Chapter 618: Heading to New York!
Thief Eagle. New York International Airport!
As the plane slowly descended from the sky, Li Yi’s heart, which had been in his throat, finally settled. Lan Xinyi, Li Yunbao, and the other dozen or so staff members traveling with him all wore expressions of having narrowly escaped death.
Recalling what had just happened, everyone was still shaken to the core!
Ever since they decided to come to Thief Eagle to short gold, Li Yi, Li Futiao, and the others had quickly begun preparations: first assembling a team, handling various visas and formalities, and transferring funds, among other tasks.
With the assistance of Li Futao, a local insider, all preparations were completed swiftly, and the funds were successfully transferred from Hong Kong to Thief Eagle.
And so, on November 3, Li Yi and his team officially boarded their flight to Thief Eagle!
This “home invasion” team was personally led by Li Yi. In addition to Lan Xinyi and Cai Bingyan, the 12-member team included Li Yunbao and Zhou Xinghua.
Their destination was the Thief Eagle International Financial Center in New York, home to the world’s largest gold futures market.
However, since there were no direct flights from Hong Kong Island to New York, they had to fly first to the West Coast city of San Francisco and then transfer to a flight bound for New York.
The journey from Hong Kong Island to San Francisco was uneventful; though a bit tiring, it went smoothly.
However, upon arriving in San Francisco, Li Yi and the others realized that this was the season when hurricanes were rampant in the area.
Over the past month or so, the ubiquitous hurricanes had already caused multiple disasters in the area, resulting in countless casualties.
Due to the hurricanes, San Francisco had canceled numerous flights to destinations across the United States for two consecutive days.
It wasn’t until November 6 that the local aviation authorities announced that flights had resumed.
With only two days left before the international gold price dropped, Li Yi and his group immediately rushed to buy tickets and flew to New York upon receiving the notice.
However, shortly after takeoff, the plane encountered the hurricane and nearly crashed.
Fortunately, the captain was an experienced pilot, and with the co-pilot’s assistance, he managed to regain control of the aircraft after a tremendous struggle.
Although the plane eventually landed safely at New York International Airport, more than a hundred passengers, including Li Yi, were terrified; many were still shaking as they disembarked.
Once they were off the plane and their feet were firmly planted on the ground, Li Yunbao said, still shaken: “It feels so good to be on solid ground. When we were in danger up there, I was on the verge of despair!”
Lan Xinyi, her face equally pale, added, “That’s right. On the ground, we can still find ways to avoid suspicion, but once we’re up in the air, we’re completely at the mercy of fate!”
As soon as the two spoke, the others chimed in, sharing their own feelings:
“That hurricane was terrifying. When the plane hit it, I felt like it was about to be torn apart!”
“You’re absolutely right. I thought I was going to die right there. I was even thinking about what to say in my last words to my wife and kids back home.”
“You still had the presence of mind to think about that? I was so scared I went blank—my mind went completely blank…”
……..
Listening to everyone chime in with their innermost feelings—their words filled with the lingering fear and relief of having narrowly escaped death—everyone’s faces looked grim.
Just then, Zhou Xinghua, the leader of the Far East Association delegation, smiled and said, “Everyone, don’t be like this. I think this is a good omen—we should all be happy!”
Li Yunbao immediately asked in confusion, “Brother Zhou, what do you mean by that? How can you call this a good omen after we’ve been through such a dangerous ordeal?”
Zhou Xinghua smiled and said, “We have an old saying: ‘Those who survive a great calamity are sure to have good fortune in the future.’ The fact that we’ve escaped death this time foreshadows that our wishes will surely come true and our dreams will be realized!”
Hearing this, smiles involuntarily spread across everyone’s faces.
Seeing this, Li Yi couldn’t help but nod.
Assistant Zhou truly lived up to his reputation as Old Li’s most trusted right-hand man; setting aside everything else, his leadership skills alone were truly exceptional.
With his assistance on this trip, things should go much more smoothly.
“Brother Yi, you didn’t seem scared at all just now. Aren’t you afraid of dying?” Li Yunbao asked Li Yi.
As soon as he said this, everyone else in the room turned their gaze toward Li Yi.
Li Yi smiled and said, “How could I not be afraid? But what good would fear do? I can’t control the weather, and I don’t know how to fly a plane. Rather than panicking and screaming like everyone else, I’d rather trust the pilot to get us out of this danger!”
Zhou Xinghua immediately chimed in, “Mr. Li truly is a man of great deeds. That composure and calmness are truly admirable!”
“What composure and calmness? It’s just the helplessness of leaving things to fate!”
Li Yi then changed the subject and said, “Alright, that’s all in the past. Let’s not dwell on it anymore. We should hurry to the city and find a place to stay first!”
He knew full well that gold prices would begin to fall gradually the day after tomorrow, yet they hadn’t even found a broker yet, let alone signed a contract or opened a position.
So, they really didn’t have much time left!
“Mr. Li, I called the Green brothers before boarding the plane. They said they’d be here to pick us up. We should head out as soon as possible!” Zhou Xinghua said.
“Alright…”
Then, led by Zhou Xinghua, the group headed out of the airport.
Soon, they met up with the people there to pick them up at the terminal exit and got into their car!
………
Manhattan. Wall Street!
Inside a towering office building, Li Yi met their business partner for this trip, Reggie Green.
He was the owner of Green Brothers Securities and a close friend of Li Futao!
Prior to this, they had already settled into their accommodations—a private estate located on Manhattan Island.
The estate belonged to Reggie Green, who had lent it to Li Yi and his group as a favor to Li Fuzhao.
Furthermore, at Li Fuzhao’s request, Green Brothers Securities would be fully involved in this gold short-selling investment venture.
Of course, they were only responsible for providing the trading team; they would not invest any capital nor participate in profit sharing.
Once the trade was completed, Li Yi and his team would simply pay the service fee as per standard cooperation terms, making them the first partners for Li Yi’s trip to New York.
After some small talk, Reggie Green shifted the conversation to the partnership. Speaking directly in English, he said, “Li, I understand the purpose of your visit. I’ve already assembled our company’s top-tier team for you, and they’ll cooperate fully with you!”
Although Li Yi could understand English, he didn’t speak up. Instead, he waited for Li Yunbao to translate before replying in Mandarin, “Thank you very much for your help, Mr. Green. May I meet the team here?”
“Of course!”
Reggie Green then picked up the phone on his desk, dialed a number, and after a brief conversation, hung up.
Within minutes, a middle-aged man walked in accompanied by nine elite white professionals.
Li Yi exchanged a few brief words with the leader, Mr. George, then turned to Reggie Green and said, “I’m very satisfied with this team. We can sign the contract now!”
In truth, as far as Li Yi was concerned, as long as they were a professional trading team, it didn’t matter whether they were top-tier or not.
After all, Li Yi had his own detailed plan and didn’t need any advice from them.
If it weren’t for the fact that Lan Xinyi and the others didn’t understand the local rules, Li Yi wouldn’t have bothered to hire a local team at all.
Seeing that Li Yi had no further requests, Reggie Green immediately produced the prepared contract and handed it to him.
Li Yi couldn’t make heads or tails of such a highly technical English contract, so he handed it straight to Li Yunbao.
After a thorough review, Li Yunbao found no issues, and Li Yi and Reggie Green proceeded to sign the contract.
With that, the trading team for the gold short position was finalized.
Given the urgency of the situation, after signing the contract, Li Yi made another request to Reggie Green…
……..