed. He knew it wasn't his place to speak, but this matter was related to him after all.

Well, Wang Duoyu is a math professor after all; he knows how to properly educate his children.

After a while, Wang Jun'an, whose bottom had been bruised and swollen, burst into tears. He had been made to stand as punishment by his father.

I've scolded him several times, but whether the little guy can listen to me is another matter.

Wang Duoyu also remembered that he had done something similar when he was a child in his previous life. He always liked to go against his father and then got beaten up by both of his parents.

Corporal punishment is a last resort.

No child is born perfectly well-behaved. There are always some mischievous children who may not be doing it on purpose, but simply find it fun.

There are some things you can do, but some things you can't.

Children don't have such rules in their worldview, so adults need to instill correct values ​​in them.

Wall Street, New York, USA.

While Wang Duoyu was still disciplining his child, inside a building on the most bustling avenue of Wall Street, in the executive meeting room of Merrill Lynch headquarters.

"We have investigated and confirmed that Summit Global is one of the largest airdrops on the market. The information came from Barclays' credit department and is absolutely true and reliable."

Vice President David Nicholson said in a deep voice:

"Summit Global's short-selling targets include ExxonMobil, AT&T, and Sony, among others. Besides these large corporations, they have also shorted numerous small and medium-sized technology companies."

"According to Barclays, they have leveraged, but I don't yet know the specific amount of leverage or who they are shorting. If we need to cooperate, we would need to pay eight million US dollars to purchase this information."

What should I do?
The choice now rests with the senior executives of Merrill Lynch. President Douglas Ettore tapped the table and said:

"Eight million dollars is alright, not too expensive, but why would they sell us the information? Why don't they just keep the profits themselves?" Since Peak Global is shorting so many US companies, they are definitely the representatives of the short sellers, and the amount of money they've put in is definitely not small.

They may have even exhausted their own funds.

Furthermore, given that it has shorted so many companies, even if Summit Global has conducted market research, it is estimated that it cannot sustain this strategy for that long.

Currently, the market capitalization curves of many companies, such as IBM and ExxonMobil, are all trending upwards.

In other words, Summit Global's current position is definitely a paper loss, not a paper profit.

As the client bank for Summit Global, Barclays could not possibly have been unaware of all this.

In other words, Barclays could easily find its own 'agents' to rip off Summit Global, a major client.

Earning commissions is nothing compared to directly taking the principal from Top Global Company. That's the real deal, and the fastest way to make money.

That's why Merrill Lynch president Douglas Ettoré hesitated and was puzzled.

“Douglas, I know why. It’s because Barclays can’t afford to deal with Summit Global. I’ve confirmed that.”

After a pause, David Nicholson continued:

“Barclays Bank had already injected a large amount of funds into their home country of Great Britain last year, and at the beginning of this year, it lent out a large portion of the funds. In fact, in March, there was almost a bank run.”

"Last month, affected by the volatility in the US stock market, Barclays' credit department suffered heavy losses. Their boss has been heavily criticized, and they really can't allocate any more funds right now."

"On the other hand, they've already identified their target; they want to take down Maple Capital."

Barclays is no ordinary player on Wall Street. Although the company is from Great Britain, it is one of the top ten capital giants on Wall Street.

Although the credit department has limited funds for various reasons, it is by no means a pushover.

If Merrill Lynch wants to cause trouble, then they need to be extremely cautious.

Otherwise, if we really got ripped off by Barclays, the loss would be far more than just eight million dollars.

"You mean Maple Tree Capital?"

Another executive frowned and asked, but before he could continue, Douglas slammed his fist on the table and said:

"Then we'll team up with Barclays to deal with Maple Capital. As for Summit Global, let's put that aside for now!"

That's really cunning!

Douglas's method was indeed very safe and could still generate a substantial profit.

"Alright, David, could you go to Barclays Bank this afternoon and talk to them about this?"

After a pause, Douglas continued:

"If they lack funds, we'll make up the difference, but we must ensure that Merrill Lynch gets the largest share."

"Okay, Douglas, I understand!"

