Spy Wars: Red Shopkeeper

Chapter 261 Profit
In the evening, Shen Shuyun came over.

"Why are you here? Haven't you finished get off work yet?" Gu Yansheng glanced at his watch.

Shen Shuyun smiled, stepped forward and said, "In my current class, do you think anyone would dare to punish me if I didn't go?"

"looking for me?"

"Of course I want to invite you home for dinner. You're so busy every day, I can't even see you at mealtimes."

Shen Shuyun walked behind Gu Yansheng, massaged his shoulder with her fingers, bent down and whispered in his ear, "The coded radio message I received last night."

"What did you say?"

"Three questions: First, why did Japan and Wang Jingwei start peace talks again?"

Second question: To what extent have the peace talks between Japan and Wang Jingwei progressed?
Thirdly, what are Japan's objectives in the negotiations in Hong Kong?

This question doesn't sound like something Mr. Dai would ask; it sounds more like something President Jiang would ask.

"Then go home early."

Gu Yansheng got up, picked up the clothes from the clothes rack, and led Shen Shuyun downstairs.

It's close to the traitor's alley; it's just a short drive away.

I got home early today. When I entered the house, I saw the guards eating steamed buns, and there was a wheaty aroma of steamed buns in the yard.

"gentlemen."

"minister."

A bunch of bodyguards greeted him, but there was nowhere to hide the steamed bun in his hand.

"It smells delicious, keep eating." Gu Yansheng was very kind to his subordinates, and asked with a smile, "Is the food usually enough? Food supplies are tight in Shanghai now, are you having any difficulties at home?"

"That's enough, that's enough." The bodyguards nodded, bowed, and smiled. "Thank you so much for taking care of us, sir and madam. We've all had a good meal and are quite full. You can't necessarily find such good steamed buns outside."

"That's good. Keep eating. If you have any difficulties, just tell Miss Shen."

"Ok."

Gu Yansheng offered a brief word of comfort, and Shen Shuyun whispered, "I've already made arrangements. If the food we buy outside isn't enough for everyone at home, we can have an extra meal at home. If we don't have any more, we can still provide enough steamed buns and side dishes."

These bodyguards are just bodyguards. They work for Gu Yansheng and get paid a little more than outside, but they're not government employees and have no real power. It's just a job that provides stability and prestige.

They protect Gu Yansheng's personal safety, and Gu Yansheng's representative—Ms. Shen from the Judicial Office—protects their social safety. That's all the benefits they offer.

As for the flour for steaming buns, that was also a benefit. The flour that Lu Bowen's flour mill sent to Gu Yansheng for his own consumption was of superior quality.

Speaking of this, Gu Yansheng had to ask, "Is the food shortage serious outside right now?"

Shen Shuyun loves shopping and has seen a lot of things. “It’s quite serious. Not to mention ordinary people, even municipal government employees are not getting enough to eat. People outside think that government employees are well-fed, but they are just like them.”

Of course, outsiders see municipal government employees as officials, but to people of Gu Yansheng and Fu Xiao'an's rank, there is no difference.

However, "Didn't Fu Xiao'an give the municipal government any preferential treatment at all?"

That's incredibly stingy.

"If the cafeteria not being canceled counts as a preferential treatment, then there is still a preferential treatment."

"How to say?"

"Isn't the monthly food ration for each person 5.6 kilograms? With just that much rice, we definitely won't have enough to eat."

However, the municipal government had its own rationing system, and the canteen wasn't included in the quota. So, government employees would save the rice they bought with their rations for their families and eat the rice from the canteen themselves, thus having an extra portion.

"You're quite good at managing your finances. What if you don't have any family members?"

"Selling on the black market, rice is so expensive on the black market now. Some people used to dislike the food in the canteen and would often go out to eat at a restaurant to improve their meals, but now they don't go anymore. They say that eating in the canteen is like making money."

A few people in the office I got along with thought I definitely wouldn't go hungry, so they told me to go to line up with them so as not to waste the quota and to share it with them.

Gu Yansheng chuckled as he listened. Women have this advantage: when they chatter amongst themselves in the office, they know everything. They're natural intelligence agents.

"Was queuing to buy rice easy?"

"Things are going smoothly so far, but I have a feeling things will soon go wrong."

"why?"

"Under the control, the shortage is actually not too bad. After the autumn harvest, there is no shortage of grain itself, it's just that there is less that can be bought after the control."

Because they need to verify the amount each person can buy, the queuing is quite severe; there are queues outside the rice shop all day long.

If you really plan ahead and eat less, most families can manage to survive by eating irregularly. But some people can't control their appetites. After finishing their rice, they don't want to go hungry. Also, the rising price of rice on the black market has made rice a valuable commodity.

I heard from people in the office that a rice-grabbing frenzy has started. Some slackers, who are either starving or looking to make money, have set their sights on those queuing up.

