Chapter 146: Fierce: Upgrading to Level 2, The Tides Turn at Shengxin!

Magic City, North District Hongkou.

Near the Luo family's residence of several decades, there were actually a few mid-to-high-end residential compounds. Early Saturday morning, Zhang Long met up with the two Luo sisters, Luo Man and Luo Xin, to go house-hunting for a rental.

Mother Luo originally wanted to find a cheaper two-bedroom place, but Zhang Long shook his head directly—look for a three-bedroom!

……

"The interior decoration of this place won't do."

After viewing four or five apartments the entire morning, none of them were quite satisfactory. Mainly, Zhang Long wasn't satisfied; either the layout and floor plan were poor, or the decoration and orientation were wrong. He was very picky.

Luo Man and Luo Xin actually didn't mind. No matter what, it would be much better than the old, run-down rental in the northern suburbs.

However, since Zhang Long was planning on eventually purchasing the property, the location, floor plan, orientation, and other factors had to be just right.

Moreover, good interior decoration would allow them to live more comfortably.

"Brother-in-law, this one is fine..."

Luo Man always took her cue from Zhang Long, and generally, once something he had made a decision on was explained, she wouldn't argue a second time. Since Zhang Long insisted on standards for location, layout, decoration, furniture, and appliances, then they would stick to it—it was for their own good anyway.

Luo Xin, however, felt a bit of a heartache over the expense. No matter how much money one had, it shouldn't be wasted recklessly; the rent was very expensive.

"Even a rental is a home."

Zhang Long gently patted Luo Xin's small head and smiled, "Living comfortably can put you in a better mood. You shouldn't wrong yourself, so don't worry about the high rent."

"Once the fruit shop opens and is running well, the rent will truly be a drop in the bucket."

"Alright, let's go get some food."

Lunchtime had arrived, and the group found a nice restaurant nearby to have a meal. During this time, the real estate agent had prepared a few more properties for viewing. There was actually one where everything looked satisfactory, but they didn't settle on it immediately; it was always good to look around more for comparison, and there was no rush.

Of course, that was what Zhang Long told them, while secretly asking the agent if the property was for sale, telling him to keep it quiet.

Upon understanding Zhang Long's true requirements, the agent caught on immediately and indicated he understood completely.

Thus, Saturday night was spent at the Luo residence.

Mother Luo had already started working at a fruit and vegetable shop; learning and understanding the ropes would take two to three months of careful exploration, so the overall relocation would be done step by step.

As long as they could select a rental property during this period and find a suitable commercial storefront nearby to acquire for their own shop, that would be enough.

After all, moving houses wouldn't be difficult or take long once the time came.

Meanwhile, Luo Man had already officially started working at a certain travel agency. Zhang Long had invested some capital, meaning that combined with her older female cousin, the two of them entered the partnership with a total of one million.

The cousin's appearance was slightly above average—not as pretty as Luo Man—but she was sharp-tongued and very outgoing.

Her physiognomy looked decent; she was a good cousin.

……

"Hey, the two of us really..."

In a certain apartment bedroom, a pair of ill-fated sisters had gathered once again. Qin Miaotong was left speechless and choked with emotion, "I originally wanted to jump ship to your company, Hongze, but then your backer lost power. With the general manager changing, how much longer can you stay?"

"I don't know. We'll see."

Liang Xue's tone was calm and indifferent, though it was somewhat mixed with a trace of bitterness. Jumping from Shengxin with the Blizzard Team to Hongze, she had just started finding her groove before the New Year, and right after the New Year when she was about to live the good life of developing performance metrics, what happened?

Ling Zhiqian and Qian Caiying had lost power.

Although they hadn't officially left Hongze just yet, they would definitely be gone in half a month at most.

The newly arrived General Manager, Ling Yushan, would surely replace the vital management team with his own people step by step.

Once the personnel changes were complete, why stay?

However, there was one thing that puzzled Liang Xue slightly. Logically speaking, with Qian Caiying's temper, she definitely would have blown her top. Although she gave Ling Yushan a dark look, she hadn't gone too far.

