Chapter 80: Zhang Long – Taking the Initiative Feels Better
Takumi Energy was in the spotlight.
Unfortunately, few dared to buy it. Whether clients on financial platforms or fellow investors in chat groups, even with Takumi Energy priced at just two yuan, no one was willing to take the plunge.
Of course, there were still some bold and aggressive investors who believed that with Takumi Energy receiving new capital, this was no child’s play—it would surely rise.
...
“Damn it, bastard.”
In the president’s office at Tengda, Chen Youwei stared at Takumi Energy’s price chart, seething with anger.
Although he had been caught in a position above 2.5 yuan, he had averaged down as the price plummeted to around 1.2 yuan. With the recent rebound to near two yuan, if he’d held on, he could have broken even by now.
Any extra profit would have come from following Zhang Long’s short-term trades. It wasn’t much, but in total he could have made about 1.5 million, a respectable sum.
But all of this depended on him not having listened to Shengxin’s Xu Linfeng and selling off before. A few million might not be a huge amount, but seeing the stock rise and recouping his losses would have felt deeply gratifying.
Now, he could only look on helplessly, not daring to buy back in. Two yuan wasn’t a high price, and the outlook was still bullish, but so what? Few would risk charging in. Chen Youwei admitted he was aggressive, but that didn’t mean he was a fool.
If there hadn’t been a limit-up on Monday, he might have chased the rise, but today was Thursday, tomorrow Friday, and then the weekend loomed.
Forget it—the risk of chasing the rally was too high.
Buzz, buzz~
Suddenly, his phone vibrated. Chen Youwei glanced at the caller ID, his eyes narrowing as he answered.
“President Chen, there’s trouble.”
A short while later, Chen Youwei ended the call, his face dark as water. Zhan Yi, together with several companies whose renovation funds had been appropriated by Zhao Hui, had filed a motion with the court to freeze assets.
Pooling their resources, they had scraped together enough for the asset freeze bond, and Tengda’s public renovation account was now frozen.
Unless they settled or the lawsuit ended, those funds were locked. Damn bastards.
Zhao Hui, you have only yourself to blame.
...
“Honey, hang in there.”
At a maternity hospital, Zhan Yi hurried to catch one last glimpse of Zhang Lizhen before she entered the delivery room. “The public account for Tengda’s renovation funds has been frozen, you can rest easy now.”
“You’re amazing,” Zhang Lizhen replied, her face pale but breaking into a grateful smile. Her husband had always been reluctant to burn bridges and freeze the other side’s assets. But now that the lawsuit had begun, they were already at war. There was no point keeping any last line of civility—Tengda wouldn’t appreciate it.
So what was left to say? Together with a few allies who were also owed tail payments, they scraped together the guarantee and froze the account.
Freeze it, let no one have it easy.
“Honey, I’m going in now.”
Zhan Yi nodded, gave a few more words of encouragement, and watched Zhang Lizhen enter the delivery room. Natural birth, not a C-section—it would be hard going. He prayed in his heart for the safety of mother and child.
As for the lawsuit with Tengda, it no longer mattered at this moment—nothing was more important than his wife and child.
Time passed by, each second an eternity.
“Uncle, have they come out yet?”
A sweet, lively voice called out. Zhan Yi looked at his niece, who had taken half an afternoon off to rush over. The worry and anxiety on his face softened a little.
“Not yet, but soon,” he replied.
Zhan Yi was not a native of Shanghai. His sister’s family wasn’t in the city either, but his niece had studied at a local university and stayed after graduation.
Shanghai was a city full of allure and opportunities, vibrant and colorful—a far cry from their small hometown.
“Bodhisattva, please bless them...”
Hearing this, Gu Su pressed her hands together in a silent prayer. Over the years in Shanghai, her uncle and aunt had cared for her time and again. She prayed for the safety of both mother and child.
Both grandmothers were in the delivery room. If her uncle weren’t squeamish about blood, he’d surely be there too.
Ding—the delivery room light turned from red to green.
Zhan Yi, Gu Su, and the others immediately turned their heads.
...
“Ding-a-ling-a-ling...”
On Friday, November 30th, at the end of the month, Zhang Long woke calmly, washed up, and closed out his positions. The funds in his HSBC and UBS accounts were now firmly set at two million.
He ignored the odd change for now.
The fifty thousand withdrawn from his Jun Cai account had already settled and arrived in his bank account. Together with seventy thousand in idle cash, he now had 120,000 yuan. He planned to put 100,000 into activating his commodities trading account, leaving 20,000 for daily expenses—enough.
Besides, he wasn’t sure whether the commodities account would allow him to use his predictive abilities. He’d have to wait until activation to find out.
If it worked, he’d proceed as planned. If not, he’d withdraw the funds and not bother—no reckless trading.
No gambling!
Rely on himself or platform advice? “Heh, I’m not an idiot.”
Zhang Long exhaled lightly. Few people made money trading stocks or futures; he didn’t believe he could rely on himself or on platform recommendations to profit. That was wishful thinking.
He’d never worked in finance in his previous life, but in this one, he’d at least seen hundreds of losing accounts at Shengxin.
Out of hundreds of active clients at Shengxin, not one was profitable—a living example.
...
Buzz, buzz~
Time passed. At a certain point, Zhang Long answered a call from the commodities account manager at Huiyin.
“I’ve set up the triple linkage between my bank card and the account. I’ll fund it on Monday morning—just 10,000 to start.”
“If I can withdraw funds normally on Tuesday morning, I’ll proceed to full activation. That’s all for now.”
“Wait, Brother Long—”
Just as Zhang Long was about to hang up, the manager hurried to interject, “You haven’t confirmed how much you’ll deposit to activate the account? The margin and leverage ratios vary.”
“We’ll discuss it Tuesday,” Zhang Long replied, then hung up.
Commodities trading was based on margin and leverage. One million was already Huiyin’s maximum leverage—enough. No need to deposit more.
...
Buzz, buzz~
Afternoon faded quickly. With nothing to trade on Friday, Zhang Long idled away playing video games. Around half past four, Liang Xue messaged: Shengxin was persuading her to leave.
As for compensation—ha.
November had ended. Directors Guan and You had officially taken over the investment and trading departments for a month, and now everything was falling apart.
Most old clients had stopped trading or adding funds; new clients were few and far between. In truth, Zhang Long couldn’t help but feel a bit of sympathy for Shengxin.
But this was the result of a power struggle at the board level. The abilities of Guan and You were now obvious; with support from the board drying up, Director Zhu was expected to take back control of the investment and trading departments. But by then, both departments would be crippled—absurd.
A struggle at the top translated into disaster and upheaval below—one could only sigh.
But none of this mattered to Zhang Long anymore. The next bull market was still at least a year and a half away, and with Shengxin’s current reputation, it was unlikely to survive that long. Making it to next May Day would be a miracle.
His plan to play the commodities market for quick gains was simply to build capital for contingencies.
Making money in the stock market was hard. Even though he’d netted 3.5 million in November, Zhang Long knew very well that the stock picks recommended by HSBC, UBS, and Jun Cai weren’t always able to identify weekly gainers. In a bear market, finding rising stocks was incredibly difficult.
If he hadn’t happened to catch two wild stocks—Yunfeng Technology and Takumi Energy—he wouldn’t have made 3.5 million. Even 1.5 million would have been tough.
The first week of December, he would register for the CFA exam, hoping his “golden finger” would upgrade.
If his predictive ability only worked on platform recommendations and not on freely chosen stocks, he’d remain too passive.
Zhang Long preferred to act, not to be acted upon.