Chapter 348: Mutual Calculations

At 12:15 p.m., Ming Zhou arrived at the headquarters building of the Dark Blue Airlines. This was due to the fact that Rugen Airport and Harvard University were separated by a long distance at the eastern and western ends of the city. Ming Zhou had arrived as quickly as possible, but Mark still couldn't sit still.

Mark had called Ming several times along the way, and when Ming arrived, Mark was waiting with his team at the gate. As soon as Ming's car arrived, he couldn't wait to go up to Ming and complain.

'Mr. Zhou Ming, what's going on with the stock market? In the time since you arrived, the stock price of Dark Blue Airlines has skyrocketed another five percentage points, and by the morning close it had skyrocketed nearly ten percentage points. This is just the morning, and this has never happened in the thirty years since Dark Blue Airlines was founded. This morning I've already received six consecutive phone calls from shareholders, all of whom are questioning me about what's going on and demanding that I give them an answer as soon as possible...'

Mark chattered on and on to Ming Zhou, who interrupted him, saying, 'Mr Mark, you are the chairman and president of Deep Blue Airlines, not me. You should be able to tell them that this is simply stock market turbulence, or that the company has found new investments and is preparing for greater business expansion, rather than rambling on like an old woman.'

At the end of the conversation, Zhou Ming suddenly asked him, 'And generally speaking, when the company's stock price rises, shouldn't you be happy as the chairman? Why are you still so sad?'

'If it's a normal business development that drives the stock market up, of course I'm happy, but this situation is obviously considered manipulation. I don't want the fruits of my hard work to be easily taken away by those damn speculators. That would drive me crazy!' Mark said.

Facing Mark, who was a little manic, Zhou Ming signalled to him to calm down and said to him, 'Listen, Mr Mark, we are now in the marketplace, not in Hollywood. We are filming according to a pre-written script, and there is no screenwriter or director. Anything is possible. Since you have chosen this path, you must choose to fight like a man.'

Zhou Ming looked at Mark and finally asked him, 'Facing the storm in the stock market, do you choose to be a coward for the rest of your life, or do you want to be a hero for one second?'

'Of course it's the hero!' Mark, who had been swayed by Zhou Ming's persuasion, answered without any hesitation.

After Mark answered, he immediately felt a little remorseful or at a loss, but Zhou Ming did not give him the opportunity to say anything else, patted him on the shoulder and said, 'That's right. Let's go inside first and talk about the situation. You've already contacted the press for the afternoon press conference, right? I think the next thing is the top priority, and nothing else matters.'

With that, Zhou Ming led Mark into the headquarters of Deep Blue Airlines. This scene was also witnessed by Wharton, who had been following him.

Wharton picked up his phone and dialed the number of Old Brock. He said happily, 'Mr. Brock, I have followed Zhou Ming to the headquarters of Deep Blue Airlines. He just went in with Mark, the chairman of Deep Blue Airlines. Judging from the urgent look on Mark's face and the fact that Zhou Ming came here during class, I guess it must have something to do with today's stock market.'

Wharton then speculated, 'Mr. Brooke, what you did today to push up the stock price of Deep Blue Airlines in advance was really amazing. In just two hours, they couldn't sit still anymore!'

Compared to Wharton's excitement, the old Brooke was relatively calm. He just told Wharton, 'Don't be too happy just yet. Just keep waiting there and let me know what Ming Zhou and the others are going to do next.'

'No problem, Mr. Brook, don't worry, I'll keep a close eye on Zhou Ming's car, he won't get away from me!'

Warden assured Old Brook, while his eyes were fixed on the gate of the dark blue airline. Soon two hours passed, and suddenly Warden frowned, and he dialed Old Brook's number again: 'Mr. Brook, since just now, there have been people taking taxis or driving to the dark blue airline. I saw that there are also cars from TV stations and newspapers inside!'

Old Brook immediately realised what was going on and said, 'Then they must be holding a press conference. You must find a way to get in there and have a look!'

Warden felt awkward: "But Zhou Ming and his bodyguards know me, so if I go in there, I'll probably be exposed.'

'But if you don't go in there, there's no way we'll know what they're doing. It'll be too late to think of something then, so you must go in there now, and I don't care what you do!" Old Brook gave the order.

Walton reluctantly agreed, then got out of the car with his mobile phone, put on a hat and a mask, and walked into the headquarters of Dark Blue Airlines. He followed the reporters in front of him to the conference room on the second floor, which had now been set up as a press conference site. Walton was a little shocked by this, because it had only been a couple of hours since the stock price had risen this morning and then Zhou Ming had come over, but now the press conference was already ready. This either meant that Zhou Ming had been prepared for a long time, which was obviously impossible, or it meant that Zhou Ming had super powers.

This came as a shock to Wharton, because it had only been two or three hours since the stock price had risen this morning and then Ming Zhou had come over, but now the press conference was ready. This either meant that Ming Zhou had been prepared for a long time, but that was obviously impossible, so it could only mean that Ming Zhou had extraordinary decisiveness, which was really terrifying.

