Rebirth 1983: Building My Business Empire
Chapter 384 - Chapter 384 373

Chapter 384: 373 Chapter 384: 373 After dinner, Su Heyuan escorted Susan home. On the way, she said, “Sister, actually your staying is good for me. But the opportunity is rare, and I’m afraid you’ll regret it?”

“Miss Lu has only opened one store, why are you so optimistic about it?”

With a smile, Su Heyuan said, “Compared to the finance and real estate business, a clothing company doesn’t have high profits. But she gave up the real estate business to open a clothing store, do you know why?”

“Why?”

He explained, “Because she likes it, she’s willing to invest the effort and the funds to do it, and she will certainly do it well.”

Actually, he was quite interested in investing, but he knew that Lu Jiaxin wouldn’t agree so he didn’t mention it.

Susan then asked, “You just said Miss Lu gave up the real estate business? That real estate business is not so easy to do, my dad and big brother invested in it before and lost money.”

What Su Heyuan meant was that Lu Jiaxin started a real estate company, but Susan thought he was talking about investing. However, he didn’t clarify, “With Nie Zhan there, it’s hard to lose money even if you try.”

Thinking about it, Susan felt it made sense.

When she went back, she consulted her husband’s opinion. Her husband was against her going to Lu Jiaxin’s. After all, what Lu Jiaxin started was just one store, while Qirui was a company with annual profits in the tens of millions.

After much consideration, Susan still decided to join Lu Jiaxin’s team. First, Lu Jiaxin had a keen eye for fashion and was also talented in this area; second, Xu Yue had quite a reputation in the industry, and she chose to follow Lu Jiaxin instead of joining a big company, which must mean she saw a better future in it; third, and most importantly, it was Su Heyuan’s words. After working together for so long, she knew that Su Heyuan was not one to speak idly.

Seeing that Susan wouldn’t listen, her husband got very angry, and the two of them had a fight. However, this did not change her mind, and the next day she still gave Lu Jiaxin a definite answer.

Lu Jiaxin said with a smile, “Then handle the handover as soon as possible, and then come over.”

She didn’t want to tire herself out too much, so for Green Forest, she only planned to direct the overall strategy. The responsibility of handling agency rights and product selection would go to Xu Yue, and the company’s operations she planned to entrust to Susan.

Susan promoted her deputy and completed the handover in three days to report to Lu Jiaxin. By then, Xu Yue had already secured celebrity endorsements; Susan took charge of the subsequent photography and promotion, which were her strengths, and she quickly got the hang of it.

On the first evening of the shoot, Susan went to report to Lu Jiaxin but was interrupted before she could say much. Lu Jiaxin said, “Since I’ve entrusted these tasks to you, there’s no need to report on every detail. Sister Su, I only look at the results. I won’t interfere with the process. You’ve been in this line for nearly twenty years; I trust your judgment and ability.”

Susan was stunned and after a long pause, she nodded, “I understand.”

Lu Jiaxin said, “I have transferred three million to Green Forest’s account. Sister Su, I want our ads on television, in fashion magazines, and on buses and billboards.”

Susan hadn’t expected her to spend so generously, “Boss, this means a lot of expenditure on advertising.”

“You don’t need to worry about the money; just make a budget and give it to me. And, if you know any talented people in marketing, feel free to poach them.”

Susan’s worries were put to rest, and she smiled in agreement. Heyuan had said she would regret not following Miss Lu, and now she believed it. The boss was not only sharp with fashion trends but was also willing to splurge, ensuring the store would be a hit.

After seeing Susan off, Lu Jiaxin calculated her available liquid assets. Since January, she had spent seventeen million Hong Kong Dollars in down payments and taxes for the villa purchase, over forty-eight million in acquiring the property company and the subsequent expenses, over five million on renting the store and agency fees for Green Forest up to now, and four million on the Guh Residence and her personal expenses for the half-year.

Adding it all up, she had spent nearly ten million greenbacks and had about thirteen million left. However, she planned to buy premium properties next, and that amount wouldn’t be enough.

The next morning, Lu Jiaxin called Wu Ziyue to ask about the current greenbacks/Japanese Yen exchange rate. She heard it had fallen by fifty percent since the agreement, and another thirty percent below the rate she bought in at for the third time.

Back then, she had bought in with fifty million greenbacks, using ten times leverage, which meant she had earned an additional 150 million greenbacks (excluding tax and fees); additionally, Standard Chartered and HSBC had contributed five million greenbacks each without leverage, netting three million together; in Hong Kong, after deducting taxes, fees, and commissions from the principal and profits which totaled 213 million, she had 187 million in hand; she had transferred eighty million to Nie Zhan, earning 240 million greenbacks, amounting to 320 million in total. She wasn’t clear about the exact taxes, fees, and commissions on Nie Zhan’s side – she would ask him later. This total didn’t include the twenty million greenbacks invested in stocks, which had also increased considerably over the half-year.

After calculating, Lu Jiaxin was satisfied. She had completed her first goal – financial independence before twenty. The next goal was to establish her own brand by twenty-five. She felt she could achieve this goal in less than five years.

Wu Ziyue immediately agreed when she said she wanted to close her positions. With such a decline, she had made a lot, and knowing when to quit was wise.

Lu Jiaxin, however, was not ready to quit while ahead. She remembered that within two years, the greenbacks/Japanese Yen exchange rate had more than doubled in its decline, and it had only fallen by fifty percent now; there was still profit to be made by short-selling. However, the decline wouldn’t be as significant, and there would certainly be fluctuations.

After thinking it through, Lu Jiaxin said, “Manager Wu, I’d like to continue short-selling, with fifty million in principal and five times leverage. There should be orders I can fill, right?”

Wu Ziyue, recalling how she had predicted the greenbacks/Yen would keep falling over the next year, smiled and said, “Yes, there are. You could take them all if you wanted.”

Hearing this, Lu Jiaxin thought for a moment and then said, “Since there are orders to fill, let’s go with a hundred million and five times leverage.”

Wu Ziyue nodded with a smile and replied, “When the market opens tomorrow, I’ll first close your positions and then help you buy in.”

“That’s fine,” said Lu Jiaxin. She had to transfer the money from her account tomorrow and then discuss property acquisitions with Tan Gang and He Bin.

As for Nie Zhan, she didn’t call him; they had already agreed to have lunch together at noon and then a date. Couples needed to meet and go on dates often; that way, their relationship grows stronger. Long periods without seeing each other, the idea of a solely intellectual Platonic relationship, existed only in movies and novels. In reality, such situations often ended in breakup.

During lunch, Lu Jiaxin shared her thoughts: “After closing the positions, I’ll continue with a hundred million, using the five-time leverage you mentioned before. I plan to hold onto it until the end of the year.”

Nie Zhan didn’t offer any more advice. Having tripled her money this time, leaving a hundred million to continue short-selling wasn’t a risk: “Okay. Will you transfer the rest of the money back?”

Lu Jiaxin shook her head, “Keep half over there. I plan to open a few accounts on Wall Street. This will make it more convenient for buying stocks or trading currencies.”

She had no other choice before since she couldn’t open accounts in any other country as a minor. It was less of a hassle to have Nie Zhan make the purchases rather than asking others for help. Now that she was of age and no longer had that restriction, she preferred not to bother Nie Zhan any further.