Design

"If you listen to me, short it. What's happening now is bait, meant to lure more people into buying shares. I'm afraid the police will have plenty to deal with by then." Xue Chen glanced at the stock market chart. "This is a stock price assault. As long as they dump shares in large quantities, it'll definitely draw in a huge number of investors. The stock price will certainly rise at first, but after a brief period of deception, the dam will burst."

"If you don't believe me, you can look into whether anyone quietly sold off their shares before today."

"These foreigners are really going too far." After hearing this, Xie Tian could not help cursing. "What's wrong with these people? Can't they leave themselves some room to maneuver?"

"If they had even a shred of reason, they wouldn't be this rampant." Xue Chen continued, "Besides, the people behind this may not necessarily be those foreigners. Don't forget, in a place as big as Hong Kong, there are plenty of wealthy and capable people."

"Now that you mention it, I remembered something. I heard that the Li Household is already preparing to move all their businesses to Canada," Chen Jiayao suddenly said.

"What did you say?" Fang Jimin was somewhat shocked. The Li Household's standing in Hong Kong was nearly on par with the Ship King's. Logically speaking, even if Hong Kong returned to China, China would still treat an enterprise of that size with courtesy.

"The Li Household has already decided to move all of their businesses to Canada. I've heard about it too." Qi Si nodded. "And yesterday, Yuan Xiaosan told me that the Li Household has already sold off all their assets in Canada. His family took over some of them."

"My dad mentioned it too. He said that old man Li was getting more muddle-headed with age. What he's doing now is practically treason," Xie Tian added. "Do they really think those foreigners in Canada are good people? By the time they regret it, it'll probably be too late."

Design

August 15 arrived quickly. That day, two strange phenomena appeared. Hang Seng stock, which had previously been highly favored, was plunging in a straight line, while Tai Lok, a stock economists had called garbage, was surging wildly in an eerie manner.

Another phenomenon followed. Investors holding those two stocks were reacting in opposite ways. One group was frantically dumping Hang Seng stock, whose market value was falling at a visible rate until it hit the floor, while Tai Lok stock had not yet broken any records, but its short-term performance had indeed begun tempting those who had withdrawn earlier.

During this period, Hang Seng stock kept falling at an astonishing pace. Even those who wanted to pull out had no way to do so; their money was trapped directly in the market. Several people had already jumped to their deaths some time ago.

Yet none of that could stop Hang Seng from falling below three hundred, a stark contrast to its peak of 4,627 points. There were even several incidents on the streets where investors stormed stock trading offices with knives, but the police, who had prepared in advance, suppressed them all.

"Tut, tut. Looking at today's trend, Hong Kong's tallest building is probably packed with people by now." Xie Tian stood on the balcony and looked toward the endless Hong Kong Bridge in the distance. Near the center of the shoreline stood a skyscraper piercing the clouds—the headquarters of Hang Seng Group.

"Why do you care about them? When they were making a fortune, they should have considered what it would be like to lose everything." Fang Jimin did not feel much about it. He had grown up in privileged circumstances, and from childhood he had been taught that even at the height of success, one had to prepare for the worst.

"Xue Chen, what's our index at now?" Qin Zhou was staring intently at Tai Lok stock alongside Xue Chen. Even he was surprised when he saw the number had already reached 2,000 points. "At this rate, how high do you think it'll go?"

Xue Chen fell silent for a moment before slowly saying, "No lower than 4,000 points. Tai Lok's gains are still increasing. In less than three days, its index should break through another thousand points. After that, it'll only rise to around there. When the time comes, we pull out. Don't get too greedy."

"Brother Xue, it looks like someone else is shorting Hang Seng just like us. Should we investigate?" Chen Jiayao was specifically responsible for Hang Seng stock. He had been following Xue Chen's orders and monitoring the chart.

"They should be those bald eagles. Since they've entered the game, we won't be polite either. Qin Zhou, have someone release some news saying that an American tech company wants to acquire Tai Lok stock. Make it convincing, preferably so they stumble across the news themselves." Xue Chen spoke calmly, without the slightest ripple in his expression.

"You want to fish?" Qin Zhou asked.

"Yeah. What we need now is this kind of bait. Of course, it has to seem accidental." Xue Chen smiled.

"Okay."

Qin Zhou picked up the phone and made several calls, giving out instructions and telling them to release certain information so Hang Seng's shareholders would learn of it. He did not believe there would be no hooks behind these people.

"Eh? Someone really pulled out?" Chen Jiayao cried out again. Xue Chen looked over, then turned to Qin Zhou. "I didn't expect you to be this capable."

As time passed, some people who still had spare cash began pouring it into Tai Lok, and they were investing huge sums. Tai Lok's stock price soared madly, yet those people still did not stop. It climbed all the way upward, and before long, it had surpassed the Tai Lok index and reached more than 3,900 points. Such a trend was unbelievable.

Hang Seng's stock price was still plunging wildly, once again falling to the limit. This time, Hang Seng investors began to panic. Then they received news that a group within Hang Seng Group itself was continuously dumping Hang Seng shares. Once these actions became known, they immediately triggered an extremely severe backlash.

Investors inside the stock market were also frantically discussing the matter while watching the data, and Hang Seng's market performance was dragged down sharply in an instant. There were even reports of investors carrying gasoline barrels to the group's branches to demand an explanation.

But none of this affected Xue Chen in the slightest.