Under One Person: One Person Goes

Chapter 205 The Stock Market Crash
Time moves forward in Wang Yi's life where he plays two roles.

Wang Yi naturally didn't know that when he left the Republic of China and came to the United States in 1928 to seek capital for the future, Zhang Zhiwei did not return to Longhushan immediately after leaving Fengtian because of something he said.

Instead, he went straight to the holy place that Wang Yi wanted to go but did not dare to go to, because Zhang Zhiwei was very curious at the time.

Zhang Zhiwei can reach his current height because, on the one hand, he has the support of the Tianshi Mansion, which has been passed down for nearly two thousand years and has a profound foundation;

On the one hand, his talent is there. Only with his pure practice and the inheritance of Tianshi Mansion can he be regarded by a group of senior figures in the Chinese supernatural circle as the person with the greatest possibility of ascending to heaven in contemporary times.

No matter how talented you, Wang Yi, are, even if you are a step ahead of me, what does it matter? In cultivation, you have wealth, friends, Dharma and land. Except for Dharma, which Wang Yi has explored and advanced along the way by himself, Wang Yi does not have the other three.

Even if you want to keep up with me, it shouldn't be now. When our talents are almost the same, sometimes foundation becomes basic skills, which is a factor that is difficult to ignore.

So at that time in Fengtian, Zhang Zhiwei asked Wang Yi this question.

'You said you wanted to throw yourself into this secular world and do something for the people of the world. This is why your practice can keep pace with mine. You have a precise goal. I want to know what your answer to this goal is.'

At that time, Wang Yi gave Zhang Zhiwei a relatively general answer and location.

The answer is naturally seven words - national hatred and family hatred are hard to resolve.

As for the location, it is in this holy land hundreds of miles away from Longhu Mountain.

Zhang Zhiwei remembered this holy place, and after the Fengtian incident was over, he asked Zhang Huaiyi to return to Longhu Mountain first, and he went there himself to see what the answer to Wang Yi's pursuit was.

Zhang Zhiwei stayed there for nearly four months. He took off his Taoist robe and integrated into the group as a poor teacher.

There he also met another gentleman who could give him the answer.

During the past four months, Zhang Zhiwei realized what the answer to Wang Yi's goal was. It was also there that Zhang Zhiwei gained a deeper understanding of his own Tianshifu heritage.

This was why he was able to use thunder magic to light the lights in the cave in the back mountain of Tianshi Mansion.

As for why he could do all this, it was just as Zhang Zhiwei said to Zhang Huaiyi.

Only when you are there and witness everything with your own eyes can you have the answer in your heart.

Then Zhang Jingqing, who got wind of the situation, rushed down the mountain in a hurry. Taking advantage of the fact that Zhang Zhiwei, who was following the team, had to attack southern Jiangxi due to the "August Failure" incident, he arrested Zhang Zhiwei and brought him back to Longhu Mountain. Then he sealed his cultivation and threw him into solitary confinement in the back mountain, and has been locked up until now without being released.

However, what Zhang Jingqing had not expected was that this disciple, who originally needed a few more years to surpass him, had already made progress in his practice beyond his expectations.

The reason why Zhang Zhiwei is still staying obediently in the back mountain is because he respects his teacher and knows how angry he has made his master.

Another reason was that he went to Jianghu Xiaozhan to inquire through Zhang Huaiyi and learned about the follow-up of the large army's attack on southern Jiangxi after he was captured by his master and brought back to Longhu Mountain. At present, the situation was very good, so he felt relieved and honestly stayed in solitary confinement in Longhu Mountain.

He also needs some time to calm down his insights from his practice.
-
Two flowers bloom, one branch each.

Under the influence of Wang Yi, Zhang Zhiwei began to try to take a new path different from that of Longhu Mountain under the cover of solitary confinement.

Wang Yi, on the other hand, is also making intensive preparations.

During the day, he would stay in the apartment provided by the Behemoth Group and concentrate on meditation, perfecting his human magnetic field practice system, which was also the wish of his late first master Wang Yaozu.

The old man had dreamed all his life that his skill of Reversing the Eight Directions would have successors and that he could establish his own school.

Wang Yi started to cultivate the human body's magnetic field based on the four basic forces because of reversing the eight directions. No matter what, reversing the eight directions is a hurdle that cannot be avoided.

At night, he would go to the Continental Hotel every now and then under the alias of John Wick, and listen to Winston and James Gates report on the current business situation of the Continental Hotel.

With James Gates, Jay Gatsby's former professional manager, at the helm, through his previous Wall Street network of contacts, and with the help of his good friend Nick Carraway, who was already a stock trader on Wall Street.

From the beginning of 1929 to the present, James Gates has earned nearly million US dollars for Continental Hotels through the stock market. This is the profit made under Wang Yi's instructions without leveraging it right away.

