ZS | Chapter 10

What did Zhuo Hang like about me?

We had only spoken a few times in these past few years, and we had never even interacted deeply. How could he like me?

Could it be that he had gotten a taste for it and was lusting after my body?

Impossible, it hurt so much I rolled my eyes back. There was no way he could like it.

Since Zhuo Hang had no reason to like me, had I made a mistake in my reasoning?

Gu Zheng used dialectical thinking to overturn his own inference, and reexamined the ins and outs of how he had missed the mark. He overturned and rechecked it several times, and in the end still could not reach any valid conclusion.

The biggest problem was: insufficient evidence.

He could not prove that Zhuo Hang liked him.

At the same time, he could not prove that Zhuo Hang did not like him.

The only thing he could be sure of was that he did not like Zhuo Hang.

So, no matter what kind of feelings the other person had, those feelings were destined to have no result.

Only after parting from Chen Xi did Gu Zheng realize that he had just been numbed by the other man's rainbow fart and forgotten to ask for contact information.

The vice president had schemed him without leaving a trace, and after using him, still had not said whether Lanhai wanted him. The pretty boy had gotten the better of things and still played innocent, dangling grand promises before him, even improvising response lines on the spot based on his temper.

He was like an idiot, sold out and still counting the money for them!

He had never lost a war of words since he was little, and today he had been bullied by two salespeople and ruined.

A slap, then a sweet date. Salespeople not only knew how to negotiate, they also knew how to manipulate minds.

Gu Zheng admired them to the point of total prostration.

He had been stimulated by his ex and, on a whim, submitted a resume to Lanhai. Even if it proved he could do sales work, so what?

They had already broken up, and doing these things had no meaning.

After submitting the resume, Gu Zheng regretted it. If Lin Yiran had contacted him two days later, maybe he would have withdrawn it.

From childhood to adulthood, his parents had never asked what kind of life he wanted, and they cared even less about what he was good at. Only today did Gu Zheng realize that he had a natural edge in the negotiation arena, and maybe he should be doing this.

Every field had its specialists, and working with this group of salespeople, he would definitely learn something.

Lanhai was full of hidden talent, this resume had been sent to the right place!

In northern winter, the days were short and the nights long, bitter cold, with snow falling all over the sky.

Guang Boshi had gone with his parents to a southern island for vacation, and Mom had just posted a Moments update about eating hot pot with Old Dog Gu. Friends were not by his side, and his parents eating hot pot at home made him crave it.

Miserable, truly miserable.

Gu Zheng huddled in the hotel scrolling short videos, and the big data algorithm once again pushed him information related to corporate bankruptcy. Ever since he had gotten tangled up with Zhuo Hang, the first thing that had flooded Gu Zheng's phone was Zhuo's Real Estate, then all kinds of messy gay disease-prevention content, and now legal explainers on corporate bankruptcy, mergers, and restructuring. Although he had not seen Zhuo Hang again after they parted on bad terms at Wanda Starbucks, the big data algorithm had precisely targeted and pinned Gu Zheng for three months.

A smartphone could not identify who was in bed from the cries, and it had become like this because of the entries in the search box: how much is a green Submariner, routes of HIV transmission, Zhuo's Real Estate, is bankruptcy punishable, where to buy stocks……

Scrap iron, once it touched a magnet, would unconsciously pay attention to everything about him.

Before, they had clearly been on the same starting line. Why was it that after sleeping together, the one who got slept with had climbed to the peak of life, while the one who did the work got driven out by his family?

Could it be that fortune was transmitted through the connection, and the one lying flat would suck all the luck out of the one doing the work?

Late at night, when everything was quiet, it was easiest to let his thoughts run wild. Gu Zheng increasingly felt that "getting into bed" had been the dividing line that changed the two of them’s destinies. He even felt that if last time it had been Zhuo Hang on top of him, with the luck he got, he could also have earned three billion.

On that lonely, miserable Christmas Eve, Gu Zheng went downstairs and bought a Peace Apple from a street stall. The unripe apple tasted bitter the moment it entered his mouth.

The pretty boy was right. Because I could not control my emotions, I was provoked by Zhuo Hang and missed the mark; and because I could not control my emotions, I got angry at Old Gu and ran away from home.

Seeking a quick win in words only ended up hurting my own interests.

The cold wind was biting. Gu Zheng squatted by the roadside, gnawing on the apple while watching the magnet that had sucked away his luck.

Huh? The avatar changed?

Zhuo Hang's WeChat avatar had been a first-generation green Submariner before, and now it was a gold bar.

Gu Zheng immediately checked the gold price trend, and sure enough, gold prices had been rising steadily this year.

Money left in WeChat and Alipay earned less than 2 percent interest, bank fixed deposits earned less than 3 percent, and gold had risen 20 percent this year.

