Henglong Collapses

In the early hours of December 9, at the deepest point of the night.

Zhang Qingxue had not slept a wink.

She sat in the study, the glow of the computer screen illuminating her composed profile.

She had not chosen to contact the regulators directly or release an official report. That would have been too deliberate, too easy to trace.

Through several absolutely reliable intermediary channels with no connection whatsoever to Henglong Holdings, she sent a carefully edited "Insider tip-off" directly to the inboxes of financial media reporters known for their sharp instincts and incisive writing.

The tip-off contained only two core pieces of information, yet each struck straight at the heart:

First, when Henglong Holdings' senior management had urgently sought help the previous night, Zhao Chen, the Crown Prince of Henglong Holdings, had explicitly refused to sign the Acting Chairman declaration, citing "Studies come first" and "I don't understand the situation." He was unwilling to take over the company at such a moment.

Second, according to reliable financial data, Henglong Holdings' actual debt hole far exceeded what had been disclosed in its Financial Report. Its main Partner Banks had already launched risk reviews, while some Suppliers were preparing to halt deliveries.

There was no sensationalism, no speculation—only cold statements of "fact." The more so, the more credible they appeared.

From six in the morning onward.

Amid the tense atmosphere before the Hong Kong Stocks Market Open, these processed "revelations" began appearing as "exclusive insider news" and "major breaking news" on the front pages of several financial websites and on senior analysts' social media accounts.

Each headline was more alarming than the last:

<Only Son Refuses to Help! Henglong at the End of Its Rope, Zhao Jianguo Family Secrets Exposed for the First Time>

<Cash Flow on the Verge of Collapse—Henglong Holdings May Become the First Domestic Real Estate Stock to Implode in the New Year>

<Crown Prince Stands Aside, Creditors at the Door—Henglong Empire's Collapse Enters Its Countdown?>

Like wildfire, these reports spread frantically through the final calm before the Market Open, completely extinguishing the faint hopes from the night before that there might have been some misunderstanding, or that this was merely cooperation with an investigation.

Panic was no longer merely an emotion. Once the market opened, it became the only choice for every shareholder.

At 9:30 AM, the opening bell rang at the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

The moment Henglong Holdings' ticker lit up, sell orders poured out like a collapsing galaxy, flooding the market regardless of cost or price!

It was as if every holder had reached the same conclusion at that very instant: Run! Run now!

The enormous gap down that had already formed during the Call Auction was ripped wide open in the first second of continuous trading.

The share price was not "falling."

It was "plummeting."

9.8... 9.00... 8.00... 7.00...

Key round-number thresholds were pierced as easily as sheets of thin paper.

The time-sharing chart formed an almost perfectly vertical line that plunged downward, making hearts tremble.

Trading Volume surged dramatically, and every transaction came with even greater panic.

37%.

In just three minutes after the opening, the share price had crashed from the previous trading day's closing price of 9.80 Hong Kong Dollars to 6.17 Hong Kong Dollars—a staggering drop of 37%!

More than 1.5 billion in market value evaporated in an instant!

In the trading hall, countless eyes stared at that constantly Jumping scarlet figure as gasps rose one after another.

This was no longer a correction.

It was a massacre.

But the massacre was not over.

At 6.17 Hong Kong Dollars, a weak stream of Buying Pressure seemed to attempt to catch the falling stock, but it was like a mantis trying to stop a chariot.

More sell orders came surging in, driven by forced liquidations at even lower levels.

6.10... 6.05... 6.02...

In the fifth minute after the opening, the share price broke through the psychological threshold of 6.00 Hong Kong Dollars, touching a low of 5.98 Hong Kong Dollars.

The entire market erupted in uproar.

Financial media alerts refreshed frantically:

"Henglong Holdings Suffers a 40% Flash Crash!"

"Domestic Real Estate Stocks See Shocking Cliff-Like Plunge!"

Just as the share price fell below 6.00 and the market was nearly on the verge of descending into a completely disorderly stampede, a change appeared.

Steady, orderly buy orders of considerable size began quietly appearing at 5.99, 6.00, and 6.01.

They did not forcefully drive the price up. They merely steadily absorbed the shares thrown out in panic, like a breakwater that had suddenly appeared and barely held the nearly collapsing embankment in place.

The share price began fluctuating violently between 5.98 and 6.10, while Trading Volume reached a terrifying record high.

Inside a hidden trading room somewhere in Central, data flickered in real time across the multiple screens before Zhang Qingxue.

Her expression was cold, her gaze focused as an eagle's.

"The price has entered the target range. Start closing positions. First batch, three million shares, limit price below 6.08."

The order was transmitted instantly through an encrypted channel.

On the screens, buy orders to close their short positions quietly blended into the market, joining the genuine bargain-hunting funds—if there were any—and the shorts forced to cover, Devouring the panic-driven sell orders.

Zhang Qingxue's operations were exceptionally precise.

She was in no hurry to close out all her positions at once; that would draw attention.

She split the remaining nearly 43 million shares in Short Positions—Zhao Chen had instructed her in advance to retain part of the position for extreme circumstances—into multiple small batches. Depending on the strength of the Selling Pressure, she flexibly chose the price and quantity, slowly but steadily closing out the positions.

Within half an hour of the opening, Henglong's trading volume had already far surpassed its usual full-day total.

The share price was still struggling around 6 Hong Kong Dollars. Every dip was supported by Buying Pressure, yet every rebound lacked the strength to last.

The statistics before Zhang Qingxue showed that in the past half hour, she had successfully closed more than 15 million shares in Short Positions at an average execution price of 6.05 Hong Kong Dollars.