Chapter 65: A Sudden Plunge, Flipping the Table

Yunfeng Technologies, all eyes were upon it.

A Monday opening with gains already signaled a bullish market sentiment; in a bear market, finding a quality stock was no easy feat. Even with a surge of more than forty percent, the aggressive and bold plunged in without hesitation, while the cautious watched from the sidelines or consulted their financial advisors on their respective platforms.

In an instant, the market was alive with frenzied trading.

...

"Xiao Qin, should I buy or not?"

A client called to ask whether it was advisable to keep chasing Yunfeng Technologies. Qin Miaotong glanced at Zhang Long's account—no movement whatsoever. It had been over ten minutes since the market opened, and there was no sign of action. Chances were he wouldn’t buy in; the risk was too high.

"Sister Sun, I wouldn’t recommend it," Qin Miaotong replied after a deep breath, her tone steady. "The bullish sentiment around Yunfeng Technologies is intense, but even so, the stock has already climbed nearly fifty percent. It’s too risky now."

"You’ve already made a solid ten percent last week. In my opinion, if you don’t buy, you won’t lose. Better to look at other stocks."

"But what if it keeps rising?" Sister Sun sounded anxious on the other end. "It closed up 4.5% at the open, now it’s at 5.5%. What if we miss out by waiting and it just keeps climbing? Today even HSBC recommended Yunfeng—they said it’s a buy, didn’t they?"

"A report is just a report," Qin Miaotong exhaled softly. "My stance is clear, but in the end, the decision is yours. If you really want to buy, at least don’t put in too much…"

"Alright, Xiao Qin, got it." The call ended in a rush. Qin Miaotong knew Sister Sun was eager to buy into Yunfeng Technologies, but—if Zhang Long stayed out, the risk was enormous.

"Manager Qin."

A grave voice startled her from behind. She turned to see her director’s face dark as thunder, scolding her with clear dissatisfaction. "If the client wants to buy, your job is to inform them of the risks. Profit or loss is their business. Why are you meddling?"

"If the client makes a mistake, they’ll forget it, but if they miss out on a profit, they’ll blame you for certain. Do you understand?"

"Do this again and you’ll be writing a self-critique."

...

The same scene played out at HSBC with Gu Su. Zhang Long hadn’t bought into Yunfeng Technologies, which made Gu Su uneasy.

So today, she refrained from recommending Yunfeng Technologies to her clients, and to those who asked, she advised not to buy or to buy sparingly.

"So you don’t want to earn commission anymore?" Her department head frowned and snorted. "Is Zhang Long always right? And even if he is, so what? If the client wants to buy, let them buy. Just inform them of the risks and do your job. Why are you interfering?"

"If it drops, at most you’ll get a word of thanks. If it goes up and they miss out, you’ll get ten complaints. Are you trying to be some kind of saint?"

Gu Su shrank back, realizing her boss was truly angry. She quickly mustered a smile. "I’m no saint, trust me. But Yunfeng’s up nearly fifty percent already. If this were a bull market, fine—but in a bear market, the risk is just too high. There’s nothing wrong with a little caution."

"But don’t worry, boss. If a client calls again wanting to buy, I won’t stand in their way. Promise."

"Hmph. That’s better." Seeing Gu Su’s attitude, the director’s expression eased a little. "Just focus on proper analysis and guidance. Don’t meddle unnecessarily."

With that, the director moved on to patrol other managers’ desks. Gu Su rolled her eyes.

Is it wrong to look out for the client?

If Zhang Long hadn’t bought Yunfeng Technologies ahead of the surge and made a solid forty percent profit, it might have been a fluke or inside information. The fact that he stayed out today meant the risks were unpredictable or simply too great, so she wouldn’t object.

After all, even if you advise against the tide and turn out to be right, it means nothing, but if you’re wrong, you’ll only be blamed. Thankless either way—a true dilemma.

"Zhang Long? Brother Long…" Gu Su’s gaze fell on Zhang Long’s account. It was already ten o’clock, still no movement. Was he sitting today out?

Come on, even a little profit is still profit.

...

“Damn it, just what am I supposed to do?”

In an apartment on the Bund, Zhang Long stared at the stock recommendations from HSBC, UBS, and Jun Cai in exasperation. He wondered if the three firms had colluded somehow. None of the dozen or so recommended stocks had risen more than five percent this week. Ridiculous.

Most of them hadn’t moved, and the rest had even broken through support levels and fallen. This, truly, was what a bear market should look like—a return to form.

"Phew. Level one…" Zhang Long let out a breath. His stock trading group was full of recommendations, and analysts and financial platforms were pushing picks on the forums—but none of it moved him.

When he’d first resigned, he thought all he’d need was access to these recommendation reports, no matter the source.

But it wasn’t so simple. Apart from the three brokerages where he had accounts, only Shengxin and Hongze were also valid for him.

Perhaps it was because he’d worked at Shengxin before, and Qian Caiying had been one of his clients—without some kind of personal connection, foresight was useless.

Otherwise, why stick to recommendations from these three accounts? There was no shortage of tips online.

“Forget it, I’ll just wait and see.” Zhang Long shrugged. He’d already planned to pause trading today, waiting until tomorrow when he could operate all three accounts at Jun Cai. After all, with only 750,000 in both HSBC and UBS accounts, it was hardly worth the trouble.

“How much did Feng Shao buy?”

“Feng Shao is killing it, awesome!”

In the trading group, the user known as Feng Shao, who’d once again bought into Yunfeng Technologies, had shared a screenshot—he’d chased the rally and bought in with about 250,000. The group was buzzing.

Unfortunately for Feng Shao, he was about to be swept up in a storm.

Just before the afternoon close, Yunfeng Technologies would be slammed into a trading halt, and from Tuesday to Friday, the opening auction each morning would see it hammered down again and again.

Amen. There’d be no escape.

...

Time flowed swiftly into the afternoon. As soon as trading resumed, Yunfeng Technologies’ price swings became intense. There were few quality stocks in a bear market, and countless individual investors and financial platform clients had their eyes glued to it. Everyone who’d bought in was hoping for anything but a drop. Let it rise!

But dreams are beautiful, and reality unforgiving. Every push up was met with a harder blow down.

Whether Yunfeng Technologies’ internal research breakthrough was real or not no longer mattered. What mattered was that a great many investors desperately wanted it not to fall—come hell or high water.

“Damn, what the hell—”

Suddenly, someone in the group let out an expletive. Yunfeng Technologies had instantly gone from green to red.

What did that mean? It meant the morning’s 4.5% gain, which had almost reached 7%, had been wiped out in a flash.

A dangerous sign—major warning.

“Oh no, please don’t—” Feng Shao burst out, his words heavy with desperation. There were only ten minutes left to the close—hold on, just hold on.

But the market did not belong to Feng Shao or to any small investors. Against the exodus and pounding of institutions and hot money, there was nothing to do but watch helplessly.

Clearly, the big players had had their fill and were flipping the table.

At that moment, a few excitable retail investors kept buying in, trying to prop up the price, but it was useless. The more buy orders, the more frenzied the selling.

“Bang, crack.”

Zhang Long seemed to hear the sound of something snapping. With just minutes left before the market closed, Yunfeng Technologies was abruptly slammed into a halt, a blinding -10% drop.

The chart froze—meaning anyone who’d bought in last week and not sold, or who’d chased the rally today, was now stuck.

“It’s over. All over.” Feng Shao’s words trembled with despair. For a moment, the trading group fell silent, stifled and bleak. And what of the clients on the major financial platforms?

Like those at Shengxin—they were furious, erupting in rage.

Another mass collapse. Damn it all!