I'm back in 1990

Chapter 168: Gold Futures

The university gave us a day off for National Day, but unfortunately Yu Xiang didn't get a day off, so my plan to go out and have fun with her for a day fell through.

In the morning, Huang Xiaochuan was thinking about what to do today when his cell phone rang. Considering that Cao Charlie and the others often contacted him, Huang Xiaochuan kept his cell phone on as long as he wasn't in class.

He thought it was another call from Charlie Cao, but it turned out to be Min Huifen, an investment manager at HSBC.

"Mr. Huang, I have good news for you. Your short Nikkei index contract has just been settled. After deducting the transaction fees, your total profit is HKD 110289072. This amount, together with your HKD 200 million margin, has been converted into USD 1772640 according to your request and based on today's USD to HKD exchange rate. It has now been transferred to your personal account at our bank."

Min Huifen's tone was extremely courteous and attentive. For a client who could predict the trend of the Nikkei index, such respect was not excessive at all.

Upon hearing that the money had been deposited into his account, Huang Xiaochuan expressed his gratitude to Min Huifen over the phone.

"Thank you, Ah Fen. I'll invite you for tea when I go to Hong Kong."

Huang Xiaochuan's words implied that he would also be going to Hong Kong to conduct financial investment transactions, which was exactly the answer Min Huifen wanted to get.

Min Huifen had originally intended to invite Huang Xiaochuan to continue with the next investment over the phone. She was also looking forward to seeing if Huang Xiaochuan's next investment would be as successful as his short selling of the Nikkei index.

"Okay, I'll be waiting for you in Hong Kong anytime. Please feel free to call me or give me a phone call if you need anything."

The short-selling of the Nikkei index has come to an end, but there is another big event to happen at the end of the year. In early September, the Baltic states declared independence, and the former Soviet Union was also on the verge of collapse. By the end of the year, it had completely disintegrated. However, even a weakened camel is bigger than a horse. Even though its economy has suffered a severe blow, its land area is still the largest in the world.

However, Huang Xiaochuan didn't have the ability to make money in the former Soviet Union. He was eyeing gold. With the collapse of the Soviet Union, the world gold price would plummet, and Huang Xiaochuan planned to short gold futures to make a big profit.

Gold has been a precious and irreplaceable metal since ancient times due to its inherent characteristics. Countries around the world regard gold as an important strategic reserve. Moreover, it has another characteristic: when the global economy is doing well, its price does not rise but falls.

Although gold prices have been rising steadily throughout history, there have always been periods of adjustment. Therefore, the rise and fall of gold prices are constantly changing based on factors such as production, international situation, and people's demand.

When faced with the risk of a large-scale global war, the price of this thing will rise sharply. This reflects the risk-averse sentiment of capital towards geopolitical situations. Capital is the most profit-seeking and risk-averse thing, and the people behind it are the most greedy and shrewd.

When they sense that the situation is not good, they will convert their capital into safe-haven assets, such as gold.

With the collapse of the Soviet Union, the risk of a world war will be reduced to zero, a period of peace will arrive, the Cold War will end, and the world will enter a period of globalization.

At this time, the price of gold is bound to fall. Huang Xiaochuan seized this opportunity to make a fortune. Besides, he only invested a total of about one million US dollars. Even if he leveraged it, the amount would not alarm those financial tycoons. Huang Xiaochuan planned to get a share of the profits.

With that in mind, Huang Xiaochuan immediately went to the post office and made an international call to Hong Kong.

Although it is National Day in mainland China, Hong Kong does not have a National Day holiday at this time. However, soon, in a few years, Hong Kong people will have another holiday.

The call was, of course, directed to Charlie Cao.

"Charlie, it's me!"

"Mr. Huang?"

"Send me an invitation letter as soon as possible in the name of Dadao Trading. There are three of us in total, including me. I will send you the details by fax later. Four Seasons Leeks sincerely presents '1990 I'm Back,' exclusively published by Cola Novels! Send me the invitation letter as soon as possible. I'm going to Hong Kong in December."

