Chapter 164: Leave it to the Law, Making Money Needs a Bottom Line

Human nature is fickle and unpredictable.

It was a good thing that Shengxin decided to retroactively issue the remaining severance pay to previously dismissed employees. The company could clean up its brand reputation, and the dismissed employees would receive their full compensation—a win-win situation for all parties involved. Yet, there would always be some unrelated individuals who jumped out to maliciously stir up trouble.

Whether it was a spontaneous individual action or instigated by some hidden forces behind the scenes, the outcome was the same.

...

"Call the police!"

Zhang Long pushed open the door and entered Shengxin.

Looking at the familiar faces and heads gathered together to make a fuss, he showed no intention of compromising or negotiating whatsoever. "Shengxin is only retroactively paying severance compensation to dismissed employees. It has nothing to do with any of you who resigned voluntarily. I honestly wonder how you have the nerve to show your faces here. Call the police."

"What are you standing around for? Call the police."

Within just a few short sentences, Zhang Long repeated the order to call the police three times. The Shengxin administrative manager nodded in acknowledgment and immediately dialed the emergency number.

"Provoking trouble, extortion, smearing Shengxin's brand image, and causing a series of losses and impacts to Shengxin—just wait to be sued for compensation."

Zhang Long's gaze was sharp as lightning, and he let out a cold snort.

The seven or eight troublemakers gathered opposite him were a bit dazed. Who on earth was this person coming in and laying down the law like this?

However, the next moment they found out, as Shengxin employees addressed him as Director Zhang, a newly arrived senior executive board member.

"Um, Director Zhang, hello..."

"Stop. Right there."

Zhang Long directly waved his hand to interrupt, looking at the leading young man without a shred of compromise. "Since you've maliciously come to Shengxin to cause trouble, there's nothing to discuss. Leave it to the police and the law. Rest assured, everything will be handled strictly by the book."

"Director Zhang, you've misunderstood..."

"Shut up."

Zhang Long interrupted him again, telling him not to speak. "Whether there's a misunderstanding or not, you know very well. There are high-definition audio-video cameras in this conference room, and your extortion attempt just now was completely recorded. Get ready to go to the police station."

"Regardless of whether you got greedy and wanted to extort Shengxin on your own, or if someone behind the scenes backed you to come here and cause trouble, this matter is being handed over to the police."

"I believe in the law. Thank you."

Having said that, Zhang Long turned and left directly, instructing the administrative manager to ignore them further and simply wait for the police to arrive.

Unsurprisingly, these people must have been instigated by someone behind the scenes to cause trouble at Shengxin. Otherwise, unless they were out of their minds, anyone would know that resigning voluntarily had nothing whatsoever to do with being dismissed and receiving severance pay. Financial professionals, if nothing else, at least possessed normal and intelligent brains.

Therefore, since they had come to cause trouble, there was no need to be polite. They should just get ready for a trip to the police station.

Gathering a crowd to provoke trouble, extortion, and damaging Shengxin's brand image—they were in for a world of hurt.

...

The police arrived very quickly. Before long, the troublemakers were taken away, while the Shengxin administrative manager and several supervisors accompanied them to the police station to make statements. Zhang Long stayed behind at Shengxin to hold a brief meeting.

"We cannot compromise on this matter."

Zhang Long's expression was solemn and resolute. "While harmony brings wealth is a commercial creed, we cannot act like spineless cowards. When we need to be tough, we must be tough, and we need to fan the flames well."

"If their brains are not working right and they come to Shengxin to cause trouble, then we will follow legal procedures and sue them to the end."

"There is no need to save face for anyone."

In business, people often prefer not to make a big deal out of things. Much like when Shengxin clients used to come to demand refunds, the standard approach was first to pacify them, then negotiate, and finally refund a portion of the commission or upgrade services for an amicable resolution.

Only when things could not be resolved would they call the police.

Zhang Long's attitude was tough and decisive. By refusing to negotiate or talk first and calling the police straight away, he could undoubtedly resolve the matter simply, directly, and quickly, but it wasn't entirely ideal.

