"It's blown up! It's blown up! A full forty-five dollars a barrel, hahaha, boss, we're going to be rich!!" Inside his own office, only Little Swift and Huang He were present. Little Swift no longer cared about his demeanor as a god of finance, appearing overjoyed.
However, one couldn't blame him for lacking composure. Who could have predicted that in just three days, international oil prices would skyrocket from under twenty-five dollars a barrel to forty-five dollars a barrel? The Western Mustang Fund held oil futures all bought at twenty dollars a barrel. In the blink of an eye, nineteen billion dollars had become over forty billion dollars, achieving the astonishing feat of doubling their profits once more. Anyone seeing this scene would find it hard to contain their excitement.
Especially considering that Little Swift had been enduring external doubts for months, with whispers of fallen gods and the like. Although Little Swift maintained a calm and indifferent facade externally, he actually cared deeply about these matters.
Now, who dared to say that Little Swift had fallen?
"Are you very happy?" Little Swift, at the peak of his excitement, was suddenly jolted by a somewhat cold voice asking the question. This instantly cleared his head, and he hastily replied, "Sorry, boss, I got carried away!"
"It's not about getting carried away!" Huang He shook his head, then continued with a stern tone, "Tell me, why do you think the oil price has surged so dramatically this time?"
"Of course, it's because the oil fields were bombed, and recovery will be impossible in the short term. Coupled with severe supply-demand imbalance, it dashed hopes of recovering supply from new crude oil production areas, thus leading to the price surge!" Little Swift said softly. It seemed he had put in some effort recently, having meticulously studied the relationship between the futures market and global trends.
"Indeed, the direct cause is the bombing of the oil fields. But following this bombing and the related combat, over a hundred civilians were killed or injured. Even more ridiculously, only a little over ten died at the hands of rebels, while more than ninety were killed by allied aircraft!" Huang He revealed a compassionate expression. "Your doubled profits are entirely built upon these more than one hundred lives. How can you still be happy?"
"...What do I care about over a hundred foreign lives..." Little Swift mused inwardly. But everyone knew that Boss Huang was a great benefactor, particularly fond of showing compassion, so such thoughts were not surprising.
Thus, Little Swift quickly admitted his mistakes and vowed to be more mindful and repent in the future.
"Enough!" Huang He waved his hand. "You've earned too much, and it's on the basis of human lives, which is somewhat against heavenly harmony and can easily attract criticism from others. You will represent our foundation and announce the establishment of an NGO, to be called the Black Brothers Mutual Aid Society, dedicated to helping homeless black brothers, providing them with basic living conditions and supplies," Huang He instructed.
"Ah!" Little Swift was stunned. He didn't understand. People had died in a country far away in the Middle East, yet the NGO established was to help black people in America? Where was the logic in that?
"What's there to be surprised about?" Boss Huang rolled his eyes. "If you use money to help those people far away in the Middle East, will they remember your kindness? Will they bring you benefits?"
"Nonsense. That country now hates your America to the core. No matter how much money you send, you'll still be deeply hated. Only by using it on black compatriots within the US can you gain considerable returns and the support and goodwill of these black compatriots. It's actually useful!"
"Yes..." Little Swift winced, deciding to retract his earlier assessment and opinion of Huang He as a kind person. His boss was simply too kind.
"Knock, knock, knock!"
Just then, there was a knock on the door. Huang He called out "Come in," and Hao Jianguo entered.
"What is it?" Huang He asked.
"There are two enterprise representatives from the motherland looking for the executive officer, but I didn't expect you to be here, boss!" Hao Jianguo replied.
"Representatives from the motherland's enterprises? Which ones?" Huang He asked curiously.
"It's Petrochemical and Petroleum, the two enterprises. They've come together!" Hao Jianguo said.
"That's interesting. Jianguo, accompany me to meet them!" Huang He said.
"What about me, boss?" Little Swift asked quickly.
"You continue to monitor the market here!" Huang He said dismissively. Little Swift nodded. Since they were all Chinese meeting, he really saw no need to go. So, he obediently stayed in his office. As for Hao Jianguo, seeing Little Swift left behind while he himself could accompany Huang He to meet enterprise representatives from China, the implication made the corners of Hao Jianguo's mouth curl into a smile.
It seemed he was indeed being valued more and more by Huang He. After all, he was Chinese, naturally much closer than foreign brats like Little Swift.
