Chapter 67: Damn it, I'll risk everything!

The night passed in silence, and dawn arrived.

Zhang Long awoke with a start, irritated. In his dream, he had just reached a crucial moment with a beautiful young woman, only to be abruptly pulled back to reality. Muttering under his breath, he got out of bed, feeling a touch of bad luck.

Moments later, as the stock market opened, all eyes were on Yunbee Technologies. It hit the lower limit at the opening bell—an utter disaster. The retail investors holding shares cursed out loud; there seemed to be no way out at all.

“Damn it!”
“What kind of trash stock did you recommend?”
The phones at Shengxin Trading Department were ringing off the hook. Yesterday they had tried to console the clients, suggesting they observe the market for now. But with the stock plummeting at the opening, what was the point of watching? They couldn’t even sell if they wanted to.

“Don’t panic, Brother Xiong…”
Zheng Peng tried to soothe him, his tone awkward. “Sharp drops after breaking key levels are normal. It will stop eventually. We’ll look for another chance to recoup—”
“Recoup your ass!”
Brother Xiong on the other end cut him off with a furious outburst, his voice rising. “Twice in half a month, massive losses after breaking support. Most of my funds are gone! How am I supposed to trust you or Shengxin anymore? Are you deliberately setting us up?”
“I heard that the only reason profits outweighed losses in the past two months was because of a very capable trading manager. But that person’s gone now.”
“Why did he leave? Tell me!”
Brother Xiong was practically grinding his teeth. “He was fired for making too much money for clients!”
“Damn it all!”
His temper matched his name—when a grizzly bear gets angry, it can turn on itself. “I’ll be watching Yunbee. If it’s still at the limit tomorrow, I’ll file a complaint with the authorities and accuse Shengxin of betting against its own clients.”
He hung up. Zheng Peng could only sigh, helpless and frustrated. Several clients had already exploded with anger.

He wasn’t the only one. Jiang Hao and the other trading supervisors were facing the same storm. They never should have recommended clients to chase Yunbee Technologies. What rotten luck.

“What now? We can’t calm them down!”
Jiang Hao leaned over, his face gloomy. “If they want to complain, let them. If they want compensation, we’ll have to pay. This time, it’s even worse than the last.”

The situation at Shengxin was about to become dire. The company’s atmosphere grew inexplicably tense. But things were different at Hongze Financial. They hadn’t overexposed themselves.

Another factor was that, before Qian Caiying joined, there weren’t many clients—most were already stuck in losing positions and had grown used to it. After her arrival, with the help of Zhang Long’s stock tips, some clients were able to break even, and new clients saw profits as well. This time, they hadn’t advised clients to keep buying Yunbee or to take on too much risk, so the overall mood remained harmonious.

Still, there were worries of their own.

“President Qian, is it not good enough?”
Chen Yingjun scratched his head. Qian Caiying pinched the bridge of her nose. The basic stock recommendation reports for the platform could be written by any licensed analyst with reasonable skill. Even if she wasn’t scanning the market herself, the various online forums and discussion boards offered plenty of material.

Whether the recommendations were from yesterday or last week, as long as prices and fundamentals looked stable and there was no negative news, they could be put forward as buy ideas. It was always a bet—up or down.

“All right, it’ll have to do,” Qian Caiying exhaled softly, her eyes flickering. “But we still need to improve the accuracy of our recommendations. This is crucial to Hongze’s reputation. Use whatever methods you need—analyze, judge, and strive to be as accurate as possible.”

“At least fifty-fifty,” she added.

Chen Yingjun smiled sheepishly. Actually, their hit rate recently was about seventy-thirty—though, in truth, it was seventy wrong, thirty right. He’d just have to keep working at it.

“Shengxin? Heh…”
After Chen Yingjun withdrew, Qian Caiying glanced at her Shengxin account. Whether it was last Friday or yesterday, the so-called “star analyst” had recommended chasing Yunbee Technologies, but after two consecutive limit-downs, she hadn’t received a single call. Playing ostrich, apparently.

