Chapter 58: Same fate as drifters at the sky's edge

  When Zhao Yuqin said that she had become a multimillionaire, Zhou Hao just smiled calmly. Zhao Yuqin stirred the coffee in front of her with a spoon, her eyes never leaving Zhou Hao's face. "Multimillionaire? You're just smiling?" If it were an ordinary person, they would have accumulated hundreds of millions of dollars in such a short period of time, and they would be overjoyed.

  "It's just a mere billionaire." Zhou Hao said, "Should I be satisfied with that?" He turned his gaze outside the window, staring at the vast expanse of deep blue night sky, lost in thought.

  The year 1996 is coming to an end, and 1997 is just around the corner. For Asia and even the world, 1997 will be a year of extraordinary significance, not only because Hong Kong, which has been away from its motherland for many years, will finally return to the embrace of its motherland, but also because the Asian financial storm that shook the world will occur in this year.

  The cause was international financial shark, the controller of Quantum Fund George Soros, who took advantage of the imperfect financial systems in Southeast Asian countries and used a large amount of international hot money to attack the Thai baht, causing it to plummet. Malaysia, Singapore, Japan, and South Korea were also severely affected. George Soros also made billions of dollars from this battle before being thwarted when he targeted the Hong Kong stock market. This massive financial storm destroyed decades of economic development in Thailand and other Southeast Asian countries, bringing heavy disaster to the people of these nations.

  For those people who were deeply hurt by the financial storm, Zhou Hao was not unsympathetic, but he knew that he couldn't change anything. Although this financial storm was caused by speculators led by George Soros, the most fundamental reason lay in the extremely imperfect financial systems of Southeast Asian countries.

  What Zhou Hao needs to do is accumulate enough funds, catch up with this favorable trend, and get the greatest benefit. In the past two days, Zhao Yuqin has helped Zhou Hao sell off his stocks one after another. After all of Zhou Hao's stocks are sold out tomorrow, he plans to invest the money in the Hong Kong stock market. Because in the first half of 1997, the Hong Kong stock market maintained a strong upward trend, with the Hang Seng Index repeatedly hitting new highs until it began plummeting with the arrival of the Asian financial crisis in July.

  However, Zhou Hao was not going to buy stocks, but rather invest in futures. Although the Hong Kong Hang Seng Index had repeatedly hit new highs in the first half of the year, there were also several fluctuations in between. Zhou Hao had studied this in detail in his previous life, so he was very familiar with the ups and downs of the Hong Kong stock market for the past six months. With this advantage, Zhou Hao was confident that he could turn his 70-80 million into 1 billion yuan by June 1997. Then, he would use this money to follow in the footsteps of George Soros and others in the Southeast Asian stock market. The funds used by George Soros and many other speculators in this battle were as high as tens of billions of US dollars, so Zhou Hao's 1 billion yuan was like a small stone thrown into a lake, quickly disappearing without a trace. This also made it easier for Zhou Hao to operate more discreetly and safely.

  Coming back from his reverie, Zhou Hao saw Zhao Yuqin opposite him, propping up her cheek with one hand and staring at him motionlessly. "What's wrong? Is there something on my face?"

  Zhao Yaqin gently shook her head, "I think, when you're thinking, your expression is especially charming." She was telling the truth, before Zhou Hao's body underwent such a big change, she had already discovered that every time Zhou Hao was deep in thought, his focused and serious expression was exceptionally captivating, with a quiet and introverted stability.

  The waiter brought up the couple's meal that Zhao Yuqin had ordered. Compared to the couple's meal at Donggan City, "Karl's" was much more formal and authentic, after all, this place mainly served Western food. Soon, the table between the two of them was filled with Borscht, meat sauce noodles, cheese baked lobster, mixed vegetable salad, etc.

  To be honest, Zhou Hao had never studied the etiquette of Western dining and didn't know which hand should hold the fork and which hand should hold the knife. But he also didn't plan on pretending to understand, so he just ate however was convenient, and it actually made him seem more natural and casual.

  Zhao Yuqin, due to family reasons, often had the opportunity to interact with foreign friends and had also been to Hong Kong, so she understood more than Zhou Hao. However, she found Zhou Hao's unpretentious actions even more lovable, at least better than those pseudo-gentlemen who only knew a little but boasted about themselves. Moreover, Zhou Hao's genuine side also won Zhao Yuqin's heart, constantly putting delicious food on his plate, and watching him eat made her enjoy her own meal even more.

  "You're about to have winter break soon, what are your plans?" Zhao Yuqin asked Zhou Hao.

  Zhou Hao stuffed the lobster meat into his mouth and said, "I plan to go outside and take a look. On the one hand, I want to broaden my horizons, and on the other hand, I also want to see if I can find the medicinal materials needed for those prescriptions."

  "Oh, I remember now. You mentioned those prescriptions to my brother before." Zhao Yuqin asked: "Do you know where the medicinal materials are produced?"