Huang Xiaochuan plans to fly directly from Shanghai to Hong Kong this time. He doesn't want to go back and forth again, as it's too tiring and a waste of time. It's better to fly directly, which will save a lot of time.

"Okay, Mr. Huang, I'll get it done as soon as your fax arrives. It would be great if you could come sooner. Our flagship store in Central will be opening next month, and I was thinking of letting you know in a few days so I could invite you to officiate the opening ceremony."

"I won't attend the opening ceremony. You can discuss it with Boss Huang." With several specialty stores opening, there's no need for Huang Xiaochuan to take a special day off.

When Huang Xiaochuan arrived, He Wenfeng helped Zhou Wei take the barbell off his shoulder.

Huang Xiaochuan instructed the two men, "Come out with me in a bit."

Huang Xiaochuan took the two to a hotel and paid to borrow a photocopier and fax machine to send their personal information to Cao Charlie.

After finishing all this, Huang Xiaochuan said to Zhou Wei and He Wenfeng, "You two will be going to Hong Kong with me at the end of the year. In a few days, Hong Kong will send you an invitation letter. Go back to your hometown first to get your passports. After you get your passports, come back to me. You can rest at home for a while and make arrangements at home. Your salary will be paid normally while you are at home."

Zhou Wei and He Wenfeng exchanged surprised glances. They hadn't expected to be able to go on a business trip to Hong Kong! And the time they spent at home processing their passports was also considered working time. What a stroke of luck!

Taking Zhou Wei and He Wenfeng to Hong Kong was for Huang Xiaochuan's own safety. Before, when Huang Xiaochuan had a net worth of more than two million Hong Kong dollars, perhaps no one paid attention to him. But now he had more than one million seven hundred thousand US dollars in his HSBC account in Hong Kong. In 1991, this was no small amount of money.

Moreover, once he successfully shorted gold futures, his account balance would increase significantly. Therefore, Huang Xiaochuan made this arrangement with these considerations in mind.

After arranging everything, Huang Xiaochuan returned to the school. As soon as he entered, he met Jiang Bixing, who was pedaling a tricycle ahead of him, preparing goods.

Huang Xiaochuan rode his bike alongside Jiang Bixing and asked, "Senior, you have less than a year left before graduation. Aren't you planning to give up this business yet?"

The tricycles were mostly filled with glass-bottled drinks like soda and champagne, so Jiang Bixing had a lot of trouble pedaling.

He stopped and wiped the sweat from his brow.

"Didn't you go out to play during the holiday?"

Huang Xiaochuan also placed both feet on the ground and braced himself on the bicycle.

"No, there doesn't seem to be much to do." Huang Xiaochuan was telling the truth. There really isn't much to do in Shanghai right now. After all, it's still under development. The Oriental Pearl Tower has just started construction, and Pudong was only officially decided to be developed last year. The development of Shanghai has only just begun.

In the 1980s and 90s, people all over the country, except for those from Shanghai, were proud to be able to buy products made in Shanghai. Shanghai's daily chemical products, such as "Pechoin", "Bee & Flower", "Sulfur Soap", "Liushen Floral Water" and "Meijiajing Moisturizing Cream", were all in high demand and short supply in China.

During holidays and festivals, well-known brands such as "White Rabbit," "Melin Luncheon Meat," and "Guanshengyuan" from Shanghai are sold out as soon as they hit the shelves.

What a wonderful era this is! Not only are domestically produced high-quality products guaranteed, but they are also considered the best products by ordinary people.

However, the market was later taken over by outsiders, and the quality of goods in the market was uneven. But the old Shanghai brands still survived tenaciously, although for a considerable period of time, they did not have an easy time.

Seeing that Huang Xiaochuan was alright, Jiang Bixing asked him for help: "Could you help me move these soft drinks to the warehouse if you have nothing else to do?"

Huang Xiaochuan thought to himself that he was free anyway, and helping out was just a matter of lifting a finger, so he readily agreed.