Chapter 1034: The Truly Wealthy

From ancient times to the present, the oldest and most enduring platform for communication is actually dining together.

No matter how distant two people are, if they often eat together, even if they are not familiar, they will become familiar.

Family, friends, acquaintances, or strangers—all grow closer in this way.

The relationship between Fan Baobao and Zhou Qing was like this. From the time she first entered the People's Art Theater, Zhou Qing had taken her under her wing, acting and rehearsing together, eating together, and usually at work, she was very attentive to her.

Under these circumstances, Fan Baobao and Zhou Qing naturally became close.

And what had just happened was that Zhou Qing had been looked down upon.

This made Fan Baobao very unhappy.

Originally, because Xia Zijun didn't understand Chinese and Fan Baobao's English was mediocre, she basically had no other thoughts. But now that this foreigner who spoke Beijing dialect fluently appeared, Fan Baobao suddenly had other ideas.

"Who are you?" Fan Baobao looked at the foreigner curiously.

"Hello, beautiful lady, my name is Jerry, Chinese name Li Dezhu." The foreigner's words made Fan Baobao and the others laugh; the name Li Dezhu was really too rustic.

"Hello, Mr. Li." Fan Baobao didn't intend to ask further about his situation. Since he understood Chinese, it would be best if he could help with translation.

"Beautiful lady, I seem to have seen you on TV." Li Dezhu was clearly a China hand, finding Fan Baobao somewhat familiar.

Fan Baobao smiled but didn't explain.

"It's like this: could you ask Mr. Xia Zijun if I have stocks, can I use those stocks as collateral to get a loan from Citibank?" Fan Baobao got straight to the point, asking Li Dezhu.

Li Dezhu frowned. He was an international student studying Chinese language and literature, and he and Xia Zijun were high school classmates with a good relationship. This time, Xia Zijun came to China for an engagement and happened to contact him. They had originally planned to eat here, but unexpectedly, the woman seemed to have met an acquaintance.

If it were just that, Li Dezhu wouldn't have been surprised, but Fan Baobao's question caught him off guard.

Nevertheless, he faithfully translated the question.

Xia Zijun was also a bit stunned, but he still answered with his professional knowledge.

Soon, Li Dezhu looked at Fan Baobao: "Miss, my friend tells me that an evaluation is needed—to see how much your stocks are worth, what type of stocks they are, their growth potential, and also an assessment of your personal assets. In the United States, getting a loan is a troublesome matter."

Clearly, he was advising Fan Baobao to back off.

After all, in Li Dezhu's or Xia Zijun's view, a girl like Fan Baobao, even if she had so-called stocks, probably wouldn't have much value.

Fan Baobao didn't think much of it and didn't notice the disdain. She just remembered what Zhao Fusheng had said last night, so she wanted to ask. Unexpectedly, it turned out to be true.

At this point, Fan Baobao naturally didn't want to ask further. She had just asked out of curiosity, with no other intentions. Since Zhao Fusheng knew about this, he would definitely hire professional accountants to handle it. She had always had full confidence in her boyfriend.

"Hmph, I thought she was some rich person, but it turns out she's just asking around." At that moment, Qiao Qiao's mother suddenly muttered.

The voice wasn't loud, but everyone present could hear it.

Zhou Qing's face immediately darkened. After all, Fan Baobao was practically her protégé, and Huiling's remark was clearly a slap in her face.

"Um, if I may ask, miss, what stocks do you hold?" Li Dezhu, seeing Fan Baobao silent, became very curious.

Fan Baobao hadn't intended to speak, and only frowned slightly at Huiling's words. But seeing the smug look on the mother and daughter's faces, she suddenly felt irritated and said bluntly, "NetEase's US stocks, so what?"

"NetEase?" Li Dezhu was startled and said in surprise, "I know that stock; it's been performing very well in recent months."

Most Americans invest in stocks. Although he was in China, Li Dezhu was considered middle class, with spare money invested in financial products. He was quite knowledgeable about US stocks, especially Nasdaq stocks.

Hearing Li Dezhu's words, Xia Zijun's eyes also lit up. Working on Wall Street, he knew better than anyone that NetEase's stock had made a comeback in recent months, going from one dollar per share to nearly forty dollars per share—a miracle.

