Exciting 1979!

Chapter 433 The Printing Press, Started!

Zhou Huimin was quite shocked to hear that Wei Hong wanted to invest in stocks. She always felt that investing in stocks had nothing to do with girls her age; dating was what they should be doing.

"My brother works very hard to earn money so that our whole family can live a good life. He often stays up late writing. I want to help him share some of the burden," Xiao Hong whispered to Amin's sister in the back seat of the car. "He said that you can make money in the stock market, but he doesn't know much about it, so I studied finance to help him. This is quite relevant to my major."

Amin nodded. She glanced at Amin driving in front of her. In the sunlight, she wondered if she saw a single white hair. Staying up late to write really does make people age faster, and she didn't want Amin to age so quickly.

Shouldn't I also use my abilities to help them earn money for their future family?

When they arrived in Central, it was already noon. They ate lunch first, and Xiaohong wanted to drink bubble tea again.

Amin happily replied, "Great! There's a Holiland nearby."

So the two girls each ordered a drink, while Wei Ming didn't order one. They took a sip from one and a sip from the other, and neither of them seemed to mind.

Speaking of milk tea, Wei Ming contributed some ideas to Amin, such as taro paste and coconut jelly.

"Brother, you don't like drinking, but you seem to know a lot about it," Xiao Hong said with a slurping sound.

"I only have a superficial understanding of both. A person's energy is limited. There are things you are good at and things you only have a superficial understanding of. For example, I only have a superficial understanding of milk tea and the stock market."

"Did you make any money from the stock market?" Wei Hong asked.

“Of course,” Wei Ming said. Because he only had a smattering of knowledge, he simply followed Li Ka-shing’s lead in investing. When he saw that Li Ka-shing’s companies were no longer rising, he started asking his aunt, who was holding shares for him, to sell them.

"How much did you earn?" Xiao Hong asked curiously.

Wei Ming: "About a million Hong Kong dollars."

"Ah!" Not to mention Xiao Hong, even Amin was shocked.

It's not surprising that Wei Ming has a million, but making a million through stock trading is truly impressive; he could be called a "stock market god."

Wei Ming waved his hand: "I have a lot of capital, plus I'm riding the wave of opportunity."

Amin nudged Wei Hong: "Sister Hong, how much are you planning to bet?"

Wei Hong gritted her teeth and stamped her foot: "I, I'll bet ten thousand!"

It took Wei Hong a lot of determination to invest a sum of money that would have earned her ten thousand yuan.

Amin immediately said, "Then I'll also buy 10,000. Whatever you buy, buy it for me too."

Xiao Hong exclaimed in surprise, "Amin, you have so much money?"

Wei Ming smiled and said, "Amin has released several albums, so ten thousand is nothing to him. Besides, ten thousand is nothing to you either. Why be so cautious?"

"This is my first time playing," Wei Hong asked, "but is ten thousand a small amount for me?"

“Of course,” Wei Ming slapped his forehead. “Oh dear, I forgot to tell you, you probably don’t know how much money you have.”

Wei Hong hurriedly asked, "How much is there?"

"The Rubik's Cube book has now sold over a million copies worldwide, which is an astonishing sales figure. After deducting translation fees and taxes, you should have over 70,000 US dollars by now."

Ah Min exclaimed in surprise, "That's over four hundred thousand Hong Kong dollars! Sister Hong, you're richer than me!"

Xiao Hong's lips curled up uncontrollably; it turned out that the rich woman was actually herself.

"Then, let's take 100,000 and test the waters with it." Wei Hong finished her milk tea in one gulp.

Amin: "I can't afford to follow that. I've given most of my money to my mother. I can only follow up with 50,000 at most."

“Brother,” Xiao Hong pouted, “why don’t you lend Amin 50,000 to make it a round number?”

Wei Ming laughed and said, "Sure, once you've made your choice, Amin can keep an eye on things for you when you get back to the mainland."

Amin nodded: "Okay, I'll write to you when the time comes."

Since they were the same age, they quickly became as close as sisters.

After finishing their meal, they didn't drive but walked directly to the stock exchange. The Hong Kong Stock Exchange and the Far East Stock Exchange are both nearby, so many financial workers in suits like to eat at Holiland because it's time-saving, simple, and has a good meaning.

The Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEX) is the oldest stock exchange in Hong Kong. Its members are mostly large foreign companies or wealthy Chinese businessmen, and the threshold is high, requiring them to be HSBC bank customers.

The Far East Exchange (Far East Stock Exchange) was the first Chinese-dominated exchange to break the Hong Kong Stock Exchange's monopoly, providing many Chinese-funded companies with opportunities to list and raise funds. It also had the most active trading volume, being the largest among the four major exchanges.

