Reborn in Russia as a Big Shot

Chapter 113 One Billion US Dollars

The Bahamas is located in the Caribbean Sea southeast of Florida and consists of more than 700 islands and more than 2,000 coral reefs.

Marina rented a yacht and took Li Xiang around.

"Come with me to see the pink sand beach tomorrow," Marina said in advance, guessing what Li Xiang was going to say. "Don't say there will be too many people."

"What I meant was to pick a time when there are fewer people. If there are too many people, it's not convenient to take photos, and you have to Photoshop them out later."

""

Marina discovered that Li Xiang had a camera, and quite a complete set of equipment, so she forcibly recruited Li Xiang to be her private photographer.

"Take this last picture, and I'll let you watch the night session."

Li Xiang raised his camera and snapped a picture in a second. "Done."

"Could you be any more perfunctory? You should at least tell me so I could strike a pose," Marina said, half-laughing and half-crying.

"Stop joking, I'll take good pictures for you. Can I make a request?"

"What are your requirements?" Marina asked.

Li Xiang said timidly, "Let me take a day off tonight. I know you're ovulating, but you can't treat me like a cow."

Marina thought Li Xiang was going to cancel the pink sand beach trip for tomorrow, but she didn't expect him to make such a lewd joke, which made her laugh.

Li Xiang seized the opportunity to snap a photo, then showed it to Marina, saying, "I really got it right this time. Look at my skills, not bad, right?"

"It's alright." Marina took the camera and put it aside, then took Li Xiang's hand. "I approved your leave request for tonight, but it's not dark yet, let's work overtime on the yacht."

Li Xiang played along, flirting, "I really need to rest."

"No way." Marina took the initiative.

Just as the flames of war were about to ignite, spreading from the bow deck all the way to the cabin lounge, and just as they were about to enter port, the phone suddenly rang.

"Go get it." Seeing Li Xiang dawdling and not moving, Marina said helplessly, "I'll go get it for you."

Li Xiang's clothes were scattered around. Marina, following the sound, found his cell phone in his pants pocket, which had caller ID.

Marina hurried back and excitedly handed her phone to Li Xiang.

"It's Pierce. He must have something important to tell you at this hour!"

As soon as Li Xiang answered the phone, he heard Pierce's extremely excited voice, which was speaking very fast and had a slight tremor.

"Bear Stearns is in trouble. According to sources within the company, Bear Stearns has less than three billion dollars in cash left on its books."

"Some banks have already started withdrawing loans. If we can't find enough alternative funds, we could go bankrupt within two or three days."

"You made the right bet this time."

"If Bear Stearns were to go bankrupt, it could trigger a chain reaction of panic selling in the global financial derivatives market and trigger systemic risks."

"With such a big deal, the U.S. Treasury Department will definitely get involved. I'm just worried that Treasury Secretary Paulson won't be able to bring himself to do everything he can to save Bear Stearns and prevent the situation from escalating."

"Should we take advantage of this window of opportunity to close the position and make a profit? I've done a rough calculation, and closing the position now would yield at least a hundred million."

Li Xiang said he wasn't nervous, but once the shoe finally dropped, he breathed a sigh of relief and said calmly, "We've already weathered the worst of the risks, there's no reason to just watch ourselves make a fortune. That's why I'm scared."

"I shouldn't have advised you, but I was afraid it would all come to nothing. If you want to keep gambling, then the opponent will become the US Treasury." Pierce helped Li Xiang contact CDS buyers. Although it was officially just helping out and there was no agreed commission, Li Xiang made a lot of money, so it was only right and proper to show his appreciation.

Once the U.S. Treasury intervenes and pulls Bear Stearns back from the brink of bankruptcy, Li Xiang's unrealized profits from his CDS positions will shrink significantly, and Pierce's bonus will be lost.

"Bear Stearns could indeed be rescued by Paulson, but this would also send a signal to the market that as long as something is too big to fail, the US government will use its national credit to bail it out."

"You should know better than me how the Soviet Union died. It died because of soft budget constraints. State-owned enterprises couldn't go bankrupt. With someone to bail them out, what was there to be afraid of? Debt expanded indefinitely."

"If you say you'll save this one and then not the next, who's going to believe that? Talking about it won't work. To break this market expectation, you have to take action."

"One of those financial giants on Wall Street has to die."

"My biggest risk is my cash flow. Will it last until I see the end of the year? I think it's almost here. At most, it will only last a few months. Can it last a year? I already have a profit now. I can afford to pay another year's premium."

Li Xiang cautioned, "Keep an eye on our competitors. If they go bankrupt, they won't have the money to compensate us."

Pierce quickly replied, "Don't worry about that. The positions are all locked in. Even if we really go bankrupt, we won't lose a single penny that's rightfully ours."

Li Xiang promised, "Once we're done with CDS, we'll push for the globalization of the SkriII brand. I'll promote you to Vice President at the UK headquarters and give you equity incentives. When the company goes public, you'll be financially independent."

2

Pierce tentatively suggested, "Then I'd better hurry up and get my immigration processed."

Li Xiang reassured Pierce further, saying, "Since you come from a traditional finance background, I can only put you in the position of vice president for now. You should focus your energy on the business."

Marina was very curious about what Li Xiang and Pierce were talking about, but she knew that no matter how curious she was, she couldn't listen, so she waited outside.

It wasn't until Li Xiang finished his call and came out of the lounge that this happened.

Marina sat at the small bar in the cabin, drinking, and glanced at Li Xiang. "Why don't you put your pants on?"

"Don't you want to ask anything?" Li Xiang sat down next to Marina, took the wine glass away, and said, "You're drinking while trying to conceive."

"You won the bet?" Marina observed Li Xiang's expression.

"Well, how should I put it?" Li Xiang organized his thoughts and explained in a way that Marina could understand, "I bought an insurance policy on Wall Street, betting that the five major investment banks would go bankrupt and Bear Stearns would run into trouble. My first payout has already covered the insurance premium."

Marina pondered for a couple of seconds, then smirked and said, "Can I understand it that way? You've already recouped your costs, and the future is all profit; the only difference is how much?"

Li Xiang nodded and said, "More or less."

"Don't be too optimistic. Based on your normal expectations, how much can you earn this time?" Marina regretted her words as soon as they left her mouth. "I'd better not ask. It would be good if I could earn anything."

Li Xiang extended one finger from each hand and made a cross.

"How much is this?" Marina had already guessed that it was one billion, but she wasn't sure about the currency unit.

Li Xiang shouldn't be this anxious about a billion rubles.

A billion dollars? That's terrifying.

Marina prefers the 1 billion RMB figure, and since Li Xiang is Chinese, it makes logical sense for him to value his assets in RMB.

"Didn't you say you wouldn't ask?"

"You said it yourself, hurry up and tell me, you've piqued my curiosity." Marina reached out and grabbed Li Xiang's little brother.

"If things really go as I expect, we can make at least a billion dollars this time. Pierce suggested I cancel the insurance, and if I take profits now, I could probably make a hundred million, but I didn't agree." Li Xiang reached out and pinched Marina's cheek. "We've made it to the finals, there's no reason not to keep playing. Let's wait for the results."

Marina was silent for almost half a minute before pleading, "Could you promise me one thing? No matter if you win or lose this time, don't gamble so heavily again in the future."

Li Xiang was in a good mood and nodded in agreement, "Okay."