Chapter 50: All In with Three Million—Go!

Zhang Long had turned off his phone.

At dinner time, Qian Caiying insisted on dragging Liang Xue downstairs to eat together. They waited and waited, but Zhang Long never showed up.

When she called, all she heard was that the phone was on airplane mode. This infuriated Qian Caiying—how could he so bluntly refuse dinner with a beauty? Tough man!

No wonder he was so good at his job. Only those who are rational and ruthless can be truly formidable. She liked him even more for it.

...

"Where does Zhang Long live?"

At the restaurant, Qian Caiying asked as she ate, "With your relationship, you must know where Zhang Long lives."

"I really don’t," Liang Xue shook her head. She only knew Zhang Long lived in the Bund area, but not which neighborhood or building.

"Oh, you act so well," Qian Caiying smacked her lips. "Let me guess, given his performance and ability, Zhang Long definitely wouldn’t live too far from the company, even if he drives to work."

"Forget it, don’t say if you don’t want to." Qian Caiying shrugged. "Are you being so secretive because you’re afraid I’ll steal your man? I just admire Zhang Long’s professional ability, nothing more."

"Can you tell me why Zhang Long resigned? Was it voluntary, or did something happen?"

"Was it because of that Director You?"

Character reflects the soul. In Qian Caiying’s eyes, Director You, whom she met today, didn’t seem like an honest person. He wasn’t as solid and sincere as Director Zhu, whom she’d met last time.

A glimpse reveals the whole picture. Today, Director Zhu didn’t come, only Director You did. She thought she understood.

"Oh, not talking?"

Seeing Liang Xue just eating in silence, Qian Caiying smiled slyly. "That’s basically admitting it. So Zhang Long was forced out by that Director You, right?"

Liang Xue kept her head down, eating, but it no longer mattered if she said anything. Qian was too sharp.

This woman was a true expert.

"Your days aren’t easy..." Qian Caiying’s beautiful eyes flashed. "I’ve studied psychology—not an expert, but I know a bit. When I bring up Director You, you don’t react at all. Even when I asked Zhang Long before, you’d at least say something."

"Alright, I get it."

Whatever she understood, Qian Caiying didn’t say. She just smiled at Liang Xue, her gaze full of unspoken meaning.

...

"So, feeling better now?"

At Hongze Financial, Qian Caiying returned, chatted briefly with the marketing department, then went to the president’s office. Ling Zhiqing was busy working on development plans and looked up.

"Pretty much," Qian Caiying plopped herself down, the sofa creaking as if it couldn’t bear the weight.

"What’s next?" Ling Zhiqing smiled. "Whether it’s Shengxin or those other stock recommendation reports, they all come from outside. Now that things have gone wrong, at least we saw the flaws early and can make changes sooner."

"What about these two?"

As she spoke, Ling Zhiqing handed a file to Qian Caiying. It listed two stock analysts—top traders screened by headhunters for Hongze. Their recent track records were decent; the truly outstanding ones wouldn’t even consider a small firm like Hongze.

"Not bad," Qian Caiying glanced over them, then dismissed them. "One’s too old, the other too ugly. Can’t we find someone good-looking? I’d rather have nobody than settle."

Ling Zhiqing rolled her eyes. Her best friend was wonderful in many ways, but always so superficial—she cared so much about appearance, whether male or female.

"Then you go find someone..." Ling Zhiqing rubbed her brow. "These were already tough to find, and their salary demands are high. You want someone handsome or pretty, with skill and ability—we’re hiring help, not matchmaking."

"We’ll make do," Qian Caiying yawned, pouting. "Looks equal confidence! Without looks, how can an analyst be confident? Trust me on this."

"You keep working with the headhunters. I have someone in mind, but haven’t convinced him yet."

"If needed, you’ll have to step in," Qian Caiying said with determination, pumping her little fist. "I refuse to believe that the two of us can’t win over one hot-blooded, handsome young man. Hmph!"

