Until mid-November, Zhong Shi, who had been staying inland, finally received the data on the Nikkei futures traded on the Singapore Exchange.
In an era without the internet, it was extremely inconvenient. News from even slightly distant places would never reach you, and television had only a few channels, with no choice of programs. Zhong Shi really wanted to install a satellite receiver, but this was the late 1980s, and after the summer, the national public opinion and atmosphere had tightened significantly. A random charge could lead to a disaster for Zhong Shi.
Zhong Shi wouldn't take that risk, so his options were limited. He could either move to a big city or get information from Hong Kong.
However, there was another problem: the household registration system was a major issue. To control the free movement of people, China had a household registration system since ancient times. In ancient times, this was to control the flow of people and prevent uprisings. In modern times, it was purely to classify the population into different tiers.
During the planned economy era, a person with an urban household registration would receive much more work points and supply tickets (for meat, rice, oil, and other necessities) than a person with a rural household registration, even if they did the same work.
The household registration system still existed when Zhong Shi was reborn in the future, and he couldn't change it, no matter how much money he had.
However, in his future life, he held an American passport. A person who had lived in this country for decades could so easily turn around and enjoy super-citizen treatment, all thanks to that thin American passport.
From buying a house and children's schooling to medical care and theft, there were enthusiastic systems to help.
Tsk, this couldn't be called anything but a distorted and unhealthy state.
This time, after returning from Hong Kong, Zhong Shi's desire to move there was stronger than ever. After all, Hong Kong was a world-renowned free port and one of the top financial centers, which would reduce many troubles for his future career.
The wave of wealthy people moving abroad in the future was essentially an escape and cover-up of their original sins. The accumulation of initial capital was often bloody and dark. Not every rich person could be as fortunate as Zhong Shi, who received a valuable antique due to a good deed and sold it for a good price. More often, the rich accumulated their wealth through transactions of power and money.
The reason they wanted to change their identity was to transfer their illegally accumulated wealth abroad and have an official identity to protect themselves. This was essentially a complete abandonment of their homeland, turning them into people who forgot their roots.
Zhong Shi planned to focus his business in Hong Kong. Besides the advantage of being a financial center, the domestic securities market was not yet open, leaving few investment opportunities. However, after the 1990s, the domestic securities market would develop rapidly, even threatening Hong Kong's financial center status. At that time, he would shift his business focus back to the mainland.
Dreams are always beautiful, but the review for work visas to Hong Kong was very strict. Currently, Zhong Shi's family had no relatives working abroad and could not prove they had substantial wealth, so it was just a thought for now.
Zhong Yi was only studying in Hong Kong on a tourist visa, which needed to be renewed periodically, so it didn't count.
Moving to a big city, the household registration issue was a problem, but not in the face of money. As long as you had enough money, the household registration issue could be solved in minutes.
However, after considering the information dissemination of the time, Zhong Shi reluctantly gave up. Timely information transmission was crucial for him now, and he missed the internet of the future immensely.
The appearance of the internet abroad would still take another decade, meaning Zhong Shi would have to endure for about ten more years. However, by then, it would be a good time for investment. Given the lack of venture capital (VC) and private equity (PE) investment methods in the domestic market, Zhong Shi could take advantage of the time difference and make a fortune in the domestic market.
After the global economic recession and market deterioration in the future, China implemented a massive economic stimulus policy. However, most of the liquidity went into infrastructure construction and state-owned enterprises, while small and medium-sized enterprises and private enterprises, which desperately needed liquidity, struggled. Therefore, going public became a quick financing channel.
PEs became popular at this time. These private equity funds exchanged cash, management, and technology for a portion of equity before the company went public, and then sold it after the company went public, earning tens or even hundreds of times the profit in a short time.
PEs bloomed across the country overnight, with various funds pouring in, creating a scene of a hundred schools of thought contending. A high-quality company would see increasingly higher bids from wealthy PEs, which in turn squeezed profit margins, leading to the elimination of less financially capable PEs after a few years.
