The Young Lady is a Bit Unruly [Fragrant Harbor] - Chapter 62 Starting Today, Call Me a Rich Woman

Chapter 62 Starting Today, Call Me a Rich Woman

The young couple chatted about the hot stock market while eating.

Ye Huaizhang knew she was trading stocks and that the company she started was for stock trading. He couldn’t help but remind her: The stock market has been overheating recently. It would be best if you maintain a rational position.

Ye Baoling retorted: What counts as a rational position?

Ye Huaizhang thought for a moment: A position where even if the stock market crashes, you wouldn’t feel like crying or be so upset that you can’t eat.

That made some sense.

But she had the script, so she didn’t need to reference that.

Ye Baoling ate grilled mushrooms and asked, If the stock market crashes and Hongtong Industry’s stock price plummets, would you use funds to support the share price?

Ye Huaizhang drank his congee: It depends on how severe the drop is. If it falls ridiculously low, we would definitely consider buying back some shares. As long as no major funds come in to bottom-fish and sweep up shares, we can generally perform slightly better than the overall market—that’s sufficient.

Ye Baoling played dumb: Why be afraid of major funds coming in?

Major funds sweeping in could potentially turn you from a major shareholder into a minor one. As far as Hongtong Industry is concerned, no wealthy individual in Port City currently has that capability, unless it’s international hot money sharks…

Just as he was speaking, there was suddenly a knock at the door.

Baoling! Are you asleep?

It was Liang Meiyun’s voice.

Ye Baoling glanced at the leftover barbecue and two half-bowls of beef congee on the table. Hiding these things wouldn’t be difficult, but how could she hide the food smells?

The room was filled with the rich aroma of grilled meat and beef congee. Ye Baoling didn’t dare open the door at all.

But she reacted quickly and already called out in a raised voice: Aunt, I’m taking a shower. I’ll come find you after I finish.

Alright. No need to rush.

But from the sound of her voice, Liang Meiyun was very anxious.

Ye Baoling first went to brush her teeth. When she came out, she found that Ye Huaizhang had already cleared the food from the table, opened the windows, and the smell in the room had almost dissipated.

She went to knock on her uncle and aunt’s door. A wave of cigarette smoke hit her as she entered—Ye Kais was sitting by the window smoking.

Liang Meiyun had tear stains on her face, apparently from crying during an earlier argument.

Aunt…

Liang Meiyun grasped Ye Baoling’s hand instead: Baoshun was brought back early this morning and still hasn’t eaten a single grain of rice. From last night until now, it’s been almost 24 hours without food, and he’s been kneeling all day. Even the strongest body can’t take this! I asked your uncle to beg the old master, but he’s stubborn and won’t go. I really have no other options.

Ye Baoling pretended not to know, full of pity: Baoshun still hasn’t eaten? I thought Grandfather would soften… What should we do now?

Baoling, you made great contributions during Ye Qingtang’s IPO. Your grandfather remembers that. Please go beg him, beg the old master. If Baoshun doesn’t eat soon, he might not starve to death, but he’ll definitely get sick. Once you develop stomach problems, you’ll suffer for life… Liang Meiyun poured out a basketful of earnest pleas, almost kneeling.

Ye Baoling knew that anyone who went to beg Ye Qizu at this time would get scolded by him, and he might even think she was pretending to be a good person.

After all, going hungry for one day would only cause discomfort—it wouldn’t actually cause serious illness.

With sugar water and salt water provided, he wouldn’t die.

But she really wanted to see Ye Baoshun’s pitiful state, so she said: Begging Grandfather is useless. I’ll go beg Xing Shu instead.

Xing Shu wouldn’t dare give you the key.

Ye Baoling had a plan. Aunt Meiyun, why don’t you go to the kitchen and have someone cook a bowl of noodles first? I’ll go find Xing Shu.

Liang Meiyun had already asked someone to prepare noodles earlier, but they had gone soggy by now. She hurried downstairs to have a fresh bowl cooked.

