Chapter 68: Before the big show

On Wednesday, August 1, 1990, Wharton Insurance Company welcomed several special guests. At 7:00 a.m., Tong Gang and Li Chengji hurried to the company. However, Zhou Ming had already been waiting here. Also waiting here with Zhou Ming were Lin Muqing and a Northern Russian named Ilbedov, currently the richest man in Northern Russia after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, controlling the United Bank and the car company in Northern Russia.

Ilbeidov was also called to Brighton by Zhou Ming. After all, he had a trillion dollars in his hands. In the face of the Gulf War, which was bound to break out, wouldn't it be silly to invest only a few hundred million and let the rest of the money rust in the bank? Therefore, Zhou Ming had to mobilise as much capital as he could control, even if there might be accidents this time. Ilbeidov was sent by Kareina as a representative of himself and the financial oligarchs of Northern Russia.

Zhou Ming saw Tong Gang and Li Cheng arrive and immediately got up to greet them: 'Chairman Tong, Brother Li, you're here. This is Mr. Il'yich Ivanovich Lebedev from Northern Russia. He has been in Brighton for more than a week, and I don't think I need to introduce him.'

Indeed, Irbedov had arrived in Brighton very early, as requested by Zhou Ming. The reason was simple: Zhou Ming was worried that the situation in the Gulf might change.

Zhou Ming was no longer the ordinary person he was before his rebirth. He knew that the Gulf War was not an accident, but a war controlled by overseas capital, especially one of the controllers being the Brighton Consortium.

Now that he has offended the core members of the Adams family, he has also asked Caitlin, the executor of the Gulf project, to take revenge on him. Although Ming does not believe that the Brighton Consortium will casually change such an important plan because of the love and hate of a naive child, and Caitlin is also unwilling to help him out of her own pride, Ming still cannot put all his eggs in their intelligence. What if something unexpected happens?

No matter how unlikely this is, Ming does not need to gamble on it. Besides, there is nothing wrong with preparing early.

So, a week ago, Zhou Ming called Il'yichov from Northern Russia. Originally, Katerina was supposed to come with him, but Zhou Ming thought that the situation in Northern Russia had not yet been settled, and besides, Lin Muqing was here. If Katerina came over again, and something went wrong, he would be the one to suffer in the end. So Zhou Ming had to ask her not to come for the time being, as the matter in Northern Russia was more important.

However, as it turned out, rare events are always rare events, and the character and intelligence of one person can never affect the majority, especially when that person is not in power.

During the week that Irbeldov was in Brighton, apart from Iraq continuing to station troops on the border and exert pressure on Kuwait, nothing detrimental happened to him. Negotiations continued, with the United States and the Arab League actively mediating between Iraq and Kuwait. Everything was happening on the right track, until July 30th.

After a week of being on tenterhooks, the moment of truth had finally arrived. Zhou Ming should have been able to relax, but instead, he was even more on edge.

Tong Gang came over, nodded and smiled, greeted Irbeldov, and then directly asked Zhou Ming, 'Zhou Ming, little brother, is there something wrong that you called us here so early today?'

In the past week, the contracts between Zhou Ming, Tong Gang and Li Cheng have also been signed. Although the terms and conditions Tong Gang and Li Cheng gave Zhou Ming are still very lenient, compared to before, the current contract is very strict, at least there are no ambiguous terms and conditions anymore. All terms and conditions that may cause disagreements have been explained, and even Lawyer Allen can't find any problems with this contract.

Zhou Ming did not directly answer Tong Gang's question, but instead pressed the remote control a few times. Tong Gang and Li Cheng then noticed that there was a large colour TV on the office desk, and the volume of the TV gradually increased as Zhou Ming controlled it.

'Good morning, everyone. Thank you very much for tuning in to the morning news. According to the latest news received by our station this morning, at 4 pm Kuwait time, the fourth round of negotiations between Iraq and Kuwait over border issues failed. The U.S. special envoy expressed regret about this and said that the United States will continue to actively monitor the situation in the Gulf...'

As they listened to the news broadcast by the beautiful female anchor on TV, Tong Gang and Li Cheng both frowned, obviously remembering something. Li Cheng turned to Zhou Ming and asked, 'Little brother Zhou Ming, by showing us this news, are you trying to say that the negotiations between Iraq and Kuwait have failed and that the Gulf War will break out soon?'

Zhou Ming nodded and said yes. Li Cheng then said, 'But don't you think that's a bit too hasty? Do you think Iraq will start the war immediately after the negotiations have broken down?'

'If this were in another country, or if the Iraqi system was not determined by the president's word alone, I would believe that even if Iraq wanted to retaliate against Kuwait with war, the war would not start immediately. But for Iraq now, it is very likely.' Zhou Ming added, "Especially when all of this is still manipulated by capital.'

Li Cheng wanted to ask something else, but this time Tong Gang asked first, "So, Zhou Ming, when do you think the war will break out? Within the day?

'As a country that has just ended an eight-year war, they have a wealth of combat experience. If my estimate is correct, they will attack at 1 a.m., when people are most tired, which is around 5 p.m. Brighton time, which is today!' Zhou Ming said very confidently.

