novellhall Chapter 9: Earning Over 5 Million in One Night
Chapter 9: Earning Over 5 Million in One Night
three days later.
Halfway up the mountain, Ligende Pavilion.
Li Jiaxin was busy for three whole days.
She personally went to HSBC. When the major account manager at the Central branch heard that she wanted to open an account to trade US stocks, he approved double leverage without hesitation. Not counting the one surnamed Li, she also had someone surnamed Lin standing behind her.
By the time the formalities were completed, it was already Monday, March 23rd.
It's 10:30 p.m.
Li Jiaxin sat on the living room sofa, with a telephone, stock trading machine, and a notebook filled with numbers spread out in front of her.
She was wearing his white shirt, the hem reaching her thighs, the buttons only fastened to her chest, her two bare legs crossed on the coffee table, her toes swaying little by little.
She dialed the HSBC trading desk.
"Yes, Amazon. Code AMZN. Market order. Full shipment."
What was said on the other end of the phone?
"all."
She hung up the phone, and the numbers on the stock ticker screen jumped once. 69.5. Then it jumped again. 69.5.
"Has the deal been made yet...?"
She practically lunged at the phone when it rang.
"Mmm. Mmm. Okay. Okay."
She put down the phone, turned to look at Lin Dong, her eyes flashing with an alarming light.
"All sold. $69.50. $20 commission deducted."
And then she never spoke a complete sentence again.
She held the stock trading machine in her hand, and her breathing changed with each jump in the numbers on the screen.
69.5. 69.62. 69.75. Seventy yuan. Seventy yuan and twenty-five cents.
Her toes curled up.
Lin Dong leaned back on the other end of the sofa and watched her for a while. This woman was usually the most beautiful woman in Hong Kong when she was being proper, but when she wasn't, she was like a cat guarding its food bowl—if you dared to touch her bowl, she would dare to scratch you.
"Jiaxin".
"Um."
"Huang Baiming invited me to lunch tomorrow."
"Hmm." She didn't even look up.
"He must have thought it through; he's proposed an investment of 100 million."
"Um."
Lin Dong looked at her. Her eyes were still glued to the stock trading machine, her pupils reflecting the row of jumping green numbers, as if she were being sucked into that little machine.
He reached out a hand, grabbed her wrist, and pulled her off the sofa.
"Ah Dong—"
Before she could finish speaking, she was flipped over and placed face down on the sofa. A slap landed on her bottom, the sound crisp and clear.
"Put the stock trading machine on the table."
She paused for a moment, still gripping the stock trading machine tightly.
"Snapped!"
The second strike was heavier than the first.
"Put it on the table."
Her eyes changed. Not with anger, but with a watery, sticky look, like melted honey.
She placed the stock trading machine on the coffee table, turned to look at him, and bit her lower lip.
Lin Dong picked her up and carried her on his back.
"What are you doing, Ah Dong!"
"No need to look. You won't lose money."
"Let me take one more look—"
"Snapped!"
Another one.
She finally behaved, but her hand still reached out and grabbed the stock trading machine back from the sofa.
Five o'clock in the morning.
The bedroom was filled with the mingled scents of sweat and perfume. The first rays of sunlight from the mountainside peeked through the gaps in the curtains, a hazy, worn-out blue cloth.
Li Jiaxin crawled out of bed, and the first thing she did wasn't to get dressed or go to the bathroom, but to grab the stock trading machine by the bedside and quickly type in the code she knew better than her ID number.
The screen lights up.
Amazon. AMZN. $72.28.
She stared at that number for a full three seconds.
Then scream.
"Ah Dong!!!"
Lin Dong's eardrums throbbed from the sound, and he covered his ears as he rolled over. She was kneeling on the bed, the blanket had slipped down to her waist, her hair was a mess like a bird's nest, and she was holding the stock trading machine high in her hand, like she was holding a flag.
"72.28! 72.28! I bought it for 69.5, now it's 72.28! It's gone up by 2.78 yuan!"
She threw herself on him, wrapped her arms around his neck, and swayed on top of him.
"How much did it go up? How much did it go up? It went up—it went up—"
She couldn't figure it out; her lips trembled, and she was in a state of constant fear.
Lin Dong did a quick mental calculation.
Seventy million Hong Kong dollars, converted to US dollars, is roughly nine million.
Double leverage equals $18 million. Earning $2.78 per share, roughly 260,000 shares—a profit of nearly $720,000. More than five million Hong Kong dollars. Overnight.
His half was over two million Hong Kong dollars.
He smiled.
"Alright, alright. Go to sleep."
"I can't sleep!"
"Even if you can't sleep, you should still sleep."
She was about to say something when he pulled her back into bed.
The stock trading machine screen was still lit up, showing 72.28.
It took a long time before her breathing gradually became even.
The next day. Mid-mountain location, Legrand House, master bedroom walk-in closet.
Sunlight streamed in through the floor-to-ceiling windows, illuminating the entire row of clothes on the hangers. Shirts, suits, casual jackets—the tags were still hanging.
