"No way! You're telling me your company even provides free housing, and the residential compound is right in the core district of Shanghai?!"
Chen Anaran walked happily out of the financial building where her company was located.
The moment she shared this news with her best friend, it immediately sparked a wave of envy on the other end of the line.
"A starting salary of twenty thousand, free housing in a residential compound, a free cafeteria, a two-day weekend, and the boss even proactively encourages employees to take advantage of the company... Oh, God, Anaran, what kind of company did you find? Doesn't a company with these kinds of benefits only exist in fantasies? Can a company like this even survive in today's brutal market competition?"
"Yansue, you've probably heard of this company,"
Chen Anaran said with a smile.
"I feel like even top-tier investment banking institutions like Huajin, Huatou, Huaxin, and Huayin don't offer benefits this good!" Chen Anaran's best friend, Huang Yansue, muttered. "And judging by your description just now, this should be a private equity firm without any state-owned backing. But a private equity firm... can offer conditions and welfare benefits like this? No way!"
Previously, Chen Anaran had only told her that she had interviewed at a fund company and felt the compensation was decent.
She hadn't explicitly named which fund company it was.
Therefore, at this moment, Huang Yansue truly had no idea which fund company Chen Anaran had ultimately chosen.
Moreover, based on her ingrained impressions, domestic fund companies rarely offered such conditions to fresh graduates—even those from Peking University.
Let alone graduates like them who weren't in core financial roles.
"It's a company called 'Huayi Capital'."
Chen Anaran revealed the answer with a smile.
"'Huayi Capital'?" Huang Yansue exclaimed in surprise. "You got into that firm? Wow... I've actually heard of this institution! If it's this firm, then it's not so surprising. I heard a senior from our school—the year above us—got into this institution and seemed to have been dispatched to work at the firm's Hong Kong branch.
Last quarter, he received a quarterly bonus of over 700,000 yuan! That senior had been on the job for less than half a year and pulled in over 700,000... Do you have any idea what kind of concept that is? It's been spreading like wildfire in the internal school group chats, and plenty of people are dying of envy."
"Really?"
Chen Anaran's heart skipped a few beats faster.
"I heard that this President Su from 'Huayi Capital' is truly rolling in money," Huang Yansue said. "And I heard this President Su is only in his twenties—he's practically a legendary figure in the domestic financial world. By the way... Anaran, since you got into this company, have you ever spoken with this President Su?"
Chen Anaran thought of the photo she had taken with Su Yi not long ago when she came to Huayi Capital for her interview.
She had originally thought about posting that photo on her WeChat Moments to show off.
Later on, though, she rethought it and secretly tucked it away in her phone's favorites folder, deciding not to flaunt it to her best friend or friends.
"Mhm." Chen Anaran nodded in response and said, "We've talked."
"How was it?" Huang Yansue asked curiously, "Is he handsome or not?"
"He's alright." A flash of Su Yi's figure crossed Chen Anaran's mind, a smile curling up the corner of her lips. "Actually... Yansue, you know this President Su too."
"No way," Huang Yansue said. "How could I have ever met a legendary figure like that and not remember it?"
Chen Anaran chuckled softly and said,
"You remember that handsome guy who helped take our photos during National Day last year, right?"
"I have some recollection of him," Huang Yansue said. "It's a pity we didn't ask for his contact info back then."
"He's the exact same President Su I just mentioned, and he's also my current boss."
Hearing a sharp shriek come through the receiver, the smile on Chen Anaran's lips grew even wider.
"Didn't expect that, did you?"
"Oh my god!" Huang Yansue was utterly stunned. "Is this world getting way too magical?"
"I think it's magical too," Chen Anaran said. "The gap between people is just too huge."
"Anaran, you've really got to seize this opportunity then," Huang Yansue chuckled after regaining her wits. "Public information shows that big Boss Su is still single, you know. I'm still waiting for you to strike it rich and pull me up along with you."
"Psh, what are you thinking?"
Chen Anaran's face instantly turned burning hot.
Huang Yansue replied,
"Just normal thoughts. In today's society, you have no idea how fierce the competition pressure is. Finding a reliable job is just so damn hard."
"Haven't you found one yet?"
Chen Anaran asked.
Huang Yansue said,
"I did pass interviews at a few places, but the conditions fell somewhat short of expectations. Sigh... Anaran, does your company still have any openings?"
"Director Wang said they're still hiring," Chen Anaran said. "However, over the past couple of days, plenty of people have come in for interviews, so I don't know if there are still any slots left. Tomorrow... I'll find a way to ask management about it. If there's still an opening, you should come over.
