After the Divorce, I Could Hear the Voice of the Future

"Mr. Lu, you've had a long journey," Ota Ling greeted Lu Liang as he led him to a private club in Chiyoda District, invested in by their group.

Even though Tokyo's population density is five times that of Beijing and twice that of Modu, making it a place where people outnumber available land,

Mitsui Sumitomo had still managed to acquire 30 acres of land in the bustling city streets to build a private club dedicated to hosting important guests.

The club was a purely wooden structure with large, staggered arches, a complex combination of large corridors and courtyards, and high roofs that bore a Tang Dynasty style.

The welcome fleet stopped at the entrance of the clubhouse, flanked by a dozen or more young and beautiful female attendants.

"Welcome, Mr. Lu, thank you for gracing us with your presence!"

Each wore a kimono, kneeling and sitting in greeting, their faces displaying a respectful smile.

Throughout, they kept their heads down, not daring to look directly at Lu Liang and the others, perfectly presenting the nuances of hierarchy and respect.

"Mr. Lu, this way, please."

Ota Ling, with a smile, called over the staff and led Lu Liang and the others to the changing room.

Tokyo, being a maritime climate with relatively high humidity, has average temperatures in the mid-to-late March still in single digits.

He suggested they first take a dip in the warm springs to wash away the fatigue of travel before enjoying a delicious meal.

"Then I'll have to trouble you, Mr. Ota."

Lu Liang smiled and could not really refuse.

Each person was accompanied by two female attendants; as they entered the changing room, the attendants closely followed.

Lu Liang sat on a long bench, one attendant helping him remove his coat and shirt from behind, while another knelt to help him with his shoes and socks when suddenly from the next space Fang Shiyu's voice rang out, "What are you trying to do?"

Lu Liang pulled back the curtain and moved to the next room, where he saw Fang Shiyu holding his clothes, with two visibly flustered attendants kneeling before him.

As if they had been trained beforehand, someone had taught them how to apologize if they accidentally offended distinguished guests from the East Country.

Both attendants continuously muttered, "I'm sorry."

Lu Liang asked, "What happened?"

Blushing and stammering, Fang Shiyu replied, "They were trying to take off my pants."

"Just let them do it, you're not a kid anymore," Lu Liang couldn't help but chuckle, just as the manager, hearing the commotion, hurried over, thinking his staff had caused trouble, and promptly bent over to apologize.

Seeing the manager's name tag, Lu Liang smiled and said, "Mr. Saito, don't worry about it, it's just that my people aren't used to it, let's just forget about it."

He had Fang Shiyu and Zhuo Yifan wait at the door while he followed the manager to the courtyard's open-air hot springs.

As an island nation situated on seismic belts, East Country has abundant hot spring resources. Even in the bustling city streets of Tokyo, there are numerous natural spring sources.

Steam billowed, accompanied by a faint sulfur smell.

After waiting a while, Ota Ling arrived, clutching a flask of sake, dressed in a bathrobe, and beaming.

"Mr. Lu, try this—it's a pure rice 30% Daiginjo from Hyogo Prefecture."

He poured two glasses, the sake clear as amber and redolent with a mild bamboo rice fragrance.

Sake, primarily made from rice, is divided into eight grades, with pure rice Daiginjo being the highest grade—the lower the percentage, the better the quality.

A single polished grain of rice, the more its outer layer is removed, the purer the starch left behind, making it more conducive to minimizing off-flavors.

A pure rice 30% Daiginjo means that 70% of a high-quality grain of rice is milled away, leaving only 30% of the white heart for brewing.

"Thank you, Mr. Ota, I have other arrangements tonight, so I regret I can't fully enjoy your company." Lu Liang sipped the drink lightly, finding the taste quite pleasing.

"What about the dinner?" Ota Ling frowned.

"Let's have a celebratory feast after the matter is settled."

Lu Liang had a well-known penchant for beautiful women, and globally, East Country was particularly noted in this regard.

However, he hoped to spend the next few nights calmly without any flamboyant distractions.

Business comes first; he could indulge in revelry after all was done.

Realizing this, Ota Ling did not insist further and indirectly asked, "Mr. Lu, from what you said, does that mean the market will start moving within these next few days?"

Since last month, when Lu Liang had them monitor international crude oil trends, they had been investigating to find any clues.

Yet, they found nothing, as the price of oil fluctuated with the market, showing little substantial change over the month, not yielding any profit.

If not for Lu Liang, they would have already given up.

"It could be tonight, or maybe next week."

Lu Liang smiled but did not disclose the exact time.

