Chapter 298: Defending Hong Kong

The whole of Hong Kong was in an uproar—nothing but “uproar” could describe it. They had all witnessed and personally experienced the situation in Hong Kong these past days, so Xiao Ran’s words undoubtedly resonated deeply with them.
If all the citizens of Hong Kong united, what could those international speculators fear? Moreover, let’s not forget—they had a world’s richest man leading them, along with Asia’s most famous financial and stock expert. Instead of letting international speculators run amok, it was better to take action themselves. Of course, the main reason was their trust in Xiao Ran.
Soros stared blankly at the TV as his interpreter explained what was going on. He wasn’t sure whether to feel alarmed or something else; at least he had a badpremonition. He suddenly realized he might not necessarily be able to win, especially since he was someone who relied heavily on intuition—this clearly had a significant impact on him.
But after thinking it over, he couldn’t see anything unfavorable for himself. Instead, he felt even more uneasy, as if he had missed something. For all the citizens of Hong Kong to get involved, it would take at least two or three days to raise funds, and those funds would clearly be far from enough.
Suddenly, he smiled easily. Raphael had an epiphany—he understood why his boss was smiling. It was a simple reason: since Xiao Ran was seeking help from the entire population of Hong Kong, it meant Xiao Ran was already in a very dangerous situation. And that meant Xiao Ran truly had no way out. With just a little more effort from them, Xiao Ran and Shadow would be completely trapped.
But Soros clearly saw what his assistant was thinking and quickly shook his head. “That’s not the key. I already determined a few days ago that Xiao Ran had no money left. This is just confirming it further. I think Xiao Ran must have found some funds!”
“But hadn’t he spent all the money he could get?” Raphael wasn’t sure. Shadow’s money had indeed been spent—every piece of evidence pointed to that.
“No, no, no. Only Shadow’s money was spent, not Xiao Ran’s.” Soros was relaxed and cheerful. He thought he finally understood why Xiao Ran gave this speech—to build momentum and attract more funds to resist. “Shadow’s three directors’ personal money hasn’t been touched at all. Just Xiao Ran’s own Microsoft stocks are worth thirty to forty billion. With that, he can easily raise a lot of money.”
“But that’s clearly still not enough, isn’t it? The directors within Shadow Company can at most raise fifty billion.” Raphael frowned. He didn’t think Xiao Ran would go to his death. “Hong Kong citizens’ money can basically be ignored. His funds are still not enough to compete with ours!”
“Of course, on the surface, that’s true!” Soros smiled. He took a sip of wine. He liked to drink something during battles to stimulate his inspiration and thinking. “But I think you’ve overlooked one thing!”
“What is it?” Raphael suddenly noticed that all the other traders had gathered around, eager to hear the analysis from this top expert.

“All along…” Soros understood where his mistake lay. With a rare display of honesty, he smiled and said, “All along, we’ve been drawn to Xiao Ran and Shadow’s strength. We rarely thought about other companies or wealthy individuals. Li Ka-shing and the others basically stayed out, which is clearly unusual.”

Rafael suddenly understood. “You mean this time Xiao Ran is mainly using the money of other wealthy people. But I believe the most they can contribute is 80 billion. If they had gotten involved earlier, our chances of failure would have been high. Why isn’t Xiao Ran acting?”

A hint of confusion flashed in Soros’s eyes. It was rare for him to be unable to see through something, but this time he truly couldn’t figure out what trick Xiao Ran was playing! With the funds from other wealthy people, Xiao Ran would have a good chance of stopping him from the start of the battle. He really didn’t understand.

However, he was clear about one thing: this game or battle had now reached a point where he couldn’t back out. The wealth he controlled, along with that of other speculators, was already trapped in Hong Kong worth over 80 billion. This time, he really couldn’t stop!

As Xiao Ran began his speech, Li Ka-shing received a call from him and quickly got busy. He needed to play a role in this scheme—acting as a liaison, through whom Xiao Ran intended to connect all the other wealthy individuals.

