It's almost time for dinner, isn't it? Let's go eat and talk while we do!" Ji Jiasheng interrupted the three of them, looking up to see that it had grown dark without them realizing how much time had passed.
"Alright, what do you like to eat?" Chao Yang asked He Zhengcheng.
"Nothing in particular, as long as it's not some weird, strange food, anything is fine." He Zhengcheng was not picky about meat or vegetables.
"What do you mean by weird, strange food?" Ji Jiasheng was a bit curious.
"For example, the famous British dish, Stargazy pie, also known as 'Hell's Chant' or 'Death Without Peace.' Hmm, 'Stargazing Pie' might sound better!" He Zhengcheng said.
"..." Ji Jiasheng and Chao Yang were a little stunned.
"Swedish fermented herring and Guizhou's 'Niubietang' (cow dung soup) are also quite unique. I don't like them. Oh, right, I forgot to mention, Niubietang is made by taking undigested contents from the stomach of a slaughtered cow, squeezing out the liquid, adding cow bile, and simmering it slowly. Finally, it becomes Niubietang, also called 'cow dung soup.'" He Zhengcheng said with a mischievous smile.
What hobbies do nerds have? Isn't it just trying these strange and bizarre things? Uh! Am I being a bit derogatory towards nerds?
"Ugh... ugh..." Ji Jiasheng couldn't help but retch.
"That's absolutely disgusting!" Ji Jiasheng took a while to recover.
"Damn it! You haven't even eaten stinky tofu, or fertilized eggs, haven't seen pictures or videos of these things, haven't tried them yourself, and you're talking about disgusting!" He Zhengcheng secretly grumbled, truly ignorant—
"Stargazing Pie sounds quite delicious. Niubietang seems pretty good. Where can I buy it? When can I try it?" Chao Yang said calmly.
He Zhengcheng and Ji Jiasheng exchanged glances, startled by Chao Yang's peculiar hobby.
"You go eat by yourself, please don't invite me!" Ji Jiasheng quickly walked ahead to lead the way, not wanting to talk to this mentally unstable man.
"No, don't! Good things are meant to be shared by everyone..." Chao Yang said loudly.
Ji Jiasheng quickened his pace, and He Zhengcheng, not wanting to walk with Chao Yang, also followed.
Soon, they arrived at a tea restaurant, got a private room, and ordered four or five dishes.
Out of curiosity, while eating, He Zhengcheng asked about Peregrine.
Ji Jiasheng and Chao Yang both came from Peregrine. This company had total assets of 24 billion hong kong dollars, and its business scope included financing, investment, securities, commodity futures, foreign exchange brokerage, and asset management. It was Hong Kong's largest securities group and the most powerful and influential investment bank in the Asia market outside of Japan, even listed among the Fortune Global 500.
Unfortunately, during this Asian Financial Crisis, Peregrine suffered heavy losses and went bankrupt at the beginning of the year, being acquired by BNP Paribas.
"The company had two big bosses: one was responsible for the Greater China market, and the other for other regions. Their decisions were the highest directives of the company, and the two did not interfere with each other.
Coupled with this Asian Financial Crisis, that's why it collapsed..." Ji Jiasheng said, seemingly nonchalantly.
Simply put, Peregrine's problem was a lack of unified leadership, no modern risk prevention measures, and the founders having too much power.
"Not interfering with each other, does that mean Peregrine's management and risk control had issues?" He Zhengcheng asked.
"The company developed too quickly..." Chao Yang said, implying that management hadn't kept up. Peregrine was founded in 1988 with only 300 million hong kong dollars in capital. A few years later, it went public, and its market value reached 12.6 billion last year. For a traditional Hong Kong securities company, this growth rate was indeed very fast.
"Why didn't you stay with the company?" He Zhengcheng asked.
"What's the point of staying there? After being acquired, our future career prospects would be greatly limited." Ji Jiasheng replied.
I don't quite understand. It's all working for someone else, just a different boss. Is the difference that big?
"By the way, you haven't said how you plan to participate in the battle between Soros and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority." Chao Yang asked He Zhengcheng.
