The Great Sage Returns from Ten Years of Imprisonment

At 5 a.m., the New York WTI crude oil futures market closed down 5.5%, with the intraday drop exceeding 7% at one point.

Whether in London or New York, the market was exceptionally brutal, with bloodshed everywhere.

About five minutes before the close of trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, several investment teams led by Ling Yun completed their deployments and once again made a large-scale short sale of international crude oil futures.

As the New York WTI crude oil futures market closed, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

Immediately afterwards, everyone deflated like punctured balloons, slumping into their office chairs, too exhausted to even cheer or celebrate.

Ling Yun, however, didn't bother to rest. He simply stood up and stretched, taking it as a way to relax.

Then he turned to look at Deputy Director Li and General Manager Kong, and pointed to the office.

"Let's go to the office. I have some important things to discuss with the leaders, and then we'll go to the conference room for a debriefing and summary."

Deputy Director Li and General Manager Kong exchanged a glance and nodded in unison.

"Okay, Xiaoling."

Afterwards, everyone left the trading area and went to the office for a meeting.

As soon as he entered the office, Ling Yun saw him.

The sofas in the reception area were in a mess, with a towel lying on each one, and several briefcases on the coffee table next to them.

Without a doubt, those briefcases belong to Deputy Director Li and his team.

They spent several hours here last night before finally managing to make a mess of the place.

Seeing this, Ling Yun chuckled softly.

The next moment, he turned to look at President Kong and the others, and got straight to the point.

"Leaders, the financial crisis has still erupted, and its power far exceeds my expectations. It will have a profound impact on the global economic and financial order."

"Goldman Sachs' stock plummeted 12% today, with an intraday drop of nearly 15%. Everyone got their revenge, and I'm sure they made a fortune."

"Hahaha"

Before he could finish speaking, the CEOs burst into laughter.

While laughing, they all turned to look at Mr. Sun from China Aviation Oil.

The next moment, Mr. Sun nodded smugly.

"You're right, Xiao Ling. Today, thanks to Goldman Sachs, we finally got our revenge for being tricked a few years ago. It felt so good!"

"Not only that, we made a lot of money by shorting Goldman Sachs, which can be considered as interest and compensation from Goldman Sachs to our company."

Everyone burst into laughter again after Mr. Sun said that.

After the laughter subsided, Ling Yun returned to the main topic.

"This is a case of karma coming back to haunt us. Goldman Sachs is now facing an unprecedented liquidity crisis and will definitely try to save itself."

"Strike while the iron is hot. Airlines should seize this opportunity to immediately confront Goldman Sachs and demand the termination of that insidious fuel hedging agreement."

"Airlines can use Goldman Sachs' liquidity crisis as a bargaining chip to demand a significant discount on default penalties."

The CEOs' eyes lit up immediately, and they all nodded in agreement.

"That's right, it's time for us to confront Goldman Sachs and get rid of this persistent nuisance as soon as possible, otherwise we won't even be able to enjoy our meals."

"That amount of liquidated damages isn't a problem for the airlines, but how much is appropriate? We absolutely cannot let Goldman Sachs make exorbitant demands!"

Ling Yun glanced at the several CEOs and immediately gave his answer.

"A 50% discount is the maximum, and we will not budge. Although airlines have made a fortune recently, there's no reason for them to give it away to Goldman Sachs for nothing."

"Moreover, this matter must be resolved as soon as possible, no later than the 20th. Given Goldman Sachs' enormous resources, they should be able to find a way to save themselves very quickly."

"Once Goldman Sachs finds a solution to the liquidity crisis, we will lose some initiative, and we may have to pay a higher price."

Next, they continued discussing how to confront Goldman Sachs.

In about twenty minutes, they quickly finalized a basic negotiation plan and decided to contact Goldman Sachs that day.

Of course, prior to this, it is necessary to report to the Civil Aviation Administration of China and the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission.

If necessary, pressure can be exerted at a higher level on Goldman Sachs headquarters or its Shanghai branch to force them to agree to terminate the contract.

