Chapter 3 - Bubble Stocks Surge

"You've been absent from work repeatedly and have no regard for the company's rules and regulations. I will report your misconduct to the headquarters." "Director Liu, are you feeling weak? You talk in such a limp way—might as well not say anything at all. Save it until you get the dismissal paperwork ready." The two were locked in a tense standoff, and Lu Liang was pulling no punches. Liu Jianchun, who spent all his time cooped up in the office, was no match for him. He turned bright red with rage, looking like he might drop dead any second. Lu Liang had been fed up with Liu Jianchun for a long time. A yes-man parachuted in from the headquarters, he did nothing but spout bureaucratic jargon all day. Back when Lu Liang was married with a mortgage to pay off, he had to swallow his anger, again and again. But now that he was a free man, he had nothing to fear. Zhou Xiaowen was trembling with anxiety. She couldn't help but whisper, "Brother Lu, maybe you should ease up a little." Lu Liang ignored her. Liu Jianchun, like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, flew into a sudden rage. "What are you all standing around for? Get out there and drum up business—are you waiting for lunch?" "Oh, right..." Zhou Xiaowen's face turned deathly pale with fright. She slunk back to her desk, her shoulders shaking uncontrollably. "Liu Jianchun, what else do you know how to do besides ordering people around?" Lu Liang shot him a menacing glare, then turned around and smiled gently. "Xiaowen, I'll pass a few clients your way. You can follow up with them yourself—should be able to close a couple of deals." "B-Brother Lu... are you resigning?" Zhou Xiaowen's lips trembled, her big eyes welling up with tears. She looked so pitiful it tugged at one's heartstrings. "Don't cry, don't cry. I'm not resigning," Lu Liang comforted her. Then he glanced at Liu Jianchun. "If I quit, that'd just make Director Liu happy, wouldn't it?" With that, Lu Liang walked over to the facial recognition clock-in area and scanned his face. "Mark me as late and early today—dock my pay however you see fit. I've got things to take care of, so I'm leaving now." "Have a nice day, everyone!" Watching Liu Jianchun's fuming, frustrated expression, Lu Liang felt a wave of relief and satisfaction wash over him. He waved goodbye and strode out without a second glance. "What are all of you staring at? Get back to work!" Liu Jianchun ground his teeth. He stormed back into his office, unable to wait another minute—he was going to report Lu Liang to the headquarters and get him fired, no matter what. A loud bang echoed through the office as he slammed the door shut. But Liu Jianchun's threats did nothing to stop the employees from whispering among themselves. "Damn, Brother Lu is so badass!""He's awesome, but he's not thinking about the consequences.""Lu's divorced now—no wife, no kids. He's got nothing to lose. At worst, he can take a year or two off to lay low. What's the big deal?""Tsk tsk. What exactly does marriage do to a man? Without those chains, he's suddenly so much more charismatic.""Xiaowen, stop staring. Hurry up and contact those clients—you're lucky he's passing his resources to you.""Right! Brother Lu's clients are top-tier. If you close those deals, you owe us a treat! And if you need help, I'm more than happy to pitch in.""I can hear you scheming from over here. Ignore them, Xiaowen." Zhou Xiaowen bit her lip, gazing in the direction Lu Liang had left. A flicker of worry crossed her eyes. ... "He's definitely cool, I'll give him that." "But what am I supposed to do next?" Lu Liang wandered aimlessly around the mall. It was chilly outside, but the mall was nice and warm. He had applied for 5,000 lottery codes for the new stock offering—how many he actually won wouldn't be announced until the next day. If the rumors were true, the stock would list in two days and go on to hit 37 consecutive limit-ups over the next 40 days. But that also meant he would have nothing to do for at least two months—maybe two and a half. "I've put on a bit of weight, haven't I?" Lu Liang sipped his coffee, staring down at his slightly protruding belly. Before he got married, he used to go hiking, trekking, and playing ball with his friends from time to time. But after marriage, worn down by family and work, all he wanted to do was lie around and do nothing. Now his physique had gone to pot, and he could only fit into XXL-sized clothes. Suddenly, Lu Liang had a plan. He hailed a taxi and headed straight to the hospital to get a full-body checkup inside and out. As he approached middle age, he'd been noticing more and more little health niggles. He'd wanted to get a physical for ages, but he'd never found the time. The results came back showing mild fatty liver, slightly elevated blood lipids, and a touch of respiratory inflammation. All minor issues, but if left unchecked, they could pile up and turn into something serious down the line. "Since I've got two months to kill, I might as well get in shape." Lu Liang resolved to take good care of his health. He didn't expect to get a six-pack or anything—at the very least, he wanted to get rid of his beer belly, lower his blood lipids, and get back to his ideal weight of 75 kg at 181 cm tall. That evening, Lu Liang returned to his apartment. He noticed a bag of fruit hanging on his doorknob, with a sticky note attached to it: "I'm so sorry about what