Chapter 47: Bullies the Weak, Fears the Strong

Chairman You, this is a grave injustice.

The trading department had barely been established before it was struck by disaster. Every client knocking on the door seemed to belong to either the Blizzard Group or the Flying Eagle Pioneers—unbelievable. Clients from the other five teams were used to the occasional sharp losses; they’d never tasted constant, unbroken gains. Damn that Zhang Long—what a deep pit he’s dug.

...

“What should we do?”

In Conference Room 1 at Shengxin, a group of senior directors sat in silence, some deep in thought, others frowning. Clients refused to leave, demanding an explanation. Heads were aching everywhere.

Calling the police was out of the question—it would only escalate the conflict. If that happened, the matter would spiral out of control: lawsuits, media exposure, reputational ruin. If the Shengxin brand collapsed, business development would become several times harder. If, on top of that, old clients decided to withdraw their funds en masse, well, they might as well close shop.

Soothing and stalling was possible, but not all clients could be strung along indefinitely, nor would they all be willing to wait. If talks broke down and tempers flared, some would sue, others would contact journalists—it would all come crashing down anyway.

“Old Zhu, say something…”

A director suddenly spoke up, “Zhang Long was brought up under your guidance, and you were the one who promoted him. Even if he won’t return to the company, can’t you do something to help?”

“Exactly, Old Zhu. We can’t let this escalate. Otherwise, we’d have kicked these people out already.”

Anyone who could run a financial firm had connections, not to mention the shareholders and bosses behind the scenes. But no one wanted to make things worse and blow up the situation.

Otherwise, they could just call the police and have the troublemakers detained for disturbing operations and damaging the company’s reputation. But that wasn’t an option. In business, harmony leads to prosperity. If the matter exploded, Shengxin would suffer the worst, and even if the doors stayed open, the brand would be ruined.

“Heh, and what exactly am I supposed to say?”

Chairman Zhu looked up and shrugged. “If Shengxin takes a hit, I’ll bear the cost too. If my words could help, I wouldn’t wait for you to ask—I’d have gone already. Zhang Long was an orphan from Hangzhou, yet he studied and worked in the metropolis. Why do you think that is?”

“That young man bears grudges.”

...

“President Zhan isn’t coming?”

After finishing the lavish boxed dinner provided by Shengxin, Chen Youwei broke the silence with Zhang Lizhen. “She must be almost due—this is too risky.”

“So what?” Zhang Lizhen’s tone was calm. “President Chen, don’t play innocent in front of me. You’re no different from Shengxin. How do you have the nerve to demand an explanation from them? It’s laughable…”

The words darkened Chen Youwei’s face. The two companies were embroiled in a lawsuit, so a cordial reception was too much to expect.

“Sister-in-law…”

“Don’t, please don’t.”

Zhang Lizhen waved her hand dismissively. “I can’t bear such a title from President Chen. A country woman like me is unworthy. You’d best go back. Someone worth over a hundred million shouldn’t be mingling with us ordinary folks—you’re lowering your value.”

“Well then, take care.”

Seeing this, Chen Youwei no longer tried to curry favor. So what if she was pregnant? If something happened, it wasn’t his responsibility. He couldn’t care less.

“Hmph, a sly fox.”

Zhang Lizhen snorted coldly. Her voice was low, but Chen Youwei could clearly hear it, and his face grew even darker.

He didn’t pursue the matter further with her. For now, resolving the issue with Shengxin took priority, so he went off to meet others in the circle to discuss next steps.

Shengxin certainly wouldn’t compromise easily, and many didn’t have time for a drawn-out standoff. Visiting the company was one thing, but no one wanted to see such a large firm implode—it would be hard to contain the fallout.

Put simply, if Chen Youwei were a shareholder or boss at Shengxin and the company’s reputation was destroyed by clients causing trouble, then no one would come out unscathed.

He’d never consider something as extreme as dumping someone in the river, but he could certainly go after their families or businesses.

Of course, he would pick those he could bully for retaliation.

If any of the troublemaking clients turned out to be truly powerful bigwigs, it would be easy enough to move the conversation to a private setting and resolve things amicably.

Society is pragmatic—know when to stop.

...

