Back home, Li Baolong sprawled on the sofa, meticulously calculating his available funds. The $1 billion loan plus the $1 billion from the Swiss bank brought his total to $2 billion. Adding the HK$9 billion and RMB6 billion in his bank account, it came to roughly $4 billion. He considered that if Sister Lan's RMB2 billion arrived on time, that would be even better, but his current funds were sufficient. He thought that with these funds as a base, using a 20x leverage, that would amount to $80 billion—undoubtedly a powerful weapon. Although it was still significantly less than the $2 trillion controlled by European and American tycoons like Ross, smaller sums had their advantages: easier to manage, allowing for quick entry and exit, and greater flexibility.
Recently, Li Baolong has turned his attention to the stock and futures markets of Southeast Asian countries, paying particular attention to news about Ross. He's thinking to himself that if Ross personally goes to Southeast Asia, he'll definitely have to meet this financial tycoon.
Liu Na has moved into Li Baolong's large apartment. Strangely enough, the three women living together are getting along quite well. These past few days, Li Baolong has been holed up at home, focused entirely on analyzing the operational plan. He knows the location; he knew from Ross's memory that it's definitely Thailand.
We're just waiting to see when Ross and his team will make their move. I heard they plan to short the Thai currency sometime in February or March. If that happens, it could trigger a financial crisis across Southeast Asia, and even affect Hong Kong's economy. Ross and his team plan to invest $100 billion; if successful, they could profit $100 billion – a 100% return in a year! The risk is high, but the temptation is also immense.
With the Spring Festival just ten days away, the stock markets in these countries continued their slump and decline, sending a chill down Li Baolong's spine. He secretly planned to head straight to Thailand on the third day of the Lunar New Year to stake out the situation and see if Ross would actually come.
In the past few days, he arranged for Liu Na to help him apply for a visa to go abroad; a month's timeframe would be sufficient. Li Baolong promptly transferred the funds from his Swiss bank account to Lulutong Company's futures account at Standard Chartered Bank. Now, each of these two bank accounts holds approximately two billion US dollars. He also has over six tons of gold stored in his spatial storage, plus over 500 million Chinese yuan, more than enough for his usual entertainment expenses.
In the past few days, he directed employees from two companies to short Thai stock index futures with small amounts of capital. Although the profits were not much, the overall market trend was what it was, with stocks falling across the board, so they basically didn't lose money.
These past few days, Li Baolong couldn't resist the temptation and started living with Liu Na. They had a passionate encounter every night, and the other two women, of course, weren't happy about it. They wanted to join in, and to balance things out, Liu Na agreed. Each of the three of them would spend two nights with Li Baolong.
On New Year's Eve, everyone made dumplings together, including some outstanding employees. Twenty or thirty people spent the night in a lively atmosphere, welcoming the New Year. Everyone received a red envelope; Li Baolong gave each employee a 1,000 yuan red envelope, and the four women each a 10,000 yuan red envelope. The Special Economic Zone company did the same.
On the third day of the Lunar New Year, while others were still visiting relatives and friends, Li Baolong had already boarded a plane to Thailand, beginning his travels. He stayed at the Bangkok International Hotel, in a deluxe suite. Coincidentally, he remembered that Ross and his group had stayed there last time. Li Baolong's room number was 818, and the room next door was 808.
That evening, Li Baolong was walking alone on the streets of Bangkok, pondering what to do for the next couple of days, when a shout suddenly interrupted his thoughts. He looked closely and saw seven or eight people chasing a middle-aged man. These men were armed with pistols and daggers; they were clearly not to be trifled with—Southeast Asian gangsters. This group was practically lawless in the area; even the Thai police dared not touch them. Whenever they appeared, the police would hide; they were all fearless.
The middle-aged man ran like a stray dog, and as he passed Li Baolong, he shouted in Chinese, "Help me, friend! I'll repay you! I'm a descendant of the Expeditionary Force!" Then he ran off. Li Baolong thought to himself, "This man has some backbone; at least he didn't drag me down with him."
Seven or eight dark-faced men rushed over menacingly, one of them even trying to stab Li Baolong with a knife. Li Baolong quickly took a step back and assumed a fighting stance. At this moment, the leader said something, and then they continued their chase. Li Baolong's anger flared up instantly, and without saying a word, he followed them.
In no time, seven or eight thugs surrounded the middle-aged man, some even raising their pistols. The leader was cursing and muttering something under his breath. Li Baolong saw his chance. He pulled out an American-made hand grenade from his storage space—the one he'd found at Chachai's house last time. He roughly knew how to use it, so he pulled the safety pin, released the grip, and threw it behind the men. Three seconds later, there was a loud "boom," and all seven or eight men were knocked down. Two of them, slightly injured, got up and ran, fearing another grenade. The remaining five or six lay on the ground, groaning in pain.
Li Baolong waved to the middle-aged man, who hurriedly ran over. The two quickly left, crossed a street, and found a small restaurant to sit down. Li Baolong ordered several dishes and offered them to the middle-aged man, who ate them without hesitation.
A few minutes later, the man spoke, "My name is Wei Chao, and I run a jadeite mining business in northern Myanmar. I came to Thailand for a jade exhibition, and one of my jadeite pieces, the 'King of Jade,' was auctioned off. My enemies couldn't buy it at a low price, so they hired someone to kill me. My father is Chinese; he was in the Chinese Expeditionary Force, and I've been speaking Chinese since I was a child." Li Baolong nodded and said, "It's alright, you're safe now. You should hurry and leave."
Wei Chao said, "I'm returning to Myanmar by water. Young brother, thanks to you for saving my life. If you ever come to northern Myanmar, just mention my name, and all the warlords will have to give you face. If you want jade or gemstones, come to me; I'll practically give them away for free." Li Baolong smiled and said, "Alright, thank you. We should have a chance to meet again." As he spoke, he took out a pistol and a grenade from his spatial storage and put them in Wei Chao's pocket.
Just as Li Baolong was about to leave, Wei Chao called out, "Young man, what's your name? If we have the chance in the future, I'll definitely repay you."
Li Baolong said, "My name is Long," and left. Wei Chao called out from behind, "Thank you, Brother Long."
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