Chapter 499: Double Agent
Just like that, in the craze of a large number of .COM companies going public to raise money, on December 9, 1999, at this historic moment, the value concept of free, with the help of green dollars, was finally fully reflected.
On this day, VA Linux's stock was first publicly issued at a price of US$30, and on the first day of listing it set an unprecedented record of a 733% surge in stock price!
The highest price of the day reached $320 and finally closed at $239.
There is no doubt that this is a feast for the ambitious!
Li Yiwen, who was in the United States, witnessed this crazy moment with his own eyes. Before he had time to celebrate with Samuel Palmisano and others, he immediately called Lu Yiming back home.
"Cousin, you're going to get rich this time!"
Lu Yiming, who had been following the progress of the incident on the Internet, actually knew everything. When he heard what Li Yiwen said, he immediately laughed and said, "Look at what you said. When have I not made a fortune? Besides, it's not me who wants to make a fortune, but we have to make a fortune. Don't forget that you have also invested a lot of money in this project. By the way, how is the situation of the US stock market now?"
Li Yiwen could not hide his excitement and said, "The entire Wall Street has fallen into a frenzy. Everyone is discussing how to divide up Microsoft's 'corpse'. They are like a group of vultures waiting for Microsoft's death."
Lu Yiming laughed: "Let them continue to dream. After all, stocks are nothing more than selling dreams. If they don't dream, how can we make money?"
Li Yiwen had seen the craziness on Wall Street in recent days. It seemed that overthrowing Microsoft's monopoly was "what everyone wanted". Even Li Yiwen wondered what would happen if Microsoft really encountered a challenger. After hearing what Lu Yiming said, he couldn't help but ask, "Does VA Linux really have no chance to challenge Microsoft?"
Lu Yiming said bluntly: "The only ones who are celebrating are the vampires on Wall Street. What do they know about programming? Linux is free and open source, how can it possibly beat Microsoft? Don't programmers need to eat? If an industry is not profitable, then it is doomed to have no large influx of top talents. Without talents, what can we use to fight Microsoft? Power generation for love?"
“That makes sense!”
Lu Yiming's words instantly killed Li Yiwen's fantasy in its infancy.
Who is the happiest when it’s free? Only the freeloaders are the happiest.
What kind of people are the freeloaders?
They are usually losers in society, they have nothing, but their ambitions are higher than the sky, they are so poor that they eat grass roots and say they are keeping healthy, but if you don't serve them, they will think you are incompetent. They "point out the mountains and rivers and write inspiring words every day, and despise the former marquis", they don't know what respect is, they think that their breathing is providing nutrients for the photosynthesis of the earth, and the whole world should indulge them.
Little do people know that manure at least has some nutrients, but freeloaders are completely useless.
Can Linux kill Microsoft with the approval of the freeloaders? What a wild dream.
Lu Yiming warned, "Before, I asked you to help me buy so many Linux company stocks in North America. It is true that I am very optimistic about Linux, but it is too early to talk about breaking Microsoft's monopoly and hegemony. Don't be fooled into falling into a trap."
"Okay, I understand."
Li Yiwen gradually calmed down and was secretly grateful to Lu Yiming for helping him analyze the pros and cons.
As the current largest investor in VA Linux, Lu Yiming's wealth skyrocketed by US$1.6 billion overnight. Even Li Yiwen joined the ranks of billionaires, becoming another living example of how Linux helps realize the "American Dream."
So it was inevitable that I believed Samuel Palmisano's lies and was fooled into believing that Linux would really become Microsoft's gravedigger.
Fortunately, Lu Yiming woke him up at the critical moment, so that he did not get carried away and be deceived into rushing into the battle.
In the end, with the turmoil in the U.S. stock market, the free and open nature advocated by Linux has, in this astonishing way, pressed the seesaw of making big money.
From the day it was created, this day has become a historical specimen of Linux concept stocks that can never be reproduced, but the speculative craze about the Linux concept that it brought about has continued to create legendary stories for a period of time afterwards, such as the Linux website being acquired at a high price just one week after its launch.
In the current US stock market, a saying has begun to spread: If you want to get rich, then tinker with Linux!
Lu Yiming and Li Yiwen were also quietly following the situation. Unlike the enthusiasm of others, they maintained a calm mindset and continued to sell their Linux stocks slowly. In addition to VA Linux, Lu Yiming and Li Yiwen actually invested in quite a few Linux companies.
