Chapter 9: The Beautiful Woman Min Yuerou

The content on the note consisted of a Coinbase username and password. Clearly, this was a cryptocurrency account used by a corrupt official to transfer assets.

Using advanced tools with practiced ease, Li Shuo logged into the Coinbase account, only to find, much to his disappointment, that the official had only collected a little over ten thousand Bitcoins—the exact number being 12,080.

Although ten thousand Bitcoins would skyrocket to a value of over 100 million USD in a decade, Li Shuo chose to liquidate the entire position after careful consideration.

In his past life, he had worked in finance and had once analyzed the price fluctuations of Bitcoin. The price of this thing was characterized by extreme volatility; it started at just a few cents, quickly surged to several thousand dollars, and then plummeted back to a few cents within six months. The subsequent trend of Bitcoin followed the same pattern.

For those in the financial industry, every single one of these fluctuations represented profits of dozens or even hundreds of times.

At present, Bitcoin had already undergone a six-month bull market, with an average trading price of 2.4 USD. Li Shuo sold his ten thousand Bitcoins at a high price of 29,000 USD, which was already considered a high price in the first ten years of Bitcoin's existence.

Li Shuo didn't need to sell at the absolute peak; he only needed to buy back in when Bitcoin fell back to a few cents, which would yield a spread of more than ten times.

Furthermore, according to the information Li Shuo had summarized yesterday, in the time between his selling and buying, he could use this money to operate in the A-share market.

For the rest of the day, this was exactly what Li Shuo did...

In the internet cafe, Li Shuo dumped his Bitcoins and then took a bus directly to Kun City, which belonged to Songshan County.

In this era, earning USD was a remarkable feat. Accordingly, to exchange USD for RMB, one had to go to the city's bank headquarters to settle the foreign exchange.

However, before heading there, Li Shuo took a stroll through the city's commercial street. He bought a set of casual clothes for 500 yuan, got a haircut for a few dozen yuan, and picked up a pair of gold-rimmed glasses at an optical shop.

In the optical shop, looking at the refined, slightly mature man in the mirror, Li Shuo nodded with satisfaction. Earning over ten thousand in foreign exchange as a high school student would be too conspicuous; if he appeared as an adult, things would go much smoother.

At around 10:00 AM, during the peak period of bank foot traffic, Li Shuo arrived at the ICBC headquarters in Kun City.

He first found the lobby manager: "Hello, can I settle foreign exchange here?"

The other party stared at Li Shuo in surprise, sizing him up. Seeing his exquisite attire, the manager very politely escorted Li Shuo to a VIP room. Soon, a mature and charming woman appeared before him.

"Hello, Mr. Li. I am Min Yuerou, a customer manager at ICBC. It is a pleasure to serve you. Are you here to settle foreign exchange?"

Li Shuo glanced at the large "peach" curves wrapped in her uniform, thinking to himself how pale and smooth they looked.

"Yes, I earned a sum of US dollars abroad."

Min Yuerou's eyes lit up, and her smile became even more charming. She praised him, "That is truly impressive. You look quite young; if it's convenient, may I ask how you earned this money?"

"It's inconvenient. It is my private secret."

Settling foreign exchange was a cumbersome process that required explaining the source of funds. Fortunately, Li Shuo knew that as long as the amount of USD being exchanged did not exceed the 50,000 threshold, it was not a mandatory requirement.

Sure enough, Min Yuerou did not press further. Instead, she efficiently calculated the exchange rate for Li Shuo and, at his request, processed an ICBC card for him.

"This is our ICBC 'Little Treasury' account, a high-tier savings card. It allows you to enjoy certain VIP services. Additionally, when you conduct ICBC business anywhere in the country, you can enjoy services such as skipping the queue and using exclusive manual channels..."

Looking at the man before her, Min Yuerou added intentionally, "A 'Little Treasury' account usually requires assets of at least 500,000 to be processed. However, seeing how young you are yet able to earn USD, I specifically requested permission from the branch manager to open the relevant privileges for you..."

From beginning to end, Li Shuo maintained a stoic expression. He was playing not just an adult, but a successful professional.

He nodded with reserve, and instead of offering thanks, he raised a further requirement: "Does the 'Little Treasury' account have a preferential limit for foreign exchange settlement? The amount I need to settle annually will exceed 50,000 USD."

Min Yuerou's smile grew even more radiant as she explained patiently, "Of course. However, the limit can only be increased to 100,000 USD at most. If you wish to increase it further, you would need to raise your customer tier."

"How do I raise my customer tier?"

"The more deposits under your account, the higher your tier. That is the most direct method. There are also indirect methods; for example, if you conduct various risk-based transactions through ICBC, the more frequent your trades, the higher your tier will rise. Of course, this requires you to pass risk verification and activate relevant securities qualifications."

"I see. Can I open a securities account here?"

The corners of Li Shuo's mouth curled slightly. As a former finance professional in his past life, he naturally understood everything Min Yuerou was introducing. However, he knew that being too proactive in his inquiries would lower his status in her eyes; he had to let her guide him so that everything would seem natural.

The reason he chose ICBC, besides the ability to settle foreign exchange, was that he could open an account directly through a professional securities representative at the bank.

This was not the developed internet era of the future. Opening an account now required not only qualification reviews but often required visiting a physical branch of a securities company in person. The procedures were extremely troublesome, and Li Shuo wasn't even sure if there were any securities companies in Kun City.

The 235,000 RMB he obtained through the exchange was intended for direct investment in the domestic A-share market.

While at the internet cafe a few days ago, Li Shuo had specifically checked the securities market. Consequently, relevant memories from his past life began to resurface in his mind. He vaguely remembered a few "monster stocks" that had more than doubled in price.

"Of course you can. To be honest, I also hold securities professional qualifications. I can open accounts for various securities companies for you, which is equivalent to opening an account at the securities company itself..."

Min Yuerou was speaking in official terms, but Li Shuo maintained an air of attentive listening. Once she finished, he showed his first smile: "That would be wonderful. However, I wonder if Ms. Min could adjust the commission rates?"

"As expected of a person capable of bringing foreign exchange to the country. You may not seem to know much about securities, yet you can grasp their core at a glance."

Min Yuerou praised him with a hint of admiration, then continued, "For an ordinary securities account, the commission per transaction is about 0.5 per mille. That means for every 1,000 yuan, you would be charged 5 yuan. However, you have come to the right person. We at ICBC offer the most considerate services for high-net-worth clients, and I can further adjust the commission for you on top of that. Ultimately, your transaction commission will reach 0.1 per mille..."

Li Shuo naturally didn't care about that money, but his principle for rebirth was that in both character and action, one must be serious, cautious, and flawless in every detail.

What his past life provided Li Shuo was not just knowledge of the future, but also the experience and maturity formed by a man who had spent years navigating the complexities and hardships of society.

However, what Li Shuo did not expect was that his "performance" seemed to be too excellent. After helping him complete all the various procedures, Min Yuerou lifted her wrist to glance at her IWC ladies' watch and smiled at him.

"It's already 12 o'clock. I apologize; my processing was too slow and wasted your time. As compensation, may I invite you to lunch?"