Chapter 54: Be the Leader, Not the Follower

An uneventful night passed, and Saturday dawned.

Zhang Long woke naturally with the sun well up in the sky. Groping for his phone, he found it flooded with missed calls and messages—aside from the usual spam and telemarketers, they were all from Qian Caiying.

Ahem, wise choice: sleeping with the phone on silent.

...

“That bastard. How infuriating.”

Qian Caiying gritted her teeth, while Liang Xue, sitting opposite, pressed her hand to her forehead in exasperation. She’d guessed Zhang Long would put his phone on silent—effectively standing them up. He did it on purpose.

“Are all people born in the year of the dragon this temperamental?” Qian Caiying clicked her tongue. “Even if it’s his zodiac year, he’s really letting himself go.”

Basic information like Zhang Long’s age wasn’t hard for Qian Caiying to obtain; even asking Liang Xue about such surface-level details wouldn’t be met with resistance—no need to hide them.

“Let’s leave him be for now.” After a brief internal grumble, Qian Caiying looked up at Liang Xue. “Consider my offer. Though Hongze isn’t as well-known as Shengxin, it’s a legitimate financial company, big enough for you to lead a team and grow.”

“And because it’s smaller, there are more opportunities to move up. You don’t need to bring your whole Blizzard team—just two or three of your best will do.”

Qian Caiying was earnest in trying to recruit Liang Xue.

To be honest, Liang Xue’s individual performance was solid, though she lacked in team management. But that was fine—once she joined Hongze, Qian Caiying would guide and train her. She was a promising seedling.

“I’ll think about it,” Liang Xue replied with a shake of her head. She didn’t agree outright; at the very least, she wanted to finish out the month, wrap up things with the Blizzard team. Besides, if their performance ranked at the bottom, she’d likely be urged to leave anyway—making her departure that much easier.

The investment and trading departments at Shengxin were a mess now, changing models again and again, only making things worse.

Who knew what Shengxin’s upper management was thinking, letting Deputy Manager Guan and Director You run wild? Neither were skilled at operations, and yet they replaced Director Zhu.

Forget it—let it collapse if it must.

...

“Hongze?”

Afternoon, at Liang Xue’s apartment.

This was Zhang Long’s second visit. The last time was when he’d helped her move, and they’d shared a home-cooked meal—some drinks, too, and Liang Xue had gotten tipsy and fallen asleep. The memory was vivid.

Unconsciously, Zhang Long’s gaze drifted to Liang Xue’s feet. Even though they were wrapped in cotton slippers, her fair, delicate feet seemed to shimmer before his eyes.

“Hey, what are you zoning out for?” Liang Xue waved her hand in front of him, snapping him back to attention. “Qian Caiying’s Hongze Financial isn’t big, and the office isn’t far.”

“Do you think I should go?”

Pulled back to the present, Zhang Long shrugged lightly and drew a breath. “Up to you. Do as you see fit.”

“As for Qian Caiying—well, she doesn’t look like a bad person, but rich girls who start companies are usually just dabbling, or it’s some family competition.”

“There are pros and cons. But leading a team and chasing performance won’t do you any harm.”

“Whatever you decide is fine.”

His words were vague enough to be almost meaningless. Liang Xue rolled her eyes. “I’m not your client, you don’t need to dodge and weave around with me. What you’re really saying is I should go there, establish myself, and set up camp—scheming as always.”

“By the way, what about the advisory position she offered you? Are you going to accept?”

“Ahem, no rush.” Zhang Long chuckled awkwardly. “You go ahead and get to know Hongze Financial and Qian Caiying while you work. That woman is slick—be careful you don’t get sold out.”

Liang Xue rolled her eyes even harder at that.

From her recent interactions, Qian Caiying’s sincerity was obvious; Zhang Long, on the other hand, was unpredictable. Just last night he’d called, suggesting she act as a mole, though she had no idea what he was up to. If anyone needed to worry about being sold out, it was more likely to be by Zhang Long.

Her beautiful eyes flickered with silent complaint.

...

“Come on, sweetheart, give me a kiss~”

Zhang Long left, and Liang Xue didn’t invite him to dinner—she was planning to mooch a meal off her best friend that evening.

“Get lost, you’re disgusting.” Liang Xue, with a look of disdain, pushed away her friend’s hug and kiss. “It hasn’t even been that long since we last met—why are you so excited today? Did you win the lottery or something...?”

“Tsk, you’re acting weird.” Qin Miaotong rolled her eyes, her slender neck arched. “Weird, my foot.”

“I just landed a big client. Their trading is aggressive, and best of all, I don’t have to waste my breath coaching them—the commissions are piling up nicely.”

“Unfortunately, it won’t last long.”

With that, Qin Miaotong pulled Liang Xue to the dining table, where a lavish hotpot awaited them.

“Just make sure your risk controls are solid,” Liang Xue said, dropping food into the pot with her chopsticks. “A big client who trades independently and doesn’t need pushing—that’s worth protecting.”

“I wish I could, but it’s no use,” Qin Miaotong pouted, cheeks puffed in frustration. “This client is fierce.”

“They never stay on the phone for more than a minute. If I talk too much, they scold me—tell me if I keep rambling, they’ll switch to a quieter consultant. It’s infuriating.”

“And the manager keeps pushing me to build rapport and trust with the client.”

“Babe, it’s too hard.”

With things as they were, Liang Xue could only offer a look of helpless sympathy. Her friend was doing well at HSBC, having earned a promotion to trading manager.

Though they hadn’t taken the same path, with Liang Xue in front-end development, her friend’s job was stable and she had a solid skill set.

Not bad. Keep it up. Mwah.

...

“Ah—ah-choo...”

Rubbing his nose, Zhang Long sneezed twice in a row for no reason. Someone must be cursing him—definitely that rich lady Qian Caiying, poking pins into a doll.

“Oh well, time to play.”

After venting his thoughts, Zhang Long turned to his computer. After leaving Liang Xue’s place earlier in the afternoon, he’d stopped by a computer shop and bought a desktop. His old laptop was so worn out that even trading would lag, let alone gaming.

When his days were filled with work and overtime, weekends were just for rest—never felt boring.

Now it was different: trading stocks during the day, what to do at night? With all this free time on weekends, he could read novels, watch shows, or play games.

As for cars, clubs, or night-life—honestly, until he reached financial freedom, those were out of the question.

Wait until he made his first bucket of gold in the stock market, bought a car and a house, and had a solid asset base—then he could think about high-end leisure.

“Bzzt, bzzt—”

Suddenly, his phone vibrated. He’d switched it back to vibrate during the day. Sure enough, it was Qian Caiying again—she’d been calling non-stop since evening.

Text messages kept pouring in, too.

“No time lately.”

It would be rude to ignore her completely, so Zhang Long sent a quick reply: he didn’t have time to be an advisor for now—maybe later.

“Cut the nonsense. Come out.”

Her reply came quickly, with a selfie from the other day when they’d bumped into each other near the neighborhood barbershop.

Damn, she’d come all the way to the Bund.

Scratching his head, Zhang Long couldn’t help but feel touched by Qian Caiying’s persistence. So he simply shut off his phone and the screen, deciding to focus on gaming for now.

That woman was way too forceful—she needed to be reined in, or they’d never get along.

Yes, be the big brother, not the lackey!

PS: Please vote with your monthly and recommended tickets. Also: the 30-day, 3,000-plus words per day investment returns are about to be settled. If you still have investment shares, now’s the time—it’s free points, after all.