Chapter 124: A Big Loss

Cao Shujie had a lot on his plate today and didn’t have time to chat idly with Ma Changrong. He said, “Manager Ma, I’m quite busy today. Let’s find another time to sit down and talk.”

“Alright, go ahead with your work,” Ma Changrong replied, not wanting to delay him.

The two passed by each other, and Cao Shujie went to the counter to handle his withdrawal appointment.

Ma Changrong returned to his office, planning to have a more detailed conversation with Cao Jianhua later.

After a brief exchange with Cao Shujie, Ma Changrong felt he shouldn’t be too hasty in judging Cao Jianhua.

Unaware of the situation on the other side, Cao Shujie made an appointment at the counter for an additional 100,000 yuan. After finishing, he quickly drove to Pingyuan County Town.

Once there, Cao Shujie went to see Chen Xingquan and Xia Changhong.

He told Chen Xingquan to order 2,000 meters of wire mesh fence according to the previous standard.

“Boss Cao, why do you need so much this time? Have you taken on a new area?” Chen Xingquan had a guess in mind.

Seeing Cao Shujie nod, he was full of admiration.

“Rest assured, Boss Cao, everything will be ready within half a month,” Chen Xingquan assured him.

Initially, Chen Xingquan saw Cao Shujie as merely a good friend of Supervisor Cao Zhen. But after delivering goods to Cao Family Village and witnessing the scale of Cao Shujie’s land lease, his impression changed dramatically.

Later, when Cao Shujie introduced him to the big client Cao Jianhua, his esteem for Cao Shujie increased by at least 50%. This wasn’t due to being opportunistic, but rather a businessman’s instinct.

This time, with Cao Shujie ordering another 2,000 meters of wire mesh fence, Chen Xingquan guessed he had leased at least 100 mu of land.

Adding this to the land Cao Shujie had already leased, the total exceeded 200 mu, which was no small number.

Cao Shujie didn’t know what Chen Xingquan was thinking, nor did he care. After leaving Chen Xingquan, he went to see Xia Changhong to explain his requirements.

This time, Cao Shujie’s request was simply to provide automatic watering for cattle, sheep, and pigs. The principle was simpler than before, and the cost was also lower.

During their chat, Cao Shujie mentioned the previous automated sprinkler equipment needed to be upgraded to integrate drip irrigation and sprinkling. Xia Changhong was momentarily surprised.

“Boss Cao, you need drip irrigation?” Xia Changhong asked.

“Can you handle it?” Cao Shujie inquired.

Xia Changhong was straightforward, saying, “I can do it, but the quality won’t be top-notch. I’ve heard of this Chen Lei; he’s quite professional in this area.”

For one professional to acknowledge another’s abilities, it only meant that person was truly exceptional.

With Xia Changhong’s endorsement, Cao Shujie felt more at ease.

He asked Xia Changhong to quickly complete the livestock automatic watering equipment. After coordinating, Cao Shujie drove back to Cao Family Village.

On the way, he received a call from Chen Lei.

Chen Lei informed him that technical personnel had been arranged and would be on-site to assess the situation the next morning. The technical renovation plan would be finalized with their collaboration, and if all went well, construction could begin within a week.

This outcome was very pleasing for Cao Shujie!

…

When Cao Shujie returned to Cao Family Village from Pingyuan County Town, it was already past two in the afternoon.

He parked his car at the north end of the village, picked up the key to the Village Committee Office from Cao Jiangang, and then drove there to use the loudspeaker to call for workers to come to the orchard the next morning.

This time, Cao Shujie had leased a total of 117 mu of land, adjacent to the orchard area he had first leased. To speed up the process and quickly level the ground to plant pasture, he needed many people to work together, so he didn’t limit the number of workers this time.

The villagers of Cao Family Village, hearing the loudspeaker announcement, didn’t know this. They only heard Cao Shujie announcing over the loudspeaker that those willing to work should bring shovels and hoes to the orchard the next morning, where arrangements would be made.

After making the announcement, Cao Shujie took the Village Committee Office key and drove home, thinking it wouldn’t be too late to return it to Cao Jiangang the next morning.

By bedtime, Cao Jiangang still hadn’t called about the key. Some things seemed to become instinctual habits, subtly changing one’s thoughts.

That night, as he lay in bed with his wife, they discussed recent events.

Cheng Xiaolin shared her views, which might not be entirely accurate, but they served as a warning for Cao Shujie.

Cao Shujie didn’t dismiss his wife’s ‘outsider’ perspective as mere noise. On the contrary, he listened attentively.

He understood that besides the commonly used term ‘outsider,’ there was another saying: ‘The onlooker sees more clearly than the involved.’

While Cheng Xiaolin might not help him solve problems from a professional angle, she could point out inconsistencies from her perspective.

“How’s your Bitcoin investment going?” Cheng Xiaolin asked.

