Chapter 5: Deals and Commissions

At dawn, it was time for work at Shengxin Financial.

Zhang Long checked the chart for Tohai Energy; his foresight extended only to Friday’s close. If tomorrow was the same, it meant he could only predict this week’s trend, not beyond the weekend.

He searched several other stocks for foresight, but the result was always the same—only until Friday. He couldn’t help but scratch his head.

Was this a hint not to hold positions over the weekend?

...

“Don’t worry, Sister Zhang.”

At 9:30, as the market opened, Zhang Long’s first call was to Zhang Lizhen. Tohai Energy’s 5% drop at the open made her uneasy.

But Zhang Long knew that today’s trend would mirror yesterday’s; by the afternoon, it would climb back up and close with a 3% gain.

Come Wednesday, the rise would be steady.

“Building a base is normal,” Zhang Long said with confidence. “Catching the bottom takes both courage and wisdom. These repeated dips are just to shake out weak hands. At five yuan, the potential gain outweighs the risk; it’s worth a try.”

“Plan your trade, trade your plan—that’s the most rational and disciplined way to operate.”

“Sister Zhang, trust the market.”

On the other end, Zhang Lizhen’s heart was uneasy.

It would be one thing if she simply wanted to buy the dip, but she had no spare funds. To buy Tohai Energy, she’d have to sell her other two stocks at a loss. The decision was hard—what if Longpeng and Weiyuan soared while Tohai fell? That would be a disaster.

Still, she could take the gamble. If she lost again, she would just keep muddling through; she had backup plans.

She would give herself half a month—just two weeks.

“Sister Zhang, trust yourself.”

With that, Zhang Long hung up.

In the end, the client had to make their own decisions and trades. As an investment broker, Zhang Long’s role was to lay out the pros and cons of holding and offer risk-reward analysis.

No forcing or pressuring clients to trade.

“Hello, Brother Chen…”

Zhang Long dialed his next number. “The opening drop is nothing to worry about. As long as it doesn’t break down completely, now is the time to make your idle funds work. If you’re worried, you can wait until the close confirms the rebound before buying in. Either way, it’s your choice—earn more or less, up to you.”

“Sister Yu…”

His third call. “If you hesitate any longer, you might really miss the opportunity. If you stand by and watch until the base is built and the stock starts rising, will you still dare to chase it? My advice is: seize the chance, don’t let it slip.”

“The profit is right in front of you.”

...

“Beautiful.”

While Zhang Long worked his way through his client list, Liang Xue whispered.

Zhang Lizhen’s account was moving.

She’d chosen to sell her locked-up shares in Longpeng Tech and Weiyuan Biotech, freeing up nearly half a million in capital. Stocks traded on a T+1 basis—cash would be available the next trading day—but the funds from intraday sales could be immediately used to make new purchases, incurring commissions on both the sell and buy.

In this sluggish market, Shengxin’s commission rates were tiered by client level.

Zhang Lizhen’s rate was 0.05%.

That’s 50 yuan on every 100,000 yuan traded.

If the regulatory cap of 0.3% applied, it would be 3,000 yuan. But with the market so weak, every firm was offering discounts; even the highest rates rarely exceeded 0.1%, and the lowest could be as little as 0.03%.

Below 500,000: 0.1%.

500,000 to 2 million: 0.08%.

2 million to 5 million: 0.05%.

Above 5 million: 0.03%.

These were Shengxin’s rates, adjusted according to the client’s total deposits. Zhang Lizhen had deposited three million in total, so she enjoyed the 0.05% rate.

Despite her sizable deposits, she’d barely traded before getting stuck, which was a bitter pill.

Liang Xue didn’t earn much from Zhang Lizhen’s commissions—perhaps eight hundred or a thousand at most.

Shengxin’s brokers received 20%, 25%, or 35% of commissions as bonuses, depending on their monthly totals: 50,000, 100,000, or 200,000 and above.

Unfortunately, Zhang Long’s monthly commissions never exceeded 50,000; he always got the lowest rate.

“All right, time to work.”

Zhang Long cracked his knuckles, full of energy.

...

“Congratulations, a good start.”

Liang Xue patted Zhang Long on the shoulder approvingly.

“Did Brother Chen make a move?”

“He did—100,000,” Liang Xue replied, delighted. “He bought 100,000 worth of Tohai Energy. I’ll try to get him to add more. He didn’t sell his locked-up stocks, so he still has idle funds.”

Zhang Long nodded—a good sign.

Only the clients themselves knew how much money they really had. In finance, there’s a saying: never judge a client’s wallet by your own.

What if they were just playing with spare change, tens or hundreds of thousands at a time? Anything was possible.

The key was to lay out the opportunities and risks, explain the potential gains and losses, and let the client decide.

“Hello, Miss Qian…”

Zhang Long kept dialing.

Liang Xue watched for a moment, then turned her attention elsewhere. Zhang Long was not the only member of the team—seven other staff needed support and guidance with client trades and development. There was plenty to do.

As team manager, she was busy.

The fact that Zhang Long was the first to get into the swing of things today was impressive. Clients who traded for fun aside, Zhang Lizhen and Brother Chen’s actions today were entirely thanks to Zhang Long’s initiative.

With momentum building, results would follow.

...

In a sluggish market with little trading, commissions were sparse. Few in the investment department hit the 50,000–100,000 range each month, let alone 200,000 and above; bonuses were hard to come by.

Liang Xue hoped Zhang Long would keep it up.

“Okay, sounds good.”

“I’m free after three this afternoon, you can come by the office for a meeting. All right, no problem.”

Hanging up, Zhang Long felt a surge of excitement.

A client with five million—was it for real?

...

When clients deposit funds, that counts as opening a new order.

At Shengxin, brokers whose clients’ monthly deposits reached certain levels earned bonuses.

Each client was assessed separately.

The bonuses weren’t huge, but every little bit counted. With more deposits and more trades, Zhang Long estimated his commissions this month would be substantial—perhaps even impressive.

Things were looking up.

“How certain are you?”

“About seventy percent,” Zhang Long replied after a moment’s thought. “Miss Qian said if Tohai Energy closes higher again before the halt, she’ll believe it’s bottoming out and ready to rise. But she wants to talk in person at the office. I asked how much she planned to add—she said ‘five million’ very casually, didn’t sound like she was bragging.”

“We’ll see,” Liang Xue nodded. Miss Qian was a former employee’s client, transferred to Zhang Long. She’d deposited 500,000 originally and hardly traded.

An additional five million was unlikely.

But truth would out by afternoon.

As the morning slipped by, Zhang Long made call after call. Only three resulted in trades—not many, but a promising start. As he continued to build client confidence, more trades would follow.

With daily precision in his analysis, missing a trade meant missing a profit; clients wouldn’t wait forever.

Of course, if someone refused to sell at a loss and had no idle funds, there was nothing more to do. If both risks and rewards had been fully explained and still no response, so be it.

For those who chose to trust him, their growing profits would bring growing faith, making the next phase possible.

With short-term operations, clients would accumulate profits while generating healthy commissions—a win-win.

Otherwise, even a five-million trade, if left untouched, would only yield 1,500 in commissions—not much to share. Win-win was the way forward.

If you’re going to work, work happily. Who wants the empty joy of earning nothing? Not him.

With a golden finger in hand, it was time to be bold.

Trust Brother Long—let’s all make big money together.