National Tide 1980.

"Sir, here are today's newspapers. They're all here."

"Yeah. Thank you."

On Saturday, February 24, 1990, Ning Weimin got up in the morning and sat at the dining table, reaching out to take several newspapers from the nanny.

This is his daily reading habit during breakfast.

The financial sections of both the Asahi Shimbun and the Sankei Shimbun were quite interesting that day.

Besides the daily articles in which Japanese financial circles unanimously condemn the "criminality of stock index futures," the front-page headlines of the financial sections of these two newspapers today are both related to the sharp drop in EIE International's stock price yesterday.

Ning Weimin first picked up the Asahi Shimbun, and the news disclosed in the newspaper made him feel quite amused.

Surprisingly, Morgan Stanley, an American investment bank, also released a short-selling report on EIE International yesterday.

The report not only reviewed much of the content in Lehman Brothers' short-selling report, but also made more specific and targeted accusations.

Morgan Stanley explicitly stated that there were significant problems with the way Harunori Takahashi calculated the goodwill after acquiring golf businesses worldwide.

There are also the possibility of misuse of reserves, concealment of huge debts, and double counting of operating income of approximately 167 billion yen from its main business of selling electronic products.

In particular, regarding EIE International's frenzied expansion and investment in real estate in its early years, which led to a high debt ratio, Lehman Brothers sarcastically concluded in its short-selling report: "In order to swallow the world's best golf courses and hotels, Harunori Takahashi's enormous appetite has already maxed out his credit card at Changyin Bank..."

But that's not the point. The point is Morgan Stanley's real purpose.

On the surface, this well-known American investment bank seems to be kicking a man when he's down, and also wants to take advantage of the situation to drive down EIE International's stock price and gain some benefit.

However, Ning Weimin, who is quite familiar with the practices of American investment banks, knows that Morgan Stanley, as the inventor of stock index futures and the mastermind behind the scenes who personally lured the Japanese into taking this financial poison, probably has ulterior motives.

After all, EIE has already been dealt such a bad blow by him. Now that Morgan Stanley is stepping in to take over, even if they manage to squeeze out every last drop of profit, how much will they actually get?
But if you let your mind wander and connect with more things, then it's a different story.

You know, during Japan's bubble economy era, there were countless "bubble gentlemen" like Harunori Takahashi.

Many people have made their fortunes using similar tactics, and many groups have rapidly expanded their businesses by desperately raising funds and abusing credit.

If one such company is hit hard, other similar companies will naturally be affected.

The worse EIE dies, the worse the fate of other companies will be.

Without a doubt, the EIE Group was now fully qualified to be the chicken that scares the monkeys.

If this group can be brought to its knees, one can imagine the shock it will cause to the stocks of similar listed companies, and the chain reaction it will have.

Otherwise, why would companies like Kotani Mitsuhiro's Koshin Group, Kobayashi Shigeru's Hideho Group, and Sato Yukio's Daiichi Fudosan Group all start to decline against the market trend on Friday?
These once high-profile companies, though not related, are similar in nature to the EIE Group.

The leaders of these companies all use real estate and stock market speculation to stir up trouble in the financial markets, expand their own influence, and become celebrities.

Their favorite thing to do is to acquire larger companies, like a snake swallowing an elephant.

Therefore, these former nouveau riche are now facing similar predicaments, namely the pressure of high debt and insufficient corporate liquidity.

Given Morgan Stanley's industry standing and experience, Ning Weimin was absolutely certain that they had taken note of this.

He was almost certain that Morgan Stanley, which used stock index futures as a reaping tool, had probably seen through the hollowness of these companies after the unexpected drop in the EIE index, and that's why they couldn't resist taking action.

Their aim is likely to use EIE Group as a pretext to drag other similar companies down with them in the upcoming market, and then reap a huge profit through short selling in stock index futures.

Anyway, the fact that the leader of Wall Street has made a high-profile exit is beneficial to Ning Weimin's revenge in every way.

Ning Weimin smiled slightly, a slight upturn at the corners of his mouth.

By some stroke of luck, with Americans so proactively coming to his door to help, Takahashi Harunori is now doomed.

EIE is doomed; even a miracle won't save it.

There's also Nomura Securities, which betrays its own people and acts as an accomplice to evil.

He only needs to think about the 1.41 million shares he borrowed from Hiroji Goto when EIE's stock price was 54,000 yen, which have now fallen by more than two-thirds.

The original market value of 76 billion yen has now been reduced to 23 billion yen. The rest of the money has turned into profits and gone into his pocket, filling him with the joy of revenge.

If we also consider the Dentsu stock he borrowed from Nomura Securities, even at current prices, he would still cause Nomura Securities a loss of around 20 billion yen.