Gu Zheng made the decision at once, determined to follow the trend and make a killing, and buy gold first thing tomorrow morning!

On Christmas Day in 2024, the young master did not, against all usual habit, sleep until the sun was high overhead. He set an alarm for 8 a.m.

The money he had on hand could only buy three small gold bars. To make the sales clerk look at him a little more highly, Gu Zheng unwrapped the second-generation green Submariner and put it on himself.

A cheap suit paired with an expensive watch, and the temperament changed immediately.

Maybe because it was the holiday, the bank was crowded today, and Gu Zheng stood in front of the gold bar display case for a long time without anyone coming to help him. Because this little bit of money was too cheap to call for service, and to avoid looking like a suspect casing the joint, Gu Zheng wandered back and forth in the bank lobby.

He looked even more like he was casing the place.

Just as Gu Zheng was preparing to find a place to sit, he saw someone come in at the door.

The person was wearing a well-tailored cashmere coat that reached his knees, and the smooth lines outlined his tall, upright figure.

It was Zhuo Hang!

He was there at the tender, he was there at the auction, he was there when buying gold too, how was he everywhere?

Was he not following me?

Zhuo Hang walked straight to the number machine, took a queue number, and did not even glance at Gu Zheng.

As for Gu Zheng, from the moment the other man walked in he could not take his eyes off him, circling nearby.

Zhuo Hang scrolled on his phone without looking up, his gray cashmere coat and beige cashmere sweater echoing each other harmoniously, both highlighting his restrained air and adding a bit of warmth in winter.

Three months without seeing him, he seemed even prettier than before.

Dressed up this nicely for Christmas, was he going on a date?

Scrap iron was drawn to the magnet, its legs not listening to the brain's commands, moving uncontrollably toward the source of attraction.

Zhuo Hang noticed the movement beside him and looked up.

That cold, cutting gaze was the brightest color in winter, dazzling Gu Zheng into freezing in place and forgetting what he had been going to say.

*

The stock market was turbulent and ever-changing, and one wrong step could mean total defeat.

Zhuo Hang had long since anticipated that capital would definitely cash out while the stock market surged. But on the eve of National Day, he had been killing it in the stock market, and if he had not needed to repay Zhongwei Construction's debt and redeem the green Submariner, he definitely would not have stopped so easily.

Looking at it now, he had to thank the creditors for chasing him for payment, otherwise he would have put the money back in again.

Circumstances made the hero.

After being redeemed, the first-generation green Submariner had never been worn again by Zhuo Hang.

When his father gave him a watch 10 years ago, it had represented recognition of the honors he had won. Now this watch was not a reward to him but a burden. The heavy green Submariner represented heavy debt.

Of the money he had made in stocks, 300 million repaid debts, 100 million was put aside, and 8 million remained. Zhuo Hang took out 300,000 and bought a Jaeger-LeCoultre ultra-thin moon phase.

This was the first watch he had bought himself.

No one loved him, so he would love himself. When he achieved something, he would reward himself.

He did not need other people's approval. He did what he wanted to do, what he was good at, and worked hard for himself, taking responsibility for his life.

After National Day, the stock market slumped. Added to that, there was no huge principal available to deploy, so Zhuo Hang shifted his investment focus to the gold market.

The Federal Reserve's rate cut reduced the opportunity cost of holding gold, making gold more attractive than yield-bearing assets, and could therefore push gold prices up.

The facts proved that his judgment had been right.

When the gold he held exceeded ten million, gold was no longer the only investment choice. Zhuo Hang had other ideas, so he came to the bank to liquidate assets.

Unexpectedly, he ran into Gu Zheng.

Since being laughed at for buying the green Submariner at too high a price, Gu Zheng had crammed luxury watch knowledge, not only learning the difference between the first and second generation green Submariners, but also learning that the watch on Zhuo Hang's wrist now was a Jaeger-LeCoultre ultra-thin.

Gu Zheng only had five-minute enthusiasm for learning things. He knew that Zhuo Hang was wearing the Jaeger-LeCoultre ultra-thin series, but he had forgotten which model it was, and when his mouth slipped, he came out with a lewd and explosive opening line: "Do you like ultra-thin?"

"……"

Only after reacting to what he had said did Gu Zheng wish he could find a crack in the ground to crawl into.

He had embarrassed himself all the way to his grandma's house.

His skin could have been used as a shoe insole.

Gu Zheng's face turned red like a big apple as he tried to recover, "I mean the watch, cough, you changed watches."

Zhuo Hang did not know what ultra-thin felt like, but he was absolutely sure that he did not like ribbed large-grain ones.

Too painful.

Gu Zheng had turned what he said a corner, so he did not dig into the other layer of meaning, and lightly nodded.