  Zhou Hao nodded, "I know." The "Shennong Bencao" not only records the medicinal properties and habits of various medicinal materials, but also indicates where they are distributed in China. Some medicinal materials are even distributed in Cambodia and Vietnam, and many of these medicinal materials have not been discovered yet, let alone be available for purchase at pharmacies. Zhou Hao planned to take advantage of the winter break to explore domestically and verify the prescriptions in "Shennong Bencao".

  Shennong was not only revered as the god of Chinese medicine, but also the god of agriculture. It is said that the earliest farming techniques were passed down from Shennong. In addition to recording various medicinal materials, "Shennong Ben Cao Jing" also documented the conditions and methods for planting these medicinal materials. Zhou Hao thought that if this book had been widely disseminated in ancient times, China would have become the most advanced medical country in the world. Now, Zhou Hao plans to develop a large-scale medicinal material cultivation base with sufficient funds in the future, and produce those undiscovered and unpublicized medicinal materials in "Shennong Ben Cao Jing".

  "Sister, are you going with me?" Zhou Hao extended an invitation to Zhao Yuqin.

  Zhao Yuqin also showed a look of expectation, but soon dimmed down, "I also want to go with you, but I really can't get away, the old man at home wants me to go to Beijing during the Spring Festival."

  "Go to Beijing?"

  Zhao Yaqin nodded, "Saying that I accompanied him in the past, but I know his mind, probably found someone for me to meet and get married."

  "Blind date!?" Zhou Hao's face changed, and he immediately grabbed Zhao Yuqin's hand. "Sister, I won't let you go!"

  Seeing Zhou Hao so tense, Zhao Yuqin's heart felt sweet. "Sister doesn't want to go either, but that old man's words, no one in the family dares to disobey. Besides, it's just a blind date, and nothing will really happen with those guys." She leaned over, her nose tip touching Zhou Hao's nose tip, "Don't worry, sister only wants Xiao Hao, no one else."

  "Hmm!" Zhou Hao nodded heavily, but there was still a hint of gloom in his heart.

  He knew that with Zhao Yuqin's conditions and background, the person her father found for her would definitely be extraordinary. Although he had already won her heart first, if he wanted to win the beauty back, he would need even greater power. Thinking of this, a fierce fire burned in Zhou Hao's heart.

  At this time, the waiter brought up the dessert, a large cup of butter ice cream for the couple to share together, and also poured bright fruit sauce on top.

  "Alright, let's not talk about those depressing things anymore. Come on, try some of this ice cream." She said as she scooped up a spoonful and fed it to Zhou Hao, "How does it taste?"

  "It's very sweet." Zhou Hao also smiled and scooped up a small spoonful to feed Zhao Yuqin.

  Just as the two were happily feeding each other, a quarrel suddenly broke out from behind.

  "Cuihong, don't leave me, okay? Don't marry that person, okay? I'm begging you." was a young man's plea, and his sorrow could be heard in his voice.

  The woman opposite him snorted, "Why can't she marry him? If not him, should I marry you? Spend my whole life guarding that broken-down pharmacy with you? Spend my whole life stuck in that tiny house the size of a tofu block with you? Or spend my whole life serving your crippled old father?"

  The man's face turned red with rage as he listened to the woman's words. He pointed at her and scolded, "You, don't you dare curse my father!"

  "Why can't I scold him?" The woman said with her arms around her: "At their age, they still drag young people back, why don't they just die and get out of the way?"

  Zhou Hao and Zhao Yuqin furrowed their brows upon hearing this, "This woman's words are too sharp and venomous."

  As expected, the man was so angry that his chest heaved violently, and he raised his hand to slap the woman. The loud slapping sound echoed clearly in the restaurant, and the woman suddenly went mad, "Xiao Jiming, how dare you hit me?"

  That Xiao Jiming was also stunned, staring blankly at his own palm. At this time, a man with a prominent belly, accompanied by several strong men, walked over from the entrance, holding a large mobile phone, looking like a nouveau riche. The woman immediately stood up and threw herself into the arms of the pot-bellied man, pitifully accusing, "Husband, this guy hit me, look, my face is all swollen."

  The general's belly man painfully stroked the woman's face, then fiercely stared at Xiao Jiming, "You dare to hit my wife!" After that, he grabbed his collar.

  The manager of "Karl's" restaurant immediately walked over to stop the two men, "You two gentlemen, if you have any grievances, please take them outside. This is a place of business."

  The general's belly man hummed, and let the two strong men he brought with him sandwich Xiao Jiming and walk out. The other customers in the restaurant looked at Xiao Jiming's back with some sympathy, knowing that he not only lost his woman, but also had to be beaten up badly.

  "I'll go take a look." Zhou Hao said to Zhao Yuqin as he stood up and walked outside. Xiao Jiming reminded him of himself in his past life, similarly betrayed by his own woman, similarly persecuted by others. It can be said that Zhou Hao and Xiao Jiming were both people who had fallen to the ends of the earth.