As far as I know, our company's recruitment process is very strict and fair. After the HR and department managers make a decision, if applicants feel it was unfair, they can even request a face-to-face direct interview with our company's boss, President Su."
"Alright," Huang Yansue said. "Then help me ask around. If there really is an opening, I won't bother going to Huaxin Securities."
Although Huayi Capital was a non-state-backed institution and lagged slightly behind in terms of stability, after hearing the benefits Chen Anaran had just described, Huang Yansue was clearly tempted in her heart.
She was practically itching to buy a high-speed rail ticket right then and there to head straight from Beijing to Shanghai.
After discussing it, once Chen Anaran arrived home, she consulted her older sister Chen Anya as well.
With her sister's final approval, she followed Su Yi's instructions and wrote out an application letter.
The next day, Tuesday, August 2nd.
Right as work hours began, Chen Anaran followed company procedures and submitted her application letter to the administrative department.
During Chen Anaran's interview, both the HR manager and the financial manager had witnessed her rather close interaction with Su Yi.
As for Yang Jie, the manager of the administrative department—being the shrewtest person in the entire company who kept her eyes peeled in all directions and her ears tuned to every whisper—she naturally couldn't have missed this detail either.
Therefore, upon receiving Chen Anaran's application, she approved the relevant request without a moment's hesitation.
While Chen Anaran was learning to utilize the rules and integrate herself into the Huayi Capital fold, on the other side at that exact moment, within the fund trading department—the core department of the company—Hou Baolong had just concluded his morning meeting and shared the end-of-year bonus verbally promised by Su Yi yesterday.
He revealed it in a joking manner to the traders across the various trading groups.
Hearing that as long as performance targets were met, they too could receive a special performance bonus at year's end similar to what the Hong Kong branch received last quarter, the traders instantly acted as if they'd been pumped full of adrenaline, each one buzzing with excitement.
"What the boss said... is that for real?"
Taking advantage of the time before the market officially opened, whispers rustled through the trading room after the morning meeting.
"It's mostly likely true," someone murmured softly. "I reckon the boss must have heard something from President Su, which is why he was dangling a carrot in front of us this morning."
"If it came from President Su's mouth, then this end-of-year carrot should definitely be edible."
"Our fund's performance this year must already be exceptionally stellar, right? I'm sure the year-end bonus won't be small."
"Our fund's performance is bound to be top-tier. The crucial point is that this performance was essentially achieved by following President Su's predetermined investment strategy. In terms of contribution, President Su's personal contribution to our fund's performance definitely accounts for over 85%. Did we folks really make any exceptionally stellar contributions?"
"Well, what about the 'Chengxuan No. 1' hedge fund managed by the Hong Kong company? Wasn't over 85% of its performance contribution driven by President Su as well? And didn't they still get massive bonuses?"
"I think there's nothing to worry about; President Su is definitely not a stingy person."
"Even though our overall fund investment strategy runs according to the framework formulated by President Su, our intraday swing-trading operations must have generated quite a bit of excess return too. Besides, didn't the boss just say so? President Su is extremely satisfied with our fund's performance this year and speaks very highly of the trading department's work."
"No need to overthink it. Anyway, I just feel that following President Su will never steer you wrong."
"Right, ever since I joined up until now, which time has the money that was supposed to be paid out ever been missed? And which time has the bonus paid out not far exceeded everyone's psychological expectations? So... I'm saying there's no need to worry so much. As long as the company can rake in more cash, I believe President Su won't treat us unfairly."
"That's true. When it comes to salary and benefits, other institutions truly have no way of comparing to us."
Amidst the hushed discussions of the crowd, the clock quickly ticked to 9:15 AM, welcoming the two exchanges into call auction.
As the time crossed 9:15 AM, without needing any reminders, the entire trading room instantly fell silent as if by tacit agreement.
The traders who had just been whispering away all shifted their gazes toward the computer screens in front of them in a split second, their fingers resting swiftly on the keyboards, ready to execute buy and sell commands from their trading group leaders and fund manager Hou Baolong at any moment.
At that exact moment, Su Yi pushed open the door of the trading room and walked in.
"President Su..."
Hou Baolong stood up from the fund's master control computer and accompanied Su Yi to stand in front of the trading room's massive market display screen.
Su Yi nodded slightly without speaking, his eyes fixed on the intensely competing market display screen of the two exchanges, waiting for the market to officially open for trading.
While he waited...
Quickly, 9:25 AM arrived.
Following ten minutes of call auction activity, the two exchanges displayed a generally higher opening pattern.