With David Nicholson nodding, the Merrill Lynch executive meeting temporarily adjourned.

Next, we just need to wait for Barclays' response.

In fact, given the current situation, there is a very high chance that Barclays will agree to cooperate.

But at 6:50 p.m., David Nicholson brought back some startling news: Barclays Bank had rejected the offer.

Why is this happening?

Did other Wall Street giants beat them to it?
That's possible!
However, if that's the case, then we need to see which company's market value starts to soar next, and Merrill Lynch can follow suit.

The distinction between short and long positions is not so clear.

For example, Merrill Lynch could be bullish or bearish at any time.

There aren't that many secrets on Wall Street; news is everywhere.

Just like this time, Barclays Bank wants to target Maple Capital. Whether Maple Capital is bullish or bearish can be determined with a little investigation.

There might not even be a need for an investigation.

Merrill Lynch can get on board at any time simply by keeping an eye on future market changes.

If Maple Tree Capital is shorting, meaning it's shorting Company A, then Company A's stock will definitely rise in the near future. After all, Barclays Bank has joined forces with other institutions to target Maple Tree Capital, and only by raising Company A's stock price can Maple Tree Capital's position be triggered.

Only if Maple Tree Capital goes bankrupt will companies like Barclays Bank have a chance to make money.

However, the stock market is currently experiencing severe volatility. If there are one or two more major shocks like the one in August, things could get really bad.

"Then let's keep an eye on Summit Global, and also on Maple Capital. We can't miss this opportunity!"

Douglas Ettore said so.

Merrill Lynch executives nodded in agreement and then sprang into action.

If you want to have your cake and eat it too, you'll need to spend more time and effort. But I'm afraid the relevant traders in Barclays' credit department have already been put in a dark room.

On Wall Street, and even in many global financial companies, there are private rooms for employees to observe.

Traders are generally not allowed to leave their small, dark room during trading hours. They eat, drink, and relieve themselves all within the small room, and have no contact with the outside world. This is to prevent information leaks.

Giants like Barclays, in their pursuit of profit, certainly don't care whether traders lose their freedom.

To make money, you must make sacrifices; that's capital.

In the movie "The Pursuit of Happyness" that Wang Duoyu had seen in his previous life, the male protagonist went for a job interview at a financial company, where he had to compete with nineteen other people.

Only those who pass the assessment can become formal employees of the financial company.

This is the capitalist model of nurturing a monster.

There are many people like the male protagonist, perhaps recent college graduates, real estate salespeople, or even veterans. They all work hard to climb the ladder and stay in that building as beasts of burden.

The male lead in the movie may receive a decent salary, but the benefits he brings will definitely exceed that salary.

The highest earners are always the top few people in the company.

On the contrary, those lucky people who became formal employees of financial companies ended up working like beasts of burden every day.

Barclays traders were put into a small, dark room, unable to contact the outside world, let alone have any contact with it.

Therefore, it undoubtedly became extremely difficult for Merrill Lynch to find out the specific details.

"Is someone investigating our company?"

Hela O'Brien received the news, but he wasn't surprised.

Maple Tree Capital is not an unknown player on Wall Street. Whether it was the foreign exchange market at the end of the year before last, the Louvre Agreement at the beginning of this year, or the short selling of Sony in May, Maple Tree Capital has profited a lot.

Having consistently hit the bullseye in so many rounds, making a fortune and even more powerful than hedge funds, it was no surprise that it attracted the attention of Wall Street giants.

There are many hedge funds on Wall Street. Although hedge funds emerged relatively late and are not yet at the point where they can truly unleash their charm, they are still an integral part of Wall Street.

Hedge funds originated in the 1940s when a man named Alfred Winslow believed that traditional investment methods were too constrained by the market.

So he came up with a foolproof way to make money: buy stocks he thought would rise while selling stocks he thought would fall.

The specific operating method is that the fund manager conducts research and finds that if Company A performs well, its stock may rise; at the same time, if Company B has problems, its stock may fall.

Then the fund manager would use the fund's money to buy shares of Company A, and then borrow shares of Company B from others to sell.

