The night passed without incident!
The next morning, Li Yi was fast asleep in his soft, plush bed when the phone by his bedside suddenly rang urgently.
Li Yi reached out from under the covers, fumbled for the receiver, and answered in a groggy voice, “Hello…”
“Boss, it’s me, Lan Xinming. Do you have time to come to the office today?”
Hearing Lan Xinming’s slightly hoarse voice, Li Yi’s mind cleared instantly, and he asked, “What’s going on?”
“No… no, Boss, you’ve misunderstood. We’ve received news from the teams in London and New York—there are some matters we need your guidance on!” Lan Xinming hurriedly explained.
“I see. Alright, I’ll swing by in a bit!”
“Yes…”
After hanging up, Li Yi immediately got dressed and got out of bed.
After a quick bite of breakfast, he headed straight for Star Tower under the protection of Zhang Ziqiang, Zhou Wen, and the others.
By the time they arrived at the company, Lan Xinming and Zhao Xinlan were already waiting for him at the office door.
Seeing Li Yi approach, the two immediately came forward to greet him!
Once they arrived at Li Yi’s office and everyone had taken their seats—host and guests alike—Li Yi finally spoke up: “Manager Lan, you mentioned on the phone earlier that we’d heard from the teams in London and New York. What’s the situation?”
Lan Xinming replied immediately, “It’s not just London and New York. Just as you were on your way here, we received a telegram from the Tokyo team—they’ve completed their settlement as well.”
“Give me the results!” Li Yi said.
Lan Xinming replied immediately, “Boss, in London, we invested a total of 6 billion US dollars and made a profit of 8.7 billion. All the shares we borrowed have been successfully returned to the brokerage firms, and we expect the funds to be settled today.”
“8.7 billion US dollars—not bad. That’s a bit more than we anticipated!” Li Yi nodded in satisfaction.
“Yes,” Yang Qian explained. “After news of Sang Chai and his group withdrawing from the Hong Kong stock market reached London, the stock prices of the two major conglomerates, Xini and Nanfei, dropped another 10% or so, so our profits exceeded expectations!”
“What about New York?” Li Yi asked again.
“In New York, we invested 6 billion US dollars and made 8.8 billion in profits. In Tokyo, we invested 5.5 billion US dollars and made 8 billion in profits!”
Lan Xinming then summarized, “In this short-selling operation against the six major conglomerates, we deployed a total of 17.5 billion US dollars and made a profit of 24.5 billion, achieving a return on investment of 140%!”
As he spoke, Lan Xinming was inwardly stunned—he had been involved in every step of this investment operation.
After all, this operation—from the boss formulating the plan and dispatching the team to closing the deal—took no more than half a month. It was undoubtedly a short-term investment.
But he never imagined the return on investment would be this high—it completely shattered his expectations.
However, upon hearing this result, Li Yi wasn’t particularly surprised—it was exactly what he had anticipated.
The combined market capitalization of these six major conglomerates exceeded 100 billion US dollars. By slashing their stock prices in half, he had wiped out 50 to 60 billion US dollars in market value, so a profit of over 20 billion US dollars was entirely reasonable.
With that in mind, he nodded and said, “Very good. Have our team members finalize the settlement as soon as possible and withdraw to Hong Kong Island.”
“Yes!”
Then Lan Xinming suddenly asked, “Boss, there’s something I need your decision on!”
“What is it?”
“Before this major operation, we borrowed 50 billion Hong Kong dollars from the Chinese Chamber of Commerce. At the time, Chairman Li and Mr. He stated that this was an interest-free loan. Now that most of our funds have been recovered and returned to our accounts, should we repay this sum to them…”
Before he could finish, Li Yi looked at him and said, “Are you asking me how we should repay this money?”
“Yes, after all, this matter involves your personal relationship with the Chamber of Commerce. We wouldn’t dare make a decision on our own!” Lan Xinming replied.
“You’re right. That money represents the goodwill of Old Li, Old Bao, and the others; we can’t simply return it in full.”
After a moment’s thought, Li Yi turned to Zhao Xinlan and asked, “Manager Zhao, has your finance department calculated how much profit our company made from the stock market battle in Hong Kong this time?”
“Not yet!”
Zhao Xinlan immediately explained, “As you know, we only transferred those shares to the Li family, the He family, and the Bao family yesterday. Although the contracts have been signed, the funds haven’t been transferred to our company’s account yet…”
Before she could finish, Li Yi cut in, “So when will you be able to finalize the figures?”
