Chapter 547: Gold Prices Skyrocket!

Hong Kong Island. Suburbs!

In a cramped little apartment, Yang Qian stared at the telegraph machine before her, her mind in a jumble, unsure how to report the situation here to her superiors.

She had been assigned by the State Administration of Foreign Exchange to infiltrate Star International Investment Company and monitor the movements of those 200 million in foreign exchange!

Although, after a thorough investigation into Li Yi’s background, her superiors had concluded it was unlikely he would embezzle the funds.

But after all, it was 200 million in foreign exchange—the equivalent of how much oil and agricultural products the country had exported to earn that amount.

If it were to simply vanish like this, who could possibly bear the responsibility?

That is why Yang Qian, an agent with a special status, had been sent to Hong Kong.

Of course, her mission in Hong Kong Island involved not only overseeing that foreign exchange but also carrying out other secret assignments.

But after Yang Qian successfully joined Starry Sky Company, she discovered that the company’s operations were particularly peculiar.

She had assumed that a company holding tens of billions of Hong Kong dollars would be busy every day seeking out projects to invest in.

Yet the reality was quite the opposite. Although the employees appeared busy—meeting clients and signing contracts daily—they were rarely seen seeking out investment projects.

Moreover, as soon as they secured an investment—regardless of the amount—they would immediately convert it into U.S. dollars and deposit it into designated banks.

Even the $200 million in foreign currency shipped from the mainland was deposited in batches at major banks like Citibank, Hang Seng, and Standard Chartered as soon as it arrived on Hong Kong Island.

What surprised Yang Qian the most was that the deposit term for this money was a full year.

In other words, the company would be unable to access this money for a full year, unless they were willing to forgo the interest.

This move left Yang Qian completely baffled. What on earth was Starry Sky Corporation up to? Could it be that their so-called “investment” simply meant putting money in the bank to earn interest?

If that were the case, why would the government even need to seek out Li Yi?

Because of this, Yang Qian specifically asked Manager Lan from the Investment Management Department about it, only to be told that it was the Big Boss’s order.

Feeling helpless, Yang Qian decided after work to report the situation back to China.

But once she sat down at the telegraph machine, she hesitated.

Although she hadn’t witnessed Li Yi’s dominance in the Hong Kong stock market firsthand, she had seen how he negotiated with higher-ups.

and with just a few words, that young man had forced the bureau to submit a report to the highest levels, ultimately securing approval to allocate 200 million in precious foreign exchange for him to manage.

Recalling her previous meeting with Li Yi, Yang Qian was convinced he wouldn’t treat such a massive sum lightly; there must be a deeper purpose behind his actions.

With that thought, her hand resting on the telegraph key couldn’t help but relax!

She decided not to report this situation back just yet; she would wait and see how things developed. There might be other developments down the line.

After all, the money had already been deposited in the bank, so security shouldn’t be a major concern for the time being.

Having made this decision, Yang Qian immediately put away the telegraph machine and hid it in a secret compartment in the bathroom.

After finishing all this, she walked slowly to the window and gazed out at the brightly lit city in the distance. Yang Qian couldn’t help but marvel at the prosperity of this place.

Although she had only been here for three or four days, she was amazed by everything about this city every single day—such as the high salaries, high property prices, and high rents.

Back home, she was a section-level official earning a Grade 18 salary of 89 yuan a month—which was considered a high salary in a country where 36 yuan was considered a fortune.

But here, even a random janitor at the company earned 2,000 Hong Kong dollars a month—the equivalent of about 700 yuan back home.

As for her colleagues, their base salaries were generally around 3,500 Hong Kong dollars, and department heads could even earn 5,000 to 6,000 Hong Kong dollars—equivalent to roughly 2,000 yuan back home.

That’s 20 times what she used to earn!

Of course, while she earns more here, the cost of living is also higher.

Take the small apartment she’s currently renting, for example. It’s only 25 square meters, and back home, the rent would definitely not exceed 8 yuan.

But here, it costs over 260 Hong Kong dollars a month—which is actually more than her monthly salary back home—and this isn’t even in the city center.

In the city center, a flat like this would cost at least 400 Hong Kong dollars a month.

Moreover, the people here—men and women alike—talk almost exclusively about money and housing, rather than the country, ethnicity, or matters of sentiment and ideals.

Compared to these people, Yang Qian, who used to think highly of herself, felt she was far too naive. She might even end up being sold out by them and still have to count out the money for them!

