Those Years When I Was Forced to Top the Forbes List

Chapter 238 666
The following morning, at Three Gorges Square.

The former Digital Plaza had a six-year contract. The first year's rent of 270 million yuan was paid in advance by Pang Donglai. After Chen Xuebing received 1000 million yuan, he gave them the money back, which was just enough to cover the expenses.

Upstairs, the sounds of sawing boards and welding rose and fell. The layout of the department store upstairs was already quite complete. After a few more days of basic renovation, they could start setting up counters, building warehouses, and purchasing goods.

Yu Donglai felt he had taken on a heavy responsibility and ordered the business to start trial operation within a month.

The upstairs was bustling, and the downstairs was bustling too, as Pang Donglai officially began its selection process for products from 72 companies.

The companies are very enthusiastic about this. Yesterday, before Chen Xuebing left, he mentioned that Pang Donglai's first store was over 8,000 square meters and that it was just a trial run. There is also a super store of over 70,000 square meters under construction in Jiangbeizui. Only then did they realize where Pang Donglai got such confidence. Almost everyone was present today.

The first step is to verify the documents and qualifications.

The second step is to look at the product.

The third step is on-site hygiene inspections and random on-site checks.

The negotiation process then begins, including pricing, quantity per item, and promotional support.

Even if it is divided into three supply groups, it will still take four or five days to complete the first screening of the whole.

Chen Xuebing brought Lu Xiaochun and several researchers from Changzheng Capital to support Lao Yu. On-site, they identified four companies with good product quality, but which Pang Donglai requested to change their packaging. They immediately arranged for people to visit the factories to discuss loan matters.

This further fueled the enthusiasm of the business owners, with some making phone calls on the spot to arrange for additional staff to come and communicate with them.

Chen Xuebing was also a little wary. He was afraid that some companies were desperate for money and might try some tricks. He asked Lu Xiaochun to investigate the market price of the equipment they purchased and to make payments on their behalf and as collateral.

After making the payment on their behalf, we will provide them with an additional loan of around one million yuan to ensure that they can pay wages and purchase raw materials so that they can start production smoothly.

After listening, Lu Xiaochun sighed deeply. This was a huge job, enough to keep him busy for several months.

Chen Xuebing patted him on the shoulder and said: "We can appropriately increase manpower. This is a challenge that Changzheng Capital must face, but it is also an opportunity. We should treat it as a due diligence process for the companies we invest in. Once we complete this batch of work, we can recover some of our debts and also cultivate a group of experienced researchers. Now we work on small and medium-sized enterprises, and in the future we will work on IPO companies. Not only will everyone's work be easier, but their commissions will also be extremely high."

Old Lu used to just make empty promises, so he wasn't buying it. Instead, he took those promises and went to the PUA researchers.

The young researchers were full of enthusiasm. They had just received a bonus of 30,000 yuan before the holiday. Hearing about the big pie, they seemed to smell its aroma and vowed to dedicate themselves to the company.

In the afternoon, 14 companies related to the current futures market in mainland China came to Changzheng Capital to listen to Kan Zhidong talk about hedging risks in raw material futures.

Kan Zhidong immediately asserted his status as a veteran of the Chinese securities industry. The group of small business owners were all taken aback when they heard that they were enjoying such treatment, and they took notes attentively.

Chen Xuebing actually wanted to listen to all of them. After all, risk hedging involves not only futures hedging but also some related contract operation techniques. However, the three futures exchanges in Shanghai, Dalian, and Zhengzhou in mainland China only cover a dozen or so trading categories, so the practical application space is still too small and has nothing to do with his current business. He can learn them after the Hong Kong Stock Exchange successfully acquires the London Metal Exchange.

In addition, Cai Zhijian has also returned.

They also brought back seven people, who reported to Chen Xuebing's office.

"Rong Xianwen, Wang Mingsheng, Shi Lan, and Goto Miki, they are my old colleagues."

Chen Xuebing was stunned for a moment when he heard this.

Two men, two women, and a Japanese person?
The stylishly dressed woman, speaking fluent Mandarin with a slight lisp, chuckled and said, "My father is Japanese, and my mother is Chinese. If you don't like my Japanese name, you can just call me Chen Meishu."

Cai Zhijian immediately introduced:

“Ms. Miki graduated from the Singapore Law School and is licensed to practice law in both Singapore and New York State, USA. She is very familiar with contract law and accounting.”