Without having lived through that era, it would be difficult for Wang Yi to understand how outrageous the madness of the U.S. stock market was before the Great Depression began.

Because there are no price limits on stocks in the United States, if your brokerage allows leverage, then if you invest five dollars in the stock market in the morning and sell it in the afternoon, you will earn nearly a thousand dollars and can drive home a new car that day.

Just imagine, in such an environment, who would still have the mind to go to work with peace of mind? Going to the stock exchange every day waiting for the stock market to open, then buying and selling, and spending the money on wine and women, isn't it easier than working hard every day?
Anyway, as long as you save some money to buy stocks the next day, you can earn back what you spent yesterday.

In addition, newspaper news is always touting the bull market and reporting on how many new millionaires are created in New York every day. In this era when self-media is not well developed, no one will carefully verify whether what the newspaper says is true or false.

In this kind of environment, how many people can stay sober?

As for Wang Yi, he started counting the days on the calendar after August.

He did not remember the exact date of the impending Great Depression, and was unable to withdraw in time a few days before the Great Depression and watch the storm develop.

But this also brought Wang Yi great concealment, because he remembered that the Great Depression was on Tuesday, the 29th, and it started at the end of a month in the four months from September to December 1929.

So when he looked at the 1929 calendar and determined that the last Tuesday in September was about a week away from the end of the month, he began to micro-manage.

He only made three requests to Winston and James.

The first point is to convert all the liquid funds currently on hand in mainland hotels into gold. It doesn't matter which bank it is, just do it for him.

Gold is a hard currency, a good thing, especially since it was pegged to the US dollar in the future.

While no one is paying attention right now, quickly use the money you have on hand to save more for your new home, so that you won’t be afraid if your new home is hit by financial blockade later.

After all, with money on hand, they can find a loophole in any economic blockade. Capitalism is so simple and crude.

The second point is to go to the bank for a loan. How much he can borrow depends on James Gates' ability. Even if he uses the entire mainland hotel industry as collateral, there will be no problem.

Then, James Gates used the money borrowed from the bank to spread his bets through the stock market and his own Wall Street network. Before mid-October, he spread his bets at the highest point of the stock market every day, shorted the market, and earned the money back with leverage.

James could understand this, because he had basically done this during the nearly one year that he had been in charge of the Continental Hotel. However, he had never been as thorough as Wang Yi required, even using the Continental Hotel's assets as collateral.

Of course, the more you lend, the greater the return. At least before the Great Depression, James could guarantee that within a week, he would not only pay off the loan, but also make one to three times the profit for the Continental Hotel.

But the third point was something neither he nor Winston could understand.

Wang Yi asked them to sell all the mainland hotels and their stocks on hand before mid-October next month, through leverage, and no longer invest in the stock market until the end of the year.

"Mr. Wick, I don't think the people under me will understand this decision."

Winston answered honestly.

As the alcohol business of the Continental Hotel became more and more prosperous, the Continental Hotel, which was founded by the Irish gang in New York, also began to clean up its business under Winston's management. The drug business was directly packaged and sold to the underground gangs in New York. In addition to retaining the channels and relationships, it no longer involved in human trafficking, and became an industry that only operated alcohol and hotels.

But the problem with rapid development is that the quality of the staff is mixed. Many old employees are gangsters themselves. Selling alcohol makes money quickly, but no one will complain about the money being too much.

No matter how many times Wang Yi warned and how much pressure he put on people, there were always some guys who worked on their own in secret and did the drug business.

It’s just that there are fewer people making huge profits in the alcohol business, and the transaction amounts are also smaller.

Wang Yi turned a blind eye to this, as it was the Americans who were harmed anyway.

Winston also knew that this matter could not be rushed and could only be done step by step.

But now Wang Yi requires everyone to sell their stocks before mid-October, and he only sells alcoholic beverages. The ways to make money have been reduced from three to one, and many people will become restless.

"Then tell them that we will buy the stocks they hold at the highest price according to the stock market and exchange them for cash."

"That's all right, but Mr. Wick, what if they have to buy it themselves after mid-October?"

James had a keen sense of smell. Through Wang Yi's three requests, he realized that Wang Yi seemed to have a reliable source of information. He knew that there would be great turbulence in the stock market in the next few months, so he quickly took over Winston's conversation and asked.

"Then congratulations on firing a group of disobedient workers. You two, don't worry about the gains and losses in front of you. I promise you that after this year, you will get what you want. Maybe you won't even have to wait until the end of this year."

Wang Yi said this meaningfully, but it also made Winston and James breathe faster.

What do these two want most?
One just wanted to become one of the most powerful people in New York, and the other wanted revenge against the Buchanan couple.

Having witnessed Wang Yi's magical powers, the two chose to believe Wang Yi's words. After making sure that there was nothing else to add, they began to execute it.

