Courtyard Houses: From Bronze Compasses to Global Reach

Chapter 350 Harvesting Gold, Bretton's Downfall

Time flies, and May is here in the blink of an eye. Springtime on Hong Kong Island is lush and green, with warm breezes blowing, making it the most pleasant time of year.

In recent months, the streets and alleys of Hong Kong seem much quieter. The once arrogant 14K triad has vanished, leaving behind a vast territory of interests that has been redistributed in an almost eerie atmosphere of peace. The Sun Yee On triad has taken the lion's share, and the Wo Shing Wo triad is raking in profits. Most importantly, none of this has triggered large-scale bloodshed.

Against this calm backdrop, the "Eight Treasures" Hotel in Tsim Sha Tsui is ready to open its doors to guests.

On the eve of the opening, Sha Zhu He Yuzhu found Lin Yan sitting idly in the garden. He rubbed his hands together, his face showing honesty and seriousness.

"Xiao Yan," he began, "Yu Shui and I have been bothering you here for almost half a year now. Before, it was because we were learning to cook, and it was really inconvenient to travel back and forth. Now... Bazhenfang is about to open, and I'll be officially working there soon. I was thinking of taking Yu Shui to rent a place in the city."

He paused, then said sincerely, "I wanted to let you know in advance. Really, thank you for taking such good care of my brother and me all this time."

Lin Yan smiled and waved his hand, "Brother Zhu, don't say that, it's too formal. I happen to have a vacant apartment in Central, you can just move in there."

Sha Zhu shook his head firmly: "Xiao Yan, I appreciate your kindness. But we can't rely on you for everything anymore. Yu Shui and I have saved some money. Last time in Macau, we won quite a bit with Gangzi." His eyes held a look of anticipation for the future. "I just want to find a suitable small apartment near Bazhenfang, just enough for the two of us. When I'm better off and have a stable life, I'll buy a bigger house..."

A slightly embarrassed smile appeared on his face as he lowered his voice: "When the time comes, we'll bring A-Lian over too. I've already thought it through; it would be great if she could work as a waitress in our shop."

Upon hearing this, Lin Yan raised an eyebrow, a teasing look on his face: "Wow, Brother Zhu! You've found such a beautiful wife without making a sound!"

Sha Zhu was a little embarrassed by his laughter, and scratched the back of his head sheepishly: "Hey, stop making fun of me. I had to talk myself hoarse before they finally agreed." He looked at Lin Yan, his eyes full of gratitude, "I have to thank you for giving my brother and me this way out, otherwise... how could I have asked anyone for this?"

Seeing the genuine hope and drive in his eyes, Lin Yan stopped insisting and simply smiled, patting him on the shoulder: "Okay, Brother Zhu, whatever you say. Just ask if you need any help."

On the day of the opening of Bazhenfang, almost all the prominent figures in Hong Kong were present, and the scene was so grand that it resembled another Lin family annual meeting.

Over the past few months, Xu Damao had been under the care of his father-in-law, Lou Zhenhua, frequently attending various business events, which had made him much more composed. Facing a hall full of guests, he behaved impeccably, showing no signs of stage fright. Lou Xiao'e, being one month pregnant, had been ordered to stay home and rest, missing out on this lively occasion.

In the kitchen, Sha Zhu was so busy he barely had time to breathe, his spatula practically sparking as he swung it. Orders kept pouring in: "Chef He, another braised shark fin soup and a clear bird's nest soup!"

Lin Yan had never liked socializing, and he only showed up near closing time. He intended to just take a quick look and leave, but the sharp-eyed Fok Ying-tung stopped him and dragged him in for a few drinks.

Henry Fok held his wine glass, his face filled with reverence.

"Xiao Yan," he said in a low voice, just loud enough for the two of them to hear.

"There are some things that Uncle Huo knows in his heart, so I won't say more." He raised his glass, his tone deep, "I admire you."

Lin Yan met his gaze, a slight smile playing on her lips, and gently clinked glasses with him. They drank together, everything understood without a word.

Back at his villa in Deep Water Bay, Lin Yan did some deliberation. The situation in Hong Kong and Macau had stabilized, and the Eight Treasures Restaurant had opened smoothly. It seemed there was nothing for him to worry about personally for the time being.

Lin Yan specifically summoned Lin Yi: "How's it going in Malaysia?"

"Young master, don't worry. We started making preparations a few years ago. Now, half of the political and military figures in Malaysia, including the president, are our people. Before long, we will amend the constitution to stop forcing Malays to convert to Islam, until all Malaysian Muslims are driven to Indonesia."

Lin Yan nodded. "These Muslims are really disgusting. If I weren't afraid of the backlash, I'd really like to kill them! Oh well, things are alright as they are now!"

He briefly communicated with the heads of the Golden Core puppets scattered around the world through his divine sense, and then, with a thought, his figure disappeared from the spot.