happened last night. Truly." Lu Liang let out a soft chuckle and knocked on the door across the hallway. But there was no answer—apparently, no one was home. He placed the bag of fruit on his neighbor's doorstep and was just about to go back to his own place when the door behind him suddenly opened. "I... I've been waiting for you for a long time, but you weren't home all day." Li Manli looked awkward and nervous. She was dressed in a new outfit—a crisp white shirt tucked into a black leather skirt, a black silk ribbon tied around her neck, and a pair of shiny, studded mid-calf boots on her feet. Her makeup was flawless: eyeshadow, blush, and even a hint of glitter shimmering on her lids. She was a beautiful young woman with a knack for dressing well—youthful and vibrant, yet undeniably sexy and alluring at the same time. "Can I help you with something?" Lu Liang paused and asked. "I just wanted to thank you for last night," Li Manli said, mustering up her courage. She picked up the bag of fruit. "Please... will you accept this?" "My name is Lu Liang. Not 'something'," Lu Liang replied calmly. After the day he'd had, most of his anger had already faded away. "Then... Brother Liang, please take it. I insist." Li Manli looked embarrassed, but she forced herself to ask again. "Try not to drink so much next time," Lu Liang said, taking the bag of fruit without hesitation. "Okay! Bye then!" Li Manli let out a sigh of relief and scurried off in a hurry. "I wonder which nightclub she works at," Lu Liang muttered to himself, stroking his chin as he watched her retreating figure. She'd stumbled home drunk at two or three in the morning on a workday, and now she was heading out again dressed to the nines. It wasn't hard to guess what line of work she was in. ... The next day, Lu Liang started his fitness plan in earnest. He began with an un timed one-kilometer jog, with the goal of working his way up to a 10-kilometer run at a 7-minute-per-kilometer pace. For lunch, he stuck to lean proteins like beef and shrimp, paired with high-fiber foods like corn and sweet potatoes. According to his schedule, he was supposed to take a 30-minute walk after lunch to aid digestion, followed by a 90-minute nap. But at 1:00 p.m. that day, the results of the Baofeng Technology IPO lottery were due to be released, and Lu Liang was far too anxious to take a nap. At 1:05 p.m., his phone rang—it was his stockbroker, Zhao Haisheng. Out of his 5,000 lottery codes, Lu Liang had won 68 lots. On the ChiNext board, each lot consisted of 500 shares, so that totaled 34,000 shares. At an issue price of 7.14 yuan per share, the total came to 242,700 yuan. After transferring the money to pay for the shares, Lu Liang sorted through his remaining funds and found he had 307,300 yuan left in his account. For the next few days, Lu Liang stuck to his routine religiously: working out, eating a balanced diet, and maintaining a regular sleep schedule. On March 24th, Baofeng Technology listed on the stock market as scheduled. Like all new IPOs, it hit the daily upward limit right after the market opened. Day one, day two... one week, two weeks, three weeks... With a 10% daily gain, the stock quietly notched up 15 consecutive limit-ups. Hundreds of thousands of shares were being snapped up to keep the price locked in. On the 15th trading day since its listing, the turnover rate was still below 5%. The market was starting to realize something was off. There was something fishy going on here. By the close of the previous trading day, the stock price had surged to 29.82 yuan—more than 4.16 times the issue price. Lu Liang's 34,000 shares, which had originally cost him 242,700 yuan, were now worth a whopping 1,013,800 yuan. "Fifteen straight limit-ups, and now it's at 29.82 yuan. If I said it's going to surge tenfold from here, no one would believe me." Lu Liang had dabbled in stocks before, but he'd always ended up losing money and cutting his losses. But now, armed with foreknowledge of what was going to happen, this was the perfect opportunity for him to learn the ropes. He studied the capital inflows and outflows every day, along with all the relevant news, trying to spot a pattern. If he could just grasp even a tiny bit of how the market worked, then even if he never received any more tips from the future, he could still use his experience and this initial pot of gold to build a wealthy life for himself. Lu Liang firmly believed that the financial markets were not entirely random—especially a closed market like China's A-share market. It was similar to China's entertainment industry. Once capital got involved, it started churning out cookie-cutter movies, TV shows, and even celebrities. Capital valued stability above all else. For example, a breakout hit or a red-hot star might score 50 to 100 points in a "wild growth" scenario. But if capital could ensure a steady stream of output, it would happily settle for a consistent 80 points—or even 70 points. The financial markets were the home base of capital, so there had to be patterns to be found. Lu Liang might not have been a star student in school, but he'd always had a keen interest in practical knowledge—especially knowledge that could make him money. Otherwise, as someone born and raised in the countryside with just a college diploma, he never would have been able to settle down in Shanghai in just ten years—a feat that many graduates from top universities couldn't pull off.