Chapter 156: Magic: Zhang Long's Clients Mysteriously Resurrect

March 25, Monday.

The six teams in the Shengxin Investment Department received the latest daily stock recommendation report, which listed five stocks.

No single stock was heavily promoted; the five stocks in the report were presented for teams to recommend based on their own preferences and perspectives. Even team leaders did not interfere much, granting employees considerable freedom of choice—a method with both advantages and disadvantages.

Performance depended on a combination of ability and luck.

...

“Hello, Sister Liu.”

The Blizzard Team was the first to get into work mode. Since their hometown was familiar territory, nothing felt strange. Besides, they had already spent two or three days last week adjusting to the new environment, so this week marked the start of their performance sprint, even if the clients in their hands were those returned to the shared pool and rejected by others.

It didn’t matter—as long as the stock recommendation report maintained a certain accuracy baseline, developing performance would not be difficult.

They trusted Brother Long; the plan was simply to work hard.

Likewise, the Hurricane Team, which also transferred from Hongze, sat next to the Blizzard Team and quickly settled into an orderly work rhythm. After all, they had come as a familiar group, so it wasn’t entirely foreign.

Moreover, both President Qian and President Ling were still at Shengxin. With such familiar leadership at the top, they had protection. Let’s go!

Anywhere is the same when it comes to working.

As for the four teams originally at Shengxin, there was no need to mention—they were busy developing new clients and opening new orders, maintaining and pursuing funds through trading, a scene full of hustle and bustle.

The atmosphere was much better than before Zhang Long’s arrival, and only expected to improve.

After all, if the accuracy of the stock recommendation report improved, there would naturally be performance and motivation.

Opening orders brought rewards, trading brought commissions.

Just think back to Zhang Long’s trading commissions in September and October last year—monthly pre-tax earnings exceeded hundreds of thousands, even tens of thousands, and after tax, the two months combined amounted to three hundred thousand.

Spot foreign exchange trading was profitable, but only when performance was strong and major clients traded heavily.

Ordinary employees earning base salary or a modest commission was normal—it was the same everywhere, with highs and lows.

“Hello, Brother Sun.”

Bai Xiaoying cheerfully dialed the phone. “It’s me, Xiaoying. Yes, that’s right, I’m back at Shengxin. I noticed you haven’t been trading stocks for a long time. I’m not calling to ask you to top up your account, but to recommend a few stocks for you to closely watch their future trends. Just take a look first.”

“Whether to do it or not, I'll think about it later.”

...

Life is tough, but it must go on.

For ordinary employees, a stable job and decent income were good enough. Those who stuck to securities work through a bear market were mostly not greedy.

It wasn’t a lack of ambition but rather a preference for the regulated nature of stock trading—less pressure.

After all, if performance was stable, there was no need for overtime at night, allowing more time for leisure.

At Shengxin, there was no mandatory overtime.

Also, the half-day Sunday overtime once imposed by Director You had long been canceled. The stock market was open for two hours in the morning and two hours in the afternoon, and three days were enough to finish everything.

Generally, work ended at six o’clock. The period from three to six was sufficient to prepare and confirm the clients’ fund deposits for the next day.

There was no need to work at night, so no overtime was required.

However, recently, Shengxin probably would have to work overtime for a while. Zhang Long had improved the accuracy of the stock recommendation reports and boosted performance development. To open more new orders or to chase funds for trading, working overtime was quite acceptable.

Employees were willing and not resistant.

“Compensation starts with headquarters first.”

In Conference Room No. 1, regarding the matter of thoroughly clearing Shengxin’s name and redistributing severance pay to former employees, although the board of directors had passed the resolution, the specific work had to be done step by step—headquarters first, then branches.

Currently, Shengxin had six teams. If performance began to improve steadily, two more teams would be added, increasing to ten teams. Staff would be selected from former employees who had received compensation but wished to return, including ordinary employees and managerial positions—there was no shortage of manpower.

Once the headquarters was settled, promotion could be extended to the two branches in Kyoto and Hangzhou. By then, the branches’ performances should have improved considerably.

Each branch had an independent analyst department, though only two to three gold-level analysts each—not many.

The stock recommendation reports could also be written independently.

This time, headquarters began using Zhang Long’s new stock recommendation report, and copies were also sent to the two branches, though it was unclear whether they were properly utilized.

That would be addressed later. For now, the priority was to straighten out headquarters and achieve results. Eventually, the branches would be unified.

The entire Shengxin operation was steadily improving.

...

“Director Zhang.”

Chang Song knocked and came in to see Zhang Long. After entering, he reported directly, “Do you remember Zhang Lizhen? She was assigned to the Blizzard Team as a client. Can you communicate with her?”

Zhang Lizhen had caused trouble many times before, and everyone at Shengxin remembered her. Chang Song had maintained contact.

Although she was assigned to a gold-level analyst, the marketing department still provided basic routine support.

Now she was back under Chang Song’s care.

“Treat her normally.”

Zhang Long nodded thoughtfully. According to his stock recommendation report and client guidance, there would be both losses and gains, but as long as clients listened, they wouldn’t suffer major losses. Besides, Zhang Lizhen had already finished her pregnancy; progesterone would no longer affect her mood.

He had called her several times privately to arrange a meeting and dinner, but all were declined. Now that she had returned to Shengxin, communication could resume without reservations.

“May I mention this to her?”

