Chapter 275: Make Some Pocket Money on the Side

Words : 1846 Updated : Oct 1st, 2025

"Mr. Lu..." Zhang Chen suddenly had a devious idea and set his sights on Lu Liang. If he could play a cameo role, the effect would surely be explosive. Lu Liang was startled, "Hasn't the film already wrapped up?" "Even though it has wrapped, we can still shoot additional scenes." Zhang Chen was delighted to see Lu Liang's attitude softening, seemingly very interested, and hurriedly suggested, "Mr. Lu, there's a financial host in the movie, and I feel like the role is perfect for you." The scene was set in a broadcast studio, with just a crowd of spectators at the edges of the frame, a one-man show lasting half a minute, and reshooting it would be effortless. Moreover, the original actor, although an economist, seemed to have endorsed some products that defrauded many people and had even whitewashed Guo of the Red Cross. Zhang Chen suddenly despised him and very much regretted letting him play the role, as he must have been out of his mind at the time. "..." Lu Liang chuckled, unwilling to burst Zhang Chen's bubble. Previously, there hadn't been another option, but now there was a much better choice available. Even if the original actor entered the room leading with his left foot, Zhang Chen would likely find him unsuitable. "Let's see, there should be some sample clips, right?" "Of course, of course." They comprised thirteen lines of dialogue with a duration of half a minute, entirely a one-man show without interaction. "Let's give it a try, though I can't guarantee how well I'll perform." Lu Liang read through the lines and character setting, feeling somewhat tempted, because the role he would play was that of a famous financial commentator. Over the past year, he had been criticized by such 'experts' numerous times. Eventually, their faces were metaphorically swollen, and they fell silent, not daring to speak up anymore. Zhang Chen was overjoyed, "Mr. Lu, then familiarize yourself with the lines of the role, and I'll have someone prepare the shooting location." The broadcast studio was available right in Mahua's theater. Just throw on a green screen, no need for props. As for the audience in the film's show, with so many actors in Mahua, plus the crew, a few could just make cameo appearances, since their faces wouldn't be fully visible anyway. "Wow, you're going to make a cameo?" When Zhang Tian'ai received the message, she hurried over; she was assigned to do Lu Liang's makeup and teach him acting. "Yes, I'm preparing to debut and will act in romance dramas with you in the future." Lu Liang joked with a smile, which made Zhang Tian'ai's heart flutter, and she squinted her eyes with a smile, "If you say that, I might just take it seriously~" "Japanese romance action movies, just one camera and we can start shooting, right?" Lu Liang held Zhang Tian'ai's waist. "Stop it, this is Mr. Zhang's office, you better memorize your lines right now." Zhang Tian'ai struggled to run away, in case someone saw them; she didn't care, since everyone knew she was with Lu Liang. But it would reflect poorly on Lu Liang, especially being such a formidable finance mogul; the filters might shatter entirely. Lu Liang thought acting was easy, until he actually stepped into it; a half-minute scene took two hours to shoot. Shoot one take, keep one take, Then shoot another, and it continued. "How does your first acting experience feel, newbie?" Zhang Tian'ai squinted her eyes, as she had been watching the monitor the whole time, finding Lu Liang's committed acting very endearing, especially when he accidentally misspoke and apologized to others. "Warning you, don't look at me like that, otherwise I'll turn your butt swollen," Lu Liang said with a stern look, always believing the description 'cute' was only suitable for girls and children. He, a grown man, being described as cute was undoubtedly an insult. "Come on, come on." Zhang Tian'ai grinned, hands on hips, sticking out her rear end, swaying like Donald Duck. Lu Liang didn't hold back and delivered a slap. Suddenly, he looked out the window, "The snow has stopped." "Yes, it's stopped." Zhang Tian'ai, feeling a bit sorry for herself, rubbed her butt and followed his gaze, a hint of disappointment flashing in her eyes. The snow had stopped, and so Lu Liang would be leaving. "What shall we eat tonight?" Lu Liang asked. Zhang Tian'ai instantly brushed off her gloomy mood, tightly clutching Lu Liang's arm, "How about we go eat hot pot lamb? I know an old shop in the hutongs that's really delicious." "Let's go then, it's good to have lamb to warm up in this cold weather." His business concluded in Beijing, the weather cleared up as well, and Lu Liang caught a flight back to Modu. With the Richest Man deciding to join the Spring Festival lineup, the Mahua Team also began investing funds for promotion. The first leaked movie clip naturally featured Lu Liang in his cameo as a financial pundit. "What? The conscience of the capital market? Liangzi, is he talking about himself?" "Spending a billion in a month? I need to check it out, just to compare, exactly how much is Liangzi's three hundred billion in fundraising?" "Can't comprehend the numbers? Eleven digits after the three, the