For two days straight.

The so-called efforts to secure the loan yielded no news.

Su Yehao, accustomed to reaching out for money, sensed something was amiss… He suspected he was being given the cold shoulder, and his acquisition plan had been rejected by Dai-Ichi Kangyo Bank.

To avoid any slackening on the part of McKinsey Consulting, which was already preparing, Su Yehao chose to conceal the potential loan issue from his partner, Adrian. Instead, he actively contacted other banks that had previously approached him, enlisting Nong Qingying and KOKO Ventures to help with the liaisons.

The business cards he had previously collected and casually stowed away were retrieved by his assistant, Zhuang Wei. These included representatives from Hong Kong banks, as well as those from Japan, mainland China, Taiwan, Europe, and America.

Considering interest rates, Su Yehao primarily focused on other Japanese banks. However, from a security standpoint, banks in Hong Kong and mainland China seemed more reliable.

The sum of roughly thirty billion Hong Kong dollars to be borrowed at once did seem a bit daunting. Therefore, Su Yehao considered breaking it down into smaller portions and attempting to secure loans from multiple banks.

He understood the principle of not putting all his eggs in one basket. However, his previous collaboration with the Hong Kong branch of Dai-Ichi Kangyo Bank had been smooth, so he hadn't bothered seeking out new partner banks. Now, Su Yehao realized his mistake.

Re-establishing contact with reliable banks meant starting from scratch, which wasted considerable energy. From morning till now, Su Yehao had been constantly on the phone.

In such matters, his parents could certainly lend a hand. However, to avoid a lecture from them, Su Yehao decided to try on his own first, contacting them only as a last resort.

The solutions available to Su Yehao were limited.

First, to find new sources of funding if possible.

Second, to abandon the overall acquisition of ICQ, instead seeking financing or acquiring a portion of the shares.

Third, to earn more money in the short term, striving to accumulate sufficient funds before the transaction concluded.

Fourth, to sell some of his Yahoo shares, cashing out one or two hundred million US dollars as collateral, reassuring the banks and reducing their risk.

Faced with these solutions, Su Yehao chose the first and third.

Progress in finding other banks to cooperate with was slow, as investigation, understanding, and coordination all took time.

Su Yehao also asked Nong Qingying to assist in opening an account with Morgan Stanley in Hong Kong. He tentatively cashed out fifty million US dollars and ambitiously sought reliable investment targets, analyzing the latest global trends in an attempt to gamble, using this fifty million with leverage, striving to make a big score.

When Nong Qingying, under the name of KOKO Ventures, finished opening the account at the Hong Kong branch of Morgan Stanley, she traveled a long way to meet Su Yehao.

Seeing Su Yehao guarding the computer, surrounded by various documents, she said in surprise, "It's only been a few days, and you haven't shaved. You look so tired."

"Tired? I'm perfectly fine, just excited."

Su Yehao pulled up a chair and had Nong Qingying sit next to him, then said with a smile, "Before, things were too smooth, and some ambition and courage were temporarily suppressed. It's rare to encounter an opportunity to gamble big, and this time I have to make a killing!"

"...Who is 'a killing'?"

Nong Qingying smiled and suddenly started driving.

Su Yehao, stunned for a moment, laughed and said, "You've changed, changed in a way that makes me like you even more. Actually, you didn't have to come all this way. I was planning to go back for a while anyway."

"I'm worried about you. Contacting banks for loans, cashing out and transferring money, I thought you were kidnapped."

Sitting next to him, Nong Qingying took off her high heels and put her long legs on Su Yehao's lap, continuing to ask, "I can understand the loan, but what did you mean on the phone by using leverage to go crazy?"

While taking liberties with the black stockings that had been offered, Su Yehao sighed and said:

"I'm still too poor, thinking that it's better to rely on myself than to ask for help, planning to earn more money. Even if I start negotiating with the acquisition target and succeed, it will probably take one or two months. During this time, I plan to earn one to two hundred million US dollars, so that I can pay for part of it myself, and let the bank bear part of it, which would make success more likely. Even I think it's a bit of a pie-in-the-sky idea to have the bank put up all the money, which seems unreliable."

"The amount of your loan is too large, and you don't have collateral. They don't think highly of ICQ, and they don't want to accept ICQ shares as collateral. I'm afraid that not only will you not make money, but you'll also lose all the capital you cashed out. Earning one or two hundred million US dollars in one or two months, why don't you just say you have wings and can fly to the sky?"

Nong Qingying thought that Su Yehao was good in every way, except that he was flirtatious and occasionally too impetuous.

Su Yehao smiled and said, "To tell you the truth, I already have some ideas. It just so happens that a batch of companies are likely to see their stock prices rise sharply when they release their financial reports at the end of next month."

Hearing this.

Nong Qingying instantly guessed what he was up to and asked, "So... it's not commodities and foreign exchange, but you're still going to speculate on American internet companies?"

"Yes, Cisco and Oracle. Their market capitalization is large enough, and I can use more leverage."

As soon as Su Yehao finished speaking, he sighed and added, "If I fail, then I'll have to choose between developing my own company and reducing my investment in Yahoo. If AOL acquires ICQ, then I'll miss an opportunity to expand TVT crazily."

Nong Qingying, who already understood, knew that Su Yehao was ambitious, wanted too much, and was just creating trouble for himself.

She said calmly, "I want to advise you to be more cautious, but you never listen to my advice. At worst, you'll lose everything, and you can still inherit the family's real estate company and medical group."

Standing up and stretching, Su Yehao picked up Nong Qingying and said happily, "Accompany me to take a bath and shave. I've been analyzing Cisco's recent performance. Let's relax and have some fun first."

Hugging Su Yehao's neck tightly.

Nong Qingying drowsily said, "Can you let me sleep first? I met an idiot on the plane, who was noisy with his child all the way, and the flight attendant gave me earplugs, but they didn't work."

How could he let her go so easily? It was more than half an hour later when Nong Qingying began to catch up on her sleep...

That day.

Cisco's stock price fell slightly by 0.2%.

The next morning, Su Yehao used thirty million US dollars as collateral to leverage options contracts worth three hundred million US dollars.

The other twenty million US dollars were used as a deposit, through Morgan Stanley's Hong Kong branch, to target stock options worth three hundred million US dollars in Oracle.

The former had tenfold leverage, and the latter fifteenfold leverage. Even a small fluctuation involved millions of US dollars. That day, the market fluctuated, and the single-day profit was more than eleven million US dollars.

Unlike Yahoo, these two companies had larger market capitalizations, and this position was less than 1% of the total market value of the two companies.

Even so, Su Yehao's actions attracted attention. There were even reports in *The Wall Street Journal* that a Hong Kong institution was making a strong effort, optimistic about the prospects of these two companies...