Chapter 3: The price has reached its daily limit!
"Ah—!!"
Li Huilin was startled by his sudden action and cried out, "Su Hao! What are you doing?! Why did you suddenly click buy?! I haven't finished explaining yet!"
It's over!
First day at work, and I've already messed up before even starting!
Su Hao's heart sank, and he secretly thought, 'This is bad.'
"This is an ST stock! And look at the order book! Right now, there are only sell orders, are there any buy orders?"
"No…"
"Exactly! This means this stock is at its lower limit, understand?"
"Then… what should I do?"
"Thankfully, this is just a simulated account! Not real money! If you dared to mess around like this with a real account, Manager Zhou Yi would throw you out the window!"
Upon hearing this, Su Hao finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Seeing her screaming in fright earlier, he thought he had really caused the company to lose money.
"But the problem is, I just said, didn't I? Our simulated trading counts towards our assessment."
Li Huilin murmured to herself, her tone filled with genuine worry, as if she was more anxious than if she had made the mistake herself:
"Only with good simulated trading results is there hope of passing the assessment. But now you've put all the simulated funds into this ST stock…"
"I'm sorry!"
"Oh, what are you apologizing for?!" Li Huilin chuckled.
"Who hasn't been a newbie? Making small mistakes is perfectly normal. Back when I first started, the blunders I made were even more ridiculous than this.
Of course, because of this, the assessment might… well, be affected a bit.
But it's okay! I'll talk to Manager Zhou Yi, it'll be fine!"
Su Hao stared blankly at the sincere smile on her face.
She truly is a good person!
Su Hao was incredibly moved and silently gave Li Huilin a huge 'Good Person Card'!
However, making such a low-level mistake on the first day of work! It was practically a social death scene!
But… that intense feeling that made him tremble all over just now…
It was truly, incredibly clear, incredibly strong!
It was precisely that almost fated premonition that led him, in that instant, to inexplicably press the "Buy" button.
However, in games, after pressing a button, the feedback, whether it's "divine gear" or "trash," is instantaneous.
But the stock market… is like a bottomless quagmire, completely unfathomable.
On the screen, that ST stock remained stubbornly locked at its lower limit, a horrifying shade of green.
Could it be that his feeling was wrong after all?
Perhaps that so-called "game ability" and real-world stock investing are completely unrelated matters?
Or perhaps, he has no special ability at all, and everything before was just a few strokes of dumb luck…
Forget it, focus on the current work! Stop overthinking!
***
The official opening time for the stock market is 9:30 AM.
However, considering the existence of stock index futures and call auctions, the silent battle already quietly begins at 9:15 AM.
The fierce struggle continues until 3:15 PM before the signal to retreat is sounded.
This is a financial war without gunpowder or real bullets, yet it is built with real money, capable of causing heart attacks and skyrocketing blood pressure!
And Trading Department One is definitely the fastest-paced and most high-pressure place in the entire company.
Moreover, what do the people here believe in?
Quick in, quick out! Short-term trading is king!
When the prices are fluctuating wildly, you have to pounce like the hungriest wolf cub, snatching chestnuts from the fire!
Squeezing oil out of those unpredictable K-lines!
That's right, this place is a battleground of decisive action!
Here, the stock holding period is extremely short, no longer than a week.
Usually, before the market closes, it's either covered by short selling or locked with over-the-counter options, ensuring that the earned profits are secured. To some extent, it's a form of T+0.
"Cash is king, secure your profits"—these eight words are a creed etched into the department's DNA!
Those who believe in the concept of "long-term holding" are inherently incompatible with the atmosphere of this department.
They are more suited for the Asset Management Department or the Research Department, where value investing is pursued.
Manager Zhou Yi, the head of Trading Department One, looks down on slow-paced trading from the bottom of his heart.
What he loves is precisely this battleground where adrenaline can surge to explosive levels and dopamine secretion can lead to spasms!
Here, every day, every minute, every second, the red and green K-lines representing rises and falls are in fierce combat!
