The Grill & Hot Pot Restaurant!
The moment Li Yi saw Zhou Rui and Xu Xinmao push open the door together, he knew trouble was brewing.
These two were the type who never visited without a reason—they either didn’t come at all, or when they did, it was sure to be about something.
But since they represented the authorities, Li Yi couldn’t just ignore them.
As they approached, Li Yi asked casually, “What brings you two here?”
Zhou Rui glanced at Long Zhanjun and Li Na standing beside Li Yi, then said, “Comrade Li Yi, we’d like to discuss something with you. Would now be a good time?”
Li Yi nodded and said, “Then come with me.”
With that, Li Yi led them to the private room at the very back of the restaurant.
Once the three of them were inside the private room, Zhou Rui immediately instructed Zhang Ziqiang to stand guard outside the door and strictly forbid anyone from approaching.
Seeing how tense they were, Li Yi asked, “Chief Zhou, why all the tension? What’s going on?”
“Let Director Xu tell you himself!”
Li Yi turned his gaze to Xu Xinmao and asked, “Director Xu, what instructions do you have from the State Administration of Foreign Exchange?”
Xu Xinmao hurriedly replied, “I wouldn’t call them instructions. It’s like this: based on orders from higher-ups, we’d like to discuss something with you!”
“What is it?”
“We’d like to allocate additional funds for you to manage on our behalf,” Xu Xinmao said.
“How much?” Li Yi asked, somewhat surprised.
“Two hundred million dollars!”
“Does your State Administration of Foreign Exchange even have that much money?” Li Yi asked, looking skeptical.
Although this might make it seem like Li Yi was looking down on the Foreign Exchange Bureau, it was indeed his most genuine reaction at that moment.
As far as he knew, the country’s total foreign exchange reserves amounted to no more than 1.2 billion US dollars. After deducting the 200 million already shipped to Hong Kong, there were at most 1 billion US dollars left on the mainland.
Moreover, those 1 billion dollars weren’t just sitting idle; they were on standby to cover payments for companies’ imports from abroad.
In fact, it was even uncertain whether the State Administration of Foreign Exchange currently held 1 billion US dollars in reserves; perhaps they had already disbursed those funds to cover payments.
Moreover, for a country of this size, a mere 1 billion US dollars in foreign exchange reserves is simply too little—how could they possibly spare any funds for additional investment?
Xu Xinmao immediately replied, “We may not have that much foreign exchange, but we have gold!”
“Gold?”
“That’s right. The higher-ups plan to entrust you with gold worth 200 million US dollars and have you manage it on their behalf!” Xu Xinmao said in a solemn tone.
Li Yi didn’t agree right away. Instead, he fixed his gaze on Xu Xinmao and said, “Director Xu, the higher-ups wouldn’t make a decision like this out of the blue. I need a reason!”
Xu Xinmao glanced at Zhou Rui beside him. Seeing him nod, he said, “Comrade Li Yi, to be perfectly honest, there are two main reasons we’re doing this!”
“Oh? I’d love to hear the details!”
Xu Xinmao replied immediately, “The first reason is that we urgently need a large amount of foreign exchange to deal with a crisis that could arise at any moment!”
“A crisis?”
“Yes. You know our country is short on foreign exchange, but you may not fully grasp just how severe the shortage is. Let me put it this way: the total foreign exchange reserves held by our bureau currently amount to less than 300 million US dollars!” Xu Xinmao said with a touch of resignation.
“Only 300 million?”
Li Yi was genuinely startled by Xu Xinmao’s words. For a country of this size, even 1 billion in foreign exchange reserves would be considered meager, let alone 300 million.
“That’s right. Most importantly, we have a large number of foreign exchange payment plans scheduled for the end of the year, totaling 290 million. If we don’t see a significant inflow of foreign exchange by then, our reserves will run dry. Any delays in payments would severely damage our country’s reputation!”
Xu Xinmao continued, “Furthermore, according to the latest plans from the State Planning Commission and the Ministry of Commerce, next year we’ll need to import 112 key technologies and a large quantity of equipment and instruments from abroad, requiring at least 1.5 billion US dollars in foreign exchange. Therefore, generating foreign exchange has become a national priority!”