“Rong Xianwen is the managing partner of PwC and is very familiar with finance, especially banking. His great-grandfather was the second comprador of Standard Chartered Bank, and his great-maternal grandfather was the former Secretary-General of the Presidential Office. He was the founder of PwC and also an elder in his family.”

Only two people were introduced in detail; the other two must have been his subordinates.

After listening to their voices, Chen Xuebing shook hands with each of them.

"Hehe, there's no such thing as liking or disliking. But since Miss Meishu is coming to China to develop her career, she should do as the locals do. Chen Meishu is a nice name."

"Mr. Rong's Hong Kong Rong Family?"

When shaking hands with Rong Xianwen, who seemed to have a distinguished background, Chen Xuebing made a guess.

Rong Xiansheng quickly denied it: "Ah, no, no, no! Rong, the Rong of easy! Not the Rong of glory! President Chen, I'm not some second-generation rich kid. My parents are ordinary employees, at most fourth-generation rich kids!"

"Hahaha," Chen Xuebing laughed loudly, "Four generations is not bad. Going back five generations in my family, there aren't many educated people! But there are quite a few bandits!"

Chen Meishu said in a slow, joking tone, "That must be a big bandit."

Chen Xuebing composed himself, as if he wanted to say something.

Are there bandits even bigger than the Japanese?
Chen Meishu was quite quick-witted. Seeing that Chen Xuebing's expression was off, she immediately said, "Mr. Chen, don't look at me like that. My family ancestors were also farmers. They never came to China to invade. My mother married my father in the United States."

Chen Xuebing then smiled again.

"Welcome, Ms. Chen, and welcome everyone."

As the company expands into finance, it will inevitably need to utilize some overseas talent, and we must accept them.

Especially once the trust license is obtained, a dedicated team of financial professionals will be needed to establish the trust company. The people Cai Zhijian has brought are a timely help.

The three people behind him were all foreigners.

"This is Joseph, an American. Max is German and is his partner. Bakker is Dutch and my friend. The company and account are already set up. These three can help you operate in the United States."

Following Chen Xuebing's instructions, Cai Zhijian brought in two traders and a "supervisor" who understood futures.

You can trade US futures in Hong Kong, but it's not an on-exchange transaction. It's a third-party channel provided by offshore international brokers. It's not safe to put large sums of money in there. Some US companies sound prestigious, but they can go bankrupt at any time.

In two years, three of the five major independent investment banks (brokerages) in the United States will go out of business.

It can only be done in the US market, directly connecting to the exchange.

Chen Xuebing asked Cai Zhijian's four colleagues to go outside to rest, and only after closing the door did he begin to talk to the three of them.

How are your commissions calculated?

Max and Bakker were completely bewildered, only Joseph understood, and shook his head repeatedly, saying in broken Chinese:
"No, no, no, I don't want commission, I want compensation, a salary."

Cai Zhijian helped translate. The other two also felt that futures trading was very risky and decided to ask for wages. The American asked for $7500, and the other two asked for $6000.

Chen Xuebing thought for a moment, agreed, and explained the strategy: $500 million, 10x leverage, to go long on the main U.S. soybean futures contract.

His thinking was simple: since some people want to go long, and it's only just begun, there should be a significant price surge.

You should take a gamble first, and once you've made a lot of money and your position is large enough, then use small leverage to mitigate risk.

Upon hearing Cai Zhijian's translation, the Americans immediately said "no no no".

"This is not a wise decision. You can use 50x leverage on the S&P 500, but you can't use 10x leverage on agricultural commodities. With the weather changing, everything is uncertain, and the volatility will be very high."

In reality, going long on soybeans is essentially shorting the weather; what Chen Xuebing wants is extreme weather.

Bad weather leads to reduced soybean production, which in turn causes soybean prices to rise.

But Chen Xuebing thought about it and felt that it was indeed hard to say. Even if the U.S. Department of Agriculture helped the four major grain traders and Wall Street release bullish news, it would take a long time to release a report. But everyone could see the weather anytime. If the weather was good and suitable for soybean growth, American fund investors would vote with their feet and lose everything in one margin call.

"The leverage ratio for near-term contracts will be adjusted to 5x, and with the addition of contracts for September to November and far-term contracts for November to January next year, the leverage will still be 10x. Corn and wheat will be used as adjustable secondary positions to diversify investments. You can decide on the specific allocation ratios and send them to me."

