Chapter 8 Audacity

Chapter 8 Audacity

"Did you just get this car this year?"

On the road, Jiang Luo initiated the conversation casually.

Forget this life's Huo Zongzhuo; even in the previous one, if Huo Zongzhuo wasn't scowling, Jiang Luo could easily strike up a conversation with him.

Jiang Luo's personality wasn't exactly blunt, but he certainly wasn't the silent type.

Huo Zongzhuo drove: "I bought it late last year."

Jiang Luo: "Did it come from Hainan? I noticed the Shanghai license plate."

"Mhm."

Jiang Luo: "Was it expensive? What's the price like now?"

Huo Zongzhuo: "350,000 yuan."

Jiang Luo nodded: "That's not cheap."

Jiang Luo chimed in again: "Are you a local?"

He knew Huo Zongzhuo wasn't.

Huo Zongzhuo: "I'm from Sucheng."

Jiang Luo: "In business?"

Huo Zongzhuo: "Something like that."

Huo Zongzhuo then questioned him: "So young, not in school, not working either? What are you doing buying stocks on your own?"

Jiang Luo replied nonchalantly: "Not good at studying, so I don't go to school. Too lazy to work, so I don't work."

"Stock trading is great; earning a few hundred a day is faster and easier than working."

Huo Zongzhuo then said: "My name is Huo Zongzhuo. Huo as in Huo Yuanjia, Zong as in clan, and Zhuó is written with the three-dot water radical and the character Zhái, pronounced zhuo."

Jiang Luo thought to himself, *how strange—what kind of treatment is this in this life, that Huo Zongzhuo would introduce himself like this.*

"My name is Jiang Luo."

Jiang Luo also introduced himself, then looked over at the driver and said: "Are you trying to be friends with me?"

"You're quite a bit older than me, right?"

Huo Zongzhuo: "Yes, I'm 29 this year, so a bit older than you."

He then added: "Just getting acquainted. If you think we can be friends, then let's be friends."

Jiang Luo: "Wait until I pay you back, and if I haven't lost it all and can even share some profits, then you can talk to me about being friends."

Huo Zongzhuo: "You don't have faith in yourself?"

Jiang Luo unhurriedly: "In this life, I might not trust anyone, but I definitely trust myself."

"Don't worry, you won't lose your money."

"Just wait for your 'dividends'."

Huo Zongzhuo chuckled: "You know what 'dividends' are?"

Jiang Luo retorted sharply: "Am I not supposed to know about 'dividends'?"

Huo Zongzhuo chuckled again: "You're young, but you know a lot."

Hearing this, Jiang Luo smirked: "It's precisely because I'm young that I need to know a lot. Otherwise, people will think you're easy to bully and eat you alive, bones and all."

Huo Zongzhuo: "Where did you learn this philosophy? From your parents?"

Jiang Luo swung his leg idly: "I don't have parents. I was born knowing it; it's innate."

Huo Zongzhuo chuckled again. He realized Jiang Luo was young but shrewd beyond his years.

When they arrived at the Hilton and entered the restaurant, Huo Zongzhuo noticed something else about Jiang Luo:

Jiang Luo would scan his surroundings when entering a new place, observing, but without any look of surprise or awe. He just looked and moved on, very composed.

When ordering steak, he knew how he liked it cooked, even "Medium Well," knew how to use a fork, and could distinguish which glasses were for what and how to use them.

This naturally exceeded Huo Zongzhuo's expectations.

He had originally thought Jiang Luo, being so young, might never have eaten steak or known how to use cutlery and glasses.

Huo Zongzhuo also ordered Medium Well, initially planning to cut the steak and swap plates with the young man, but now it wasn't necessary.

So Huo Zongzhuo made small talk with Jiang Luo while eating: "Had steak before?"

Of course, thanks to his previous life.

This was his first steak in this life.

Jiang Luo skillfully cut his steak with a knife and fork, looked up, and replied: "I may not have eaten pork, but I've seen pigs run."

Then in a half-joking, half-serious tone: "Is that so strange? In your mind, I shouldn't have eaten steak?"

Jiang Luo was like this—he wasn't the gentle type. Whether in speech, actions, or expressions, he never beat around the bush.

He had a certain "aggressiveness."

