A Person with Ideals

"How long did you wait?"

Mr. Truman had just entered the office, casually tossed the documents he was holding onto the table. As he asked his secretary to bring in two cups of coffee, he loosened his tie and sat down in his seat.

This is the Presidential Palace's office. Truman has been so busy these past few days that he hasn't been able to find a free moment to sit down and talk to Lin Qi alone.

Lin Qi shook his head. "Not long, about ten minutes."

Ten minutes is not a short time, and Mr. Truman's face showed a look of annoyance. "I have to apologize to you, Lin Qi. I didn't expect them to keep me occupied for so long!"

Lin Qi made a nonchalant gesture, as if shooing away a fly, "It's alright, I don't plan to go anywhere else today except here..."

As they were talking, Mr. Truman's secretary came in with two cups of coffee. After the two thanked him, the secretary closed the door as he left.

Enclosed spaces can provide a sense of security, but they can also sometimes bring anxiety and fear, depending entirely on how strong the person in the room is mentally.

"I heard you've made a lot of money?" Mr. Truman said, sipping his coffee and looking at Lin Qi. "It's all over Bu Peien now, everyone's saying you're the richest person in the country."

Galil's meteoric rise created countless millionaires in an instant. The financial professionals in Bu Peien relived the last frenzy that had occurred there not long ago, excitedly exchanging their money-making experiences and discussing how much money each other had made.

Almost everyone was making money, and that was the case from the very beginning. This was a classic example of "outrunning" the speed of information. Before the news from the Federal had even fully spread, Bu Peien's financial professionals had already entered the market and made the most money.

When people make money, they feel better, and they start asking around about how much money others have made.

According to reliable sources, Lin Qi had actually begun planning to push up the value of the Galil several months ago. No one knows how much money Lin Qi made, but judging from the expressions of the wealthy individuals who entrusted their accounts to Blackstone Capital, they were very satisfied with this operation.

Gradually, people began to spread the message that Lin Qi was the biggest winner in this Galil appreciation event, to the point that even Mr. Truman heard the news.

Of course, he didn't hear this news entirely because Lin Qi made money, but because the Financial Management Committee had begun investigating Blackstone Capital's operation. According to Federal financial laws, financial professionals are prohibited from making transactions in advance through "insider information."

For example, a conglomerate plans to acquire a listed company and has contacted the company's major shareholders or the entire Board of Directors.

Before the news is disclosed, major shareholders or Board of Directors members aggressively drive down the price of the company's stock to a high level, buy up shares at a low price, and then announce the acquisition, causing the stock price to soar. Such transactions, which are purely for profit, are all criminal acts.

Lin Qi made money, and some people envied and were jealous of him, while others hated him. It's a simple principle: everyone is struggling, but you keep making money, so we have to find something for you to do.

Such hostility and even hatred do not often occur in the Federal, but they do happen quite often. Most of the time, it is done by Lin Qi's opponents or people with direct interests in him, who want to use the Financial Supervisory Commission to trip Lin Qi up.

After receiving the report, regardless of whether it is true or not, and regardless of whether Lin Qi's actions involve illegal activities, the Financial Supervisory Commission definitely ask for your opinion first in order to demonstrate its value and role.

Then they inquired about how to proceed with the case, and that's how Truman came to know about it. He offered his opinion, and the president's suggestion was to investigate first and then consider the outcome.

The general idea behind this opinion is that it would be best if evidence could be obtained that Lin Qi was indeed suspected of committing a crime; if not, it would be good to release the answer to the public. Mr. Truman's opinion played a significant role in this regard.

But when he faced Lin Qi, he did not show the same attitude he had expressed in the Presidential Office that supported the filing of the case. Instead, he was very friendly with Lin Qi.

After his previous disastrous failure, Mr. Truman had completely distrusted all capitalists. The richer they were, the more wary he became, including Lin Qi. However, they were still in a honeymoon period and shared the same goal, so they could cooperate seemingly without any obstacles.

If one day in the future their goals diverge and their interests clash, all the evidence today can serve as crucial evidence to bring down Lin Qi tomorrow.

Lin Qi smiled and shook his head. "The banks make far more money than I do. Compared to them, I'm nothing!"

His words made Mr. Truman frown, but he quickly relaxed. He knew what Lin Qi meant. In this incident, it seemed that the bank had little to do with it, but in reality, the bank was the real beneficiary, and countless people could make money from it.

