My absurd experiences in North America over the years

Spring came later than usual in 2008.

The oak trees in Nashville were slow to sprout, their withered branches swaying in the cold wind like dry hands reaching towards the sky.

Li Fu stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling window in his office, holding a glass of water that had gone cold, looking at the state flag fluttering in the cold wind atop the dome of the state capitol building in the distance.

Several reports were spread out on his desk.

The numbers are densely packed, like a line of ants marching in formation, having crawled from the end of 2006 until now.

In January 2007, his account balance reached $1 million, at which point he stopped his strategy of frequently buying low and selling high, and waited for an opportunity.

Then, with a leverage of 400 times, a minimum position of 5% and a maximum of 10%, they would occasionally buy euros and sell dollars when prices were low.

Throughout 2007, the euro rose steadily against the dollar from 1.29 at the beginning of the year. After each time he added to his position, he would move up the stop-loss line to keep his position in a safe position.

Throughout the year, profits snowballed, growing larger and larger.

By Christmas 2007, the account's unrealized profit had exceeded $150 million.

At this point, anyone would probably close their position.

At least a portion should be liquidated for cash.

Even Buffett or Soros were no exception when they were young.

However, Li Fu remained unmoved. He knew clearly that the time was not yet right, and he was waiting for the historical peak of 1.6.

Thompson returned to work after the St. Clair disappearance case. He still misses his sister Odovia, but for now, he can only look forward.

On March 16, when news broke that Bear Stearns had been acquired by JPMorgan Chase for two dollars per share, Li Fuzheng was sitting in his office watching the euro-dollar exchange rate, which had reached a high of 1.57.

All the staff, including Thompson and his two assistants Lina, were thrilled.

Everyone was waiting for Li Fu to give the order to close the positions.

Li Fu remained motionless.

The collapse of Wall Street's fifth-largest investment bank did indeed make the dollar scream like a cat whose tail has been stepped on, allowing the euro to soar.

This was already a harbinger of the impending financial tsunami.

However, Li Fu knew that the peak had not yet been reached.

In April, the oak trees in Nashville were sprouting new buds.

On April 22, he turned on his computer, and a number he had been waiting for popped up on the screen—1.6017.

This is a record high since the euro was introduced.

He made no announcement and did not issue any order to close the position.

Because he had set the take-profit level for all his positions at the historical peak of 1.16 early on.

The account has been automatically closed.

Li Fu saw the numbers on the screen jump up; the initial six million had become six hundred and thirty million.

A total of 630 million US dollars.

He put the mouse down, leaned back in his chair, and let out a long breath.

Sunlight streamed in through the gaps in the blinds, casting a thin band of light on the table. He placed his finger on that band of light, and his fingertip was illuminated by the light, turning it a translucent orange-red.

Even for a time traveler like him, earning over 600 million US dollars on his first investment still felt somewhat like a dream.

His employees were already jumping and cheering outside his office. He had promised all nine of them that on the day the positions were liquidated, each of them would receive at least $500,000 in bonuses.

Five hundred thousand dollars was undoubtedly a huge sum of money in the context of the impending 2008 financial crisis.

It's normal for them to cheer and jump for joy.

The news reached JPMorgan Chase's top management even faster than it reached the Forrest family.

Li Fu's trading account was opened in the private banking division of JPMorgan Chase. The Forrest family had a long-term and stable business relationship with JPMorgan Chase, and the investment company's salary cards were also issued by JPMorgan Chase.

When the $630 million liquidation record popped up in the system, the risk controller on duty thought he had misread the decimal point.

He rubbed his eyes, looked at it again, and immediately sent the screenshot to his department head.

The department head was also bewildered and sent the screenshot to Jackson, the vice president of the private banking department.

Jackson flew from New York to Nashville that afternoon.

He managed to contact Li Fu, and with a very respectful attitude, he immediately extended an invitation after introducing himself: "Mr. Li, do you have some time recently? I would like to invite you to a meal."

Li Fu politely declined, saying, "I'm sorry, I've been quite busy lately."