Those who liked him found him charismatic; those who didn't, thought he was too blunt.

For example, Su Lan and Zhao Shuo really disliked Jiang Luo's way of speaking, finding him impolite.

Huo Zongzhuo didn't. Huo Zongzhuo thought Jiang Luo, though young, was bold, somewhat flamboyant, even arrogantly so.

He was different from any eighteen-year-old boy Huo Zongzhuo had met.

Huo Zongzhuo replied: "I really thought you hadn't eaten steak and wanted to cut it for you if you couldn't."

Jiang Luo raised an eyebrow: "You're so considerate?"

*Why did you always scowl at me in the previous life?*

He shrugged and continued chatting: "Even if I really couldn't cut it, I'd have to learn. What others know is theirs; what I know is mine."

Huo Zongzhuo listened and thought the young man knew quite a lot.

He continued the conversation, "Why did you take off from home all by yourself? From your accent, you sound like a local from Haicheng."

Jiang Luo lowered his gaze as he cut his steak, "Just don't get along with my family, that's all."

He looked up, "Are you digging into my family stuff again?"

Huo Zongzhuo glanced back, "Not at all, just making casual conversation."

"What about your family?"

Jiang Luo flipped the question back at him, his tone knowing, "Are you married? Do you have kids? Wife and children back in your hometown in Sucheng?"

"No."

Huo Zongzhuo replied, "I'm not married, no kids either. I'm not dating anyone—just on my own."

"Why?"

Jiang Luo had been curious about this since his past life and finally had the chance to ask.

Huo Zongzhuo said, "No particular reason. Never met the right person, and work kept me too busy. No time."

*Is it because he… can't perform?*

Jiang Luo thought to himself that there was a 95% chance Huo Zongzhuo indeed had issues.

Well, if he has issues, that's how it is.

Jiang Luo felt a bit of sympathy.

For a man, having issues—that's just pretty rough.

And so, the meal passed by in a mix of off-and-on chatter.

Meanwhile, Zhao Shuo had spent the entire afternoon searching, even reaching Baoshan District, yet there was still no trace of Jiang Luo.

Frustrated and annoyed, Zhao Shuo wished he could just grab a loudspeaker and announce it everywhere.

He thought to himself that once he found Jiang Luo, he'd give that little punk a couple of hard kicks!

On another front, at Fudan University, in the dormitory building, when Zhang Xiangping's call came through, Zhao Mingshi happened to be in his room.

The RA came to fetch him, saying his mother was on the line. Zhao Mingshi went downstairs to answer the call, picking up the phone receiver.

But as soon as he put it to his ear, he realized it wasn't Su Lan on the other end—it was Zhang Xiangping, telling him to come home for a meal. Frowning, Zhao Mingshi hung up the phone without a word, turned around, and walked off, fuming.

*Who would want to go back to that house anyway?*

*That shitty apartment building—he wasn't going!*

*It didn't even have a private bathroom!*

*Disgusting!*

The next day, Jiang Luo went to the Jing'an Branch, with over 100,000 yuan in cash flow, and began making bold moves trading several stocks, frequently visiting the trading counter.

The guy with glasses was there too, sitting right beside Jiang Luo, keeping tabs on him. After all, he'd given Jiang Luo 10,000 yuan—of course he had to keep an eye on things to make sure Jiang Luo didn't just take off with the money.

What he witnessed was Jiang Luo buying more shares in Vacuum Tube at 69 yuan and buying over 30,000 yuan worth of Feile when it dropped to 29.

The guy with glasses' eyes widened as he stared at Jiang Luo, "Are you crazy? Vacuum Tube is already at 69—lots of people are starting to sell now, and you're buying more?"

"Feile has been dropping for days, you know that?"

"And you still dare to buy?!"

In the afternoon, Feile started rising, hitting 32, and Vacuum Tube also climbed to 71.4.

The guy with glasses shut up.

Soon, his eyes widened again—after a day of frequent buying and selling, Jiang Luo bought almost 50,000 yuan worth of Vacuum Tube, close to 700 shares, as it approached 72.5.

The guy with glasses: ???

Others around them were also puzzled. Although Vacuum Tube had risen back into the 70s, many were uncertain, feeling it had climbed enough and fearing a drop. Quite a few people at the branch began selling.