“Sister Zhang, you should go home first…”

In a small reception room, as the evening’s work wound down, Liang Xue met with Zhang Lizhen. “Our company will do its best to take care of clients. Don’t let this affect your pregnancy—it would be a great loss.”

“It’s fine. If something happens, it happens.” Zhang Lizhen’s voice was indifferent and calm. “The company’s gone bankrupt, my stock investments were about to break even but got sunk again. Even if I give birth, I won’t have money to raise the child. It doesn’t matter anymore.”

“From today on, I won’t touch the account. I’ll just live here at your company. No one is getting out of this easily.”

During the day, clients came to the office, occasionally disrupting the investment department so badly that normal phone operations were impossible. The trading department, facing massive client losses and a collapse of trust, was having a rough time too. If clients simply refused to leave, it would definitely impact business performance—and accidents could easily happen.

Yet, the ten clients had formed a united front—no explanation or solution, no surrender.

They would eat, drink, and live at Shengxin, holding out to the bitter end.

Liang Xue scratched her head in frustration, and the other reception rooms had fared no better—none of the clients had been persuaded to go home. If staff needed to leave for the night, just lock the doors and let them stay inside—no big deal.

“Mr. Chen…”

Chen Youwei had the largest account balance among today’s walk-in clients, so Chairman You personally met with him.

“Let’s see your proposal.”

“We’re all businesspeople, so let’s be straightforward—don’t bother with empty talk. Give me a solution. I’m a reasonable man, not a troublemaker.”

Hearing this, Chairman You inwardly scoffed. “Reasonable man,” indeed. If he were so reasonable, he wouldn’t have come here.

Doesn’t he understand that stock trading is at one’s own risk?

...

“Ms. Chen…”

From the very first meeting, Ms. Chen and Zhang Lizhen had called each other “sister.” Ms. Chen waved her hand now. “I’ll follow Sister Zhang’s lead. I need to stay tonight to take care of her—she’s pregnant. I’m a kind person, see? I’m even helping Shengxin maintain stability.”

“Now, let’s see your solution.”

“Don’t waste my time with bureaucratic nonsense.”

...

That night, Zhang Long put his phone on airplane mode, clearly refusing all outside calls.

But with WiFi on, he could still send and receive messages via QQ or WeChat, so he kept abreast of Shengxin’s progress handling the walk-in clients.

By ten o’clock, five of the ten clients had already left—some couldn’t hold out, others had been persuaded.

Zhang Lizhen and Chen Youwei remained.

“Brother Long, say something…”

Despite Chang Song’s updates on the latest negotiations, Zhang Long remained silent. Shengxin would never be brought down by a handful of clients—ordinary folks didn’t have the time, energy, or clout for that. And if things really reached an impasse and the company’s reputation was at risk, one side would inevitably back down.

“Chen Youwei has left.”

Suddenly, Liang Xue sent a WeChat message.

Zhang Long raised an eyebrow. Chen’s resources were beyond doubt; if he had left so easily, he must have received an acceptable solution. Direct compensation for losses was out of the question, but perhaps a rebate on trading commissions, or an upgrade to Shengxin’s in-house gold-level analyst support.

Either way, if Chen Youwei kept trading, he would almost certainly continue to lose—again and again.

Long-term investing was hard; short-term trading even harder.

Without a golden touch, forget about making money in the stock market. You might win once, twice, three times, but over time and with enough trades, you’d definitely lose. The ending was already written.

“What about Sister Zhang?” Zhang Long asked, but got no reply.

Three minutes, five minutes, over ten minutes passed with no word from Liang Xue. At last, Chang Song couldn’t hold it in and confessed, “Brother Long, the company is making me and Sister Xue stay here tonight to keep the client company. We can’t leave until she does. We’re in it for the long haul.”

“Jiang Hao and Zheng Peng are in the same boat.”

Zhang Long’s brows furrowed. Shengxin was ruthless—showing no compromise even to a pregnant woman.

By rights, Zhang Lizhen was close to breaking even; refunding some commissions or cutting some losses would be minor concessions, at worst just resetting her account to where it was before the latest crash.

But no—they were clearly picking on the weak and betting that Zhang Lizhen wouldn’t truly risk her unborn child.

“Ruthless. Heartless indeed.”

Zhang Long’s eyes flashed coldly as he gave a chilling snort.