According to statistics, the total amount of funds invested in Linux sites in 1999 was as high as 100 billion US dollars!
Naturally, Lu Yiming would not be polite with such a piece of fat meat, so he came uninvited and went to the table with a knife to divide the meat in an extremely barbaric way.
However, just as Lu Yiming was enjoying his meal, the news finally leaked out. After all, truth will come out sooner or later in this world.
A few days later, Bill Gates learned that he had been backstabbed. He called Lu Yiming and asked directly, "Lu, I need an explanation!"
Lu Yiming did not try to play dumb to get away with it. After all, that would be too insulting to Bill Gates's intelligence. So he smiled calmly and said, "What do you want to explain? Mr. Gates, you are not talking about my investment in Linux, right?"
This news was recently published in newspapers in the United States.
Lu Yiming and Li Yiwen, two "barbarians" from the East, made money that should have belonged to the white people. The total profit exceeded 2.4 billion US dollars, which is simply eye-opening.
In fact, if it was just an investment, Bill Gates would not be angry. As a capitalist, he still has a lot of competitor stocks in his hands, and making money is enough. The key is that Lu Yiming's identity as "Bill Gates' close friend" was used as an important symbol that Microsoft had been deserted by everyone.
It has to be said that as soon as this news came out, Microsoft, which had not yet completely escaped from the antitrust lawsuit, was hit hard again, and its stock price fell by several percentage points. This is what made Bill Gates angry. After all, for a qualified capitalist, losing money is more serious than being beheaded.
Currently, Mingyuan Technology has in-depth cooperation and exchanges with Microsoft on the two projects of USB flash drives and Tianyin MP3, so it is impossible to turn against each other directly, and the losses will be too great.
So, Lu Yiming revealed the inside information he knew without saying anything.
"Mr. Gates, I invested in Linux simply to make money. The one who wanted to dig up Microsoft's grave was IBM and Samuel Palmisano. If you don't believe me, you can ask someone to check. He was the one who set it up, and he had been planning it for a long time. I did nothing except buying and selling stocks."
"real?"
Bill Gates was skeptical.
Lu Yiming swore: "I lied to you that I am a puppy!"
"In fact, I am not optimistic about the future of Linux. It is a joke to think that Linux can break Microsoft's monopoly on the PC side. At least in my opinion, it is impossible."
This clear-cut statement immediately softened Bill Gates' attitude.
But as an old man, it was impossible for him to believe what Lu Yiming said so easily. After all, the white people talked nonsense and boasted without thinking every day, and he had long been immune to it.
"Lu, I need you to prove it with actual actions, do you understand?"
"Don't worry, I understand. I will sell my Linux stocks right away. If you are willing to take over, I can even sell them all now for the sake of our friendship."
Lu Yiming's tone sounded a little embarrassed, as if he was making a difficult decision.
But in fact, if Bill Gates really wanted to take over, Lu Yiming would definitely be overjoyed.
Bill Gates, who was not confident about Lu Yiming, the software genius, chose to spend money to avoid disaster without hesitation.
"Name your price. I want all the Linux stocks you have."
Although Lu Yiming said he wanted to sell, how could Bill Gates believe it?
He felt that he had outwitted Lu Yiming.
Come on, you want to sell it? Okay, I'll buy it.
“Ah… this…”
Lu Yiming spoke in a surprised tone, as if he was doing something difficult like cutting flesh.
Bill Gates sneered in his heart.
See, I knew you were bluffing here!
I believe you will sell it?
Unless all sows can climb trees!
Come on, if you have the guts, sell it and I’ll take it over!
"Hey, Mr. Gates, don't be impulsive. In fact, this matter is not as serious as you think. Linux stocks are not that valuable. The prices are all inflated. How can I let you suffer a loss?"
Bill Gates immediately said, "Don't worry about it. Just tell me whether you want to sell it or not. I have plenty of money and I am not afraid of losing it."
"Well, since Mr. Gates has said so, what can I do? For the sake of our friendship...Okay, I will sell all my stocks to you...But the price...Mr. Gates, we are just doing business..."
"Do I need that little money from you? I'll just give you the market price."
"All right."
Lu Yiming then pretended to be forced into a corner and sold all of his Linux stocks to Bill Gates to show that he had no ambition in this regard and had no intention of digging Microsoft's grave.
Bill Gates was very satisfied with his actions and believed what Lu Yiming had said before.
