Chapter 358: What Favor Will He Ask in Return?

“Director Lin, what the hell is going on over there?!”

Lin Jialun, President of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, was ready to tear his hair out in despair.

Bongard Investment Group had poured an astronomical amount of money into the market when gold futures were at $700,000. Unwilling to back down, they themselves had hurriedly dumped $219.7 billion into the futures market. With an injection of that magnitude, the futures price should have easily broken past $800,000—it was only natural! And yet, for some inexplicable reason, the price of gold futures had been stuck at $800,000 for three whole hours. That was why Chairman Xi Jinping was questioning him in such an irritated tone.

‘Haah... I’m going to lose my mind.’

Sighing heavily to himself, Lin Jialun answered Chairman Xi Jinping.

“I... I don’t really understand it myself.”

“Tsk, what an incompetent fool. Chief Zhang, what do you think is happening?”

“If even a specialist [N O V E L I G H T] like Director Lin doesn’t know, how would I?”

Chairman Xi Jinping frowned in displeasure and turned to Minister He Lifen. Recalling his conversation with Chairman Zhen Weiliang, He Lifen calmly began to explain.

“It seems the U.S. government has learned that you invested in gold futures.”

“But my gold investment was supposed to be top secret!”

“The senior management of eleven banks knew about your investment. Any one of them could have leaked the information.”

“Hmm... That does make sense. But what are those American bastards trying to accomplish?”

“It’s impossible to say for certain, but it seems they simply intend to prevent you from making a large profit.”

“Don’t tell me...”

Minister He Lifen understood perfectly why Chairman Xi Jinping had stopped mid-sentence.

“Exactly. There is no doubt that the U.S. government mobilized Bongard Investment Group simply to screw you over.”

“Those sons of bitches!!”

Chairman Xi Jinping cursed viciously, sprang up from the sofa, and walked over to the window. Trying to suppress his burst of anger, he silently stared out at Zhongnanhai Lake in the distance. Fully aware of how foul his mood was, He Lifen and everyone else present held their tongues.

As a result, an oppressive silence reigned over the spacious office.

Only after quite some time, when the flames of his fury had finally subsided, did the Chairman return and sit back down.

“Minister He, how do we crush those American bastards?”

“The best option would be to crush them with money, but the Americans have one advantage—they can raise an unlimited amount of dollars. That’s why I want to ask... Shouldn’t we get out of the futures market right now?”

“Do you even believe what you’re saying?!”

As expected, Chairman Xi Jinping objected vehemently. However, Minister He Lifen was completely confident that he could overcome his resistance, so he did not appear worried in the slightest.

“The Americans are unquestionably giving you a chance right now.”

“What kind of nonsense is that?”

“As I said, the Americans can print and raise dollars without limit. That means they can manipulate the futures price however they please.”

Chairman Xi Jinping felt as though someone had dumped a bucket of ice water over his head.

If the U.S. government crashed the futures price, he would suffer enormous—truly catastrophic—losses.

And without even realizing that, he had still been stubbornly trying to stay in the game?!

“Director Lin, calculate immediately how much we’ll lose if we dump the futures at the current price!”

Bank President Lin Jialun frantically tapped away at the calculator on his phone for quite some time before speaking.

“We bought the futures at an average price of $799,000. The current price is $801,000, so we shouldn’t suffer any losses.”

“At least we got lucky there. Sell all the futures immediately!”

As though he had been waiting for that very command, Director Lin Jialun immediately dialed a number.

He ordered them to unload the futures carefully so the other investors would not notice anything suspicious.

The moment he ended the call, Chairman Xi Jinping said,

“Minister He, call Chairman Zhen and tell him we’re selling the gold.”

“But he’s absolutely furious right now.”

“So what?”

In other words: Stop wasting time and call Zhen Weiliang already.

Minister He Lifen had no choice but to make the call.

After several rings, a rough, unfriendly voice came through the speaker.

[Why are you calling?]

“Chairman Zhen... You haven’t left for Hong Kong yet, have you?”

