Chapter 256: What is Not Forbidden by Law is Permissible

Words : 1875 Updated : Sep 29th, 2025

"Let's begin." Lu Liang looked up at the screen, feeling a touch cold as though he had a fever, and instinctively tightened his wool coat around himself. It was just past seven, in the live broadcast room for the United States election, a map of fifty states with a gray pattern showed the first Blue State appearing. The results for New York had already been announced, with Larry securing 57.3% of the votes, and the businessman securing 42.7% of the votes. Although New York is a standard Blue State and a stable stronghold for Larry's party, it didn't hinder a promising start. The moment the news was released, the "Businessman Inverse Index" surged significantly. Wen Chao nodded firmly, held his breath, cleared his mind of distractions, and took charge on behalf of Lu Liang, "Group one, buy Gold at 1750.12, Group two, short the Peso-US Dollar at 18.21." "Group three..." Wen Chao couldn't help but glance at Lu Liang, intending to mobilize half of the reserve funds. That is 150 million US Dollars, divided into two parts of 75 million each, one for the margin account, and one for the operations account. 75 million US Dollars, leveraged twenty times, would amount to 1.5 billion US Dollars, betting on a rise in the RMB against the US Dollar. Lu Liang covered his mouth coughing violently, took a sip of water, cleared his throat, "What isn't prohibited by law can be done." Whether shorting or longing, both were market activities—he had previously opted not to, but that didn't mean he couldn't. Going forward, he planned to focus on his career; concerning money matters, he would only direct the strategy, everything was acceptable as long as it wasn't illegal. Perhaps it was self-deception, but from now on publicly, the private funds would no longer be managed by Lu Liang, and whatever happened would have nothing to do with him. Empowered, Wen Chao's confidence soared, "Group three to withdraw 150 million US Dollars, use 20 times leverage, and long the RMB." Compared to Old Mo's Peso and International Gold, he was actually more optimistic about the RMB's continuous strong performance. East Country had been overlooked by America for too long, regardless of who would take office, they would face targeting. Thus, a short-term surge and a long-term continuous rise in the RMB against the US Dollar was inevitable. At 7:32 PM, the first Red State emerged. It was just the stronghold of the businessman's party, and it wouldn't have much impact on the financial markets. What really would be decisive should be the ongoing announcements of Swing States at three twenty in the morning. With the orders from Wen Chao, a total of 4.15 billion US Dollars flowed into three major markets: Peso, Gold, and RMB. Among these, the Peso market was the smallest, although Old Mo had a territorial area of 1.96 million square kilometers and a population of 122 million. But it was too far from heaven and too close to the United States, also the final barrier used by the United States to fend off South American refugees. Last year's GDP just barely broke through one trillion US Dollars, only one-twelfth of East Country's, one-eighteenth of the United States', and one-fifth of Japan's. Their GDP per capita was only 8,644 US Dollars, just 518 US Dollars more than East Country, likely to be overtaken by next year. Thus, although the election of the businessman would impact Old Mo's Peso foremost, Lu Liang had only invested one billion US Dollars. That included five hundred million for margin and five hundred million for operation, leveraged five times to make two and a half billion US Dollars. But 2.5 billion US Dollars was not a small number; as the funds entered the market, they were immediately noticed due to the small size of the Peso market. Everyone looked up and saw, suddenly a massive unknown force emerged, drawing too much attention. "Who?" Lu Liang's old friend from JPMorgan's Group Three, Wilson, was also involved, alongside Blackstone, Vanguard, and other well-known Wall Street investment banks; they had entered the Peso market early too. It wasn't a coincidence; any investment bank on Wall Street had control over hundreds of billions of US Dollars. If funds sat idle, they would depreciate, so wherever there was any movement globally, they would definitely be involved. "Is it Lu Liang?" someone asked. Over the past decade, Wall Street had always been a backstage supporter of the Red State, but this time, they abandoned the Red State, not optimistic about the businessman winning. Because the businessman was a real estate magnate, who didn't lack political donations, hadn't taken their money, and if he won the big prize, he was unlikely to help them. Otherwise, there wouldn't be the creation of the "Businessman Inverse Index," the word "inverse" alone was indicative enough. Over the previous 44 elections, although there were election weather forecasts, there had never been an "inverse" index. Only the businessman was unique, also indicating that Wall Street was not optimistic about him. Thus, they all chose to long the Peso. Because Larry was a traditional Democrat, who embraced diversity and advocated for compassion to all living beings. Once elected, the Peso would definitely rise sharply. "It doesn't quite