Wharton then also thought: But no matter how strong Ming Zhou's abilities are, it's useless, no matter how hard you struggle, I will suppress you!

With this thought, Wharton sat in the back row of the press conference. It wasn't until about 3 o'clock that the press conference officially began, and Wharton's face twisted up at once, because his arch-nemesis Zhou Ming had already come to the stage with Mark.

Compared to when he saw Zhou Ming at noon, the chairman of Deep Blue Airlines, Mark, had come out of his panic. He sat in his seat and said into the microphone, 'Hello, everyone. I think since everyone could find their way here, then I don't need to introduce myself any further. I am Mark, the chairman of Deep Blue Airlines.'

Mark's American humour made the reporters below laugh lightly, and then Mark continued, 'I have specially called this press conference today to announce a very important piece of news, and that is that the man beside me, Mr Zhou Ming, on behalf of his Wharton Insurance Company, will be investing 30 million US dollars in Deep Blue Airlines, which will be settled in the form of bonds and shares.'

As Mark spoke these words, it was like detonating a heavy bomb, causing an uproar in the room. All the reporters, in addition to their surprise, raised their hands to ask questions: 'Mr. Zhou Ming, why are you investing so much money in Deep Blue Airlines? Are you preparing to acquire Deep Blue Airlines, or are you expecting it to have better development in the future? This morning, the stock price of Deep Blue Airlines rose all the way, was it also affected by this capital injection?'

Facing the reporters' questions, Ming Zhou raised his hand to indicate silence before saying, 'Wharton invested in Deep Blue because of its development potential. In 30 years, Deep Blue has grown from a travel agency with one plane to a small airline with more than 50 planes of various types. This is a remarkable achievement, so I believe Deep Blue will continue to grow.'

As soon as Zhou Ming finished speaking, a reporter immediately retorted, 'However, due to the adjustment of aviation fuel prices and competition among major airlines, Deep Blue Airlines has suffered heavy losses, to the extent that it was previously reported to be applying for bankruptcy protection.'

'But in the end, it didn't go bankrupt, did it?' Zhou Ming said, 'So that news was untrue.'

'In fact, the previous decline of Deep Blue Airlines was only due to certain unfair competition and the overall decline of the market, which reflected the overall situation of the market rather than the situation of Deep Blue Airlines itself. In fact, Deep Blue Airlines itself is operating very well. As long as it can survive this period of time, Deep Blue Airlines will definitely usher in a new and even greater period of growth in the future.'

Zhou Ming thought for a moment and then said, 'And I can reveal some new information to everyone today, which is that Deep Blue Airlines is actively negotiating with the relevant departments to strive to open new popular routes as soon as possible.'

When Zhou Ming finished speaking, the reporters in the audience once again became agitated. They all jotted down what Zhou Ming had just said and asked Zhou Ming questions about Deep Blue Airlines and investment.

Amidst the chaos in the audience, one person quietly left the venue. This person was Wharton. As a businessman, he knew that today's press conference was too important, so he wanted to be the first to tell Old Brook the news.

In a financial building in the centre of Brighton, Old Brook is sitting in his office. In front of him is his old butler.

The old butler immediately asks Old Brook, 'Sir, I didn't expect that Zhou Ming would respond so quickly. This morning you pushed up the stock price of Deep Blue Airlines, and in the afternoon he held a press conference.'

Old Brook nodded. He looked at the computer on his desk and said, 'Since it has already started, no matter how he started it, the most important thing is to keep up with the car and minimise your losses. That's why there was this press conference, the aim of which is to further push up the share price. This Chinese person is actually a very pragmatic person.'

'But his pragmatism is also pragmatic for us. Sir, I think we can definitely ride his coattails and make a fortune...'

The old butler's words came to an abrupt end here, because he saw the unfriendly look in the old Brook's eyes. The old Brook asked him, 'Do you think I'm in dire need of money now? What I need now is to teach that Chinese a lesson. Making money is just a side effect. And do you think that Chinese won't know that I'm the one pushing behind the scenes?'

Hearing the old Brook say this, the old butler suddenly reacted: 'Sir, are you saying that the Chinese deliberately used Wharton to pass on the news to us again? Just like last time.'

Old Brook nodded and said, 'It's like the wolf and the fox hunting together. While they are calculating their prey, they are also calculating each other. I used Wharton to get information about him and cheated him once with the stock of Deep Blue Airlines. How wouldn't he want to take revenge? If I keep following up, and he suddenly withdraws his funds halfway through, won't I be in trouble?'

In the end, Old Brook added, 'As for Mr. Wharton, he's just a nobody, and he really thinks he can fool the eyes of those professional bodyguards? In this game, Ming and I both know that Wharton is just a pawn. Only he himself is still naive enough to think that he has hidden everything and is an important figure in this game.'

'So, sir, should we withdraw our investment immediately?' the old butler asked again.

Old Brook thought for a moment and said, 'No, let the Chinese man revel in his own self-deluded fantasies for a few more days. We'll withdraw once we've made enough money. As for the mess with Dark Blue Aviation, let him worry about it.'