“And what is the second reason?” Li Yi asked again.
“The second reason is that the state is very satisfied with your previous foreign exchange investment and believes you can generate even more foreign exchange for the country!” Xu Xinmao said.
“Is there news from Hong Kong?”
Li Yi was exceptionally astute; he could read between the lines, and he quickly pieced together the situation regarding Hong Kong.
Xu Xinmao made no attempt to hide it; he nodded immediately and said, “That’s right. Comrade Yang Qian sent back the latest news the day before yesterday: the international gold price surged to $598 per ounce in early October, and the people under your command have already begun quietly closing in!”
“According to Comrade Yang Qian’s estimates, with this investment alone, the $200 million in foreign exchange the state gave you will turn into $420 million—a net profit of a full $220 million.”
Hearing Xu Xinmao’s explanation, Li Yi felt a sudden sense of relief.
They say money moves the heart, and a profit of $220 million is certainly enough to tempt those bigwigs up there. After all, if this money were to be earned through export revenue, who knows how many raw materials would have to be sold to bring it back.
“In that case, you simply need to entrust the proceeds from this investment, along with the original $200 million principal, to me for continued management. Why is it necessary to ship gold over there separately?” Li Yi asked.
Xu Xinmao hurriedly replied, “According to the higher-ups’ instructions, the plan is to withdraw 200 million US dollars from there for emergency use, and then use gold to fill the resulting gap!”
Hearing this, Li Yi looked at Xu Xinmao and said, “I suspect there’s more to it than that. If I’m not mistaken, the higher-ups believe gold prices are about to fall, so they want to use me to offload the gold and convert it into foreign exchange. Is that the idea?”
“Well… the higher-ups didn’t say so explicitly. We wouldn’t dare speculate on whether that’s actually their intention!” Xu Xinmao replied.
“Hmm, I see.”
“Comrade Li Yi, so what do you suggest?”
“You’ve all come to me—how could I possibly refuse?” Li Yi said with a smile.
“So, Comrade Li Yi, you’ve agreed!” Xu Xinmao said excitedly.
“I agree, but if the higher-ups want to use gold as investment collateral, they must ship the gold to Hong Kong Island by mid-October!” Li Yi said.
“That soon?”
“Yes!”
The reason for the urgency was that Li Yi knew the price of gold would reach its peak for the year by the end of the month, making it the most opportune time to sell.
Most importantly, due to broader market conditions, gold was set to enter a decade-long slump, with prices hovering between $200 and $400 per ounce.
Therefore, the period around the end of October would mark the final peak in gold prices; selling now would mean a profit.
If you miss this opportunity, you won’t see prices this high again for another ten years.
Although Xu Xinmao didn’t know what Li Yi was thinking, he was well aware of this young man’s temperament. He immediately replied, “All right, I’ll report this situation to my superiors and get back to you as soon as possible!”
“Alright!”
No sooner had the two finished speaking than Zhou Rui, standing nearby, chimed in!
“Comrade Zhou Yang, aside from this matter, we’ve come here today to discuss something else with you!”
“What is it? Please go ahead,” Li Yi said.
“According to our intelligence, those British bastards from the British-funded conglomerate have been stirring up trouble lately. It seems they’re plotting something against you. You need to be on your guard!” Zhou Rui said.
“Oh? I wonder what those bastards are planning?”
“Our influence over there is limited, and since those foreigners don’t trust people outside their inner circle, our informants only know that something is afoot. We haven’t yet figured out exactly what they plan to do!” Zhou Rui said.
“Alright, thanks for the heads-up. I’ll keep that in mind!” Li Yi said.
“Comrade Li Yi, if you need any help, just let us know. Although our State Security influence over there isn’t particularly strong, we can still be of some assistance!” Zhou Rui said.
Li Yi knew his words reflected the attitude of higher-ups, so he nodded immediately and said, “I’ll contact you if I need anything!”
“All right, then. If there’s nothing else, we’ll head back for now. We’ll get in touch with you later!”
“Alright, I’ll walk you out…”
………