Chapter 0321: The Shanghai Bund

It must be said that the Shanghai Bund at the turn of the millennium was undoubtedly a very interesting place.

At this time, housing prices in Shanghai were not yet so terrifying; houses on Qiujiang Road cost only over three thousand per square meter. But just six years later, in the same area, prices would skyrocket nearly tenfold.

Yet at this moment, few thought of buying houses to make money, because everyone's eyes were fixed on the stock market. After all, the past half year or so had been utterly crazy.

Countless people made a fortune, and countless others lost everything.

But amid such turmoil, more people still gritted their teeth and rushed into the market one after another.

After a moment's thought, Zhao Fusheng smiled bitterly. The truth was, he was really short of money now. If he had ten million in hand, he would definitely buy up properties in Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou, then do nothing else. In three to five years, that money would multiply several times over. With sufficient capital then, he could do whatever he wanted.

But unfortunately, he didn't have that much capital. Even this one million-plus, he didn't dare to throw it all into the stock market.

This wasn't cowardice; it was because Zhao Fusheng knew very well that he didn't need to gamble everything here.

In the stock market, only two kinds of people can get rich.

One kind is the utterly crazy gambler who bets everything without regard.

The other kind is the frighteningly calm, meticulous person who is ready to pull out at any moment.

Although this was an era of collision between old and new thinking, all wealth stories tell us that to succeed, you either go all out or know when to stop.

Only the latter often ends up more successful than the former. Though on the surface the latter seems to earn less—like Chen the tycoon and Ma the boss, who both quickly withdrew from the stock market after getting their first pot of gold—their subsequent achievements proved their choices were right.

Fools like Tan Kaixuan, though they might enjoy a few years of glory, in the end often lose everything in one wrong move. Losing their fortune and life is the least of it; not dragging their family down is already a blessing from their ancestors.

"I'm exhausted."

Zhao Fusheng had barely reached the door when Tan Kaixuan came running over, sweating profusely. As soon as they met, he complained to Zhao Fusheng: "The car is in terrible shape—far worse than in Ninghai."

Zhao Fusheng laughed: "You're shameless to say that. How big is Ninghai? How big is Shanghai?"

Tan Kaixuan was taken aback, then nodded: "True, the population alone is more than ten times larger."

With that, he took Zhao Fusheng's suitcase: "Come on, I'll take you to my place first. Tomorrow we'll go to the exchange."

Zhao Fusheng checked the time and nodded: "Alright, let's go to your place."

The two went out and took a bus, slowly heading toward the city center.

Tan Kaixuan had originally wanted to take a taxi, but Zhao Fusheng refused. There was no rush to do anything today, so why waste the money? Besides, he really wanted to see what the Shanghai Bund looked like at this time. After all, in his previous life, he hadn't come to Shanghai at this point.

It must be said that even at the turn of the millennium, Shanghai's architecture already had a touch of modernity. At least in Zhao Fusheng's view, the city was developing rapidly, and the changes in the ten-mile foreign concession were clearly perceptible.

"Let's go see the Oriental Pearl," Zhao Fusheng suddenly said to Tan Kaixuan.

As the first major project after Pudong's development, the Oriental Pearl TV Tower had become one of Shanghai's icons. No one who came to Shanghai missed it.

Zhao Fusheng was no exception; he wanted to check out the excitement.

"Bro, look at the time. Let's go home and eat first. If you want to see it, I'll have Kaixin take you later, okay?" Tan Kaixuan said helplessly to Zhao Fusheng, looking annoyed.

Zhao Fusheng coughed dryly. The thought of Tan Kaixin's icy face instantly killed his desire to visit. He decided it was better to just go home with Tan Kaixuan.

Seeing Zhao Fusheng's expression, Tan Kaixuan knew what he was thinking. He smiled and said nothing more.

The two arrived at Tan Kaixuan's home. Tan Kaixuan's parents were naturally very warm to Zhao Fusheng—after all, he was their son's classmate, and they had met before when Tan Kaixuan reported to university.

More importantly, the inside information Zhao Fusheng had provided earlier had saved the Tan family a lot of unnecessary losses.

Both Mr. and Mrs. Tan were veteran stock investors, part of the wave that started in 1992–1993. They knew very well that without Zhao Fusheng's warning, they might have been like most people now trapped in the market. But now, while others worried all day about when the market would rise again, they were considering when to enter the market.

Only those who lose money worry all day; winners don't need to think about that.

"Hello, Uncle and Auntie," Zhao Fusheng greeted Mr. and Mrs. Tan politely.

When it came to Tan Kaixin, he paused for a moment but said nothing.

In fact, at this point, he and Tan Kaixin should be meeting for the first time, but in Zhao Fusheng's memory, she was still the cold-as-ice female leader from his previous life.

"This is my sister, Tan Kaixin," Tan Kaixuan said cheerfully, unaware that Zhao Fusheng already knew his precious sister well.

"Hello," Zhao Fusheng nodded courteously to Tan Kaixin, and that was it.

His attention quickly shifted to Mr. and Mrs. Tan, and he began chatting with the elders.

Tan Kaixin frowned slightly. She was a bit surprised. Previously, her brother's classmates who came to visit would all show a lecherous look, eager to hover around her. But this guy, aside from greeting her, treated her like air.

Still, that was fine. Tan Kaixin wasn't one for socializing anyway. After a few words, she went back to her room.

"That girl is like that—always studying," Mr. Tan said with a smile to Zhao Fusheng. "I heard from Kaixuan that you set up a website?"

Zhao Fusheng nodded: "I've already sold it. This time I came to test the waters in the stock market."

"Fusheng, it's not that I'm lecturing you because I'm older, but it's good for young people to have ideas. You just have to be careful. Stocks are too risky," Mr. Tan hesitated for a moment, then said earnestly to Zhao Fusheng.

Zhao Fusheng was taken aback. He hadn't expected Mr. Tan to speak to him so sincerely.

After all, Mr. Tan himself had made his fortune through stock trading and was now a seasoned investor. It was no exaggeration to say he was one of the few retail investors who could actually make money in the market.

Yet such a person actively advised Zhao Fusheng to stay away from stocks—that was no small thing.