He has limited affinity for capital.

Jackson didn't give up. He called twice more, and on the third call, he cautiously invited, "We have several friends at our New York headquarters who are very interested in your trading strategy. If you have time, they will fly over immediately to consult with you in person."

Li Fu understood the implied meaning.

Is this an attempt to poach him from the past?

"Please thank them for me," he declined again, "I'll contact you when I have time to go to New York."

He will definitely go to New York this year.

However, the goal wasn't to meet any financial tycoons, but rather to buy up healthy assets affected by the financial crisis.

Jackson had no choice but to give up when he learned that the young man's relationship with the Forrest family was much deeper than he had imagined, and he temporarily abandoned this cash cow.

However, Li Fu's legendary trading skills quickly spread throughout the financial world.

His investment returns are truly astonishing.

Even on Wall Street, where financial legends are never lacking, this move is truly unique.

The news media gave it extensive coverage, and eventually even traders in London and Hong Kong were discussing how that Chinese man in Nashville had grown from a starting capital of six million dollars to six hundred million.

Li Fu himself has become even more low-key lately. He never makes public appearances, does not give interviews, and does not participate in any financial activities.

To those amateur retail investors, he was like a non-existent person, but his trading records were actually stored on JPMorgan Chase's servers, with each transaction having a time record and each number able to withstand auditing and scrutiny.

Various versions of speculation have even begun to circulate on Wall Street.

Some say he was Soros's last disciple.

Some say he is actually a quantitative trading team, and the model he uses was written by a mathematician from the former Soviet Union.

Some say he made a deal with the Forrest family, using the account to launder money for them.

In short, no one guessed correctly.

In May, the weather in Nashville started to get hot.

Taylor Swift's second album, "Fearless," underwent final mixing and polishing at the end of April.

The lead single, "Love Story," was officially released in mid-May, debuting at number one on the Billboard Country Music chart and also cracking the top five on the pop chart.

The music video was played on MTV and also spread overseas. The image of Taylor Swift wearing a retro white dress and standing in front of a castle became the wallpaper of countless people's phones.

Including ancient countries across the ocean.

Universal Music's promotion of this album was far greater than the one Li Fu remembered from his previous life.

Lucy helped to connect them, leveraging the Forrest family's influence in Nashville, the music capital, and most importantly—Taylor Swift's unique and dazzling musical talent.

All these factors combined have accelerated this super rookie's breakthrough by at least a year.

Big Machine Records' valuation surpassed $150 million in the second week after the release of "Love Story," and is expected to rise significantly.

Forbes website marvels at how the country music princess's business empire is expanding at a faster pace than her songs.

In fact, Taylor Swift's personal net worth is now higher than that of her company.

That evening, Li Fu returned home from the company and happened to run into Taylor Swift's mother, Andrea.

She was delighted to see Li Fu and insisted on inviting him to her home.

Unable to refuse, he went.

To his surprise, Lucy was also there.

Because this young lady shares a love of music with Taylor Swift and they often attend various fashion events and music festivals together, the two have become very close friends.

Li Fu's arrival clearly surprised them.

Taylor Swift had a very good impression of him; strictly speaking, she had a very strong romantic bias towards him, that dreamlike connection, his cool and handsome image, and the superhero aura he later gained by single-handedly storming a cult's lair...

It's hard not to become a girl's ideal man.

She was very happy to see Li Fu.

"Oh, so our busy CEO Li has finally found some free time?" Lucy joked.

She went to see Li Fu twice, but the whole team was so busy that they were working overtime until late at night, researching what good assets were available on the East and West coasts.

Taylor Swift knew they knew each other, but she didn't know the specifics of their relationship.

The "shadow" of the Forrest family always loomed over the two, and Thomas did not allow their relationship to be made public.

"I'll definitely be a bit free today," Li Fu said, scratching his head.

He always needs to find an excuse.

Otherwise, you might have time to visit your artists' homes, but not time for romantic moments under the moon and flowers, right?

