International Bankers

"I know you!"

The first words from this man, who had briefly acted as Lin Qi's rival, left Lin Qi with a somewhat inexplicable feeling.

This didn't feel like the way other people said "I know you" to Lin Qi; it was more like saying, "I know what you've done, so I know you."

When the man in front of him said "I know you," he meant it literally, "I know you as a person."

It might sound a bit convoluted, but these two kinds of knowledge are actually completely different. Due to the limitations of the way it's expressed, we may not be able to fully capture the two different feelings, but they really are different.

Lin Qi looked at the other person and pursed his lips. At this moment, they were sitting in Cafe by the roadside.

Under the dim, somewhat ambiguous lighting, they were the only customers at their table. The waiter behind the bar was listlessly watching the TV series, occasionally revealing a dull smile that he probably didn't even realize himself, which he quickly suppressed, leaving behind an unconcealable look of sorrow.

Pedestrians hurried by, no one noticing the two people sitting opposite each other in the Cafe, much less noticing their differences.

"I don't know you yet, sir," Lin Qi said with a slightly playful smile. "It's not fair that you know me but I don't know you."

When these words are spoken, there is a childlike mischief and a touch of childlike innocence, because only children believe that the world is fair, and only children will try their best to pursue fairness in some things, until they grow up and truly understand the world.

Lin Qi wasn't pretending to be young when he said that, because he really was young. The guy sitting opposite him took out an exquisite business card holder from his coat, took out a metal business card with gold foil embossing, and handed it to Lin Qi. "That's fair!"

Lin Qi was somewhat surprised when he took the business card. Metal business cards were rare in this world, especially those with gold foil embossing on the edges, which meant they were not easy to store and could not be bent.

The business card had only one name on it, Herbert Chee Cheefonke, and only one address on the back, but Lin Qi had never heard of it.

After glancing at it a few more times, he put it in his business card holder. Although his appreciation of art was limited, he could still tell that the background style of this business card was not that of the Bayer Federation.

The style of the Bayer Federation may appear either minimalist or luxurious, but it actually exudes a sense of stinginess from the bottom of its heart, which may be related to its origins.

A group of exiled criminals, a group of impoverished nobles, a group of mad pirates, and a group of insane gold prospectors—none of these people were cultured, so the country they founded was naturally not a country with any cultural heritage.

The patchwork of various elements made the early culture of the Bayer Federation seem somewhat low-class. Later, they—several Federal President— forcefully incorporated indigenous cultures into the Federal civilization, which led to the Federal civilization we know today. They do not acknowledge that their country has only a few hundred years of history; in their history books, they claim that the Federal has a history of thousands of years, and that the few hundred years is merely the history of modern civilization development, which cannot represent the entirety of the Federal.

This business card feels different; it has roots.

Moreover, the surname Qiqi Fengke is not a common surname in the Federal; at least Lin Qi had never heard of such a strange name.

Mr. He Bosi naturally brought up some things related to Lin Qi, "You talked about Economic Warfare at the President's celebration party and then attended some radical salons. To be honest, I find it hard to believe that some of these ideas come from such a young mind. Mr. Lin Qi, you are an interesting person, and I am honored to have met you."

Neither He Bosi nor Lin Qi continued immediately after saying this. They paused for a moment, a very natural pause, before He Bosi continued, "Some of your views are actually very much in line with mainstream views, I mean the mainstream views of the International Community."

"Now that we've come this far, you might not be familiar with me yet. Let me formally introduce myself: Herbert Chee Cheefonke, a member of the royal family of a Small Country. You may call me Prince."

"However, I prefer you to call me by another title— International Banker!"

He Bosi then changed the subject and began to introduce his work to Lin Qi. He explained that International Banker are different from National Bank. To qualify as an international bank, one must have business operations covering at least two or more countries. If the word "banker" is added, it means that Mr. He Bosi is an important figure in a certain international bank, such as a director or even a major shareholder.

