Chapter 62: Target—Earn Another 1.5 Million!

Zhang Long didn’t stay long at Shengxin. Chairman Zhu had conveyed the executive vice president’s attitude and got the answer he wanted; in any case, he’d vented his frustration. The commissions and salary were expected to be paid next Monday. Withholding payment until the 20th each month was already quite a delay—no wonder Shengxin’s development was lackluster; they weren’t generous. According to some studies, the earlier a company pays salaries, the happier and more motivated its employees are.

…

“Mr. Zhang, please come in.”

The next morning, Zhang Long got up and visited the financial companies he’d scheduled to assess their strength and open accounts. Golden Toad and Jun Finance were not far from each other, so he visited them one after another.

“Let me see your stock recommendation reports,” Zhang Long said directly. As long as the platform was legitimate, it didn’t matter where he opened an account. Smaller platforms usually offered more favorable commission rates, but if their stock recommendations weren’t up to par, there was no need to waste time.

Opening a third account not only allowed him to spread out the 1.5 million yuan he’d made from HSBC and UBS, but also helped in rotating his trading gains and losses. While the stock market didn’t limit investors’ profits, if your account always won, the financial platforms weren’t stupid. Even on legitimate platforms, some companies would bet against their clients’ funds. If a client made too much money, such companies would often block withdrawals—unless they were planning to shut down and disappear altogether.

Even if the platform was completely aboveboard, not every account could be all wins; not even a “stock god” could manage that. So, Zhang Long planned to have two winning accounts and one losing or break-even account each week, rotating them at random without any discernible pattern. Whether it was HSBC, UBS, or the new third platform, even if they tried to follow his trades for their market investment departments, they’d be left scratching their heads. Human nature is unpredictable—clients chasing profits might just end up stuck in losing trades, unwilling to exit.

Wuhu, if you’re destined to be trapped, you’ll be trapped.

…

“Wang, don’t let the opportunity slip by,”

In Shengxin’s trading department, the atmosphere was electric. Yunbee Technology hadn’t hit its upper limit at the opening, so there was nothing more to say—recommend clients to buy in, chase the rally, and grab a taste of the profits.

Amateurs watched the excitement, professionals saw the details. Too many platforms were recommending Yunbee Technology to retail investors. Although the price fluctuated, observant eyes could see that most buy orders were small batches, while sell orders were mostly large blocks, indicating that institutions were pulling out, masked only by the swarm of retail buyers.

But this wasn’t the financial company’s concern—the clients’ additional funds had to be traded, and as long as Yunbee Technology’s uptrend was clear, there was a high chance of making some profit if they weren’t greedy. The plan was to exit by Friday. If clients got stuck, it was their own fault; there would always be someone who gambled on another surge after the weekend.

Shengxin, HSBC, UBS—they were all the same.

“Keep a close eye on Zhang Long.”

Qin Miaotong and Gu Su both had the same thought. As early buyers of Yunbee Technology before the battle, they clearly had inside information that others didn’t. So, as soon as Zhang Long started to cash out his profits, it was time for them to leave too. They didn’t care about other colleagues’ clients, but they made sure the clients they’d advised to buy in were ready to exit in time, so they wouldn’t get trapped.

“Start unwinding tomorrow.”

At Hongze Finance, Qian Caiying also recommended clients chase Yunbee Technology’s rally, but by Friday, no matter the profit or loss, she urged them to sell before trading stopped. Not only did they earn a commission, but it was also a way to manage risk. If, by chance, the stock was slammed down to its lower limit when the market reopened, clients would be trapped with no way out. It wasn’t easy for clients to put in money, and it shouldn’t be lost in just a few trades. Hongze didn’t profit from clients’ losses; they could only increase trading volume.

…

Leaving Golden Toad, Zhang Long headed to Jun Finance.

He didn’t open an account at Golden Toad; their recent recommendation reports didn’t live up to the platform’s size and weren’t as accurate as HSBC or UBS, so he didn’t waste time and left immediately.

Jun Finance—“A gentleman loves wealth, but acquires it with integrity.” The company had a decent name, a sizable workspace, and a large staff. Upon arrival, Zhang Long glanced around and got straight to the point. As for the turbulence in the outside market, he ignored it for the day; he wouldn’t be trading anyway. Tomorrow afternoon, he’d close out his positions and take profits.

“Hm?”

Suddenly, Zhang Long’s eyebrows rose. Jun Finance’s recent stock recommendations had been impressive. While not many had hit their limit-up, quite a few had shown significant gains. Unless the reports were heavily doctored, their accuracy far surpassed HSBC and UBS.

“What are your commission rates?”

After a moment’s thought, Zhang Long looked up. “No need for long speeches—if I open an account now and go to the bank this afternoon to activate it, I’ll deposit three million on Monday. What’s your rate?”

“Give me your best offer.”

Just like that, Zhang Long’s straightforwardness left the Jun Finance trading manager both shocked and bewildered.

After years of a bear market, with everyone talking about a coming bull market but seeing no sign of it, even the marketing department struggled to land a big client each month, let alone someone who walked in on their own. And clients this decisive usually traded aggressively and independently; clearly, he was a rich heir with no shortage of money.

“Two per ten thousand!”

The trading manager took a deep breath. “Mr. Zhang, since you’re so direct, we won’t haggle either. This is the best rate among our peers. How does that sound?”

“OK, pleasure doing business.”

Zhang Long stood up and shook the manager’s soft hand, then proceeded with the account application.

The third account was set—Jun Finance!

…

“La-la-la…”

Soon it was Friday. Zhang Long woke up naturally, humming a tune as he got out of bed to wash up. Today, Yunbee Technology dipped a little at the open, then was pulled back up. Zhang Long hadn’t even watched, but he already knew how the price would move—it would peak shortly after the afternoon session opened, and that’s when he’d take his profits.

With three consecutive limit-ups from Monday to Wednesday, and rises on Thursday and Friday, the total return would easily exceed 40%. Such gains were rare in a half-year bear market.

“HSBC, 650,000.”

“UBS, 600,000!”

Shortly after the afternoon session began, Zhang Long didn’t wait for Yunbee Technology to hit its peak—he closed out his positions manually, earning 650,000 on one account and 600,000 on the other.

After fees, total profit was 1.25 million.

The combined funds in both accounts now reached 4.5 million.

“Awesome! Unbelievable!”

Done and settled, Zhang Long couldn’t help but exclaim in excitement. In just two weeks, he’d netted 1.5 million—absolutely surreal.

Though account balances in the stock market were just numbers, to Zhang Long, they were real money. Withdraw to his card, and he could spend it.

“Alright, let’s go!”

Taking a deep breath, Zhang Long didn’t hesitate. He submitted withdrawal requests for both accounts. With the weekend ahead, the money would reach his bank by Monday morning—just in time to fund and activate his Jun Finance account for three-way trading.

Withdrawing 850,000 from HSBC, leaving 1.5 million.

Withdrawing 650,000 from UBS, also leaving 1.5 million.

Starting Monday, each account would hold 1.5 million, rotated freely for profits and losses. With two and a half weeks left in the trading month, the goal:

Well, earning 500,000 per account isn’t greedy, right?

“Totaling 1.5 million isn’t that much,” Zhang Long coughed, mentally chanting a prayer for good fortune.