The car quickly arrived at the city center, and Li Zhao took a deep breath, gazing at the towering skyscraper before him.
The construction of the Super Fortress and the procurement of internal supplies both required an extremely vast amount of capital.
Besides hoping to win the lottery, he could only rely on the financial market.
Of course, this was also the most dangerous option.
“See you on the rooftop!” While a playful remark, it hid a cruel reality.
Li Zhao pressed the elevator button, heading straight to the twenty-third floor.
After exiting the elevator, he turned left, and the four large characters “Xinheng Group” immediately came into view.
This company had only been established for two years, yet it had already gained considerable fame in the industry.
The reason was simply its more aggressive development strategy.
Futures trading, private equity funds, and leveraged financing—all were high-risk, high-reward projects.
After briefly explaining his purpose to the front desk staff, Li Zhao was led into an office.
“Hello, Mister Li, my name is Zhang Yan, and I am an account manager at Xinheng Company.” Zhang Yan stood up and extended his hand.
Li Zhao shook his hand, “Hello.”
After they sat down, Zhang Yan, concerned that Li Zhao might be a financial novice, tentatively asked, “Mister Li, do you have any understanding of stock leverage?”
“I worked at Longke Group for a year, so I am quite familiar with this area,” Li Zhao said.
“That’s good.” Zhang Yan then got straight to the point: “Compared to other companies, we can offer higher financing leverage; may I ask, Mister Li, how much capital do you plan to invest?”
“Fourteen million,” Li Zhao said.
Zhang Yan nodded slightly; fourteen million was not a small sum. If Li Zhao only had a few hundred thousand, he probably wouldn't even have the interest to continue the conversation.
“If it’s a five-fold leverage, our company will provide fifty-six million in matching funds, giving you a total of seventy million in capital, which can all be invested in the stock market. How do you feel about this plan?” Zhang Yan asked in a deep voice.
“Alright!” Li Zhao readily agreed.
Zhang Yan smiled faintly.
There was no such thing as a free lunch in this world.
Xinheng Company’s rules were somewhat different; for the fifty-six million that Li Zhao borrowed, Xinheng Company would not only charge high interest but also take a small percentage of the profits.
The stock market was unpredictable, and no one could guarantee that an investment would definitely make money.
Once Li Zhao’s account showed a loss, when the loss reached a certain proportion, Xinheng Company would decisively initiate forced liquidation.
Simply put, all the money lost would be from Li Zhao’s portion; Xinheng Company’s principal would suffer almost no loss, and Li Zhao would still need to continue repaying the interest.
“Bring out the contract,” Li Zhao said calmly.
Zhang Yan looked up at him, and his face quickly resumed a professional smile.
Soon, a staff member placed the contract on the table.
A hint of surprise flickered in Li Zhao’s eyes, and he said in a seemingly casual tone, “I heard that the regulations require one person, one account, but what if I have multiple accounts, for instance, those of a few friends?”
Zhang Yan’s expression paused.
A few seconds later, he said lightly, “Our company has always been law-abiding and operates in compliance. Everything must be done according to the contract.”
Seeing that he didn't directly answer the question, Li Zhao chuckled softly and then asked, “If there’s a loss, your company decides; but if there’s a profit, when to sell must be my decision.”
“No problem.” Zhang Yan answered very straightforwardly.
If the client made money, Xinheng Company would also profit from it, which was a win-win situation and naturally a good thing.
However, Zhang Yan was not optimistic about Li Zhao.
More precisely, he was generally not very optimistic about most clients.
After all, this industry carried too much risk.
Having worked in the industry for many years, Zhang Yan had seen too many people, some of whom cried bitterly on the ground due to heavy losses, and some even contemplated suicide.
Even with the most thorough stock analysis, sometimes it still came down to luck.
“Mister Li, there’s something you need to know. Within the time stipulated in the contract, when you operate the account, you cannot do so from your home. Our company will provide a dedicated space,” Zhang Yan said.
“Mmm, okay.” Li Zhao agreed.
Both parties quickly signed the contract and completed the payment.
The room arranged for Li Zhao by Xinheng Company was not very large, but its decor was rather unique.
However, in front of Li Zhao, there were seven laptop computers, all installed with trading and monitoring software.
He briefly looked them over and unhesitatingly chose a stock named “Chu Tian Pharmaceuticals.”
It was currently priced at 370.62 yuan per share, and Li Zhao had only invested a little over a million.
Seeing his operation, Zhang Yan frowned slightly, “Mister Li, are you only choosing this one stock?”
“I don’t remember the others clearly, I’ll only buy this one,” Li Zhao said.
Zhang Yan looked puzzled, not understanding the remark.
Li Zhao’s memory was not much different from that of an ordinary person.
With so many stocks in the market, constantly fluctuating up and down, red and green, how could he remember them all so clearly?
Only “Chu Tian Pharmaceuticals” had left a relatively deep impression in Li Zhao’s memory from his previous life.