US soybeans are mainly exported, and spot supply will increase from May to July, putting significant pressure on the spot basis.

It is expected that the price will reach a neutral valuation by September, and the offshore price is more likely to rise after Brazilian soybeans are sold out in November.

To play it safe, you have to gamble on September-November and longer-term contracts.

You can make money immediately with far-month contracts, but everyone is betting on the future, and the market trend cannot be seen immediately, making it more susceptible to news.

“Alright then.” Joseph shrugged. “I’m afraid I won’t be able to work for you for very long.”

Foreigners don't seem to care about auspiciousness when they speak.

Chen Xuebing chuckled: "The project started with 5 million dollars in seed money."

Seed money emphasizes exploratory investments made during the early stages of a startup.

For one-time venture capital, you should use Venture Capital or Exploratory Capital.

The three foreigners were startled.

This Chinese man is quite wealthy!
Cai Zhijian was also taken aback: "Chairman, you can speak English?"

Chen Xuebing smiled slightly.

Cai Zhijian slapped his thigh and exclaimed in surprise, "You should have said so sooner! Sometimes I can't remember certain words and want to speak in English, but I'm afraid you won't understand. You don't mind, do you?" "I mind," Chen Xuebing said with a smile.

His English level is okay for occasionally showing off, but it's not at the point where he can communicate without any problems.

Tsai Chih-chien: “…”

"Then I'll arrange for them to have some sightseeing in Chongqing, and they'll be back soon."

"Hurry up, time waits for no one."

Cai Zhijian nodded and led the three of them outside.

Chen Xuebing called out to him, "You don't mind that the company didn't include stock options this time, do you?"

Cai Zhijian stopped and thought for a moment, then smiled and said, "I do regret it a little, but the group's situation is getting better and better now, and I'm very happy. At least I can afford my salary. Who knows what the future holds?"

Chen Xuebing understood what he meant; he was still planning to leave after his three-year term was up.

"We were short of money in the account before, and your salary has been owed to us. You can go to the finance department and collect a year's salary in one lump sum, plus your job buyout fee."

Cai Zhijian's salary could have been paid two months ago when the loan was disbursed, but he deliberately delayed it until the stock option distribution time to give Cai Zhijian a choice.

Since you don't want it, then let the sea be wide enough for fish to leap and the sky high enough for birds to fly.

"Thank you, Chairman. I will do my best in my work."

Cai Zhijian walked out of the room and carefully closed the door.

"Three years."

Chen Xuebing sighed softly, leaned back in his chair, and looked at the pothos on the table, which seemed to have grown a lot.

Time flies so fast.

It has been a year and a half since I was reborn.

If my life since my rebirth were a long novel, it would probably be a million words by now, right?
How many words will there be in total?
three million?
Four million?
……

……

Money flowed out like a valve had been opened, and poured in like a floodgate had been opened.

In just over a week, Pang Donglai completed its supplier review. Yu Donglai truly kept his word; out of 72 companies, 58 were selected.

These are all highly indebted companies. If their products were competitive, would they be in debt?
Chen Xuebing felt that Yu Donglai had taken the job against his will, so he called him to discuss it. Yu Donglai laughed and said that he was not under any pressure. Most companies had to rectify their products according to their requirements before they could enter the supply chain. Moreover, he had found three local supermarkets to cooperate with: Chongqing Kelong, Chongqing Department Store, and New Century. He planned to move the four-party joint procurement plan from Henan to this place, collectively rectify the product quality of those companies, lower the supply price, and enter the joint procurement channels of the four supermarkets.

With the mayor's support and a super-large store backing him up in Chongqing, and two small supermarkets among those indebted companies, a total of six small stores of less than 1,000 square meters were to accept their business guidance and join the joint procurement channel, Yu Donglai was even more confident than he was in Zhengzhou.

Yu Donglai felt no pressure; all the pressure was transferred to Chen Xuebing.

These companies will need to spend money on rectification, and the current figure is 200 million yuan.

This money had to be borrowed. The reason why Leader Huang lent him such a large sum of money was to do this, to solve his urgent problem. Moreover, the bank was lending him the money at a 5% interest rate, while he was lending it out at an 8% rate.

With Pang Donglai helping them get rich and even holding onto part of their payment, Chen Xuebing was still confident he could recover the money.

