The Heiress's Game

When Gu Yunjin returned home, Bai Junze was away on a business trip to Germany. Only a few automatic sensor nightlights were left on in the house, their warm yellow light stretching from the entrance hall all the way to the stairwell.

Gu Yunjin took a bottle of water from the refrigerator and was about to go upstairs when her phone vibrated in her pocket.

She pressed the answer button, placed the phone on the kitchen island, and dragged a high stool over to sit down.

It was Zhou Ji calling. From the floor-to-ceiling windows of Zhou Ji's office, one could see the harbor at night, with lights twinkling and the outline of the container terminal faintly visible in the distance.

"What do you say about that treacherous banquet you had today?"

Gu Yunjin rested her chin on her arm.

"Su Nianrong organized the gathering, bringing four or five people from the film industry, and spent the whole afternoon praising the prospects of film investment to me."

Forget about 1,000% box office return rates and guaranteed profits from betting agreements.

"What?! A terrible movie made 3 billion yuan during the Spring Festival?! They're exaggerating! I was almost moved!"

Zhou Ji chuckled. "So? You voted?"

I refused.

"and then?"

Gu Yunjin blinked: "Then I taught them something else."

Zhou Ji looked up at her. "What did you teach them?"

"Stock trading and cryptocurrency trading," Gu Yunjin said frankly and confidently.

"I told them that the two most profitable paths I've seen over the years are stock trading and cryptocurrency trading. I'm telling the truth."

There was a two-second silence on the other end of the screen, then Zhou Ji leaned back in his chair, laughing so hard his shoulders were shaking.

"Yun Jin," he finally managed to stop laughing, tapping the screen with his finger, "did you tell them you made money trading Bitcoin?"

"I already told you," Gu Yunjin said, shrugging with an innocent expression.

"I'm not lying. I did collect a large amount of Bitcoin when I was in school, and I sold it all near the peak. I made a killing. I've never seen a more profitable business in my life. Every word is the truth."

"That's the truth." Zhou Ji's smile faded, his tone teasing. "But you didn't tell them where those Bitcoins came from, did you?"

Gu Yunjin pursed her lips, her eyes darting around.

Zhou Ji held up one finger. "Back when you were in school, a British classmate of yours failed in his business and owed you some money."

It was roughly equivalent to tens of thousands of pounds, and since they couldn't pay it back, they used a bunch of Bitcoins, which were practically worthless at the time, to settle the debt.

"What was the concept of Bitcoin back then? It had only been around for less than two years, and the price was so low it was practically free."

You didn't take it seriously at all, and forgot about it as soon as you turned your back. You even left that hard drive in the drawer to gather dust, and you almost forgot the password.

Years later, with news reports of Bitcoin's meteoric rise, you finally remembered you even had that thing and started frantically searching your hard drive.

He said in a teasing tone, "So that windfall of yours had absolutely nothing to do with your investment acumen; it was purely because you forgot."

"Luck is also a part of strength," Gu Yunjin said, her argument seemingly contradictory yet assertive.

"Yes, your luck is definitely a sign of your skill." Zhou Ji smiled and shook his head.

Bitcoin rose from a few cents to nearly $70,000, and then fell back to its current level of over $20,000.

After experiencing five or six sharp drops, most people were already shaken out of the market.

You can hold on to it not because you have a good mindset, but because you've completely forgotten it exists. For a normal person, their heart couldn't take it.

Gu Yunjin snorted, but did not refute.

"And," Zhou Ji added, picking up his coffee, "you said you can make money from stocks? Yun Jin, should I remind you how much you lost two years ago when you bought that tech stock on Nasdaq at a high price?"

"Eight million US dollars," Gu Yunjin stated the figure expressionlessly.

"The day after I lost all my money, I changed my strategy from going long to going short, and I made it all back and even made a profit in three months."

Weren't you in London at the time? I asked you to help me adjust the warehouse location, have you forgotten?

"I haven't forgotten, but I'm talking about something else: you'll lose money too."

You are not a god; your judgment can be wrong, and you can misjudge things sometimes.

When you tell people in the film industry that you can make money by investing in stocks and cryptocurrencies, you selectively talk about the results but not the process.

How many people in your circle have lost everything in the stock market? How many have gone to suicide by gambling on cryptocurrencies? You know better than I do.

Gu Yunjin lowered her head and smiled.

That's why I say investing is the most honest science.

"It won't give you face because of your last name, who your father is, or who you married."

Being wrong means losing money, being right means making money; every trade is a raw test of your judgment.