Seeing his resolute attitude, Zhang Yan said nothing more.
After all, even if the million-plus was lost, it was within an acceptable range, and he would not make unnecessary interventions.
At the close of trading that day, the stock price had risen by two percentage points compared to before the purchase.
“Mister Li, do you want to continue?” Zhang Yan asked.
Li Zhao stretched his arms wide, giving a big yawn.
Such a small profit wasn't even enough to fill a gap between his teeth; how could he be satisfied?
The next day, Li Zhao arrived at Xinheng Company on time.
Zhang Yan was busy with other matters and never appeared.
However, through the advanced internal monitoring system, he could track Li Zhao’s account movements in real-time.
After the market opened, Chu Tian Pharmaceuticals’ stock price showed little change compared to yesterday.
Li Zhao sipped tea while idly scrolling on his phone.
Chen Weiqing often sent him messages, eagerly inviting him to visit Mo An Company.
Li Zhao had no good solution for the moment, so he could only pretend that he was negotiating business abroad and would definitely visit after returning to the country.
Throughout the morning, the stock price experienced minor fluctuations, generally showing a downward trend.
Li Zhao merely glanced at it, then expressionlessly averted his gaze.
He clicked the mouse and opened a well-known forum webpage, where someone had posted a piece of news: “According to internal sources, the new drug developed by Chu Tian Group over three years has ended in failure.”
Li Zhao’s expression tightened.
He quickly noticed that related posts about Chu Tian Group also appeared on other forums.
“Chu Tian Group’s first-half profits plummeted, possibly facing severe losses.”
“Chu Tian Group’s second-largest shareholder cashed out three hundred million last week, attracting market attention.”
“Due to poor performance, Chu Tian Group’s current general manager will submit his resignation to the board.”
........
Such content was overwhelming, all uniformly negative news.
At the same time, Li Zhao also scrolled past a short video.
In the video, a woman who appeared to be around forty years old, dressed simply, was tearfully accusing Chu Tian Group.
According to her, her husband had purchased Chu Tian Company’s medicine, and his condition not only did not improve but worsened significantly, and he was still bedridden.
The video garnered over five thousand comments within just a few hours.
This matter quickly escalated on the internet.
Media professionals often had a keener sense of smell.
A well-known news platform continuously published two in-depth long articles, titled respectively: “Chu Tian Group’s Frequent Problems, Who Should Be Held Responsible?” and “Chu Tian Group, What’s Next?”
The articles quoted the views of several experts, and the content seemed quite convincing.
In the afternoon, Chu Tian Pharmaceuticals’ stock price fell all the way, with people constantly selling off shares.
In various stock exchange groups on Changxin, there was a chorus of lamentations.
Li Zhao pulled up the trading software and began analyzing recent trading volume data.
After a long while...
Li Zhao couldn't help but sigh, the operations of those people were still fierce and extremely greedy.
They would not stop until it was pressed to the lowest point!
In a flash, a series of large sell orders were thrown out like a violent storm.
Over the next few days, retail investors panicked and chose to cut their losses and exit, fearing they would become the next trapped victim.
The stock price had fallen to 269.3 yuan per share.
It was as if controlled by an invisible hand, still being suppressed step by step.
Fortunately, Li Zhao had not invested much initially.
Even if it was all lost, it would not trigger the liquidation line.
Li Zhao then tentatively invested a small amount of 300,000, like a pebble dropped into the ocean, stirring almost no ripple.
That day, Zhang Yan did not knock but strode directly in.
Li Zhao, knowing full well, asked, “Is something the matter?”
“Nothing, Mister Li, please carry on.” Zhang Yan’s face no longer held its previous enthusiasm.
Li Zhao chuckled.
He had only lost this little bit, and his address had changed from ‘Mister Li’ to ‘Mister Li’; the capital market was indeed ruthless.
Zhang Yan walked to the window.
He had no intention of admiring the view downstairs but was carefully checking if the windows were securely closed.
He was worried that if forced liquidation occurred in the future, Li Zhao might lose his composure due to the huge loss and do something impulsive.
For example, jumping from the twenty-third floor.
Such things had happened before.
Xinheng Company only sought profit; it didn't want a death on its hands.
Zhang Yan sat opposite Li Zhao, ostensibly to provide relevant technical guidance.
He said expressionlessly, “Mister Li, don’t you want to consider other stocks? The real estate sector has been doing well recently.”
“No, I don’t,” Li Zhao refused.
“Oh.” Zhang Yan’s expression was cold.
Two days later, still “Chu Tian Pharmaceuticals,” Li Zhao added over twenty million to his position through multiple accounts at different times.
Seeing this, Zhang Yan’s eyes clearly showed a hint of impatience.
“Mister Li, are you trying to buy at the bottom? But this stock seems a bit off, I advise you to still...”
Zhang Yan’s voice suddenly cut off, his eyes fixed on the computer screen, filled with disbelief.
The originally sluggish “Chu Tian Pharmaceuticals” had miraculously rebounded at that moment.