My absurd experiences in North America over the years

Around 3 p.m., the main building of Forrest Manor was bathed in the late autumn sunlight, which slanted across the stone pavement and cast long shadows on the window frames.

Li Fu followed Lucy through the main building's corridor. He had been here several times before and noticed that there was an extra painting on the wall.

The painting depicts a rare autumn landscape in southwestern Tennessee, with the outlines of distant mountains layered under fallen leaves, surprisingly exhibiting an Eastern-style imagery rather than a Western realistic style.

He didn't stop walking, but he couldn't help but take a few more glances. Could it be that Thomas was paying more and more attention to the East?

Cole was already in the study. He stood by the window, his tie slightly loose, his coat draped over the back of the chair, clearly having come directly from the state government.

Thomas sat behind his desk with several documents spread out in front of him, but he was clearly not looking at them; they seemed to be just there to occupy space on the desk rather than actually needing to read them.

He saw Li Fu walk in, and his gaze lingered on him for a moment. This kid had risen step by step under his very nose, becoming a glaring presence even Washington found irritating.

Thomas tilted his head slightly, gesturing for Li Fu to sit down.

Lucy sat down next to Li Fu, and Cole also came over and sat on the sofa. The light in the study dimmed just right, as if it had automatically adjusted to an atmosphere suitable for discussing serious matters.

"It's been almost a year since we last met, and you still look as radiant as ever!" Thomas said with a smile.

If possible, he truly wished Li Fu were his son. With Li Fu's business acumen, the three siblings working together would surely bring great success to the Forrest family.

Unfortunately, that's impossible.

"Thanks to Uncle, things have been going quite smoothly for the past six months, so my mental state is naturally very good," Li Fu said politely.

Then, he opened his briefcase, pulled out a report and placed it on the table. "This is the settlement report for the Australian dollar position. We just closed the position last night. The initial position plus the two pullbacks that led to additional positions resulted in a total profit of US$66.39 billion."

This number is astonishing at any time.

Although Thomas had always known that the United Fund's unrealized profits were exaggerated, the heavy feeling of realizing the huge profits still left him somewhat dazed.

The report is ready. Management fees and performance-based bonuses total $13.28 billion. Forrest Capital, as a 20% investor, will receive $10.62 billion in dividends this time, for a total of $23.9 billion.

After deducting a range of expenses and team salaries and bonuses, there is still $23.7 billion.

Theoretically, the Forrest family's pre-tax income was $7.17 billion. Even if Li Fu, as the decision-maker, only distributed half of the profits as dividends and reinvested the rest, they would still have $3.085 million in income.

The entire joint fund had only been operating for a little over six months, yet its terrifying earning power was astonishing.

However, this matter still has flaws.

Because the financial statements clearly show that CP Group can distribute dividends of 15.93 billion, half of which is close to 800 million, far exceeding that of the Forrest family.

Thomas frowned upon seeing this. He had never understood why CP Group could hold such a large share. "I've always had a question: why did you choose CP Group as your partner in New York, and why were you willing to concede such a large amount of profit?"

He needs an answer, otherwise he will always feel betrayed.

CP and his relationship has always been good, but that's all.

The real protectors were the Forrest family, and Li Fu's series of investments went so smoothly precisely because he was disguised as Forrest Capital.

"Uncle, do you believe I can predict the future?" Li Fu did not answer directly, but asked in a serious tone.

His tone and expression showed no sign of joking.

Not to mention Thomas, even Lucy and Cole, who were more familiar with Li Fu, would inevitably have to think about it seriously.

This question is the source of all confusion.

In fact, speculation about this has been rampant for the past six months, especially in the financial sector.

Li Fu accurately predicted the subprime mortgage crisis, enabling Lucy to sell off most of the Forrest family's real estate projects ahead of time, and then use 400 times leverage to dominate the foreign exchange market.

He was the first to dare to use $50 million with 400 times leverage, investing 80% of his capital to go long on the US dollar against the trend.

A thorough count of the institutions and individuals who made a fortune on Wall Street over the past two years reveals that none of them were not shorting dollar assets, especially Li Fu's entry point, which was just a hair's breadth away from the historical high.

The same applies to the acquisition of Big Machine Records.

As he himself said, Taylor became a rising superstar in just two years, with his albums constantly setting new records for country music.

It would be unreasonable to say that he cannot predict the future.

Thomas clearly remembers that when Li Fu first came to his study, he gave a long talk about feng shui, explaining that the south side of a mountain and the north side of a river are considered yang, and that the appearance of Venus in broad daylight easily leads to war. He still remembers these terms.

"Li, do you think the CP, who is preparing to enter politics, will achieve great things in the future?" Cole immediately thought of this.

However, he still didn't think about it too deeply, after all, CP is currently a political novice.

"That's good," Li Fu nodded, "If things follow a normal trajectory, he has potential in the future..."

He suddenly stopped talking at this point.

"What will the future hold?" Lucy couldn't help but nudge Li Fu with her shoulder.

Thomas himself also leaned forward.

The Forrest family was waiting for him to continue!

"There's an old Chinese saying, 'Heavenly secrets must not be revealed.' If I do speak of them, it will only be in this study. Once we leave this room, we must not mention them to anyone. If you can do that, I will continue," Li Fu said, creating an atmosphere of mystery to the extreme.

Thomas, Cole, and Lucy exchanged glances and nodded.

Li Fu took a deep breath and continued, "If things follow the normal trajectory, the CCP will eventually take control of... the White House."

"What?"

The Forrest family blurted it out almost simultaneously.

At that time, no one believed that the CP could succeed. Even five years later, most people believed that the CP would not even pass the party primary.

Perhaps only his own beliefs never wavered.

"I can only say that it's a high-probability event, just like when I heavily shorted Europe and the US more than a year ago," Li Fu said, not making any definitive statements, as speaking too definitively would make him sound like a charlatan.

Moreover, there might be some unpredictability if the CCP enters politics too early.

He might not be able to defeat that black president in 2012. The rise of MAGA will take some time. Li Fu is unsure whether two years is enough, or whether the historical turning point has been reached.

When Thomas heard Li Fu mention that time with 400x leverage and an 80% position, even though it still sounded absurd that the CCP could enter the White House, he couldn't help but believe it to some extent.

"If you predicted this, then I can understand," he finally felt somewhat relieved.

Planning ahead for the future president is the right thing to do.