Xing Shu and his wife lived on the first floor. Ye Baoling found Xing Shu and directly stated she wanted to talk with Baoshun. I’m currently investigating the matter of Baoshun’s exposure. I need to understand the situation from him.

Xing Shu knew this was just an excuse, of course. The young miss definitely wanted to bring food to the young master. He was also worried about starving the delicate young master and having the old master blame him later.

He immediately asked, Young Miss, fifteen minutes, is that acceptable?

That’s fine. Thank you, Xing Shu.

Xing Shu was quite responsible in his duties. He didn’t hand the key to Ye Baoling. I’ll go upstairs to unlock the door for you.

That works too. Ye Baoling quickly went to the kitchen to get the noodles.

Seeing Ye Baoling approach, Liang Meiyun anxiously asked, How did it go? Did he give you the key?

Ye Baoling whispered, He went upstairs to open the door. I told him I needed to investigate the exposure incident and gather some information from Baoshun.

Excellent. You’re so clever. Liang Meiyun hurried to bring out the noodles.

When Liang Meiyun tried to follow to the fourth floor, Ye Baoling said, Xing Shu won’t allow it. Aunt Meiyun, you should go rest. I’ll deliver it.

Thank you for your trouble, Bao Ling.

Ye Baoling carried the noodles up to the fourth floor.

Behind the ancestral hall on the fourth floor was an iron gate. Beyond it stretched a long corridor with several empty rooms that were formerly used to confine disobedient clan members.

Ye Baoshun was locked in the innermost room.

Xing Shu opened the outer iron gate and tactfully didn’t follow inside. A servant sat in the corridor, specifically assigned to watch Ye Baoshun and prevent any incidents.

Young Miss.

Open the door.

The servant quickly took out the key and unlocked it.

The bedroom was quite well-furnished, with a bed, bathroom, and books—just no entertainment facilities.

Ye Baoshun lay on the bed facing the wall. Hearing the noise, he glanced back.

Seeing it was Ye Baoling, and then noticing the steaming, fragrant chicken leg noodles in her hands, he paused slightly before proudly turning his head away and continuing to lie there.

Seeing Ye Baoshun’s pitiful yet stubborn act was rather amusing.

Ye Baoling placed the noodles on the table. Xing Shu only gave us ten minutes. Eat quickly if you want, otherwise I’m taking it away.

Ye Baoshun gritted his teeth and retorted angrily, I don’t need your fake kindness.

No sooner had he spoken than his stomach betrayed him with a loud gurgle.

Suppressing a laugh, Ye Baoling said, That day when you inexplicably came to chase me away, saying I wasn’t even as good as a tenant, I swore to myself that you, Ye Baoshun, were no longer my brother. So it’s not out of kindness that I brought you food—your mother begged me tearfully to come. Of course, I mainly came to see your pitiful state.

She took a few steps to the side, just enough to see his expression. Seeing you lying here like a dead dog puts my mind at ease. It’s even better if you don’t eat—I’ll have fulfilled Aunt Meiyun’s request, seen your miserable condition, and saved a bowl of noodles. Keep starving here. It’s only past ten now—tonight will probably be quite tough, won’t it?

Ye Baoshun’s stomach chose that moment to emit several loud gurgles.

Humiliating.

He wished the ground would open up and swallow him whole.

Ye Baoling couldn’t hold back this time and laughed.

Three minutes have passed. If you’re not going to eat, I don’t want to wait either. I’ll just take the bowl away. Ye Baoling reached for the bowl.

But Ye Baoshun jumped up and pressed the bowl down.

Too hungry! He couldn’t take it anymore!

What followed was wolfing down the food, devouring everything in sight. He first took several big mouthfuls of noodles.

In this large bowl of soup noodles, there were two eggs and one big chicken drumstick. Ye Baoshun ate in large bites, looking utterly delighted.

He had never suffered from hunger in his life—this was the first time.

Ye Baoling stood by watching, finding it rather amusing.

She said, Eat slowly, no need to rush. If you choke and have to be carried out, it would be even more embarrassing.

