Chapter 84: This Time, I’m Bound to Make a Fortune
Dawn broke, and he woke naturally.
Zhang Long shook his head, still clouded and dazed. Instinctively, he licked the corner of his mouth where he’d been bitten the night before. He hadn’t expected Liang Xue to be even fiercer than Luo Man—she actually bit him.
What’s more, the spot nearly overlapped with where Luo Man had bitten him before. He could feel a blister with his tongue.
A woman’s heart is truly unfathomable.
...
“Hmph, are you awake now?”
After getting up and washing, Zhang Long found that Liang Xue had already prepared breakfast. She pouted and snorted, “It’s one thing to pretend to be drunk so you don’t have to go home, but did you have to get handsy too? Next time, I’ll make sure you regret it!”
Just as Zhang Long sat down at the table, her threat sent a chill down his spine. His lips throbbed even more painfully.
Silence is golden—best to play dumb.
“Is your CFA exam next week?”
Liang Xue rolled her eyes at his feigned ignorance, then changed the subject to something serious. Zhang Long nodded. “Yes, Level I is next Saturday.”
The CFA—Chartered Financial Analyst. There are three levels. Level I is held every June and December, Levels II and III only in June. It’s a highly regarded financial certification. Liang Xue had already passed Level I long ago. As long as you’re not careless and study diligently, passing isn’t hard.
Level II and III, though, are a different story.
Liang Xue hadn’t bothered with those; after all, as a woman, she didn’t feel the need for such advanced qualifications. Besides, when she worked at Shengxin, she was working overtime almost every weekday. Weekends were for rest and recovery—there was no need to push herself too hard.
“Are you confident you’ll pass?”
“Hmph, absolutely.” Zhang Long sipped his hot porridge and smacked his lips. “I may not have a photographic memory, but I’ve been studying for months. Passing should be no problem.”
“Careful you don’t twist your tongue…”
Liang Xue poured cold water on his confidence, but when she mentioned “tongue,” her cheeks flushed slightly.
“Ahem, my tongue’s just fine.”
Seeing her reaction, Zhang Long instantly realized she was thinking of last night’s events. He blushed, a little proud, and licked his lips again.
The taste lingered, soft and sweet.
...
“Hey, man, are you with us?”
At the driving school testing ground, today was the VIP class’s exam for the second phase. With his turn approaching, Lin Yuan noticed Zhang Long looked distracted, lost in thought right before his test.
Phase Two may just be the road test, but a single mistake means you’re done—and you won’t get another shot for ten days or half a month. How could he be daydreaming at a time like this?
“Uh, ahem.” Zhang Long snapped back to reality and coughed awkwardly.
But Lin Yuan, experienced as he was, could guess why Zhang Long was so absentminded: that vacant look, and his lips appeared bitten and blistered—he was probably thinking about a woman.
“Brother…”
Lin Yuan leaned in and whispered, “If your girlfriend’s not willing, I can help you out. Whether you want a club model or a fresh-faced college student, you don’t need to force anything. With money, even mature women will do whatever you want.”
Hearing this, Zhang Long quietly edged away from Lin Yuan. This guy was always tempting him, and he needed to keep his distance.
His willpower wasn’t strong enough to resist.
“Pity…” Lin Yuan shook his head and sighed.
So young, yet wasting time on romance—how exhausting to fuss over a kiss or a night in bed. Much better to keep things physical and not emotional: pay for companionship and you can have a different woman every day.
“Oh, by the way…”
Lin Yuan sidled up again and spoke quietly, “Sister Hong asked me again. She said if you’re interested after passing your CFA, you could join her team—she’ll take care of the compensation. If you do well, earning hundreds of thousands a month is no problem at all. Think about it.”
“It’s clear she values you. She wouldn’t have asked a second time otherwise.”
“We’ll see,” Zhang Long replied noncommittally. Making money or losing it on his own was fine, but getting involved professionally was another thing. If something blew up, middle management would get dragged in too.
Better not to get involved.
...
Monday, December 3rd.
After getting up and washing, Zhang Long turned on his computer as the stock market was about to open. Yesterday’s road test had gone off without a hitch—he’d passed flawlessly.
Lin Yuan had passed as well; luck had been on his side.
“Hm?” Zhang Long frowned slightly. The daily stock recommendations from HSBC, UBS, and Jun Cai showed, by foreknowledge, that none of the picks would rise more than 10% this week. Most were stagnant or set to break down, as if hibernating bears.
Each of his three accounts had two million yuan, but even the stocks that were going to rise wouldn’t start today or tomorrow—it would be Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday at the earliest. That was frustrating.
Buzz, buzz—
His phone vibrated. Zhang Long glanced down; as expected, it was a call from Silver Exchange, the spot trading platform. Today he was supposed to deposit 10,000 yuan—the reason for the call was obvious.
He didn’t answer, but instead opened the trading app and directly deposited 10,000 yuan.
They’d receive it instantly.
Buzz, buzz—
A moment later, the phone rang again. The client manager from Silver Exchange greeted him warmly, “Brother Long, did you see the spot market’s opening at six this morning? Mondays are always volatile—we should seize the opportunity.”
“Thursday brings the U.S. initial jobless claims, and Friday is the monthly non-farm payrolls from the States. Even more volatility—gotta take advantage.”
“We have to make the most of it.”
“We’ll see,” Zhang Long replied indifferently. He treated the spot trading coach the same as the stock trading one.
Client managers make their commissions off trading—everything comes down to getting you to deposit and trade.
When he worked at Shengxin, it was the same.
...
“Brother Long…”
The client manager spoke again, “You can test deposits and withdrawals, no problem. But I should make it clear: the amount you use to activate your account determines your leverage ratio—which is crucial.”
“The higher the leverage, the more efficient your capital use is, and the more cost-effective your trades become.”
“How much do you plan to activate with? I’ll report it to my supervisor.”
...
The call wasn’t over, and Zhang Long was pondering. The stock market had nothing worth trading today, and if he waited until tomorrow to activate his spot account, what would he do today?
Silver Exchange was a decent-sized platform—they wouldn’t just shut down overnight. Being too cautious was just being timid.
He realized he was worrying unnecessarily.
No longer hesitating, he replied, “The funds have already arrived. In a bit, I’ll deposit 990,000 to activate—let’s do it quickly.”
He hung up before the manager could react.
Wait—was he serious?
Her doubts were quickly dispelled. She didn’t have back-end access, but her department head did; and sure enough, moments later, he saw Zhang Long’s account had received another deposit of 990,000 yuan. He took a screenshot and sent it to the group, prompting a wave of congratulations.
Decisive, generous, impressive.
A million yuan in spot trading was a big deal at Silver Exchange. Most clients traded with tens of thousands, some with over a million, but anything in the multimillions or more was rare.
“It’s in—activate the account.”
Ping—Zhang Long’s message came through on chat, and the client manager perked up and submitted the activation request.
The process wasn’t complicated: once the company backend verified the funds and set the leverage, the account would be ready for trading.
It didn’t even take half an hour to complete.
Of course, she didn’t have to notify Zhang Long when it was done—the company would send him a message directly.
“Hello, Brother Long…”
He answered, wasting no words, “Any recommendations for today? Send me the list—if it’s good, I’ll buy.”
So direct!
The client manager was amazed—such straightforward clients were rare. She immediately sent Zhang Long the recommendations drafted by the analyst team for today; he could buy at the current price.
How much would he buy? She was eager to find out.
“Hm?”
“What the—!”
When Zhang Long saw the recommendations...