In the blink of an eye, the meeting had come to an end.

Just as everyone was getting up to leave the office, General Manager Kong suddenly asked curiously:

"Xiao Ling, you said Goldman Sachs faced a serious liquidity crisis but was able to find a solution quickly. Could you elaborate on the specifics?"

Why were Merrill Lynch and Lehman Brothers helpless in the face of the same liquidity crisis, forced to accept acquisition and bankruptcy?

"The same situation, when applied to Goldman Sachs, yielded drastically different results. What are the reasons for this, and how can Goldman Sachs resolve this problem?"

Not only General Manager Kong, but Deputy Director Li and the others were also very curious.

They all stopped and looked at Ling Yun.

Ling Yun glanced at these bigwigs and responded with a smile.

"There are several reasons why Goldman Sachs was able to resolve the crisis so quickly. The first reason is that Goldman Sachs is the world's largest investment bank and a flagship of Wall Street's investment banking industry; it absolutely cannot fall."

"If Goldman Sachs collapses or is acquired, this global financial crisis will spiral completely out of control, and neither the US government nor Wall Street can afford the severe consequences."

"The second reason is that Goldman Sachs has a huge network and influence, far surpassing Merrill Lynch and Lehman Brothers combined. For example, the current U.S. Treasury Secretary is the former CEO of Goldman Sachs."

"This determines that once Goldman Sachs faces a survival crisis, these powerful figures with vested interests will spare no effort to save it, regardless of any regulatory restrictions."

"Paulson's excuse for refusing to save Lehman Brothers doesn't work at Goldman Sachs. Goldman Sachs has a clever way to circumvent it, but I can't reveal it right now..."

Deputy Director Li and the others exchanged glances, their curiosity growing even stronger.

However, they were experienced and knew that Ling Yun must have his reasons for not revealing the method, so they did not press him for details.

If Ling Yun reveals this solution beforehand, and it accidentally leaks out and reaches the ears of Goldman Sachs executives, then it will be troublesome!

After discussing for a while, they left the office and went to the conference room next door.

At this moment, several investment directors and managers of various investment teams had gathered in the conference room, waiting for Ling Yun and Deputy Director Li.

Upon seeing them enter, everyone stood up, each one incredibly excited.

Ling Yun glanced at these guys with gleaming eyes, gently pressed his hand down, and said with a smile in a loud voice:

"Please have a seat, everyone. Let's start the meeting. Time is limited, so I'll try to get to the point quickly."

"After the debriefing, everyone can go back to rest. The AVIC Hotel has prepared a sumptuous breakfast. After breakfast, everyone can have a good night's sleep."

"Okay, Lingyun."

Everyone nodded in response and sat down in the chairs one after another.

Ling Yun turned to look at Deputy Director Li, then said jokingly:

"Just now in the office, Director Li asked me to guess how much the joint investment team's investment returns were today."

"I roughly estimated that the figure should be around seven billion US dollars, but Director Li said it was eight billion US dollars."

"If you include the profits from the investment departments of each airline, the total investment income for the day easily exceeds ten billion US dollars, which is an outrageous figure."

"I was shocked at the time, and I couldn't quite believe my ears. Now I want to know the exact number—is it really that exaggerated?"

"My God, over ten billion US dollars, really?"

Those who were hearing about this total revenue for the first time were equally startled and exclaimed in surprise.

Even Deputy Director Li and General Manager Kong, who were well aware of the situation, still had their eyes light up with excitement when they heard the profit figure again.

Just then, the deputy chief financial officer of AVIC suddenly interrupted.

"Director Li, executives, Ling Yun, your estimates are all too conservative!"

"We just summarized it again, and including the last hour, the joint investment team's total profits for today have exceeded nine billion US dollars."

"We haven't received the data from the investment departments of each airline yet. If we add up the investment returns of all the airlines, the total amount is even more staggering..."

The moment these words were spoken, the venue erupted in cheers!