Lucy rolled her eyes and ignored him.

Overall, the unexpected gathering was quite enjoyable.

Their careers are all progressing further. Lucy is now preparing to work for the city government and will be able to run for positions such as state legislator in a year or two.

With the support of his family background, his future path will undoubtedly be smooth and successful.

However, Taylor Swift did notice some clues.

Li Fu and Lucy are just too in sync.

Today is a private occasion, so there's nothing to be shy about. The occasional displays of affection are impossible to hide.

This made her feel a little down, and she immediately thought of a song she had been working on, "You Belong with Me".

You should be with me!

But then she immediately shook her head.

She and Lucy are good friends; she shouldn't have such thoughts.

As the party ended, the future superstar watched them leave, his thoughts churning, and his creative desires surged forth like a spring.

Meanwhile, Li Fuzheng was planning to take Lucy back.

As a result, he ran into Cole again when he passed by his own door.

Cole had obviously been waiting there for a while.

The bodyguards and driver stood guard at a distance.

The siblings were both somewhat surprised to meet.

"Lucy, you go home first," Cole gestured to his driver to take his sister home first. "I need to talk to Lee about something."

Lucy thought they could at least take a walk together today, but one thing after another happened, and she got into Cole's car with a bit of a grumpy feeling.

It was already June, and Li Fu was unaware that several hedge funds on Wall Street were trying to find his contact information, hoping to poach him with high salaries.

Cole came for this very reason.

Before he arrived, his father even called him in for a talk.

Thomas Forrest, as the head of the family's powerful clan, was exceptionally well-informed.

At least three hedge fund partners have already booked flights to Nashville.

Their goal was to see Li Fu.

Then they will spare no effort, and may even resort to any means, to poach him to Wall Street.

"Dad, I think..." Cole stood in the study, carefully choosing his words.

"What do you think?" Thomas didn't look up, still flipping through a document in his hand.

"I think we need to let outsiders know that Li Fu is one of our people," Cole said with certainty.

Thomas's fingers paused. He looked up at Cole. "You think they really don't know?"

Although he hasn't made any public statements, everyone in Nashville with real status knows this.

But then again, what good does knowing do?

Capital is profit-driven, and those financial tycoons are all people who profit from human suffering; they would do anything for profit.

Cole thought about it and realized he had been too hasty to remember that.

Thomas remained silent for a moment.

"There's a dinner party at home next Saturday. Have Lucy bring him."

He felt that no one could compete with the Forrest family, because Li Fu was Lucy's lover.

Cole paused for a moment, "Next Saturday? Isn't that..."

“I know,” Thomas interrupted him, “so let him come.”

Cole looked into his father's eyes; those deep brown eyes held no emotion, but he knew what it meant.

The Forrest family's banquets are not open to just anyone; attendees must be either family members or the family's most important business partners.

Li Fu's presence in that setting was itself a statement.

The father has most likely made a fundamental change from tacitly approving their relationship but forbidding it from being made public.

Today is different from the past.

Cole is here to tell Li Fu to prepare himself mentally, and also to tell him what he needs to pay attention to at the banquet.

When Li Fu heard what Cole said, he thought he was hallucinating.

At this moment, the television is showing footage of the White House, where President Bush is giving a speech. His tone is calm, but there is an undisguised anxiety in his eyes. The Republican Party's prospects in the upcoming election are not optimistic.

However, Li Fu wasn't that happy.

Because he knew that this intimacy was only temporary.

Five months from now, President Obama, a Black man, will take office. As the leading anti-China figure in the Democratic Party, he will formulate the Indo-Pacific Strategy as soon as he takes office, aiming to completely contain the major Eastern power.

From this point on, the United States will be swept by an anti-China wave that will last for nearly two decades, and capital and politicians will respond to this trend.

What will Thomas Forrest do at that time?

He and Lucy will stand the test of time!

This is what is meant by a grain of sand in the era falling on an ordinary person, like a mountain.

However, Li Fu still decided to go.

The future is the future; he must live in the present moment.