Chapter 43: This Young Man Is Remarkable

Chai Jin turned around. "What if it's a legal business?"

"Would you dare reopen your black market?"

Cai Weiqiang found Chai Jin hard to read and frowned. "The stock market's golden days are over, and the major securities firms are legalizing too."

"Is there any new opportunity left?"

Chai Jin smiled, then took a thousand yuan out of his bag and placed it in front of him.

"I'm lending you this thousand. Don't sell your phone—keep it on you and wait for my call."

"In ten days, you'll understand what I'm talking about."

"This time, once it's done, get out fast. Don't get greedy again."

A knot tightened in Cai Weiqiang's chest. He stared at Chai Jin for a long moment. "Can't you just spell it out?"

Chai Jin gave a bitter smile. "If I spell it out, this business won't work anymore."

"Wait for my call. My friend is still at the guesthouse, I need to head back. Let's leave it here today."

With that, Chai Jin made to stand up.

But just then, two men walked over, interrupting their conversation.

One of them laughed heartily. "Hey, Boss Cai! It's been a while, hasn't it? Are you making a comeback?"

The speaker had a crew cut and glasses, radiating confidence and an air of nouveau riche.

Chai Jin hesitated when he saw the man; he felt certain he'd seen him somewhere in his past life.

As for the other man, Chai Jin recognized him at once.

Liu Yiqian!

A discreet billionaire in his previous life, who in 2014 had spent over 200 million in Hong Kong on a teacup no bigger than a palm. The purchase made national headlines, and soon every media outlet was digging into the tycoon’s past.

Before 1990, he had just been an ordinary taxi driver, until he sold everything he owned to buy stocks and struck it rich.

His second fortune came from the current boom: subscription warrants.

It was said that in 1992 he bought three thousand subscription warrants. According to later statistics, the average black market price was six thousand per ticket. Anyone could do the math to see how much Liu Yiqian made back then.

After a few more words, Chai Jin’s eyes flashed with insight.

The crew-cut man was none other than the legendary Yang Millionaire, whose name appeared in every major paper when others were still striving to become ten-thousand-yuan households.

He, too, had made his fortune off trading securities.

Chai Jin suddenly lost all desire to leave; he wanted to hear what they would talk about.

So, he stayed seated.

However, Cai Weiqiang seemed eager to avoid these two. Once, they had all stood on the same level, but now that he had fallen on hard times, meeting them again was awkward and humiliating.

They circled around the subject for a while, unable to get to the point.

Yang Millionaire now turned his gaze to Chai Jin. "Boss Cai, who's this young man? Your new recruit for your comeback?"

There was a trace of sarcasm in his words.

Before Cai Weiqiang could answer, Chai Jin smiled and extended his hand. "Yes, Mr. Yang. I'm glad to meet you."

Yang Millionaire smiled. "Not bad, the young man looks sharp."

"Stick with old Cai and work hard. He was once a big shot in our Zhonghai circle, just had a streak of bad luck."

His words were flattering, but he ignored Chai Jin's outstretched hand—perfectly normal, considering Yang Millionaire now had the clout to ignore anyone.

Just as Chai Jin was about to withdraw his hand, Liu Yiqian, who had been mostly silent, shook it.

"Hello. Old Cai is a capable man—just unlucky at the moment. But a young man can learn a lot from him."

"I believe old Cai will rise again."

Chai Jin smiled. "He will."

All of them were veterans of the securities and stock market world, so naturally the conversation turned that way.

As expected, the topic shifted to subscription warrants.

Yang Millionaire had once worked in a state-run factory but made his fortune scalping government bonds. His life was on the rise, and the newspapers were full of his glory stories, so he spoke with some arrogance.

He harshly criticized the subscription warrants, echoing the sentiment of the elderly women in the alleyways—calling it a scam to fleece people.

Liu Yiqian, on the other hand, only smiled and said nothing.

None of them knew that Liu Yiqian had already bought thousands of warrants and was quietly sitting on them.

That was the mark of a true capitalist: calm and decisive at the right moment.

Cai Weiqiang, weighed down by his misfortunes, seemed to shrink, always answering passively.

As they talked, Yang Millionaire suddenly turned to Chai Jin. "Young Chai, what's your take on these subscription warrants?"

Chai Jin smiled calmly. "If I had to pay an extra thirty yuan before buying a stock, I wouldn't be happy about it. After all, who knows if it’ll pan out? And it’s not like it’s a limited edition."

Yang Millionaire, in high spirits, burst out laughing. "Exactly! There are always fools who buy this stuff."

"Old Cai, you picked a good young fellow—he’s got foresight!"

Cai Weiqiang smiled awkwardly, embarrassed. He certainly couldn’t admit that this young man had just lent him a thousand yuan for living expenses.

Chai Jin glanced at the time; it was about right.

He politely stood up. "Boss Cai, Mr. Yang, Mr. Liu, I’ll take my leave now. I need to get back to my friend."

Cai Weiqiang nodded. "Take care—let’s keep in touch by phone."

Yang Millionaire fished a hundred yuan from his pocket. "Here, young Chai, for your cab fare. I enjoyed our chat today."

Chai Jin accepted it without protest. "Thank you."

Then he turned and left.

After Chai Jin was gone, Liu Yiqian, who had hardly spoken, suddenly said to Cai Weiqiang, "Old Cai, you picked a good young man."

Coming from Liu Yiqian, "good" clearly meant something different than it did from Yang Millionaire; he seemed to see something more.

He sipped his drink, then looked thoughtfully at Chai Jin’s departing figure.

After that, the conversation drifted away from Chai Jin.

Outside, Chai Jin felt a sudden clarity in the air.

He took out the hundred yuan Yang Millionaire had given him, looked at it, thought for a moment, then tossed it straight into a nearby trash bin and walked away.

The doorman standing nearby gave him a puzzled look, and once he realized what had happened, quickly rummaged through the trash for the bill.

…

When Chai Jin returned to the guesthouse, it was nearly midnight.

He opened the door to find Liu Qingwen absent.

Worried something might have happened, he went down to the front desk and asked if his friend had come back.

The receptionist checked her register. "Your friend booked another room for the night. You can go knock on that door to see if he's in."

Chai Jin, confused, asked for the room number and went upstairs.

He knocked on the door. "Monkey, are you in there?"

"Why'd you book another room?"