Unfortunately, the exit routes for PEs were too limited. After a few years of booming, they encountered regulatory crackdowns on listed companies, with new stock issuances indefinitely suspended. During this period, countless PEs were wiped out, and the entire venture capital and private equity industry entered a cooling period.
These were all future matters.
Now, the Zhong family had moved into the county town, along with Zhong Yi's family and Zhong Shi's grandparents. One reason was the proximity to the hospital, so any health issues with the elderly could be treated promptly. The second reason was that Zhong Xiaohui had entered high school in 1986 and performed poorly in the 1989 college entrance exam, only getting into a local university, which shocked her teachers and classmates. After considering various opinions, Zhong Xiaohui decided to retake the exam.
At that time, college graduates were not as devalued as in the future. In fact, it wasn't until a powerful prime minister implemented the industrialization of education that higher education rapidly became expensive and devalued.
Zhong Xiaohui was a proud girl who always looked up to her cousin. She was naturally dissatisfied with only getting into a second-rate university, so she decided to retake the exam.
Privately, Zhong Xiaohui admired Zhong Shi's knowledge. What puzzled her was why this smart younger brother didn't go to school. Even though he was a bit older (13 years old), with his intelligence, he could have directly entered high school.
To Zhong Xiaohui's question, Zhong Shi just smiled. He had already planned his future. In fact, he had prepared his academic records from elementary to high school and was waiting for the right time to take the SAT. Of course, he wouldn't tell his family about this.
To better take care of Zhong Xiaohui, Liu Lan proposed renting a house in the county town. She didn't know how much money the family had, but she knew money was constantly coming from Hong Kong.
After discussing with Zhong Jianjun, Liu Lan accidentally mentioned this to Zhong Shi, who directly said, "Why make it so complicated? Why not just buy a house? It would be more convenient!"
At that time, buying a house would cost tens of thousands of yuan, but for Zhong Shi, it was a drop in the bucket. The Zhong couple knew Zhong Shi had made a lot of money, but they were still not used to living extravagantly, even though it had been several years since selling the antique. Apart from better food, there was no significant change in the household.
The couple didn't say anything at the time, considering whether it was a good idea. A few days later, Zhong Shi brought several sets of keys, saying he had already bought three houses in the county town, one for each family.
This preemptive action infuriated Zhong Jianjun, as he was the head of the family. However, after pretending to be angry, he didn't mention it again. He was increasingly impressed by his son's capabilities, thinking his son was far more capable than he was.
The news of the Zhong family moving away shocked the entire village. While the villagers were still thinking about how to go out and work, these seemingly ordinary families had already obtained urban household registrations and even bought houses. For a long time, the villagers used Zhong Yi as an example to educate their children, saying that Zhong Jianguo had a good son.
The Zhong family initially found it hard to adapt to city life, but in 1989, the difference between a small county town and the countryside wasn't significant, except for more convenient living facilities. Zhong Shi's grandfather adapted the fastest. Having seen the world in his youth, he soon started carrying a birdcage to the flower and bird market, drinking tea, and walking his birds, living a comfortable life.
The Zhong family quickly settled down. To avoid drawing too much attention, Zhong Yi sent several thousand yuan home each month. Zhong Jianguo, unable to stay idle, found a job watching bicycles, while Zhong Yi's mother cooked and even did skincare when she had free time.
The most restless was Zhong Jianjun. Upon entering the city, he found everything curious and spent his days exploring. After touring the entire county, he found a job at a hardware factory, while Liu Lan focused on taking care of Zhong Xiaohui.
With this, no one cared much about what Zhong Shi did every day, and few could understand his activities.
When Zhong Shi opened the thick package, K-line charts immediately appeared before him. These were the daily trading charts of the Nikkei futures on the Singapore Exchange, printed by Andrew and sent via air mail. Even so, it took over half a month to arrive.
"Truly fascinating!" Zhong Shi stared at the undulating lines, sincerely exclaiming. (Your support is my motivation. I hope more readers can support this book, recommend it, and add it to your collection. Thank you!)