wild 1995

Chapter 118 Mentality

"Di Ye, how about this skirt..."

Xia Fangfei, wearing a Versace dress that had just been released in the spring of 1995, came out of the dressing room and saw Di Ye standing by the window answering a call on his mobile phone. She had no choice but to go back. After looking left and right in the mirror for a moment, she muttered, "It's pretty, but it's too revealing."

After Di Ye finished his call, he walked over to take a look and found that the dress was printed with all kinds of butterflies, colorful and very flamboyant, and it was tight and hip-hugging, which perfectly showed off Xia Fangfei's figure. When she was still, she was curvy and swaying when she moved, which was quite sexy. So he smiled and teased, "Change it, this one is too coquettish, it's only suitable for me to wear."

"Which one?"

"Change into the Chanel plaid skirt suit I bought last night."

"Didn't you say that one wasn't flashy enough?"

"I just got some new information about Diana. We need to change our plan. Please change your clothes first. I will tell you in detail later."

The Chanel suit was relatively simple, so Xia Fangfei quickly changed into it, walked out of the cloakroom and asked, "What new information?"

Di Ye sat on the sofa in the hotel suite, flipping through Nature magazine while introducing: "The call I just received was from John Bond, CEO of HSBC. He is going to hold a welcome reception for Diana in Hong Kong tomorrow night and wants to invite us to attend."

After participating in the 327 Treasury Bond incident, Xia Fangfei had learned a lot of information related to finance. She knew the status of HSBC in Hong Kong and the rank of the CEO. She smiled and said, "John Pang is the second-in-command of HSBC. Even he called me personally. It seems that you really made $6 million and became a hot star."

"It's not me that's hot, it's the $6 million."

Di Ye was very calm, and he casually complained and explained, "Since we can contact Diana openly through the cocktail party, there is no need to cause trouble at the airport, so we should dress conservatively."

"What about the jewels? Are they put away, too?"

"No, those are for showing off financial strength."

After Di Ye finished speaking, he pointed to a piece of paper on the coffee table and reported: "John Pang introduced Deng Yongqiang to me. He will accompany Diana to Hong Kong in the afternoon."

“Who is David Tang?”

"This man is a famous rich young man in Hong Kong. His grandfather is named Deng Zhaojian, the founder of Kowloon Motor Bus..."

Xia Fangfei said, "I know Deng Zhaojian. He is a wealthy man and a great philanthropist. There are many hospitals and schools in Hong Kong named after him. He has a very good reputation."

"The Deng family's assets are not top-notch in Hong Kong, but their connections and reputation are top-notch. When Deng Zhaojian passed away in 1986, the Governor of Hong Kong went to pay his respects in person. Deng Yongqiang is the eldest grandson of the Deng family and inherited most of the family's resources. He obtained a doctorate degree from Cambridge in the 70s, worked as a foreign teacher at Peking University in the early 80s, and later worked as a comprador for a British oil company. In 91, he founded the private club China Club, and in 94, he founded the fashion brand Shanghai Tang..."

Some of this information was obtained through Hong Kong newspapers and magazines last month, and some was found by Di Ye from his memory through Little Red Flower. After a brief introduction, he concluded: "Deng Yongqiang's ability to do things is average, but he is very good at dealing with people, good at networking, and has a wide range of friends. He is very popular in Hong Kong and can enter and leave the Governor's House freely. This trip to Hong Kong by Diana was planned and arranged by him."

Xia Fangfei picked up the note, looked at the phone number on it, and asked, "When are you going to contact him?"

"No hurry, wait until he comes to me."

Di Ye continued to flip through the Nature magazine, and said without raising his head: "I underestimated the charm of the US dollar before, and I thought of myself as a nobody. I thought that when dealing with those celebrities and nobles, I needed to play tricks to win by surprise. But Pang John's call just now reminded me that we are now rich people, and we don't need to play tricks. We can just sit on the fishing platform and those celebrities and nobles will come over and take the bait."

It was indeed an underestimate. Before he traveled through time, due to the massive printing of US dollars and the explosion of technology, it was not surprising that there were countless billionaires in the world with assets worth hundreds of millions.

But in 1995, the US dollar was very strong and had great purchasing power. The Internet's wealth-making myth had not yet started. The number of rich people and their assets were relatively small. According to statistics from Forbes magazine, there were only more than 10 billionaires in the world with assets over 300 billion US dollars. Bill Gates, who had just ascended to the throne of the richest man, had assets of only a "mere" 129 billion US dollars, and the richest Chinese, Li Ka-shing, had assets of only 65 billion US dollars.

In order to create a sensational effect, Di Ye opened accounts in several securities companies to operate Japanese yen. Among them, the securities company under HSBC only deposited 1000 million US dollars. However, HSBC is the invisible central bank of Hong Kong and is well-informed. It found out how much he had earned in total overnight and quickly reported it to John Pang - 6 million US dollars is enough to be included in the Forbes world's rich list, and he is so young, a super high-quality customer, and any bank must give him enough respect.

John Pang is the prince who has been cultivated by HSBC for many years and is the designated next chairman of the board of directors. He called personally to show his goodwill, which was considered enough face. Then, as if it was not enough, he introduced David Tang to win over the relationship. This person has a prominent family background, studied in the UK, taught in the mainland, and is able to get along with everyone. He is an excellent business broker and lobbyist.