Other peers in the industry might feel that Shengxin was not playing by the unwritten rules, and certain partnerships would inevitably be affected.

Everyone knew that this incident was instigated by someone behind the scenes to cause trouble for Shengxin, or rather, to issue a warning.

Lately, Shengxin had been acting a little too high-profile.

Involuted competition was everywhere.

Shengxin was paying full severance to dismissed employees. While handling the most recent batch was one thing, retroactively paying previous batches went too far. Many of those people had already transitioned into various other industries long ago, and suddenly receiving retroactive severance pay from Shengxin was absurd.

If that happened, wouldn't other companies be forced to pay full compensation when they dismissed employees in the future? It would become practically unavoidable.

In reality, many employees paid no attention to labor laws and would happily sign and walk away for a pittance.

It could be said that Shengxin's behavior broke certain unwritten rules of the industry, creating far-reaching implications. You could play the saint if you wanted to, Shengxin, but don't drag the rest of us down with you.

Matters always had two sides.

"It's fine. There aren't many people involved."

Zhang Long remained noncommittal. "Shengxin only failed to pay full compensation for a few batches of layoffs during the bear market of recent years. Calculated overall, the impact on the rest of the industry exists, but it won't be too massive. It remains within everyone's bottom line. Once the storm passes, everything will quiet down."

"Sigh, alright then."

Directors Jiang and Zhu exchanged glances and could only agree to let the matter rest for now, as it wasn't actually that huge.

They would also convey an attitude to the industry: while the business world was indeed a battlefield, if harmony could bring wealth, there was no need to make things excessively ugly; it was pointless.

...

Earning a peaceful and steady living was the most authentic path.

...

Jin Jun was a VIP gold-tier client of Shengxin.

His total investment and capital injection into Shengxin had exceeded 5 million. When he was trapped by losses and only had a little over 2 million remaining, he cut his losses completely and withdrew his cash. Using that 2 million to play other investments yielded no profit either, and eventually, it was all gone.

Recently, stimulated by Chen Yingjun's stock recommendations and profits, he deposited another 1 million.

However, having suffered heavy losses in various investment markets, Jin Jun was extremely cautious when executing trades, often buying tiny fractions and avoiding high-stakes plays.

This behavior was misinterpreted by Chen Yingjun as enjoying Shengxin's gold-tier service while playing on other platforms.

Logically speaking, clients with suspicious motives should have been very active in trading at Shengxin to prevent the firm from suspecting operations on other platforms.

Of course, anything was possible, but in Shengxin's eyes, inactive trading was treated uniformly.

Services that should be suspended would be suspended; they wouldn't cater to passive clients.

"Mr. Jin..."

In the Shengxin Analyst Department, Chen Yingjun spoke in a solemn tone. "Until the broad market rebounds and breaks back above 3,000 points, don't even think about long-term positions. Short-term quick-in-and-out is the kingly way. If you can't keep up the rhythm or grasp profit opportunities when they present themselves, what can I do? There's nothing I can help you with."

"Any platform will generate losing orders as long as you trade. As long as you don't stubbornly hold onto losing positions and accept your losses, it's fine. For the rest of the orders, we earn whatever we can and slowly accumulate."

"It has been half a month and you've only made three trades total. I feel I am no longer qualified to be your guiding analyst."

"I apologize."

Of course, while Chen Yingjun's gold-tier guidance service was suspended, the client would still receive basic stock recommendation reports as long as there remained a certain amount of capital in the account. It was just that Chen Yingjun would no longer make daily phone calls to explain market techniques or issue frequent stock recommendations.

Because no matter how much you explained, if the client barely budged, it became meaningless, and there was no sense hanging oneself from a single tree.

As for Jin Jun, he could just look after himself and play as he pleased.

"Teacher Chen..."

Jin Jun frowned slightly. Were three trades in half a month really that few? Nobody's money blew in with the wind; was careful trading a crime? Thus, he submitted a complaint and feedback.

