Love Guide for Childhood Sweethearts

The next day, early in the morning, just as the sky was getting light, Lin Xingzhi's cell phone rang rapidly.

Lin Xingzhi, who was lying on the table in a daze, sat up with a start, blinked, and after regaining consciousness, he said, "Cell phone, cell phone." He picked up the phone in a panic and quickly pressed the answer button.

"Hello! Is that Nannan?" Lin Xingzhi muttered vaguely.

Lin Jingzhe listened to the unclear voice coming from the phone and said, "You just woke up, I'm sorry to disturb you."

"No, no." Lin Xingzhi coughed twice and cleared his throat. "I was watching the US stock market yesterday and gathering news about Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac."

"You'd better take care of your body when you stay up late. Don't rely on your youth and good health! You will suffer when you get old." Lin Jingzhe said with concern.

Lin Xingzhi smiled at the gentle voice and said, "It's okay, I'll catch up on some sleep. The US stock market opens tonight."

"What are your thoughts?" Lin Jingzhe asked with a smile.

"Damn, they're really playing it big," Lin Xingzhi said, swallowing his saliva. "They even dare to bundle up bad debts and push them into the financial market." He took two sips of the cold coffee. The bitter taste made him shudder. "This finance thing is terrifying. I can't feel the real money, it's just like numbers moving."

"It's like swiping a credit card. It feels like I didn't spend any money! How come all the money is gone?" Lin Jingzhe joked when he heard this.

"Yes, yes, yes!" Lin Xingzhi nodded slightly.

"Isn't it just a US dollar interest rate hike? What does it have to do with the world? But the labor and blood and sweat of countless people are gone when you can't feel it." Lin Jingzhe said with his deep and bottomless eyes turning.

"It's bloodless murder," Lin Xingzhi said with a shudder. "Everyone's gambling, they've gone crazy. It feels like a Ponzi scheme, hyping up a concept and then playing the game of passing the buck. A few operations and billions, even tens of billions, are yours. The key is that you can't even find evidence. It could even destroy a country." He pursed his lips and said, "Every word the Federal Reserve Chairman says is subject to various interpretations."

"What's the point of interpretation?" Lin Jingzhe said with a cold look in his eyes, "The data is right here! Humans are too greedy."

"This money is so damn easy to make, no wonder the Americans are into finance." Lin Xingzhi burst out excitedly.

"Yeah! Sitting in an air-conditioned room in a suit and tie! Just staring at the computer screen, protected from the wind and rain. How respectable!" Lin Jingzhe said sarcastically, "But the world is material."

"Working in industry really can't compare to working in finance," Lin Xingzhi said with a deep gaze. "It's really hard work, and the profits are so small! I wonder how much hard work I have to sell to earn just a single word about interest rate hikes or cuts."

"When we just started the reform and opening up, we had to operate sewing machines until they smoked. We had to produce 100 million pieces of sewing machines in exchange for one airplane." Lin Jingzhe said with emotion.

Lin Xingzhi said angrily with a dark face, "The financial industry is truly ruthless. It's brutal, bloodthirsty, and they kill without shedding a drop of blood. Our hard-earned money was wiped out in an instant."

"Finance is useful, but it must be controlled and cannot get out of control." Lin Jingzhe's dark brown eyes shook as he said, "Those Shanxi merchants and those merchants in the Ming and Qing dynasties shook the foundation of the country. The ancient policy of emphasizing agriculture and suppressing commerce was a good one." His voice was soft, but murderous.

"You like to read Ming history!" Lin Xingzhi said with a smile on his face.

"All ancient history is contemporary history." Lin Jingzhe said with his deep and clear eyes looking at the rising sun.

"Now I understand why our country has such strict control over finance and why we keep emphasizing industrial manufacturing and agriculture, rural areas and farmers." Lin Xingzhi stood up and poured out the cold coffee, tucked his phone under his neck, washed the coffee cup, and filled it with hot water.

"If a global company strays from its core business and starts dabbling in finance, it's doomed," Lin Jingzhe said, raising an eyebrow. "Can you check if the three major American automakers are still selling cars? And what their CEOs used to do?"

"You say that? How come they were in the financial services industry before?" Lin Xingzhi said half-jokingly as he sat back in front of the computer.

"Hmm!" Lin Jingzhe responded with a slight curl of his lips.

"Wait a minute!" Lin Xingzhi put down his coffee cup and phone and started typing away, his eyes fixed on the computer screen. "It's true! No wonder we don't see American cars on the road anymore."

"It's not just car companies! Many brick-and-mortar businesses in the US have also undergone transformation." Lin Jingzhe's inky black eyes flickered as he softly uttered four words: "De-materialization! No matter how powerful they were before, they're all gone now."

"We've studied the concept of emphasizing agriculture and suppressing commerce for over two thousand years, including the famous Salt and Iron Theory," Lin Xingzhi said, narrowing his eyes slightly. "Sang Hongyang studied this thoroughly. Merchants, especially those who speculate, hoard goods, and exploit misfortunes, are truly terrifying!"

"Hmm!" Lin Jingzhe said unhappily, "What I fear most are traitors and compradors."

Lin Xingzhi picked up his coffee cup and asked, "Do you think the American financial system will collapse?"

Lin Jingzhe smiled and said, "The Americans are now in charge of finance. Do you think it will collapse? Does he dare to let it collapse? There are so many filial sons and grandsons in the world. The Americans are their faith."

"If we want to save the market, where's the money? We'll just have to talk!" Lin Xingzhi sneered. "Slogans are useless. Can we save ourselves?"

"Do you doubt the ability of the Americans?" Lin Jingzhe said in an exaggerated and sarcastic tone.

"The Americans are now into finance. The real economy has become hollowed out, and many processing-intensive enterprises have moved here." Lin Xingzhi picked up the teacup, squinted his eyes slightly, and took a sip.

"Before joining the WTO, our foreign exchange reserves were only a few hundred billion US dollars, but this year they are approaching two trillion." Lin Jingzhe said with a clear gaze, "It's all investment!"

"So much?" Lin Xingzhi said in disbelief, then added, "It's about making money! Our market is so big, it's really attractive, and capital is chasing profit. It's not surprising to think so."

"Currency, goods come first, money comes second. If paper money can't be used to anchor goods, it's just worthless paper." Lin Jingzhe said with a flickering look, "Check the trading volume between the US and other major economies."

"There's no need to check. We're definitely America's largest trading partner," Lin Xingzhi said thoughtlessly. Suddenly, his eyes widened and he stammered, "No...it can't be us! If he collapses, who knows how many of our companies will die." He stood up and said, "This is fucking nonsense! You can't play it like this."

"Without the cheap daily necessities we make, the world will be left with nothing." Lin Jingzhe said bluntly.

"Puff..." Lin Xingzhi spat out a mouthful of water onto the floor.