Her intuition told Liang Xue that Qian Caiying and Ling Zhiqian definitely wouldn't go down without a fight. Perhaps?

"What are we going to do in the future?"

Qin Miaotong's sudden question interrupted Liang Xue's train of thought, "I can't stay much longer at HSBC. It's been half a month since the stock market opened after the New Year, and the bear market has only gotten more bearish."

"Clients don't see any hope of making money in the stock market, so they won't deposit funds. Without funds, there's no trading volume; without trading volume, there are no considerable commission cuts. The whole thing is just a vicious dead loop. I want to switch to other asset classes."

"What about futures or spot commodities?"

Hearing this, Liang Xue pondered slightly, neither affirming nor denying, "Do as you see fit. I'll wait and see a little longer. I believe President Qian and President Ling won't be without other preparations."

"If by then there really is nothing, we can either stay or continue job-hopping. There's no rush for now."

"Sigh, you're never in a rush."

Qin Miaotong sighed speechlessly. Consulting her best friend was a waste of effort; this creature was forever calm and unhurried.

She could even suppress her own emotions—simply incredible.

"Time for bed, goodnight."

Liang Xue waved with a smile, turned off the lights, and closed her eyes.

With that, the two women's nighttime chat came to an established conclusion. Big shots had big shots' strategies, and small fry had small fry's plans; neither side was idling away their time.

It's just that fate is often very peculiar in life. After going in circles, one ultimately discovers that life is a circle.

In this circle, people enter and exit.

……

"For the first year, 500,000!"

Sunday afternoon, after finishing lunch at the Luo household, Zhang Long came to the 'Yumei Studio' storefront. Liu Yurong had been back at work for half a month since the New Year, and her overall operations had nearly gotten back on track, making it time to discuss serious business. The valuation company's appraisal for Liu Yurong's studio was five million!

This factored in Liu Yurong's personal competence, the reputation and brand goodwill of Yumei Studio, and the projected growth value over the next two years.

It wasn't an exorbitant amount, but neither was it small.

Zhang Long took equity in exchange for rent. If the annual shop rent was set at 500,000, it would directly account for 10% of the equity. Furthermore, if the lease was renewed for another year next year, it would increase by an additional 15%, bringing his stake to 25%!

The contract was signed for only two years. Two years later, if Liu Yurong failed to meet the studio's development plan, she would have to refund the money.

25% of five million amounted to 1.25 million in rent value.

"Very well, I'll sign."

Liu Yurong's dignified and serene pretty eyes flashed with a sharp light. Without hesitation, she signed her elegant full name directly onto the contract and pressed her red ink thumbprint as a seal.

Her previous casual style of management had already yielded an annual revenue of one million; operating with dedication moving forward, it was expected to double.

By the end of the year, she should be able to bring in one million.

Even after subtracting the 500,000 annual venue rent, she would still have a net remaining of 500,000. Subsequently, if she expanded her scale and opened two or three more branch locations, her net profit could increase even further.

Five years—at most five years to clear all her debts.

"Sister Liu, run the business well."

After signing his own copy of the agreement, Zhang Long stood up and shook hands with Liu Yurong's soft hand, "I won't come here often, but if you have any issues, you can call me anytime—just don't suddenly close down and run away."

"Don't let down my trust."

"Rest assured, I won't."

While withdrawing her hand, Liu Yurong cast a pretty, reproachful side-glance at Zhang Long, "I'm not an ungrateful wretch. Given how much you've taken care of me, I certainly won't run away."

"I weathered such difficult hardships before, and now my career has been restarted with things to look forward to in the future."

"That's enough; I'm very content."

And so, Zhang Long officially established his tenancy stake in Liu Yurong's Yumei Studio. He wouldn't interfere with its future development, as long as people didn't pack up and flee.

The commercial storefront itself would appreciate in value along with rising real estate prices. As for the future value of Liu Yurong's studio?

That would depend on future operations and development.

……

Monday, March 4th, the weather was clear and crisp.

After waking up early and finishing his morning routine, Zhang Long sat before his computer with a sense of anticipation. After passing the CFA Level 1 exam, the Golden Finger's Level 1 experience bar had appeared and filled halfway. Now that the certificate was finally in hand?