This is also why Mr. Truman hates these capitalists so much; they have all sorts of ways to leech off ordinary people, other capitalists, and even the state.

"That's a matter for the future. I called you here to hear your thoughts. Your actions today were too high-profile. People will be watching us closely when we handle this money in the future!"

Mr. Truman meant that Lin Qi had displayed his money too high a mile to the public. Ten billion Galil. People might have a short memory of a few dollars, a few hundred dollars, a few thousand dollars, or a few tens of thousands of dollars, but ten billion dollars is not so easily overlooked.

Such a shocking event will remain in people's memories for quite some time. When it comes to how to deal with the money afterwards, it will inevitably remind people of Lin Qi and may even cause some twists and turns.

Lin Qi shrugged nonchalantly. "You know what? I arrived at the port five minutes late this morning. Do you know what I did?"

Mr. Truman shook his head. He wasn't an all-knowing, all-powerful God who knew what everyone had done. "What did you do?"

Lin Qi smiled like a sly fox, his eyes forming crescent shapes. "I called to report that the immigration clearance administrator accepted a bribe. It might be that position, anyway, it's that kind of job and person. He took the money and let a batch of containers that didn't meet the entry requirements enter the port."

Mr. Truman frowned again, somewhat puzzled. "And then?"

"Once our plan is finished, you can seize this money, 10 billion Galil," Lin Qi said casually, causing Mr. Truman to gasp.

Lin Qi, however, was still trying to find a suitable reason for him. "Illegal currency smuggling is also a serious crime. Confiscating the stolen goods and seizing the stolen money reflects the Federal judicial fairness and the determination of judicial staff to uphold the justice of the law."

"As the direct victim, although I am unwilling, I agree to cooperate with the investigation for the sake of justice!"

Mr. Truman was now at a loss for words, both amused and exasperated by Lin Qi. He no longer cared whether the person in charge of approving the customs documents had committed a crime; the matter was already decided.

He had to admit that Lin Qi always managed to find ways to easily solve problems from incomprehensible angles, methods that rendered people unable to think critically.

In reality, this money cannot easily leave the Federal. Even if it is "sold off" or something, it cannot easily leave the Federal. This is a plan they formulated from the very beginning.

Mr. Truman and his assistants had considered for a long time how to keep the money from leaving the Federal, but they didn't have many good ideas. The only suitable reason they could think of was that the buyer would also be Federal citizen, but that was not in the Federal's interest.

They've always had a headache. If Lin Qi hadn't been so high-profile, he wouldn't have made such a big visual impact on people, and dealing with the money would have been much easier.

Now, the problem is solved.

As always, it was done without leaving a trace. Mr. Truman sighed. He didn't know if this was what was called "brilliant ideas." Some people attributed Lin Qi's strange ideas to his youth, but there was only one Lin Qi in the entire Federal. He believed that the argument that Lin Qi's ideas were strange simply because he was young was untenable.

More than anything, he believed it was God's favor, which he considered a true miracle.

"You should go into politics, Lin Qi. We share the same ideas on many issues. If you go into politics, you can start as my assistant. We can work together very well."

"Some of your ideas may even become Federal national policies, and the president will sign your proposals. Just think how exciting that is."

If they could bring Lin Qi into their camp, they could avoid the inevitable clash between them—politicians and capitalists either collude or become two opposing extremes. Mr. Truman did not consider himself an easy person to compromise, so he and Lin Qi would inevitably become enemies in the future, if Lin Qi was still a big capitalist at that time.

The offer he made to Lin Qi was incredibly high. He wanted to avoid a direct confrontation between the two of them, so he gave Lin Qi a starting point that everyone had to look up to— the Presidential Advisory Group.

In a sense, Lin Qi was actually an office worker, not part of the president's Think Tank. But Mr. Truman was the president's most important assistant and advisor, and Lin Qi was his assistant. It can be said that he started his political career at a level higher than 90% of people! As long as he doesn't make any mistakes in the future, he will basically be qualified to be a governor, and he may even have a chance to run for president.

This demonstrates Mr. Truman's sincerity; he wants to resolve any potential future conflicts and battles.

However, Lin Qi shook his head. "I appreciate your kindness, but our goals are different!"