——————
"Old Liu, you're not being honest. Didn't we agree not to approach Jiangnan for talks unless absolutely necessary?" In the reception room of the Western Mustang Fund, a tall, burly man with a very strong build teased a somewhat thin middle-aged man beside him.
Of course, the reason Liu was described as thin was only in comparison. In reality, Old Liu had a perfectly fine build, but standing next to a hulking man made him seem a bit small.
"Xu Wendao, we're in the same boat. You arrived five minutes earlier than me?" Old Liu said without even lifting an eyelid. The two of them were old acquaintances, business representatives stationed in the US by domestic Petrochemical and Petroleum enterprises.
However, it wasn't that these two enterprises had businesses in the US, but rather that they were specifically responsible for purchasing oil in the US futures market. This was because domestic oil production was far from sufficient to meet the country's ever-growing demand, so they had to rely on overseas purchases. Thus, they each sent a delegation to stay in the US for convenient procurement.
The representatives of these two delegations, naturally, were quite familiar with each other, meeting whenever opportunities arose almost daily. There was both cooperation and competition between them; they were like brothers and rivals, yet also extremely good friends, a very complex dynamic.
"But why are you dressed so strangely today? You're not even wearing formal attire?" Xu Wendao scrutinized his old friend beside him, somewhat puzzled.
Xu Wendao was properly dressed in a suit, an Armani, worth a full three thousand US dollars, which he had bought with his own money. This wasn't because Xu Wendao was vain or extravagant, but rather in formal business settings, not having a decent suit was a very embarrassing thing.
But the problem was that Xu Wendao found Liu Zhenfeng opposite him not wearing a suit at all today. Instead, he was wearing an ancient garment resembling a costume from an ancient television drama, somewhat like a Tang suit, but upon closer inspection, it didn't seem to be exactly that.
"Who says Old Liu isn't wearing formal wear!" Liu Zhenfeng grinned. "This outfit I'm wearing is proper, the most proper formal wear there is, more expensive than your damn Armani, costing nearly seventy thousand yuan!"
"Seventy thousand!" Xu Wendao gasped at the price. A single outfit like this cost seventy thousand!
"That's right. My daughter gave it to me. It's from last year's Paris Fashion Week, a Han suit. She spent seventy thousand yuan on lottery draws to get this outfit. However, I heard the market price has already been bid up to a hundred thousand yuan per set." Old Liu said proudly.
"Fine, I don't care how much this outfit cost you, but this is not formal wear at all. Only a suit is formal wear!" Xu Wendao felt that his old rival and good friend must have been kicked in the head to wear such an outfit.
"That's why I say you know nothing. You probably haven't paid attention to domestic affairs for over half a year!" Liu Zhenfeng chuckled. Just then, the conference room door was pushed open, and Huang He and Hao Jianguo walked in.
The two of them slowly stood up and greeted Boss Huang with a smile.
Well, although Boss Huang was very wealthy, as representatives of Petrochemical and Petroleum, they still maintained their own sense of dignity.
Boss Huang was indifferent to this. Dignity was fine, as long as it didn't affect business. So, Boss Huang invited the two representatives to sit down and directly asked them what they wanted.
"Mr. Huang, actually, I have a rather presumptuous request this time!" Xu Wendao said, taking the lead.
"Oh, since it's a presumptuous request, it must mean I'm going to suffer a loss. Can I refuse it right now!" Huang He said with a smile, causing Xu Wendao's expression to freeze.
"Hehe!" Liu Zhenfeng interjected with a silly laugh, then said, "Mr. Huang, to be frank, we know that the Western Mustang Fund you control holds a large number of oil futures contracts. We hope to purchase them directly from you, rather than through the market."
"So that's how it is!" Huang He nodded. Purchasing "not through the market" meant not buying the listed oil futures contracts on the market, but rather reaching a private agreement with the holder.
The advantage of this was that it could avoid transaction fees in the futures market and also prevent the impact of price fluctuations in the futures market, as any transaction would have some effect on the overall market price.
So, Huang He asked Hao Jianguo beside him, "Is this permissible according to regulations?"
"There are no issues, as long as all transactions are fully disclosed to the public, and the price is not lower than the market price, while also providing investors with a reasonable explanation. Trading outside of the futures market is also acceptable!" Hao Jianguo replied.