At half past two in the evening, the train finally stopped outside the central station in Bupain. Lynch took a deep breath as he followed the crowd out of the station.
The foul air was filled with a smell that made every cell in his body excited. This was the smell of a big city!
In Sabin, after eight in the evening, the streets were dark and almost nothing could be seen. Even in the better areas, the dim street lights made people feel scared.
Except for a few central blocks that were brightly lit throughout the night, most areas were silent after nightfall.
But looking at this place, the whole city seemed to be shining. There were some places that were dark, but the sky in the center of the city was as bright as day.
"Sir, do you need a taxi?"
The taxi driver waiting outside the station took the initiative to ask.
Lynch glanced at him and couldn't help but laugh. A big city was different from a small one. Even the taxi drivers were dressed differently.
The taxi drivers in Sabin didn't have any uniform clothing or accessories. They only needed to spend money from the taxi management company to get an operating permit. Then, they could start their taxi business.
No one gave them any rigid requirements, let alone clothing requirements. So, when taking a taxi in Sabin, there were always a lot of strangely dressed drivers, especially in the summer.
It was said that a passenger once complained that a driver was not wearing pants and asked the driver and the management company to compensate her for emotional distress. Yes, it was a female passenger. She felt that she was insulted in some way.
Looking at this place, the taxi drivers were wearing black uniforms, big brimmed hats, and white gloves. They looked very reassuring.
Lynch nodded and opened the door for Vivian.
Lynch didn't bring any luggage, but Vivian brought a suitcase. After they got in the car, Lynch gave the taxi an address, Bupain Hotel. The taxi driver immediately started the car.
Cape Pain Hotel was one of the best hotels in Cape Pain. It was mainly used to receive some important politicians and celebrities. It had also received some visiting foreign guests. Many people believed that as long as one stayed in Cape Pain Hotel, he must be a person of status.
This stereotype continued to this day. Even the taxi driver's attitude became better when he heard that Lynch was going to stay in Bupain Hotel.
After about 20 minutes of driving, the whole street had turned from dark to bright. Vivian looked at the bustling street outside the window and was a little curious. "Is the security here good?"
Lynch looked at the driver. "Maybe you know something."
After hearing this, the driver freed one hand and adjusted his hat. He had been silent for more than 20 minutes, which almost made him breathless. Now, he was finally relieved. "Sir, madam, Bupain used to be safe, but recently..."
Through the rearview mirror, Lynch saw that the driver's face was a little solemn. "There are more people wandering on the street. There are many robberies every day. A few days ago, there were even people who died."
"If you don't have to," Zhang said..
After hearing this, Vivian was a little emotional. "I didn't expect it to be the same everywhere!"
The driver seemed to be a little emotional. "Life is getting worse and worse. Whether it's here or elsewhere, it's really the same everywhere!"
The taxi driver was a very talkative person. Under Lynch's inquiry, he talked about some recent news in Bupain that was not known to the outside world, such as the bond victims from all over the country.
These victims gathered together and demonstrated outside the city hall, the exchange, and some financial companies. It looked very lively.
While talking, the car stopped outside the magnificent Bupain Hotel. The doorman immediately opened the door, opened the luggage compartment, and took out the luggage for the passengers.
After paying the taxi fare and a tip, Lin Qi said goodbye to the taxi driver and entered the hotel. Looking at the back of Lin Qi and Vivian, the taxi driver couldn't help but sigh with emotion, "This is the magnanimity."
Some passengers began to nitpick after getting in the car and wanted to reduce the fare. They would also brag in the car, disrespect the driver, and would not tip. The driver had seen many such people.
However, there were very few people who took the initiative to tip and said "good night" to him with a smile. Perhaps these two were big shots. Only big shots would have such tolerance. Maybe this would become a topic for him to brag about with his peers.
The next morning, with the help of the hotel's wake-up call service, Lynch got up on time. To his surprise, Vivian got up earlier than him and was already waiting for him in the lobby.
After the two met and enjoyed a Bupain breakfast together in the restaurant, Lynch talked about the main purpose of his visit to Bupain.