Among them, major hot thematic sectors that had been brewing in sentiment over the previous day and were now heavily focused on by numerous institutional, hot-money, and retail investor groups—such as 'real estate', 'steel', 'coal', 'non-ferrous metals', and 'construction'—all exhibited slightly higher opening trajectories.
"This call auction is slightly beyond expectations," Hou Baolong said after the call auction across both exchanges concluded. "Sectors like real estate, steel, coal, non-ferrous metals, and construction managing to open slightly higher despite last Friday's violent swings and massive divergence on the tape indicates that market sentiment within these main-theme sectors is beginning to shift gradually from divergence to consensus. Furthermore, institutional attention toward these major themes continues to rise."
"In the Hong Kong market, the real estate sector has also presented a higher-opening stance," Wang Yongkang, the trading group leader responsible for Hong Kong market trades, chimed in right as Hou Baolong finished speaking. "Moreover, the call auction showed expanded volume, which suggests new main-force capital was aggressively snatching up chips during the call auction. It's estimated that during today's market session, the real estate sector is going to put on a continuous display of strength."
"Judging from the call auction conditions, capital factions across both exchanges are indeed showing signs of turning divergence into consensus on the core main themes," Su Yi stared at the trading room's large market display screen and smiled, saying, "Let's increase positions according to plan; the market's bullish momentum is strengthening, which is a good thing for us."
Following consecutive days of massive position adjustments over the prior sessions, at this point, the core stock chips in main-theme sectors like real estate, steel, and coal held by their fund had already passed the halfway mark toward their established position-building targets.
In other words, their position-building progress across these core main themes had already moved past the stage where suppressing prices to accumulate shares was necessary.
Moving forward, their primary objective was no longer the cost basis of building positions in core heavyweight main-theme stocks, but rather how to utilize the market's bullish strength to continuously generate a wealth-creation effect and forge a massive infrastructure main-theme rally spanning sectors like real estate, non-ferrous metals, coal, and steel.
Only once a sustained, massive main-theme rally formed could a large fund with massive capital volume like theirs become profitable.
If it were merely a short-term movement, then given their inability to execute lightning-fast entries and exits, it would be difficult for them to extract profits from the market and boost the fund's actual net asset value.
Amidst their brief exchange...
9:30 AM arrived, bringing the two exchanges into the official continuous auction trading session.
The stagnant order books, after a mere five minutes of emotional brewing, began to tick.
The real estate, steel, non-ferrous metals, and coal sectors—which were heavily focused on by countless investor groups in the market—alongside their internal core bellwether and conceptual leading stocks, surged vertically upward under the auxiliary assault of numerous capital factions following the bullish trend.
Among them, 'Pingdingshan Tianan Coal Mining' and 'Gemdale Corporation'—two stocks heavily focused on by active short-term capital and brimming with heated popularity—continued to explode in volume and raced forward, rocketing straight to their daily limit-up boards within a mere two to three minutes and being locked down firmly on the limit-up boards by colossal buy orders without a moment's hesitation.
"What the hell, sentiment shifted from divergence to consensus—we sold out too early!"
Seeing 'Pingdingshan Tianan Coal Mining' hit its limit-up rapidly, while high-market-recognition hot conceptual stocks within the steel, non-ferrous metals, and coal sectors—such as 'Bayi Iron & Steel', 'Shougang Group', 'Yungui Copper Industry', and 'Shenhuo Stock'—simultaneously exploded in volume and surged sharply, Li Jinshi of the 'Foshan faction' major hot-money group, who had heavily cut positions just yesterday, instantly felt as though he had missed out on a hundred million yuan and couldn't help lamenting.
"That institution Huayi Capital is truly fierce," Chen Guiyun remarked as Li Jinshi sighed. "They genuinely dragged a massive core main theme right out of the mud."
Liao Guoxiang also chimed in at that moment:
"No one has ever questioned the market-driving capability of the 'Fuxing Road' seat."
"The shift from divergence to consensus is the definitive buying point,"
Li Jinshi's mind spun, and he immediately fired a massive buy order of ten thousand lots into 'Shenhuo Stock', which was still continuing to explode in volume and rally.
"Since capital's following sentiment is not receding but actually increasing, let's just go all in and buy back the positions we dropped."
"Old Li, which stock did you hit?"
Chen Guiyun asked hurriedly.
Li Jinshi chuckled and said,
"'Gemdale Corporation' is already locked out of reach, so let's hit 'Shenhuo Stock'. This stock has a moderate floating capitalization, active share behavior, and decent market recognition. It has great potential to become the leading bull stock in the 'coal' sector and the leading speculative stock of this current cycle."
(End of Chapter)