seem like his style, but we can't completely rule it out." Wilson frowned severely; just yesterday afternoon, he received news of Lu Liang being hospitalized. He was deeply worried for a long time, fortunately, by last night, he saw the news of Lu Liang attending a press conference. Although not as spirited as usual, likely unable to concentrate and engage in market investment activities. But it couldn't be entirely ruled out. When they heard this, their faces broke into smiles, and they felt relaxed, "As long as it's not Lu Liang, it's fine." That Lu Liang really is somewhat sinister, having faced him so many times and never reaping any benefits. This caused everyone to naturally be tentative when opposing Lu Liang; if it wasn't him personally, it would be a different matter. "It's definitely not him, that guy is an extreme racist." Suddenly, someone spoke up. They had a large amount of capital invested in Offshore Renminbi, and at the same time, there were unknown forces entering the market. From the style, the trading methods of these two forces were extremely similar, likely the same organization. As everyone knows, Lu Liang, though often accurately assessing the international situation, always deliberately ignored the world's second largest market. He was also dubbed a racist, and if it was Lu Liang, he would never short his own country's currency. "Is it really not him?" Wilson murmured to himself. S~eaʀᴄh the Novelƒire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. If it was Lu Liang's doing, then he would need to reconsider whether to continue basing market investments on Larry's anticipated victory. The last time he followed the trend and shorted the Dow, it had been profitable, sweetening the previous losses incurred from going long on British Pounds. The feeling of winning effortlessly was just too good. Time ticked by, nearing midnight, with results from 23 states now public—12 from Blue State, 11 from Red State, with a narrowing gap between the two parties. But generally, they were the strongholds of each side, and the market still believed Larry would win the election. Next was a two-hour break, as it was the United States' lunch break, so all states would stop counting. Lu Liang's face turned flushed red as he quickly walked out of the trading room, unable to help but cover his chest as he coughed heavily. Coughing in the evening was usually a bit worse than during the day, he habitually pulled out a cigarette. But after thinking it over, he threw it directly into the trash bin and opened the window to let in some air: "It's time to quit." There's nothing sadder in life than living without money, but clearly, Lu Liang didn't need to worry about that. He planned to take this chance to quit smoking, to live a few more years, to enjoy a few more years of lavish nightlife. Suddenly his phone rang, he received a message from Li Manli: "I cooked some pear and white fungus, do you want to try it? It can moisten the lungs." Lu Liang replied: "I'm still at the office." "I can bring it over to you." Li Manli suddenly got excited, worried about disturbing Lu Liang's work, she added: "Or Shiyu can pick it up downstairs." All day, she was so worried that Lu Liang might leave her for that 'sister' that she couldn't even focus on eating. Now, at midnight, Lu Liang was still at work, which at least meant he wasn't with that 'sister'. She hadn't been abandoned, at least not yet. "Then bring it up." "Okay, I'll be there soon." Li Manli was probably at Tangchen, it only took her twenty minutes to call and come up to the office. It was her first time at Lu Liang's company, her eyes filled with curiosity, always sneaking glances. Lu Liang patted her head, then led Li Manli to his office: "If you get sleepy, there's a lounge inside." Li Manli quickly waved her hands, her head shaking like a rattle: "After you drink, I'll go back." Lu Liang looked at her, patting the seat next to him, and Li Manli obediently, quietly sat beside him. Lu Liang drank the pear and white fungus soup, feeling the searing pain in his lungs being soothed: "Skilled craftsmanship, tastes good." Li Manli squinted her eyes, grinning broadly: "I'll go back and cook some lily soup later, you can eat it tomorrow morning." Lu Liang stroked her head for a long time, Li Manli enjoyed herself greatly until Lu Liang suddenly asked, "Would that make you angry?" Li Manli fell silent, hesitating for a long time, she bit her lower lip and whispered: "I won't be angry, just a little scared, scared that you don't want me because of that 'sister'." "Of course not." Even if Lu Liang liked Su Wanyu a lot, he wouldn't give up the whole forest for her, and neither would Li Manli. If he really had to make a choice, he would only give up the person forcing him to choose. "Hehe, then I'm not worried." Li Manli's smile bloomed, she hugged Lu Liang tight, not even worrying about whether pneumonia could be contagious, just wanting their faces close together. "You should head back and rest early," Lu Liang chuckled, used to Li Manli's way of expressing love. If his body wasn't ailing at this moment, Li Manli would probably wish to experience what a fever of 38 degrees felt like. Clumsy, but also very sincere.

Chapter 256: What is Not Forbidden by Law is Permissible

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