Chapter 489: Chapter 477: Black Monday (1) Chapter 489: Chapter 477: Black Monday (1) October 19th, Monday
Every day at 6:10 a.m., Lu Jiaxin would get up on time, wash up, and then go for a half-hour run on the backyard path. After breakfast, she would head to school. This day was no exception, as she got ready and went to the backyard to run as usual.
After finishing her run, Lu Jiaxin did not see Nie Zhan’s figure, “Has Sir not gotten up yet?”
Steward Meng said, “Sir got up not long after you left and left without eating breakfast. He seemed in a hurry, I don’t know what happened.”
There’s a time difference between Europe and America and Hong Kong, Lu Jiaxin guessed that Nie Zhan must have received some news and rushed to the company, “It must be something to do with work, serve the breakfast!”
After breakfast, Lu Jiaxin went upstairs to change her clothes before heading to school, without calling Nie Zhan. If history hadn’t changed, by now, many people in Europe and America would be in distress, and Hong Kong would definitely be in panic. However, all of this had nothing to do with her; she just needed to wait for her moment of victory.
Upon arriving at the school gate, Lu Jiaxin walked in with her books as usual, without bringing her mobile phone. Since she was there to study, she wanted to be just like everyone else and not seek any special treatment.
Nie Zhan did not go back to the company but to Wan Sheng Bank. Nie Jingwen had called him, informing him of Wall Street’s stock market crash, and asking him to go to the bank.
Upon arriving at Wan Sheng Bank, Nie Zhan took the executive elevator directly to the top floor.
As soon as Nie Jingwen saw him, he said, “The Wall Street stock market has crashed, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average plummeting by 67 points at the opening. Ah Zhan, we’ve seen crashes in the Wall Street stock market before, but never as severe as this.”
All of Nie Zhan’s stocks had been sold, and Wansheng Real Estate’s debt-to-equity ratio had been reduced from 68% to 45%. Even if a stock market crash occurred in Hong Kong, causing Wansheng Real Estate’s stock price to fall, the bank would not come to press for debt. Therefore, the great turbulence in the stock market would not affect the company, but it had a huge impact on Jiaxin.
He didn’t know exactly how much money Jiaxin had raised for the shorts, but he had taken 400 million greenbacks and 11.2 billion Hong Kong Dollars, and then leveraged it all by ten times as per Jiaxin’s instructions.
Seeing that he remained silent, Nie Jingwen patted his shoulder and asked, “Ah Zhan, what are you thinking about?”
Nie Zhan came back to his senses and said, “Such a massive collapse of the Wall Street stock market. Surely the Hong Kong stocks will plummet too. Didn’t I ask you to liquidate all the company’s stock holdings and tighten up on the projects to reclaim the investments, even to expedite the collection of loans? “As long as a batch of capital is recollected, a plummet in the Hang Seng Index will have minimal impact on the bank.””
Because of his personal reasons, Wansheng Real Estate had been somewhat aggressive in its development over the past two years. For this, his grandfather had reprimanded him several times, and friends like Hu Zhifeng had also advised him. A high debt-to-equity ratio and great risks made the company an easy target for hostile takeovers, potentially leading to a change in ownership. However, he didn’t want to be overtaken by Jiaxin, and he also believed that the future outlook for real estate was very positive, so he didn’t heed the advice.
Unlike Wansheng Real Estate, Wan Sheng Bank had always been steady and progressive under the management of Nie Jingwen. Now, with his advice, the bank would undoubtedly be significantly affected by the stock market crash but would be able to survive.
Nie Jingwen’s lips moved, but the words he seemed poised to say didn’t come out.
Nie Zhan was startled when he saw this, “Big brother, please don’t tell me that the bank’s stock holdings have not been liquidated, nor have the investments been tightened to quickly reclaim capital?”
Nie Jingwen hurriedly said, “The investments have been tightened, but I personally and the company have not sold the stocks. Moreover, there are many company stocks used as collateral.”
Even Wansheng Real Estate had 17% of its shares mortgaged in the bank, with the mortgage being five billion.
Nie Zhan’s anger flared up rapidly: “I made it clear to you, I told you to liquidate all the company’s stocks and close out all the futures contracts, why didn’t you listen?”
When he received the call that Wall Street had experienced the biggest crash in history, he felt nothing but joy instead of worry. Because the Dow Jones crash meant that Jiaxin could make a fortune, get everything she wanted. And his own company could further expand. As for the banks, the losses would be reduced to a bearable level.
Nie Jingwen said somewhat guiltily: “I was planning on selling them this week, who would’ve thought the accident would happen so soon. However, I’ve already ordered my managers to dump the shares as soon as the market opens here.”
Nie Zhan was extremely angry and interrogated: “When the market opens, everybody is going to want to sell. But with Wall Street in such a bearish state, who do you think is going to buy?”
After hearing the news of Wall Street’s crash, Nie Jingwen was so full of regret that it hurt. Had he listened to Nie Zhan, even if Hang Seng Index crashed today, the bank would have survived smoothly. But missing the opportunity led to a severe test ahead.
Nie Jingwen composed himself and said: “Most of the stocks our bank holds are of high quality, they can still rise again after the fall.”
Nie Zhan, holding back his anger, said: “If you are so confident, why did you call me here?”
Nie Jingwen had called him over not only to talk about the Wall Street crash but also to clarify another issue: “Ah Zhan, Lu Jiaxin mortgaged all of Wansheng’s shares and the money from the antiques and paintings to short the Hang Seng Index. Ah Zhan, she must have received the news in advance.”
Nie Zhan said irritably: “If she had gotten the news early, wouldn’t I have shorted it too?”
“Then why did she liquidate so much cash to short the Hang Seng Index?” Nie Jingwen asked. He had asked for the reason before but dropped the question when Nie Zhan was evasive.
Lu Jiaxin used such high leverage to short the Hang Seng Index, he thought she must have been crazy at the time. However, he also had his own agenda; if Lu Jiaxin’s position blew up, they could take the opportunity to retrieve the shares of Wansheng Real Estate.
Nie Zhan explained: “I told her the stock market was going to crash, and she wanted to short the Hang Seng Index as soon as she heard it, impossible to stop her. I was just analyzing, I didn’t expect her to take it so seriously.”
Nie Jingwen asked in disbelief: “Is it really that simple?”
Nie Zhan replied unhappily: “With Wall Street crashing horribly today, so many tycoons suffering huge losses, where do you think Jiaxin could get such news? She was just gambling, betting the stock market would crash during this period. I was even prepared for her to lose everything.”
Nie Zhan would not tell Nie Jingwen that Lu Jiaxin experienced a financial windfall every time her left eye twitched. He saw it as a coincidence, but his elder brother might not see it that way, and who knows what trouble it would stir up.
With the issue of Kang Huijuan unresolved, and the Nie sisters being a drag, if Nie Jingwen created another problem, with Jiaxin’s aversion to trouble, she would truly break up with him. He couldn’t bear such a consequence, so he told nobody about this.
Nie Jingwen asked: “You didn’t buy even a little?”
Nie Zhan shook his head and said: “Not at all. This is gambling, and it’s a losing game, how could I possibly buy?” he stated. He wasn’t deceiving Nie Jingwen; indeed, he hadn’t spent a penny, it was all for helping Lu Jiaxin buy in.
“Jiaxin dares to gamble because even if she loses everything, she still has me! With me as her backer, no one dares to mess with her even if she’s out of money.”
Nie Jingwen had no response.