47: Chapter 47 Grain Price Collapse! A Devastating Attack That Will Destroy the Spirit.
Lin Tian casually found an empty seat and settled down.
Seeing his silent, nonchalant attitude, the hecklers immediately lost interest.
However, Barney refused to give up, bringing the French woman along to sit next to Lin Tian.
"Kid, you're going to lose at least a few million this time. Don't say I didn't look out for you; as long as you shout out in front of everyone here that you are a stupid Chinese pig, I'll be merciful and lend you the money to fill your hole. How about that?"
Staring at the disgusting, fat man with a potbelly and a receding hairline in front of him, Lin Tian nodded in agreement.
"Hahaha, hurry up and shout! Make some noise!" Barney said, his face full of excitement.
The French woman beside him, Marie, looked at Lin Tian with eyes full of sympathy.
In her view, this Chinese youth was completely finished.
No matter how much reputation he had earned before, if he shouted those words today, he would absolutely be ruined.
Moreover, based on her understanding of Barney, even if Lin Tian actually shouted it, this fat man would never cough up a single cent.
He was purely doing it to humiliate someone in public.
Unexpectedly, Lin Tian smiled slightly and retorted leisurely: "Actually, I'm looking forward to hearing Mr. Barney shout those words himself. But you probably wouldn't want to right now. It doesn't matter; I'm not in a hurry, and I have plenty of time to wait today."
"Hey! You brat, what nonsense are you spouting!" The smugness on Barney's face instantly froze.
Clang, clang, clang! The bronze bell for the market opening rang.
The clerk at the Chicago Futures Market picked up a piece of chalk and turned to write rapidly on the blackboard directly in front of him.
The blackboard was filled with real-time quotes for grains such as wheat, corn, and oats.
As soon as the market opened, the prices of various grains continued to skyrocket.
Take wheat, for example; the initial price was 18.71 dollars per ton.
Five minutes later, the number jumped to 18.83 dollars.
After an hour, it surged directly to 18.91 dollars.
The speculators in the hall were like madmen, waving banknotes in their hands and frantically throwing money into the market.
Everyone's eyes were bloodshot, fearing that if they acted too late, they would earn a few less dollars.
Lin Tian, however, kept his head down, closing his eyes to rest, completely treating the surrounding commotion as air.
According to the futures trend chart provided by the system, the prices of all grains today would at least be cut in half.
Commodities like wheat and corn would fall to only one-third of their peak.
Sure enough, when the price of wheat approached the 19-dollar mark, the upward trend slowed down significantly.
After rushing to 18.95 dollars, it seemed to hit an iron wall and could no longer rise.
Immediately after, the clerk erased the number and wrote down 18.94 dollars again.
"It's falling! The price is falling!" Someone in the hall exclaimed.
Guys like Barney, who fancied themselves veterans, immediately stood up to steady the crowd: "What are you panicking about! This is just a normal fluctuation caused by a delay in the telegrams from Europe!"
With this "wealth myth" guaranteeing it, many people instantly felt relieved.
Following his words, the price did indeed climb back up. 18.95 dollars, 18.96 dollars.
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, and someone loudly praised: "Mr. Barney is truly our god of investment!"
Before the words had even faded, the telegram clerk suddenly shouted while holding a slip of paper:
"Urgent telegrams just arrived from Europe, India, and Tsarist Russia! There is a bumper harvest of grain globally this year, and the price of wheat in London has already crashed, falling to 15.55 dollars!"
"What?!"
The hall instantly erupted in cries of disbelief.
Impacted by the plunge in grain prices in London, wheat and corn in the Chicago Futures Market plummeted.
Seeing that the situation was bad, some people hurriedly wanted to dump the futures contracts in their hands.
But with grain warehouses overflowing worldwide, even a blind man would know that international grain prices were about to take a nosedive; who would be willing to pick up the slack and be a sucker at this time?
With wheat leading, the prices of crops like corn and oats began to plunge crazily.
15.01 dollars!
13.96 dollars!
The prices were falling rapidly, and there was simply no stopping them.
"How could this happen? How could it turn out like this!"
Barney, who had just been held on a pedestal, was now as pale as a sheet.
Sweat was pouring from his forehead, and no matter how much he wiped it with his handkerchief, he couldn't dry it.
He endured until the market closed today, and grain prices had completely fallen into the eighteenth level of hell.
From a high of 18.96 dollars per ton, it plummeted to 6.33 dollars.
If trading hadn't been forcibly stopped at the close, the price would have continued to fall.
Tomorrow, at the opening, it was destined to be an even bigger disaster.
Barney, who had been high-spirited and pointing out the landscape in the morning, was now slumped on the ground like a puddle of mud.
His eyes were unfocused, and he kept muttering: "Impossible, absolutely impossible!"
Along with the crash in grain prices, Barney was completely bankrupt.
The scraps he had left in the Chicago Futures Market weren't even enough to pay the loan interest to Wells Fargo Bank.
In just one day, he went from a magnificent millionaire to a pauper burdened with debt.
Carriage shops, large villas, luxurious farms, and even the expensive suit he was wearing—everything would be confiscated by the bank to pay off his debts.
There were many others who shared his fate, and the entire exchange was filled with wailing.
Within a single day, countless people lost everything.
Lin Tian knew very well that the economic crisis of 1882 was merely growing pains for the USA, and it would be over after two months.
But in the grain industry, it would have to languish at the bottom of low prices for a long time to come.
In stark contrast to the people in the hall who were seeking death, Lin Tian slowly stood up from his chair.
He twisted his sore shoulders, relieving the fatigue of the day.
He walked slowly to the slumped Barney and spoke from a commanding position:
"Don't say I didn't give you a chance. As long as you shout out loud right now that you are a stupid pig, I will lend you the money you lost. How about that?"
"For real?"
Barney instantly erupted with a strong desire to survive, leaping up from the ground and clutching tightly at the last straw.
"Of course! I swear on my reputation. As long as Mr. Barney admits in public that he is a stupid pig, I will lend the money immediately!" Lin Tian said in a very straightforward tone.
"You have to give me the money first!" Barney's eyes rolled as he began to haggle.
"There's no such rule. What if I give you the money and you turn around and refuse to honor the deal?"
Lin Tian smiled slightly, not bothering to pay him any mind.
He turned his head to look at the French woman beside him.
To tell the truth, this woman was indeed beautiful.
Blonde hair and blue eyes, with a tall figure.
If it weren't for the fact that his current body hadn't fully developed yet, and that he had no interest in second-hand goods, he would have really wanted to go with the flow and chat for a bit.
With these thoughts flashing through his mind, Lin Tian spoke directly to the French woman:
"This guy can't even afford a piece of bread right now. Do you still intend to follow him? Are you prepared to pay to support him in the future?"
Hearing this, the French woman's face changed drastically, and she cast a look of disgust at Barney.
She stepped in her high heels and ran to Lin Tian's side without looking back.
Although Lin Tian didn't intend to take this woman, he still cooperated by reaching out and putting his arm around her slender waist.
"Since you refuse to say it, then forget it. Anyway, I never waste my breath on poor wretches!"
After throwing out this sentence, Lin Tian raised his head and whispered a few words into the beauty's ear.
After hearing this, the woman's expression dimmed slightly, but she still nodded obediently.