Chapter 352: Crashing Down

“Director He, what brings you to see me so early in the morning?” Chairman Xi Jinping asked with a curious look on his face.

In truth, He Lifen had come to see him at Vice Chairman Tang Guochang’s request. Naturally, he could not tell him the truth, so he used the excuse they had prepared in advance.

“Last night, while speaking with Director Jean-Philippe, I obtained some important information.”

“What information? Tell me.”

“Kim Jonghun’s eldest son attends an international school in Zurich, Switzerland. Apparently, Kim Jonghun converted his secret funds into gold bars and hid them in the basement of the house where his eldest son lives.”

“And how many bars was he keeping there?”

He Lifen had heard from Vice Chairman Tang Guochang that it was 12 tons and 750 kilograms. But if he gave the exact figure, it might not sound all that impressive, and Chairman Xi Jinping might react indifferently. In situations like this, avoiding a direct answer was best.

“Director Jean-Philippe himself doesn’t know the exact amount. However, there is no doubt that an enormous quantity of gold was stored there.”

“What makes him think that?”

“You’ll understand once you hear the rest.”

“Then hurry up and tell me.”

“Recently, robbers broke into the house where Kim Jonghun’s eldest son lives and stole all the gold.”

“Is that true?!” Chairman Xi Jinping’s eyes widened in astonishment.

“Director Jean-Philippe personally went to the scene.”

“Then the information is reliable.”

“Exactly. There was an enormous hole smashed into the basement, and all that remained of the gold bars were rows of empty racks. Judging from the number of racks, more than 30 tons of gold were stolen.”

“Ha-ha-ha!”

Chairman Xi Jinping burst into loud laughter, as if someone else’s misfortune genuinely delighted him.

Once his laughter subsided, Zhang Hui, Chief of the Central Committee Secretariat, asked the question that had been on his mind.

“Director He, wasn’t there permanent security stationed at the house of Kim Jonghun’s eldest son?”

“All of the guards vanished without a trace before the gold was stolen.”

“Could it be... that the guards colluded with the robbers and stole the gold themselves?”

“Director Jean-Philippe is leaning toward the same theory.”

“What an extraordinary situation. And what happened afterward?”

“North Korean RGB operatives are doing everything they can to catch the criminals, but so far they haven’t gotten any results.”

“Hopefully they never find them.”

“I completely agree with you, Chief Zhang,” He Lifen said in support.

At that moment, Chairman Xi Jinping spoke.

“Director He, could Kim Jonghun have hidden part of his secret funds in our country as well?”

“We’re investigating that very question. As soon as we have results, I’ll report to you immediately.”

“And what will we do with his secret funds if we find them?”

“I’ll report on that as soon as they are discovered.”

Knock, knock, knock.

At that moment, after a knock, the office door opened and a secretary entered. He reported that Lin Jialun, President of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, had arrived.

“Send him in and bring some tea.”

Realizing that the right moment had arrived, He Lifen addressed Chairman Xi Jinping.

“Chairman, would you mind treating me to some tea as well?”

“Of course. Help yourself.”

He Lifen obtained permission without difficulty. Soon, President Lin Jialun entered the office. He gave a slight bow to Chairman Xi Jinping, who sat at the head of the table, and took a seat on an empty sofa. A short while later, the secretary brought tea for everyone present. After taking a sip, Chairman Xi Jinping asked curiously,

“President Lin, have the bank presidents transferred the allocated 20 billion dollars yet?”

“That... not yet.”

“What?!”

Chairman Xi Jinping’s voice boomed like thunder out of a clear sky.

He shouted so loudly that Lin Jialun actually flinched.

“Why haven’t those people transferred the money yet?”

“They say they cannot transfer the funds without an IOU.”

With those words, President Lin Jialun took a transparent folder out of his briefcase and handed it to Chairman Xi Jinping.

“What is this?”

“An IOU stating the loan amount of 20 billion dollars.”

“And why are you showing this to me?”

“Because you, Chairman, are the party borrowing the money from the banks.”

Looking irritated, Chairman Xi Jinping opened the folder and began reading the IOU. Soon, after finding no particularly onerous conditions, he began signing the documents. After signing all 11 copies of the IOU one by one, he returned the folder to President Lin Jialun. Lin took it, left the office, and returned only after some time had passed.

“Chairman, the allocated 20 billion dollars will be deposited into our bank’s account within 30 minutes.”

“Understood. Now, let’s talk about something else. What’s happening with gold futures prices?”

“According to the data we just received, the price is holding at 1.3 million dollars.”

“Why have gold futures stopped rising?”

“Gold futures have surged 24% in five days. Before they can rise any further, they need some time to move sideways and establish a bottom.”

“I see. When are you planning to open the short positions?”

“I’ll open them at whatever time you specify, Chairman.”

“Do you really need my permission even for something this trivial?”

In truth, President Lin Jialun thought exactly the same thing. But the reason he kept seeking approval was the possibility of investment losses. If that happened, all the blame would undoubtedly be dumped on him. He was trying to get approval for every single step so that he could absolve himself of responsibility for any potential losses.

Of course, he could not say that outright. The consequences were obvious. That was why he already had a convincing answer prepared.

“Opening short positions worth an enormous 200 billion dollars without your authorization would constitute negligence in the performance of my duties.”

“That answer leaves me with nothing to argue against. As soon as the 200 billion dollars is deposited, open the short positions immediately.”

President Lin Jialun made a short call to someone, gave an order, and hung up.

“Chairman, some preparation is required before we can open the short positions, so we’ll begin in an hour.”

“Proceed.”

“Would you like to personally watch how far the gold futures price falls?”

“Is that possible?”

Without answering Chairman Xi Jinping’s question, President Lin Jialun rose from the sofa and left. Some time later, he returned carrying a laptop and placed it in front of the Chairman.