Unfortunately, Zhang Long was the primary architect of the guidance rules, and complaints reaching him basically hit a dead end.

The basic corresponding services would continue, but as for the advanced value-added services—apologies, those had to be traded for with actual market volume.

...

In the financial markets, money was merely a number.

As long as a client's funds were deposited into the account, what was being traded were numbers. All funds flowed through the market like water, and a brokerage firm's pool of funds functioned similarly—these funds could also be put to use.

As long as clients could withdraw their cash normally according to regulations and did not trigger massive concurrent withdrawals, there were no issues.

It was much like depositing money into a bank; the bank would take those funds to make other investments, and whenever you wished to withdraw, the numbers would simply be transferred back to your card, though it wasn't the exact physical currency you originally deposited. The principle was roughly the same, allowing capital to be deployed flexibly.

Therefore, as long as there were funds in a client's account, Shengxin could actually generate indirect profits from them.

It just wasn't as direct as commission fees.

Strictly speaking, commissions and handling fees constituted the largest profit margins for a brokerage firm, while revenues from other margin financing and securities lending businesses were merely supplementary bonuses.

Zhang Long's trades and stock recommendations were all geared toward short-term operations aimed at generating commissions.

You buy services based on how much you spend; the larger the capital and the more active the trades, the better the services enjoyed.

"Strictly enforce it."

On this front, Zhang Long refused to yield. The accuracy rate of the stock recommendation reports had already improved, and value-added services could be even more precise. If a client hesitated cautiously and abstained from trading twice, thrice, or five times, it was acceptable; but if they persisted through eight or ten times, free value-added services would no longer be provided, and only the basics would remain.

Without a corresponding guidance manager tracking and analyzing the basic stock recommendation reports, clients were on their own.

Whether they made a profit depended entirely on themselves.

In reality, many investors rarely listened to their advisors' suggestions anyway. Armed with stock recommendation reports from multiple sources, they played their own game just like Zhang Long used to, ignoring advice.

The only difference was that Shengxin's current value-added stock recommendation services boasted a remarkably high accuracy rate.

As long as clients didn't stubbornly hold losing trades and accepted small stop-loss cuts when necessary, the profit-generating orders would earn quite nicely.

Those who followed instructions and copied the moves basically made money.

"We've made a profit again?"

In a certain residential community, an elderly woman looked at her daughter Zhang Lizhen's stock trading account. Over the past week, she had occasionally observed the trading activities. Although losing orders were quite numerous, stop-losses were strictly executed to exit once losses reached a maximum of around -5%, while other profitable orders yielded double-digit percentage gains.

Having resumed following the operations for three weeks, Zhang Lizhen's account funds had now reached 700,000.

Earn another 500,000, and combined with the previously withdrawn funds out of the total 3,000,000 initially deposited, she would fully recover her principal!

The old lady smacked her lips in satisfaction; they were having a celebratory meal tonight.

...

"Cheers, everyone."

On Friday evening, Shengxin employees did not work overtime.

Qin Miaotong brought Gu Su over to her apartment to bond. Having worked at Shengxin for three weeks, her income for the month—including her base salary—had already exceeded 10,000. She was thrilled.

Which job-hopper could possibly revive old clients and onboard new ones in a continuous stream during their very first month?

Backed by the high accuracy rate of the upgraded stock recommendation reports, the trading and investment departments' performance metrics were exceptionally strong.

The decision to change jobs back then had been thoroughly wise.

"Any more and I'll be drunk."

Though Gu Su was equally happy for her colleague, getting drunk on alcohol was a bridge too far—even if Saturday meant no work the next day. Alcohol wasn't particularly wonderful stuff anyway.

"Nah, you won't get drunk."

Qin Miaotong's cheeks were already flushed red as she blinked and said, "I'm happy today. After another week of work next week, we'll have the May Day holiday. Where are you planning to travel? Remember to ring me up when you go, okay?"

