Chapter 85: Golddigger
I opened up FOREX exchange rates.
The Chinese Yuan had appreciated against the USD.
The exchange rate is now 8.02 CNY per dollar.
The same thing was happening with RMB per dollar, as those two currencies were essentially the same, with the only difference being that the Chinese Yuan was the currency used for transactions outgoing from Mainland China, while the Renminbi was used for domestic trade within China.
I remembered that the Yuan was supposed to stay stable around 8.27 CNY until 2006, so this was clearly showing that the new agreement was being seen as detrimental to the USA.
I quickly shifted my focus to the bond market.
U.S. bonds had started offering higher yields.
The long-term Treasury yield went up from 3.9% to 4.3% just in the last 3 months.
I pulled up a Treasury Bond ETF on my screen.
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[USA 20+ year Treasury Bond ETF (TLT)] [$78.01]
[Gain/Loss Over Last Month: -3.6%]
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The bond prices were dropping, so yields had to rise to attract investors; otherwise, all the money would start flowing to Chinese bonds.
A drop of -3.6% on bonds within a single month...
"This could be dangerous. It should be one of the most stable instruments." I muttered to myself.
Movements like this could cause problems for the USA when it comes to borrowing money from investors.
I needed to check one last thing—speculations about the new agreement.
There were a lot of rumors about its potential goals.
One major area people were speculating about was the energy sector.
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[PetroChina (PTR)] [$120.55]
[Gain/Loss Over Last Month: +22.4%]
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[Sinopec Limited (SNP)] [$98.78]
[Gain/Loss Over Last Month: +17.8%]
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Clearly, people were making speculative investments in the Chinese energy sector...
In my previous timeline, there had never been any energy exchange between the two countries; we only collaborated on developing energy-related technology.
But with this agreement, I wouldn't be surprised if the collaboration could go much further.
There were even some ideas about building a gas pipeline through the Pacific.
If such a project were to happen... the speculative investment could really pay off.
With all of this in mind and with clear plans for tomorrow, I fell asleep.
...
The next morning, I cleaned the house a bit, did my morning exercises, got into my pickup truck and drove to campus.
The bodyguards assigned to me were different from the ones I'd seen earlier, but they showed me their credentials before I drove off.
One of them followed me into the faculty building but stayed outside the lecture halls.
My major had a day off on Friday, but I was taking additional classes.
After the first class, I stepped outside the faculty building and pulled out my phone to make a call.
A call to Luna Park.
It took some time before she finally picked up. "Yes?" she answered.
"Hi, it's Jack."
"Oh, hi there... Wow. I didn't know you'd call this soon," she said with a teasing edge.
"Well, you offered, so why would I refuse?" I replied.
She chuckled softly. "So... what do you want to do... Jack?"
"Do you know Prime & Pearl restaurant?"
"Prime & Pearl?" she exclaimed. "Oh my god. It's such a nice restaurant. But... I will need to dress up then."
"No need to go overboard," I said. "I'll be dressing casually as well."
She laughed lightly. "Hmm... alright. Then, where would you like me?"
"Hmm?"
"Where would you like to pick me up?" she said playfully.
"Well, where will you be around 5 p.m.?"
"At my family house," she replied. "But don't you have a bit of a... predicament with my sister? Picking me up from the house like this... she could see us, you know?"
"What about the intersection of 9th and 16th Ave, then?"
She giggled. "I'm looking forward to it."
"See you then, Luna."
"Bye bye, Jack."
After ending the call, I went back to my faculty for the rest of the classes.
I got back home around 4 p.m. and made a call to Sam.
He informed me that they had indeed found a spy bug inside their limousine.
That most likely meant that someone installed it without Ricky or any of the bodyguards knowing about it, but I still told Sam to be careful and swap the bodyguards he had hired as soon as the news will come out.
I also asked him if he had someone who could pick up two bottles of half-sweet wine and deliver them to my house.
I couldn't buy alcohol myself, and yet I could use some tonight.
Before 5 p.m., I got into my Ferrari and backed out of the driveway, heading to the meeting spot with Luna.
So that she wouldn't have to wait for me, I arrived a few minutes early and parked in a small driveway.
At almost exactly 5 p.m., I saw her walking up the sidewalk, her violet hair tossed and fluttered.