Li Jiaxin was in such good spirits that she didn't seem like someone who had only slept for a few hours. The numbers from the stock market machine were still burning in her head, and she walked with a brisk pace.
She took a light gray shirt from the hanger, an Italian Zegna. Then she pulled out a pair of dark trousers, a soft leather belt, and finally a pair of dark brown suede loafers, Gucci.
"Wear this." She draped the clothes at the foot of the bed and looked up at him.
Lin Dong picked up the shirt and looked at it. Zegna. Then he looked at the pants. Zegna. The shoes. Gucci. The whole outfit cost at least fifty or sixty thousand Hong Kong dollars.
"You bought it?"
"I bought it," she said matter-of-factly.
He's been spending all her money these past few days. Food, lodging, car, even the stock trading machine—she bought them all.
She spent it willingly, even with a secret sense of pride—one of the richest men in Hong Kong was spending her money.
"Okay." Lin Dong picked up the shirt and put it on.
The cut was so perfect it felt like it was part of my body. The Zegna fabric slid down my arms, a completely different world from that 300-yuan shirt I wore before.
He glanced at himself in the mirror.
Li Jiaxin leaned in from behind, resting her chin on his shoulder, their faces close together in the mirror.
"Hmm. Handsome."
Lin Dong patted her waist. "Let's go."
.........
Luk Yu Tea House, Central.
Huang Baiming and Qiu Litao arrived half an hour early.
The two sat at the back of the table, where a purple clay teapot and several cups were laid out; the tea had become weak. Huang Baiming glanced at the door every now and then.
Andy Lau sat next to them. He was wearing a dark blue suit and sat very upright.
When Lin Dong walked in, the three of them stood up at the same time.
"Lin Sheng." Huang Baiming went to greet him.
"Huang Sheng." Lin Dong nodded.
Li Jiaxin linked arms with him, wearing a pale yellow dress today, with a polite smile, her gaze sweeping over Andy Lau.
Greeting.
Take your seat.
Serve tea.
Shrimp dumplings, siu mai, chicken feet, and rice noodle rolls were laid out on the table.
Huang Baiming picked up a shrimp dumpling and placed it on Lin Dong's plate.
"Mr. Lin, Li Tao and I have discussed this repeatedly these past few days." He put down his chopsticks, crossed his hands on the table, and said, "The investment for 'Love Dream Ship' has been raised to 100 million."
Lin Dong picked up his teacup but didn't reply.
"Lin Sheng will fund everything." Huang Baiming looked him in the eye. "Li Tao and I will only take fixed production and directing fees. As for the share—we won't take a single cent."
Qiu Litao nodded beside him. Andy Lau sat still, his gaze fixed on Lin Dong's face.
Lin Dong put down his teacup, looked at Huang Baiming, then at Qiu Litao, and then raised the cup towards Huang Baiming.
"Mr. Huang, it's a pleasure doing business with you."
Huang Baiming picked up his cup and clinked it against his. The tea sloshed slightly.
"Thirty million upfront," Lin Dong said. "Once the agreement is signed, it will be immediately transferred to your designated account."
Huang Baiming took a deep breath, a smile spreading from the corners of his mouth to the corners of his eyes. "Mr. Lin, thank you."
"No need to thank me." Lin Dong leaned back in his chair. "You take care of the filming, and I'll take care of the accounts. We each do our job."
Huang Baiming nodded repeatedly.
The group chatted for a while longer.
Li Jiaxin didn't say much throughout the whole process, only occasionally refilling Lin Dong's tea, and lingering for half a second when her fingers touched the back of his hand.
At this point, she was completely captivated by Amazon's stock price. What did it matter if the film had a $100 million investment for the lead actress? How much would she earn in salary? Even if the film became a huge hit, how much would her salary increase?
Now she can earn more than 500 million a day, oh no, more than 200 million.
All she wanted was for night to come quickly so she could see how much she could earn that evening.
When the party ended, Andy Lau stood up and walked over to Lin Dong.
"Lin Sheng".
"Andy Lau".
"I have a friend who would like to get to know you," Andy Lau said, his tone perfectly polite. "She's an independent producer, Wang Yalin. She has a project she'd like to discuss with you."
Lin Dong glanced at him.
"There's no time like the present. Let's do it today."
Andy Lau's eyes lit up. "Then I'll make the arrangements. There's a quiet teahouse nearby."
In Central, diagonally opposite Luk Yu Tea House is Fook Lam Moon Tea House.
Less than ten minutes after the three of them sat down, the door was pushed open.
A woman strode in. She was in her early thirties, with shoulder-length short hair, wearing a beige trench coat, and clutching a bulging brown paper envelope in her hand.
"Mr. Lam," Andy Lau stood up and introduced, "This is Wang Ya-lin, Sister Ya-lin. She's an independent producer and has been in the industry for several years."
Wang Yalin stopped in front of Lin Dong, bowed slightly, and handed over the envelope with both hands.
"Mr. Lin, I've heard so much about you. Please take a look at this manuscript."
Lin Dong took the envelope and pulled out a stack of scripts.
The cover has three words: "Mongkok Street".
He turned to the first page and glanced at it.