The Bayer Federation began to engage with the world, and in fact, it also allowed the world to engage with it. It was a reciprocal process. Some international banks were the first to enter the Bayer Federation. They began to plan to select locations to establish a branch at the national level within the Bayer Federation.

Not everyone trusts the Federal, nor do all people trust the Federal's banks, and the things they did in the past had a really... terrible impact.

They kept those funds and even their holders who intended to withdraw from the Federal economic environment in the Federal, imprisoning or expelling them in various ways and embezzling their money.

This has led to international businesspeople having less trust in the Federal banking system; they need a trustworthy institution to do things.

This is not a simple matter; it involves many aspects, including politics.

Furthermore, the underhanded dealings between international and national financial institutions will never diminish, so the bank where He Bosi worked had He Bosi personally come to take charge of the overall situation.

Today's event was just a coincidence; he happened to be in York State to observe the financial environment when he heard about a small internal auction.

This kind of thing actually happens internationally too. It's quite normal for international economic disputes to involve third-party financial institutions as intermediaries, so he just happened to come and take a look.

When he saw those items that were so cheap they were unbelievable, he decided to buy them. He didn't think there was anything wrong with it; he was only looking for a reasonable profit. And he was sure that even if Lin Qi bought them at the current price, whether he used them himself or resold them, he would still have enough profit margin.

Of course, his actions may have been a little excessive, but he was a banker, one of those guys who were more profit-driven than businessmen. At least businessmen don't buy and sell money, but they do, so his actions were understandable.

Lin Qi shrugged. "But Mr. International Banker, I just lost over a million dollars because of you!"

He Bosi smiled nonchalantly, "You can look at it another way: you bought my friendship for a million!"

"Listen, a lot of people want to spend more than a million to get to know me, but I won't give them that chance. You're actually the one who wins!"

This statement isn't entirely untrue. Generally, the Board of Directors members of large international banks are mostly kept secret from the public. Apart from a few who need to appear in public for work, the others are quite mysterious.

Let alone spending money to befriend these people, many people probably don't even know their names, who they are, or how to contact them.

So it seems that Lin Qi's purchase of a million dollars to do someone a favor wasn't too bad.

Lin Qi's smile was clean, but his eyes were sharp. "I hope my million wasn't wasted!"

He Bosi laughed. "I can guarantee it!"

Their conversation then became simpler, and they talked about international affairs. Perhaps it was Lin Qi's words and views that were in line with the mainstream of the International Community, or even surpassed it, that attracted He Bosi.

The core of the Victorious Country alliance Gefra, has been stirring up trouble lately. They are demanding that the weaker party in unequal trade must use the Gefra's own currency for settlement, which is causing headaches for many countries and capitalists.

Because if they wanted to maintain a sufficiently close trade relationship with the Gefra, they had to have a certain amount of Gefra currency, or "Gela," which is a unit of currency.

The more people hold a currency like the Gela, the more funds they should be keeping in reserve. As a result, some international banks have begun to adjust the reserve ratios of various currencies and increase the reserves of the Gela.

People are scrambling to hold Gela, which has caused the Gela to rise continuously in the foreign exchange market. This has also strengthened the Gefra's position and advantage in international trade—more people are using their currency, expanding the Gela's circulation area, and allowing them to buy more with less money.

An economic model that may have existed before but has not been explored in depth, or a monetary economic model, is now being seriously studied.

Some people joked that while the World War made things chaotic, it also had one advantage: it brought countries closer together.

In the past, everyone did their own thing, and only some neighboring countries had close ties. Apart from a few merchants who were willing to risk being harassed by pirates when sailing, the connections between countries were very weak.

But now, because of a World War, the whole world is beginning to show a strange trend of fusion!

Military, economic, and cultural factors will become a new mode of warfare in the next decade, similar to, but surpassing, and more covert than traditional warfare.

Lin Qi is young, but he has grasped the pulse of the times. He Bosi already believes that if nothing unexpected happens, there is a possibility that he will collaborate with Lin Qi on some international projects.

Of course, Lin Qi thought so too. If He Bosi really worked, then the million was well worth it!