After the Divorce, I Could Hear the Voice of the Future

Seeing Lu Liang end the conversation, Wang Chuting wrapped herself in a bathrobe, gracefully walked over with bare feet, her posture dignified.

She quietly sat next to Lu Liang, picked up the lighter and cigarette from the table, lit one, and exhaled a plume of smoke, "The smell of this cigarette is too strong and harsh, but the lighter is nice."

Wang Chuting recognized the English words "Forever Love" which means eternal love. The elegant and forceful script on the back read 'Smoke less often,' likely the handwriting of a girl.

"What do you usually like to smoke?"

Lu Liang merely smiled lightly without much explanation.

This lighter had been a gift from Su Wanyu; it was also the first gift he had received in the past seven or eight years.

He had always cherished it and carried it with him.

"Probably explode-beads, but you probably don't like smoking."

Wang Chuting inhaled sharply, coughing repeatedly, seemingly aggravating a pain as her eyebrows lightly furrowed.

Lu Liang couldn't help but chuckle softly, finally taking away the cigarette she held between her fingers, "If you can't smoke properly, smoke less—or better yet, don't smoke at all."

He had started smoking in college, and over the past decade or so, it had become a bad habit; without a cigarette, he probably wouldn't even be able to use the bathroom.

But apart from contributing to the "military expenses," smoking had no benefits, so he had been trying to cut down his intake, gradually going from three packs every two days to one pack.

Lu Liang could tell that Wang Chuting did smoke, but wasn't proficient—either she had just learned recently or she wanted to find some common ground with him.

"Try your best."

Wang Chuting gave a faint smile and glanced at the time on the wall, "Mr. Lu, please rest easy; I need to go to work now."

Lu Liang was surprised, "You have to go today?"

"I only took a half-day off. I have an interview this afternoon with Mr. Li from NIO about his views on you."

Wang Chuting pulled a white blouse and a business skirt from her bag, quickly dressing herself back into a bright and beautiful urban lady.

"That's not what I meant," Lu Liang looked at the couch and carpet, spotting a few drops of deep red, guessing the security deposit was probably gone.

"What could be the problem?"

Wang Chuting glared playfully, feeling a bit strange and uncomfortable, but otherwise okay.

Moreover, she had changed her plan last minute, which gave Lu Liang the space, yet it still maintained an air of tantalizing mystery.

If she had stayed the night, it would've been like being a clingy leech always bothering Lu Liang, something she couldn't bring herself to do.

She had her own plans. Since she couldn't marry into a wealthy family, she would use her relationship with Lu Liang to make herself into one.

"I've booked the room for three days; your clothes can stay here. Come and get them after you're done."

Wang Chuting suddenly stopped, "Will you be here then?"

"I won't be here; I've got things to do; I have to visit Beijing afterward."

"So, will we still keep in touch?"

A fleeting look of worry crossed Wang Chuting's eyes; her plans all hinged on the hope that Lu Liang wouldn't be the type to leave without a word after getting what he wanted.

If she got nothing out of this, it would all be for naught.

Lu Liang asked with a smile, "Miss Wang, do you want me to keep in touch, or not?"

Embarrassed and angry, Wang Chuting regretted her decisions, fully realizing that Lu Liang was just a scoundrel—a man who wouldn't bite unless hooked, and once hooked, she couldn't do anything but let him have his way.

With a smile still playing at the corners of his mouth, Lu Liang approached Wang Chuting, gently caressed her cheek, and kissed her lips, "Let's have dinner together another time."

Wang Chuting, with haughty pride, turned her head with a few cold snorts as a way to express her dissatisfaction.

However, before leaving, she suddenly stole a kiss on Lu Liang's cheek, cheerfully waving her hand, "Mr. Lu, goodbye."

Fishing requires a balance between tension and slack,

but when fishing for Lu Liang, this docile mule,

one can only keep it tight, very slack.

Lu Liang laughed heartily, feeling great as he entered the company's trading room. After resting for about a month, this month, the three funds had an average increase of less than 3%.

It was time for Tianxing Fund to set sail once again and provide some explanation for the new and old friends of the three funds.

This time, Lu Liang set his sights on the Wall Street bastion, the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

[September 1, Dow at 18370.33]

Although over 18,000 points on the Dow Jones Index was six times that of Big A, it was indeed the number after a crash.

As of last night, the Dow closed at 19430.16 points, assuming entry now would yield a profit from a decline of 1059.83 points.

After all, the Dow is not Big A. For Big A, just focusing on declines is enough, but the Dow had many factors to consider, and a decline of over 3% was considered significant.

Especially since this decline exceeded 5%.

"How did it fall?"

Lu Liang had Sun Yutao and others prepare to short the Dow while he sat at his trading desk, browsing international news.

Although the Dow's market was large enough to accommodate even $50 billion multiplied by ten times, without understanding the cause of the major decline, he couldn't be confident.

"Businessman, did Kling's wife get knocked off?"

Lu Liang looked perplexed as he focused on the United States elections.

In a sense, US stocks served as a financial weathervane for global stock markets; if they fell 5%, markets like Big A, Nikkei, and Hang Seng would plummet even more violently.

Recently, the only significant event in US politics seemed like this, and with precedents not lacking, Lu Liang's wild guess wasn't unfounded.

Soon, Lu Liang discarded the political factors because the next phase of the race for the White House would not start until the end of September.

If setting aside political factors, the only thing that could cause such a sudden and dramatic drop in the Dow Jones Index, over 5%, was the economic factor.

A piece of news caught his eye.

Since the financial crisis of 2008, the Federal Reserve had implemented a quantitative easing policy lasting eight years.

By pegging the world to the US Dollar, it forcibly drove up global asset prices, making other countries pay for the financial crisis.

Starting this year, the Federal Reserve began to reduce its balance sheet, with the ten-year Treasury yield rising from 2.16% to 2.86% within six months, and breaking a 30-year downtrend.

"Could this be the reason?"

Lu Liang furrowed his brow, feeling that this was indeed the reason, though it was hard to tell from just one aspect.

But crucially, he had received another piece of news two days earlier about the domestic real estate market, which he wasn't interested in and had ignored at the time.

[September 4, major cities like Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen implement credit and purchase limits...]

As someone who had been in real estate for seven years, Lu Liang knew exactly what this policy meant.

Unless there was a surprise, the release of the new policy would lead to long queues at the Ministry of Civil Affairs' marriage registration offices.

But not for marriages, rather for divorces.

Fake divorces for real house purchases, something Lu Liang had seen too often; real estate prices in major cities would face another surge.

Because purchase and credit limits indicated a heated market sentiment, the more restrictions imposed, the more people believed that house prices would continue to rise.

Thus, further driving up property prices.

Combining the two pieces of news, Lu Liang pondered for a long time, roughly guessing the intentions of the nation.

Rather than being dominated by the US Dollar hegemony, leading to a significant decline in purchasing power, it was better to be dominated by the real estate market, where at least the assets remained in play.