Those people had just bought rice, and usually had a bag of rice in it. The thugs would pick targets while they were queuing, and then follow them all the way home after they bought their rice. They would seize any opportunity to rob them and then run away.

"So tell me, if these people have all their food stolen and have nothing to eat, won't there be trouble?"

Gu Yansheng nodded in agreement. Stealing rice and selling it on the black market was indeed a novel way to make money.

"Sir, Miss, you're back! Dinner will be ready soon," Aunt Liu greeted them as she came out.

"You go about your business." Gu Yansheng waved Liu Ma away and said in a low voice, "You just asked three questions. What does Japan want to achieve in the negotiations in Hong Kong? The answer to that question is what the Wang faction is currently going through."

They approached you for talks because they genuinely wanted to make peace, but their purpose wasn't to reach an agreement, but to gain control.

With the peace talks successful and the anti-Japanese front collapsing, the Wang Jingwei faction and Chongqing formed a coalition government. The Japanese assassinated Chiang Kai-shek, and the Wang Jingwei faction, as the vice-president of the coalition government, naturally rose to power after Chiang's death. The Japanese objective was thus achieved—far simpler than fighting a war for many years.

"I see." Shen Shuyun nodded as if she had just realized. "There's a lot of content. Let me think about how to condense it into a telegram."

"Four words: assassinate Chiang Kai-shek and support Wang Jingwei. The rest they can guess."

"Okay, this will be kept secret, and its source will not be revealed."

Of course it won't be leaked. The content is all made up by Gu Yansheng, and even if someone finds out, they won't be able to find out.

"The second question is, what stage have the Japan-Wang peace talks reached? They're about to open. As for the content, just say it's highly usable."

Which one is taller?

"High and low are high."

"Ok."

"The first question is, why are we pushing for peace talks again?"

Gu Yansheng pushed for it, so of course we can't talk about it. If we did, Boss Dai probably wouldn't be able to withstand President Jiang's wrath.

"Damn it, Yu Nong! How come your Military Intelligence Bureau keeps producing this kind of trash!"

"Because the Japanese felt they needed to put pressure on Chongqing, you replied with four words: 'Use both kindness and force.'"

"understood."

The entire telegram was summarized in just sixteen characters, which made things much simpler.

After finishing his meal, Gu Yansheng thought about Gao Zhongwu's matter and realized it was time to get started. He drove to find Chen Mo, who was eating at home.

"Mr. Gu, have you eaten yet? Let's grab something to eat together."

"I've already eaten, you can have this."

Gu Yansheng sat down and said, "Boss Dai has given orders to know the contents of the negotiations. There is a man named Gao Zhongwu in Wang's faction who has been suppressed."

"I've heard of this person."

"Ah."

Gu Yansheng told Gao Zhongwu about his situation, "This guy is currently investing in stocks. Find someone to follow him and see what stocks he's trading and how much money he's invested."

Chen Mo nodded. "Tracking him isn't difficult, but this person should have bodyguards or something, right? What stocks does he trade, and how much money has he invested? How do we find that out?"

"Whenever he trades stocks, he has to go to the stock exchange. Once he's at the stock exchange, there are lots of people there, so your presence won't attract the attention of your bodyguards."

No need for physical contact. He'll definitely go to the counter to buy and sell stocks. Your person can just listen nearby and find out what stocks he's trading and at what price. That's all you need to do.

"Understood. I'll arrange it."

"Notify me if there's any news."

"it is good."

Two days later, Chen Mo came to meet Gu Yansheng.

"We've found out. He was speculating on cotton yarn futures. He didn't actually buy or sell them. Instead, he was just like those people at the exchange, keeping his eyes glued to the cotton yarn futures price board, holding his cash and shouting for it to go up."

This guy isn't a high-ranking official at all; he's just like any other ordinary stock investor, acting like he's on steroids.

However, it's unclear how much he spent; he hasn't made a single transaction in the past two days, so he's probably already bought everything.

Gu Yansheng smiled and said, "That makes sense. He had mentioned to me before that he was trading cotton yarn futures. Okay, let's leave it at that for now. You can keep an eye on it for me. As long as he hasn't sold, you don't need to worry about it. If you feel that he's about to sell, or has already sold, let me know."

"That's fine, so we just leave it like this? How do we get that thing?"

"No rush, let's wait until he's dead."

"Death? Why would I die?" Chen Mo stared wide-eyed in confusion.

Do you know how much cotton yarn costs now?

"I think it's around 450." Chen Mo recalled what his subordinate had reported.

"Whom the gods would destroy, they first make mad. You're about to die." Gu Yansheng laughed and walked away.

Teahouse.

Fu Xiao'an arrived with good news.

"Brother Gu, look, I've already transferred the profits to Miss He's bank account. Can you rest easy now?"

He Yun, who was standing to the side, smiled and nodded. "Mayor Fu asked me to give him all the contracts I had yesterday. This morning, he took me to the bank to make the transfers himself. One transaction was in US dollars, and the other was in silver dollars, totaling 6528 million silver dollars."

