The Great Sage Returns from Ten Years of Imprisonment

Ling Yun took a deep breath, knowing that he had successfully attracted the other party's attention.

He then smiled confidently and readily admitted his identity.

"My name is Ling Yun. I was a futures trader at Yuanda Group. Air China has business cooperation with Yuanda. I met you once last October when you came to the group for inspection."

"You were inspecting the site with Chairman Zhao at the time. Regarding my identity, you can call Chairman Zhao to verify. I can wait here for a while."

Upon hearing the keywords "Yuanda Group" and "Chairman Zhao," General Manager Kong's gaze softened considerably.

"So you're one of Chairman Zhao's investment elites. In that case, come sit down and let's have a chat!"

He waved his hand, signaling the Air China staff to move aside.

Ling Yun calmly stepped forward, walked straight to President Kong's side, politely shook hands with him, and then sat down on the sofa next to him.

His series of movements were fluid and confident, drawing the attention of several Air China executives present.

A hint of appreciation flashed in Mr. Kong's eyes as he asked with great interest:

"Tell me, young man, how did our airlines end up in such a precarious situation?"

"I was doing a perfectly good job as the chairman of Air China, and you've made me so uneasy. I even have to trouble you, an investment elite, to bump into me at the airport and remind me?"

Ling Yun seemed oblivious to the teasing undertone in his words.

This guy is a big shot who oversees two state-owned enterprises at the vice-ministerial level, China National Aviation Holding Company and Air China. On the surface, he's just a futures trader who recently resigned, a nobody!

Even though he himself is worth over a billion yuan, the combined assets of China National Aviation Holding Company and Air China are as high as eight or nine hundred billion yuan, making them incomparable!

In this situation, Mr. Kong's reaction is perfectly normal.

"Then I'll venture to share my opinion; please forgive any inaccuracies."

Ling Yun smiled and nodded, then abruptly changed the subject, dropping a bombshell.

"As far as I know, Goldman Sachs previously approached us to develop a high-value fuel hedging strategy for airlines such as Air China, claiming it could lock in fuel costs for each airline."

"Unbeknownst to them, Goldman Sachs' hedging strategy was actually a huge trap. If airlines cannot escape this trap in time, they will inevitably suffer huge losses."

He paused, then said, word by word:

"The reason this is considered a huge trap set by Goldman Sachs is because this hedging strategy offers very limited upside potential but near-limitless downside losses!..."

Seeing his confident tone, clear objectives, and mention of the potential huge losses faced by various airlines, Mr. Kong's expression immediately turned serious.

But he was an engineer by training and didn't understand those dazzling financial tricks, let alone complex financial derivatives like fuel hedging.

It's like being in a completely different world when you're not in the same profession!

He could hardly understand much of what was being said.

Lingyun understood this point, so he didn't delve into Goldman Sachs' fuel hedging strategy, and even when he did, President Kong was still confused.

He used the most straightforward method to sound the alarm face-to-face.

"According to my estimates, the maximum profit that airlines like Air China can make using this hedging strategy specially prepared by Goldman Sachs is no more than 300 to 500 million RMB."

"If international oil prices plummet, airlines could face losses of tens of billions of dollars, and these losses will continue to widen until the airlines go bankrupt or their hedging strategies expire."

The atmosphere froze instantly; everyone was startled and gasped in shock.

The ease on Mr. Kong's face vanished completely, replaced by an intense, unyielding solemnity.

Just then, Ling Yun's tone shifted again.

"The current situation is that international oil prices have begun to fall, dropping from a historical high of $147.2 to $138 in just a few days."

"Air China and China Eastern Airlines will definitely give back a lot of the profits they made through hedging. If international oil prices continue to fall, they will soon be losing money..."

Upon hearing this, Mr. Kong finally couldn't sit still any longer.

He gently waved his hand, interrupting Ling Yun with a serious expression.

"Thank you for reminding me, Xiaoling. From what you've said, the problem sounds quite serious and needs to be taken very seriously!"

"But I don't understand the intricacies of crude oil futures trading, so I need to get some information, especially about Goldman Sachs' hedging strategy."

"Only by understanding the relevant circumstances and organizing professionals to conduct in-depth research and analysis in conjunction with market trends can we decide how to respond!"

As he spoke, he pointed to Ling Yun's previous seat.

"Go back to your seat and sit for a while. I'll make a call to find out what's going on, and we'll talk later."

"No problem, I'll head over now."

Ling Yun stood up, his smile unchanged.

