Those Years When I Was Forced to Top the Forbes List

Chapter 174 Finance for Ordinary People
The interview wasn't over yet.

As soon as Chen Xuebing finished speaking, Xin Mengzhen, who was standing next to him, clenched her slightly pale fingers, which regained their color.

What he just said was so nerve-wracking. If such strong words were broadcast, they could ruin Chen Xuebing's business future, and few people would dare to associate with him.

The reporter also relaxed.

This interview has come alive again.

What she just said was too audacious. Of course, she wouldn't choose to broadcast it, otherwise she would be ruined as well.

It turns out they were talking about Americans.

That's fine then, feel free to say whatever you want.

Even if he gets criticized, it's just his personal opinion, and it might even be something interesting to watch.

Imagine this interview airing right after the expert's opinions; the stark contrast stirred the audience's emotions, and then the tone shifted abruptly.

American financial crisis? Class conflict?
The reporter couldn't help but laugh.

She then asked, "Are you saying that the US housing market will lead to a financial crisis? Could you elaborate?"

"This cannot be explained in just a few words. There are many factors, including policy neglect, class contradictions, leverage, and influence."

The US subprime mortgage crisis erupted in 2008, but the seeds of its downfall had already been sown long before. At that time, the US real estate market was extremely prosperous, which was actually the turning point from prosperity to decline. A large number of mortgages had already begun to default, and Wall Street financial brokers began to package various loan asset packages, which became the source of the subprime crisis.

Wall Street probably realized this long ago, but before the mountain of debt collapsed, no one thought the United States would be out of control.

During this subprime mortgage crisis, my country, as the newly emerging largest exporter, used half of its foreign exchange reserves to buy US Treasury bonds to resolve the global trade crisis, becoming the largest holder of US Treasury bonds.

But this did not earn the friendship of the United States. Instead, it made the world's big brother, which had made a low-level mistake and was being questioned, wary of the gradually rising power of the East.

In his previous life, he rose to prominence during the four trillion yuan stimulus package, witnessing the rapid boost to the real estate market from the massive release of financial liquidity. He also experienced the outbreak of local government debt and the decline of the construction industry, so he was intimately familiar with the whole story.

It's difficult to judge the merits and demerits of the whole process, but there must have been better solutions along the way.

It can be said that 2008 was a turning point in the entire world order.

He didn't think he could have much influence on such a macro-level issue; he just wanted to gain more say and improve the environment, which would benefit both the greater good of the nation and the details he wanted to cultivate in his three pillars of society.

Aren't these the very things I wanted to do in my previous life?

His remarks today included two points: one regarding the Jewish and Anzaan monopoly on the future of American finance, and the other regarding the impact of the American subprime mortgage crisis.

Over the next decade or so, the value of this statement will continue to rise.

Once it's broadcast, this video will likely be repeatedly watched and admired by many people.

Do you have any suggestions for the future development of China's financial sector?

Because of his shocking remarks, the female reporter gave him the treatment usually reserved for interviewing bigwigs: offering advice at the end of his interview.

"Let's popularize financial literacy and enlighten the public."

Chen Xuebing replied without hesitation:

"my country's financial sector will experience vigorous development after the shareholding reform, which is encouraging. However, there will also be more and more policy loopholes. Finance belongs to the people, and they should benefit from this development. They should have a certain understanding of the development prospects and financial traps, and should not be cheated out of their hard-earned savings by unscrupulous people because they do not understand finance."

"As people in finance, we shouldn't keep building up complex jargon and industry barriers, making finance seem mysterious and unpredictable. We should lower our heads and make finance accessible and understandable to the general public."

His remarks were still sharp and highly targeted.

However, emotionally, it is clearly positive.

And it frequently produces memorable quotes.

The female reporter, a seasoned professional, still felt this was the most valuable interview she had conducted at numerous recent financial conferences.

"What is your name?"

"Chen Xuebing".

The reporter took out his notebook and wrote down the name.

"Serving the people's finance needs—that's such a great saying. I'd like to suggest to the station that we do a special financial program on this topic. Is that alright?"

Chen Xuebing smiled and extended his hand to the female reporter.

"Okay, I wish you success."

……

I heard there was a car to take me there, but Lin Huixiang didn't come to pick me up. We stayed at the Wang Baohe Hotel in the city center.

Not far away.

In the eyes of old Shanghai residents, the city center encompassed Huangpu District, old Jing'an District, North Xuhui District, and East Changning District, including the Wang Baohe Hotel and the Exhibition Center.