"More than 6500 million?" Gu Yansheng's eyes lit up when he heard this, and he looked at Fu Xiao'an with admiration. "Mayor Fu, you are a genius. You are amazing. You went in with 2500 million and came out with 6500 million. You truly deserve to be the business leader of Shanghai."

Gu Yansheng had never flattered Fu Xiao'an before, but this time he might as well; money talks.

"Hahahaha." Fu Xiao'an felt good to hear Gu Yansheng flattering him, much better than when others flattered him. He had to laugh again. "Hahahaha, Brother Gu, it's only because you trust me that our cooperation has gone so smoothly."

Although this didn't reach my initial expectations of several times the initial profit, to be honest, things went more smoothly than I anticipated. Otherwise, I would have had to work for at least another month to close all my current orders.

"As long as we land safely, that's fine."

Gu Yansheng is not greedy. This sum of money comes from stocks, and there's another sum from cotton yarn. This money is in Lu Bowen's hands.

"Have some tea." Gu Yansheng personally poured tea for Fu Xiao'an. "Mayor Fu, how much do you think is appropriate for my service fee?"

This is a rather profound question. Fu Xiao'an chuckled and said, "Then you decide for yourself. I can cooperate with you. If Minister Gu wants to take more, won't the Japanese cause trouble then?"
"Let's say it exploded in that wave, the responsibility lies with the Japanese, and we couldn't control it. If you give out a few million, Mr. Zhou will still make a profit, right? It won't be a wasted effort."

"Is it appropriate?" Gu Yansheng asked with a questioning look in his eyes.

“What’s inappropriate about it?” Fu Xiao’an sighed and laughed. “Brother Gu, you only get a few chances to make money in your life. You have to seize the opportunity. You’re already a minister. What’s the use of handing over tens of millions? Will it give you a position as the vice premier of the Executive Yuan?”
Don't worry, no matter the amount, I'll cover it up for you.

Fu Xiao'an gestured with his finger between Gu Yansheng and him, "We trust each other."

"Okay, let me think about it some more. Greed and my inner self are locked in a battle." Gu Yansheng said with a self-deprecating joke.

"Haha, then you can think about it slowly. I'll go first." Fu Xiao'an took his leave, stood up, and said with a smile in his eyes, "Next, we'll just have to sit back and watch the tigers fight. Brother Gu, don't miss it, it's bound to be a big show."

"I definitely won't miss it."

Gu Yansheng smiled and saw the guest off.

He turned to He Yun and asked, "Have all the orders been processed?"

“We’ve finished dealing with ours. He still has some left. According to him, it’s impossible to sell them all to the British and Americans. He has to keep a portion for sale on the stock market. However, since the share is not large and the British and Americans have already paid, he’ll settle our share first and then sell the rest himself, bearing the profits and losses himself.”

"Yeah, we've more than doubled our money. Fu Xiao'an's 3500 million yuan investment will now yield over 5000 million yuan. That guy's rich now."

Gu Yansheng smiled faintly and sighed, "A roly-poly toy is hard to kill."

"Then what should we do with this money?" He Yun asked Gu Yansheng worriedly. "I think we shouldn't keep Minister Zhou's money. If Fu Xiao'an complains, you'll lose his trust, and it won't be worth it."

Gu Yansheng gave He Yun a look, "I'm not running away, so why would I touch this money? There's only money that's kept downstream, not upstream. I'm just teasing Fu Xiao'an to see if he can't resist trying to sabotage me behind my back."

Just keep the money in the account and keep normal records. You can just overstate your expenses from the account for the days you've been operating. There will be plenty of opportunities to take the money out later, so there's no rush.

By the way, have we finished processing our own orders?

Gu Yansheng gave Fu Xiao'an money from the central bank, while He Yun and Lu Bowen had a batch of private deals, which were their own money.

Of course, there's also the money for number 76.

"They've all been sold off. 70 were bought in, 400 were sold out. After deducting the portion from number 76, our profit is 1200 million, which is more than five times our initial investment."

Gu Yansheng listened with satisfaction, "He's much taller than Fu Xiao'an, so why is there such a big difference?"

"It costs him to boost the stock price and create hype, but it costs us nothing to ride his coattails. When the time comes to sell, our profits will definitely be much higher than his. Besides, he sold at a discount to the British, while we just dumped it on the market for them."

"Haha, not bad, how many are there over at No. 76?"

"They invested $100,000, which is equivalent to $400,000 in silver dollars. Five times that is $2 million."

"Cut the profits by 60%, convert the rest into US dollars, and send it to me."

It's reasonable for Gu Yansheng to accept 120 million yuan as a service fee from them.

"Okay, I'll bring it to you in a bit."

Before leaving get off work, He Yun brought the money box over.

The timing is perfect; I can go to the intelligence headquarters and they'll treat me to a meal.

(End of this chapter)