Chapter 106: Rising Winds and Gathering Clouds

The evening breeze was gentle, carrying with it the lively scents of the city’s nightlife, refreshing the soul.

By the roadside, Chai Jin watched the Mercedes-Benz parked along the street beside the park.

He smiled and said, “Plans never keep up with changes, do they?”

“He Kai is not worthy of you. Even though you two grew up together like childhood sweethearts, your parents’ hopes for you will only end in disappointment.”

“And since you are the rebellious one, your relationship with your father will never end well. So you have only two choices.”

“First, start planning for your own future. If you want to avoid being controlled by others, you need to be independent and have your own career. That way, you won’t be subject to your father’s influence.”

“Second, submit to your father and be with that good-for-nothing He Kai.”

Chen Ni had certainly thought about this. She had just been struggling with it all along.

Her brows furrowed for a long moment before she said, “Thank you for the reminder, Chai Jin.”

Chai Jin lit a cigarette and stood up, pointing at the Mercedes by the roadside. “Your driver is here.”

“I’m heading over to Lao Huang and the others,” she said as she rose to leave.

Chen Ni let out a slight sigh behind her breath, then composed herself and walked away.

In truth, at this very moment, she had already made her decision.

“You want me to spend my life with such a brainless man? No way.”

This girl appeared obedient, but deep down, she was stronger than anyone else.

She only admired men stronger than herself; as for someone like He Kai, she wouldn’t even glance his way.

High aspirations—that was her defining trait.

...

Mid-July.

The weather grew increasingly scorching, and in this blazing city, people began to stir restlessly.

The first lottery for the subscription certificates in Shen City drew six hundred thousand people lining up, yet no chaos ensued, which made the city’s management somewhat complacent.

Therefore, during preparations for the second issuance of subscription certificates, the Shen City government paid little attention to order.

Their focus was more on how to control the queuing phenomenon.

But the Pandora’s box of wealth had been opened; this was no longer just a city matter—it had captivated the entire nation’s attention.

During this period, two pieces of news sparked enormous waves.

First, the 1992 Shen City new stock issuance quota was approved, allowing for the issuance of five hundred million yuan worth of stocks across fourteen listed companies.

How would these five hundred million yuan worth of stocks be issued?

...

Hence, the second point emerged.

The Shen City government devised a plan, which was announced: the number of stocks an investor could purchase would be limited based on the amount of money in their personal bank account.

The more deposits one had, the more allocations they would receive.

The original intent was to reduce queuing, but this undoubtedly sparked a significant social outcry.

During the public opinion solicitation, the mayor’s hotline was bombarded with calls.

Everyone was outraged.

Ultimately, the city government had to retract the plan and announced it would be reconsidered.

Because of this commotion, the already sweltering city suddenly became restless.

Just like the earlier craze in Zhonghai, every street and alley was filled with people discussing subscription certificates.

Feng Haodong was affected as well; during a phone conversation with Chai Jin, he brought up the topic.

Chai Jin casually said on the phone, “I’m playing this game.”

Feng Haodong asked curiously, “You’re into stocks too?”

“That thing should be pretty profitable, right?”

Feng Haodong was a man of industry. If it weren’t for the widespread buzz, he wouldn’t have taken any interest in this numerical gamble.

Moreover, frequently traveling across the country, he lacked comprehensive stock market information.

Chai Jin smiled, “It can make someone rich overnight, or bankrupt overnight—it’s hard to say.”

“Brother, if you have the energy, you could organize a team to join in.”

After a moment of silence on the line, Feng Haodong chuckled bitterly, “Forget it, I’ll keep it steady. Making a profit on each sale is the deeply ingrained mentality of us ‘daolies’ from the 70s and 80s.”

“Let’s talk about that piece of land.”

Feng Haodong genuinely wanted to help this younger brother establish a foothold in Shen City.

So, he had been working on that land acquisition.

They had already obtained many approvals, and soon Chai Jin would be able to secure over a thousand acres.

Of course, in this era, the land prices were ridiculously cheap for someone like Chai Jin, who held substantial capital.

Real estate was one of the major wealth hotspots in China—would Chai Jin give it up?

He had plans to expand his land holdings further and knew many foreign-funded enterprises inside China were doing the same.

But that was a story for later.

After hanging up, Chai Jin called Wang Xiaoli to ask when they planned to come.

Wang Xiaoli replied on the phone, saying mid-August.

But after some thought, Chai Jin told them to come either earlier or later.

Because during that period, over a million people would flood into Shen City in a short time.

The surrounding traffic would be thrown into utter chaos, and he feared for Wang Xiaoli’s safety.

On the phone, Wang Xiaoli responded obediently.

After hanging up, Chai Jin had Liu Qingwen drive out to buy a large quantity of daily necessities.

At the same time, they dragged several sacks of ID cards from the post office and stored them in the room next door.

By this time, they already had 100,000 ID cards.

According to the previous timeline, the Shen City government would eventually rule in August that each person could only hold ten ID cards for the subscription certificate lottery application.

One ID card could only apply for one lottery ticket.

That meant Chai Jin would need 10,000 people to help queue with those 100,000 ID cards.

Transporting over ten thousand people was a major logistical challenge.

After finishing up on this front, Chai Jin and his team went to the bus transport company.

They rented over forty buses in total.

But it was far from enough!

Helpless, they had to consider renting trucks from freight companies to transport people.

No one knew that while everyone was still debating the subscription certificates and hesitant to act, this nineteen-year-old young man from Jiangnan Province had quietly laid out all the groundwork ahead of time.

On July 20th.

In Xinjiang Province, a stout middle-aged man, clutching a briefcase and flanked by several bodyguards, boarded a southbound green train.

This man was Tang Wanxin.

In this era, anyone with assets worth tens or hundreds of millions was a ‘daolie’ from the 70s and 80s, all carrying the rough and ruthless spirit forged in that unique time and environment.

Tang Wanxin was no exception; his enterprises in Xinjiang were considerable.

But he always traveled by train.

Because on the train, he could keenly observe the changes across the country since the reform and opening-up.

Within these uncertainties lay massive business opportunities, and as a businessman, Tang Wanxin would never miss a chance to create wealth.

After days and nights, the tycoon finally stood at Shen City Railway Station.

A wave of heat hit him; his bodyguard handed him a towel to wipe the sweat from his face.

Once done, he asked, “How far is it from here to President Liu’s place?”