Of course, it's impossible to borrow the entire amount.

Chen Xuebing planned to let them raise 40% themselves.

Cai Zhijian received a salary of 600 million, a job buyout fee of 200 million, and transferred 4400 million to Hong Kong and the United States, leaving him with only 7300 million in his account.

At this ratio, even if all the funds in the account were released, there would still be a shortfall of tens of millions.

This is one aspect of spending money; on the other hand, it seems like a bull market has arrived.

Chen Xuebing knew he hadn't arrived yet, but the stock market investors felt it was already a bull market.

Awesome!

The post-holiday sentiment not only maintained the momentum of April but was even stronger. In just four days after the holiday, the index surged from 1446 points to 1600, with daily trading volume once exceeding 500 billion yuan.

In the second week, the market opened 3.9% higher on Monday, reaching 1664 points!
A market gain of nearly 4% could already be called a "historic gain," but such a historic gain occurred for three out of just five trading days.

There was no positive news this time; it was entirely due to the lingering emotions from last month.

Emotions have already risen.

BOE attracted a lot of attention recently and also benefited from this surge, with its stock price breaking through 4.3 yuan.

Chen Xuebing knew that the bull market started in August of this year and had been rising steadily. Therefore, there should be fluctuations after this peak. He had already arranged to sell BOE's stock.

Southwest Securities sold off its shares first, and then two funds followed suit.

During the period of the sell-off, Yu Fu He Zhiya visited him several times, asking if Hudong Heavy Machinery could still invest some more funds.

Chairman He was green with envy.

The 200 million yuan borrowed has almost turned into 470 million yuan!
This account alone bought 200 million yuan worth of BOE shares! It bought them at 2.15, and now the price is 4.3, exactly double!
Other stocks are also making a lot of money!

The Hudong Heavy Machinery that Chen Xuebing had them buy only increased in price from 15 yuan to 16.5 yuan, a mere 10%.

Half of the 5 million was invested, and the unrealized profit is 2500 million.

Although Yufu has been spending money to restructure others since its establishment, this is the first time it has earned so much money.

Although Leader Huang was overjoyed, he spent five yuan on his mobile phone to subscribe to stock market news for "Hudong Heavy Machinery" and "Kweichow Moutai".

although
But I'm afraid of comparisons!
Why do they drive cars when others use trucks to transport money?

Chairman He has been taking walks near the New York Tower these past few days whenever he has free time. He'll often stop on the 46th floor for a cup of tea, which annoys Chen Xuebing. Chen tells him to buy as much as he wants, since he won't lose money anyway.

Investors are currently in the same mindset.

You didn't buy enough!
You bought too few!
Why didn't they take out their savings for their funeral?

Fund No. 1 increased from 270 million to 620 million at the end of March, and Fund No. 2 increased from 200 million to 290 million.

Fund No. 2 was not the main force in acquiring BOE, but it still earned 45%.

According to the latest statistics from Fund No. 1, it has earned a profit of 317% since its inception!

Long March Capital has received countless calls lately asking when the next round of funding will be launched.

Some successful businesses can open several branches in a year, but you only opened two funds in half a year. Isn't that too slow?
Changzheng Capital could only keep explaining: It can't be opened, it really can't be opened.

I'm currently handling nearly 1.4 billion yuan worth of stocks! Do you think the stock market is like a bank, where a few percentage points of unrealized profit can be given to us?

Investing in 30 stocks at the same time would require an investment of 4600 million in each stock to complete the investment!

If it weren't for the fact that Changzheng Capital fought a major battle and still has a strong reputation, it would have been targeted by others long ago!
The place closest to money is the place closest to true human nature. Long March Capital recently had a good experience with the greed, anger, and ignorance of human nature.

Chen Xuebing sought peace and quiet on the 46th floor.

On May 18th, Kan Zhidong informed him that all of BOE's shares had been sold, with the average selling price all above four yuan. Only then did he open the back-end of several accounts, press the calculator for a while, and then the calculator output a number.

"Five, point, nine nine six."

This is the total amount from the three funds, representing his share.

He found it hard to remember, so he wrote a six on a piece of paper.

Then I pressed a button on the calculator.

"six."

I pressed it a few more times.

"666"

After giving himself a series of 6s, a bright smile finally appeared on his face. He picked up the phone on the table and called the administration office.

"Book two plane tickets to Shenzhen."

(End of this chapter)