"Um, may I ask how many shares you hold?" Xia Zijun chattered a lot to Li Dezhu, who finally turned to Fan Baobao helplessly and said, "Zijun is very interested in this. Citibank pays close attention to any high-quality client."

Clearly, this related to Xia Zijun's performance, so he was very concerned.

Fan Baobao tilted her head, thought for a moment, glanced at the mother and daughter whose expressions had become strange, and suddenly smiled.

"It's stocks held by my husband's investment company, about two million shares?" Fan Baobao beamed and said slowly, "I'm not sure of the specifics. He bought them at around one dollar each; I never asked how many he bought."

"Pfft!"

After asking that question, Li Dezhu felt a bit thirsty and casually poured himself a cup of tea from the table. But just as he took a sip, he heard Fan Baobao's words.

And then he sprayed!

And standing opposite him happened to be Ms. Huiling... It was a sad story.

"Oh!"

"Mom!"

Exclamations rang out, naturally causing a flurry of activity. The mother and daughter wanted to get angry, but Li Dezhu apologized profusely, leaving them with nothing to say.

Meanwhile, the people from the People's Art Theater were all a bit stunned.

Though young, they weren't stupid. Li Dezhu's reaction was clearly excessive; there must be a story behind it.

As for Fan Baobao's so-called husband, they didn't care much. From the time she joined the unit, Fan Baobao had mentioned she had a fiancé, and later rumors circulated in the theater that her boyfriend was very influential and even had cooperative projects with the theater.

What really surprised them was what Fan Baobao had just said.

One dollar, two million shares—didn't that mean Fan Baobao's fiancé casually spent over ten million to buy stocks?

Damn, he must be a tycoon, definitely a tycoon!

By now, Chinese people had a full understanding of stocks, especially those in the capital; how could they not know what stocks were?

After all, they had experienced several stock market crashes.

Many people were curious about something that could make one rich overnight or turn one into a pauper overnight. But everyone shared a common understanding: ordinary people only invest their spare money in the stock market.

In other words, they only consider investing if it doesn't affect their daily life.

That meant Fan Baobao's fiancé had casually spent over ten million RMB to buy NetEase stocks, and from what she said, this was just one of his investments.

How much money did this guy have?

A bold and outgoing female colleague glanced at Huiling and her daughter, then at Li Dezhu, and asked instinctively, "Um, Mr. Li, how much is NetEase's stock now?"

Li Dezhu was taken aback and replied instinctively, "It should have exceeded forty dollars."

What?!

As soon as these words were spoken, the whole table fell silent.

No one spoke; everyone was doing mental math.

Then, in the next moment, everyone's gaze toward Fan Baobao changed.

The math was easy: even with just two million shares, multiply by forty, since the cost was one dollar.

But the problem was, the resulting number was too shocking.

"Eighty, eighty million dollars?"

After a long while, someone murmured the answer, as if talking in a dream.

It couldn't be helped; many people might never earn ten million RMB in their lifetime, let alone ten million dollars, which was nearly a hundred million RMB.

And now, Fan Baobao's boyfriend and fiancé had turned an investment of two million dollars into eighty million in just over a year.

Could this guy be an investment genius?

Thinking this, several people looked at Fan Baobao with burning eyes.

No one didn't want to get rich. Although people unconsciously harbor a bit of resentment toward the rich, thinking why they don't donate all their wealth to charity, if given the chance, who wouldn't want to become a millionaire themselves?

As the saying goes, "A water front terrace gets the moonlight first." In the eyes of these people from the People's Art Theater, if they got along well with Fan Baobao, perhaps that person would give them some advice. For ordinary people, even a few words of guidance from a rich man of that level should be enough.

If Fan Baobao knew what her colleagues were thinking, she would definitely cover her forehead in helplessness.

You see, before this meal, she still thought Zhao Fusheng was in trouble. Who would have thought that Li Dezhu's words just now would leave Fan Baobao dumbfounded?

Indeed, she was also a bit stunned.

Earlier, she had been worried about Zhao Fusheng's difficulties and insufficient film investment.

But after Li Dezhu's words, Fan Baobao did the math herself and realized that Zhao Fusheng hadn't lied to her. That guy was really, really rich now.

"Eighty million should be enough to make several movies, right?"

At that moment, such an unreliable thought flashed through Fan Baobao's mind.