Ye Baoshun: …

After having something in his stomach to cushion the hunger, he slowed down a bit.

After a long silence, Ye Baoling said gently, There’s nothing wrong with being gay. There’s nothing wrong with you liking men. What’s wrong is this era.

Hearing this, Ye Baoshun was stunned. He looked up at Ye Baoling, and suddenly, crystal-clear tears welled up in his eyes.

Eldest sister…

There was nothing wrong with liking men, but Ye Baoshun’s previous attempt to drug her was absolutely wrong.

Therefore, Ye Baoling could never forgive him.

Though she didn’t forgive him in her heart, she could pretend to.

Eat slowly, don’t choke. Don’t forget, I will always be your sister.

Ye Baoshun might have a bit of a masochistic tendency deep down. After being slept with and injured by Lu Tianyou, he actually fell in love with the other person.

Now it was the same. After Ye Baoling’s harsh words, she suddenly offered a bit of understanding and a touch of pity, and he seemed to think again that his eldest sister was the one who treated him best in the world.

Not only did he have masochistic tendencies, but he also seemed to have a bit of Stockholm syndrome.

In the end, Ye Baoshun licked the last drop of soup clean from the bottom of the bowl.

Ye Baoling handed him a tissue: First time realizing how delicious soup noodles can be, right?

To her surprise, Ye Baoshun curled the corners of his lips upward and smiled.

Then he asked, Eldest sister, I want to know—was it Zheng Junni who leaked the story to the media?

Ye Baoling shook her head: It’s still unclear. Why? Thinking of taking revenge on Zheng Junni?

She deliberately added that last sentence as a reminder.

Even if Ye Baoshun hadn’t initially thought of revenge, Ye Baoling’s reminder planted the seed unconsciously.

Get a good night’s sleep and think carefully about the path you want to take. Ye Baoling took the empty bowl and left.

After this incident, her second aunt was grateful to her and completely regarded her as one of their own.

Ye Baoshun was also thankful to her. Although his eldest sister’s words were harsh, she genuinely stood by his side and considered things from his perspective.

When Ye Baoling returned to the bedroom, Ye Huaizhang had already finished his bath.

He asked her, Went to play the good person?

Ye Baoling smiled faintly: Went to conduct an… observation.

Or perhaps, a guided experiment.

Quite interesting.

Bai Zhu, through the editor of Sunday*, quickly obtained the call log from the phone company for the day the story was leaked.

The tip-off call was made in the morning. The exact time wasn’t recorded, but there weren’t many calls made to leak the story that morning—only eight in total.

Ye Baoling gave the call list to Chen Yulan and asked her to cross-reference it with the phone company’s published directory to identify who those eight calls belonged to.

Soon, they narrowed down the target.

But she wasn’t in a hurry to share the results with everyone. She was waiting for the right moment.

Just then, the stock market experienced unusual fluctuations, so she set the matter aside entirely—making money took priority.

The stock prices of Golden Soybeans and Bright Eyes suddenly skyrocketed more than tenfold.

After a previous surge, these two stocks had been rising steadily until they abruptly spiked again over the past two days, catching them somewhat off guard.

Although these two stocks hadn’t risen as sharply as Hot Spicy, the script indicated they would surge over tenfold around late September to early October.

It was now the end of September, almost October, aligning with the timeline mentioned in the script.

But exactly how many times had they surged? It wasn’t specified.

A sudden spike in stock prices often precedes a roller-coaster plunge.

Ye Baoling instructed Liu Haonan over the phone, Sell everything. And be quick about it!

This time, Liu Haonan remained relatively calm. Selling too fast could drag the price down. Should we sell gradually instead?

Recalling her experience with Haihua Construction, Ye Baoling replied, Follow the same approach as with Haihua Construction—get some help.

She spoke rapidly.

Hearing the tension in his boss’s voice, Liu Haonan set down his teacup and asked, Any insider information?

Not for now, but I’m worried something might happen. Better to sell as soon as possible. Just do as I say.

Assuming Ye Baoling had insider information she couldn’t disclose, Liu Haonan hung up and hurried to Lihua Securities with his colleagues.

