Heated Classroom Debate

Chen Xi's reminder was not without reason. Zhao Chen needed "visibility," especially at this delicate moment.

The truancy controversy needed to die down, and a "Zhao Chen" who remained calm in public and could even interpret market movements would make certain clowns' slander look far more feeble than a "Zhao Chen" who had mysteriously vanished.

At the podium, Chen Xi nodded at him.

This "discussion session" had been spontaneously organized by the students, a free debate tacitly approved by the teachers.

Zhao Chen took a deep breath, slipped his phone back into his pocket, and walked into the classroom without a trace of emotion on his face.

The instant he stepped inside, it was as though someone had pressed a mute button.

Chen Hao, seated in the front row, was the first to stop his grandiose talk. He turned around, his gaze scraping over Zhao Chen like a blade, the mocking curl of his lips utterly undisguised.

The people around him turned their heads as well, their expressions complicated.

Even more gazes gathered from every corner of the classroom—curious, probing, envious, jealous, eager for a show...

Shen Zhiyi quietly tightened her grip on her pen.

Zhao Chen turned a blind eye to it all and walked straight toward the empty seat beside Shen Zhiyi.

After Chen Xi's brief opening remarks, the discussion began in a somewhat deliberate format of "free academic exchange."

Almost as soon as he finished speaking, Chen Hao was the first to raise his hand. After Chen Xi gave a nod, he rose to his feet with an easy, confident posture.

"Regarding the recent market darling, 'Sanjiang Shopping,' I think it's necessary to remind everyone to remain rational." Chen Hao immediately set the tone with his opening statement.

"The stock price has surged from just over twelve yuan to nearly twenty-six, and its P/E ratio has exceeded one hundred. Can Ali's halo really transform a traditional supermarket's profitability overnight?"

He threw out his first question, his gaze sweeping toward Zhao Chen at the back.

Zhao Chen did not raise his hand. He simply spoke, his voice calm yet clear.

"The leap in valuation is because the market is repricing it. What Ali wants is not a financial investment, but a New Retail Experimental Field.

"In the future, Sanjiang's stores may become a combination of Fresh Experience, Community Warehousing, and Data Nodes. Traditional P/E models cannot measure the value of that kind of integration."

"What a lovely fantasy!" Chen Hao immediately turned toward Zhao Chen, quickening his Speech Speed.

"But system integration, supply chain restructuring, store upgrades—which one of those doesn't take time? None of it can possibly show up in the Financial Report in the short term!

"At twenty-six yuan, the current stock price has already priced in the optimistic expectations of the next two or three years. That's a bubble!"

The classroom fell quiet as the students' eyes shifted back and forth between the two.

"What the market lacks isn't patience." Zhao Chen remained seated, but every word carried weight.

"What it lacks is an understanding of the depth of this transformation. Ali's investment itself is the strongest promise of a 'resource injection,' and it will drastically shorten the painful adjustment period of Sanjiang's transformation.

"Part of the stock price is precisely pricing in that 'shortened time' and 'reduced risk.'"

"Sounds nice!" Chen Hao sneered, raising his phone.

"Then let's look at reality! Yesterday's limit-up streak ended, with a Turnover Rate of 7.63%; today it opened high and moved lower, and the Turnover Rate will definitely be even higher! What does that mean? The early profit-takers are fleeing like mad! The disagreement is enormous!"

He deliberately paused, allowing the words "fleeing" and "disagreement" to echo through the classroom.

"A volume-backed turnover after consecutive limit-ups is perfectly normal." Zhao Chen's tone remained steady.

"It shows that the shares are undergoing a healthy exchange—from capital engaged in short-term speculation to investors who recognize the long-term logic. Without turnover, where would the room for further gains come from?"

"A healthy exchange?" Chen Hao raised his voice and pointed at the projection screen displaying live market data.

"Look at it now! There's less than an hour before closing, and the stock is still struggling below the opening price, with weak Buying Pressure! At this rate, panic could intensify near the close, and it could absolutely plunge to limit-down! Once limit-down creates a technical breakdown and reverses the trend, what follows will be a string of declines!"

On the screen, Sanjiang Shopping was down roughly 1.8%, and its intraday chart did indeed look weak.

Many students showed worried expressions and began whispering among themselves.

Chen Hao's analysis sounded more "grounded," after all. The green numbers right in front of them would not lie.

Shen Zhiyi unconsciously clenched her hand.

She did not understand Technical Analysis, but the aggressiveness in Chen Hao's words and that downward-sloping line made her heart race.

She looked toward Zhao Chen and saw him lift his head slightly to glance at the screen, without the slightest hint of panic on his face.

"Technical patterns are formed through movement, not guessed at."

Zhao Chen finally rose to his feet. The motion drew everyone's attention to him. "Opening high and moving lower is a necessary process for digesting short-term floating shares. As for the close..."

He looked at Chen Hao, his gaze resolute.

"My judgment is that it will not hit limit-down today. On the contrary, after this Selling Pressure has been absorbed, capital that believes in its long-term logic will support the stock price again. The real logic has not changed."

"Your judgment? Based on what?" Chen Hao nearly laughed aloud.

"Based on that 'New Retail Experimental Field' story of yours? Zhao Chen, the capital market recognizes real money and trends! Every rebuttal you make now is pale and powerless in the face of a falling K-line!"

"If the market only looked at the K-line in front of it," Zhao Chen met his gaze, his voice steady and powerful,