"Lu, you really are my good friend."
Lu Yiming was very happy with the money he made, but he couldn't let Bill Gates see it, so he had to keep it to himself.
"Of course."
When Li Yiwen returned to China, the two counted the accounts and found that this trip to the United States had earned them $2.7 billion, far exceeding Lu Yiming's original expectation of $2 billion.
Li Yiwen was so happy that he couldn't stop smiling.
"My goodness, you are really amazing."
Lu Yiming was not satisfied and said, "I only made less than $3 billion from a market capitalization of $100 billion. Sigh..."
"hiss ……"
Li Yiwen couldn't bear to watch it anymore and complained, "$100 billion was invested in the entire Linux industry, and countless investors participated in dividing it up. You alone can get so much, which is already very jealous, you know? I even almost doubted whether I could come back alive from the United States, it's too dangerous there."
Lu Yiming smiled and said, "Didn't I arrange a bodyguard for you? Don't worry, everything will be fine."
Li Yiwen rolled his eyes: "It sounds so safe, why don't you go there yourself?"
Lu Yiming said as a matter of course: "The son of a wealthy family should not sit in the hall."
Li Yiwen: “…”
In the past two months, Peng Dingguo has been under a lot of pressure. After all, the domestic stock market has changed just as Lu Yiming predicted, especially the stocks recommended by Lu Yiming. They have shown good growth and rapid development. They have now been widely praised and are hard to come by.
In comparison, his predictions about the stock market were very sloppy. It cannot be said that his predictions were wrong, but the key point is that his predictions were repetitive. Reading them was the same as not reading them, but not reading them was not the same as reading them.
Peng Dingguo was very melancholy.
If this continues, it looks like we're going to lose.
Do I really have to call Lu Yiming "Dad" in front of the media?
He was eating breakfast absentmindedly when he suddenly received a call from a good friend.
"Have you read today's headlines? Zhonghai has produced a stock god."
Peng Dingguo was very upset. He almost had a stress reaction when he heard the word "stock god". He asked unhappily, "Did Lu Yiming do anything crazy again?"
The other side said: "No, the new Zhonghai stock god is called Wang Xiujie. I heard that he is the ace analyst of Wan Guo Securities. Now all Zhonghai is full of news about him. You should take a good look."
When he heard that it wasn't Lu Yiming, Peng Dingguo couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.
Afterwards, he found this morning's newspaper at the newsstand outside the breakfast shop and saw the relevant report.
Ordinary people were just watching for fun, but he was an insider after all, so he immediately sensed something was wrong.
Wang Xiujie came to China Overseas in 1992 and joined Everbright Securities. He has worked as a large account manager, operator, analyst, trader and lead trader?
With such an ordinary resume, is he worthy of being called a stock god? That's ridiculous!
Peng Dingguo smelled a conspiracy. Although he was very unhappy with Lu Yiming, he was very impressed by Lu Yiming's ability to make money. After all, that was real results. To say that Lu Yiming was the stock god was truly worthy of the title.
On the other hand, Wang Xiujie in the newspaper is outrageous. If he is really that awesome, does he still need to continue to be an analyst at a securities company? Wouldn't it be better to make money on his own?
Peng Dingguo immediately thought that there might be a big boss behind this.
After all, there are many ways to be a glove spokesperson in the circle.
He felt that Wang Xiujie was most likely just a tool.
Just when he wanted to continue his research, his cell phone rang again.
"Teacher Peng, where are you? We have to record a show at 10 o'clock, so we have to come over now."
Peng Dingguo looked at his watch and said, "I'll be there in half an hour."
He reached out and hailed a taxi, saying, "Go to the TV station."
Then he sat in the back seat and started reading the newspaper.
This is his daily routine.
His job is to talk nonsense on financial programs.
During the show, the topic came up as they chatted about the new stock god of China Overseas.
The host asked: "Teacher Peng, did you know that Zhonghai has a new stock god recently? What do you think about this?"
Peng Dingguo thought for a moment and said in a sarcastic tone, "It's funny to say that Zhonghai has already produced many stock gods. There is Yang Baiwan, the first-generation stock god who claims that he is not a stock god, and Lu Shoufu, who has never claimed to be a stock god but is regarded as the stock god of Xiaguo. Now there is another new stock god in Zhonghai. Don't you think there are too many stock gods?"
