Chapter 528: What an Impressive Young Man!
Outside the villa complex. In the sedan!
As soon as he got in the car, Xu Xinmao from the Foreign Exchange Bureau said with a hint of frustration, “That young man is just too arrogant. He actually thinks ten million is too small a sum to bother with—isn’t that just ridiculous?”
However, Zhou Rui, sitting beside him, replied calmly, “He has every right to be arrogant. Just think about what he did in Hong Kong—he turned 43 million Hong Kong dollars into 4 billion in just 20 days, a hundredfold increase. Who else could pull that off?”
“It’s true he’s capable—we all admit that—but that doesn’t justify his arrogance!”
Xu Xinmao continued, “Besides, his appetite is simply too insatiable. Who would dare hand over 200 million US dollars in foreign exchange to him so easily?”
Zhou Rui glanced at Xu Xinmao and said, “That’s what makes this young man so clever. The reason he asked for two hundred million dollars isn’t just because he thought the ten million was too little; it’s more likely that he thought our positions were too low and that we weren’t worthy of negotiating with him!”
“What?”
Hearing this, Yang Qian, who was standing nearby, froze in surprise. They didn’t quite understand what Zhou Rui meant!
“Don’t you feel that from the very start of the conversation, we’ve been on the defensive, constantly being led by the nose by this young man?” Zhou Rui said.
“Really?”
“Haha, from the moment he sat down on the sofa, this young man took the initiative and effortlessly seized control of the conversation. We were merely reacting to his questions, which completely threw off the strategy and plan we’d devised before coming here!”
Hearing this, Xu Xinmao frowned as he reflected on the course of the conversation and realized it was indeed true.
Ever since Li Yi started speaking, they really had been answering more than asking.
The entire conversation had essentially been led by Li Yi, and the rest of them hadn’t had a shred of initiative.
“What an impressive young man!” Xu Xinmao exclaimed in admiration.
“That’s not all that makes him impressive. Just think about it—could you or I really make a decision to entrust two hundred million in foreign exchange to someone like him?”
“No way—we don’t have that kind of authority!” Xu Xinmao replied.
“Then who do you think has the authority to make that decision?”
Xu Xinmao thought for a moment and said, “With such a massive sum of money, and such precious foreign exchange at that, it would have to go all the way up to the State Council…”
At that point, Xu Xinmao suddenly understood Li Yi’s intention.
He and Zhou Rui could make the call on 12.8 million, but even the head of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange didn’t have the authority to approve 200 million; it had to be reported to higher-ups.
In other words, if they wanted Li Yi to help them earn foreign exchange, it would require deliberation and approval from higher-level state authorities.
In that case, the condition Li Yi had proposed wasn’t a promise from the State Security Bureau or the Foreign Exchange Bureau, but…
At this realization, Xu Xinmao and the others were stunned by Li Yi’s cunning.
Truly, he was a marketing master with connections across the industrial, commercial, and financial sectors, and a financial genius who had dominated the Hong Kong stock market. Every word he spoke—and even every gesture he made—carried deep meaning.
After a brief silence, Xu Xinmao said with a wry smile, “So what do we do now?”
“What else can we do? Since things have come to this, we have no choice but to immediately report the situation to our superiors and let them decide!” Zhou Rui said.
“Are we really going to report this to…”
“That’s not our concern. We just need to report the situation to the bureau. Let the two bureau chiefs deal with the headache themselves!” Zhou Rui said.
“I suppose that’s the only option…”
………
Turning back to Li Yi’s side, after seeing Zhou Rui and the others off, he immediately went to his father-in-law’s study and called Huang Lixing.
Li Yi knew that Huang Lixing had come mainly to see him off, and since he was needed to hold the fort in Hong Kong, he wouldn’t be staying here long.
He’d mentioned yesterday on the way back that, barring any surprises, he’d be heading back there in the next day or two.
However, circumstances had changed, and Li Yi needed him to wait a little longer before heading back.
In case the higher-ups really decided to take a gamble, he wanted to make sure Huang was settled here, so he wouldn’t have to make a special trip back to Hong Kong.
However, since the higher-ups hadn’t given Li Yi a clear answer, he didn’t spell it out to him; he simply asked him to wait in Guangzhou for a day or two before heading back.
Old Huang was quite surprised when he received Li Yi’s call.
But he knew Li Yi’s character—he wouldn’t do this unless it was important—so he immediately agreed to stay here for another couple of days with his wife and kids.
Once that was settled, Li Yi looked at the several suitcases full of cash in the living room and began to feel a headache coming on.
A full two million in cash—taking it back to Beijing would be incredibly inconvenient and could easily lead to unnecessary misunderstandings.
With that in mind, Li Yi decided to deposit the money in these suitcases into a local bank for now and withdraw it when needed!
However, figuring out how to get these suitcases of cash to the bank was a major headache!
At that moment, he realized he’d made a huge mistake: he’d actually brought these suitcases full of cash to his father-in-law’s residence, and his father-in-law was still a provincial-level official here.
If anyone saw this, it would be like mud getting stuck in his pants—no amount of washing in the Yellow River could ever clean it off!
In light of this, Li Yi immediately called his father-in-law’s office to ask him to help arrange a car.
Upon receiving Li Yi’s call, Jiang Shiying naturally agreed without hesitation. After all, it wasn’t a big deal, and the Discipline Inspection Commission had plenty of vehicles to spare. He immediately said he would have one sent over right away.
He then briefly asked how the talks between Li Yi and Zhou Rui had gone.
Even though Jiang Shiying was at the office, he couldn’t help but feel uneasy.
He had dealt with Director Zhou from the State Security Bureau before and knew that while the man appeared harmless on the surface, he was actually quite cunning. He was genuinely worried that his son-in-law might not be a match for such a seasoned political veteran.
However, after hearing the outcome from Li Yi, Jiang Shiying immediately realized his worries had been completely unfounded.
If Director Zhou was a seasoned veteran, then his son-in-law was a sly fox with more tricks up his sleeve than a beehive. It would be no easy task for the other side to gain the upper hand against him.
He didn’t even need to look to imagine the expressions on their faces right now. For people like them, the absolute worst thing was having to seek instructions from their superiors.
After all, their superiors had sent them here to resolve the issue, yet they were now bringing the problem right back to them—a move that would easily cast doubt on their competence.
At the same time, he couldn’t help but feel a pang of anxiety for his son-in-law. The young man really had the nerve to make such a request—who among the usual leadership would dare to approve two hundred million dollars? This would likely have to be escalated to a top-level national leader for a decision!
Who knows what the top leadership would think? Would they even agree to this young man’s request?
He considered giving Li Yi a heads-up, but Jiang Shiying felt his worries were entirely unnecessary—the young man had likely already thought through every possible outcome.
After much deliberation, he ultimately said nothing!
It must be said that the comrades at the Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection were commendable for their efficiency; less than fifteen minutes after Li Yi finished his call with his father-in-law, the car was already there.
After taking the car keys, Li Yi loaded the three large suitcases filled with cash into the car one by one, then headed straight for a bank in the city center!
But just as Li Yi was leisurely depositing the money, his request had sent the capital into an uproar…
………