more I think about it, the more outrageous it gets. It's even a digit longer than my mobile number." "Three hundred billion in a public fund isn't really that much, Tianhong of Alipay is in the trillion range." "Tianhong took 12 years to reach today's trillion scale. Tianxing started with three hundred billion and it seems headed for failure." "Exactly, failing would be best, don't compete with me, anyone who does is a loser." Xihong City's Richest Man was a hit before it even aired, given that the hottest topic right now is Lu Liang's three hundred billion public funding. But the fundraising scale really seemed exaggerated, people wanted to be optimistic but were also scared to be. Even if the entire national population participated, each person would still need to contribute at least 220 yuan. Could Lu Liang's prestige really pull in three hundred billion? Amidst the discussions, the date moved to the 23rd. The eve of Christmas, also the day when the Federal Reserve would raise interest rates. Lu Liang sat alone in the office on the 32nd floor, facing three monitors, two of which displayed the trading room on the 22nd floor. The other was for monitoring the gold market. The Federal Reserve was about to announce an interest rate hike, aligning with the politician's governance policy; one was about to take office, the other was the Federal Reserve, both in the same trousers. It was foreseeable that a large amount of US Dollar funds would inevitably return, favoring US stocks but depressing gold. Since the beginning of the year, the international situation had been turbulent, starting with the Black Swan event of Old England's Brexit, followed by major country confrontations, and finally the Grey Swan event of a businessman winning the election. It had only calmed down recently. London Gold had risen from 1715 US dollars per ounce at the beginning of the year to 1892 US dollars now, an increase of over 10%. A minor correction was long overdue. Though selling his holdings in Ningde Era brought in 727 million US dollars, subsequent investments in NIO left only 767 million US dollars in the account. Wen Chao had prepared the operation plan in advance and submitted it to Lu Liang for approval; he and Sun Yutao decided to withdraw 700 million US dollars. The operation fund was split in half with an 8x leverage, enlarging 350 million US dollars to 2.8 billion US dollars to short London Gold. Lu Liang felt the leverage was a bit too low, seeming to waste this market opportunity, but since he had decided to delegate authority, he agreed. "Since I've separated from private equity and the public offering hasn't been issued yet, I seem to be an independent speculator now." Lu Liang's mouth curled into a smile, recalling in Xiangjiang, there was also a family trust fund invested under Lu Ya's name. It started with just 130 million Hong Kong Dollars, but he went all-in on Tencent's stock, which had risen from 1.35 trillion at the beginning of the year to 1.77 trillion now, an increase of 31%. The 103 million Hong Kong Dollars had also become 134 million. He then injected another 50 million US dollars into it, the fund's assets now exceeded five hundred million. "It seems like a good opportunity to make some pocket money." Lu Liang, thinking this, immediately took action, withdrawing 40 million US dollars, the operation fund was split in half. The 20 million US dollars with a 30x leverage turned into 600 million, beginning to short London Gold at the 1890 price point. He sold 317,600 contracts without leaving any positions open. Market concepts of 'contracts' varied globally and among institutions. But in Lu Liang's view, A-shares, US stocks each counted 100 shares as one contract; London Gold was one ounce per contract. Holding 317,600 contracts, every one dollar drop per ounce would earn Lu Liang 317,600 US dollars. Conversely, each one dollar rise would cause a loss of 317,600 US dollars. The 20 million US dollars margin, of which 70% was the mandatory liquidation line, also equating to a 14 million loss. This meant that if the price rose by 44 dollars to 1934 dollars, Lu Liang would be forced to liquidate. "Yifan, go buy some late night snacks." Lu Liang picked up the desk phone and dialed the secretary's number at the door. Having managed hundreds of millions, even tens of billions of US dollars, now playing with tens of millions, the thresholds had been infinitely raised. He felt no tension at all, his stomach even somewhat hungry. "Mr. Lu, what would you like to eat?" A twenty-something young man entered, pushing the door open, his looks somewhat resembling Hu Ge. The moment he was interviewed, Lu Liang took a liking to him. Lu Liang thought for a moment and said, "There is a nice congee place in Expo Garden, go get some, and bring back eel congee." Once Wen Chao passed this test, he would be placed to manage a private fund together with Sun Yutao. He also needed to train a new secretary, tentatively Zhuo Yifan, 24 this year, a recent graduate with a master's from Fudan's School of Economics and Management. Sёarᴄh the nôvel_Fire.ηet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

Chapter 275: Make Some Pocket Money on the Side

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