Facts proved that Di Ye's prediction was correct. About half an hour later, Deng Yongqiang drove a wine-red Jaguar XJ sedan to the Brown Hotel near Buckingham Palace to visit him and Xia Fangfei, and invited them to have lunch together. Deng Yongqiang was in his early 40s, slightly fat, with messy medium-length hair and black-framed glasses. He looked like an artist, with uninhibited speech and easy-going behavior, giving people a feeling of being in the breeze. It was obvious that he was a social expert.

Di Ye felt that if he pretended to be nice to him, it would not only waste time, but he might not get what he really wanted, so during lunch, he said directly: "Mr. Deng, Fang Fei admires Princess Diana very much and wants to make friends with her privately. I wonder if you can help?"

"The princess has always been known for being easygoing and approachable. She loves making friends, especially with beauties like Miss Xia. However, her schedule this time is quite tight, so her free time is limited."

After Deng Yongqiang finished his polite speech, he took out a beautiful notebook, opened it and looked at it, and said: "The princess went to Hong Kong mainly to raise funds for charity. She arrived in Hong Kong in the afternoon of the 21st and attended a cocktail party hosted by HSBC in the evening. There were activities all day on the 22nd. In the morning, she went to Queen Mary Hospital to visit cancer patients, and in the afternoon, she went to Shek Kwu Chau Drug Rehabilitation Center to comfort the vulnerable groups. As for the 23rd..."

Di Ye glanced at Xia Fangfei and saw that she was still in a daze and hadn't reacted, so he coughed lightly and said, "Mr. Deng, everyone has a charitable heart, but unfortunately Fangfei and I are both country bumpkins and don't know how to operate and manage it. Can you tell me how much money the princess plans to raise for charity this time when she goes to Hong Kong?"

Deng Yongqiang smiled slightly, but quickly concealed it, raised his glass and said, "Charitable donations are all voluntary, there is no fixed number, but the princess personally hopes to raise more than 20 pounds."

Only 20 pounds?
Xia Fangfei could not hide her surprise, but Di Ye thought it was okay because Diana was having a bad time and was in a difficult situation at the moment.

On the one hand, she was plagued by various gossips, including Charles and Camilla's high-profile extramarital affair, and the troubles caused by her former lover Hewitt. In order to make money, this guy published a best-selling book at the end of 1994, called "Princess in Love", which completely exposed the two's underground affair that had lasted for several years, causing an uproar in public opinion and constant turmoil.

On the other hand, she and Charles have been separated for two years, and according to British law, they can formally file for divorce. Once divorced, the title of princess will be unworthy of her and she will become a phoenix with feathers plucked, and her value will naturally be greatly reduced.

In 1995, 1 pound could be exchanged for 13.5 yuan, which was stronger than the US dollar. 20 could buy three houses in downtown London, which was not shabby. Di Ye had a good idea in his mind, so he acted like a nouveau riche and wrote two checks for 3 pounds to Deng Yongqiang, one of which was donated to a charity fund under Diana's name, and the other to a charity fund under the Deng family's name.

The Deng family has hundreds of millions of assets, and 5 pounds is nothing to Deng Yongqiang, but it represents Di Ye's favor, so he accepted it with a smile, and then promised to arrange for Xia Fangfei to accompany Diana as a companion on April 4 to participate in various charity activities.

"Mr. Deng, do you have any plans for the 23rd?"

"The 23rd is the final day of the Hong Kong Open Tennis Tournament. The princess will go to watch the game and attend the award ceremony. Is Mr. Deng interested in tennis?"

"What a coincidence! I'm an avid tennis fan and I happened to be free that day, but unfortunately I forgot to buy the tickets."

"I'll take care of the tickets, and I'll arrange a seat next to the princess, how about that?"

"That couldn't be better."

With the blessing of money, the atmosphere of the lunch was harmonious and both the host and the guests had a great time. Since they had to catch a flight back to Hong Kong in the afternoon, Deng Yongqiang drove Di Ye and Xia Fangfei back to the hotel and did not stay long. He said goodbye and left quickly.

After he left, Xia Fangfei felt a little unhappy and reflected: "Di Ye, did I perform badly just now?"

"It's not bad, it's just that you have too much psychological burden."

The place where Deng Yongqiang had the lunch treat was a high-end private club with a history of over a hundred years. It was luxuriously decorated, with a solemn atmosphere and was filled with the sense of ritual of the upper class. This was the first time Xia Fangfei had been in such a place. She lacked confidence and was frightened. She was hesitant and her reactions were far less agile than usual.

Although it was Di Ye's first time, he was a time traveler with overflowing self-confidence, so he was not affected at all. He said, "Fang Fei, one of us is a nouveau riche and the other is a bumpkin. We don't know etiquette, and rude behavior is our nature. Why should we care?"

"I'm afraid they'll laugh at me and embarrass you."

"I have no shame myself, so why should I be afraid that you will embarrass me? Don't you like to read Dream of the Red Chamber? Think about Granny Liu. She deliberately concealed her clumsiness and made a lot of jokes in the Grand View Garden, but she won the favor of many people. Even Wang Xifeng and Lin Daiyu were intimidated."

Xia Fangfei seemed to understand something after hearing this, and she relaxed completely.

According to Diana's secretary, she raised 1995 pounds for charity in Hong Kong in 25.



(End of this chapter)