"Hiss~, gorgeous!"

Suddenly, Zhang Long let out a cry of pleasant surprise. After viewing the stock recommendation report as usual and using the foresight function, the subsequent trend of the stock automatically drew itself out on the charts, while the level display in the upper right corner of his vision officially changed to Level 2!

How could he not be surprised and excited by this!

"Hoo~, calm down."

He had transmigrated and been reborn for half a year, and the Golden Finger had finally upgraded from Level 1 to Level 2. What changes would there be?

"Huh? Still two weeks?"

Suddenly, Zhang Long was taken aback. The Golden Finger had upgraded, but the stock foresight horizon was still two weeks and had not been extended. He had originally thought it might extend to three weeks or a month.

It seemed the upgrade only elevated the level, without adding any specific new functions. Was that really all?

"What about independent stock selection?"

Zhang Long had already formed a plan in his mind. The function he anticipated the most was the ability to freely choose and foresee stocks in the broad market on his own; as long as he had this capability, everything else didn't matter.

"Damn it, it doesn't work?"

A moment later, instead of looking at other recommendation reports, Zhang Long casually selected a stock in the broad market to test the foresight function, but there was no response. One minute, two minutes, three minutes—he tried over a dozen stocks and none of them worked. Damn it all!

"Let's try a different approach..."

Thoughts whirled slightly in Zhang Long's mind as he began trying his final hypothesis: rather than looking at the stock recommendation reports from corresponding brokerage platforms like UBS or Juncai, he would browse online stock forums, chat boards, and other places to view stock picks recommended by others. There were plenty of such stock-sharing communities.

Numerous financial securities platform analysts recommended stocks to build their reputation and attract clients.

It wouldn't matter if he couldn't freely initiate foresight anywhere in the broad market at will, as long as the Golden Finger was no longer restricted to just the three corresponding brokerage platforms...

"Awesome, bullseye!"

Zhang Long's body and mind trembled, his gaze widening as he stared fixedly at the computer screen. He had just casually checked a stock recommendation in a stock forum and then shifted his gaze to the trading chart. This time, there was no lack of response; instead, just like when viewing recommendation reports from the three brokerages like UBS and Juncai, the Golden Finger's foresight activated!

In other words, after upgrading to Level 2, the newly added function was the ability to search and browse stock recommendations from various other platforms online and perform foresight on them.

Although there were still some restrictions, the stock recommendations published daily by major platforms across online forums and stock boards...

Far exceeded the number of recommended stocks from the three brokerages combined, which indirectly equated to having no restrictions at all.

Awesome, astonishing, and gorgeous.

2013, auspicious and prosperous from the start of spring!

……

"Huh? Another withdrawal?"

No matter how pleasant a surprise, it eventually fades. After executing trades across his three stock accounts, Zhang Long once again made a profit withdrawal from foreign exchange. Just like last time, he withdrew 500,000 USD, which was immediately received by forex platforms like Huitong Jiuding and others.

Although several hundred thousand would still remain in the accounts after the withdrawal, the net profit withdrawn amounted to 1 million USD, which converted to domestic currency was 6.5 million—not a small sum.

Of course, it was entirely reasonable for clients to want to withdraw money after making a profit, but a phone call of inquiry was still standard procedure.

"Buzz, buzz buzz~"

His cell phone vibrated with an incoming call. Zhang Long picked it up directly and answered. A moment after listening, his brow furrowed slightly, "Everything is going fine, why change to a gold-tier analyst? I don't need it."

With that, he hung up the phone, speechless.

A certain service director from UBS had called to say that starting today, his service would be upgraded to include coaching by a gold-tier analyst!

The operation was identical to HSBC's approach before the New Year.

"Uh, he hung up?"

In the UBS trading department, Gu Su's mood wasn't particularly wonderful. Before the New Year, when Zhang Long's account funds reached 10 million, the company had wanted to assign him to a gold-tier analyst for coaching—thereby returning favors while skimming half of the commission cut. However, her boss had blocked the move, telling them to wait until after the New Year.