[I take it someone is with you right now?]

Chairman Zhen Weiliang’s perceptiveness had long since surpassed that of an ordinary person.

“I won’t deny it. I apologize, but... could you perhaps delay your departure for Hong Kong?”

[Give me one reason why I should stay.]

“The Chairman has finally made a concession and overcome his stubbornness.”

[I’m not your errand boy, jumping whenever you whistle.]

“On this matter, I personally apologize to you on the Chairman’s behalf.”

[Fine. Minister He, I’ll trust you one more time. Where should I go?]

“I’ll send you the meeting location by message as soon as we finish this call.”

[Understood. I’ll wait.]

Click.

The moment He Lifen hung up, Chairman Xi Jinping cautiously asked,

“Minister He, where is Zhen right now?”

In truth, Chairman Zhen Weiliang was sitting in a hotel waiting for the gold deal.

However, Minister He Lifen decided to conceal that fact for dramatic effect.

“He’s already on his way to the airport to fly back to Hong Kong.”

“Thank goodness he hasn’t left yet.”

“Indeed. So where would you prefer to meet Chairman Zhen?”

***

Vice President Cho Myeongsu, who was staring at his laptop monitor, turned to me.

“Chief Cha, it looks like Chairman Xi has started dumping the futures.”

“Really?”

“Look here. Trading volume was almost nonexistent, but about ten minutes ago it started gradually increasing.”

“Hmm... I see.”

“Should we fleece Chairman Xi for everything he’s worth this time?”

But I had something else in mind.

“A cornered rat can still bite. That doesn’t mean we should let Chairman Xi walk away with a profit, though.”

“Haha! Understood. I’ll make sure he gets out with a small loss.”

Bzzzt—

At that moment, the phone lying on the table vibrated.

I glanced at the screen and saw Zhen Weiliang’s name.

After showing the display to Vice President Cho Myeongsu, I answered the call.

“Chairman Zhen, I’m listening.”

[Chief Cha, Chairman Xi finally raised the white flag!]

“I thought he’d surrender within an hour or two. He held out longer than expected.”

[Is that so? I’m on my way to meet Chief Zhang and Minister He right now. How should I handle them?]

“Lean hard into how furious you are. Really lay it on thick...”

***

“Chairman Zhen, welcome.”

Chief of the Central Committee Secretariat Zhang Hui hurried forward to greet Zhen Weiliang as he stepped out of the car.

“I didn’t think I’d be seeing you again, Chief Zhang. I’m almost feeling a little emotional.”

“Please accept my apologies for what happened.”

“Oh, forget it. It’s in the past. By the way, where are we?”

“This is an MSS safe house. Please come inside.”

Chairman Zhen Weiliang’s group followed Zhang Hui into the secluded residence.

The moment they settled onto the indicated sofas, an MSS operative served tea.

After wetting his throat with the drink, Chief of the Secretariat Zhang Hui began speaking in a restrained tone.

“As I told you last night, the Chairman wants to sell the gold as quickly as possible.”

“And the man who’s in such a hurry is the same one who insisted he had no intention of selling anything at all?”

“Are you still angry?”

“If you were in my position, would you be sitting here smiling happily while buying this gold?”

“Whatever the reason, I apologize once again.”

Chairman Zhen Weiliang did not answer. He merely shifted his gaze toward Director Pan Kai.

Understanding Zhen Weiliang’s intention immediately, Pan Kai spoke without delay.

“Chief Zhang, in private gold transactions, it is customary to apply a discount of five to eight percent from the London Bullion Market Association price, or LBMA price. Chairman Zhen originally intended to purchase the gold at a five-percent discount. However, because the Chairman saw fit to put us through all this aggravation, we have decided to purchase it at an eight-percent discount instead.”

Cold sweat broke out across Zhang Hui’s body.

The current gold price was hovering around $800,000.

If they sold the gold at a five-percent discount, they would receive $22.8 billion.

But with an eight-percent discount, they would receive only $22.1 billion.

