Chapter 867: Settling a Debt with Her Body!
The conversation in the bedroom continued!
As she listened to her husband meticulously detailing their family’s assets to her, hearing figures in the hundreds of millions one after another, Jiang Xue felt as if she were living in a dream.
Back home, she’d thought a few million was already an astronomical sum.
But in just a short time, the units Li Yi used when speaking to her had already shifted to hundreds of millions.
After a long moment, Jiang Xue said in astonishment, “How many lifetimes would it take us to spend all this money?”
Seeing his wife’s adorable expression, Li Yi couldn’t help but laugh. “Hahaha, with you—someone who feels guilty about spending 180,000 a day—I doubt we’ll ever be able to spend all this money!”
Just then, Jiang Xue suddenly said, “Now that our family is so wealthy, could you please stop working so hard? You’re gone for months at a time, and the kids and I miss you so much!”
Li Yi thought for a moment and replied, “I can’t just yet. The main thing is, I don’t have much cash left. Once I’ve replenished my funds a bit, I’ll come home to be with you and the kids!”
As he said this, Li Yi sounded a bit resigned.
In truth, he had made a substantial profit on this venture. After deducting all costs from this trip to London, his personal share of the profits amounted to a staggering 4.6 billion pounds.
However, to prove the Sassoon family wrong, he had acquired Sheffield United Steel Company—an investment that alone had cost him a full 6.2 billion pounds.
In other words, he hadn’t brought back a single penny of profit from this trip to London; on the contrary, he’d actually lost 1.6 billion pounds—equivalent to 27.2 billion Hong Kong dollars.
Prior to this, his total assets amounted to over 23 billion Hong Kong dollars; aside from setting aside 2 billion for emergencies, he brought the rest to London.
As a result, even if he included the entire 21 billion Hong Kong dollars in principal he brought with him, there was still a shortfall of over 6 billion Hong Kong dollars.
Although this shortfall was covered by loans secured in London, the loans still had to be repaid.
Therefore, Li Yi had no choice but to make a second investment immediately after this investment operation concluded.
“Can you take me along on this investment?” Jiang Xue asked.
It wasn’t that she was short on money, nor was she looking to make a fortune; she simply wanted to be by Li Yi’s side and see how he made his money.
To be honest, Jiang Xue felt that the way her man made money was simply magical.
Back when they were in the village, whether he was selling mushrooms or cold noodles, or even later when he opened a restaurant in Beijing and got into the clothing business, she could understand all of that.
But ever since he’d moved to Hong Kong, Jiang Xue had found herself struggling to make sense of Li Yi’s money-making schemes. To her, this wasn’t making money at all—it was practically robbery!
“Sure, I’ve already talked it over with Old Li. I’ll take you on a trip to New York in a couple of days!” Li Yi said.
“Really? What about Yunrui and Yunjin? Should we bring them along too?” Jiang Xue asked.
“No need to bring them. Flying for over ten hours straight is just too exhausting. Let the kids stay on Hong Kong Island with their mom and their older sister!” Li Yi said.
“But… is that really okay?”
The children had never been away from her since they were born, and since she didn’t know how long this trip would take, Jiang Xue felt a bit worried.
“Why wouldn’t it work? We’ll have Zhang Feng and Yang Miao stay here to look after Mom and the kids, and have my brother-in-law send over some people to help. It’ll be fine!” Li Yi said.
“Alright, then!”
Then Jiang Xue changed the subject, looking at Li Yi with hopeful eyes. “I have some pocket money. Could I use it to earn a little extra?”
“Sure. First, tell me how much you have,” Li Yi said with a smile.
“I have about 7.8 million, but it’s all in our domestic currency. I’m not sure how to exchange it for US dollars,” Jiang Xue said.
“Hahaha, I never would’ve guessed my wife was a little rich girl too!”
Jiang Xue blushed and immediately replied, “It’s all from you…”
“Once it’s in your hands, it’s yours!”