"Wow, there are so many people!" Xiao Hong exclaimed.

At present, with the coexistence of four types of trading, computer trading systems have not yet been introduced, so manual bidding still takes place, making the market appear noisy and bustling.

“Everyone in the world is driven by profit,” Wei Ming said to Xiao Hong. “Take a look.”

Xiao Hong closed her eyes and began to feel it.

"Grandma Changjiang! How much silver?"

"What did you say? How many balls? Say it again!"

"Five cents for three balls!"

"Perfect deal! Sold!"

"Almost there! Almost there! The city is in a state of high tension!"

"Hold on! Don't fall apart!"

"The sign is up!"

Then she opened her eyes, and Wei Ming asked, "How are you feeling?"

Xiao Hong said with a pained expression, "I don't know, I don't understand~"

She thought that she knew a few Cantonese phrases from Ah Long when she was a child, like "me a," "me a," and "lei hou a," but when she got to the event today, she realized that she didn't know a thing about Cantonese.

Wei Ming smiled wryly: "That was a miscalculation. We should have gone to Hong Kong. Many traders there speak English, so you should have had no problem."

Wei Hong: "It's okay, I'll learn slowly. I can still understand some of the words. Brother, you operate it, and I'll learn from you."

Wei Ming: "I've withdrawn all my money from the stock market, but I'm here to reinvest it. Please wait a moment."

He called over a man in a red vest to serve him; that is, a stockbroker.

"Can you speak Mandarin?" Wei Ming asked him.

Coincidentally, this is a new immigrant from the mainland. That makes things simple. Wei Ming asked him to explain to the three of them in Mandarin the different ways to short the Hang Seng Index.

Wei Hong listened attentively as the other party's explanation progressed from low risk to high risk, and as the risk increased, the expected return also increased.

Moreover, some strategies are suitable for long-term trading, while others are suitable for short-term trading.

Here, Wei Ming and his sister had a disagreement. Wei Ming wanted to fight a long-term battle and was waiting for the next round of negotiations, while Wei Hong wanted to fight a short-term battle and came to the trading hall every day to keep an eye on the changes in the Hang Seng Index.

Wei Ming fully respected her idea, so he and the two of them operated separately.

Wei Ming helped them invest 200,000 yuan. Wei Ming temporarily invested 2 million yuan to play around with, and his 2 million yuan was a sure thing to make a profit.

But it's not necessarily the case for Xiaohong and her friends; they're betting on changes in the Hang Seng Index.

If the Hang Seng Index rises today, they lose money today; if the Hang Seng Index falls today, they make money today.

Although the Hang Seng Index is generally trending downwards, it could very well rise for a short period of time.

Xiaohong and Amin were a little excited about their first experience with stock trading, and they agreed to keep an eye on the market the next day.

~
With some time to spare in the afternoon, Wei Ming drove Xiao Hong and Amin to Ocean Park. They weren't going to do anything else today, just see Steel Egg and Bass.

"I wonder if they still recognize me," Wei Hong said expectantly.

Zhou Huimin said, "They were very popular. I only touched them once because I had connections with my uncle and aunt. When I came to see them again later, they didn't recognize me."

It was almost closing time in the afternoon, but there were still many people. Before entering, Amin bought her sister Hong a panda hair clip, so cute.

Xiao Hong has a good foundation, but there's no culture of dressing up in mainland China, and she doesn't know how to do makeup. Wearing this cute thing, she's still a pretty girl.

"Steel Egg... Ah, what is it doing?!" As soon as she came in, Xiao Hong found Steel Egg riding on Bass and doing something naughty. As a country girl, how could she not know what it was doing!

Amin didn't quite know what was wrong with them.
Wei Ming: "I think you must have misunderstood. They're both still young, so they're probably just playing around."

As it turned out, Wei Ming was right. Steel Egg and Bass were just childhood sweethearts. Later, Bass also rode Steel Egg. The two bears were just playing around.

However, Amin understood; so that's how mating works.

Wei Ming: Uh, not entirely~
There were also uncles and aunties from Beijing Zoo at the panda enclosure. They chatted with the brother and sister for a long time. It turned out that Old Wei had left and Little Wei had come.

Alas, things didn't go as planned, there's nothing we can do about it. Old Wei is probably already back home by now.

Old Wei is quite wealthy now. When he arrived in the county town, he directly hailed a donkey cart that was delivering goods to the county town, and it wasn't even on his way.

