Chapter 50: The Storm Rises Again

By this time, the timeline had converged around August 2020. The Lisen Group had been established for half a month, and all preparatory work was fully complete. Backed by the Gu Group and the Liu Group, Li Fengyu was brimming with ambition. Consequently, they cast their sights on rubber futures. Rubber futures were a remarkably seasoned asset class with a history spanning several decades, making them arguably the oldest contracts on the entire broad market.

Years prior, there had been a legendary super bull market that surged to the thirty-thousand-point mark. Countless investment masters and financial geniuses were born out of that monumental bull market, figures such as Ge Weicai and Chen Xudong, among many others. Now, decades later, Li Fengyu had also set his sights on this arena.

During the Monday meeting, Li Fengyu officially announced the decision to trade futures. Li Sen, Ye Chen, and Chen Yuxuan all raised their hands in agreement with no objections. Li Fengyu looked toward Liu Xinyang and asked, "Xinyang, do you have any opinions on this?" Liu Xinyang first rubbed the back of his head before replying, "I don't have any objections as such, but I am rather concerned about the future prospects of rubber." Li Fengyu stood up, turned on the multimedia projector, and asked Liu Xinyang to elaborate.

Liu Xinyang walked up to the screen, opened the analysis software, and said, "Everyone, please look. This is the annual chart for rubber. There is heavy overhead resistance, the MACD at the bottom has not narrowed, there is no support from the moving averages, and the Bollinger Bands are trading in the lower region. Looking at the quarterly chart, it is not particularly strong either, though the monthly chart does show signs of a potential turnaround."

Hearing Liu Xinyang's analysis, Chen Yuxuan and Ye Chen began taking notes diligently. However, Li Fengyu remarked, "I actually know all of this. But why did I still choose rubber? This ultimately comes down to the broader macroeconomic environment." Indeed, at that time, the demand side for rubber was recovering quite well. Furthermore, rubber had once reached a peak of thirty thousand points, boasting the potential to multiply in value by dozens of times. For over a decade leading up to the present, it had never experienced a truly massive wave of growth. Therefore, Li Fengyu believed that rubber held enormous potential. Yet, neither Li Fengyu nor Liu Xinyang realized one crucial detail at this moment: rubber was an asset with an extremely long cyclical nature, which explained why it had gone without a major surge for so long. It was not until later that the truth dawned on them.

Hearing this, Liu Xinyang was left speechless, as Li Fengyu's reasoning did carry some weight. Liu Xinyang thought carefully: since Li Fengyu was the core leader of the Li Group, he should be given full authority to take charge. Liu Xinyang understood the principle that if you suspect someone, do not employ them, and if you employ them, do not doubt them. With a wave of his hand, Liu Xinyang said, "Alright, Fengyu, I believe in your capability. I'll stay in the rear and wait for your good news." Li Fengyu smiled slightly and replied, "Done."

Overall, the meeting proceeded quite harmoniously without any opposition. After the meeting adjourned, Li Fengyu asked, "How come I haven't seen Gu Yumin? Isn't she the primary shareholder? Shouldn't we report this to her?" Liu Xinyang smiled faintly and said, "Although she is the primary shareholder, the Gu Group is vastly more powerful than us. The one hundred million yuan Gu Yumin invested is mere pocket change to them. Gu Yumin also has investments worth hundreds of millions in Qingdao; she doesn't need to manage things personally at all." Startled, Li Fengyu exclaimed, "That's incredible! Truly, some people are born in Rome, some are born as beasts of burden, some are born to be bosses, and the rest of us are born to be wage earners."

Liu Xinyang laughed heartily and said, "Take it one step at a time, we'll get there. Once this business venture succeeds, I'll throw a celebration for you."