Era: Rise from the Wilderness

Li Yunjing and Lü Ruoxi bought tickets and found two seats by the window in the back row.

The car swayed and bumped as it drove out of the station, bouncing along the uneven road.

Outside the window, the fields, villages, and trees rushed past.

Lü Ruoxi unconsciously twisted the strap of her schoolbag.

She secretly glanced at Li Yunjing beside her.

The boy's profile appeared somewhat resolute in the morning light, his brows slightly furrowed, his eyes focused, completely unlike his usual somewhat cynical demeanor at school.

In the past two weeks, she followed him around, haggling and seeing all sorts of people and things. She felt that she had shed some of her student-like qualities and gained some things she had never thought of before.

"Cloudscape,"

She spoke softly, her voice slightly drowned out by the roar of the engine, "I heard you're going to repeat a year of high school?"

"yes!"

"There's nothing we can do!"

"We are controlled by others and have no choice but to comply!"

Li Yunjing turned to her and gave her a reassuring smile. "Once we finish this, we can do another round, but then we'll have to go to school to handle the errands."

Even so, he had his own ideas. He figured he could just skip class every day; he couldn't just waste his time in the classroom.

After a bumpy three-hour ride, the car finally entered the urban area of ​​Bincheng.

The noise of people, bicycle bells, and car horns hit you in the face. The buildings on both sides of the street are much taller than those in Fuzhou Town, and the glass windows display a wide variety of goods.

The two got off the bus at the final stop, both feeling a bit weak in the legs.

Without taking in the city's prosperity, Li Yunjing pulled Lü Ruoxi to the trust company again and found Manager Wang.

In the slightly old office of the trust company, Manager Wang was looking down at documents. When he heard the knock on the door, he looked up and was clearly stunned when he saw Li Yunjing and Lü Ruoxi standing at the door. Then he put on a professional smile, but there was more surprise and scrutiny in that smile than before.

"Hey, Li, Lü, you're here again so soon?"

He put down the documents, stood up, and invited the two to sit down, his gaze inadvertently sweeping over the backpack in Li Yunjing's hand, which was noticeably bulging more than before.

"Manager Wang, I'm sorry to bother you again."

Li Yunjing greeted him with a smile, appearing more composed than last time.

He carefully placed his schoolbag on his lap.

"No trouble at all, no trouble at all."

Manager Wang waved his hand, picked up the teacup on the table, took a sip, and asked, "Have you... received some more?"

"Yes, we received some."

Li Yunjing nodded, not immediately opening his bag. "This time there are more items, and some have longer expiration dates. Manager Wang, is this convenient for you?"

"Let's take a look at the goods first."

Manager Wang's eyes flickered, but his smile remained unchanged: "In our line of work, customers are customers."

Li Yunjing then unzipped his backpack and took out several long, narrow packages carefully wrapped in old newspapers, opening them one by one.

Treasury bonds were on display, stacks of them, some new, some old, with denominations ranging from five to one hundred yuan, piled together, quite a sight.

Manager Wang's smile faded, and he became serious.

He put on his reading glasses, picked up the top stack, and began to carefully look through it.

The rustling sound of fingers twirling paper coupons was particularly clear in the quiet office.

He looked at it very slowly, not only looking at the denomination and year, but also examining the watermark against the light and feeling the texture of the paper.

Li Yunjing and Lü Ruoxi waited patiently, holding their breath.

Lu Ruoxi's palms were slightly sweaty, while Li Yunjing forced himself to relax and calmly observed Manager Wang's changing expressions.

After looking at it for a while, Manager Wang put down the coupon in his hand, took off his glasses, and rubbed the bridge of his nose.

"That's quite a lot!"

He spoke slowly, "You've been running around a lot these past two weeks, haven't you?"

He even had the idea of ​​hiring a few people to go to the countryside to buy treasury bonds. If those two kids could get so many, why couldn't he?

This is a business with no barriers to entry!

If we have to pinpoint a threshold, it's the amount of capital required!

He's in finance, why would he be afraid of not being able to make money?

With this thought in mind, he became somewhat less attentive to the business at hand.

"I've been to quite a few places."

Li Yunjing gave a vague reply without elaborating.

Manager Wang nodded, picked up the abacus on the table, and began to move his fingers quickly while muttering to himself, as if he were calculating something.

After a while, he looked up and said, "There are seven hundred-yuan notes, twelve fifty-yuan notes, and ten-yuan and five-yuan notes make up the majority... I roughly calculated that the total face value is around four thousand seven hundred."

This number made Lü Ruoxi take a soft breath.

Although they knew what was going on, it still made her heart race when Manager Wang reported it so accurately.

"Manager Wang has a good eye; that's about right."

Li Yunjing remained calm and his expression showed no change: "Some coupons may have a slightly longer redemption period, but they are all real money and can be considered as investments."

"Hmm! That's not how you calculate it!"

Manager Wang waved his hand, put his glasses back on, and his gaze became somewhat sharp. "The problem is, young Li, this time not only is the quantity large, but many of them were issued in 91 and 92, and they still have three or four years left before they expire."

"This is different from those that are about to mature; they tie up funds!"

coming.

Li Yunjing knew that the bargaining stage had begun.

He sat up straight, his face showing just the right amount of embarrassment and sincerity: "Manager Wang, we are students too. We finally managed to scrape together some money by running around collecting it."

"I know you have connections and can handle it."

"For longer terms, we understand if you can offer a lower price."

"But overall, could you perhaps...?"

Manager Wang didn't reply. He picked up the abacus again, fiddled with it for a few moments, pondered for a moment, and then held up three fingers: "Three thousand eight."

"I'll take them all at this price."

"Three thousand eight?"

Li Yunjing frowned immediately and shook his head, saying, "Manager Wang, this is too low."

"Even if some have long terms, the face value is right here, and the state guarantees repayment."

"If you resell it or wait until the lease expires, it won't be this price."

Even Lu Ruoxi's face showed some dissatisfaction. Last time it was a 100% redemption, but this time it was so much less!

That Manager Wang is bullying us!

"But I also have financial costs and risks."

Manager Wang remained unmoved. "Who knows if the policy will change in the next two or three years? What if I end up with nothing? Three thousand eight is not a small amount."

"Four thousand five."

Li Yunjing gave a number, which was his bottom line.

He quickly calculated that, after deducting acquisition costs, they still had a decent profit margin at this price, and could quickly recoup funds to invest in the next round.

"Four thousand five?"

Manager Wang was clearly surprised by the young man's aggressive bargaining. He paused for a moment, then shook his head: "Impossible. Four thousand two is the highest I can go."