“Sure, go ahead.”

Receiving a definite answer, Chang Song left immediately and called Zhang Lizhen.

“Hello, Sister Zhang, this is Chang Song.”

In a residential complex, Zhang Lizhen, having just finished yoga, was surprised to hear this but soon showed a hint of delight. “Zhang Long is back at Shengxin? And now he’s a senior executive?”

“Yes, Sister Zhang.”

“If you still want to trade stocks, I think you can follow his lead. It’s like Brother Long is indirectly guiding you. If luck is on your side, you can make money.”

She couldn’t say this too confidently; all support and guidance were vague. But it didn’t matter.

Zhang Lizhen’s body and mind were a bit stirred.

Having gone through so many guiding managers, only Zhang Long had helped her make money—quickly and accurately.

Now that Zhang Long was rehired and had become senior management at Shengxin, there was no reason not to continue. Her husband’s career had yet to take off, the lawsuit with Tengda was not yielding results, and household expenses were mounting.

Trading stocks to make money would ease financial pressure.

As for where the money would come from, the Shengxin account still had tens of thousands locked up, so she simply sold off holdings to free funds. After all, with Zhang Long’s backing, making money was guaranteed.

Thus, despite risking her mother’s scolding, Zhang Lizhen was ready to trade stocks once more.

She didn’t trust Shengxin, but she trusted Zhang Long.

...

“What? Zhang Long is back?”

Liu Wei had been a client Zhang Long previously guided and had even introduced clients to him. One such client had lost money due to disobedient trading and complained about Zhang Long. The matter escalated to the police, where Liu Wei met Zhang Long.

Unfortunately, Zhang Long refused private tutoring or delegated trading. Now Liu Wei was too lazy to trade stocks at all, losing money repeatedly on any platform.

But today, Shengxin called to say Zhang Long had returned and become a senior executive—impressive.

But it was deserved. Zhang Long had the ability and was worth it; anyone with eyes would have rehired him.

So there was no hesitation—he restarted trading.

Many of Zhang Long’s former clients across the six teams in the investment department heard of his return to Shengxin. Although he no longer personally tutored clients, he led the analyst department as senior management and personally supervised the stock recommendation reports.

This was like indirect guidance and very encouraging.

It must be known that the most troublesome clients at Shengxin had mostly been under Zhang Long’s name. In September and October last year, Zhang Long led them to profit, but after his departure, these clients began to suffer large losses, unable to accept the drop.

Some even ended up at the police station.

But now, none of that mattered. One by one, Zhang Long’s former clients heard of his return, and their enthusiasm and spirit for trading revived—it was magical.

...

Some clients even funded their accounts and started trading based on the recommended stocks that very day.

This scene was truly touching.

Zhang Long’s clients were spread across all six investment teams, blooming everywhere. The Hurricane Team from Hongze was shocked—Director Zhang truly was a master. Just mentioning his name revived many clients.

Damn, impressive class.

“They’re all good clients,” Zhang Long sighed. Previously, he had guided over a hundred clients daily for trading, if not two hundred. Within two days, more than twenty clients directly revived and began trading. Though they didn’t fund large amounts, they were active again.

Very good—it felt great to be trusted.

...

“What’s this so urgent about?”

That evening, Liang Xue arranged to meet Luo Man.

Luo Man, working at a travel agency and in a critical stage of developing a business with her cousin, was usually busier on weekends than weekdays. Except for time spent with Zhang Long, she rarely accepted other appointments.

But she made an exception for Liang Xue.

“Let’s talk about Zhang Long.”

Liang Xue’s opening sentence startled Luo Man, but her expression quickly composed into calm neutrality.

“Finally going to say it, huh?”

Luo Man wasn’t surprised. Seeing Liang Xue’s composed demeanor, she smiled lightly, “Later than I expected. It must have been hard to endure.”

“Not too bad,” Liang Xue replied, seemingly unsurprised that Luo Man knew something. Both were clever and not naive.

“Tell me what you have to say.”

Luo Man crossed her arms, somewhat eager to watch the drama unfold. Liang Xue’s eyes flickered.

“First, you’re not right for Zhang Long. You broke up and gave up once, then suddenly got back together. I’m puzzled.”

“Because of me?”

“A little, but not entirely.”

Luo Man nodded ambiguously. “One Saturday, I waited outside his door until 10:30 pm but didn’t see him come home. That felt off.”

“Later, in conversations with you, I realized many times he wasn’t himself—somehow strange.”

“My intuition told me something was wrong.”

At this point, Luo Man looked directly at Liang Xue and spoke slowly, “You’re at most a catalyst. The main reason is that I developed true feelings for Zhang Long. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have remained chaste for over twenty years and given myself to someone so easily.”

“To be honest, on Zhang Long’s birthday, December 11, I gave myself to him as a gift.”

“How’s that? Pretty intense, huh.”

Liang Xue’s pupils shrank; she hadn’t expected such a special meaning. No wonder—any man would find that irresistible.

“Zhang Long returned to Shengxin.”

“Not only did he return, but he also became a senior director at the company. He’s no longer the same as yesterday—his net worth isn’t over a hundred million but at least tens of millions, far beyond what you knew on the surface. I want to see what you plan to do.”

“Will you continue with your travel business, or return to Zhang Long’s side and be a little woman?”

Across from her, Luo Man’s eyes instantly hardened.