She was dressed in a striking black outfit—a black leather jacket over a short skirt that reached a few inches above her knees, revealing just enough of her milky skin down to where her black stockings began, held up by black straps. Everything was completed with a pair of black heels.
I got out of my Ferrari just as Luna reached the curb. She waved at me cutely, hastening her steps with a bright smile.
"Hey!" she gave me a gentle hug, pressing her breasts against me.
I didn't open the door for her; she wasn't the kind of girl that I would be a gentleman with.
She jumped into the passenger seat herself.
I settled back into my seat and started the Ferrari.
"VRRRRRR!" The engine roared to life.
"Oh wow! I love this car already!" Luna exclaimed, but I was quite sure that she was not a stranger to driving cars like these.
She had her thighs squeezed together and her hands on her lap the entire ride to the restaurants, like she was trying to act reserved.
When we reached Prime & Pearl, I went to the receptionist to check my reservation.
He nodded and led us to a small, intimate round table in a quiet corner of the restaurant.
As we sat down and looked at the menu, Luna became really talkative. "I've only been here once before," she said, grinning. "I want to try a few things."
She put the card on the table and pointed at an item on the menu. "Like this steak," she said, biting her lower lip. "I'm sure it's juicy..."
"Order anything you want," I told her.
After we ordered our food, I glanced over at her.
"So, what do you do at ABC News? Do you want to be a reporter?" I asked.
She grinned, her eyes sparkling. "No... not really. I would want to, maybe sometime in the future. But I'm not that great at talking. I'm more like a searching-up kinda girl you know; I'm looking for all sorts of things that could become great news, controversial politics usually, but really anything as long as it's interesting."
She leaned forward, resting her elbows on the table and supporting her face with the back of her palms. "What about you?" Her gaze was playful as she looked at me. "How can you afford a car like this?"
I looked confidently into her exotic eyes and at her pearl-white face, accentuated by gentle makeup.
"I'm a market analyst," I said. "A good one. I also hold an executive position at one of the largest investment firms in Orlando."
Luna was clearly fascinated by what I was saying.
Most would find such talk boring, but she was genuinely interested, probably because it made her think about the money involved.
As I finished explaining, I felt a gentle touch on my leg under the table.
I glanced over at Luna, who gave me a sly wink. "So... how rich are you, exactly?" she asked, as her foot slowly stroked up and down my right leg.
I met her gaze. "I have a net worth of around 50 million dollars at the moment."
Her eyes widened in genuine surprise.
Then I felt her foot slide up and over my knee, resting on my inner right thigh.
I cleared my throat. "Listen, Luna, hypothetically speaking, if I had something for you—something that could become big news—would you be able to relay that information?"
I felt her toes probing against my crotch. "Well... yes, of course." her voice dropped to a sexy tone. "Actually... that's something I've been doing for a while. You could say that getting to know influential people is a part of my job...
so I wouldn't mind getting to know you a little closer..."
I could feel her toes clenching as they massaged my confined shaft.
She tilted her head, studying me with a curious look. "You're such a great guy. There is no way you don't have a girlfriend already... And yet you're going after my sister?"
"You are mistaken," I said. "I'm not going after your sister."
"Oh? Seriously? But then you must have a girlfriend."
I smiled. "No, I don't."
One of her eyebrows shot up in doubt. "No? Really? I find that hard to believe."
"Well... I do have a girl—friend that I'm close with."
She paused, and then she seemed to have a sudden realization. "Oh... Now I see what kind of man you are." She giggled and looked at me with a sly grin.
"So..." she leaned in a bit closer across the table and lowered her voice. "Do you have any room in your little harem?"
She rocked her foot back and forth, applying gentle pressure between the tip and base of my cock, all the while throwing sultry glances at me. "You know... I can do anything. Missionary. Doggie. Cowgirl.
I pretty much like them all."
"..."
The only position I could think of for her was over my knee.
Her flirting would be cute if I didn't know what a little golddigger she really was.
When the waiter came with the food, Luna smiled wickedly and stopped stroking, pulling her foot back.
Luna's flirting continued as she ate her steak—giving it lingering licks.
After we left the restaurant, I turned to her. "What do you think about going shopping?"
Her eyes lit up. "Yey! That sounds fun!"