“It will take at least two days!” Zhao Xinlan replied.
“No, that’s too slow. I need the results before the end of the workday today!” Li Yi said.
“Yes!”
Li Yi nodded and continued, “Manager Lan, once the finance department calculates the return on investment for this deal, you’ll reimburse each family based on that rate.”
Hearing this, Lan Xinming and Zhao Xinlan couldn’t help but be taken aback.
Wow, that’s incredibly bold.
Although the company hadn’t yet calculated the return on investment for this major venture, as core members of the company, they had a rough idea—it should be no less than 200%.
That meant that for every 50 billion Hong Kong dollars borrowed, the boss would be repaying 150 billion.
That goes way beyond “generous”… Never mind, they didn’t even know how to describe it.
“Boss, isn’t that a bit too much to repay…”
Before Lan Xinming could finish, Li Yijiou cut him off and said, “They say one should repay even the smallest kindness with the greatest gratitude. When this powerful enemy attacked, Old Li, Old He, and all the members of the Chamber of Commerce not only didn’t distance themselves from me, but they actually put up their own money and even staked company shares to gamble alongside me. I have to repay this debt of gratitude.”
“Besides, when I took the money, I made it clear that this was an investment on their behalf. The only difference is that our company won’t take a commission this time. Whatever the outcome, they deserve every penny.”
“Boss, I understand!” Lan Xinming said.
Li Yi smiled and said, “There’s no end to making money, so don’t place too much importance on it. Don’t you think that, compared to all that money, having so many people trust and help you in a critical moment is a far happier thing than making money?”
“That’s true. When the six major conglomerates targeted us with massive capital, I was actually worried the company might not survive. But I never imagined that Chairman Li, Mr. He, ‘Ship King’ Bao, and the others would support us so strongly. Without their full backing, we probably wouldn’t have been able to defeat those bastards so easily this time!” Lan Xinming said.
“Hmm, so sometimes you shouldn’t be too fixated on your own gains and losses. Remember, there’s a silver lining in every setback!”
Li Yi then changed the subject and continued, “By the way, now that this stock market battle has ended and we’ve secured the final victory, it’s time to reward our company’s employees. Your office should come up with a list of employees and a reward plan as soon as possible!”
“Yes, sir!”
Lan Xinming then asked again, “Boss, how should we determine the criteria for rewarding the employees?”
Li Yi thought for a moment and said, “Here’s what we’ll do: regardless of how much profit we made this time, we’ll set aside 5% to reward the company’s employees.”
Hearing this, Lan Xinming and Zhao Xinlan both gasped in shock.
Setting aside the profits from Hong Kong for the moment, the combined profits from the three teams in London, New York, and Tokyo alone had reached 24.5 billion US dollars. Including the profits from Hong Kong, a conservative estimate put the total at 40 billion US dollars.
Five percent of that is 2 billion US dollars, which is nearly 20 billion Hong Kong dollars.
Yet their company had fewer than 2,000 employees in total—an average of 10 million per person.
For a moment, Lan Xinming was so stunned she forgot to respond.
Seeing the expressions on their faces, Li Yi naturally understood their thoughts. He immediately smiled and said, “This 5% bonus isn’t meant for you to distribute entirely to the company’s employees. In addition to cash rewards, you can think of other incentive schemes.”
“For example, use this money to buy a plot of land and build a residential community for employees’ families. Anyone who signs a five-year employment contract can purchase a unit at half the market price; those who sign a ten-year contract can receive one for free; and the company can also gift a unit to employees who make significant contributions!”
“Or, for instance, use the funds to establish a hospital. That way, our employees and their families could receive medical care at our own hospital without having to pay a dime…”
Seeing Lan Xinming’s expression—partly in awe and partly deep in thought—Li Yi added, “Of course, I’m just offering a starting point. You should discuss among yourselves exactly how to structure the rewards!”
Lan Xinming immediately replied, “Yes, boss!”
Li Yi nodded and said, “Alright, go back to work. And while you’re at it, please have Deputy Manager Yang come see me!”
“Yes…”
………
PS: Just one chapter today—don’t hold your breath!
My wound isn’t healing well, and it hurts like hell. I have to get IV fluids for over three hours every day—I’m in really bad shape!