"What do you think you're doing? We have guests! You didn't even ask what they'd like to eat. You're just making a mess of things," Yi Anguo said helplessly. "Yue Hua, Haiyang, what would you two like to eat? Go ahead and order anything. This young girl doesn't know any better, so please don't mind her."

"Anguo, I can't believe it. This restaurant is actually yours!" Yi Haiyang exclaimed, the realization finally dawning on him.

"And here you were telling us it was your friend's place. Were you afraid we'd come here to eat every day?"

"My sister hasn't married my brother-in-law yet, but they'll get married sooner or later," Li Shanshan added from the side.

"Oh, so she's your girlfriend! In that case, I really shouldn't be coming here to freeload so often," Yi Haiyang said with a smile. "By the way, your brother-in-law and I are childhood friends from the same village. What kind of discount can I get if I eat here in the future? We live right here in the Blue Coast Phase Three community, so we've already been here a bunch of times and will definitely keep coming back."

"Freeloading is definitely out of the question! Even if you didn't charge us, we'd be too embarrassed to come," he continued. "But a little discount should be fine."

Li Shanshan said sheepishly, "I'm not too sure about that. I'm just helping out at the restaurant during my summer break. Let me go ask my sister."

After Li Shanshan left, the group started to eat and chat.

"I can't believe we live in the same community and have never run into each other before," Yi Haiyang said with a smile.

"It's not that surprising," Yi Anguo said nonchalantly. "Everyone's busy with their own work, trying to make a living. It's perfectly normal that we haven't bumped into each other. It's pretty common for people to live next door or across the hall from each other for over a year and still not know one another."

After some small talk, the conversation shifted to their respective careers.

"You're in computer software development," Yi Anguo began with a smile. "Have you ever thought about striking out on your own and starting your own company? Your current job pays well, but at the end of the day, you're still working for someone else. It's definitely not as freeing as being your own boss, and you could earn a lot more."

Yi Haiyang gave a wry smile. "Start my own business? It's not that easy. You only see the successes like Tencent, Alibaba, and Baidu. Can you even imagine how many internet companies have collapsed over the years? The successful ones are a tiny fraction; the vast majority fail. Tencent nearly went under, and Alibaba almost didn't make it. You could say they were just lucky. It wasn't their fate to fail, and they had benefactors who helped them achieve their fortunate success."

"I don't have any grand ambitions," Yi Haiyang continued. "I think my current job and life are great. Our combined annual income is about six or seven hundred thousand! The year before last, when Blue Coast Phase Three opened, we bought a 177-square-meter, four-bedroom apartment with cash. It's nearly doubled in value now, so we've made over a million. Had I known, I would have taken out loans to buy a couple more. That's some seriously easy money."

"It's not too late to take out loans and buy a few more now!" Yi Anguo laughed. "But I still believe that if you have the ability and the means, you should start a business."

"It's not that I haven't thought about it," Yi Haiyang said after a moment. "But it requires a huge amount of capital, and success isn't guaranteed. The risk is just too high. Unless you get lucky and attract investment from a VC firm, it's incredibly difficult to succeed on your own. If a venture capital firm is willing to invest, the risk is minimized and the pressure is much lower. Even if you fail, you still have a chance to start over."

Yi Anguo nodded. "If you want a VC firm to invest in you, you need, at a bare minimum, a compelling idea, a solid selling point, and a promising vision for the future to convince them. Venture capital firms know that not every investment will be a winner. In fact, they consider it a great success if even one in ten projects pays off. But they don't invest blindly. They will always conduct a comprehensive evaluation of your company before deciding whether or not to fund your startup."

"Exactly! That's why so many startups die before they ever get any venture capital funding," Yi Haiyang sighed.

"Actually, I've been thinking about starting my own venture capital firm for a while now," Yi Anguo said with a smile. "If I were to invest in you, what's your business plan? Tell me about it. Who knows, your startup might just be the first company my future VC firm invests in."

"You're starting a venture capital firm? Did I hear you right?" Yi Haiyang said, incredulous. "That requires a ton of capital. Without tens of millions of US dollars, you can forget about it."

