Lu Liang felt that it was highly probable that it would pass.

This term's ruler, Anshan, had been appointed as the premier three times. Last year, he had dissolved the House of Representatives, held elections two years early, and secured re-election, achieving his third term in office.

Last month, risking universal condemnation, he had ignored the protests of a million citizens and forcefully pushed through the new defense law, making it possible for Japan to exercise collective self-defense rights.

He had torn up the enemy state clauses and Article 9 of the Constitution, which prohibited Japan, as a defeated nation in World War II, from maintaining any military forces or other armed troops, and from producing any war-related materials.

Anshan indeed was a man descended from heaven, and Lu Liang had thus concluded that raising the consumption tax was an inevitable choice.

"What are you thinking about?"

Around six o'clock, as most of the company's employees were leaving, Su Wanyu, leaning on her chin, stared blankly at Lu Liang as he spaced out.

"I'm thinking about where to take you for dinner." Lu Liang turned his head to look out the window, unaware that the sun was setting.

"How about a revolving hot pot?"

"Didn't we just have hot pot last night?"

"It seems so. Well, you decide. I'll clock out now, and see you at the intersection later."

Su Wanyu left the office, greeted Chen Jinchun, and limped out of the company.

Watching her silhouette, Lu Liang called Zhao Haisheng to ask about the progress of the foreign exchange account.

Having learned that it would be ready by tomorrow, he tidied up his desk and also left the office.

That night, the two of them went to have grilled fish and then watched an anime movie, The Return of the Great Sage.

"This movie is a dark horse of the summer vacation. My classmates said it's really good."

Su Wanyu chattered on, her foot injury not dampening her spirits at all.

Lu Liang thought of "Xia Luo," scheduled to be released during the National Day holidays, still over two months away.

After dropping Su Wanyu off at home at night, Lu Liang returned home and quietly awaited midnight.

[August 1, US Dollar to yen, 129.2300]

"21 points, but why on a Wednesday?"

Lu Liang furrowed his brow. If there were any disturbances, the financial markets would certainly react instantaneously.

But the cabinet meeting was already scheduled for Tuesday. If they decided to raise the consumption tax, it would definitely be announced that day.

Why was there a day's delay?

What had happened that day?

With these questions, Lu Liang drifted off to sleep.

The next day, after successfully registering his 'Forex Treasure' account, he spent the whole day getting to know the foreign exchange market.

The consumption tax increase in Japan had become inevitable, and many international speculators were gearing up to short the yen.

"Short selling is a very secretive affair. When it becomes common knowledge, is it still a disadvantage?"

"Given Anshan's character, would he just watch international speculators harvest the wealth of the nation?"

Lu Liang was skeptical about this. The consumption tax increase was a policy strongly advocated by Anshan; he couldn't possibly be unaware of its consequences.

The increased consumption tax directly added to private spending costs, thus suppressing market consumption.

Everything became more expensive, and naturally, people were reluctant to spend. Apart from filling the national coffers, it did more harm than good.

Lu Liang thought of a possibility. The consumption tax went up, the yen plummeted, and the central bank stepped in to save the market.

But due to irresistible factors, they still lost, hence the day's delay.

"The new defense law!" An idea suddenly struck Lu Liang.

Besides the invaded countries, the most upset over Japan exercising collective self-defense rights was the benefactor, America.

The US forces stationed in Japan had been there for over 60 years, exploiting under the guise of protecting regional peace for decades.

Regaining self-defense rights, Hawk was of course the most upset; making less money was a minor issue, but losing face was a major one.

How then?

Planning to develop New Alliance Victory?

"Am I no longer able to cover for you?"

The son grows rebellious bumps on his head, and as a father, I certainly have to discipline him.

This incident cannot set a precedent; if there's one, there will be more, and the younger brothers will all want to try for New Alliance Victory. How would I lead the team then?

The more Lu Liang thought about it, the more likely it seemed that the foreign exchange market would experience reversals followed by more reversals.

He logged into his brokerage account and withdrew 64 million, which he converted into 10 million US dollars based on the day's exchange rate.

He glanced at Teli A, which had hit the floor limit three times in a row. Today it finally broke the limit, but it still opened low at -7.6%.

Li Jianlin and Wu Junle should have almost finished unloading their stocks, but Lu Liang no longer had the mind to pay attention to that.

He divided the 10 million into two parts, injecting 5 million into his margin account and employing a 10x leverage.

Entering the foreign exchange market, he first established a 5% base position at a rate of 108.12.

With 2.5 million US dollars, a single point of profit or loss amounted to 23.1 thousand US dollars, and the transaction fee was one-eighteen.

Lu Liang's margin account held 5 million US dollars, allowing for a maximum drop of 151 points.

Even if Japan sank directly to the bottom of the sea, it would not cause a margin call.

Over the following days,

Lu Liang focused on understanding Japan's domestic situation, and Su Wanyu's N2 Japanese certificate played a crucial role.

Only international newspapers offered full English translations; some minor tabloids couldn't be bothered or couldn't afford it.

Often, these minor tabloids conveyed information more accurately, reflecting the true state of Japan.

An N2 Japanese certificate corresponds to a proficiency level of a university's sixth grade in English; reading posed no real difficulty.

Through Su Wanyu's translations, Lu Liang also found out that

some banks in Japan had already limited the exchange of various foreign currencies to prevent capital flight by the public.

Storm clouds gathered; history's wheels churned relentlessly, and the increase in consumer tax seemed inevitable.

Numerous people took to the streets, waving banners to protest against the rise in consumer taxes.

"You've really helped me a lot."

While no one was looking, Lu Liang gave Su Wanyu a firm kiss, which made her blush deeply.

After dinner that evening, Lu Liang drove Su Wanyu home, from where she took out a delicate little box from her bag: "For you."

"What's this?" Lu Liang was dumbfounded. He couldn't remember the last time he received a gift with such exquisite wrapping.

It might have been ten years ago or even twenty; the memory was too distant and had long faded.

After starting work, he was initially interested in activities like calling friends out for a foot bath or a late-night snack to celebrate a birthday.

But over the past seven or eight years, he had stopped caring. If it weren't for a fixed day each year when his parents and sister called him, he wouldn't even know he had aged another year.

"Then it wouldn't be a surprise if I told you, would it. Just open it and see," Su Wanyu smiled brightly.

The wrapping was done meticulously, not appearing as if it were bought off the shelf. Lu Liang asked, "Did you wrap this yourself?"

Su Wanyu squinted her eyes and lifted her chin, looking pleased with herself, "Impressive, right?"

"Truly impressive."

Lu Liang's expression was complex as he untied the ribbon and wrapping paper, revealing a box inscribed with the English letters 'zippo.'

A silver lighter, adorned with a green four-leaf clover and engraved on the front with the English words roughly meaning 'eternal love,' likely factory-made. On the back, there was a custom Chinese inscription: "Smoke less."

The handwriting was elegant and unrestrained, clearly recognizable as Su Wanyu's.

"Thank you, I really like it." Lu Liang tried it a few times; it felt good in hand, though it couldn't light up without fuel.

Suddenly, Su Wanyu mimicked Lu Liang's tone: "The four-leaf clover is a rare variant of the clover species. Among a hundred thousand three-leaf clovers, only one is a four-leaf, making it a symbol of luck. Meeting you is also the greatest luck of my life."

Lu Liang smiled, a tender look crossed his eyes. Before he could make any move, Su Wanyu dashed out of the car.

"Bye~~ Be careful on your way back~" she waved from the doorway of her apartment.

"Bye~"

Lu Liang smiled, watching as Su Wanyu went upstairs.