wild 1995

Chapter 121 Reception
The welcome reception held by HSBC for Diana was quite grand, with hundreds of guests attending. In addition to local Hong Kong social leaders, there were also business elites from Southeast Asian countries such as Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia.

There was a charity auction before the cocktail party. Di Ye was very low-key and only spent 1500 pounds to buy several photographs provided by Martin Keane. Xia Fangfei was very high-profile and spent 2.8 pounds to buy an Hermès handbag, a pair of pearl earrings and an embroidered silk scarf. All these items were provided by Diana.

"2.8 pounds converted into RMB could buy a brand new Audi in Yuncheng, but now I've only bought three second-hand ones. I feel like I've been ripped off."

"When fishing, how can you be reluctant to give up your bait? Don't worry, you will earn it back."

The cocktail party was held in buffet style. After the auction ended, after a few minutes of slightly chaotic free activities, the guests began to gather around two focal points. One of the focal points was undoubtedly Diana, and the other was Di Ye.

The reason for this was that John Pang personally accompanied and introduced Di Ye to the guests present together with David Tang. One of these two men was a senior executive of HSBC Bank, and the other was a son of an old wealthy family. They were willing to play supporting roles for a young man in his early 20s. It was hard not to attract attention.

"This Di Ye is quite impressive, what does he do?"

"From the sound of his accent, he is probably the son of a high-ranking official who came to Hong Kong for training."

"You think too much. This man is not the son of a high-ranking official, but a financial genius. He made more than 4 million US dollars in just 6000 days."

"Earning more than 4 million in 6000 days? How is that possible!"

"I also think it's impossible, but Du Huilian said it was true. He is the chairman of Peregrine, so he shouldn't talk nonsense."

"Du Huilian? I'll go ask him..."

Amidst the whispers and discussions, Di Ye socialized everywhere and soon got to know most of the guests present. Then he found that although this cocktail party looked grand, it was actually not of high quality, because most of these people belonged to the "top middle class" and made a living as lawyers, doctors, managers and other professions. The real capitalists, such as the four major families - whether it was the Zhou, Li, He, and Li of the previous generation, or the new generation of the Cheung Kong Li family, the Sun Hung Kai Guo family, the Henderson Land Development Li family and the New World Zheng family - none of the core members attended.

However, to Di Ye, industry elites are more useful than rich young men, so he wore red flowers throughout the cocktail party, recorded everyone's information, and organized it into categories for later use.

There was also a dance party during the reception. Di Ye could not dance, so he could only watch from the sidelines. At this time, Du Huilian came over with two glasses of champagne and said with a smile: "Mr. Di, come and have a drink. I wish you can create greater wealth miracles in the future."

Du Huilian is about 50 years old, tall and thin, with an exquisite side-parted hairstyle and a traditional three-piece suit. He looks like a character from an old Hollywood movie in the 60s. Di Ye took the wine glass and said with a smile, "Thank you, Mr. Du. I wish Peregrine will become bigger and stronger and create more glories."

By this time he had figured it out. The reason why Liang Botao went to the airport in person to greet him and apologize, and pushed the blame for the leak of the transaction records onto Du Huilian, was not because the two had a conflict, but because they were acting a double act. Because they could not refuse HSBC and did not want to offend him, one played the good cop and the other played the bad cop, trying to gain his forgiveness, and then find an opportunity to make amends.

So in the afternoon, Di Ye told Liang Botao that he wanted to show off his masterpiece. In the evening, Du Huilian was very active and made public his miracle of making more than 4 million US dollars in 6000 days by predicting the Japanese yen exchange rate through "mental calculations". He spared no effort to hype it up, but at the same time he maintained a sense of propriety and never mentioned the miracle of making another 6 million US dollars later.

"The Wall Street Journal and Asia Weekly both want to interview you. Are you interested?"

"Forget it. I don't want to be a public figure for the time being."

"That's a shame. You are young, rich, handsome and good-looking. If you are willing to be exposed by the media, you will definitely become a popular figure like Leon Lai."

1995 was the heyday of the Four Heavenly Kings. In mainland China, Andy Lau was the most popular, while in Hong Kong, Leon Lai was even more popular. From young girls to middle-aged women, all were crazy about them. They were real housewife killers.

Di Ye's appearance is not similar to Leon Lai, but his temperament is similar, gloomy and elegant, which can attract the opposite sex. However, he has no interest in the entertainment industry and joked: "Compared to Leon Lai, I hope to be a popular person like Franklin."

Franklin is not only a founding father of the United States, but also the portrait on the $100 bill. This pun is old-fashioned and not new, but Du Huilian seemed to hear it for the first time. He laughed out loud and asked in a casual tone: "Will you continue to trade the yen next?"

"It's hard to say now. I plan to observe for a few more days and adjust my investment strategy. I was too risky before."

"With your current wealth, you don't need to take risks anymore. It's best to make some diversified investments and focus on stable returns."

"Diversification is indeed necessary. I want to set up a private equity fund to test the waters. The scale is 5000 million US dollars. I will put in 3000 million US dollars myself and raise the other 2000 million from external sources. I wonder if Peregrine is interested in cooperating?"

Du Huilian was overjoyed when he heard this. He raised his glass to greet Di Ye and promised: "Peregrine will provide Mr. Di with a full range of high-quality services!"