The host smiled when he heard this and did not expose Peng Dingguo's little thoughts.
Who doesn’t know about the bet between Peng Dingguo and Lu Yiming?
At this critical juncture, Peng Dingguo is deliberately trying to confuse everyone.
Seeing that the host didn't respond, Peng Dingguo felt a little resentful and continued, "Stock trading is a very serious and professional matter. If you want to make money from the stock market, instead of burning incense and praying to Buddha, you might as well read more books yourself."
For the sake of ratings, the supporter didn't want to preach and asked directly: "There are so many stock gods emerging now, which one do you think is the best, Mr. Peng?"
This is obviously adding fuel to the fire. The previous Yang Baiwan has now retired from the social world. Now there is only Lu Yiming, the stock god who never calls himself a stock god, and Yang Xiujie, who seems to have problems.
After all, Peng Dingguo and Lu Yiming had a bet here, so he certainly couldn't say that he was optimistic about Lu Yiming, so he could only bite the bullet and say, "Of course I am optimistic about Yang Xiujie. Compared with the first two stock gods who came from unconventional backgrounds, I am actually more optimistic about Wang Xiujie. After all, he is a professional, and he also follows the path of a securities company. Everything has a traceable path, and his path is more likely to be emulated by ordinary people."
The supporter then asked, “Why?”
Peng Dingguo considered his words and said, "Yang Baiwan became rich because he was bold and took advantage of the times. Now the tide has changed, and his success cannot be replicated. As for Lu Shoufu, his experience is even more unimaginable. Anyone who tries to imitate him will die."
It has to be said that although Peng Dingguo is not a good person, he still has some ability, as he revealed the secret in public.
Just as he said, ordinary people cannot imitate Yang Baiwan and Lu Yiming's path to wealth, and if they do, it will easily lead to trouble.
Although the host knew that Peng Dingguo was deliberately denying Lu Yiming and Yang Baiwan was an unintentional target, he was very excited.
This episode is full of topics.
Zhonghai, Fu Ri University.
The final exam had just ended, and Lu Yiming and Shi Qingxue walked towards the cafeteria hand in hand.
In the bitterly cold wind, Shi Qingxue wore a thick pink down jacket. Although she was wearing a hat, her cheeks were still blown red, like a cute porcelain doll.
Shi Qingxue curled her lips and said in distress, "I hope I won't fail the exam."
Both Shi Qingxue and Lu Yiming were specially recruited. Lu Yiming was recruited because of his expertise in computers, and he also studied computers, so there was no possibility of failing the course. However, Shi Qingxue's own ability was only that of a junior college student. She was specially recruited because of Lu Yiming. Although she studied the literature major that seemed to be the easiest, there were still some basic courses that were very difficult to learn, such as English.
Nowadays, even if you want to study archaeology, you have to learn English seriously.
When Shi Qingxue entered university from high school, she was still a little uncomfortable with this kind of laissez-faire learning style. After all, in high school, teachers were afraid that students would not be able to learn, so they often broke things down and taught as much as possible until the students understood.
But university is completely different. Not only are there fewer class hours, but many teachers teach large classes with so many students that they cannot take care of every student. They can only rely on the students' own consciousness.
So Shi Qingxue always felt uneasy.
Especially when the grades of other girls in the dormitory were all higher than hers, the pressure was even greater, making her feel breathless.
Lu Yiming consoled her, "Relax, as long as you attend classes seriously, the exams won't be too difficult. At least it's easy to get a diploma and degree."
Domestic universities often have strict admissions and lenient graduations, so the real difficulty lies in the college entrance examination. On the contrary, it is very easy once you get into university. As long as you don't do stupid things, graduation is usually not a big problem.
This is completely opposite to the situation in foreign countries, especially in public high schools in the United States, where there is truly happy education.
Lu Yiming changed the subject and said, "By the way, it took the construction team two months to renovate some of the rooms in Yan's Garden. There will be no problem for simple moving in. We will probably be able to move in next semester."
When she heard that she would be able to live in a villa with Lu Yiming next semester, Shi Qingxue felt a little shy, yet vaguely looking forward to it.
After all, the relationship between the two people now is very close, and they are basically just one step away from breaking the last layer of window paper.
Lu Yiming never did anything to force Shi Qingxue, and Shi Qingxue naturally would not take the initiative to bring it up. The two of them were waiting for a tacit time point, letting things take their course and everything would work out.