When Vivian heard that he was going to buy bonds, she could not help but be surprised. "Are you crazy? Those things are now waste paper. Are you mistaken?"
Lin Qi smiled and said, "That's why this is a good time. I can use the price of waste paper to buy these things back and wait for them to become valuable again."
Vivian was stunned. "How much are you going to pay for those bonds?"
Lynch's smile widened. "How much?
No, no, no, my dear, you misunderstood me. I think I meant the word 'buy' just now. I plan to pay by the pound. "
"Didn't you say that it was almost waste paper?"
Lynch swallowed the cheese ball in his mouth and clapped his hands. "Then give it a price that matches its position!"
Vivian's brain could not keep up with Lynch's thoughts and rhythm. She felt that this was unlikely to succeed. The reason was simple.
No matter how worthless those bonds were, they still had a "denomination". Who knew if there would suddenly come a day when they could be cashed in again. Even if there was a one in ten thousand chance, it was unlikely that people would really throw it away like a piece of scrap paper.
This was also a relatively mainstream idea. Anyway, these bonds were worthless, so why not keep them?
If this was just an isolated incident, Lynch would naturally not do this. He would buy these bonds at a very low price according to their denomination.
However, the situation was different now because the disaster had just begun. People had not yet realized that the two crashes this month were not even the beginning.
After avoiding this topic, Lynch wiped his hands and stood up. "Anyway, let's see how things go. Maybe things won't go as smoothly as I think."
On Monday, before the three major exchanges opened, many people had gathered outside. The crash last Friday had made these people lose their usual smiles. They stood outside the exchange with a heavy expression and whispered to each other.
The content of their discussion was nothing more than to continue to wait and see, or to cut their losses in time.
This time, everyone was seriously injured. In the face of the stock market crash, whether it was ordinary people or those who were rich, they all suffered very heavy losses.
Ordinary people may have lost their savings and maybe some loans, but the rich evaporated their value in percentage terms.
There was a dark fear in these people's hearts. Some people even trembled slightly. The insignificance and powerlessness of human beings were vividly displayed at this time. In the face of such an obviously man-made disaster, there was nothing they could do.
At nine o 'clock, the exchange opened. The traders entered first, followed by all the investors. Everyone's eyes were focused on the public notice board.
At nine twenty minutes, the public notice board began to flip and premarket trading began. However, everyone's expression began to change drastically.
Premarket trading referred to trading behavior before the opening of the market. This kind of trading behavior would determine the opening price of a stock that day and, to a large extent, predict the general trend of a stock for the day.
At nine twenty-nine, the constantly flipping public notice board had made the trading hall look like the scene of a memorial service. In the last ten seconds, a stock was delisted, which intensified the pessimistic atmosphere.
At nine thirty sharp, almost all the traders were frantically selling all the stocks in their agency's accounts. Some time ago, no one wanted a stock that was priced at ten dollars. Then it was sold at nine dollars. Then it was sold at eight dollars, seven dollars …
As long as someone wanted it, the price was not out of the question. In less than fifteen minutes, the Federation Industrial Index, the three major trading indexes, fell almost like a cliff.
The shock caused by the financial market was far greater than the recession of the real economy. Before ten o 'clock, everyone in the Federation had learned of what had happened in Boston through various channels.
Disaster had arrived!
Countless shredded pieces of paper were strewn all over the place. These stocks had become even worse than waste paper. The angry traders and investors had completely lost their minds.
The bottomless trend made people more and more frightened. No one knew when the bottom would be reached. Panic selling had already formed.
At ten ten, the President's cabinet issued an emergency presidential order, asking the three major exchanges to immediately stop trading to slow down the irrational panic selling.
The press officer of the President's cabinet also held an emergency press conference, listing some of the wrong things to deal with, including that the Federation government would use part of its reserve funds to support the market to avoid a greater disaster.
Perhaps because the decision of the President and the cabinet gave investors some confidence, there was no significant decline after the afternoon trading opened. After a brief flat, the Federation Industrial Index and the three major trading indexes showed a brief rise.
As the turnover rate continued to increase, it gave people an illusion that everything would really get better, and they were willing to believe it.
However, all of this came to an abrupt end with a violent tremor …