Li Yi continued, “All that converting back and forth is too much of a hassle. 7.5 million RMB is roughly 3.8 million US dollars. Once we get there, I’ll give you 3.9 million US dollars as principal—just treat it as a loan from me. If we make a profit, you pay back the principal, and the profits are your spending money!”
“What if I lose money?”
Li Yi suddenly gave Jiang Xue’s delicate figure a mischievous look, then whispered in her ear, “If we lose money, you’ll have to pay me back with your body!”
Jiang Xue wrapped her arms around his neck and said, her breath fragrant, “How exactly would you settle the debt?”
Li Yi chuckled, pinned her beneath him, and proceeded to demonstrate.
Outside, a light rain fell steadily; inside, soft moans and whispers filled the air…
……….
The next morning!
Since he had to attend to matters regarding the second round of investment, Li Yi got up early.
But as soon as he got up, he felt a slight ache in his lower back.
Looking at Jiang Xue, who was still fast asleep, Li Yi couldn’t help but sigh to himself. “Lust is a blade that cuts to the bone”—that saying was absolutely spot on.
He’d only indulged himself for two consecutive days, and his body was already sending out faint warning signals. He really had no idea how those people managed to party night after night.
After a quick wash, Li Yi gave Jiang Xue a gentle kiss on the cheek, then left the house with Zhang Ziqiang, Zhou Wen, and the others.
As soon as he arrived at the office, Li Yi had someone summon Pang Feiyan and Zhao Xinlan to his office!
“Boss, you called for us?”
Li Yi nodded and said to Pang Feiyan, “Yes. How much capital did we raise yesterday?”
Pang Feiyan first produced a document, then said, “The members of the Chamber of Commerce were all willing to reinvest their principal and interest from previous projects into the new initiative. On top of that, they’ve committed an additional 14 billion Hong Kong dollars!”
“Excellent!”
Li Yi then asked, “By the way, have the bonuses for the London trip been distributed yet?”
“Not yet. Xinlan said the amount is quite large and requires your personal signature, Boss!” Pang Feiyan replied.
Zhao Xinlan immediately explained, “Boss, a bonus of 1 million Hong Kong dollars for each trader is indeed a substantial amount; we need your personal signature to approve it!”
Li Yi nodded and said, “Alright, I’ll sign it in a moment. And when the bonuses are distributed, make sure to get the media to give it some good publicity.”
Li Yi wasn’t about to pass up such a golden opportunity for positive publicity for the company.
He figured that once news of the million-dollar bonuses got out, it would surely set the entire Hong Kong Island ablaze again, and by then, their company would undoubtedly attract even more capital.
Li Yi then turned to the CFO, Zhao Xinlan, and asked, “How much capital does the company currently have available?”
Zhao Xinlan clearly had a thorough understanding of the company’s financial situation. Without even glancing at the financial statements, she replied, “Excluding the 6.8 billion pounds to be settled in London, our company currently has approximately 66 billion Hong Kong dollars in available funds!”
“Of that, the company has about 6.2 billion in its own funds, and we’ve borrowed 60 billion from London. However, that doesn’t include the additional 14 billion pledged by Chamber members. If we include that, it comes to roughly 80 billion, but…”
“But what?” Li Yi asked immediately.
“But we can’t invest all of this money; we need to set aside a portion as a contingency. Also, you previously promised to allocate 10 billion Hong Kong dollars to New Territories Warehouse for construction—that sum…”
Before Zhao Xinlan could finish, Li Yi spoke again: “Then the company will set aside 2 billion Hong Kong dollars as a contingency fund. As for the New Territories Warehouse, we’ll transfer 2 billion to them first, and the remainder will be allocated to them after this investment initiative is completed!”
“Yes!”
“Xinlan, you personally lead a team to visit various banks this afternoon and tell them that Star Investment is applying for a loan!” Li Yi said.
“Boss, how much do we need to borrow?” Zhao Xinlan asked.
“As long as the interest rate is reasonable, borrow as much as you can—but we only want Hong Kong dollars!” Li Yi said.
“Yes…”
Just then, the phone on Li Yi’s desk suddenly rang…
……..