They spent two days gradually offloading the shares. Given that Hot Spicy had previously surged 22 times as a major Witch stock, Golden Soybeans and Bright Eyes rising 12–13 times in a short period seemed manageable, with room for further gains.

The first day of selling went smoothly.

That evening, Ye Baoling remembered that Wang Simin and Gu Man’er had also bought Golden Soybeans. She called and advised them to sell all their shares the next day, cautioning them not to discuss it publicly.

The pace of selling slowed on the second day.

The morning was still manageable, but panic set in after the afternoon opening, dragging down stock prices across the board—especially Bright Eyes. They still had over 30 million shares left unsold.

Ye Baoling was stationed at Qiyuan at the time.

Liu Haonan asked her, Should we sell all the Bright Eyes shares at a lower price?

Selling everything would still net them over 180 million from these two stocks, but Ye Baoling worried that a stampede-style sell-off might trigger a stock market crash ahead of schedule.

She decided immediately, Don’t sell today. Instead, trade in waves—buy back some shares when prices drop and see if we can support the price.

What’s the budget?

Ye Baoling countered, How much do we have in our account?

The funds from yesterday’s and today’s sales haven’t reached the bank account yet. We only have a little over 10 million available.

Ye Baoling said, Use that 10 million to test the waters. If we can push the price up, then sell at the higher price.

This required considerable skill.

But with sufficient commissions, experts could be enlisted to help.

Liu Haonan promptly discussed with colleagues at Lihua Securities. After some effort, they used over 8 million that afternoon to stabilize Bright Eyes’ stock price.

The next day, Thursday, October 1, Bright Eyes’ stock price rose again.

Liu Haonan seized the opportunity to liquidate all remaining shares.

After clearing their positions, Ye Baoling finally relaxed, slumping into the sofa.

Liu Haonan, sitting across from her, smiled and said, Everything’s sold—peace of mind at last. Money in the pocket is safe.

Ye Baoling raised her coffee cup as if toasting and lightly clinked it with his. Well done.

Just doing my job.

Ye Baoling had made a fortune, and he had also earned a considerable amount along with her. Within just a few months, he had already upgraded to a larger house, bought a new car, and hired a Filipino maid at home, significantly elevating his quality of life.

After drinking a strong cup of coffee, Ye Baoling let out a satisfied sigh. Next, don’t rest just yet. You’ll need to work hard for another week or two.

Liu Haonan asked, Which stock should we buy?

Ye Baoling replied, First, calculate how much money we have on hand.

Liu Haonan did the accounting for her: The initial investment of 20 million has averaged a return of over 13 times. The additional 8 million invested later barely covered the commission fees. In the coming days, we should receive around 275 million in total.

The profits were simply exhilarating!

Ye Baoling instructed, Convert 200 million of that into U.S. dollars and transfer it to the U.S. stock market.

That would bring their U.S. stock holdings to 400 million.

Are we still buying index funds?

Ye Baoling shook her head. No, not index funds. Use leverage to short sell U.S. stocks.

Liu Haonan, who had been exhausted just moments before, suddenly perked up. Short sell U.S. stocks?! And with leverage?

Exactly! Go negotiate with the brokerage to see how much leverage they can offer us.

U.S. brokerages should be able to provide us with 10x leverage.

Then use 10x leverage.

Although Liu Haonan was excited, he feared that the hard-earned profits from the Hong Kong stock market might be wiped out in the U.S. market.

After all, while Miss Ye might have insider information here, her influence likely didn’t extend to Wall Street in the U.S.

Boss, I must caution you carefully—with 10x leverage, under current U.S. stock market rules, if stock prices rise by just 7%, we’ll need to add more margin. Otherwise, we’ll face forced liquidation.

Ye Baoling had, of course, studied the rules thoroughly. I know. So, out of the 400 million, use only 300 million for 10x leverage to short sell U.S. stocks. Keep the remaining 100 million as liquid funds. If any issues arise, we can add margin at any time. I’ve done extensive research—just follow my lead.