She was genuinely surprised at how that young man had managed, single-handedly, to completely outclass the elite of Hong Kong’s financial sector!

And was the investment opportunity he mentioned really as simple as just depositing money in a bank?

……….

In the same city, while Yang Qian was wrestling with her thoughts, Lan Xinyi was also suffering from insomnia!

Just this afternoon, she had mortgaged her only home to the bank and secured a loan of 250,000 Hong Kong dollars.

Combined with the 150,000 she’d earned over the years, plus 200,000 borrowed from her brother and other relatives and friends, she’d scraped together a full 600,000.

She then exchanged that money for nearly 120,000 US dollars and deposited it in the bank. She used the certificate of deposit as collateral to secure a loan of 580,000 Hong Kong dollars to invest in gold—exactly following the investment model currently employed by Starry Company.

It’s safe to say she’s staked her entire net worth on this.

This was the biggest gamble she had ever taken since entering the financial world.

If she failed, she would be left with nothing—and would even be saddled with massive debt!

But Lan Xinyi had no regrets; she trusted Li Yi’s judgment and was confident that this time, they wouldn’t lose money.

After all, compared to the mere 600,000 Hong Kong dollars she had invested, the big boss Li Yi had poured in over 6 billion Hong Kong dollars.

In fact, just a couple of days ago, he had injected another 200 million US dollars—which, when converted, amounts to over 1 billion Hong Kong dollars.

And that was precisely why Lan Xinyi was willing to take the gamble; even if they lost, she was prepared to accept it.

Although she had mentally prepared herself to accept any outcome, she still couldn’t help but suffer from insomnia.

However, just as Lan Xinyi was trying to figure out how to fall asleep quickly, a frantic knock suddenly sounded at the door.

In the middle of the night, living alone in her apartment, this sudden knocking inevitably made Lan Xinyi feel a bit nervous.

After all, public safety in Hong Kong these days was far from ideal, and late-night home invasions were nothing new.

Filled with worry, she first went to the kitchen to grab a kitchen knife, then cautiously asked, “Who is it?”

“Xinyi, it’s me!”

Hearing her brother’s voice, Lan Xinyi finally let out a sigh of relief and opened the door.

“Brother, why did you come over so late at night?”

Lan Xinyi’s voice sounded a bit anxious as she spoke.

Although her brother’s place wasn’t too far from hers, it was still two blocks away, and walking there was quite a distance.

Besides, it was so late now; unless something had happened, it was highly unlikely her brother would come looking for her.

“Xinyi, I need to ask you—did you invest all your money in gold?”

“Brother, you didn’t come all the way over here in the middle of the night just to ask about that, did you?”

Seeing his sister’s expression, Lan Xinming knew immediately that she must have invested the money. Suppressing his excitement, he asked, “How much did you invest?”

“6… 600,000!”

Lan Xinming suddenly grabbed Lan Xinyi’s shoulders and exclaimed excitedly, “Xinyi, you’re going to strike it rich… really strike it rich!”

“Bro, what do you mean by that?”

“The price of gold has gone up!”

“Bro… what nonsense are you talking about? Why would the gold price be rising in the middle of the night?”

But Lan Xinming said excitedly, “I just got reliable news that the gold price over in Zaiying has skyrocketed by $50 an ounce. If things go as expected, the gold price here will follow suit as soon as dawn breaks!”

Lan Xinyi thought it over carefully. Based on the time difference, it was indeed around 11 a.m. over at Thief Eagle’s place right now.

And since it was a trading day, it was theoretically possible that her brother had received news of a gold price increase—though this jump seemed a bit staggering!

“Bro, are you sure the gold price went up by $50?”

“The news is definitely accurate!”

After receiving her brother’s definitive answer, Lan Xinyi’s heart began to race.

She had invested in the international gold price, and with the price skyrocketing in Thief Eagle’s market, she would theoretically make a profit.

Immediately, Lan Xinyi began quietly calculating her potential returns.

She hadn’t realized it until she did the math, and the numbers truly made her heart race.

Based on a $50-per-ounce increase in the gold price, her profit would reach nearly $9,000.

Then, Lan Xinyi thought about the company’s profits. She knew that since the company had entered the market early, their purchase price for gold had been between $260 and $280 per ounce.

That meant the profit margin was even higher!

Even if calculated at a $50 increase, the company’s profit from this single surge alone would reach $260 million.

At this thought, Lan Xinyi felt a chill run through her…

……..