If Company A's stock price rises afterward, the fund will make money on Company A's stock; if Company B's stock price falls, the fund manager will buy it back at a lower price and return it to the fund, making another profit.

This model is what hedge funds are all about.

Of course, after so many years of development, there are certainly more hedge fund models than just these.

They have even taken the initiative to conduct research, and some have even conducted secret research, and then shorted the stock, released a short-selling report, pointed out the company's problems, and waited for the market to panic and the stock to fall, so that the short sellers could make a lot of money.

Maple Capital is neither a hedge fund nor a notorious short seller.

Of course, things will probably be different after this stock market crash.

"Yes, O'Brien, thankfully all our traders are already in the small dark room, otherwise..."

Upon hearing the words of Maple Capital's logistics manager, O'Brien nodded repeatedly.

This shorting strategy is completely different from the previous bullish stance on foreign exchange.

The foreign exchange market is volatile, but Wall Street giants have little influence over it, so there's no need to be overly strict in terms of guarding against external threats.

But short selling is different; it definitely requires using all means to prevent all of this from happening.

However, less than two days later, David Nicholson, the vice president of Merrill Lynch, called O'Brien through an intermediary and invited him to go on a sea trip.

Today is the weekend, a perfect day for a sea excursion.

Hela O'Brien knew she couldn't avoid it, but she still called Wang Duoyu and explained the situation.

Wang Duoyu, a student at Harbin Institute of Technology, was surprised that Hela O'Brien was so 'honest'. He agreed without hesitation.

why?
Isn't Wang Duoyu afraid that the other party will become greedy and run off with the money?
Firstly, one should trust those one employs and not employ those one one distrusts; Wang Duoyu believed that O'Brien would not do such a thing.

The latter had spent a long time on Wall Street and was more familiar with the way those capital giants on Wall Street did things. These people were always profit-driven and never considered anything else.

As the saying goes, there is no harm without comparison. Since O'Brien knows the situation of the Wall Street giants and is doing well at Maple Capital, there is no reason for him to leave.

Secondly, regarding checks and balances, although Hela O'Brien is in charge, she is not the sole person in charge of Maple Capital.

If he harbors any disloyal intentions, the logistics manager and the other responsible persons would probably be overjoyed.

On the other hand, Zheng Baoyin, Wang Jianchao, and others were also keeping an eye on things in New York, so O'Brien had no chance at all.

Thirdly, O'Brien's family, such as his wife and children, all live in Ice City, essentially serving as hostages.

While O'Brien could easily remarry and start a new family if he really wanted to leave Maple Capital, would he be willing? Would he dare?
Fourthly, he spent more than two years at Maple Capital, witnessing its growth from nothing to something.

He was already the head of Maple Tree Capital, practically second only to the top leader, but if he had gone to cooperate with those giants on Wall Street, he might not have achieved his current status.

However, it is not necessarily a sure thing to make a profit.

why?
Because Maple Capital has made a profit on all its investments and has never lost money.

On the contrary, those Wall Street giants, such as Merrill Lynch and Barclays, have all lost money, and lost a lot of money.

So if O'Brien isn't stupid, he'll know what choice to make.

Finally, like Zheng Baoyin and others, O'Brien could also invest and earn some pocket money.

This is, of course, impossible with Wall Street giants like Merrill Lynch.

Even if it were possible to do that, O'Brien might not dare to invest much, because it's not a sure thing.

All of these factors contributed to Wang Duoyu's trust in the other party, but the most important factor was the final entanglement of interests.

Without such a binding interest, Wang Duoyu believed that anyone with even a little ambition would not last long.

"Okay, Professor, I understand!"

O'Brien was thrilled and quickly pledged his loyalty, but Wang Duoyu stopped him, saying that he trusted him and hoped he could bring back good news.

The next day, O'Brien boarded a luxury yacht and set off with several others for the high seas of the Atlantic Ocean.

As soon as he boarded the yacht, O'Brien saw several very beautiful Hollywood stars with stunning figures.