As the boss, Ye Baoling’s word was final, and Liu Haonan had to obey.

Still, he felt compelled to emphasize, As long as you’ve considered it carefully.

The main task now was to decide which stocks were most suitable for short selling.

During a stock market crash, everything tends to plummet—but which stocks would be hit the hardest?

That was the decision Liu Haonan had to make.

While we have time, select 10 stocks. Use 30 million for each, with 10x leverage, to short sell them.

Liu Haonan quickly took notes. His tasks now were to convert the funds into U.S. dollars, negotiate leverage terms with the Hong Kong branch of a U.S. securities firm, select U.S. stocks, and proceed with short selling.

They finalized their plan to complete the deployment by October 7.

Ye Baoling provided Liu Haonan with a mobile phone so they could communicate by phone at any time.

If short selling were allowed in the Hong Kong stock market at that time, she would have allocated some funds to short Ye Qingtang’s stocks, driving their price to the lowest point during the crash.

What a pity.

Liu Haonan asked, Which stocks should we buy next in the Hong Kong market?

Ye Baoling shook her head. Not buying anything for now. We’ll wait for the right opportunity.

What about the Hang Seng Index?

Not that either.

The boss, who was usually so aggressive, was surprisingly cautious about the Hong Kong market?

Liu Haonan asked, Should we just leave the money in the bank?

Just leave it in the bank. If you’re trading other stocks, I suggest you liquidate your positions.

Liu Haonan smiled and said, I’ve already liquidated my positions. I advised you to sell earlier, but you weren’t willing. I thought you were going to keep buying.

So Liu Haonan did have some skills after all.

Ye Baoling asked with a laugh, Why did you choose to liquidate?

Have you read ‘Tumbleweed’? My view is similar to Bai Zhu’s. Have you been influenced by her too?

No.

But Ye Baoling still nodded: A little.

Regardless, there were still over 70 million Hong Kong dollars in the account. Even if something went wrong with the US stocks, it wouldn’t leave them without capital to recover.

At the celebratory dinner that evening, Ye Baoling only clinked teacups with them, then told everyone to order whatever they wanted. Chen Yulan would handle the bill, and she tactfully withdrew as the boss.

One day later, Golden Soybeans’ stock price plummeted, and that same afternoon, Bright Eyes crashed.

Having dodged a bullet and made substantial profits, Wang Simin and Gu Man’er treated her to a meal. Wang Simin specifically chose an expensive restaurant for the occasion.

This time, Wang Simin had earned over a hundred thousand, while Gu Man’er, after repaying the money Ye Baoling had lent her, still netted 170,000. With this sum, she could basically change the Gu Family’s current situation.

The three raised their glasses in celebration: May we grow richer and richer!

Wang Simin had the sweetest tongue: Please let me forever cling to Miss’s sturdy thigh. Thank you, Bodhisattva, thank you, Lord, thank you, Wong Tai Sin…

Gu Man’er laughed at her: Which religion do you even belong to?

Wang Simin: I’m Chinese. I believe in all gods.

The three couldn’t help but burst into laughter.

Two days before the stock market crash, on October 6th.

Ye Baoling contacted Cindy from Baihui Bank, instructing her to sell all the Hongtong Industry shares in the account. Originally bought for 1 million, they were now sold for 1.28 million.

Four months ago, Ye Baoling had over 9 million on hand. She used 1 million to buy Hongtong Industry, ultimately realizing a profit of 280,000—a 28% return, which was considered very high.

With the remaining 8 million plus, she continuously traded stocks, turning it into over 470 million Hong Kong dollars.

This return rate was astronomical.

This was the unfair game of knowing the plot in advance, accurately timing the market, and through constant design and error correction, ultimately achieving astronomical profits.

The difference made by different choices was just this vast.

Therefore, ordinary people should not easily enter the stock market. Without understanding the rules, lacking skills, and having no information, the stock market is just a huge casino, or even a gold-devouring beast.

Liu Haonan completed a 300 million margin in US stocks, with 10x leverage, meaning he was short selling US stocks worth 3 billion Hong Kong dollars.