The space was filled with spiritual energy. Lin Yan took a deep breath and felt the chaotic seed in his body breathing in and out of his core essence naturally. The increase in his cultivation level was almost a natural and simple process.

"Cultivation isn't urgent for now; I need to address the weaknesses in my physical body and soul first," he muttered to himself.

He sifted through his storage ring with his divine sense, and soon retrieved nine jade talismans shimmering with faint purple lightning. These were the "Thunder-Suppressing Talismans" that had shone so brightly during his Golden Core Tribulation. These talismans had actually absorbed two terrifying bolts of Purple Heaven Divine Lightning back then!

"Hehe, this is a real treasure!" A hint of excitement flashed in Lin Yan's eyes. The Purple Heaven Divine Lightning, containing the power of rebirth within destruction, is a supreme elixir for tempering the body and refining the soul. Ordinary cultivators would avoid it like the plague, but for him, it was an opportunity he could not ask for.

"Sharpening your axe won't delay your woodcutting; let's get started!"

He immediately went to the small courtyard in the space, sat down cross-legged, and adjusted his state. Then, he carefully activated the power of the Purple Heaven Divine Thunder sealed within a "Thunder-Suppressing Talisman".

"Sizzle—"

A subtle yet destructive purple bolt of lightning suddenly shot out, like a serpent, instantly coiling around his body. A searing and tearing pain immediately followed, but his eyes remained bright. He fully activated his body-refining technique, guiding this domineering divine lightning power to cleanse and temper his limbs, bones, and internal organs…

The long period of arduous training quietly began.

January 1969

Lin Yi led a group of monks in a year-long, meticulous investigation of major global banks, including the Bank of England in London, UBS in Zurich, and HSBC and Standard Chartered in Hong Kong. They not only documented security procedures and processes but also used their divine sense to perceive the gold reserves in vaults, creating a unique "gold reserve database" to provide precise guidance for their operations.

Time slipped into 1970.

On Monday morning, March 2nd, Bahnhofstrasse in Zurich was just waking up. An elderly woman with a full head of silver hair, accompanied by her "son," walked into UBS Bank and elegantly handed over a stack of bonds: "Please exchange them all for gold bars."

The same scene was playing out simultaneously in hundreds of banks in London, Paris, and Frankfurt. These "customers" were well-mannered and had clear requests, but the amounts they wanted to exchange were astonishingly large.

By the time the bank managers realized something was wrong, a large portion of the gold in the vault had already been lost.

Within 24 hours, over 5000 bank branches worldwide experienced a silent run on their banks. More than 200 tons of gold were withdrawn in a single day. The gold liquidity of the Western banking system was drained in a single day, triggering internal alarms throughout the global financial network.

It was morning in New York. Alexander, looking at the news from Europe in the trading room, smirked: "It's our turn." At his command, the traders began a frenzy of selling dollars.

While aggressively shorting the dollar, Alexander ordered all available funds to be used to exchange for hard currencies such as the Swiss franc and the German mark.

The Hong Kong command center, led by Chief Executive Lam, ordered the liquidation of all previously established long positions in gold futures and options, realizing huge profits instantly as prices surged.

The market immediately descended into chaos.

In the days that followed, these mysterious money changers moved like ghosts between the banks. One day they were a wealthy lady, the next a businesswoman, and the day after a retired professor. They always appeared on time, and vanished without a trace after completing their business.

On March 13th, all exchanges suddenly ceased. The monks involved in the operation had already changed their appearances and dispersed to safe houses around the world.

Albert simultaneously broke bombshell reports in several major European newspapers, revealing how children of American political figures evaded military service and how they precisely shorted the dollar. This anonymous document directly thrust the White House into a media storm. The news of the "collapse of the dollar-gold mechanism" amplified market panic, creating a positive feedback loop that caused the dollar's credibility to collapse rapidly.

Following the major bank run, the US dollar remained under pressure, and the black market price of gold soared. Marcus used some of the cash he had already cashed out to begin small-scale, diversified bottom-fishing of high-quality assets around the world that had been unfairly sold off due to panic, preparing for the next phase of full-scale harvesting.

August 15, 1971, Sunday

President Nixon delivered a televised address announcing the implementation of the "New Economic Policy," unilaterally closing the gold window and decoupling the dollar from gold.

As of the end of August 1971

Lin Yi gathers information in Hong Kong

Since the project began, groups of monks worldwide have secretly stockpiled over 3000 tons of physical gold at a fixed official price of $35 per ounce. This gold is quietly stored in a space warehouse, becoming the most solid and discreet cornerstone of the Lin family's future business empire.

Alexander and Albert amassed over $300 billion through closing out positions in the futures market and shorting in the foreign exchange market. This astronomical sum of liquid capital in that era provided virtually unlimited fuel for all subsequent ambitious plans.

This silent financial revolution has come to an end. Gold has changed hands without anyone noticing, while the world will continue its clamor.