I'm in the county town, and you say I'm a big shot?

Chapter 657 White Lotus Roots Have Sprout
Fang Qingye did not lie to Zhu Yun; she really did come back to Nanxin.

Bai Ou is due to give birth in the next few days, and as her husband, he should be by her side. Xia He gave birth thousands of miles away, and he hadn't fulfilled his responsibilities. He couldn't let Bai Ou down.

Sitting in the car, Fang Qingye looked at the scenery outside the window, but her mind was still thinking about what Zhu Yun had said earlier.

Historically, copper futures prices have not remained stable at $5000 per ton. He vaguely remembers that the price eventually broke through the psychological barrier of $4500 per ton, and although it rebounded somewhat by the end of the year, it still did not reach $5000.

But it is clear that Zhu Yunlai's decision to do this was not his own idea, nor that of CICC.

Whether Zhu Yunlai had similar ideas in history is unknown to Fang Qingye.

If it is, then it means it was unsuccessful!

Thinking of this, Fang Qingye sighed slightly.

He pondered for a moment, then took out his phone and dialed a number, calling Ouyang Shaoqiang in Hong Kong.

“Ouyang, I am Fang Qingye.”

"Boss, are we going to hunt down another company this time?" Ouyang Shaoqiang asked in his not-so-standard Mandarin on the other end of the phone.

Last winter, Fang Qingye hunted down Panshi Agriculture in the Chicago futures market. Ouyang Shaoqiang and his team not only cooperated with Fang Qingye's actions, but also used their data analysis to discover that two of the four major grain traders were participating in long positions in the main corn futures contract, which gave Fang Qingye a lot of confidence in his decision.

Afterwards, Fang Qingye decided to reposition Tuofang Hong Kong Branch as a pure investment fund, no longer a simple asset management company, but a fund with nearly HK$10 billion in capital, which gave Ouyang Shaoqiang a lot of confidence.

After hearing Ouyang Shaoqiang's words, Fang Qingye smiled slightly: "This time we're going to go big. Keep a close eye on the copper futures market on the LME."

"Boss, you want to short copper? Your insight is amazing! My team has noticed the trend of copper futures this year, and after careful analysis, we believe that copper futures prices should show a downward trend in the second half of the year. We can definitely short the trend!"

“No, if we’re going to do it, we should do a lot,” Fang Qingye said calmly.

"What? Going long?!" Ouyang Shaoqiang's voice rose eight octaves on the phone:

"Boss, don't you know which institutions are the main short sellers in copper futures right now? Goldman Sachs, UBS, Morgan Stanley—all internationally renowned investment giants! And Red Kite Fund! They focus on commodity investment in the metals and mining sectors; they're the dominant players in this field!"

"I know all this."

"Moreover, boss, you're going against the market trend. The domestic economy is declining, and our country's 'super demand cycle' for commodities has completely ended! This is the consensus of many investment institutions both domestically and internationally! And the data released by the National Bureau of Statistics in the second quarter also proves this! Boss, you wouldn't happen to be...?"

Ouyang Shaoqiang stopped talking at the end.

"You're not trying to say I'm crazy, are you?" Fang Qingye replied jokingly.

On the other end of the phone, Ouyang Shaoqiang chuckled but did not answer.

"I'm not crazy, I'm very clear-headed. I know these investment banks are very powerful. I'm going against the market trend, but sometimes you have to do it!"

"I met with General Manager Zhu from CICC today," Fang Qingye briefly recounted her meeting with Zhu Yun.

Ouyang Shaoqiang remained silent on the other end of the phone.

After a while, his voice came through: "Boss, when do we start?"

"No rush," Fang Qingye said with a smile. "If we really want to do this, we won't be the main force. Your current task is to have your team thoroughly study the copper futures data on the LME market, including gathering all kinds of information. If you have any friends or acquaintances on the London Metal Exchange, you can use them. All the necessary expenses will be paid by the company, so don't be afraid to spend money."

"OK, I understand what you mean."

"In short, observe and analyze more, act less! Report valuable information and data to me promptly."

"OK!"

After calling Ouyang Shaoqiang, Fang Qingye dialed Liang Wei's number at the New York office. This time, Fang Qingye didn't explain the reason, only instructing him to use various channels to gather information on copper futures on the LME market and report any valuable intelligence promptly. Having done all this, Fang Qingye put his phone in his pocket, let out a soft sigh, and then noticed that the car had exited the highway; they were almost at Nanxin County.

"I don't want to think about it anymore, I just want to spend time with my wife!"
While Fang Qingye was away for a few days, Bai Ou moved back to her parents' home. When she saw her husband return, she happily went back to her own home by the lake.

"What? You don't like your mom's body?" Fang Qingye asked, carefully supporting her heavily pregnant wife, Bai Ou.

“I still think our own is the best!” Bai Ou replied, then asked, “Hey, what are your thoughts on attending the Lujiazui Forum?”

"What are your thoughts? I'm surrounded by learned scholars, and no one here is an ordinary person. But everyone here is a big shot, and I'm just a nobody," Fang Qingye said. "I did meet with Mr. Zhu from CICC in Shanghai today, and we had some interesting conversations."

"What is it?" Bai Ou asked curiously.

Fang Qingye simply repeated what she had said to Zhu Yun during their meal and conversation, as well as what she had said to Ouyang Shaoqiang in the car.

"Wow, this is like a futures war!" Bai Ou exclaimed in surprise.

"In a sense, yes, and the situation is very unfavorable for us," Fang Qingye replied.
"But don't overthink it. CICC and the others are the main force; I'll just be playing guerrilla warfare at most. Let's not talk about that. My most important job right now is taking care of you while you're having your baby!"

"Aren't you going to have tea with Ma Yun?"

"I'm definitely not going. Don't even mention Ma Yun, I wouldn't go even if the King of Heaven himself invited me!"

Bai Ou glanced at him and asked, "Aren't you going fishing either?"

"I really won't go!"

Fang Qingye really didn't go fishing, nor did she accept the invitation to have tea. She didn't go to work, and she didn't even go to the nursery. She spent the whole day with Bai Ou, and she didn't forget to cook for her, wash her feet, and give her massages.

White lotus root also enjoys this kind of experience.

This morning, Fang Qingye was making breakfast for Bai Ou in the kitchen when she suddenly heard Bai Ou moaning from the bedroom.

"What's wrong?" Fang Qingye quickly ran over.

"My stomach hurts, I think I'm about to give birth." Bai Ou's face turned pale.

"what?!"

Fang Qingye quickly called 120, and then called her parents and mother-in-law's house. After the ambulance arrived, she helped Bai Ou into the vehicle.

The ambulance arrived at the county hospital quickly, and Bai Ou was taken into the delivery room. Fang Qingye waited outside, and her parents and in-laws also arrived.

Everyone waited outside the delivery room.

This wait lasted for more than two hours.

Finally, the delivery room door opened, and a nurse came out carrying a wrapped-up baby.

"Who are Bai Ou's family members?"

"Yes, it's me." Fang Qingye quickly went to greet her and asked, "How is my wife?"

"It's alright, both mother and child are safe, they gave birth to a big, healthy boy!"

Just then, Fang Qingye's phone suddenly rang.

(End of this chapter)