"It's the same old tricks again. These old guys have no other methods besides beautiful women and money."

With O'Brien's current net worth of over 20 million US dollars, is he lacking in beautiful women?

Of course there is no shortage!

However, it's a different story for top Hollywood actresses, because they have the added advantage of their status.

O'Brien did not refuse such benefits, and knew he couldn't.

It's just an act; he's a seasoned actor.

Two hours later, the yacht arrived in international waters, and David Nicholson, vice president of Merrill Lynch, suggested fishing.

The group went fishing together, and then the Hollywood actresses very tactfully gave up their spots to O'Brien.

The most important guest today is O'Brien.

"O'Brien, let's work together!"

Seeing that no one was around, Nicholson got straight to the point.

"Merrill Lynch is rich and powerful, holds a high position on Wall Street, and has a very wide network of connections, even reaching the Federal Reserve—well, let's not talk about that."

The tactic of feigning ignorance and half-concealing one's true feelings is indeed effective for many people, and O'Brien was quite surprised.

But he had heard that phrase before.

Wang Duoyu had told Zheng Baoyin, O'Brien, and others many times before that the shareholders behind the Federal Reserve were extremely complex.

In conclusion, although the Federal Reserve has the power to issue US dollars, it is a private institution, not a true government entity.

Therefore, it is not surprising that Merrill Lynch was able to influence the Federal Reserve.

Merrill Lynch's goal was simple: to join forces with Maple Tree Capital to take down Barclays Bank.

O'Brien was stunned after hearing this.

But he quickly realized that this was all an act, and they were trying to extract some important information from his reaction.

After pondering for a while, O'Brien still rejected the proposal for cooperation.

Maple Capital does not need to partner with anyone, and its current investment plans cannot be disclosed to the public.

They only said it was inconvenient to cooperate with others, without giving the other party any specific reasons.

Nicholson was immediately dissatisfied, and then used various inducements while presenting the bright prospects of the cooperation.

However, it was clear that O'Brien had seen through the other party's intentions and would no longer feign compliance.

The next day, O'Brien returned to shore, shook off the people following him, and then contacted Wang Duoyu.

After O'Brien finished his report, Wang Duoyu smiled and said:

"You were right to refuse. The US stock market financial crisis is imminent, yet they're still eyeing these petty profits and even trying to target us. They're courting death."

"However, don't create unnecessary complications by reminding them, because a giant like Merrill Lynch, once it adjusts its investment direction and changes its capital size, will have a very significant impact on the entire market."

"Of course, they won't believe you anyway, so let's leave it at that."

O'Brien nodded repeatedly upon hearing this.

If it were him, he wouldn't easily believe what a stranger said either.

After hanging up the phone, O'Brien pondered for a moment, and then called Wang Jianchao and the others.

That evening, Lee Efra, Zheng Baoyin, Wang Jianchao, and others gathered together to hear O'Brien recount the events of the weekend.

"Wow, are all Wall Street giants this blatant? Aren't they afraid of being investigated?"

Zheng Baoyin gasped. This kind of insider trading was extremely dirty. If it were investigated by the New York District Attorney, it would be a big problem.

"Baoyin, you underestimate these giants. They've been able to stand strong on Wall Street for so many years; they're not just sitting around doing nothing."

Wang Jianchao clearly understood the rules of survival in New York better, and said with a smile:

"Moreover, I suspect that this Merrill Lynch vice president of Nicholson's target is not Barclays Bank, but rather us."

Wang Jianchao knew very well what Barclays Bank was; it was a top-ranking giant on Wall Street.

Merrill Lynch is even further down the list.

So Merrill Lynch actually wants to team up with Maple Tree Capital to take down the other party?

They're either out of their minds or have ulterior motives.

It's obvious that Nicholson isn't out of his mind, so the truth is that the other party wants to take down Maple Capital.

Considering Maple Tree Capital's actions over the past year or two, Merrill Lynch must have uncovered some important information, which is why they decided to take action against Maple Tree Capital.

“Jianchao, you’re right, but we don’t need to worry too much,” O’Brien said.

(End of this chapter)