After divorce, I can hear the voice of the future

Chapter 842 Another Year

General Motors' first roadshow in Hong Kong: IPO freezes $132 billion, oversubscription rate 25.14 times – the rise of a unicorn company!!!

As evening approached, Lu Liang finished his lunch break and got up for breakfast. While browsing the news, he saw that mainstream media both at home and abroad were reporting on the details of General Star's roadshow.

The total amount of funds frozen at the Hong Kong station was ultimately determined to be US$132.12 billion, of which only US$64.12 billion was subscribed by institutional investors present at the event, while the remaining US$68 billion was subscribed by individual investors through online or offline channels.

Despite previous criticisms that the $300 billion valuation was too high, the fact that funds were frozen during the Hong Kong roadshow proved them wrong.

With subscriptions exceeding 25.14 times, the media unanimously agreed that a price drop below the issue price was absolutely impossible; the only question was how much the price would rise.

Seeing this, Sun Zheyuan also mentioned Wen Chao's application when he called: "President Lu, Mr. Chao called you immediately after the subscription ended. He plans to hold a roadshow in Korea and adjust the issue price to the range of $22-$24."

The three East Asian roadshow stops were about three days apart, so Wen Chao didn't disturb Lu Liang's rest and told Sun Zheyuan to wait until Lu Liang woke up before informing him of the application.

"Just tell him that I agree, and that I have authorized him to take full responsibility, so don't ask me next time."

Lu Liang sipped his sweet and savory scallop and chicken soup while checking on the new users and savings growth of Guang Sheng Bank.

Tianxing Financial Group didn't earn a single penny from the Hong Kong leg of the roadshow; on the contrary, they lost several million dollars in venue and labor costs, but they still reaped considerable rewards.

Since announcing its acquisition of General Motors' IPO, Guang Sheng Bank has added more than 328 million new users in the past week, and its savings deposits have surged by HK$1000 billion at one point.

Although investors who did not win the IPO will likely receive their funds back and deposit them into their original accounts after the IPO concludes, even retaining just one-tenth or one-twentieth of the funds would be a valuable resource for Guang Sheng Bank.

After all, investors who have spare cash to subscribe to stocks, especially US stocks, are all high-net-worth, high-quality savings users, making them very suitable for recommending some financial derivatives.

For the next few days, Lu Liang stayed in Hong Kong, dealing with the backlog of official business, including remotely directing the joint investment by Derrick & Company and JPMorgan Chase in Cheung Kong Ports.

That afternoon, Lu Liang had just finished talking with Li Ka-shing and his son and returned to the company to meet with Liu Mingwei when he suddenly received a call from Li Manli.

She asked cautiously, "Brother Liang, are you still in Hong Kong?"

Lu Liang replied, "Yes, I'm here. What's wrong? Missed me?"

"Yeah, I miss you. It's New Year's Eve tonight, are you still busy?"

Upon hearing Li Manli's words, Lu Liang subconsciously glanced at the calendar and suddenly realized that the year was coming to an end.

He smiled and understood the purpose of Li Manli's call: "If you're free tonight, come to Hong Kong."

"Okay, I'll buy the tickets right away. I should arrive in Hong Kong around 9 p.m.

Li Manli smiled radiantly, and Lu Liang could feel her joy even through the phone. So he said, "Send me your flight information later, and I'll come pick you up at the airport."

"Okay, bye-bye, I won't bother you while you're working."

After ending her call with Lu Liang, Li Manli's smile stretched almost to her ears as she picked up the golden retriever that was hiding under the table, licking its toes.

"Ban Dou, Mom is going to Hong Kong to see Dad tonight. You can stay with Sister Xiao Hui tonight."

Overjoyed, Li Manli skipped and jumped, holding the dog's front paws and dancing gracefully in the room.

This year, whether it's because Lu Liang is too busy or because his feelings for her have faded, the two of them have spent significantly less time together.

A few days ago, Lu Liang made a rare trip back to Suzhou, but it was only a brief visit before he went to Wuhan to attend an event.

That's why she couldn't help but call Lu Liang, after all, they had spent New Year's Eve together last year and the year before.

As it turns out, it was simply that she didn't trust Lu Liang enough. Even though Lu Liang was about to become the richest man in Dongda University, she still remembered the promise they made together to spend New Year's Eve together every year.

Meanwhile, in the top-floor office of Tianxing Financial Building.

Lu Liang summoned Sun Zheyuan and asked him to arrange the program for tonight, while also glancing at Liu Mingwei sitting opposite him.

Liu Mingwei, the son of Lau, was the reason why Tianxing was able to successfully acquire Chinese Estates Holdings six months ago, thanks to his help.

At that time, Lu Liang also gave him a chance, with a six-month limit, and it was up to him to decide whether to stay or leave.

Now that the six-month term is over, it's time for Liu Mingwei to give his answer.

He suddenly stood up and bowed deeply to Lu Liang: "Thank you for your kindness, President Lu. Mingwei will certainly live up to your expectations."