'So we need to enter the futures market immediately and sell short all crude oil futures, waiting for the war that may break out at any time, right?' Tong Gang asked.

Tong Gang and Li Chengdu both expected Zhou Ming to nod his head in response to this question, but they never expected him to give another answer that they could not imagine.

'Before every big scene, there will be some pre-play. So I believe the Gulf Project is the same. Therefore, I don't think that just one negotiation breakdown will cause a significant shock in the international crude oil futures market. Even for some reasons, I think the international crude oil price may even rise a little,' Zhou Ming replied.

This answer shocked Tong Gang and Li Chengdu, and they subconsciously turned their gaze to Lin Muqing, the chairman of the fund company. Lin Muqing smiled and nodded to them, and they then remembered Lin Muqing's relationship with Zhou Ming.

Should they believe them?

This was the thought in Tong Gang and Li Cheng's minds. It wasn't due to any distrust, because if they had distrusted them, they would have directly rejected Zhou Ming's idea and would not have had such doubts. Now they would think this way, it was simply because Zhou Ming's reasons were too shocking, making them unable to stop thinking about them.

However, at this time, neither the doubtful Tong Gang and Li Cheng, nor the unconditional supporter of Zhou Ming, Lin Muqing, had thought that in a castle-style villa north of Brighton, another event was taking place.

The villa is owned by the Adams family. Princess Caitlin of Harrow Castle is in the study directing the Bay Project. Although the room is called a study, it is actually quite large, as big as half a basketball court. However, in addition to the bookshelves, there are also several tables in the room, cramming the whole room full.

Caitlin was sitting under the window, the sunlight shining behind her, making her look like a proud queen. On the table in front of her were several private line telephones and a state-of-the-art LCD TV that only existed in laboratories and had not yet been sold to the public. The news was playing on the TV. On the other tables in the room were a group of busy accountants.

The only thing that was out of harmony in the whole room was Robert Adams, who was yawning and cursing in the doorway.

'Damn it, if I hadn't had to get up so early, would the Iraqi pigs have slowed down?' Robert muttered angrily.

Caitlin frowned in disapproval, but in the end she said nothing, because she knew that nothing she said would help.

When the time came, at 7am, and the news came on the LCD TV about the breakdown of negotiations between Iraq and Kuwait, Robert immediately jumped up happily and said to Caitlin, 'Your Royal Highness the Princess of Harrogate, now that the most important news has come out, can we start acting immediately? Give the Chinese man a little unexpected foreplay and make him lose a lot of money!'

Caitlin's brow furrowed even deeper. She felt as if she had not had a single carefree day since arriving in Brighton, and now she had to deal with someone as childish as Robert.

Good royal bearing prevented Caitlin from losing her temper. She took a deep breath to calm herself down and then asked, 'Robert, are you sure you want to do this? Strictly speaking, this is a violation of the Gulf Plan. I can't guarantee that it won't cause anything outside the plan, and Mr Adams won't agree to it either. You know the Gulf Plan...'

Caitlyn's words were rudely interrupted by Robert: 'I say, Miss Caitlyn, you don't think I'm calling you princess and you'll really become a princess, do you?'

Robert smiled contemptuously and said to Caitlyn, 'My princess, do you know that my surname is also Adams and I am the direct heir of the family? I also have the right to control the Gulf Project.'

'And,' Robert said, pointing his finger at Caitlin, 'don't warn me about my father either, because that is something I hate most, unless you want to annoy me. I can tell you that I am a very impulsive person, and if you really make me angry, I can't guarantee what I will do, even if your royal family still exists.'

Facing Robert's aggressive words, Caitlin said nothing. She felt very aggrieved, but even so, she clenched her teeth tightly to prevent herself from possibly crying out.

Robert looked at Caitlin like this and laughed happily: 'Why are you so unconvinced? Then you can come and hit me, scold me, and even kill me with a knife, just don't you think about what will happen to your father, your mother, your siblings, and your family.'

'Don't you ever threaten me with those words!' Caitlyn shouted.

Robert was taken aback by Caitlyn's sudden outburst. Then he felt that he had lost face in front of the woman. He quickly took two steps forward, slammed her table hard, and angrily shouted, 'Don't you fucking yell at me! Hurry up and get back to work! I'm not your fiance, and I don't even want to know what you're thinking. I just want to tell you that if you don't complete the task I gave you, I will definitely be angry, I promise.'

Caitlin almost bit her silver teeth. She closed her eyes, took a few deep breaths, and finally relented, saying, 'I understand. I'll do a good job.'

'That's more like it. If only you had been more cooperative from the start,'

Robert said with satisfaction, reaching out to pat Caitlyn's delicate little face, but she held up a hand to stop him.

Caitlyn looked Robert in the face without fear, and said in a firm voice, 'I still want to tell you that I am the proud princess of Harburg, not your vassal. I will do what you want today, but I will also record everything in my work log. If there are any other problems, they have nothing to do with me.'