The Hang Seng Index fell to 7,000 points, signifying that the financial crisis had reached its final stage, and the decisive battle between both sides had begun.
However, the Hong Kong Government Monetary Authority was struggling to cope with the attacks from international hot money, led by Soros, and was steadily retreating.
Although He Zhengcheng and his group now had certain connections, they were not personally involved in this major decisive battle, lacking the strength for close-quarters combat.
This isn't to say they lacked strength, but that a battle isn't solely decided by the frontal battlefield.
Why is it said that "a good warrior achieves victory without famous feats"? Because for some formidable individuals, the war is over before it even begins.
For example, Facebook used 1APP. It's said that Xiao Ma Ge was hospitalized due to illness at the time, and Mark Zuckerberg launched a surprise attack.
I believe it's highly likely that Tencent is exaggerating or trying to glorify itself. Even if there were two Xiao Ma Ge's at the time, would any domestic company truly dare to offer 19 billion US dollars to acquire an internet company with only dozens of employees and almost no revenue?
That's 130 billion rmb! Think of all the things that could be done with that... Of course, Mark Zuckerberg's acquisition of Instagram is an even more classic example. Acquiring a competitor is simply nipping potential competition in the bud, isn't it?
Unfortunately, strength is fundamental. Without powerful backing, it's difficult to achieve victory without fighting.
Suppose the Hong Kong Government was as assertive as the United States. As long as it suspected any international company might pose a threat to Hong Kong, it would demand an explanation. If no explanation was given, the company would be fined until it regretted ever coming to this world.
Alas, there's only one United States in the world. It's not that Wall Street is so formidable; it's being in such a country. I could tell you there are treasures in a house, and you could go in and rob it, but no one would dare.
If you don't believe me, try it. Deutsche Bank is an example. It didn't believe, knowing the Subprime Mortgage Crisis might happen, and wanted to seize the opportunity to make some pocket money. But before it even did anything truly outrageous, it was severely battered by the United States and might never recover. Unlike Goldman Sachs, which was almost unscathed.
(The market value of most international banks of similar caliber is over hundreds of billions of US dollars, while Deutsche Bank's market value is less than 20 billion US dollars.)
These past few days, watching the Hang Seng Index fall day by day, He Zhengcheng felt both happy and a little sad. Hong Kong's stock market continued to decline, housing prices fell, and the market was in a state of panic.
At home, things were fine. With He Zhengcheng's constant communication, his parents weren't very worried. As for the money owed to others, they'd just drag it out for now; it wasn't like they weren't going to repay it.
These days, he had also met with Shi Hongwen and Li Mingyuan multiple times, but unfortunately, he never experienced another "Hong Kong Night."
He talked about internet development with Shi Hongwen and design creativity with Li Mingyuan. He Zhengcheng, who knew a little about everything, was quite adept at convincing his friends.
"I believe the most important technology in the future might be search. As the internet develops, the content online becomes increasingly rich, making it harder for us to obtain information."
"What do we do then? The best solution is to have an excellent search engine... I don't understand design, but why is your idea so bad... What, you don't believe me? Look at mine..."
Well, some of it was He Zhengcheng's wishful thinking. Years of professional skill learning couldn't be easily defeated by a dilettante. But he certainly brought a significant impact to them.
He Zhengcheng didn't forget his two friends when good things came along. For example, he encouraged Shi Hongwen to actively participate in Python programming language development.
Back then, to crawl images of girls, Duan Chao had studied Python for a while. But at that time, it was almost version 4.0, and even the 3.0 version he initially learned was far more advanced than the current one, and not fully compatible. With seven or eight years of learning and using it, he had a deep understanding of this programming language.
Converting this understanding into knowledge was the arduous task of his Programmers friend.
"You've gone bald, and you've become stronger. This is your destiny... Hahahaha..." Seeing Shi Hongwen, who had been losing a lot of hair these past few days, he felt a bit gleeful, and then tragedy struck... "Damn it, I was mocking him, what business is it of yours!" He Zhengcheng collapsed helplessly on the ground, unable to get up, and righteously accused Li Mingyuan, who had ambushed him.
"Damn it, you're still talking! That 'creative' idea of yours was rejected by our company's boss." Li Mingyuan's job was product appearance design. This time, he was designing a toothbrush for a small brand, perhaps as a practice for newcomers.
He Zhengcheng suggested making the toothbrush handle into a clip that could help squeeze toothpaste, incorporating ergonomics, and making it a detachable design, giving it a very textured look.
Awesome! Very awesome, but what was the point? Other people's toothbrushes retailed for one rmb each, but with his design, it was clearly headed towards being a luxury item... "What do the bosses of those small companies know about design..." He Zhengcheng said irresponsibly. Anyway, he didn't understand either. If an expert listens to an amateur and then blames him, haha!
"Yes, he doesn't understand, so I fired him!" Li Mingyuan said.
"???"
"You resigned?" Shi Hongwen asked.
"Exactly! If that coward He Zhengcheng dares not to look for a job and choose to start his own business, why shouldn't I? At most, I'll just set up my own design studio!" Li Mingyuan said.
"..."
A second-generation rich kid, out of touch with reality, doing design? He Zhengcheng ignored the personal attack and seriously disapproved of Li Mingyuan, about to criticize him.
"Ding-a-ling..." He Zhengcheng's phone rang.
"Hello?" He Zhengcheng answered.
"Cheng Zai, I'm Zhang Guorong. On August 15th, there's an event, a concert with over a dozen celebrity singers. The ticket proceeds will be donated to disaster victims in Daxia Country, and everyone is encouraged to donate. Are you interested in coming to meet everyone?" Zhang Guorong asked.
"Oh, yes, yes! Are there still tickets? Can I bring two people?" He Zhengcheng asked.
"No problem, I'll try my best to reserve good seats for you. You can come a few days in advance to pick up the tickets. 'Wukong' is already finished, and 'Young Master Heads North' is also done. We will all perform on stage then." Zhang Guorong said.
"I'm really looking forward to your performance. Thank you, Ge Ge!" He Zhengcheng said.
...The two chatted for a while, and finally, after hanging up the phone, He Zhengcheng's only impression seemed to be the concert.
"What concert?" Li Mingyuan and Shi Hongwen asked simultaneously.
"This sounds good, let's go see it too!" Li Mingyuan said.
"Alright, then I'll go to Ge Ge to buy tickets tomorrow afternoon!" He Zhengcheng thought about it and decided not to let his younger siblings go.
"We'll donate some money too!" Shi Hongwen said.
"Okay!" Li Mingyuan said.
Natural disasters and man-made calamities struck simultaneously. Ordinary people only saw the immediate situation and would complain and criticize everywhere, but the Daxia Country had to consider the overall picture...