...

The night passed quietly, dawn arrived.

"Damn, what a pain," Director You’s face darkened. Even before the markets opened, Qian Caiying had submitted a withdrawal request for one million—leaving only her positions, no spare cash.

After mediation yesterday, not only had they refunded over a hundred thousand in commissions, but future fees were also reduced. Now she was turning her back and walking away, no loyalty at all.

"She wants to wait until she breaks even," the top analyst in charge also looked grim. "She won’t add more funds until her two-million position recovers. No more injections, not even to buy other stocks. She said to stop calling her as well."

Director You’s face grew even darker. Qian Caiying hadn’t lost any money. She started with 500,000, then Zhang Long kept adding up to five million. Before he left, the account had grown to eight million, a net profit of 2.5 million.

They’d already withdrawn five million before, leaving 500,000. Now another million was withdrawn, meaning the principal was fully removed, plus an extra half million and the refunded commissions.

Even if she dumped her losing stocks now, there’d still be 500,000 left—she’d still be up overall.

What a ruthless woman, no sense of loyalty.

"Director You, the numbers!" At the board meeting, the executive vice president’s expression was calm. "Few new clients lately, old clients are either losing heavily and complaining, or completely inactive. How are we supposed to hit November’s targets at this rate?"

"Director You, was the trading department supposed to work like this? It was meant to support investments, but now it’s dragging us down. Can you handle it?"

"If not, we need someone else immediately."

Director You’s face darkened as he looked around the board. Most of them were just watching the show—infuriating.

Is this my fault?

Anyone else in this position would have the same problem! The mess Zhang Long left behind was simply too much to bear.

...

"Hiss… it’s in."

At HSBC Financial, Qin Miaotong trembled, then startled again. "Oh my god!"

What was she seeing?

Zhang Long had kept his word and deposited a million. With his previous half-million and 35,000 in profits, the total was 1.535 million. The key point—within minutes of depositing, he’d invested 1.5 million in a single trade.

Far too aggressive, too risky.

"Warn about the risks," said the department director. While active trading is good, this was too much. One sudden downturn and he’d lose big. If he’d set stop-loss orders, fine, but if he held on stubbornly, he’d be doomed.

A few trades like this and he’d be done for.

"Uh, do I need to?" Qin Miaotong scratched her head, noticing Zhang Long had already set up his own take-profit and stop-loss orders—he’d placed protective sell points in advance.

"Still, warn him," said the director.

So Qin Miaotong nodded and called Zhang Long—couldn’t get through, the line was busy.

What was Zhang Long doing at that moment?

"Brother Long…" The trading manager at UBS sounded aggrieved. "You just activated your account and immediately withdrew 1.5 million. If my boss finds out, I’ll get yelled at. I’m so sad."

But Zhang Long just chuckled, showing no sympathy. "Alright, anything else?"

"No? Then I’m off to trade." She hung up, quick and decisive.

Zhang Long turned his attention back to the UBS stock recommendations from these past couple of days. The stocks they suggested weren’t bad, but compared to HSBC’s picks, the gains were lower—the best one only had a 5.5% rise.

Fine, maybe he was being greedy.

Even with major platforms like HSBC and UBS, you can’t always find top-performing stocks every day. Earning a steady profit is already good enough—greed leads to disaster.

So, Zhang Long bought 1 million in UBS recommended stocks, and 500,000 in HSBC’s picks.

That made a total of 3 million across both accounts.

For HSBC, 2 million was invested for an expected 8% return; for UBS, 1 million for an expected 5.5%. The plan was to take profits before Friday’s market close—he aimed for no less than 200,000.

"Phew—"

With everything done, he stretched lazily.

Both accounts were finally trading and making profits again. In a good mood, he decided to ask someone out—after all, it had been days since he’d kissed Luo Man’s sweet lips.

That wouldn’t do—he couldn’t risk growing rusty.