Thanks to Chairman Xi Jinping’s tantrum, they had just lost $700 million for absolutely nothing!

“Chairman Zhen, for my sake... could you possibly keep the discount at five percent?”

“Chief Zhang, what in the world are you talking about?”

Playing his assigned role, Minister He Lifen rudely cut into the conversation.

“What am I talking about?”

“How much would we receive at a five-percent discount from the LBMA price?”

“About $22.8 billion, but...”

Chief of the Secretariat Zhang Hui deliberately trailed off.

However, Minister He Lifen, who had survived for years in the ruthless world of intelligence, saw through his maneuver immediately.

“The Chairman needs $30.7 billion. If we sell the gold the way you’re suggesting, we’ll be short by roughly $7.9 billion. Do you have some way to cover the difference?”

“...No.”

Chief Zhang Hui answered in a completely deflated voice.

Remembering Zhen Weiliang’s instructions, Minister He continued pressing him.

“How can you make such irrational decisions without even the slightest plan for dealing with the consequences?”

“Ahem! Ahem!”

Unable to come up with an answer, Chief Zhang Hui merely coughed into his fist.

Giving him a displeased look, He Lifen continued.

“I’ll handle the negotiations over the gold transaction with Chairman Zhen. You don’t object, do you?”

“Do as you see fit, Minister He.”

After nodding in acknowledgment, He Lifen turned toward Zhen Weiliang.

“What I’m about to tell you must remain confidential for the time being.”

“I’ll take the secret to my grave, so go ahead.”

“To invest in gold futures, the Chairman took out enormous loans from eleven banks. However, due to a miscalculation, the investment resulted in a loss of $30.7 billion.”

“Oh my...”

Chairman Zhen Weiliang knew perfectly well why Xi Jinping had lost that $30.7 billion.

Nevertheless, he let out a feigned sigh and acted as though he were hearing the news for the first time, ensuring that Zhang Hui would not harbor the slightest suspicion.

And Zhang Hui, of course, suspected nothing.

“To repay the Chairman’s debts, we absolutely must sell thirty tons of gold and raise exactly $30.7 billion. With that in mind, I’d like to ask: could we sell the gold without any discount at all?”

“Do you even believe what you’re asking?!”

Just as they had agreed beforehand, Chairman Zhen Weiliang rejected the request sharply.

“Chairman Zhen, what can I do to make you accommodate us?”

“Fine, I understand. Give me a little time. I’ll see if I can come up with a solution.”

“You can discuss it in that office over there.”

Chairman Zhen Weiliang, Vice Chairman Wei Chen, and Director Pan Kai headed into the office to discuss their plan.

The instant the door closed behind them, Chief of the Secretariat Zhang Hui whispered to Minister He Lifen with deep concern,

“Minister He... What kind of favor do you think Zhen will demand in return?”

Minister He Lifen knew perfectly well what trump card Zhen Weiliang was going to play.

He simply had no intention whatsoever of sharing that knowledge.

“How would I know?”

“I suppose that was a stupid question. Forget I asked.”

“Agreed.”

“Assuming Zhen agrees to accommodate us... where are we supposed to get the remaining money?”

“Didn’t you yourself say that Director Lin was the one who persuaded the Chairman to gamble on futures?”

In other words: Squeeze the missing money out of Bank President Lin Jialun.

“I understand what you mean, but if he doesn’t have the money, what good will that do?”

“I looked into his hidden assets. He’s accumulated more than $15 billion.”

“In that case, there won’t be any problem.”

Some time later, Chairman Zhen Weiliang’s group returned to the living room.

The very instant they appeared, Minister He Lifen asked, feigning barely concealed impatience,

“Chairman Zhen, have you decided what favor you want in return?”

“Our company pays around $2.5 billion in taxes every year. If you exempt us from taxes for three years, I won’t demand any discount on the gold.”

“Deal. I accept your proposal, Chairman Zhen.”

Minister He Lifen instantly accepted Zhen Weiliang’s proposal, as though he had been waiting for those exact words.