Maybe there was nothing much to say, so Gu Zheng changed his opening line again, "I got a job, and I'm about to have five insurances and one housing fund!"

Zhuo Hang did not know what opinion to express about this five-insurances-and-one-housing-fund job, so he nodded again.

There was no small talk in this long-awaited reunion. The conversation entered with an explosive opening, and ended with a bizarre finish. All the way through, it had been Gu Zheng talking, while Zhuo Hang had not said a word, just like a decoration in the bank lobby.

He had thought the conversation ended there, but Gu Zheng kept standing there, looking as if he had something to say.

Zhuo Hang had no choice but to ask, "What is it?"

Gu Zheng hesitated, "I, I want to buy gold."

"Mm."

"Mm what? I don't know the ins and outs, you do, so explain it."

Zhuo Hang said a few more words, "You can buy it."

What they had learned in school was mostly macroeconomics, and microeconomics rarely covered current investment advice. Talking theory on paper was definitely not as good as asking a practitioner directly.

Gu Zheng was in the wrong yet still full of bravado, with not a trace of asking for help. He tilted his neck and said, "Don't brush me off, okay! Investing isn't like buying a decoration, why are you being so casual about it! Why can gold be bought, how much should I buy, you have to make all of this clear!"

It was not that Zhuo Hang did not want to explain, it was that gold price fluctuations could not be explained in a few words. When the number machine called his number, Zhuo Hang stood up.

Gu Zheng snatched the number slip away at once and craned his neck to act shamelessly.

In a public place, Zhuo Hang did not want to argue with a shameless person. He turned to leave, but was caught by the hand.

Gu Zheng said unhappily, "Why is it so hard to say a few words? If you don't make it clear today, I won't let you handle your business!"

Zhuo Hang looked at their clasped hands and was somewhat helpless. "Find a less crowded place, and I'll explain it to you."

The two of them found a hard two-seat bench in a corner.

Zhuo Hang said, "There are many factors that affect gold prices, including supply and demand, inflation, interest rates and exchange rates, the economic situation... The main factor affecting gold prices recently has been the Fed's rate cut."

Although Gu Zheng did not have an investing brain, he was at least a master's graduate in business management and quickly found the key point of the problem. "You just said gold prices were affected by many factors, so why can you be sure that the recent rise in gold prices has to do with the dollar? Have the other variables not changed?"

"During normal inflation, investors may choose to buy physical assets like gold to preserve value, thereby pushing up gold prices. Usually at this time the bank will tighten monetary policy, causing interest rates to rise, which then affects the attractiveness of investing in gold. It is a cycle." Zhuo Hang said, "Gold prices in the international market are quoted in dollars, and fluctuations in the dollar exchange rate have a direct impact on gold prices. Usually, a weaker dollar leads to a rise in gold prices."

"Right now it is inflation and a rate cut from the dollar."

He had thought Zhuo Hang would explain a lot, but he had not expected it to be finished in just a few sentences.

"Ah, it's that simple?"

"Mm."

What did that "mm" mean? Didn't you like me? I gave you so many chances, why didn't you say a little more?

To test the other man, Gu Zheng deliberately did not let the conversation end and looked for something to say, "You can't buy all that money in gold, either."

Zhuo Hang nodded. "Gold's correlation with other assets is almost always negative, and it is usually used for asset hedging rather than as the main investment channel."

"How so?"

Zhuo Hang analyzed it rationally, "Because gold's historical volatility is 20 percent, and the U.S. stock market is 15 percent. Higher-risk assets are usually expected to have higher returns, but gold's increase is far less than stocks'. Professional investment institutions almost never touch gold, and most hold no more than 5 percent, mainly using it for capital hedging. So when assets exceed ten million, putting everything into gold is not the best choice..."

People who truly knew the field did not pour all their knowledge outward at once, but accumulated it and then spoke differently to different people. Zhuo Hang could speak with extremely high professionalism in the guise of an industry expert, and he could also use plain language to make asset allocation clear.

His lapel coat added a bit of dimension to his cold features. When Zhuo Hang talked about investment, he looked as if he were glowing.

Gu Zheng looked at the pale skin of his neck, and his mind wandered.

But seeing the other man with that businesslike attitude, answering only when he felt like it, he felt that he was thinking too much.

Maybe Zhuo Hang did not like me.

After Zhuo Hang finished talking about gold, he very gently asked, "How much do you want to invest? I can help you allocate your assets."

This time it was Gu Zheng who turned into a tight-lipped gourd.

Zhuo Hang thought the other man had too much money and said modestly, "If the assets are under 100 million, I should be able to manage them. If there is too much, then..."

Gu Zheng looked left and right, and when he saw no one around, he hooked an arm around Zhuo Hang's shoulder and leaned close to his ear.

"I have 250,000."