Some “star analyst.” If she hadn’t already withdrawn her funds, she would have lost money this time as well.
Zhang Long, oh Zhang Long. Hmph.

Outside, on the Bund, Zhang Long sat at his computer and rubbed his nose—a sneeze, a curse, and then a sniffle. Was some beauty thinking of him? Surely not some burly man.

“HSBC, UBS, Juncai…”
He opened his Q-chat account. The three platforms had all sent their daily stock recommendations. There weren’t many new stocks—most were repeats of previous picks. But that hardly mattered to Zhang Long. What mattered was which ones would rise. As long as there was upside this week, he could buy ahead and profit.

“Let’s see…”
He checked the HSBC picks first. The three stocks recommended yesterday didn’t interest him, and the two new ones were nothing special either. He moved on to UBS—same story.

Unbelievable. Both platforms were duds.

Zhang Long grumbled to himself, hoping the Juncai recommendations would be better. Otherwise, he’d have to ask Liang Xue for a Shengxin report. He couldn’t just sit on the sidelines doing nothing—it was too boring.

As for Qian Caiying at Hongze, she hadn’t sent him any more messages or called in the past couple of days. She was probably waiting for Liang Xue to jump ship before making her next move.

Last Saturday, Qian Caiying had met with Liang Xue to discuss a few things. That rich woman clearly had her own agenda. If Shengxin’s performance faltered, the investment department would face layoffs. She wanted Liang Xue to make discreet contacts. If layoffs did happen, they would poach a few competent and reliable people to join Hongze all at once, forming a strong team from the start.

That way, Hongze wouldn’t have to start from scratch, hiring and training slowly.

“Clever… Damn!”
He hadn’t even finished cursing her cunning, when Zhang Long suddenly sat bolt upright, letting out a curse, eyes wide.

Takumi Energy!

It was Takumi Energy that had first helped Zhang Long gain his clients’ trust at Shengxin, with his first test case being Zhang Lizhen, and Qian Caiying as well. The stock had soared twice, then crashed through support levels, and the chart was still vivid in his memory—now trading at 1.2 yuan.

From five yuan to two and a half, down to 1.2!

He’d thought before that the Takumi Energy acquisition couldn’t drag on forever. With two major crashes, if the buyers kept pressing the price, Takumi might just refuse to sell, leaving everyone empty-handed. He’d guessed that a turning point was near—maybe a surge.

Unfortunately, if the recommendation platforms didn’t cover it, he couldn’t predict it. He might easily miss out.

Who would have thought? Today, Juncai’s report was highlighting Takumi Energy, and the projected trend was explosive—a super rally!

But there was still a hitch, something that made him scratch his head.

“Damn, this is fierce!”
Zhang Long took a deep breath, steadying his nerves and thinking hard. Today was Tuesday, and his Juncai account was finally available for trading. He’d planned to withdraw 1.5 million to spread across HSBC and UBS, but now, that was out of the question. If he missed three consecutive limit-ups from Wednesday to Friday, he’d be struck down by lightning—no excuse.

The only problem was, if Friday also closed at the limit-up and he couldn’t sell, and then next Monday saw a sharp reversal and a string of limit-downs, it would be a disaster.

Screw it. He analyzed the risks and decided to gamble. Takumi Energy had fallen from five yuan at the start of the acquisition news, all the way to 1.2. Pressing it any lower would be inhumane.

He was betting everything on the acquisition succeeding.

There was no market news yet, and the price wouldn’t hit the limit-up until tomorrow afternoon, but two days was enough to quietly build a position.

Three consecutive limit-ups—thirty percent profit!

And if next Monday kept rallying… by month’s end, he’d hit his goal of another 1.5 million well ahead of schedule. What was he waiting for?

Zhang Long raised his head sharply. He was going all in.