Chapter 30: A Profit of Fifty Million

Two years ago, the sight of domestic "aunties" snapping up 300 tons of gold to hedge against Wall Street tycoons was so memorable that it even birthed a new English term: "DAMA."

Back then, they fought from an underdog position, smashing through Goldman Sachs' positions even in a headwind; naturally, things were even easier now that the wind was at their backs. The surge in gold prices was unstoppable. The rise in domestic gold prices drove international prices, which in turn influenced the London gold market.

At 3:00 PM, the domestic stock market closed. The index returned to 4,823.48 points, a decline of 6.85%. Today was destined to be a day for the history books. Across the three major sectors, out of 3,124 stocks, 1,250 hit the daily limit down. The entire board was awash in green, with only a few new listings remaining in the red. Retail investors who had won the lottery of new stock allocations were showing off everywhere, while those holding other stocks were filled with grievances. Chinese Online was left completely flat on the floor.

Three major institutional players were so furious they were nearly ready to jump off a building. It wasn't a failure of strategy—they had already prepared their withdrawal plans and were executing them step-by-step. Everything had been steady and improving. They never expected that a single official red-headed document would bury the entire market, leaving them unable to escape.

Lu Liang had not closed his eyes for 32 hours, but he remained alert, even though his eyes were stinging and his vision was slightly blurred. He watched the London gold market; the price per ounce had risen to $1,475.55, an increase of $110.31. The 732 contracts held in his personal account had reached a total value of $108.01 million.

"This wave should be nearing its end."

After a long moment of contemplation, Lu Liang chose to cash out. To a market with a daily trading volume of $20 trillion, his $100 million-plus in chips was like a single grain of sand in the desert. His sell-off didn't cause even the slightest ripple. The 100x leverage funds were automatically returned to the brokerage, and after deducting $12,900 in fees and his initial principal of $500,000, his profit from this wave of trading came to $7.4971 million.

Including his margin account, Lu Liang’s total capital reached $8.6271 million, or 54.782 million RMB.

"Half a small goal achieved." Lu Liang was in a good mood, so he simply withdrew the 4.63 million RMB from his domestic brokerage account. He didn't intend to convert the $8.6271 million in his London gold account into RMB, opting instead to keep it in his international card. He had suffered a loss due to such conversions before. If it weren't for the fact that his exchange quota was only 1 million, his total assets would have already reached nine figures. While dollars could be converted into RMB without limit, the reverse was not true.

Lu Liang intended to hold onto these dollars because the overall trend in London gold had not yet concluded. Over the next two days, there would be another $41.70 in gains. If he managed his trades correctly, his total assets should exceed 100 million by the end of this wave. The international market allowed not just for going long, but also for shorting.

When the trend ends, there is naturally a correction; a correction means a decline, and a decline can be shorted, which is equally profitable.

At 3:30 PM, Lu Liang finalized his settlement and walked out of the study. He was momentarily distracted by Li Manli, who was lying on the sofa editing videos. She was dressed in a black-and-white Lolita outfit, wearing twin tails, white over-the-knee stockings, and small black leather shoes. The ruffles on the skirt, the bow at her chest, and the lace elements blended classical and modern styles. The extreme contrast between the dignified and playful attributes appearing in one person was magical yet not contradictory.

"Brother Liang, you finally came out. If you hadn't, I really would have knocked on the door." Li Manli was excited; she jumped up and trotted over to Lu Liang. He hadn't eaten or slept all day, only coming out to brew a few cups of coffee, and she was very worried.

Lu Liang looked her over and praised, "This outfit looks great."

"Is it just the clothes that look good?" Li Manli smiled like a flower and twirled to show off. Her leather shoes clicked against the tiles.

"The clothes are nice, but the person wearing them is even more beautiful." The skirt swayed, revealing a stretch of fair thigh. The white stockings, clearly a size too small, created a curve at the base of her thigh that was uniquely alluring.