When Zhang Yuzhong saw them off, he introduced them to the company.

Wang Baohe is a place to eat hairy crabs. It's located on Er Ma Lu, next to Nanjing Road, called Jiujiang Road, which used to be a densely populated area of ​​foreign firms and money shops.

Wall Street in Shanghai before liberation.

It is said that Chen Xuebing likes shellless meat, and he also likes ribs and seafood. However, he is not interested in river crabs, which are carefully selected so that only a piece of meat can be found. But Zhang Yuzhong repeatedly praised Wang Baohe's crabs as "old and easy to cut", which aroused Chen Xuebing's curiosity.

The private room area is decorated in a somewhat old-fashioned style, with a long corridor, one side with elegant seating and the other with private rooms, like a teahouse in Chongqing where people play cards.

When they entered the private room, Chen Xuebing's mouth twitched.

Lin Huixiang is busy making a basket of steamed buns.

When he looked up, his mouth was dripping with oil.

What a waste of that white suit and wavy hair that made her look like a female CEO.

"Hey, you're treating, and you've already started eating before the guests even arrived?"

Chen Xuebing was the first to speak, and he couldn't help but make a comment.

Lin Huixiang immediately exploded.

She put down the steamed bun, pointed at Chen Xuebing, and said, "See that? Mengzhen, he's talking about me! He hasn't even entered the door yet, and he dares to talk about me! Tell the Imperial Household Department to take down his nameplate and replace it with mine!"

Xin Mengzhen laughed and tugged at Chen Xuebing's sleeve, saying, "She just loves to eat. She can't control herself when she sees something delicious. She's usually on a diet, but she's in a good mood when she's full. I'll stop teasing you later, but Sister Huixiang, you've already eaten so much, how will you be able to eat anything else later?"

Lin Huixiang then wiped her hands: "I only ordered two crab roe buns, and I couldn't even taste the crab flavor. I could still eat them."

After saying that, he raised his chin at Chen Xuebing and said, "I've already ordered what I want to eat. You can order whatever you want."

Chen Xuebing grinned and looked at Xin Mengzhen: "Is she like this when she eats, or has she always been like this?" Xin Mengzhen glanced at him, her eyes seemingly full of meaning.

"That's what you said when you first spoke to me."

Chen Xuebing was suddenly jolted back to reality, breaking out in a cold sweat. He quickly coughed and forced a dry laugh:
"I'm not interested in her! Waiter, waiter, let's order!"

"Hey, hey, hey." Lin Huixiang slammed her hand on the table in annoyance. "Me, interested in you? What do you mean by that?"

"It's meaningless, it's meaningless." Chen Xuebing waved his hands repeatedly.

If she had even the slightest interest in him, she wouldn't be acting like this.

The last time I was with Mr. Lu from MediaTek, she was all smiles and spoke with a lisp.

Speaking of which, Mr. Lu...
"Oh, I wasn't there when our factory asked MediaTek to do the solution. I didn't contact Mr. Lu and went straight to his office. Could you please tell Mr. Lu for me? I feel really bad about it."

"Your factory is up and running?" Lin Huixiang looked up, then said nonchalantly, "He doesn't care about that commission; he's just helping out."

"I know, I have to thank you for this. But if you really marry into a wealthy family, I really want to ask you for a favor: to get MediaTek to design chips for us."

Chen Xuebing sat down and smiled.

His first real fortune, the Huaqiangbei deal, was indeed thanks to the information provided by Mr. Lu, whom Lin Huixiang introduced.

However, he never approached MediaTek for chip design and manufacturing for genuine mobile phones. It wasn't that MediaTek lacked chip design capabilities; they had complete software capabilities and foundries. It was just that they were making a fortune in the piracy market, and their existing designs and production schedules were already booked until the year after next. It was impossible for them to cooperate with him on some multi-core chip development.

The pirated mobile phone market was MediaTek's last moment of glory.

Later, they realized their mistake and tried to catch up in the multi-core field. It wasn't until almost 2020 that they launched the "Dimensity" series. After many generations, they finally caught up with the performance of mainstream chips, but missed the best opportunity for development.

If the other party is truly willing to abandon the current one-stop turnkey solution for single-core chips and move towards SOC design, then he could indeed help MediaTek out.

Just mentioning it casually, it's about casting a wide net. At least MediaTek is the second largest semiconductor company in Taiwan, so it won't be restricted by lithography machines in the future.

Sometimes, future opportunities are like seeds you casually planted in the past; it's hard to say when they'll come to your rescue.