“Chairman, I’ve brought up the gold futures trading screen.”

Chairman Xi Jinping and Zhang Hui, Chief of the Central Committee Secretariat, shifted their gazes to the laptop monitor. President Lin Jialun explained how to read the trading screen.

Realizing the time had come, He Lifen quickly sent a message to Vice Chairman Tang Guochang. Afterward, as though nothing had happened, he calmly stared at the laptop.

***

After glancing at his phone screen to check the time, National Intelligence Service Director Om Giyeon asked curiously,

“Chief of Staff Cha, when will President Lin open the short positions?”

“That depends entirely on Chairman Xi’s decision.”

“Didn’t he give Lin Jialun full authority over the gold futures investment?”

“He did, but Lin Jialun has no choice but to involve Chairman Xi, if only to save his own skin.”

Bzzzt.

At that moment, the phone in my hand vibrated briefly. Checking the sender, I saw a message from Vice Chairman Tang Guochang.

«They’ll start shorting at 10:15 our time.»

«Thank you for the valuable information.»

After sending my reply to Vice Chairman Tang Guochang, I turned to Korea Investment Executive Vice President Ju Seongjin.

“Zero hour is set for 11:15.”

“Understood!” Executive Vice President Ju Seongjin replied loudly before immediately sending out a group message.

Chairman Park Yeongil, who had been watching him, turned to me.

“Chief of Staff Cha, so Vice Chairman Tang merely forwarded us a message he received from Director He?”

“That’s what I think as well, Chairman.”

“Is there no way to contact Director He directly without going through him?”

“To do that, I’d have to meet Director He personally first.”

“Hmm... Then there’s nothing we can do.”

Time flew by as we talked, and at last, 11:15 arrived. Just as expected, enormous sell orders appeared on the market.

At that very moment, the price of gold futures, which had been holding at 1.3 million dollars until then, plunged downward, breaking through one support level after another.

“It’s crashing down,” Hangang Group Chairman Yoon Jongu murmured quietly without taking his eyes off the laptop monitor.

***

Chairman Xi Jinping stared intently at the laptop monitor, his brow furrowing in confusion. The gold futures price was collapsing much faster than he had expected.

He decided to ask President Lin Jialun for his opinion.

“Investors themselves understand perfectly well that gold futures prices rose far too much in a short period of time. They were probably just waiting for an opportunity to take profits. Once we opened our short positions, they happily jumped on the trend and joined the sell-off.”

“That sounds quite convincing. So how far do you think gold futures will fall?”

“The selling volume is too large to say for certain. However, the price will definitely fall below 1.2 million dollars.”

“Ha-ha-ha!”

Chairman Xi Jinping’s satisfied laughter rang throughout the office.

About half an hour later, the gold futures price crashed to 1.15 million dollars.

Carrying out his assigned role, He Lifen addressed President Lin Jialun.

“President Lin, isn’t it time to close the short positions?”

“I have a different opinion on that, Director He.”

“And why is that?”

But before Lin Jialun could answer, Chairman Xi Jinping spoke.

“Compared to half an hour ago, the selling volume hasn’t decreased by much.”

“Exactly. President Lin, how far do you think the price will fall?”

“I believe 1.05 million dollars is the absolute limit.”

“I’m curious. Why do you think so?”

“Bongard Investment Group invested an enormous amount of money when gold futures were trading at 1.05 million dollars. If the price drops below that level, they’ll start taking losses. To cover those losses, they’re guaranteed to intervene in the market.”

Chairman Xi Jinping shook his head and continued his conversation with President Lin Jialun.

“Bongard Investment Group invested 100 billion dollars when gold futures were trading at 1.2 million dollars. By your logic, they should have intervened in the market as soon as the price fell to 1.2 million. And yet Bongard Investment Group did nothing. What do you think about my reasoning?”

“I agree with you, Chairman.”

“There’s a strong possibility they won’t intervene in the market even if the gold futures price falls to 1.05 million dollars.”

“Then when will they intervene?”

“If I were Chairman Bongard, I’d be counting on the price falling below 1 million dollars.”

Unless something extraordinary happened, prices always tended to return to their true value. That meant a rapid plunge could just as easily be followed by a rapid surge. Chairman Bongard undoubtedly knew that, which was why he was turning a blind eye to the collapse.

“I understand what you mean. Then at what level should we close our short positions?”

“We need to get ahead of Chairman Bongard and use his move against him. Let’s close the positions at 1 million dollars.”

“I’ll do as you say, Chairman.”

“But exactly when will the price fall to 1 million dollars?”

***

Looking at the laptop monitor, Chief of Staff Lee Jihun asked curiously,

“Chief of Staff Cha, how far will the gold futures price fall?”

“According to the results of our simulation modeling with Bongard Investment Group, the price fell to 1.05 million dollars.”

Bzzzt, bzzzt.

At that moment, the phone in my hand vibrated.

Looking at the screen, I saw that Vice Chairman Tang Guochang was calling. After informing Chief of Staff Lee Jihun and the others, I answered.

“I’m listening, Vice Chairman Tang.”

[Chief of Staff Cha, I just spoke with Director He Lifen on the phone.]

“Is that so? I’m curious what you discussed.”

[Chairman Xi believes that gold...]

Vice Chairman Tang Guochang relayed the entire conversation between Chairman Xi Jinping and President Lin Jialun.

[...He ordered President Lin to close the gold short positions at 1 million dollars.]

“Thank you very much for such valuable information.”

[Ha-ha. Don’t mention it. I understand you’re busy, so I won’t keep you.]

Click.

The moment I hung up, I turned to Korea Investment Executive Vice President Ju Seongjin.

“Director Ju, let’s close our short positions at 1.05 million dollars.”