Chapter 1449: A High-Stakes Gamble

Using one hundred million US dollars to bet on ten billion or more.

When Zhao Fusheng went to bed at night, he felt he might have gotten carried away.

But he truly believed that his choice was not wrong.

In a sense, men are inherently gamblers—this is beyond doubt.

Testosterone drives men's desire for conquest and love of risk, so for men, admitting defeat and voluntarily scaling back their careers is often very difficult, especially summoning the resolve to do so.

Why do many men refuse to pull back and admit failure?

It's merely male arrogance, the instinct to conquer, and the vanity of wanting to be a hero of their era.

Zhao Fusheng was certainly not that kind of person, but deep down, he still had a streak of adventurous blood.

And in Zhao Fusheng's view, his choice was actually correct.

Knowing that the subprime mortgage crisis was about to happen, and knowing that entering the market now would definitely yield huge profits, if he didn't do something with this opportunity, Zhao Fusheng thought he would be wasting good times.

As for losing money, that was no big deal.

Just one hundred million US dollars—at worst, he could lose it all and earn it back.

If he didn't even have that much guts, how could he do bigger business in the future?

Of course, Zhao Fusheng didn't tell his family about this, nor did he tell Dong Chenxi or Zheng Yao. Instead, he privately contacted the China Construction Bank through Xue Yuanfang's connections.

The senior management of CCB naturally welcomed a high-quality client like Zhao Fusheng to borrow money, and quickly approved his loan request.

One hundred million US dollars was swiftly transferred to Tan Kaixuan's account in the United States.

Of course, the interest on this money was not cheap—over the year, Zhao Fusheng would have to pay nearly thirty million RMB in interest.

One had to admit that banking was indeed a hugely profitable industry—this was beyond doubt.

For Zhao Fusheng, like Tan Kaixuan, it was all about waiting.

In his memory, the subprime mortgage crisis broke out a full half year early, on June 6, 2006, with the announcement that New Century Financial Corporation was on the verge of bankruptcy.

US stocks plummeted!

"How is it?"

Zhao Fusheng sat in front of the computer; at this moment, he naturally couldn't see the situation in the US.

"It dropped!"

Tan Kaixuan said directly to Zhao Fusheng: "The Dow Jones fell by 2%, the S&P 500 by 3%, and the Nasdaq by 2.5%."

"Given our previous positions, how are we doing?" Zhao Fusheng asked.

He actually didn't understand much about the ins and outs of this. You see, US stocks often fluctuate greatly. For example, if you go short or long at this time, a swing of a few dozen points could completely wipe you out.

"We chose to short 200 points."

Tan Kaixuan said slowly: "Barring surprises, you can make a profit of over five hundred million US dollars."

"Have we closed the positions already?" Zhao Fusheng asked Tan Kaixuan.

These matters were all handled by professional traders; he really didn't understand.

Zhao Fusheng could only provide general guidance, telling Tan Kaixuan that if New Century Financial announced it was on the verge of bankruptcy, it meant the subprime mortgage crisis would definitely come to light, and US stocks would certainly plummet.

As for when to open positions and when to close them, that was up to Tan Kaixuan and his team of professional traders.

Tan Kaixuan laughed: "Of course. Don't you know who I am? In this situation, we'd better quit while we're ahead."

Zhao Fusheng had made five hundred million US dollars, and he and his Brother Capital had naturally made no less than Zhao Fusheng.

"That's good."

Hearing Tan Kaixuan's words, Zhao Fusheng smiled and nodded: "I have no objections. Since the traders on your side are professionals, it's better to listen to their advice."

"Don't worry, my traders are the most professional. To be honest, the chief trader is very curious about you now. He entered the securities industry at twenty and has been working in this field for nearly thirty years. Unlike some rookies, he has always believed that the stock market has patterns, and in his eyes, you are a genius who can see through those patterns."

Zhao Fusheng couldn't help but roll his eyes helplessly.

What a joke. With his level of skill, calling him a stock market genius? If he actually went into the stock market to trade, he'd lose everything in no time.

"Don't mess around. With my level, trading stocks? Am I crazy?" Zhao Fusheng said directly to Tan Kaixuan: "Tell him, I'm just good at analyzing the overall economic trends."

This matter had to be made clear. Zhao Fusheng didn't want others to think he had any ability to predict the future.

"I understand."

Tan Kaixuan nodded: "What do we do next?"

On this matter, he could only consult Zhao Fusheng, as he greatly admired Zhao Fusheng's judgment of the overall trend.

With a slight smile, Zhao Fusheng slowly said: "Nothing much to say. Since we've closed our positions, we'll just continue to wait."

Continue to wait?

Tan Kaixuan was taken aback, somewhat puzzled: "Uh, shouldn't we press the advantage?"

Unexpectedly, Zhao Fusheng shook his head: "Don't underestimate the Americans. Earlier, they announced earnings and additionally increased the reserve amount for U.S. subprime mortgages by seven billion U.S. dollars, totaling ten point six billion U.S. dollars, an increase of thirty-three percent. As soon as the news came out, the stock market plummeted that day, with the index dropping seven hundred and eighty points, a decline of four percent. But what happened afterward?"

Hearing this, Tan Kaixuan already understood Zhao Fusheng's meaning and smiled: "The Americans chose to bail out the market, and the stock market rose again."

"Yes, those Americans are cunning, with too many tricks up their sleeves," Zhao Fusheng said. "So we need to quit while we're ahead. When Lehman Brothers goes bankrupt, we'll make another move."

He wasn't the type to be desperate for money, so there was no need to take that kind of risk.

For Zhao Fusheng, gambling once was enough; there was no need to risk a second chance.

Hearing Zhao Fusheng's words, Tan Kaixuan naturally understood his meaning and said nothing more.

But in his heart, he had already decided that no matter what, he would also withdraw his own funds from the U.S. stock market.

On this point, Tan Kaixuan valued Zhao Fusheng's reaction greatly.

In his view, although Zhao Fusheng might not be as good as him in specific operations, when it came to judging the overall stock market situation, he was far inferior to Zhao Fusheng.

When he hung up the phone, Zhao Fusheng let out a long breath.

To be honest, although he hadn't shown it on the surface, in fact, he had been nervous inside. After all, it wasn't a hundred or two hundred dollars, but a full one hundred million U.S. dollars. If it had all gone down the drain, he would have been heartbroken for a long time.

But fortunately, fate favored him once again. It was a close call, but he had gotten through this difficulty.

Now with five hundred million U.S. dollars in hand, the next steps would be much easier.

The older generation always liked to say that having grain in hand eases the mind. Zhao Fusheng felt this saying was very true; at least he felt that way now.

With this money, if he encountered financing problems in the future, he wouldn't have to worry.

"Damn, it really is necessary to earn more money."

Zhao Fusheng thought for a moment and muttered to himself.

This was his true feeling. Although money is a bastard, one had to admit that the more you earn, the more it seems insufficient.

Because you'll find that no matter how hard you try, the money in your hands is never enough when investing.

Why do the rich get richer? It's because they can always use their conditions to make money generate money.

Conversely, ordinary people don't have that ability and can only watch others get rich.

Take Li Ka-shing, for example. He invested one billion U.S. dollars in Facebook and got returns dozens of times higher. For an ordinary person, not to mention whether you have the courage to invest, just coming up with one billion U.S. dollars upfront is impossible.

The strong get stronger—that's the principle.