Hong Kong variety show: The mastermind behind the scenes is emerging.

July to September 1982.

Hong Kong Island has entered a long and sweltering summer.

For Lu Chen, these two months have been extremely regular and fulfilling.

He lived like an ascetic, spending almost every day in the top-secret laboratory at the headquarters of Golden Harvest.

With the technical data obtained through reverse engineering, coupled with his max-level intelligence of Lv10, the results exploded like an geyser.

The "Kirin-1" logic chip, based on Lu Chen's reverse engineering design, has completed trial production at the former Jardine Matheson chip factory in Kwun Tong. Test data shows that, with almost no increase in cost, its computing performance is about 30% higher than that of mainstream consumer chips currently on the market.

This is a staggering figure. In the early days of Moore's Law, a 30% performance improvement was enough to put us a year ahead of the competition.

Jiahe Energy has also made breakthrough progress in high-density batteries. Cheng Yiyan has already led his team to acquire land in Kwun Tong to build a factory, ready to make a big splash.

As for the "epoch-making" product that Lu Chen had high hopes for—a palm-sized flip phone—many prototypes had already been designed. Although the current cost was still ridiculously high, its exquisite industrial design and clear call quality were enough to drive everyone who saw it crazy.

Lu Chen was waiting.

Waiting for the perfect opportunity, waiting for costs to come down, and even more so, waiting for... a windfall to serve as start-up capital.

During these two months, the Hang Seng Index was like a drunkard, staggering but always holding firm at a high level of 1600 points, and occasionally even breaking through the warning line, trying to rush towards 1700 points.

To avoid being forced to liquidate his positions, Lu Chen had to add another 50 million yuan in margin. This led to widespread ridicule, with people calling him a "spendthrift" and saying that his 350 million yuan short position would eventually be wiped out.

But Lu Chen remained unmoved.

He was waiting for the wind to come.

……

September arrived quickly.

As autumn winds rise, the sea in Victoria Harbour becomes turbulent.

A large delegation traveled from London, halfway around the world, to the capital.

The "Iron Lady," riding high on her victory at the Falklands War, entered the Great Hall of the People with her own scheme of "exchanging sovereignty for governance."

The atmosphere was tense from the very beginning of the negotiations.

Although the official reports were all peaceful, those well-informed financial tycoons had already sensed an unusual, bloody undercurrent.

Some pessimists had already predicted that Hong Kong Island would definitely be taken back. But those arrogant British conglomerates were blinded by their victory in the Falklands War, believing that as long as the Japanese Empire remained, Hong Kong Island would not be able to cause any trouble.

Unfortunately, as the negotiations progressed, more and more inside information leaked out. It was said that the old man was extremely tough at the negotiating table, refusing to budge an inch.

Now, some people panicked.

Especially those bankers who hold Lu Chen's short-selling betting agreements.

Central, Standard Chartered Bank Building.

William, the general manager of Standard Chartered Bank's Hong Kong Island branch, was pacing anxiously back and forth in his office.

"Damn it! How could this happen?!" William stared at the internal briefing that had just arrived, cold sweat pouring down his forehead. "If the negotiations really fall apart, the Hang Seng Index will drop by at least 20%! And what about our bet with Golden Harvest..."

He suddenly remembered the contract that Cheng Yiyan had signed three months ago, which he had looked at like he was an idiot.

If the Hang Seng Index plummets, they will not only fail to profit from Jiahe's short positions, but will also have to pay out huge price differences!

Although William did not know that the Hang Seng Index would be halved by 60% in the future, and he did not know that he would pay ten times the price, as an excellent banker, his intuition told him: he had to cut his losses!

……

Half an hour later.

Central, Golden Harvest Building.

An uninvited guest arrived at Cheng Yiyan's office.

William, a foreigner who was usually arrogant, was all smiles at this moment, and there were even fine beads of sweat on his forehead.

"Mr. Cheng, this coffee is really good." William made small talk, but his eyes were somewhat unfocused.

"Mr. William, you haven't come just for coffee, have you?"

Cheng Yiyan was a shrewd person. He slowly put down his cup and looked at the other person's restless appearance, feeling extremely pleased.

"Is it about the performance-based agreement?"

"Ahem...that's right," William cleared his throat and said seriously, "Mr. Cheng, I'm here today to discuss with your company the possibility of terminating our betting agreement ahead of schedule."

coming.

Cheng Yiyan sneered inwardly, but feigned surprise: "Terminate? Mr. William, if I remember correctly, the contract hasn't expired yet, has it? And the Hang Seng Index is currently at 1671 points, several dozen points higher than when we signed the contract. Terminating now would mean we at Golden Harvest would have to pay you a huge sum of money!"

William cursed the old fox for feigning ignorance inwardly, but could only pretend to be generous and say, "Mr. Cheng, you are aware of the current situation. Negotiations are underway, and the market is highly volatile. For the safety of both parties' funds, why don't we settle the matter now? We can waive Jiahe's penalty for breach of contract and all other fees; we only need to peacefully terminate the agreement."

"A peaceful resolution?" Cheng Yiyan laughed, a meaningful laugh. "Mr. William, that's not very fair. Our boss bet a hundred million of real money with you back then, weren't you all laughing happily then? Now that the wind has turned slightly off, you want to back down?"