This huge hole is enough to keep those damn bastards making money for ages.

This is what they call karma.

The Sankei Shimbun's report, on the other hand, focused more on the negative impact of the EIE International stock price crash.

Besides describing the bizarre collapse of EIE's stock price, which contradicted the overall market trend and speculating that the cause of this abnormal movement was likely some negative news that EIE Group should have disclosed but had kept hidden, the newspaper also detailed the huge losses suffered by some investors due to the sharp drop in EIE's stock price and the extreme measures they took.

The newspaper revealed that on the evening of February 23, a middle-aged man was arrested for lurking in front of the Lingkong Building after attacking Takahashi Harunori's vehicle and throwing a shoe at him through the car window.

The newspaper also reported that the man later told reporters that this was revenge for his failed stock investments.

He accused Harunori Takahashi of deceiving all investors with his boastful remarks and of illegally siphoning off the EIE Group's assets, which led to the sharp drop in stock price.

The newspaper further emphasized that even as the middle-aged man was being led into the police car, he was still shouting, "Takahashi Harunori is a bastard! I'm going to kill him! He made me lose all my savings! He deserves to die a hundred times!"

At the same time, a large close-up photo of Harunori Takahashi, filled with shame and indignation, occupied nearly half of the page in the newspaper.

Moreover, the newspaper photographer captured quite accurately the essence of his spirit, which was evident in his difficult situation and the fact that he had just been hit with a shoe.

In the photo, Harunori Takahashi, sitting in a car, looks exhausted, rubbing his temples with his hand, yet his face is contorted with rage, clearly offended.

Even though he wasn't there, Ning Weimin could fully feel the frustration and hatred that Takahashi Harunori almost exuded from the photo.

Needless to say, this photo brought Ning Weimin more reading pleasure and emotional value.

In particular, the image of Takahashi Harunori looking down at him with extreme arrogance and boundless confidence suddenly flashed into his mind when they first met at the Secret Realm Restaurant.

Now, comparing the past and present, the immense sense of accomplishment made him have a much better appetite, so much so that he ate two breakfasts that day.

Hey, you little brat, you dare challenge me? I'll make you suffer, even if you don't die!

Are you dumbfounded now?

Keep showing off, why don't you stop?
However, it must be said that anyone who has personally done something will eventually see through it; the truth will eventually come out.

Things have come to this point. Due to Ning Weimin's intervention, EIE International's stock price has shown a rather strange trend, affecting the interests of too many people and causing economic losses to too many people.

Even in this pre-internet era, Ning Weimin could not completely conceal the traces of his stock price manipulation.

At least for top investment banks like Morgan Stanley, and for the EIE board led by Changyin Bank, these people have too much experience, too many connections, and too much power.

If they wanted to, it wouldn't be too difficult for them to use Japan's financial network and securities industry system to find out the identity and motives of Ning Weimin, the mastermind behind the scenes, clarify the basic facts, and accurately contact him.

This led to Ning Weimin receiving invitations from two groups of people on the morning of the following day, February 25th, who wanted to meet with him.

It has to be said that the thoughts of these two groups are not hard to guess.

Ning Weimin deduced that Morgan Stanley was likely seeking cooperation.

Clearly, these profit-driven Americans want to use Ning Weimin as their pawn.

They were trying to persuade him to use his funds and stocks to continue fighting with Takahashi, so that they could use this as leverage to profit from the situation.

As for the people from EIE Group, they probably want to negotiate with him face to face, right?
I wonder what kind of person Harunori Takahashi is in the group now.

Judging from the tone of the phone call, the person who came was representing the board of directors of the EIE Group, and it seemed that he didn't have much to do with Harunori Takahashi. That bastard has already lost power.

That's right. It would be strange if he could still act recklessly if he didn't have something so serious to do.

If that's the case, it would be good to meet and talk. Anyway, I'm only targeting Takahashi personally.

If the other party truly wants reconciliation, continuing to harp on the issue and provoke them is pointless and will only create more enemies for yourself.

But what conditions would it take for me to let them go and make peace with them?

Do they really think they can impress me so easily?

What will happen to them if I refuse to let go?

It's impossible not to take advantage of them...

Oh dear, why is my eyelid twitching?
What kind of situation is this? Is it a disaster or a windfall...?

After hanging up the phone, Ning Weimin silently pondered these questions.

His elbows were resting on the table, and his interlaced fingers supported his brow bone, his knuckles turning white from the involuntary pressure.

His gaze calmly shifted to the window, looking out at the green garden and blue sky.

"I came, I saw, I conquered..."

The vast and refreshing scenery suddenly brought to mind Julius Caesar's famous quote. (End of Chapter)