"Hey, how about just giving me back my 10,000 yuan?"

"I won't even ask for half of whatever profit you make."

The guy with glasses was nervous, doubtful about Jiang Luo's moves.

Jiang Luo sat in his chair, arms crossed, eyes fixed on the screen, and said to the guy with glasses without looking at him, "Keep quiet and quit bugging me."

The guy with glasses grew anxious, "Kid, Vacuum Tube can't go any higher. Don't you see everyone selling? When many people sell, it's gonna drop!"

Everyone in the trading hall, whether they held Vacuum Tube or not, began watching and discussing.

Then, just before the branch closed for the day, Vacuum Tube's stock price stunned everyone in the hall—

Shortly before closing, Vacuum Tube suddenly shot up, skyrocketing to 76.2.

The investors in the hall went crazy. Those with nerve, along with some people jumping on the bandwagon, rushed to the counter to buy Vacuum Tube.

The guy with glasses was completely stunned. *This is… this is…*

He turned and grabbed Jiang Luo's arm, "Man! Sell now! It's already 76—sell quickly, cash out!"

Jiang Luo shook his hand off, calm and composed, his eyes steady on the screen with a hint of cocky confidence, "Sell? Why? It's going higher."

Someone behind them leaned in, "It's really going to keep rising? How do you know? Do you have inside information?"

Jiang Luo said cryptically, "Figure it out yourself. Buy if you want, don't if you don't. I've already bought."

That person immediately stood up and ran to the counter.

Whether it was bandwagoning or genuine optimism about Vacuum Tube, soon more people rushed to the counter.

The guy with glasses stared at Vacuum Tube's price on the screen, his heart pounding: *It's still going to rise? Still going to rise???*

*It's already 76, 76!*

He glanced at Jiang Luo, sitting calmly beside him with arms crossed, watching the screen, gritted his teeth, suddenly stood up, and made a dash for the counter.

As he left, Jiang Luo glanced at him out of the corner of his eye, a slight smirk curling his lips.

This chill composure was utterly at odds with his age.

What shone through was a calm, calculated boldness.

Jiang Luo also crossed his legs, swinging them lightly, tilting his chin up as he calmly watched the stock prices with utter confidence, as if everything was under his control.

The next day, an event electrified all the investors in the trading hall:

Several stocks were all showing gains!

The market index climbed steadily upward with unstoppable momentum!

The counter swarmed with investors waiting to buy.

The bespectacled man was also among them, clutching his trading slip.

The market index broke through 120, 121, 121.5, 122...

The screen was a sea of red!

All red!

Almost every investor in the hall buzzed with activity.

Some even left immediately, hurrying home to scrape together more funds to invest.

Jiang Luo remained seated in front of the screen, coolly observing the stock prices amid the commotion.

He didn’t need to act, didn’t need to squeeze through the crowd at the counter. His over 100,000 yuan, including the sum Wang Chuang had borrowed for him, had already been fully invested.

Stocks led by Vacuum Tube were steadily climbing.

Vacuum Tube had already reached 84, Feile hit 30, and Yanzhong, along with the other stocks, were also climbing bit by bit, upward, upward, upward.

The hall was filled with noise, many people almost with eyes gleaming with excitement.

Still rising! Still rising!

Rising!!!

Rising!!!!

At the market close that day, almost everyone leaving the hall was grinning from ear to ear.

The bespectacled man walking beside Jiang Luo was especially pumped. Although he had bought in late, the 10,000 he had given Jiang Luo was already going to net him a nice profit.

*Haha!*

*So happy!*

*Amazing!*

*Absolutely amazing!*

Jiang Luo, however, walked at a leisurely pace, munching an apple as he went.

*This was just the beginning.*

*In the future, they would come to realize that it wasn’t just stock prices—the whole country would skyrocket at an astonishing pace.*

*In 1990, everything had only just begun.*

As Jiang Luo walked along the roadside, heading toward the small inn where he was staying, two quick beeps of a car horn suddenly sounded.

Turning his head, he saw Huo Zongzhuo’s BMW.

He stopped, leaned down to look through the lowered car window, and saw Huo Zongzhuo looking at him, saying, "Get in. I’ll take you to get something to eat."

Author's Note: