“You mean, Young Master Cao, that international gold still has room to rise by more than ten percentage points?” Song Keran blurted out instinctively. “That’s highly unlikely, isn’t it?”
“I’ve studied international gold price trends over the past few decades. Unless the war escalates again, 10% should be the absolute ceiling for gold’s price spike due to this conflict.”
“I don’t want to repeat myself,” Cao Chuan’s gaze turned cold. “This is an order, not a discussion.”
“…Yes!”
Only then did Song Keran snap back to reality, realizing that the man before her was no longer the gentle pushover of the past, but a tyrant.
She quickly cut herself off, respectfully acknowledged the command, and left the office with her laptop to carry it out.
Back in the Baichuan Investment Co., Ltd. office area, the atmosphere was still brimming with joy and celebration.
As soon as they saw Song Keran step out of Cao Chuan’s office again, everyone rushed to ask, “How did it go, Secretary Song? Did Young Master Cao give new instructions?”
“Is he telling us to sell once the price hits around a 10% increase?”
“We just analyzed things from multiple angles—factoring in this round of international conflict and the global demand for safe-haven assets, the maximum likely gold price increase should fall between 10.13% and 11.26%. Selling around the 10% mark would be the safest point. Beyond that, the risk index spikes sharply.”
Song Keran adjusted her expression and said directly, “Young Master Cao’s order is to hold, and only sell once the increase reaches 20%.”
“Tw-twenty percent?!”
The bustling office suddenly fell silent.
Moments later, an even louder wave of commotion erupted:
“You’ve got to be kidding, Secretary Song?”
“A 20% short-term gold price surge is nearly unheard of in over a century of modern financial history!”
“Are you sure you didn’t mishear him—was it twelve percent and not twenty?”
“How could Young Master Cao give such an insane order?”
“If the gold price is going to rise by 20%, then this conflict would have to be more than just a war between two nations—at least one more massive international incident would have to erupt.”
“In today’s world, where global peace and development are the norm, there’s no way that would happen!”
“This war was already completely unexpected. I can’t imagine what could possibly be more shocking than this.”
Almost everyone questioned Cao Chuan’s decision.
“Maybe you should go confirm with Young Master Cao again?”
“A 10% increase has already made him a huge profit.”
“If he doesn’t cash out now, once global panic fades, the gold market will likely stabilize and enter a prolonged period of fluctuating decline.”
After expressing doubts, everyone tried to persuade her earnestly.
But Song Keran didn’t dare touch Cao Chuan’s nerves.
More than that, she had already developed a kind of blind faith in him.
She faintly believed that Cao Chuan must have a deeper purpose behind this decision.
So after a brief silence, she said firmly, “I’ve confirmed it. Young Master Cao did say twenty percent.”
“Everyone, quiet down and follow his instructions exactly!”
With that, she gave no room for rebuttal, turned back to her office, and resumed monitoring the gold price trend.
And almost the moment she decisively walked away, several employees who had followed Cao Chuan’s order to invest in international gold also quietly set sell orders for their personal gold holdings at the 10% mark.
They simply didn’t believe gold would rise as high as Cao Chuan claimed.
Whether Cao Chuan lost money was none of their business, but they had to protect their own profits.
…
Meanwhile, on the 88th floor of the Cao Group, inside Shen Mengying’s office—
Director Qian, who had previously been upset about Cao Chuan’s huge profits from gold, finally let out a breath of relief.
“A 20% gold price increase? Looks like Young Master Cao’s profit this time was pure dumb luck.”
“He clearly doesn’t understand the international gold market at all—”
“A 20% increase would mean the global situation has deteriorated to a severely dangerous degree. That level of panic would require more than half of the world’s top financial powers to be terrified.”
“If those capital giants aren’t panicked to that extent, even if they buy gold as a hedge, they wouldn’t dump massive funds into it all at once!”
At that moment, Shen Mengying had been compiling information online related to the ongoing war. Upon hearing that, she frowned immediately.
If someone overheard these repeated criticisms of Cao Chuan, it could very well spell disaster.
Even if she, Shen Mengying, wasn’t involved, just the fact that those words were spoken to her—and in her office—would be enough to drag her down with it.
She had no interest in being implicated like that.
So when she reprimanded Director Qian, her tone was stern for the first time.
Director Qian had only spoken like that to flatter Shen Mengying, thinking it would help her get closer.
Now, seeing that Shen Mengying didn’t appreciate it at all—and even seemed disgusted—her expression turned awkward.
She lightly patted her mouth and quickly corrected herself, “Y-Yes, Assistant Shen, thank you for the reminder. I’ll be more careful from now on.”
She hurried to apologize.
“Hmm.”
Shen Mengying only gave a light nod, still visibly displeased.
Director Qian picked up on the hint and quickly said, “Um, Assistant Shen, you look quite busy… In that case, I won’t take up any more of your time.”
With that, she gave a sycophantic smile and hastily left the office.
“Hmm.”
Shen Mengying kept her face stern.
Only after Director Qian’s figure had completely vanished from the doorway did her expression relax slightly, and a flash of disdain flickered through her eyes.
[Holding such a key position, yet having no sense of boundaries.]
[With behavior like that, even if Young Master Cao doesn’t bother with her now, she’s bound to bring ruin upon herself sooner or later.]
[From now on, I should avoid dealing with her as much as possible.]
[…]
[…]
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