Seeing that the trap was successful, Di Ye was about to find a quiet place to discuss in detail, when he accidentally saw Xia Fangfei talking to a woman in a red dress. He had relevant information about this woman in his memory, and she was marked as VIP level by a little red flower, so he changed the topic and said, "Mr. Du, it's not convenient tonight. Let's make an appointment to talk tomorrow."

"Okay, please feel free to do as you please, Mr. Di."

Di Ye stood there thinking for a few seconds. After sorting out his thoughts, he imitated Du Huilian's behavior and walked over with two glasses of champagne. He handed one to Xia Fangfei and the other to the woman in the red dress, and greeted her, "What are you talking about?"

“We were talking about tourist attractions in Bangkok.”

Xia Fangfei stepped forward and took Di Ye's arm, and introduced in a low voice: "This is a Chinese overseas in Thailand, her name is Ying Le, and she came with Mrs. Xie from the Zhengda Group. She doesn't speak Chinese."

Yingle was only 28 years old at this time, but she already had some of the demeanor of a future strong woman in the political arena. She shook hands with Di Ye generously and said in fluent American English: "Mr. Di, Thailand has beautiful scenery and pleasant climate. You and Miss Xia are welcome to visit." Di Ye looked at her with interest and asked abruptly: "Miss Yingle, are you coming to Hong Kong for tourism or business trip?"

"I'm on a business trip. I have a cooperation project to discuss with Hong Kong Telecom."

“When are you going back to Thailand?”

Yingle was a little confused by the question, but he still remained polite and said, "I'll probably go back at the end of the month."

Di Ye nodded and said, "I have a small company. The employees have been doing well recently, so I plan to take them to Thailand for a trip next month. However, the visas are not ready yet. I wonder if Miss Yingle can help you and ask your brother to say hello to the consulate in China?"

Yingle was slightly stunned, and subconsciously asked: "Do you know who my brother is?"

"Of course. Your brother is a well-known figure in Thailand. How could I not know that?"

"He resigned from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs several months ago."

"It's just a resignation, not a retirement from politics."

Di Ye took out the business card holder that Olivia had prepared for him from his suit pocket, took out a card and handed it to Ying Le, saying, "Miss Ying Le, if you are willing to do this favor, I will definitely repay you in the future."

The Yingle family only started to get involved in politics in 1994, and their reputation outside Thailand is not very loud. She has never mentioned her brother to anyone in Hong Kong. She doesn't know how Di Ye knew about it. He was a little suspicious. After taking the business card, he quickly found an excuse to leave. Seeing this, Xia Fangfei teased with a smile: "Your hunting skills are too clumsy, like a charlatan, scaring people away."

"How am I being promiscuous? This is a legitimate social activity."

"Tsk! She's so pretty, I don't believe you, a pervert, won't be tempted."

Yingle is plump and bright, exuding the unique charm of a young mature woman. She is indeed very attractive, but Di Ye's mind is not on picking up girls, but on laying the groundwork for the Asian financial crisis in 1997. He explained in a low voice: "I found that there is a problem with Thailand's currency. I plan to investigate. Her brother is a wealthy man in Thailand. He served as foreign minister for a period of time last year and is very influential in the political arena. If we join forces with him, we can make a lot of money."

“Can you also make hundreds of millions of dollars?”

"Maybe more."

Xia Fangfei didn't care about money, but she liked excitement. She enjoyed the feeling of Di Ye taking the initiative to share his future plans with her. She raised her champagne glass and said in a rewarding tone, "In that case, I reluctantly allow you to pick her up."

"It's useless for you to give my permission. Xiaoya won't agree."

Di Ye took the wine glass from her hand, took a sip, and changed the subject: "What did you gain tonight?"

"Just like Yingle, I got a bunch of business cards from men. Do you want to take a look?"

"What's so good about business cards? Come and teach me how to dance."

"Didn't you say you weren't interested in dancing?"

"Since you're here, why not try it out..."

Jinling has abundant cultural and educational resources. When Xia Fangfei was a child, she signed up for many interest classes and learned some miscellaneous talents. However, due to her lively personality and dislike for sitting still, she gave up painting, calligraphy, piano and the like. She only persisted in dancing, and she has a good level and can dance several kinds of ballroom dance. She first taught him a few simple waltz steps, and then enthusiastically led Di Ye to perform on the dance floor, which won applause from the whole audience.

The cheers were not because of the two's superb dancing skills, but because of their perfect understanding. Although Di Ye was obviously a novice, he was able to keep up with Xia Fangfei's pace. Even if there were occasional mistakes, Xia Fangfei could immediately make up for them and danced the entire song smoothly and naturally.

As the saying goes, the more you lack something, the more you desire it. Diana's love life was not going well, and she envied this romantic behavior very much. She said to Deng Yongqiang with a bit of sourness: "The relationship between the two of them is really good."

"They are indeed a perfect couple."

Deng Yongqiang is a playboy who doesn't care much about romance. After casually agreeing with Diana, he turned to Pang Yuehan and said, "Di Ye's dance steps are awkward. It's obvious that he learned it temporarily. He actually dared to perform in public. This kind of adventurous spirit is rare in the mainland. No wonder he used such a high leverage to go long on the yen."

“Do you think he will continue to take risks in the financial markets?”

"Probably."

(End of this chapter)