Unfortunately, Lin Huixiang didn't understand, but casually said, "If you want his help, just call him. He's very straightforward and will help if he can."

Xin Mengzhen, however, had some knowledge of chips because of Chen Xuebing's case, and knew that things were not so simple.

Designing chips is a business worth hundreds of millions. Currently, mainstream processes cost tens of millions of dollars per tape-out, and the more precise the process, the more expensive it becomes.

Upon hearing this, she gave Chen Xuebing a wink, asking him if he needed help.

Chen Xuebing smiled and shook his head: "Never mind, I'll go to Shenzhen and make an appointment with President Lu when I have time."

Anyway, Lin Bin and Mei Man are in talks. If it doesn't work out, they'll send a Hong Kong team to Taiwan after the first-generation model is released.

It's really difficult now.

Taiwan only opened up entry permits to Hong Kong and Macao residents in January of this year, and mainland tourists still cannot go. In particular, the restrictions on the chip industry in the mainland are extremely strict. In February of this year, a large-scale search was conducted on the residences of United Microelectronics Corporation (UMC), a leading semiconductor company in Taiwan, and its vice chairman, Hsuan Ming-chih, on the grounds that they had "illegally" invested in the mainland. Hsu Chien-hua, chairman of Hejian Technology, was also detained and restricted from leaving the mainland when he returned to work.

When SMIC's Richard Chang went to mainland China to build a factory, he also suffered greatly before escaping Taiwan.

Chen Xuebing thought about it and even wanted to light a cigarette to donate to the military funds.

However, since Xin Mengzhen was there, and thinking about how this girl wanted to learn to smoke from him by the Huangpu River that day, he held back.

Just then, the waiter arrived with the menu.

"Hello, how many of you are there?"

"Three."

Chen Xuebing raised his hand to take the menu.

The waiter looked troubled: "There are three people. This lady ordered a bit too much food. Why don't you order more if you're still hungry after you finish this?"

Chen Xuebing and Xin Mengzhen both looked at Lin Huixiang.

Lin Huixiang glared at me: "Why are you looking at me? Those are all for me to eat, you guys can order whatever you want! I have to rip him off today, okay? I'm going to eat everything I want!"

Chen Xuebing pointed to himself, incredulous.

"You treat me to dinner, so I'll treat you?"

"I'll treat you, I'll treat you." Xin Mengzhen pressed down Chen Xuebing's hand and glared at Lin Huixiang.

Lin Huixiang then waved her hand in a magnanimous manner, as if to say, "You were wrong, I forgive you."

"Alright, alright, what flavors do you like? I'll recommend some, okay?"

Chen Xuebing grinned as he held the menu: "Thank you, but I can't read."

"I was worried you wouldn't understand how to eat it, okay?"

Chen Xuebing didn't even look up: "Thanks, but I don't have a mouth."

This menu is indeed expensive, with prices often reaching 188 or 288, and that's for individual servings.

It's clear that Lin Huixiang is sincere.

Seriously, I'll rip him off.

This sincerity is very valuable; with the food he ordered, the bill should exceed three thousand yuan.

However, it was well worth it, exceeding Chen Xuebing's expectations.

The waiter brought them a basket of crabs to show them, indicating that these were the ingredients from their restaurant. He even explained that the male crabs had a triangular, pointed abdomen and all eight of their legs were hairy, while the female crabs had a round belly and only their two large claws were hairy.

A table laden with crabs: crab meat and scallops, crab roe and lotus root, special crab roe, cheese crab shells, crab roe xiaolongbao (soup dumplings), crab legs and asparagus, and crab meat and prawn rolls.
All the meat was shelled.

It was all meat and roe, except for six steamed hairy crabs. The waiter stood aside and used scissors and crab needles to pick them out and put them together. He dipped them in crab vinegar with a spoon and ate them spoonful by spoonful.

Chen Xuebing ate heartily and thoroughly enjoyed the meal.

I've never experienced this in my past life; crab cooked this way is fucking delicious.

"Isn't it delicious? The female crabs mature early, reaching maturity in September, while the male crabs mature a little later. Now is the best time to enjoy them! I specifically ordered the male crabs! Isn't it wonderful to have a friend like me?" Lin Huixiang said proudly in her Shanghai accent.

"All I know is that a friend like you is hard to raise," Chen Xuebing muttered.

"Easy to take care of, easy to take care of." Lin Huixiang said with a smile, "By the way, your house is only 170 square meters, doesn't it seem a bit small? How big is my room?"

Chen Xuebing choked.

"What??"

(End of this chapter)