Who Are You

Hello, Zhang Hao!

At 10:11 AM, Zhang Hao stared intently at his computer screen, which displayed his stock trading account. A line of text floated brazenly on the display.

It was bright red, each character the size of a walnut.

"Who are you?"

As Zhang Hao involuntarily asked, "Who are you?", the red text suddenly vanished, replaced by another line of text.

Who I am is not important. What's important is... I want to cooperate with you!

Keep in mind that Zhang Hao hadn't opened any typing programs, yet this text appeared on his screen.

Zhang Hao's first thought was: I'm screwed, someone's hacked my computer! He said, "Huh? Cooperate? How do we cooperate? Who are you?" His voice had changed slightly. He wondered, How can he hear me?

So, are you agreeing to cooperate with me? Yes or no?

Zhang Hao was amused. The scammers nowadays were truly audacious. As someone who considered himself calm and thoughtful, Zhang Hao had an idea: since he had nothing better to do, it might be fun to mess with them.

"Yes!"

Zhang Hao thought, Let's see how you try to scam me!

Cooperation established!

This time, the four words were purple and in a cursive script the size of an egg. Zhang Hao was momentarily stunned.

Zhang Hao said to the screen, "Cooperate on what?"

Suddenly, a clear tapping sound came from the speakers – the sound of typing. Immediately after, another line of text popped out, one character at a time, accompanied by the tapping.

Step one... make money!

Zhang Hao couldn't help but laugh. A scammer, just as I suspected! If he hadn't mentioned making money, I wouldn't have been so sure. But as soon as he said money, it had to be a scammer. All scammers target the victim's greed. If you're greedy, you'll fall for it. They've got a perfect scheme waiting for you.

"Okay, okay! Making money, I love it! But how do we make money? How about... you give me some money first?"

Text appeared on the screen, word by word, accompanied by the tapping sound.

No problem! Since it's a cooperation, you provide the money, I provide the effort! The profits... you get ten percent, I get ninety percent!

When it came to profit distribution, Zhang Hao burst into laughter after hearing it. "Haha, spit! Me nine, you one! Now that's more like it!" As if possessed, he started haggling, his first instinctive reaction.

After saying that, he felt a little uneasy. Did I just agree to that?

The tapping continued.

No, it's me nine, you one!

Zhang Hao sneered, "On what grounds? I'm the main party! Me nine, you one!" His tone was firm, though he was just talking tough. He was still muttering to himself, My new computer, and it's already hacked by a scammer. Looks like I'll have to reinstall the system again. What a hassle!

After a slight pause, the computer started tapping again.

I'll take eight, you take two!

Zhang Hao said irritably, "You're the one who's two! Your whole family is two!"

The computer was silent for a full two minutes before tapping resumed.

My final offer, I take seven, you take three! This is the bottom line for cooperation, it cannot be changed!

Zhang Hao was dumbfounded. "Holy crap! There's a move like that?"

Established!

The two large characters filled almost the entire screen. This time, they were black!

Zhang Hao was surprised. "Established what? What did I agree to?" He was thoroughly confused by this person.

Make money!

The two large red characters floated out and then instantly disappeared.

Zhang Hao sat at his desk, feeling completely unwell. He finally realized that by haggling with the other party, he had implicitly agreed to the cooperation. But he couldn't figure out how the other party would scam him. He certainly wasn't going to give them any money. If they couldn't get money from him, what else could they do?

He looked at the disappearing text on the screen, which returned to the original program interface – his stock trading account. It was silent, unchanged.

Everything returned to the quiet computer screen from before 10:10 AM! Just as his heart settled, he saw a scene that filled him with terror.

The mouse moved on its own and clicked on "Trade." Zhang Hao watched in disbelief as his account opened, and then suddenly saw the stocks in his account being put up for sale!

He grabbed the mouse in a panic, trying to quickly cancel the order. But the mouse wouldn't budge. He lunged for the keyboard, only to discover in horror that it was also unresponsive!

There were seven stocks in his account, and all of them were put up for sale, priced a few cents below the market price. They were sold almost the instant they were listed!

Zhang Hao screamed and yanked the power cord, forcibly shutting down the computer. He clutched his chest, feeling dizzy, his heart pounding. His face turned flushed, then pale. He felt utterly drained.

His stock account held more than half of Zhang Hao's assets, about 2.6 million yuan. He had another 500,000 yuan in his bank account, which was his financial security. As a freelancer with no fixed income, he would go crazy if this money were gone.

Zhang Hao picked up his phone and opened the stock trading app. He saw with horror that his account was now fully invested in one stock. The worst part was that he had bought it at the daily limit down.

2.6 million yuan invested entirely in a stock at its daily limit down... That wasn't all. Immediately after, Zhang Hao saw money being transferred from his bank account.

400,000 yuan!

In other words, his bank account instantly had only about 100,000 yuan left!

Zhang Hao's eyes turned red. No matter how he tried to operate his phone, it was as if it were in someone else's hands. He couldn't control it at all. He watched helplessly as that 400,000 yuan was also used to buy more of that stock at its daily limit down.

His first thought was to call the police. Then he realized he couldn't. None of this could be explained. Panting heavily, he asked his phone, "You, how did you do that?"

A few words floated across the screen.

"Piece of cake!"

Zhang Hao was close to tears. This guy was too incredible. "What the hell do you want?" he finally blurted out, unable to hold back his curse.

"To make money!"

Looking at the two red characters on the screen, Zhang Hao felt like crying without tears. "What kind of garbage did you buy? These stocks... You want to make money?"

"Stay calm!"

Zhang Hao was furious. "Calm your ass! How the hell can I stay calm..." He felt like killing someone. He could even hear his heart pounding wildly, a primal stress response.

"Stay calm! Can you wait ten minutes?"

Zhang Hao panted, his hands trembling. He really couldn't stay calm. He was a thirty-something single man, and his life depended on this money. How could he stay calm! Over three million yuan, almost his entire net worth. If it was all gone, who would he complain to?

This time, Zhang Hao didn't turn off his phone. He understood now that it was useless. He held the phone as if it were a burning hot iron, staring intently at the stock's intraday chart.

This was a super rotten stock. A quick look at the daily chart would show it had already hit the daily limit down six consecutive times. Zhang Hao would never even glance at such a stock normally. He usually picked blue-chip stocks with good dividends. Once he bought in, he rarely sold completely, only reducing his holdings when the price was high and increasing them when it was low. Though he didn't make much, it was stable and safe.

After five years of trading, his capital had grown from 600,000 to 2.6 million. While not exactly getting rich, Zhang Hao was content. He wasn't greedy and could endure loneliness. Even during major downturns, he never panicked, which allowed him to accumulate his current capital bit by bit. He never expected to inexplicably buy a terrible stock today!

Zhang Hao stared for about five minutes, then suddenly let out a long sigh. He felt dizzy and disoriented. Even now, he felt like he was dreaming. For something like this to happen was truly bizarre!