It doesn't matter if it's not on my way. I'll get one yuan for taking Old Wei and his wife back to Gouzi Village!

Without saying a word, the old man hauling the goods said, "Let's go!"

Then Old Wei handed the old man a cigarette. The reason he could be so extravagant was mainly because he had made a small fortune in Hong Kong.

Aside from giving his son a car and gifts, Lao Gui didn't give him any money directly. Instead, he took him to the Happy Valley Racecourse one weekend and told him, "If you need money, come here to get it, but don't be too greedy."

Wei Jiefang wasn't really greedy; he simply doubled his salary.

Their wages are paid according to Hong Kong's wage level, which is much higher than what Beijing Dong pays. However, there is one problem: you can only spend a small portion on living necessities, and you have to keep most of it to exchange for RMB after returning to China.

So Lao Wei doubled his salary, spending half in Hong Kong and exchanging the other half in Beijing, living a carefree life on both fronts.

They bought a lot of things in Hong Kong, and then bought some more in Beijing, so the donkey cart was full of things, clearly indicating that they were from a wealthy family.

The old man driving the cart looked at Lao Wei's clothes and luggage, suspecting he was an overseas Chinese. Lao Wei looked at the old man's donkey, suspecting he was from Hejian.

Are you in such a hurry to make flatbread? Look at the donkey you've raised; it's suffered so much because of you.

"Hey bro, are you selling this donkey?"

Xu Shufen tugged at her husband: "We're going back to Hong Kong soon, so you can take care of it."

Old Wei: "Let Chunhua raise it. Look, this is a female donkey, perfect for Xiao Erhei to be his wife. I've already thought of a name for her, Xiao Qin."

Upon hearing this, the old man exclaimed, "So he is indeed an overseas Chinese!"
He slurped his saliva: "I'm definitely reluctant to part with it, but if you insist, I'll sell it."

The old man held up five fingers with a reserved air: "Five hundred."

Old Wei laughed: "Do we look like two idiots?"

So he stopped bringing up the topic, but Old Zhao, the donkey driver, couldn't stop. He kept lowering the price, talking until his throat was dry, and finally sold the skinny female donkey to Old Wei for 300 yuan.

"I didn't expect you to be such an expert," Zhao Ganlu remarked.

This is slightly above market price, but it comes with a free donkey cart.

“Then I won’t accompany you on the rest of the way,” Zhao Ganlu said, taking the three hundred yuan and jumping off the bus. “My home is in the opposite direction, you can go back on your own.”

So the villagers of Gouzitun, who were chatting and enjoying the cool air outside Wei Ming’s house, saw Wei Jiefang and his wife appear before them in a way that was both familiar and unfamiliar.

Now, the area outside Wei Ming's house has become the second busiest place after the village brigade. In addition to being able to see the road into the village, people also want to share in the wealth and prosperity of Old Wei's family.

Of course, the most important thing is that there are free streetlights in front of Lao Wei's house.

The village has electricity, but only a few households can afford it. There is only one street lamp in the whole village, placed in front of Wei Jiefang's house, which will be lit for two hours at night.

"Oh, it's good that there's electricity, but there are still too few streetlights. Hong Kong has so many lights, and they're so beautiful!"

Old Wei couldn't wait to get home and start, but now he's less about showing off and more about helping people see the world. He carried with him a lot of photos he took in Hong Kong to show everyone.

"Sigh, this light isn't bright enough," Xu Shufen said, having already opened the front door. Old Wei waved his hand and said, "Come in and chat, Shufen, turn on all the lights in the house!"

Soon, my cousin Fan Chunhua and her family, Accountant Jia and his family, and the old Party Secretary all arrived.

Old Wei prepared coffee, not only for himself but also for everyone. In short, no one will be able to sleep tonight!
Xu Shufen blinked her slightly droopy eyelids and said, "I want to sleep."

~
The next day, Wei Hong was the first one up in the family. She even bought breakfast for them, and she couldn't sit still while eating.

After finishing my meal, I quickly went downstairs to find my friend Amin. The two of us had arranged to go to the stock exchange today.

Amin yawned: "Where's your brother?" She had a dream last night in which she and Amin imitated two pandas.

Wei Hong said, "He left even earlier, saying he was going to the toy factory."

"Oh, then let's take the subway." After saying that, Amin started getting ready again, even putting together an OOTD (Outfit of the Day) outfit. This made Xiaohong anxious. She washed her face and came downstairs. She had to be proactive when it came to making money.

After much difficulty, Amin and Xiaohong finally got out of the house, but when they arrived at the Far East Club in Central, they found it closed.