Liu Mingwei said he needed to consider it. On the one hand, he was reluctant to give up the Ocean Park in Hong Kong, which he had painstakingly built. On the other hand, he was also aware of Lu Liang's assertive style, which led to his acquisition of Chinese Estates Holdings as soon as he arrived in Hong Kong, with his sights set on HSBC.

As the saying goes, excessive rigidity leads to breakage. If one rashly takes sides, one may do something that one will regret for the rest of one's life.

However, Lu Liang showed him with his actions that the fierce dragon dared to cross the river because it was a 'real dragon' and not a 'flood dragon'.

Therefore, he made a statement early on, resigning from his position as executive director of Ocean Park Hong Kong to devote himself fully to his work at Skystar Financial.

This is just a formality; he's personally telling Lu Liang that he's willing to join Tianxing Financial and become one of Lu Liang's team members.

Lu Liang also stood up, extended his right hand, and said with a smile, "Mingwei, on behalf of Tianxing Financial, I welcome you to join us."

Liu Mingwei is a very capable person. Relying solely on the relationship left by his biological mother decades ago, he has been engaged in a power struggle with his stepmother, who has the support of Liu Da, for many years and has not been at a disadvantage.

Even though his power was ultimately stripped away, he still managed to become the executive director of Ocean Park in Hong Kong, which shows that he is definitely not lacking in ability.

Lu Liang knew about his decision and prepared a position for him: Vice President of Tianxing Financial, with an annual salary tentatively set at HK$1200 million.

"Thank you, Mr. Lu," Liu Mingwei said in a deep voice, without mentioning the matter of equity dividends, because he knew he was not yet worthy of it.

Lu Liang valued him because he could appease the old officials of Huazhi, but that was not his true ability.

Only after Lu Liang has seen his usefulness will he be qualified to ask for better treatment.

Next, Lu Liang summoned Tang Caidie and Li Junwei and informed them of Liu Mingwei's joining.

Wen Chao, who had already gone to Korea to prepare for the roadshow, also participated in the video conference remotely.

"From now on, Wen Chao will be in charge of external affairs, Junwei will be in charge of internal affairs, and Mingwei will be responsible for connecting internal and external affairs and handling all trivial matters."

As Lu Liang spoke, he glanced at Tang Caidie and said with a smile, "President Tang, you are still the CFO."

He didn't assign Tang Caidie a new job because she was in charge of finances and already had enough power.

Going forward, you only need to be responsible for fund approval, daily operations, and business expansion; there's no need for her to get too involved.

Tang Caidie smiled and nodded, watching Lu Liang assign the main tasks for the coming year, and suddenly felt a sense of déjà vu.

She had only wanted to find a decent small company to settle down and work her way up to retirement, but she never expected that small company would become a behemoth that even Sequoia Capital had to look up to.

As night fell and the meeting drew to a close, Sun Zheyuan knocked and entered, quietly informing them that Li Manli's flight was about to arrive in Hong Kong. Lu Liang bowed slightly, looked at the group, and said in a deep voice, "Next year's situation will definitely be more complex and volatile than in previous years. It's a crisis, but it's also an opportunity, and we must seize it!"

A major decision made by a rapidly developing country must have been made after careful consideration, taking into account all possible unforeseen factors.

Lu Liang chose to trust the country's decisions, unlike Tianxing Auto, which opted to slow down its development next year to prepare for the impending crisis. Tianxing Financial, on the other hand, plans to develop faster and more aggressively next year.

If the crisis truly spreads globally, it will inevitably deal a devastating blow to the real economies of all countries.

But as he said, it is a crisis, but also an opportunity.

The offline real economy may stagnate, but the online financial trading market will certainly continue.

This is a global black swan event that will cause varying degrees of damage to the economic markets of various countries.

So before that, they strengthened themselves as much as possible, accumulated ammunition, and waited for the opportunity to launch a campaign to exploit Europe and America, and even the world.

At 8:20 p.m., Lu Liang ended the meeting and hurriedly headed to Hong Kong International Airport.

After being stuck in traffic for a while, we arrived at nearly 10 o'clock. There was a beautiful young woman looking around at the airport entrance.

In recent years, Li Manli's style of dress has been constantly changing, from the initial cosplay of a beautiful girl, to the fitness loli in the middle, and now to a simple and sweet style, which has a sense of returning to simplicity.

At 22 years old, she dressed like a 22-year-old girl, wearing cotton boots, denim shorts and cotton tights, and a loose pink monkey sweatshirt on top. Her hair was also not as fancy as before, with naturally falling long, straight black hair.

Her makeup wasn't as heavy as before; it looked like she was wearing no makeup at all, and her beauty was entirely supported by her delicate features.

Lu Liang smiled, made a phone call, then rolled down the car window and waved: "Here."

Seeing this, Li Manli beamed with joy, like a little calf running wildly with her schoolbag on her back.

She opened the passenger door and, through the center console, gave Lu Liang a heartfelt hug, planting a big kiss on his cheek like a kitten longing for its owner: "Brother Liang, I missed you."