He felt that international trends had been turbulent in recent years, and the crude oil market seemed a bit too calm.

"Feelings?" Mr. Ota couldn't help but laugh, and he didn't continue to ask. Lu Liang had said it was just a feeling, clearly not wanting to share his rationale, so there was nothing Mr. Ota could do.

At nightfall, Lu Liang and others left the clubhouse and went to the hotel arranged by Ota Ling.

The room was large, and it took a long time to check, such as checking for listening devices.

Several security personnel, including Fang Shiyu, were scanning every corner of the room with detectors.

Lu Liang stood by the window, admiring the Tokyo skyline, "This place is indeed very nice, worth keeping as a fallback option."

In a capitalist society, everything was very direct, unlike at home where spending money still required consideration of the common people's emotions, as if the money had dubious origins.

This was Lu Liang's second visit to Tokyo, and he felt it more profoundly, as if having money meant you were always right, and those without money would agree.

After a while, Fang Shiyu came over and said, "Brother, we've checked inside and out three times, everything is fine, you can rest now."

Lu Liang patted his shoulder and laughed, "Try not to overreact in the future, get used to it, performing is unavoidable."

Fang Shiyu was his younger brother and had nothing to be cautious about; as long as it was fitting, he should enjoy without reservation.

"If you have the chance, play more. After enough exposure, you won't be hurt by emotions," Lu Liang said with a smile.

Fang Shiyu felt awkward, wanting to speak but stopping himself, and Lu Liang chuckled, "Go back and rest early, I'll call you if needed."

Fang Shiyu was relieved, "We're just next door."

"Go on."

Lu Liang took out his notebook to observe the crude oil market stats.

Today's increase was only 0.58%,

The current price was $51.52 per barrel.

He only watched until 11:30 PM, which was 6:30 PM in Austria, then he went back to his room to rest.

Mr. Ota had provided a lot of information they had investigated, the Middle East was still fraught with war and clouds of battle.

In the short term, there were no major scenarios likely to change the war situation, so it must be OPEC stirring trouble.

OPEC headquarters was in Vienna, Austria, which was five hours behind Tokyo Time.

As long as he adjusted his schedule to match theirs, he was likely not to miss the moment news was released.

However, that alone wasn't safe enough. Lu Liang called Wen Chao to keep an eye out constantly.

If there were any special circumstances, they were to contact him immediately; if unable to get through, then contact Zhuo Yifan.

Lu Liang stayed in Tokyo for a day and a night, all was quiet until the 23rd.

That day, as earlier predicted, Brent Crude Oil surged, and he immediately contacted Mr. Ota, notifying him, "Brent Crude Oil looks bullish short-term."

It was already morning in Austria, and the Middle East was calm, confirming it was OPEC's manipulation.

Thus, the market surge would initiate within the next six hours, there wasn't much time left to alert Mitsui Sumitomo to prepare.

"Okay, Mr. Lu."

Mr. Ota was startled, without time to ponder, he immediately relayed the message to the head of the fund project.

Not just the 300 million dollar risk fund was mobilized at once, but a massive amount of capital was also moving covertly into the Brent Crude Oil market.

Today was not like the past; they chose to trust Lu Liang unconditionally, not even considering testing the waters with a small attempt.

Opportunities like this don't come often and gone when missed.

If they missed this market wave, who knew when the next opportunity would be.

And the next time, Lu Liang wouldn't personally oversee it.

After ending the call, Lu Liang contacted Wen Chao, "Be alert, the market is likely to make a move, looks bullish into $61 per barrel short-term, judge the situation for yourselves."

He was well aware that the mentioned 300 million dollars by Mitsui Sumitomo was just the tip of the iceberg, not knowing how much was quietly invested behind the scenes.

With the scale of Mitsui Sumitomo, if they trusted him enough, mobilizing over ten billion dollars wasn't out of the question.

Thus, he reserved a three-dollar margin to prevent Mitsui Sumitomo from massively closing positions, causing price pullbacks.

After everything was settled, Lu Liang went to take a shower, contacted the hotel manager, and arranged for a barbecue chef.

He suddenly craved barbecue—oysters, eel, giant lobsters, paired with chilled beer.

Though it was a breezy setup, there was pleasure in the pain.

Tokyo time, 7:10 PM.

OPEC suddenly announced a reduction in production for the next year, causing the three major international crude oil indices to soar suddenly.

Among them, Brent Crude Oil had the highest surge, a huge bullish candlestick shooting up, instantly vaulting up $8.25 per barrel.