On the rooftop of the Mainland Hotel, Wang Yi was looking at the steel jungle that came into view and he felt very contented.

"Why didn't I realize this is a great place to enjoy the scenery before..."
-
Time quickly came to Tuesday, October 1929, 10.

This was just an ordinary Tuesday for Wang Yi, but for Americans on that day, it was the beginning of a nightmare, Black Tuesday.

On that day, within six hours of the opening of the Wall Street stock market, $5000 billion evaporated from the U.S. stock market, and the streets of New York were filled with investors whose dreams of getting rich quickly were shattered.

On the rooftop of the Continental Hotel, which has been expanded to ten floors, Wang Yi was lying on a chair with a parasol over his head. There was a glass of wine and a radio on the table.

Next to Wang Yi were Winston, James and Nick Carraway, who were already sweating profusely.

He was supposed to be working on Wall Street that day, but looking at the falling stock market and his colleagues in the exchange who were in grief, no one cared whether he stayed at his workstation or not.

Shaking the wine in the glass and listening to the increasingly depressed announcer on the radio talking about the stock market situation, Wang Yi could only use one sentence to describe his mood at the moment.

It's like listening to fairy music and your ears are temporarily bright!
"How much did we earn?"

"what?"

James Gates, whose brain had gone blank due to the real-time stock market report by the radio announcer, came to his senses when Wang Yi asked him. When he realized that Wang Yi was calling him, he quickly responded.

"Excluding the debt owed to the Bank of the United States, the gold exchanged and Mr. Wick's previous arrangements, the liquid funds are conservatively estimated to be around $500 million."

James Gates wiped the sweat from his forehead and said this astronomical figure.

"Ignore the part about the bank debt. The bank is struggling right now. Five hundred million US dollars? The old Chinese saying is true: the brave will die of overeating, while the timid will die of starvation. I'm still not brave enough..."

James Gates is already numb. Boss, do you want to listen to what you are talking about? Five hundred million dollars! It's fucking legal, clean, and can be used for investment.

This does not include those who made money in the stock market. Even during the years when he struggled as Jay Gatsby, his total net worth was less than $500 million. At most, he was a millionaire with assets of nearly 10 million.

How long did it take you? From last year to this year, just one year, five hundred million US dollars!
Wang Yi had no way of explaining to this buddy that he had activated the prophet's cheat, and he hadn't activated it completely. If he had known the exact time of Black Tuesday, he would definitely have dared to get one percent of the evaporated $500 billion, but now it was only one thousandth.

No matter how I think about it, I feel that I was too conservative and didn't earn more.

But James, Winston and Nick don't think so. With just this one move, Wang Yi, the John Wick alias, has become a myth in their hearts.

"Dear listeners, don't worry, this is just a technical adjustment of the stock market! Yes, this is just a technical adjustment..."

'boom! '

A gunshot was heard from the radio that was broadcasting real-time stock market information on Black Tuesday today.

Apparently, after continuously reporting on the stock market, the announcer who was at work today could no longer comfort himself with words, so he decisively killed himself. God knows why he had to bring a gun to work.

But the gunshot over the radio was like a signal, a signal to start the New York building aerial trapeze competition.

Just like that, sparse figures appeared on the rooftops of several office buildings opposite the Continental Hotel.

One after another, they began jumping down from the rooftops of office buildings that were dozens of meters high.

Wang Yi sat there with great interest, counting the number of people who jumped off the building because they lost all their money.

"One, two, three..."

Wang Yi's words were like the Grim Reaper who came to collect debts. Every time he said a number, an American whose dream of getting rich quickly was shattered would perform a flying trapeze between New York buildings.

In just a short while, half a hundred people had completed the aerial acrobatics competition in front of Wang Yi.

Wang Yi, who had enjoyed a good show, stood up and looked at his three subordinates who were shocked by the scene before them, and then he comforted them.

"Don't be so surprised. This is just today's appetizer. You have to get used to it, gentlemen."

"Mr. Wick, what do you mean?"

"Yes, the market is going to be down for a very, very long time, and during this downturn, I think I'm now one of the richest people in New York, so you know what to do, right?"

The three were puzzled.

But Wang Yi did not say much. It was a rare opportunity to make a fortune from the American national crisis, so he decided not to add more burden to these three people at this time.

"Relax, gentlemen. Tell the people down there that the drinks at the Mainland Hotel are free today. Also, notify the police station in our area and ask them to maintain order here. If anyone comes to jump off the building, don't stop them. Just charge them. Then let the American police clean the place and don't dirty the road."

Looking at the puzzled looks of the three people, Wang Yi turned around and went downstairs. He couldn't wait to return to the apartment and change back into his real form, Wang Yi, and laugh heartily.

(End of this chapter)