BXBX NOVEL Chapter 128: Call
The elderly woman looked unfazed, simply nodding and gathering her cards.
With one last glance at me, she turned and shuffled out of the restaurant.
The chef turned to me, her expression softening as she switched to broken English. "So sorry, sir. I did not agree for her to do this... fortune in my place."
I smiled, shaking my head. "It's okay, really. She didn't even ask me to pay."
I thanked the woman for the food and then I left the restaurant.
As I stepped out of the restaurant, I thought back to what the fortune-teller said.
Was I really going to take that seriously? I mean, come on—fortune-telling is just a vague, mystical way of saying things that could apply to anyone, right?
Someone knows my secrets... My sister does, but that's about it.
Isn't it?
With Raegan Lee and the new hires from our Hong Kong branch, we headed to the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre.
It didn't take long for us to reach the place.
At the time of the Fintech week taking place, the surroundings here were much busier than anywhere else in the city.
The Convention Centre was a glass-covered building that towered over us like a giant crystal.
When we entered, I couldn't help but think that the main hall was much like a beehive—packed to the brim with investors, entrepreneurs, and tech enthusiasts walking along the booths that lined the hall, each one showcasing a different product or service.
I saw one of our younger guys, Ben, fumbling with a coffee cup as we moved through the crowd. His eyes were glued to a booth displaying some new digital banking app, and he didn't see the person walking toward him.
"Ben!" I called, but it was too late. Ben bumped into the man, and the coffee cup tilted dangerously, spilling a few drops on the guy's shoes.
The guy just laughed it off, but Ben looked like he wanted to disappear into the floor.
I patted him on the back, "It's okay; at least I see that you're interested in the company." and then I turned to the group. "Alright, listen up; I want each of you to walk around and take notes. Any company or technology that catches your eye, jot it down."
Together with Raegan Lee, I then separated from the rest of the group and we browsed through the booths.
And then I saw a stand for a company called Tencent... the Chinese Giant Tencent.
Well... they weren't a giant yet, not like they would be in a few years, but they were starting to grow, especially in China, with their messaging service, QQ.
I gestured to the booth. "Raegan, what do you think about Tencent?"
Raegan glanced over, then back at me. "They're on the rise, no doubt. QQ's getting huge, especially with the younger people. I heard they're planning to go public soon. People are saying they're worth no less than half a billion dollars already."
"Exactly," I said, nodding. "Think about it—people rely on QQ to stay connected with everyone. They spend a lot of time on it. When users get used to depending on a platform for something essential, it's easy for the company to expand and add more services. Branding and building trust is one of the most important things."
"You want to invest in them?"
"Of course we should invest in them; everyone will be chasing it in a few years. As soon as it opens for trading on the Hong Kong Exchange, we'll grab as many shares as possible."
"Damn..." Raegan looked skeptical. "How can you be so confident? Another messaging app can just come along and..."
"Look into them, Raegan." I cut him off. "I'm pretty sure they're already setting up for expansion. Crunch the numbers. Analyze the industry. You're good at that."
"Shouldn't that be the Hong Kong team's job?"
I smiled. "Would you want to be part of the Hong Kong team, Raegan?"
"Uhh..." he was clearly surprised.
"You don't need to make the decision now. We can talk about that later. If you decide to lead the branch, we can offer you very good conditions."
"Umm..." he hesitated. "It might be hard for me if I have to stay in Hong Kong for long periods of time."
"That's not a necessity. I'm telling you, we'll talk about that later."
"Alright."
We moved on to another part of the exhibition, where presentations were underway. The first one was from a startup showing off a new investment tracking tool. They called it a "smart portfolio."
It used basic algorithms to analyze market trends and adjust investments automatically.
The presenter was enthusiastic.
"What do you think?" I asked Raegan as the presentation ended.
"It's interesting," he said, thinking it over. "It could appeal to a lot of people. But taking the human element out of investing always carries some risk."
"The real question is if they can actually deliver on their promises." I said. "My friend is working on a similar application, and to be honest, I have more faith in what he wants to create than in this." I pointed to the card that we got from the company when we came here.
The design was... bland. Not attractive at all.
Next, we saw a company showcasing a new way to handle banking online. They were talking about a service that would let people check their bank balances and transfer money through the web.
The design was very simple, but I liked it.
"This could be interesting," Raegan said. "But on the other hand, there are already some online banking options out there."
"It's not about having something new." I said. "It's about doing something that works, but better. If they can make people come back to it again and again and actually use it... this could really take off."
We watched several more presentations. Some were well-developed, others were still rough, like they only just wrote the idea in a notebook and wanted to get money for nothing.
By the end of the day, I had gathered everyone together. "Alright, team. I'm sure you've got a lot of notes. Take some time tonight to review everything, and tomorrow we'll talk about what we think has the most potential."
As we were exiting the Convention Center, Raegan came over.
"Are you heading straight back to the hotel?" he asked.
"No. You can go ahead—I've got one more thing to attend."
"Alright then, see you tomorrow."
Instead of going back to the hotel, I caught a cab to the Sheung Wan district of Hong Kong.
I had a meeting set up with a real estate agent to buy a few floors of a building there.
The prices were currently around $500 per square foot, but I expected them to shoot up to $2,000 per square foot in the early 10s as the area developed.
But money was not the main reason—I could have made more elsewhere. I wanted to quickly expand this branch of Immortal Investments and I would need space for that.
RING!RING!RING!
My phone rang.
It was Alex Gagnon.
What is this guy calling me for?
Lecture notes?
"Hey Alex, what's up?"
"Shit, Jack. You finally picked up," Alex said, sounding both relieved and anxious.
"Yeah, sorry. It must've been too loud in the convention hall. But what happened? You know I'm in China. Isn't it like 7 a.m. your time?"
"Listen, Jack," Alex said, his tone urgent, "Sam told me to call you about this. He's kind of not in the right state of mind right now."
"What? Alex, what is going on there?" I said, stressed out.
"Mia… she got into a car accident."
I froze. "Mia? But she doesn't even have a driver's license..." I said, confused.
"She was in a taxi," Alex said quickly.
"Is she okay?" I asked, anxiously.
"No, she's not okay. It's serious—she's in a coma."
"But why are you calling me? I'm in China. What can I do from here? How can I help?" I felt myself starting to panic.
"Sam's taken care of her medical bills and her family is with her at a private hospital," Alex said. "But Sam wanted me to tell you that he needs you to come back as soon as you can. I'm not sure why, but he told me he hired more security for your family and mine as well, and a few other people too... I don't know what's happening myself; he doesn't want to tell me."
"Alex... tell Sam I'll be there tomorrow."