nycdaug Chapter 932 Remember
Chapter 932 Remember
Another man wearing gold-rimmed glasses sneered, "Boss Zhao, be careful of Sheng Xuanhuai's people shorting!" Lin Yuanqing huddled in a corner, his ears perked up. After the show, he quietly followed a few brokers to the stock exchange. Under the neon lights, the glass door was filled with people, and the numbers jumping on the blackboard were like mysterious spells. He clenched the only five silver dollars in his pocket, which were the life-saving money that his mother sewed into his lapel before she died. The next day, Lin Yuanqing bought Nanyang Tobacco shares with three silver dollars. When he trembled and took the thin piece of paper, the pawnshop owner sneered, "A poor boy wants to get rich? This thing is not as good as toilet paper!" But Lin Yuanqing ignored it. He stayed at the door of the stock exchange every day, eavesdropped on the conversations of big investors, and recorded various news in the corners of newspapers with a pencil. A month later, Nanyang Tobacco's stock price soared due to the boycott of foreign goods. Lin Yuanqing held the stocks that had tripled in value, stood in front of the French window of the stock exchange, and looked at his reflection in the glass - a worn-out coarse cloth shirt, but with his back straight. He sold the stocks in exchange for his first pot of gold, and also tasted the sweetness of the financial market. However, the good luck did not last long. In 1916, Yuan Shikai proclaimed himself emperor and the stock market plummeted. Lin Yuanqing watched the stocks in his hand turn into waste paper, and returned to the pre-liberation era overnight. He squatted by the Huangpu River, clutching the last silver dollar, and the sobbing of the river was in his ears. At this time, an old man with a cane sat down beside him: "Young man, do you know why you lost?" The old man's name was Chen Qiming. He was the shopkeeper of a money shop and had his leg broken for offending foreigners. Seeing that Lin Yuanqing had a spirit of not admitting defeat in his eyes, he accepted him as his apprentice. In the dilapidated attic, Chen Qiming taught him to read the account books, calculate interest rates, and talked about how HSBC manipulated exchange rates and how Sheng Xuanhuai played with railway bonds. Lin Yuanqing was like a dried sponge, desperately absorbing knowledge. In 1919, the May Fourth Movement broke out and a wave of strikes broke out in Shanghai. Lin Yuanqing keenly sensed the business opportunity. He joined forces with several small businessmen to buy cotton yarn that was unsalable due to the strike at a low price and stored it in the concession warehouse. When the strike ended, the market was in short supply and the price of cotton yarn soared. This time, he made a lot of money and also got to know Zhou Hongru, a big businessman in the business world. Zhou Hongru took a fancy to Lin Yuanqing's brain and invited him to invest in the newly opened bank. Lin Yuanqing knew that this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, but he also understood that Zhou Hongru was shrewd and had foreign forces behind him. On the day of investing, his palms were full of sweat when he signed his name on the contract. Soon after the bank opened, it was caught in a thrilling run. It turned out that competitors spread rumors that the bank's capital chain was broken. Depositors held up their passbooks and surrounded the bank. Lin Yuanqing stood behind the counter, watching Zhou Hongru calmly drinking tea, and suddenly realized: This is a test. He rushed to the second floor, opened the safe, and placed all the cash and gold in front of the window for the depositors to see with their own eyes. At the same time, he sent people to contact the newspaper to publish reports on the bank's strong funds. After three days and three nights of perseverance, the bank run finally subsided. After this battle, Lin Yuanqing gained a firm foothold in the bank and made Zhou Hongru look at him with new eyes. In 1927, the Northern Expedition approached Shanghai, and the financial market was turbulent again. Lin Yuanqing smelled the breath of danger, and he persuaded Zhou Hongru to sell stocks and transfer funds. But Zhou Hongru was blinded by the interests and insisted on going long. Lin Yuanqing had to secretly cash out his shares and exchange them for gold bars and buried them in the backyard of the old house. Sure enough, the stock market collapsed, Zhou Hongru's bank went bankrupt, and he lost everything overnight. But Lin Yuanqing took the funds and opened his own bank in the French Concession-"Yuantong Bank". On the day of the opening, Chen Qiming, his former benefactor, sat in a wheelchair and looked at him with relief: "I taught you to read the account books, but now you can see through the entire market." However, greater challenges are still to come. In 1931, Japan invaded the three northeastern provinces, and the Shanghai economy fell into crisis. Smith, the owner of the foreign bank, joined several foreign banks in an attempt to squeeze out Yuantong Bank. They deliberately sold silver dollars on the black market, causing market panic, and depositors once again flocked to the bank. Lin Yuanqing did not panic this time. He visited business colleagues overnight to raise funds and persuaded the government to regulate. He also came up with a surprise move and launched "Patriotic Savings Certificates", promising that the interest would be used to support the anti-Japanese war. As soon as the news came out, the people responded one after another and lined up to deposit money. Smith's conspiracy failed and he left Shanghai in disgrace. After the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War, Lin Yuanqing used his financial network to secretly raise funds for the anti-Japanese forces. He hid gold bars in tea boxes and transported them to the base through secret channels; he opened a "refugee account" in the bank to help the displaced people. These actions made him a thorn in the eyes of the Japanese. On a rainy night in 1938, several Japanese ronin broke into Lin Yuanqing's office. The leading officer drew his saber: "Mr. Lin, the imperial army needs your help." Lin Yuanqing remained calm and lit a cigarette: "My help is only for the Chinese." Before he finished speaking, gunshots rang out and bullets flew past his scalp. At the critical moment, underground party comrades arrived in time and rescued Lin Yuanqing. After that, he continued to contribute to the cause of the War of Resistance under the cover of the underground party. His bank became a secret base for transmitting intelligence and transporting materials. After the victory of the War of Resistance, Lin Yuanqing had become an important figure in the financial community of Shanghai. But he did not forget his origins. He built schools in the slums and funded poor students; he opened a civilian bank and gave low-interest loans to small vendors. Some people said he was stupid, not making big money, but doing a losing business. He just smiled and said: "When I was starving at the newsstand, I vowed to make more people no longer suffer from poverty." In 1949, on the eve of the founding of New China, many wealthy businessmen chose to flee overseas. Lin Yuanqing stood on the roof of his bank, looking at the lights of the Bund, and thought of the boy selling newspapers at the newsstand. He made the most important decision in his life-stay and use his experience and resources to build a new country. When the five-star red flag was raised on the Bund in Shanghai, Lin Yuanqing stood in the crowd with tears in his eyes. From a newsboy to a financial tycoon, his life is full of legends, but he always remembers that he came out of the muddy water by the Huangpu River, and the land under his feet will always be his deepest concern.
The air conditioner in the audition room made a slight hum. Su Wan held the crumpled script tightly, her nails almost digging into her palm. In the mirror, she was wearing a plain white dress, and her plain appearance was particularly eye-catching among the heavily made-up actresses. The crisp sound of high heels hitting the ground came from outside the door, mixed with the flattering laughter of the agent: "Sister Qingyu, the leading female role this time must be you!"