Now, dragging it out until the spring of March after the New Year was already the absolute limit; Zhang Long was finally being assigned to gold-tier coaching.

Yet, it seemed Zhang Long didn't want to switch?

"Stop right there, don't daydream."

The person who had just called Zhang Long was Gu Su's boss, paving the way for the gold-tier coaching transition.

Even though Zhang Long had directly hung up and said he didn't need to switch, the reassignment was already a settled matter. A gold-tier analyst would make a call to communicate, and the client would accept it.

Could he really get angry and stop trading altogether?

"Continue with basic coaching for now..."

After giving Gu Su instructions, the director went off to deal with other matters, while Gu Su pouted with a bit of muttering.

A small arm couldn't twist a thick thigh after all.

Big Brother Long, oh Big Brother Long, starting today you will no longer belong exclusively to me, Gu Su. My heart aches so much; I have to give away half of my commission cut—how painful.

A 30-million-level account—the largest in her hands and one that earned commissions effortlessly just by sitting there. She was so reluctant to let go...

She would add a chicken leg to her lunch to comfort her youthful soul.

……

"Something came up; I need the money."

All three foreign exchange platforms had called directly or indirectly to inquire about the reason for the withdrawal. Zhang Long gave a unified response that he had matters requiring funds, which served as a plausible excuse.

As for client withdrawals, even stock brokerages would make a call to ask; it was a standard procedure.

After all, it would be abnormal not to bat an eye when a client under one's name frequently withdrew funds, unless the withdrawal amount was minuscule.

Hundreds or thousands of dollars—that could be ignored at will.

"I need to open new accounts again."

Zhang Long's gaze flashed. He had left several hundred thousand in funds across the three forex platforms like Huitong Jiuding to continue trading, and over these past couple of days, it was time to open accounts with three new forex platforms. He would use this week for the transition and officially hand things over next week.

That meant by next Monday, the initial forex accounts with Huitong Jiuding and the others would have their balances completely withdrawn and trading halted, transitioning to the newly opened accounts to continue harvesting profits seamlessly. Perfect.

If harvesting wool from the foreign exchange market could yield net profits up to 100 million before foresight cut off, ten accounts would be needed.

Keeping each individual account under 10 million was very okay.

"Phew, stock trading is coming to a pause..."

Zhang Long's thoughts drifted back. Spot trading had made 100 million, foreign exchange had also made 100 million, and stock operations had now generated over 90 million, rapidly approaching 100 million. It was starting to feel a bit tedious.

He had bought two luxury mansions at Splendid Huating and two properties for Liu Yurong, yet that had only spent 70 million?

Even if he bought another estate-style detached villa for 50 million, the total of 120 million still wouldn't use up all his funds.

Should he buy some luxury cars or perhaps a yacht?

Staying cooped up at home making money was getting increasingly dull; as long as the market was open, he just wanted to trade and make profits, completely losing any desire to go out, eat, drink, and play. Making money had become an addictive obsession...

He couldn't go on like this; he would ruin himself.

Therefore, after much deliberation, he intended to end this boring money-making lifestyle and embark on a new career.

Partnering with Qian Caiying and Ling Zhiqian to open a financial company and making a bottom-fishing entry into his former employer, Shengxin, meant that as an industry practitioner, he could no longer trade through personal accounts.

Fortunately, he had already earned more than enough money. Three hundred million, five hundred million, one billion, eight billion—they were all just numbers by now.

Pursuing other aspirations and developments would also be quite nice. In any case, he no longer wished to stay cooped up at home.

"Shengxin, how are things going?"

Standing by the floor-to-ceiling living room window, Zhang Long looked out into the distance toward the location of Shengxin Company on the opposite bank of the Bund. It was ten-thirty; by now, the board meeting should have yielded a result. Was it good or bad?

"Splendid, you guys are truly splendid..."

In the Shengxin conference room, Director You, Director Guan, and the others stared at the cold, ruthless Director Zhu and the neutral faction.

Their complexions were as dark as charcoal, giving them a throbbing ache in their lower bodies.

The kind of ache where they were about to be rolled out the door!