Rebirth 1983: Building My Business Empire
Chapter 490 - Chapter 490 Chapter 478 Black Monday (2)

Chapter 490: Chapter 478: Black Monday (2) Chapter 490: Chapter 478: Black Monday (2) Hong Kong, 10 AM, the stock market opened on time. The Hang Seng Index plummeted at the opening, influenced by the panic selling in the New York Stock Market.

Although Nie Zhan had sold his stocks short, Lu Jiaxin shorted the Hang Seng Index, so he also closely monitored the stock market. Ten minutes after the opening, he received a call from his manager, and his feelings were mixed upon hearing what the other party said.

Due to the New York Stock Market’s crash, the Hang Seng Index dropped by 120 points right at the opening, an unprecedented event. For Jiaxin, it was good news, but for Wan Sheng Bank, it was extremely dangerous. They hadn’t followed his advice to retract their funds in time, and this stock market disaster was sure to be historic, causing many bad debts and posing a significant challenge to the bank.

Mr. Su Heyuan didn’t have such timely information; he was just going about his normal workday. He had a meeting scheduled right at ten, and after it ended, he discussed matters with the sales manager and a few middle managers for a long time.

Busy all the way till noon, he planned to go down to the restaurant for lunch. Upon leaving his office, he noticed that the atmosphere outside was not right.

Mr. Su called over Secretary-General Huang Pingping and asked, “What’s happened?”

Secretary-General Huang was average in looks but highly capable. Many bosses preferred young and beautiful secretaries with good figures, but Heyuan didn’t mix business with pleasure. Moreover, he wasn’t married, and having a good-looking secretary would be an obstacle in finding a partner.

Secretary Huang asked in surprise, “You don’t know, Boss?”

“What is it, just tell me,” he said.

Secretary Huang thought he must have been busy reviewing documents, so he hadn’t heard the news. She said with a grim face, “The stock market fell by 120 points at the opening, and by the time it closed, it had dropped by 235 points. We looked into it, and it turns out the New York Stock Market crashed. If this trend continues, it will fall even more when the market opens this afternoon…”

She didn’t finish saying the word “drop,” as it was too inauspicious. All her savings went into buying stocks, and in half a year, they had more than doubled in value. But with such a drop, she might not even recoup her principal.

Mr. Su was both shocked and delighted, “It dropped that much?”

Huang, thinking he was in shock and not in his right mind, quickly said, “Boss, Boss, our company sold almost all of the properties we opened last month and recouped nearly two billion in funds. Now with the stock market crashing and real estate not selling well, we’re actually in an advantageous position.”

Mr. Su didn’t bother with her and turned back to his office to make a phone call. After confirming the situation with the stock manager, he excitedly called Lu Jiaxin.

Miao Na answered the phone and said upon hearing his voice, “The boss has gone to class and won’t be back until school lets out. If you have anything, call again after five!”

Jiaxin wouldn’t come back at noon; she would either read or revise at school.

After hanging up, Miao Na was somewhat puzzled. Mr. Su knew the boss’s schedule, so why would he call at this time? But hearing his excited tone, she assumed it was good news, so she turned her attention away and let it go.

Mr. Su was, indeed, excited at the moment, but this was not the kind of thing he could discuss openly with others. Not everyone was like him, selling their stocks to short the Hang Seng Index.

After thinking a bit, Mr. Su called Nie Zhan, proposing to treat him and Jiaxin to a big meal in the afternoon.

Nie Zhan was going to visit the old family home after work, so it didn’t conflict with Mr. Su’s invitation, “Mr. Su, I have other plans tonight. Why don’t you and Jiaxin go together?”

“Alright.”

“Mr. Su, congratulations.”

“Best wishes to you too,” he replied.

Nie Zhan chuckled and said, “Jiaxin bought some, but I didn’t.”

“Ah, you didn’t buy? Didn’t Jiaxin tell you to?”

Nie Zhan responded, “She bought, which is enough. If there’s a margin call, I’m still here to back her up!”

Although he didn’t follow the short selling, he took Jiaxin’s advice on promotions and sold all the houses in two real estate projects last month. After repaying 23% of the debt with the funds recouped, there was still a little surplus left, and the money raised from last month’s rights offering was still in the account.

With so much cash on hand, as soon as the Hong Kong stock market opened to significant losses, he immediately convened a senior management meeting. The agenda was to discuss land hoarding and the company’s next steps for development.

There are four ways to hoard land: government auctions, buying land from private hands, trading land rights, and acquiring old buildings. Wansheng Real Estate had over 1.2 billion in cash flow, and he was ready to use 1 billion of it for land hoarding.

Su Heyuan was startled at first but then felt Jiaxin’s choice to reach out to him was truly insightful, “Mr. Nie, we should have dinner together when you’re free.”

“Sure.”

The market opened at one in the afternoon and closed at four, falling another 165.8 points, bringing the total drop for the day to 420.8 points, a decline of over ten percent.

After the market closed, Su Heyuan walked around his office twice in joy, muttering to himself, “I’ve hit it big, this time we’ve really hit it big.”

According to the trend, the stock market was bound to fall further. He followed Lu Jiaxin’s advice and used a leverage of ten times, which meant he had doubled his money that day.

Su Heyuan couldn’t focus on company matters. He drove to the university and waited for over half an hour before Lu Jiaxin came out.

As soon as he saw Lu Jiaxin, Su Heyuan excitedly said, “Jiaxin, the stock market crashed, we’ve made a fortune, we’ve really made a killing this time.”

Seeing people around them looking over, Lu Jiaxin couldn’t help but hold her forehead, “There are many people here, let’s talk about this back at the apartment.”

“Forget the apartment, I’ll take you out for a big meal.”

Lu Jiaxin wasn’t interested in a big meal, “I have a lot of homework today. Treat me to a nice meal on the weekend instead!”

Seeing her so calm, Su Heyuan knew she had already heard the news. It made sense, as nearly everyone in Hong Kong was involved in the stock market, including teachers and school staff.

Back at the apartment, Su Heyuan couldn’t contain himself, “The Hang Seng Index fell over 10% today, we’ve doubled our money.”

“The Hang Seng Index will continue to fall, but how much more is unclear.”

Based on memory, during the 1987 stock market crash, the Hang Seng Index had fallen nearly fifty percent. With a leverage of ten times on their shorts, they could make more than four times their investment.

Su Heyuan said with a smile, “The more it falls, the better, of course. Jiaxin, if it wasn’t for you this time, I wouldn’t have made money; I would have lost a lot. Tell me what you want, and I’ll buy it for you.”

This time, Lu Jiaxin didn’t hold back. She could make over a hundred million following her advice this time, “I like old items such as famous paintings, porcelains, and jades.”

Su Heyuan laughed, “Alright then, there’s an auction next month. I’ll give you the list of items then. Just tell me what you like.”

Upon hearing this, Lu Jiaxin thought that if there were items she liked, she might buy them for her collection.

Su Heyuan was actually very curious about how much Jiaxin had bought, but he considered it a private matter and didn’t ask, “I called Nie Zhan at noon. He congratulated me, and that’s when I found out he hadn’t bought in.”

Lu Jiaxin laughed, “He is not a fan of taking risks, which I think is quite good. What we’re doing is essentially gambling. He prefers to be cautious and steady, which is good as well.”

Su Heyuan felt that they complemented each other, “Jiaxin, you must have made quite a fortune this time. What do you plan to invest in?”

Lu Jiaxin said with a smile, “I haven’t decided yet. What about you? You already have some ideas.”

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