Li Manli smiled sweetly and ran to the dining room, lifting the insulated covers. "You must be hungry. Let me heat up the food for you."

There were three dishes and one soup, plated exquisitely and with care, but Lu Liang knew that, usually, food only manages to excel in one of the three: color, aroma, or taste. In this case, it just looked good.

"No need to heat it; it's still warm enough. I’ll eat a little and go to sleep." Lu Liang was exhausted and had no appetite, planning to just force down a few bites before hitting the bed.

"You drank so much coffee today; why not take a hot bath first to relax?" Li Manli suggested.

"That works."

"I'll go run the hot water for you."

Being tired for too long is just like being hungry for too long. In the latter case, you stop feeling hungry; in the former, even when you finally lie in bed, it takes a long time to fall asleep. Lu Liang wanted nothing more than a warm soak and a professional masseur to truly relax his body and mind. He just didn't want to leave the house.

Li Manli seemed to be a mind-reader. Just as Lu Liang stepped into the tub, she followed him in. She tiptoed behind him and said with a smile, "Brother Liang, let me give you a massage."

Lu Liang turned his head to look and couldn't help but laugh. "When did you buy so many 'individualistic' outfits?"

She had changed into another costume—deep red fabric printed with camellias, with a wide blue sash tied at her waist. It looked like the outfits frequently seen in Japanese anime during summer festivals; it was like a kimono, but not quite. She was wearing nothing underneath, and as Li Manli leaned forward slightly, Lu Liang saw a vast expanse of spring scenery through her neckline.

"Didn't you tell me to research the market and observe audience preferences before I became a video blogger?"

"So I observed, and I found that most of the audience on that site are ACG enthusiasts."

"The traffic for wearing cosplay outfits versus regular clothes is not even on the same magnitude."

Li Manli excitedly boasted, "I’ve only posted two videos, and I already have three thousand followers."

"Keep it up. When you hit one hundred thousand followers, I'll be your number one fan during your first livestream," Lu Liang chuckled. He didn't see anything wrong with this; if you have an advantage, you should use it well. Being pretty was her advantage.

He could also experience a different feeling. He coughed a few times and said, "I remember the Pirate Empress is quite famous, isn't she?"

"You mean Hancock? Do you like her? I'll buy a set next time."

"It's alright, I suppose."

Lu Liang closed his eyes, the corner of his mouth curling upward. He enjoyed the service of Li Manli's fingertips, though her technique was rough and completely missed the right spots. Lu Liang had to provide technical guidance.

Until the warm water began to cool, he stood up and wrapped himself in a bathrobe. "I'm going to sleep for a while. Don't wait for me for dinner."

Even though the "wet look" was tempting, his body and mind were completely relaxed now that exhaustion had set in, and he had no other thoughts.

...

He slept until the early hours of the morning; the house was quiet. After freshening up, Lu Liang continued his efforts to become a billionaire.

At 4:00 PM, the London gold Asian session ended, and the European and American sessions took over one after another. While Lu Liang was resting, London gold had risen by 12 points, but a counter-party had appeared in the market, causing a temporary correction of 17 points.

As of 1:30 AM, the international gold price had returned to $1,470.25 per ounce, leaving 47 points of profit remaining from what he had predicted.

"30 hours, 47 points of growth—where is the next fuse?"

Lu Liang wasn't in a hurry to open positions; he browsed the news, searching for the spark to ignite the market. In a market as vast as London gold, he was just a butterfly—him making a few million wouldn't likely affect the outcome. There was definitely another small wave coming, but short sellers had already appeared, believing the trend had reached its end and a correction was due. Therefore, there must be a fuse to ignite this small wave, drive the gold price up, and blow up the short positions.

Lu Liang was searching, though he suffered from his lack of English, having to use translation software to browse international news.

"Looks like I really need to sign up for a class. It's all Zheng Ge's fault for not being more reliable." He sighed. Although his English grades were decent back in the day and he had almost passed the CET-4, he hadn't used it for so many years and had long since returned that knowledge to his teachers.