Cheng Yiyan shook his head, his tone becoming firm: "I'm sorry, but my boss said he's a man who values ​​the spirit of contracts the most. Since it's signed, let's wait until it expires. If the stock market rises by then, Jiahe will honor its bet and compensate you in full."

"On the contrary..." Cheng Yiyan leaned forward, his eyes sharp, "If the stock market crashes, I also hope Standard Chartered Bank can act like a gentleman, so that everyone doesn't lose face!"

These words, though seemingly gentle, were actually quite forceful, effectively blocking William's path.

William's face instantly turned ugly. He knew that the other party had seized the opportunity to take a big bite out of him.

"Mr. Cheng, we've been friends for a while now. There's no need to push things too far," William took a deep breath and began to escalate the situation. "I know Golden Harvest has been making a lot of big moves lately and urgently needs cash flow. How about this: if you agree to terminate the contract now, I'll personally decide to give Golden Harvest... HK$30 million in compensation!"

Unfortunately, Cheng Yiyan didn't even lift an eyelid.

"Mr. William, you underestimate our boss."

"Fifty million!"

"It's not about money, it's about credibility."

"Seventy million!!"

"According to the cooperation agreement..."

"Cheng Yiyan!" William slammed his hand on the table, stood up abruptly, and glared at Cheng Yiyan. "Don't go too far! Seventy million is already an astronomical sum! Even if the Hang Seng Index really drops, you might not be able to earn that much! Nobody can predict the future. If the negotiations go smoothly and the stock market skyrockets, you'll lose everything!"

"Know when to stop!"

Despite William's furious expression, Cheng Yiyan's smile remained calm.

"Mr. William, it seems we can't reach an agreement," Cheng Yiyan said, picking up his coffee and taking a sip. "Show him out."

"you……"

William pointed at Cheng Yiyan, his finger trembling, and finally could only angrily curse, "Greedy vampire," before slamming the door and leaving.

In his view, Cheng Yiyan was simply a glutton, refusing to accept 70 million and insisting on gambling on that uncertain future.

But he could never have imagined that the "future" would be ten times more terrifying than his worst nightmare.

If he had known that the agreement would ultimately result in Standard Chartered Bank paying out a billion dollars, he would have knelt down and begged for forgiveness to redeem it today.

Unfortunately, there are no "what ifs" in life.

After getting rid of William, Cheng Yiyan went to Lu Chen's office.

"Boss, the Standard Chartered people just left. They wanted to redeem the agreement for 70 million, but I refused."

"Well done," Lu Chen said without looking up from the test report of the prototype phone. "What about the other banks?"

"They've all come, and some have even threatened to blacklist us commercially in the future."

"A ban?" Lu Chen sneered. "Once this hurdle is cleared, it's hard to say whether they'll still have a place in the bank."

"Just wait and see, Lao Cheng," Lu Chen put down the report in his hand and looked out at the gloomy sky. "The show is about to begin."

……

1982 9 Month 24 Day.

This is destined to be a day that will go down in history.

On this day, Hong Kong Island residents, who were originally focused on the negotiations, were suddenly shocked by a breaking news report on television.

In the video, Mrs. Margaret, known as the "Iron Lady," walks down the steps in a daze after ending her meeting with the old man.

She was wearing her signature blue suit and high heels.

Just as she reached the second-to-last step, whether due to unease or the fact that her high heels were truly ill-fitting, her legs buckled, she staggered, and ended up kneeling on one knee!

At that moment, it wasn't just her purse that fell to the ground.

What fell to the ground was the last vestige of Japan's pitiful dignity as an empire, and the fragile confidence of Hong Kong's capital market.

"Bang!"

This fall was like a heavy hammer blow, slamming into the chests of all the bullish camp.

For a head of state to experience such a situation at such an important diplomatic occasion, it must mean something truly terrible has happened to make her legs go weak!

Negotiations have broken down!

But people couldn't hold on any longer!

The return is a done deal!

This information spread like a virus throughout the world's financial markets in an instant.

Central, Standard Chartered Bank.

General Manager William stared at the images on the television, then slumped into his chair as if his soul had been ripped away.

"It's over...it's all over..."

He muttered to himself, his face ashen.

There is absolutely no need for complicated analysis.

The Iron Lady's kneeling shattered investors' confidence.

The Hang Seng Index opened sharply lower like a kite with a broken string and plummeted all the way down.

1400 points...broken!

1300 points...broken!

1200 points...broken!

The screen was filled with a shocking green. Those foreigners who had been shouting "the sun never sets" were now ashen-faced, and some even fainted on the spot in the exchange.

And in this desolate landscape...

On the top floor of the Jiahe Building, Lu Chen held a glass of red wine, watching the numbers steadily fall, a cruel and wild smile curling at the corner of his mouth.

Every point that drops adds astronomical wealth to his account.

This is not simply about making money.

This was a massacre of capitalism from the old era.

"Boss," Cheng Yiyan burst through the door, his voice trembling with extreme excitement, "It's broken below 1200 points! Our profits have exceeded 500 million!"

"Don't rush, this is just the beginning," Lu Chen took a sip of red wine, "Let the bullets fly a little longer."