Liang Xue had accompanied Qian Caiying to the Beijing branch for an audit and wouldn't return until the end of the month at the earliest.

Qin Miaotong harbored ambitions of swiftly being promoted to supervisor and manager, so she needed to rally support from people around her. Gu Su, who had hopped jobs alongside her, was her primary choice.

Gu Su lacked grand ambitions; her sole aspiration was to earn a bit more money, and everything else was up to fate.

With Shengxin's standard trading guidance, her current income would surpass her peers, which satisfied her completely.

Unlike her previous days at UBS before she managed to latch onto Zhang Long as a major client, where her monthly earnings consisted only of a base salary plus meager commission percentages, averaging a mere six or seven thousand.

Things were different now. The base salary in the Shengxin Trading Department was already high, and trading volumes were currently excellent.

The situation would only continue to improve. Earning over 10,000 in her very first month after job-hopping proved she had made the right move.

"Oh, you sleepyhead."

A short while later, Gu Su helped the slightly intoxicated Qin Miaotong onto her bed, tucked her under the quilt, and after shaking her own slightly dizzy head with a soft sigh, she took her leave.

Where could one even go during a mere three-day May Day holiday? Nowhere, really. She might as well nestle comfortably at home and sleep.

At most, she could indulge in a good shopping spree.

...

"Brother, thanks."

Lin Yuan met up with Zhang Long. Having operated in Shengxin for nearly ten days, he had made roughly 150,000 in profit—and that was the result of relatively cautious operations. Otherwise, had he been aggressive and captured more opportunities, his baseline earnings would have been at least 25%.

It was wonderful; his hidden treasury could finally generate wealth.

However, a problem accompanied this success: Lin Yuan did not have much time to trade himself and would be busy managing regular operations at Tengda Decoration for a while.

He needed to find a trader to act as his authorized agent, though Lin Yuan would handle that matter independently without involving Zhang Long.

"Keep up the good work."

Zhang Long smiled and raised his glass; it was no big deal.

Still, the fact that Lin Yuan could make money was also a testament to his own capability. At the very least, he harbored no petty quirks—such as refusing to accept losses and stubbornly holding losing positions, or hesitating and wandering back and forth during entry opportunities until profit vanished. In short, he came with an empty cup and followed instructions.

At Shengxin, clients who approached with a clean slate and obediently followed instructions were precisely the ones who made money, a fact that had been thoroughly verified.

"Brother, there's something..."

As the saying went, visitors to a temple rarely came without a purpose. Even if it was just for catching up and maintaining ties, it counted as having business. Lin Yuan was a straightforward person who didn't beat around the bush, nor did he care to.

Much like how he had first befriended Zhang Long, he spoke his mind without hiding anything.

"You know Zhang Lizhen, right?"

Hearing the name, Zhang Long paused for a fraction of a second, but a moment later, as if understanding something, his brow knitted slightly. "Is her husband involved in a lawsuit with your company?"

"Yeah."

Lin Yuan nodded in response. "The former President Zhao went in before the Chinese New Year for embezzling public funds, and the final installment payments from several decoration companies were also misappropriated by Zhao Hui. In any case, Tengda is considered an affected party here, and we're currently in talks with several decoration companies to negotiate a settlement, though we've hit a deadlock."

Zhang Long remained silent. This didn't seem to concern him, nor did he possess the capacity to mediate such disputes.

To be honest, even if Tengda was considered an affected party, they still had to pay out the decoration final installments to the other party; after all, Zhao Hui was an internal member of their own staff, an internal issue to be resolved.

Of course, if Tengda's legal team was formidable enough, they could drag any issue out for a while.

It all depended on who lost their patience first and compromised.

"So, brother..."

"Stop."

Knowing what Lin Yuan was about to say, Zhang Long gestured for him to halt. "I can't help with this. However, in business, one must still uphold a degree of integrity. Settle what can be settled, and for what cannot, let the lawsuits take their course through the legal system."

"In making money, one must have a bottom line."