Her husband had been busy with the orchard lately and hadn’t seemed to buy more Bitcoin, which piqued her curiosity.

Cao Shujie smiled and said, “Not bad, I bought some more. The price is much cheaper than before.”

As soon as he finished speaking, Cheng Xiaolin’s expression changed. “It’s dropped again? Lower than the previous 30 yuan?”

“About half that,” Cao Shujie replied, reflecting on his recent large transactions and the significant drop in Bitcoin.

But Cao Shujie wasn’t worried. He continued to buy without fear, as if he wasn’t concerned about a sudden collapse.

However, the market participants were feeling quite the opposite.

After signs of stabilization in the previous period, the number of transactions in the market actually decreased significantly.

But once the market began to plummet again, the panic among participants was unstoppable, spilling out like water.

Large orders of thousands of Bitcoin were everywhere, making people wonder where all these coins came from.

Why didn’t they sell when the prices were rising before?

Yet, Cao Shujie, who had unwavering faith in BTC, became even more frenzied in his buying after the significant drop.

He recalled snatching at least four large orders of over 1,000 Bitcoins each at around 15 yuan per coin.

However, his frantic buying was not noticeable amidst daily transaction volumes of tens of millions, even breaking a billion, and at this point, no one had noticed his ‘sneaky’ activities.

After Cao Shujie shared this with his wife, Cheng Xiaolin was surprised and asked, “So, you’re saying you’re making a profit now?”

“I’m not making a penny, I’ve lost quite a bit,” Cao Shujie replied, though he wasn’t angry.

Cheng Xiaolin didn’t believe him. She glanced at their daughter Mengmeng, who was already asleep, then gestured outside, “Come on, let’s go take a look.”

The two quietly got out of bed and went outside. Cao Shujie turned on the computer and logged into his BTC trading platform account.

Cheng Xiaolin immediately saw that Cao Shujie’s account held 26,387 Bitcoins, with only 16.4 yuan remaining in the balance.

She thought, “No wonder my husband hasn’t been buying Bitcoin lately, he doesn’t have any money left in the account.”

Cao Shujie had promised to buy no more than 500,000 yuan worth of Bitcoin, leaving the rest for other investments.

In this regard, Cao Shujie hadn’t overstepped by secretly transferring more money.

But Cheng Xiaolin also noticed that today’s price was 14.7 yuan per coin. Using the calculator on her phone, she realized a problem.

If she calculated based on the current price, her husband’s 26,387 BTC were worth less than 390,000 yuan, meaning that in just two months, they had lost over 110,000 yuan.

“Oh my god!” Cheng Xiaolin instinctively tightened her grip on Cao Shujie’s arm, squeezing it hard enough to hurt a bit.

“How did we lose so much?” she asked instinctively.

Before Cao Shujie could answer, he quickly operated the platform to buy one more coin with the remaining 16.4 yuan, leaving his account balance nearly empty.

Meanwhile, the BTC in Cao Shujie’s account increased to 26,388 coins.

“Why are you still buying?” Cheng Xiaolin glared at him.

Cao Shujie didn’t mind. He chuckled and said, “There’s only 16 yuan left, it’s just an eyesore, might as well buy it all.”

But secretly, Cao Shujie was laughing wildly.

Bitcoins that would be worth hundreds of thousands each in the future were now only a little over 14 yuan each. Who would believe such a huge price difference?

After finishing up, Cao Shujie didn’t want to look at the BTC China Trading Platform anymore. He wanted to delete it and rely on his faith. If he wasn’t extremely short on money, he had no intention of selling for at least five years.

Afraid he might forget the electronic wallet account address and password, Cao Shujie carefully copied this crucial information into a folder and stored it separately on a USB drive.

In his mind, this USB drive held the future storage of at least billions.

“Wow, is making money really this easy?” A big question mark hung in Cao Shujie’s mind.

Seeing this, Cheng Xiaolin didn’t question him further, nor did she want to look at it anymore.

She grumbled, “Shujie, it’s late, clean up and go to bed.”

“Alright, let’s get some rest, there’s a lot to do tomorrow!” Cao Shujie replied.

As night fell, Cao Shujie slept soundly and peacefully.

…

The next morning, Cao Shujie went to the orchard.

He thought he’d get there early, but to his surprise, someone had beaten him to it.

Cao Yong and Cao Zhenglin were already there.

When Cao Shujie saw them, he was particularly surprised, “Grandpa Zhenglin, Uncle Yong, why are you here so early?”

Cao Yong casually replied, “Nothing to do at home, couldn’t sleep, so I came over early.”

“…” Cao Shujie didn’t know what to say.

Cao Zhenglin leaned his shovel against the wire mesh fence and said, “If I don’t do some work, I feel uneasy. I thought about it and decided to come early.”

(End of this chapter)