"What's going on? Did it go bankrupt?" Xiao Hong asked in surprise.

Amin exclaimed, "Oh dear! I was so caught up in the holiday that I completely forgot. Today is Saturday, the market is closed."

What? You can forgo making money on Saturdays? This capitalist society is truly outrageous!
Helpless, Xiao Hong could only go shopping with Amin. Amin noticed that Xiao Hong had been wearing the same clothes the day before yesterday, yesterday, and today, so she decided to buy her some new clothes and dress her up, which would definitely give her a complete makeover.

~
Wei Ming went to Langning Toys Company, whose offices were located in the main factory's office building, to pick up something.

Watching the trucks carrying goods out, Wei Ming knew how profitable the company was, but he didn't know whether the toys were being shipped to Japan or the United States.

In Wei Lingling's office, Lizhi was diligently reviewing materials when she heard a knock on the door and said, "Come in."

The person came in without making a sound. Lizhi looked up and then stood up in a panic.

"Mr. Wei...Mr. Wei." She quickly gave up Wei Lingling's executive chair for Wei Ming to sit in.

Wei Ming smiled and said, "It's just a chair, you can sit here."

He sat on the sofa, and Lizhi quickly poured him tea, her bowing pause taking a rather long time.

Wei Ming said, "Your boss, Lingling, trusts you a lot. She went to the United States to develop the market, leaving you to hold down the fort at home."

Lizhi blushed and said, "It's mainly the vice president who's doing the work. I don't know anything about it. I'll go and call the vice president over for you now."

“No need,” Wei Ming waved his hand. “I’m not here for the toy factory, I’m here for DreamWorks.”

“Oh, oh,” Lizhi hurriedly opened the drawer and took out a document. “The boss asked me to do this before he left. It just came down. Hong Kong DreamWorks Film Company.”

After handing it to Wei Ming, Li Zhi stood to the side the whole time.

"You should sit down, otherwise my neck will hurt when I talk."

Lizhi then sat down next to Wei Ming, very close, and a fragrant breeze immediately wafted over.

Amin smelled nice, but it was a light fragrance, just a mixture of shampoo and laundry detergent. Lizhi, on the other hand, was wearing perfume, which was bold and intense, and very strong.

Lizhi added, "Also, I filled in my name here as the legal representative. If you're not satisfied, Mr. Wei, you can change it."

Wei Ming asked, "Do you have Hong Kong residency now?"

"Ah."

"No need to change it, leave it as is. If you make any movies in the future, I can still give you the title of producer."

Seeing that Wei Ming had no complaints, Li Zhi happily said, "Then can I go to the scene to watch it? I'm quite curious about how the movie is made."

“You’re the producer, of course you can, you’re the boss on set.” Wei Ming joked, but he was actually quite looking forward to seeing how Bei Gu Li Zhi bullied the Hong Kong superstar.

Wei Ming told Li Zhi to put away the company documents, as this would be DreamWorks' office location from now on.

Seeing that Wei Ming was about to leave, Li Zhi was a little reluctant: "Wei... Teacher Wei, are you leaving already? This toy company is half yours too."

"Well, let me ask you that: how many Transformers have been shipped to the United States so far?" Wei Ming asked the most crucial question.

“There are a total of 1,028,000 items, involving six characters, with Optimus Prime and Megatron accounting for half of them…” Lizhi reported the data she had memorized to Wei Ming and received an approving look from him.

Wei Ming asked, "How much inventory do the factories still have?"

"Because production is ongoing, we don't have detailed data, but we should still have at least 50 units."

"so much?"

"Yes, and Lingling sent a telegram urging us to speed things up. People can rest, but the machines can't stop."

Wei Ming realized that it wasn't a toy production line; it was a money printing machine!
These 150 million toys, at an average selling price, are roughly equivalent to $2000 million worth of goods. It seems they can be easily absorbed by the North American market!

With $2000 million, how much profit could there be? Wei Ming didn't ask Li Zhi; he was waiting for his aunt to come back and tell him herself.

Wei Mingzhen had nothing more to ask Lizhi now, even though Lizhi still had a lot to say to him. However, Wei Mingzhen needed to get back to his own business.

Meanwhile, at Kuangren Comics, Xu Jinjiang, sporting a full beard, was anxiously waiting for Wei Ming's so-called audition.

Opposite him were Zhang Yimou and Feng Xiaoning, who had taken many photos and were also waiting for Wei Ming's decision.
……

(This is an extra chapter as compensation. I won't be posting any additional chapters to ask for monthly votes in September. I'll ask for your help again when the update schedule is up and running.)

(End of this chapter)