Within thirty minutes, the wealthy individuals in Hong Kong with assets worth over a billion dollars gathered in a conference room at the Grand Hyatt. When Li Ka-shing pushed open the door and saw them, he thought, This time, we’re definitely going to succeed! But for some reason, perhaps due to the impact of the Hong Kong financial crisis, there was a global shortage of funds.

Bai Pengfei sat calmly in his office, thinking deeply. This time, Murdoch had proposed an acquisition to one of the companies under Shuxiang. It wasn’t that Murdoch didn’t want to acquire Shuxiang—it was that 90% of Shuxiang Media’s shares were controlled by Shadow, worth over 18 billion dollars. For Murdoch to acquire it would definitely not be easy.

He wondered how he could properly tie Murdoch down, leaving him in a difficult position. On the first day, he could offer 20% of the shares. Bai Pengfei had already contacted the shareholders of that company. But he thought that maybe offering a bit more would meet Xiao Ran’s requirements!

With that in mind, he called one of the shareholders: “Lao Liang, sell another 4% of your shares to Murdoch—no more than 4%. Finalize the deal by 3 p.m., and the contract must be signed by 4 p.m.”

Murdoch was in high spirits. He was currently in Hong Kong, and it seemed like the place was full of hidden talents—heroes from around the world had flocked here. He himself was surprised. He hadn’t expected to get 20% in just one day, and now he had to negotiate the transfer of another 4%.

However, he hoped the price wouldn’t be too high, as he didn’t have much money left. Just then, he received news from London stating that Phantom had already sold off the 7% stake in News Group controlled by another company. He was puzzled by this. Xiao Ran clearly had his own plans for News Group—why sell off those hard-earned 7%? He didn’t understand! But that didn’t stop him from continuing with the acquisition.

At noon, when the market closed, people across the city started to hand over their money to various funds, with the most going to Tianxia Fund. At Phantom’s headquarters, the adorable little Ling’er stared at Xiao Ran with her big eyes and asked, “Dad, what are you and Uncle Fang waiting for?”

Xiao Ran smiled slightly, knelt down in front of the little girl who insisted on coming with him, and after thinking for a moment, said, “We’re waiting for victory, for the moment to reap what we’ve sown, for the moment to enjoy our success!”

“Oh, right. Ling’er doesn’t like to lose either. Brother always loses to me!” Ling’er’s words shocked Xiao Ran. He thought hard not to let her develop a competitive mindset in the future and said earnestly, “Ling’er, you’re wrong. Sometimes, to achieve the ultimate goal, one needs to lose first. And life isn’t about never losing—it’s okay to lose, but you must never lose confidence!”

He picked up the little girl in his arms. Fang Xiaoqiang, who liked Ling’er, teased Xiao Ran, “Brother Ran, Ling’er seems very talented. How about letting me teach her how to…”

“Stop it!” Xiao Ran retorted with a laugh. He didn’t want Fang Xiaoqiang to ruin Ling’er’s happy childhood. “It’s two o’clock now. It’s time to get ready!”

At 2:15 p.m., Xiao Ran welcomed two guests: Li Wenzheng, the banker from the previous Indonesian crisis, and Zhang Jiangchun, a billionaire from North America. Xiao Ran went up to them, extended his hand warmly, and shook it firmly. “Now we’re just waiting for you to witness this great show!”

Before the market reopened in the afternoon, Fang Xiaoqiang suddenly found himself with $120 billion in operating funds overnight. Everyone was shocked and stared at Xiao Ran in astonishment. Fang Xiaoqiang glanced at Li Wenzheng and Zhang Jiangchun, wondering about one thing.

However, he didn’t have much time to ponder, as the market officially opened. Fang Xiaoqiang asked Xiao Ran a crucial question: “Brother Ran, I need you to tell me—how much capital do we actually have to operate with? And when will it all arrive?”

Xiao Ran closed his eyes briefly, thought for a moment, and quickly replied, “Between $300 billion and $400 billion. Within three days, we must defeat Soros and his allies!”