"I missed you too." Lu Liang couldn't help but chuckle. It had been a while since they last met, and Li Manli's personality and temperament had changed, but her way of expressing herself was still as direct as ever.

As she once said, if you like someone, you should let them know. If possible, she would even be willing to become a pendant and hang on her beloved 24 hours a day.

A piercing horn interrupted their tender moment, seemingly accompanied by a blessing for the whole family.

After all, Hong Kong also has a holiday for New Year's Day, and in previous years, Victoria Harbour has held a New Year's Eve countdown fireworks display to celebrate the arrival of the new year.

"Fasten your seatbelts, let's go."

Upon hearing Lu Liang's words, Li Manli smiled and responded, obediently returning to her seat.

As they drove off the airport expressway, Lu Liang glanced at Li Manli out of the corner of his eye: "Have you been waiting long?"

"Actually, it wasn't that long. It took a lot of time to walk out of the airport." Li Manli kept looking at Lu Liang, her gaze fixed on him like a magnet, her eyes conveying all her tenderness and expectation.

"Tomorrow is New Year's Day, and there are a lot of cars on the road, which caused a lot of delays."

When Lu Liang met that gaze, he suddenly had an indescribable feeling. He gripped the steering wheel with one hand and reached out with the other to firmly grasp Li Manli's icy hand: "Su Cheng, aren't you cold? Why didn't you wear a coat when you came over?"

"It's not cold, just my hands were a little cold, but they're fine now."

Li Manli chuckled, covering Lu Liang's hand with both of her palms, her eyes crinkling into crescent moons: "It's so warm."

She suddenly smiled slyly and said mysteriously, "Brother Liang, do you want to see the magic trick I just learned?"

"Is it a surprise or a shock?"

Hong Kong Disneyland is located on the road from the airport to the city. Lu Liang turned the steering wheel and drove directly into the park, parking his car downstairs at the hotel.

"It's definitely a surprise!" Li Manli suddenly grabbed Lu Liang's left hand, put it inside her hoodie, fiddled with it for a few moments, and said with a grin, "Brother Liang, take your hand out and see for yourself."

“But it’s so warm inside, I don’t want to come out.” Lu Liang smiled and pinched Li Manli’s belly. Half a year ago, her abs were clearly visible, but now they were soft and muscular.

"Hey, can't you show some respect to this magician?"

"Go, go, go."

Lu Liang was both amused and exasperated. He realized that something seemed to have appeared on his wrist. He pulled it out and saw that it was a red string with five agate beads strung on it.

"How's it going? Does it look good?"

Li Manli smiled broadly as she recounted the origin of the bracelet: "The Five Sacred Mountains Challenge was very popular recently, and I also jumped on the bandwagon. Each agate bead was left to rest overnight in the main hall of the temple at the mountain's summit. The master said that wearing it year-round can ward off bad luck and bring good fortune in times of trouble."

"Thank you, I like it very much."

Lu Liang stared at the bracelet, remained silent for a long time, then patted Li Manli's head and said apologetically, "I'm just a little embarrassed. I just came from the company and haven't had time to prepare a New Year's gift for you yet."

“Who said there are no gifts?” Li Manli cupped Lu Liang’s cheeks: “Being able to spend New Year’s Eve together again this year is the best gift.”

"You're getting better and better at talking," Lu Liang chuckled. Li Manli said smugly, "After all, I'm the anchor."

"Let's go, let's go up and take a look. Hong Kong Disneyland should be more fun than Shanghai Disneyland."

Lu Liang took Li Manli's hand, and the two went to the hotel, taking the elevator directly to the castle suite on the top floor.

As soon as the door opened, the fragrance of flowers wafted in. The European-style suite was decorated like a garden, with flowers and colorful lights filling the room.

Li Manli exclaimed in surprise, spread her arms and ran around the room, finally returning to Lu Liang and jumping to hang on him.

"I'm so happy." Li Manli choked up, her voice slightly trembling with tears. She never expected Lu Liang to prepare such a grand scene for her.

"As long as you like it, that's fine." Lu Liang gently stroked the back of Li Manli's head, looking at the room's furnishings, a hint of surprise flashing in his eyes.

Unexpectedly, Xiao Sun was quite a romantic young man. Lu Liang's task for him was to go on a date with a girl, but he knew nothing about the specifics and left it all to Sun Zheyuan.

"I love it, I absolutely adore it." Li Manli sniffled, holding back the tears that were about to fall, determined not to shed a single tear on this blissful night.

Just then, the wall clock started to chime, and a beam of light shot straight into the sky outside the window, exploding into a dazzling display of light.

Li Manli stared blankly at the fireworks for a while before she came to her senses and quickly picked up the wine glass on the table.

She turned to look at Lu Liang and said with a smile, "Brother Liang, Happy New Year! This is our third year together."

Lu Liang chuckled and said, "Happy New Year! We'll spend our fifth, tenth, and twentieth years together!"

"We will love each other forever and ever."

(End of this chapter)