Just then, Mr. Kong suddenly called out to him.

"Xiaoling, which flight are you taking? Where are you planning to go? If we're going to talk for a while, I'll have someone adjust your flight."

"My home is in Beijing. I'm resigning to go home. My flight is CA..."

Ling Yun picked up the boarding pass and casually recited the flight number.

"Hey! We're on the same flight. I'm also going back to Beijing, so it's on our way."

"I said with a smile," Mr. Kong said.

"That would be wonderful, what a coincidence!"

Ling Yun smiled and nodded.

After chatting for a few more minutes, he turned and left.

As soon as he left, Mr. Kong's secretary whispered:

"Are airlines potentially losing tens of billions? Isn't this kid exaggerating a bit?"

"He's just an ordinary futures trader, and he just quit. To draw such a conclusion based on hearsay is quite arrogant!"

Mr. Kong glanced at his secretary, smiled, and shook his head.

"Regardless of whether it's alarmist or not, his analysis is reasonable and well-founded. Since this possibility exists, we cannot let our guard down!"

"I need to look into the fuel hedging strategy he proposed, especially since it came from Goldman Sachs, a top investment bank with a notorious track record."

Upon hearing this, the secretary immediately shut up.

Next, Mr. Kong waved for everyone to disperse a little.

Then he took out his phone from his pocket, walked to a secluded spot, and started making a call.

The call was answered quickly.

After exchanging greetings, Mr. Kong said with a smile:

"Chairman Zhao, I'd like to ask you about someone. This young man's name is Ling Yun. Is he a futures trader for your company?"

"I was in the VIP lounge at Pudong Airport when this guy approached me and we had a long chat!"

"One more thing, what's your opinion on Goldman Sachs' fuel hedging strategies for several airlines, including Air China and China Eastern?..."

Chairman Zhao was visibly taken aback upon hearing Ling Yun's name.

After Mr. Kong finished speaking, he burst into laughter.

"Hahaha, this monkey has actually dared to cause trouble in front of you, the great Buddha!"

"Xiao Ling's background and position are beyond reproach; you can rest assured. He is our group's most outstanding investment genius, unparalleled in his field!"

At this point, his tone became serious.

"Did he mean that Goldman Sachs' hedging strategy is flawed? If he said that, then there must be something wrong with the hedging strategy!..."

Upon hearing this, President Kong couldn't help but raise an eyebrow.

"An unparalleled investment genius, that's high praise! Looks like I need to take his opinion very seriously..."

After hanging up with Chairman Zhao, he called the head of Air China's investment department to get a brief overview of the situation.

As he listened to the investment director's presentation, his expression grew increasingly serious!

The call lasted a full half hour, until ground staff notified first-class passengers to board, at which point Mr. Kong hung up the phone with a worried expression.

Before long, everyone boarded the flight to Beijing smoothly.

Mr. Kong, his secretary, and Ling Yun entered the first-class cabin located in the front half of the plane one after the other.

As they were walking, Mr. Kong suddenly turned his head and said:

"Xiao Ling, could you please switch seats with Xiao Zhou? Let's continue our discussion about those issues!"

Ling Yun naturally wouldn't refuse this request.

"No problem, Mr. Kong."

As he spoke, he nodded to Secretary Zhou again.

Before long, everyone put down their luggage and sat down in their respective seats.

As soon as he sat down, Mr. Kong immediately asked in a low voice:

"Xiaoling, if Goldman Sachs' fuel hedging strategy is indeed a huge trap, how do we break free from it?"

Without the slightest hesitation, Lingyun immediately offered a solution.

"There are two ways to break free from this huge trap set by Goldman Sachs. I'll just offer my thoughts, and you can take them with a grain of salt."

"The first solution is to terminate the contract immediately, even at the cost of paying penalties. Air China and other airlines are currently making some hedging profits, which should cover part of the losses!"

"The second method is to short sell heavily in the international crude oil futures market to hedge the risk, making up for losses inside the dam with losses outside the dam..."

Mr. Kong seemed to be deep in thought.

"you mean……"

"If Goldman Sachs can create problems for airlines, why can't we turn the tables on them?"

Ling Yun chuckled coldly, a hint of cunning in his voice.

"They assume the airlines don't understand the rules of the international crude oil futures game, so why not play a game with them?"

Upon hearing this, Mr. Kong's eyes lit up immediately.

About half an hour later, the Air China flight slowly taxied onto the runway, began to accelerate along the runway, and then roared into the sky, flying straight towards Beijing!