In Yi Haiyang's mind, even if Yi Anguo was doing well, he probably had a few million at most. That was it. But starting a venture capital firm, even if a few million was enough, that was in US dollars. Besides, a VC firm founded with just a few million US dollars would be pitifully small. Any reasonably well-known, larger firm had a capital of at least a hundred million US dollars. The success rate for VC investments isn't high, but a single hit can bring massive returns—at least dozens or hundreds of times the initial investment. For a VC firm with only a few million dollars, if they had a string of bad luck and invested it all without a single success, they would never get a chance to recover.

"I know," Yi Anguo nodded. "That's why I've been dragging my feet and haven't established it yet. So, you don't need to rush either. When you come up with a good idea, come talk to me. If your idea impresses me, I won't mind investing in you."

It was still early, and Yi Anguo was in no hurry. Even though he knew of many successful internet startup ideas, he had no intention of telling Yi Haiyang about them. At least not yet. The time wasn't right.

Although the bull market had started, the actual gains were not significant. It was predominantly led by small-cap stocks, and the average daily trading volume remained very low, barely exceeding 10 billion yuan. While the major indices had ticked up slightly, the change was so minimal it was almost unnoticeable. As a result, very few people realized the bull market had already begun. Many experts were still bearish, predicting the bear market would continue.

Meanwhile, the traders at Yi Anguo's securities investment studio had already been quietly building their positions, methodically accumulating shares at low prices and taking care not to make any sudden moves. The overall market trading volume was low, and this was especially true for small-cap stocks. Their daily turnover was extremely limited; some stocks saw trading volumes of less than 10 million yuan, sometimes only a few million. If too much capital flooded in, the stock price would shoot up, hindering their efforts to build positions by accumulating shares at a low price. Therefore, it was crucial not to act hastily. If a stock price rose too quickly, they had to push it back down.

As for Chen Corporation's domestic securities investment team, Feng Lei was still on the sidelines. He simply couldn't discern any signs that a bull market was starting. The few small-cap stocks Yi Anguo had specifically highlighted in the last meeting had actually dropped significantly recently. Feng Lei concluded that their previous surge was likely just a fluke. It's common knowledge that the fluctuations of small-cap stocks aren't a reliable indicator. Because their market cap is small, any influx of capital is bound to cause significant price volatility.

These types of stocks were perfect for market makers to manipulate. Pumping up the price was easy, and so was crashing it. With just a few tens of millions in capital, they could make these small-cap stock prices yo-yo, luring in retail investors before slowly harvesting their money. A large corporation like Chen Corporation generally wouldn't deign to touch these small-cap stocks. Maliciously manipulating stock prices could easily get them flagged by regulators and earn them an invitation for a "chat over tea." If they repeatedly crossed the line and refused to learn their lesson, the consequences could be severe. The company would never permit its employees to act so recklessly, so of course, Feng Lei wouldn't dare to.

Entering July, the price of international crude oil futures continued its steady ascent, approaching seventy US dollars a barrel.

At the end of August, Hurricane Katrina, the most powerful Atlantic hurricane of 2005, swept through the Gulf of Mexico. It disrupted most of the region's oil production and forced eight US refineries to shut down temporarily. International oil prices skyrocketed, and on August 30, international crude oil futures reached a record high of approximately $70 per barrel.

Due to the supply crunch and soaring prices, the International Energy Agency announced on September 2 that it would release 60 million barrels from its strategic reserves to stabilize the market. But merely increasing the supply wasn't enough to quell the exorbitant prices and frenzied speculation. By the end of September, the spot price of WTI crude oil still hovered above $66 per barrel.

After the international oil futures price hit $70, Yi Anguo closed out all his long positions and opened short positions.

His account balance had now reached thirty-six million US dollars.

He had decisively shorted 10,000 futures contracts at what he believed was the peak for the year. With each one-dollar fluctuation equating to ten million US dollars, it was undeniably a high-stakes gamble.

Though Yi Anguo was inevitably a little nervous, he wasn't overly worried. In his memory, the price of international crude oil futures was not going to exceed seventy dollars that year.

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