That evening, Ye Baoling called Lisa.

She reminded Lisa that the time the Witch Doctor wrote on the note for her was almost up.

Lisa was having breakfast and sounded quite helpless, Darling, the US stock market has been performing very well lately. I can’t convince Daniel to believe an Eastern Witch Doctor’s advice.

Ye Baoling had become friends with her and didn’t hold back: Because you don’t believe it yourself, so how can you convince Daniel?

Lisa laughed heartily: You saw right through me. Well, I’d like to believe, but reason tells me I don’t have to. You know, besides thanking God, the most important reason we’ve come this far is that we’re very rational.

Ye Baoling also laughed: Alright, I’ve done my best.

October 8th, with clear skies and crisp air. Ye Huaizhang had been absent for two days due to some matters, so Ye Baoling went to bed early and woke up late.

It was already past nine o’clock when she awoke.

She rarely went downstairs for breakfast, but this time she happened to see the old master doting on his chubby grandson in front of Xihe Pavilion, his eyes and heart overflowing with affection.

Meanwhile, Ye Kaimin and his wife Zheng Junni stood to the side, with Zheng Junni shaking a pellet drum to coax their son into smiling at his grandfather.

It was practically a perfect picture of a happy family.

Liang Meiyun, eating in the dining room, felt irritated upon seeing the heartwarming scene at the main entrance.

Ever since her son Ye Baoshun was released from the paifang, he had been confined to his own room, forbidden from going anywhere, and was nearly driven stir-crazy from the isolation.

The old man was stubborn and refused to send him abroad, insisting on keeping Ye Baoshun locked up like this until he completely surrendered.

Liang Meiyun glanced at Ye Baoling and asked softly, Baoling, it’s been half a month already. Has there been no progress on that matter?

Ye Baoling shushed her and reassured, There’s progress. We obtained a list of phone numbers from the telephone company and need to investigate them one by one.

Hearing there was progress, Liang Meiyun quickly nodded. There might be public phone booth numbers near us…

Just then, the old man entered, and Liang Meiyun wisely fell silent.

Ye Qizu asked Ye Baoling, Not going to work today?

Ye Baoling, eating a potato cake, replied, There’s nothing urgent. I’ll go later.

Weren’t you determined to aggressively expand into the European and American markets? Why haven’t we heard anything lately?

Grandpa, you said it yourself—expanding markets isn’t an overnight task. Ye Qingtang has been around for a hundred years; we have plenty of time and can afford to wait. Isn’t that right?

Ye Qizu: …

This was exactly what he disliked about his granddaughter—she would unexpectedly throw his own words back at him, leaving him speechless.

He could only snort coldly to save face. Relying on you? Might as well rely on Bao Xian.

Hah.

Ye Baoling suddenly asked, Grandpa, who do you think Bao Xian looks like?

Ye Qizu was taken aback, then said, He looks like me when I was little.

Ah? Ye Baoling struggled not to laugh.

Liang Meiyun also looked up in surprise.

Ye Qizu: I still have photos from my childhood. I was chubby like that too.

Liang Meiyun muttered, Dad, your eyes aren’t shaped like that.

Ye Qizu sat down on the living room sofa, paused, and then said, His eyes look like his own.

Everyone fell silent.

Ye Baoling leisurely finished her breakfast while Ye Qizu read the newspaper.

Just then, Ye Qizu’s assistant Chen Jincai hurried in. Chairman, the stock market crashed right at opening today. No one knows what’s going on.

Crashed at opening?

Ye Qizu put down the newspaper and asked with concern, How are Su Manzhu and Ye Qingtang’s stock prices?

The trends are very unfavorable.

Ye Qizu stood up and headed upstairs, with Chen Jincai quickly following, briefing him on the stock market situation as they walked.

Upon hearing the news, Ye Baoling felt completely at ease.

The course of history remained unchanged—the stock market crash had arrived with a vengeance.

Author’s Note: Ye Baoling: From today onward, please call me a wealthy woman.