Chapter 286: A Race Against Time

"...What?! Say that again? Where did Fang Huan invest the money?"
"Deep Out of the Money, Mr. Bell."
Deep Out of the Money option.
An option that expires in an average of 72 hours. To put it bluntly, it's pure apocalyptic gambling—something only the most hardcore gamblers would touch!
And Fang Huan and his group were betting that:
The British pound, the country's legal tender, would plummet by more than 10% within 72 hours!
This is simply unbelievable!
This isn't investment; it's betting on the instant collapse of a sovereign nation!
A 10% drop in Bitcoin or a stock is still within the realm of understanding.
But a 10% drop in the currency of one of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council in three days?
That's not just financial volatility; that's practically a financial catastrophe for Britain!
"Not only that, Mr. Bell.
From stock index futures to all sorts of financial derivatives…
Fang Huan is indiscriminately pouring money into the market, their actions are like…
like Britain is about to fall tomorrow."
Bell was completely baffled.
Has Fang Huan gone mad?
Why would he do something so crazy, so illogical?
Right now, the whole world is bullish on Britain because of the "positive" news of Brexit being repeatedly postponed, or even potentially revoked…
"…!"
Suddenly, Bell froze.
He jumped to his feet, a flash of insight striking his mind, piecing together all the fragmented pieces of information.
"...A hard Brexit! They're betting on a hard Brexit!"
But Goldman Sachs' intelligence had already made its final assessment: a hard Brexit was impossible.
Although there hadn't been an official announcement, a delay was a foregone conclusion.
'But...what if our intelligence was wrong from the start?'
What if there was no delay at all, what if it was all just a smokescreen, and the doomsday train of a hard Brexit had already quietly started moving in the darkness?
Moreover, "Fang Huan," who had never failed in the financial battlefield, was launching an unprecedented financial airstrike against Great Britain with massive amounts of capital!
What did this mean?
"Could it be...that our intelligence was really wrong?!"
Once this thought arose, it could no longer be suppressed.
Bell's mind went blank.
Cold sweat instantly soaked through his shirt.
If Goldman Sachs' intelligence is wrong, and if Fang Huan's judgment is the truth…
Then the entire world is about to face an unprecedented financial tsunami!
And Britain is standing at the eye of the tsunami!
And they're still foolishly sunbathing on the beach!
“Quick! Act now!!”
Bell rushed out of the office like a madman, leaving a room full of stunned subordinates.
A race against time has begun.
***
Su Hao's fingers lightly swiped across the tablet screen, and the list sent by the “Fang Huan Charity Foundation” slowly unfolded.
“Chairman Su, this is the first batch of promising candidates selected by our foundation, all chosen from all over the country according to your requirements.”
The Fang Huan Charity Foundation, this behemoth born with a silver spoon in its mouth, immediately launched its mission upon establishment: to send out its resources worldwide to find the children most in need and most deserving of help.
Of course, general donations were just a drop in the ocean.
Su Hao's real strategy was to establish a unique "Super Genius Development System":
From the vast sea of ​​people, to select the most special and dazzling gems, and then use massive resources to mold them into true pillars of the nation!
Now, this first batch of "chosen ones," selected through a thorough screening, lay before Su Hao.
These were all "potential stocks," their talent and hardship equally outstanding, having passed through layers of screening.
"..."
Su Hao remained silent, his fingertips slowly tracing the smooth paper, his gaze sweeping over the unfamiliar names.
Following his specific instructions, the foundation's employees thoroughly investigated each student's file, leaving no stone unturned, from bedwetting at age three to their crushes at eighteen—they practically investigated every ancestry.
The reason for such detail was, of course, his irrational "intuition." To unleash its full potential, it needed ample information as raw material.
'Sure enough…'
As the densely packed personal information flooded his mind, a wondrous chemical reaction began.
Each name seemed to become an independent coordinate, and in his mysterious and profound world of perception, beams of light, some bright, some dim, shot into the sky, forming a dazzling star map of the future!
To be fair, the foundation's people were incredibly efficient.
Of course, this wasn't surprising.
After all, the core team responsible for selecting the list within the foundation was also handpicked by Su Hao from the group company's talent pool using his intuition—each one a master shrewd individual.
'Then… let's start with the brightest ones, the ones that are dazzling enough to blind anyone.'
While everyone on the list would receive Su Hao's financial support, for those most radiant, those seemingly born to be in the spotlight, he planned to offer the ultimate "all-inclusive luxury package":
From now on, it wouldn't just be about providing timely help, but about giving them wings!
He would escort them all the way to adulthood, until they had firmly established themselves in their respective fields.
'Alright, those I've highlighted, add them directly to the "key support list," give them top-tier resources.
The rest, follow the standard support process.'
'Ah, yes, Chairman Su!'
Under Su Hao's direction, a comprehensive network supporting future talents across various fields was quietly established.
Su Hao leaned back in his chair, gazing at the bustling traffic outside the window, a strange ripple stirring within him.
He realized then that there truly were so many children in need of help on this land.
The thought of that internet-addicted shut-in who used to stay up all night playing games, scolded by his family as a "parasite"...
and now, transformed into an "angel investor" providing wings for these promising young people, filled Su Hao with mixed emotions.
How to put it...
It's quite a strange feeling.
As for how high and how far these little guys will fly after receiving this seed funding, that's beyond his prediction.
His initial intention was simple, yet grand:
To plant seeds in this country that could change the future!
After all, that's what he was aiming for by investing so much money in this foundation.
“…”
After finishing processing the list, Su Hao looked up and found Liang Haiyuan, who had just reported on the work, still standing there, looking hesitant.
“Something wrong?”
“Ah, well… Chairman Su, the batch of ‘deep out-of-the-money put options’ we invested in will all expire in less than 24 hours.
You know, the window for this stuff is only 72 hours…”
Deep OTM.
A name that sounds incredibly sophisticated, translated into plain language:
An extreme, almost gambling-like financial derivative specifically designed to counter a potential precipitous drop in the value of a particular financial product (like the British pound).
To put it bluntly, this thing doesn't resemble a legitimate financial product at all.
It's no different from buying a lottery ticket. You pay a "premium" for a piece of paper, then go home and pray for a catastrophe.
If you actually witness an apocalyptic disaster, that worthless piece of paper in your hand instantly becomes a golden key to financial freedom.
But if you lose the gamble… then the premium you invested will be gone, like throwing it into water, leaving no trace.
And Su Hao's almost superstitious intuition immediately pointed to this bizarre thing that, to ordinary people, is no different from suicide.