"I don't have much capital. I've shorted the Hang Seng Index, and once Soros attacks and I receive the signal of a major counterattack from the Hong Kong Government, I'll immediately reverse my position and hitch a ride. Anyway, I have little capital, so I'm very flexible and can run at any sign of trouble." He Zhengcheng explained.
The operating methods for large and small capital differ greatly. For example, if He Zhengcheng currently sells short ten Hang Seng Index contracts, he only needs one second to take profit or stop loss during trading hours, and the trade will likely execute, with the execution price rarely deviating from expectations.
Large capital is different. Calculating at 30,000 hong kong dollars per Hang Seng Index futures contract, one thousand contracts would be 30 million. For someone like Soros, who can deploy billions of dollars with a wave of his hand, one battle might involve tens of thousands, or even over a hundred thousand, contracts. How long would it take to take profit or stop loss? As for trying to suddenly reverse direction, haha, dream on!
"That's it?" Chao Yang waited a moment but heard nothing more from He Zhengcheng.
"That's it. I only have five or six hundred thousand in capital, no need to make it too complicated! If I don't incur losses, I plan to hold it until the market moves or the main futures contracts roll over." He Zhengcheng didn't care at all. Could they really kidnap him? The rent here wasn't cheap. Ji Jiasheng and his friends might try to trick him, but they wouldn't rob him.
"Oh!" Chao Yang. What could he say? It was a very sensible approach.
"Oh! By the way, Sheng Ge, your phone." He Zhengcheng, making himself at home, pulled out the Nokia, ready to return it to him.
"You keep it for now. I'll need to find you these next few days!" Ji Jiasheng said.
"You have five or six hundred thousand right after graduation, so your family shouldn't be short on money, right? Why haven't you even bought a phone?" Chao Yang asked seriously.
"This money is borrowed, and if it weren't for my family encountering difficulties, I wouldn't have taken such aggressive measures to raise funds!" He Zhengcheng admitted candidly.
"What happened? Do you need help?" Ji Jiasheng listened, hesitated for a few seconds. Such a gambling-addicted madman?
"Nothing serious. We took out a loan this year to buy a hotel, and now we're short on liquid capital. Even without my help, we can get through it. I'm just being prepared." He Zhengcheng said.
If the He Family's own house was sold, it could fetch a few million. The hotel's monthly revenue was over 300,000. After eliminating rental costs, the monthly net profit should be at least 200,000!
They borrowed 15 million for five years, and the family still had over 1 million in cash, paying back 3 million in principal and interest annually. Logically, there shouldn't be much risk, but unfortunately, Father He took all the profits from these past few months to speculate in stocks, trying to bottom-fish. Who knows how much is left now, or if next year's loan can be repaid?
If not, they would have to sell their family home to raise money. They couldn't sell the hotel, that would be even worse.
Damn it, is that still not right? How much money did the family actually have? How did they manage to buy this hotel with only a 15 million loan back then? It seems Father He was also relying on inherited wealth, propped up by an inheritance he didn't know about at the time! Forget it, don't dwell on that detail!
"Alright!" Ji Jiasheng understood immediately what had happened. Buying a house at a high price, losing money, and still needing to repay the loan—how pitiful. Such a smart person, it seems he did something foolish. Not necessarily, perhaps he had no status in his family.
Chao Yang looked at He Zhengcheng, then at Ji Jiasheng, wanting to speak but holding back. He had initially thought He Zhengcheng was calm and rational, but never expected him to be so reckless.
Borrowing money to speculate in stocks, how incredibly insane is that? It's just a pane of glass away from suicide.
He Zhengcheng didn't think he was crazy. He was clearly going to pick up money from the stock market. As long as he got through these first few high-risk days and wasn't forced out of the market by the combined fluctuations of capital and stocks, then his profits would be completely risk-free.
"Let's go back and talk more!" After dinner, Ji Jiasheng invited He Zhengcheng.
"No, it's getting late. I have plans with friends, there's an event tonight!" Since He Zhengcheng was much younger, he didn't want to hang out with old men.
"Nightclub ladies, here I come!" He Zhengcheng showed a mischievous grin.