Chapter 1 Preparation for Retirement

June had just begun. Su Yebiao wasn't ready for retirement, but Bill Gates had already resigned, announcing his decision to step down as chairman of Microsoft to focus on philanthropic endeavors. Shortly after the news broke, Su Yebiao received an invitation to Gates' retirement party. The venue was in Seattle, on the west coast of the United States, in a lakeside villa overlooking the iconic Gates compound, home to koi and waterfowl.

He really wanted to go. However, in recent years, some people were frantically shifting their external contradictions. Su Yebiao, on the east coast, was also involved in interests, with several lobbying organizations relying on him for their livelihood. Coupled with his control of several "printing factories," he was easily seen as a fat sheep, so less trouble was better. Using the pretext of preparing for the Olympics, he ultimately only sent an email, mentioning future cooperation in charitable endeavors.

Some media commentators said that with the retirement of Gates, who promoted the development of personal computers, it was like an era had come to an end, and his successor was obviously Su Yebiao, who promoted the development of mobile terminal devices. Online, debates raged about whose achievements were greater. Su Yebiao, however, didn't know whether to laugh or cry. After all, if he didn't still have some unfinished business, he might have temporarily made the decision to step down and retire, beating Gates to retirement.

With the current business management system, whether he held a position or not didn't affect his control over the company, but it could nominally avoid some business risks, which was undoubtedly very suitable for the current situation. The old boss on the east coast was about to be replaced, and at this time, even if he really did something out of line, it might be seen as "meritorious" in the eyes of others, seizing core technologies and interests, and replacing them with enterprises led by old American entrepreneurs, which was very much in line with the nature of a strong thief.

Understanding this point, one would understand why Su Yebiao was so cautious, even not planning to attend Gates' retirement party. The situation was indeed a bit dangerous. With his subordinates working hard to help him operate, responsible for helping him in times of need and smoothing out relationships, when he survived this dangerous period, he might be able to live a flamboyant life for a few more years.

Therefore, Su Yebiao's golden development period may not have reached its end. When his power was further consolidated, even if others wanted to take action, the risk would be much smaller than it was now. As said before, with the current management system of the enterprise, even without Su Yebiao at the helm, the enterprise could still continue to operate. Suppressing him, this "retired philanthropist," would only arouse people's resistance. Many markets had not been completely taken down by him, and the foundation was still somewhat unstable, so the risk was highest now.

Located in the Atherton area of Silicon Valley, Su Yebiao hadn't been to his villa in over a year...

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The evening of June 10, 2008.

At a little after eight o'clock after dinner, in the Nong Qingying film studio on White Rock Road, Su Yebiao stood by the window, accompanying her as she watched the night scene. The distant Victoria Harbour was brightly lit. The observation tower at Qide Digital Port and the Qide Center Building looked both spectacular and full of beauty, slowly changing the color of their lights.

Nong Qingying held a glass of red wine, her expression languid, and said casually, "Our son will soon be on summer vacation and is already excited. I plan to take him to Sijiucheng (Beijing) to see the Olympics, go there early and live for a while, and conveniently enroll him in a training class locally. I myself will find some business opportunities. Didn't you mention that there would be bottom-fishing opportunities recently?"

"Don't rush to think about the summer vacation. My maternal grandfather values homework very much. If he doesn't do well on the final exams, he'll have to continue tutoring during the summer vacation. As for bottom-fishing, you can understand it first, and wait for my notification before taking action. The old American big mine hasn't exploded yet, and accidents can happen at any time. There's still a breath hanging."

In the first half of the year, the exchange rate of the renminbi against the US dollar successfully broke through the '7' mark. Su Yebiao invested in foreign exchange and earned hundreds of billions of renminbi. Coupled with the profits created by other companies, Su Yebiao had more capital to use for bottom-fishing and market support than at the end of last year, and in the past two months, he had successively bottom-fished and increased his holdings of A-share assets worth more than one hundred billion renminbi.

A-shares had not fallen to the bottom of the valley. This was obvious. It was just that with Su Yebiao's volume, it was impossible to enter and exit as quickly as retail investors. Feeling that the fall was almost there, he would increase his holdings of some stocks with growth potential in batches. From a long-term perspective, it was more in line with his interests. When it really fell to the bottom of the valley, without negative news helping to suppress the price, as long as the holdings were increased, the stock price would immediately soar, which was obviously not in line with Su Yebiao's plan to hold A-shares for a long time.

If he remembered correctly, the several hundred billion renminbi planned to be invested in batches would be withdrawn around 2015. With his volume at that time, if he frantically sold and strongly suppressed the entire market, it was hard to say whether there would be another stock disaster. The crazy withdrawal of funds of several trillion renminbi was no joke. No one had the strength to take over, and even stock speculators with feverish brains would be scared away.

With him, this super-institutional investor, in charge, A-shares might become the healthiest market in the world, giving the market a manual adjustment function. Moreover, unlike other institutional investors, Su Yebiao didn't care about money at all.

Nong Qingying naturally believed in Su Yebiao's judgment, but at this moment she said in a contrary tone, "I'll make my own decisions, don't interfere. Other people doing business is obviously very exciting, but with you, it's like picking up money, it's very boring. Doing business should have profits and losses, I've looked at financial reports for ten years and almost forgot how to write the two characters for loss. Do you know the feeling of no surprises, of reporting how much more you've earned every time?"

"…If you had the ability, you'd be beaten on the ground for saying that outside," Su Yebiao laughed and added, "But I understand your feelings, and I'll try to avoid interfering in the future. The same goes for the lives of our children. If everything is arranged clearly, life will be much less innovative. I advise you not to interfere too much, especially during adolescence. Even the most obedient child can become rebellious."

Nong Qingying nodded, nonchalantly saying, "As long as they don't do anything illegal, I have no problem even if they want to become a chef. Oh, that's right, children of their age are starting to understand some love and affection. About boys growing up… that lesson, shouldn't you be the one to teach him?"

Slightly stunned, Su Yebiao instantly understood what "that lesson" referred to. He asked strangely, "So early? Isn't it unnecessary? When he starts junior high school, the biology teacher will help. Our son is so handsome, he should be very popular at school."

"That's for sure, but I'm afraid the kids won't be clear, and the parents will deliberately instigate things. It's too early to talk about these things now."

No wonder Nong Qingying was overthinking things. As a family whose wealth far exceeded that of royalty, ranked first in the world, those little ones were destined to be hunted after, and the probability of encountering emotional swindlers was particularly high. In order to win their favor, people would mostly hide their true selves, and the reasons for being together were not necessarily just out of liking, but mixed with too many other factors.

So much so that Nong Qingying, who once hated the four words "matching social status," had already begun to pay attention to some of the young ladies around her, hoping to find a daughter-in-law with a clear background in the future.