Fang Xiaoqiang was stunned, unable to speak. Which company or individual in the world could raise hundreds of billions? Yet Xiao Ran could. If he could raise such funds, why not defeat Soros from the start? Why wait until after a crushing defeat? These were his doubts, but he had no time to ask, as the market had already opened…

“Thank you all!” Xiao Ran looked at the two of them sincerely. “I also thank everyone. Without your support, Hong Kong would have been in danger this time!”
“Where’s the problem? Even without our support, Brother Ran, I’m sure you could still defeat Soros successfully!” Zhang Jiangchun gave Xiao Ran a meaningful look. He couldn’t help but admire this young man who was approaching middle age.
Li Wenzheng’s expression was very serious until suddenly he smiled. “Brother Ran, if you hadn’t helped us last time, we would have been in a terrible situation! Isn’t repaying kindness part of our Chinese tradition? There’s no need to say thank you!”
Xiao Ran smiled calmly. As Fang Xiaoqiang had suspected, the funds indeed came from overseas Chinese businessmen. Initially, not even he expected to be able to rely on the help of other Chinese businessmen. It wasn’t until the incident in Indonesia, as the predetermined time neared, that he thought of taking the risk.
He himself hadn’t expected that because of that incident in Indonesia, his status among the Chinese businessmen had become quite high. After several discussions with key figures, it was roughly agreed that if Xiao Ran needed it, at least 100 billion would be provided.
Thus, Xiao Ran finalized this extremely risky plan. He intended to use the financial storm created by Soros to put pressure on himself, forcing Shadow into a desperate situation and thereby exposing the opponents hiding behind him. Now, he thought he had succeeded, as he had unexpectedly obtained 300 billion dollars in funds.
He finally made his move! Soros thought to himself that this opportunity couldn’t be missed. The funds provided by other billionaires would surely be gradually taken by him, at least that’s what he thought.
But when he saw the amount Fang Xiaoqiang had invested, he was stunned. He couldn’t believe that in such a short time, Fang Xiaoqiang dared to invest such a huge sum. Wasn’t he afraid of running out of funds later? Anyway, he knew he couldn’t stop now; this battle had to be fought no matter what. As Fang Xiaoqiang made his move, the exchange was filled with laughter. Shadow finally struck back, and they knew victory was near. On that day, the whole world was watching this small place, where a rare fierce battle was taking place.
After the market closed in the afternoon, Fang Xiaoqiang achieved an immediate victory—the Hang Seng Index soared by over 200 points, and the exchange rate also rose significantly. The whole of Hong Kong was in an uproar. It was a rare victory, wasn’t it?
Soros, however, fell into confusion once again. He realized that Xiao Ran and Fang Xiaoqiang had confused him far too much. This time, he still didn’t understand where Fang Xiaoqiang got such substantial financial support. He was still able to maintain an advantage even after almost using up all his own funds. Moreover, Fang Xiaoqiang was acting in both the stock market and the exchange rate sector, which required at least twice as much capital.
Had Xiao Ran obtained some mysterious funds again? Soros was truly lost in confusion, with strange expressions appearing on his face. He didn’t like to attack without understanding the situation, but this time, dealing with Shadow left him utterly bewildered…

Meanwhile, Xiao Ran was on the phone with the president of the Bank of China: “No, president, I don’t need this funds for now. Yes, keep them aside. I won’t use this money unless something unexpected happens!”
Lin Qingxia sat next to Xiao Ran. Only after he hung up did she ask, “How did you get so much money today to fight Soros?”
“Do you remember what happened in Indonesia last time? It was all their support. I contacted them before anything happened!” Xiao Ran wrapped his arms around his wife’s warm body, his gaze fixed blankly on the wall.
“Aren’t you afraid of them…” Lin Qingxia was slightly shocked. She immediately thought of the atrocities from that time and felt nauseous. “Aren’t you afraid they might hold you back suddenly?”
Smiling at his wife appreciatively, he calmly explained, “Do you know why Li Ka-shing and the others haven’t intervened yet? It’s to prevent them from holding me back. Besides, I have a hidden trump card, but it seems unnecessary now! Let’s rest. There’s still a lot to deal with tomorrow!”