Meng Wanqing thought she was a veteran in the film industry, and that with her knowledge of yin-yang contracts, tax evasion, and money laundering, she could manipulate everyone as pawns.

Honestly, her methods aren't even beginner-level in the financial market.

"Investing itself is actually a form of stock trading."

"The only difference is that the target has changed from stocks to projects and people."

When selecting stocks, you need to look at the fundamentals, industry trends, and management capabilities; the same applies to investing in projects.

I was sitting in that private box today, listening to them brag to me about how much money movies make.

I asked about marketing costs and revenue sharing cycles, and they answered in detail, but none of them could tell me where the project's competitive advantage lay.

You make a movie, make money, and then what?

The next installment starts all over again, with no accumulated assets or brand compounding; each one is a fresh bet.

What's the essential difference between this model and retail investors chasing highs and selling lows?

Zhou Ji listened quietly without interrupting.

"The most important thing I learned during my two years at the London School of Economics was not the models and formulas in the textbooks at all."

"What is it?" Zhou Ji asked.

"It's a person." Gu Yunjin looked at Zhou Ji on the screen.

"In a place like LSE, you never know what the classmate sitting next to you eating a sandwich does in their family."

Among my classmates in that year were confidants of the heirs of a Middle Eastern sovereign wealth fund and the youngest son of the finance minister of a Latin American country.

There was the only daughter of an African mining tycoon, and a seemingly unremarkable Dutch boy, which I only found out about after graduation.

His family's offshore companies control nearly 15 percent of the global rare earth trading market.

"These things are not taught in class, not written in textbooks, and professors will not mention them in lectures."

But when you're burning the midnight oil at the library working on a paper, someone hands you a cup of coffee and chats with you for a bit, and you learn something from that.

During your investment banking internship, your mentor takes you to a private dinner.

During the meal, someone casually mentioned that a certain country's central bank was going to adjust interest rates next week. You heard it, you remembered it, you did your homework when you got home, you placed an order, and then you made money.

This is true investing; it's not about candlestick charts, financial statements, or the jargon that's constantly being used in financial news.

It's information, it's connections, it's being in the right place at the right time and hearing the right words.

Zhou Ji remained silent for a long time.

The harbor stretched out quietly behind him outside the window, with several cargo ships slowly passing by, their horns faintly audible.

He is the head of Cloud Whale Capital, managing this short-selling institution that strikes fear into the hearts of countless giants in the international financial market on behalf of Gu Yunjin.

He knew better than anyone that every word Gu Yunjin said was true.

The reason why Cloud Whale Capital was able to carve out a path on Wall Street was never luck, but strength and the network of connections that Gu Yunjin had built in top universities and financial institutions around the world.

"So you went to that meeting today," Zhou Ji said slowly, "to see what cards Meng Wanqing had up her sleeve?"

"She wants to bring me into the film industry, but there are only two paths—either make me lose money, or get me tainted with something that can't be washed away."

Whichever path she takes, the ultimate goal is to gain leverage over me. If I lose money, she'll have the right to boss me around; if I get involved in something dirty, she'll have the power to threaten me at any time.

"You need to be careful of Meng Wanqing," Zhou Ji's voice turned serious.

"The Meng family has a strong foundation in Taicheng for generations, and they have connections in both the legitimate and underworld circles."

Meng Wanqing is a woman who can endure, wait, and scheme; she's no ordinary woman confined to the inner quarters. She's on par with Wang Manyun. Don't underestimate her.

"I know," Gu Yunjin nodded.

"Brother, don't worry."

"There's one more thing. How much do you plan to say to Bai Junze?"

"He called me as soon as the tea party ended today. He knows more about Su Nianrong and Meng Wanqing's cooperative relationship in Taicheng than I do."

His attitude was clear: if Meng Wanqing dared to touch me, he wouldn't be polite.

Zhou Ji nodded, a hint of approval flashing in his eyes.

He had met Bai Junze a few times and had a good impression of him.

He's not the kind of spoiled brat who lives off his family background, but a truly capable and ruthless character.

With him by Gu Yunjin's side, Zhou Ji would feel more at ease.

"That's good." He glanced at his watch. "It's almost eleven o'clock there. Get some rest. I have an international call to make."

"Brother," Gu Yunjin called out to him.

"Um?"

"Are you getting used to Haicheng? The climate there is quite humid, so be careful with your knees."

"I'm used to it. When did you, Miss Gu, become so long-winded?"

"I learned it from you." Gu Yunjin waved her hand at him. "I'm leaving, bye."