County Bureau. Telecommunications Room!
With a touch of trepidation, Li Yi dialed his father-in-law’s number.
After a few rings, his father-in-law Jiang Shiying’s familiar voice came through the receiver: “Who is this?”
“Dad, it’s me, Li Yi!”
“Finally got ahold of you, you rascal. Any later and I would’ve fallen asleep!”
“Dad, what’s going on? Why are you calling me in the middle of the night?” Li Yi asked immediately.
“It wasn’t me who wanted to reach you—it was that Mr. Huang from Hong Kong who couldn’t get ahold of you, so he came to me!”
“Old Huang?”
“Right. According to Mr. Huang, international gold prices skyrocketed this morning—jumping from over $270 an ounce yesterday to over $330. Now, the people at your company have some differing opinions on whether prices will rise or fall next. Since the amount of capital involved is quite substantial, they wanted to consult you on exactly what price point to close the deal at!”
Upon hearing what it was about, Li Yi immediately breathed a sigh of relief.
“I thought something major had happened. You were in such a rush—you scared the life out of me!”
“Isn’t this a big deal?”
Jiang Shiying continued, “I heard from Mr. Huang that this investment involves tens of billions of Hong Kong dollars!”
Although Li Yi really didn’t think the matter was that big of a deal, he knew he couldn’t say that out loud—otherwise, his father-in-law might think he’d gotten a big head just because he’d made a little money.
Immediately, Li Yi changed the subject: “Dad, could you give Old Huang a call for me? Just tell him that gold prices will likely peak within three months, and have him pass the word to Lan Xinyi that she should cash out as soon as the price hits $590 an ounce!”
“It’s $590, right?”
“That’s right!”
Although the peak gold price this year was $599 per ounce, one shouldn’t be too greedy—you don’t have to wait until the price peaks to sell.
More importantly, Star Company has invested over 7 billion Hong Kong dollars in gold. Based on previous gold prices, that amounts to more than 730 tons of gold in their possession.
Of course, these 730 tons aren’t actual, shiny gold bars; they’re mostly financial products.
These assets are much like stocks; with such a massive volume, selling them off requires buyers to take the other end of the trade, so they had to quietly offload their holdings before the peak.
After all, at that price point, the vast majority of investors still believe that gold prices will continue to rise.
“I’ll keep that in mind. I’ll let him know later!”
Then Jiang Shiying asked again, “Xiao Yi, did you also invest that money in gold?”
“Yes, why?”
“Based on current prices, how much profit has that money generated so far?”
Li Yi lowered his head and did a quick mental calculation before replying, “A conservative estimate of 35 million US dollars—the fluctuation won’t exceed 3 million!”
“That… that much?”
Jiang Shiying on the other end of the line was truly stunned. From the moment the government handed the money over to her son-in-law until now—a span of less than five days—that sum had ballooned from 200 million to over 235 million, and in U.S. dollars at that.
That was incredibly valuable foreign currency!
Although the official exchange rate was 1.8 RMB to the dollar, on the international market, holding 350 million RMB didn’t necessarily mean we could exchange it for 35 million US dollars.
After a long silence, Jiang Shiying asked again, “Xiao Yi, once this investment is over, how much profit will we make?”
“Dad, when you say ‘we,’ are you referring to me or…”
Before he could finish, Jiang Shiying cut him off, saying, “Not you!”
“2 to 2.5 billion US dollars!”
Jiang Shiying was stunned once again. This wasn’t a simple matter of giving me one yuan and getting two back—the units here were in the hundreds of millions, and in US dollars at that.
Although he already had a good understanding of his son-in-law’s ability to make money, most of what he’d heard before had come from others—he hadn’t witnessed it firsthand.
This time, however, was different. As the go-between, he had witnessed nearly the entire process from the initial negotiations to the present moment, making the impact all the more profound and intense.
For a moment, he was completely speechless, at a loss for words!
On the other end of the line, seeing that his father-in-law hadn’t responded, Li Yi immediately asked, “Dad?”
“Dad?”
“Mm-hmm!”
“Do you need anything else?”
“No, you should head home early too. I’m going to give that Mr. Huang a call first!”
“Alright!”
With that, the two ended the call!
……….
On the way back, Zhang Ziqiang drove while occasionally glancing at Li Yi in the rearview mirror.
Li Yi was a very perceptive person and quickly noticed this.
“Why are you always looking at me? Is there something on my face?”
“I heard that!”
Although Zhang Ziqiang’s remark seemed out of the blue, Li Yi understood exactly what he meant.
“So you heard it? Big deal. I wasn’t hiding anything from you anyway!”
What Li Yi really wanted to say was that even if he’d wanted to hide it, it would have been useless—there was no way to keep it a secret.
“Did you really earn 35 million in foreign exchange for the country in just a few days?”
“In theory, yes—unless the people over there were pulling my leg, but that’s highly unlikely!” Li Yi replied.
“Thank you!”
“Why are you thanking me?” Li Yi asked in surprise.
“Thank you for earning so much foreign exchange for the country. From now on, I’ll do everything in my power to protect your safety, even if it costs me my life!” Zhang Ziqiang said earnestly.
Hearing Zhang Ziqiang’s words, Li Yi felt a faint stir in his heart, even a touch of shame.
That simple phrase, “Thank you,” expressed what true “sense of ownership” is, and what true patriotism truly means.
You helped the country, and I thank you—because this is my country. What a pure sentiment that is.
In comparison, Li Yi felt that although he had helped the country earn a little foreign exchange, his motives were too self-serving—he felt ashamed!
“You’re being too formal. This is your country, and it’s mine too!” Li Yi said.
“Hmm, may I report what you just said to the higher-ups?” Zhang Ziqiang asked again.
“Isn’t that your duty? Why ask for my permission? Are you saying you won’t report it if I disagree?” Li Yi asked.
“If you don’t agree, I won’t report it!”
“You really won’t report it?” Now it was Li Yi’s turn to be surprised.
“My orders are to protect your safety at all costs and to immediately report to higher authorities in the event of an emergency!”
Zhang Ziqiang continued, “According to regulations, there are two types of so-called special circumstances. The first is when your life is in danger and I’m unable to resolve the situation on my own—in that case, I can report it and request backup.”
“The second is if you attempt to commit treason or engage in activities detrimental to the nation. Aside from those, I have the discretion to decide whether to report it!”
“So that’s how it is!”
Li Yi smiled and said, “Actually, this isn’t exactly a secret. If you want to report it to the higher-ups, go ahead. But I think Comrade Yang Qian has probably already reported something like this!”
“That’s her business; it’s none of my concern. We belong to different systems!”
“I see. I’m just curious—how do you contact your superiors?”
The moment the words left his mouth, Li Yi realized his question was a bit forward—after all, this was her confidential information.
Immediately, he added, “If my question involves your discipline or classified information, you don’t have to answer!”
Zhang Ziqiang paused briefly, then said, “We have a radio!”
“A radio? But don’t you still have to go to the post office?”
But as soon as the words left his mouth, Li Yi realized how silly his question was. If sending a telegram required a trip to the post office, how could he possibly stay in constant contact with his superiors?
“No, the radio is right in your car!”
“That suitcase?”
“Yep!”
“From now on, I won’t stop you from reporting to your superiors, but I hope you’ll let me know before you do—as long as it doesn’t violate regulations!” Li Yi said, choosing his words carefully.
“Sure!”
“Hmm…”
………
PS: I have a meeting this afternoon, so I had to stay up late to write this!