Like soldiers facing off, they fight to the death, a bloody struggle!
Traders, in a highly tense psychological battle, throw smoke bombs at each other, fire cold shots, dig pitfalls and bury mines, and then—wielding their scythes, harvest each other's chips!
Because of this, those dopamine-inducing short videos that young people can't stop watching seem utterly bland to him!
The stimulation those things provide is like child's play compared to the real money, rapidly changing battles of the trading floor.
This is the true ultimate paradise that can make an adult's dopamine secretion system explode and get them high!
This is the core reason Zhou Yi chose to stay at this company.
Of course, people often ask him:
"Why not go solo and trade with your own money? Wouldn't that be more free and exciting?"
No, absolutely not!
Trading with the company's money subconsciously retains a hint of "observer's" clarity, allowing for more rational judgments.
But once one thinks of operating with "their own hard-earned money," the inherent greed and fear etched into human DNA will instantly destroy all reason and judgment like a virus.
It will turn a person into a piece of duckweed drifting with the emotional tides.
How many genius traders who dominated in companies quickly fell from grace and shattered into pieces once they went solo and traded with their own money!
This is the reason!
The closing bell had just rung today, and the air still seemed to carry the scent of gunpowder from the fierce battle.
"Xiao Wu, organize today's holding report and trading records and give them to me. Oh, have all special circumstances been marked?"
"Ah, yes! The report is ready, I'll send it to you with the data immediately."
"Very good. Do it quickly, I need to formulate tomorrow's market strategy based on these."
"Yes!"
After assigning tasks to the traders, Zhou Yi, who had been sitting all day, quickly stretched his body.
He pulled out dumbbells from under his desk, rolled up his sleeves, and started exercising.
Every day after market close, doing a few sets of strength training with dumbbells to slow down muscle loss as much as possible, then drinking a cup of protein powder, has become his unshakeable ritual.
As for today's dinner, it was, as always, bland chicken breast…
Just then, he noticed a figure standing not far away, looking as if she wanted to speak but was hesitant, seemingly wondering whether to disturb him.
"Huilin? Is something wrong?" Zhou Yi asked while lifting the dumbbells.
"Ah, yes, Manager Zhou Yi. Sorry to disturb your workout." Li Huilin bowed slightly.
"It's nothing, just stretching. Speak, what is it?"
"Um… it's about the new person who started today…"
Li Huilin concisely reported what happened while guiding the new employee.
"So… you're saying that the new person who just started today 'accidentally' used all the simulated account funds to buy an ST stock? And at its lower limit?"
Zhou Yi's brows furrowed slightly, and he stopped exercising.
"Yes… he might have accidentally clicked the wrong button while I was explaining the operations to him…
And that stock has been locked at its lower limit all day, I'm worried if this will… affect his new employee assessment…"
"I understand what you mean." Zhou Yi interrupted her, "You don't need to worry about the assessment. And please continue to guide the new person."
"Ah, okay, thank you, Manager Zhou Yi."
Zhou Yi watched Li Huilin's departing back, his heart filled with emotion.
Li Huilin…
Her name truly reflects her, and the saying "looks are a reflection of the heart" couldn't be more fitting for her.
Naturally beautiful, kind, and gentle.
Only…
In this cruel world where value is measured only by cold numbers and the strong prey on the weak, she is like a white lotus that has strayed into a concrete jungle, appearing very out of place.
Zhou Yi had intended to put Su Hao's matter out of his mind.
But the new person's status as a 'connection' and his wildly off-key operation, however, kept flashing like a stubborn pop-up ad at the edge of his consciousness.
Full position, lower limit price, buying an ST stock?
If any one of these three operations were done in a real account, this kid would be packing his bags today.
But a simulated account… there's no loss.
Even so, an indescribable sense of incongruity lingered.
Even if it was an accident, he would have had to personally click the "Buy" button and confirm it.
Could the mouse have become sentient and placed the order itself?
"Perhaps there's something special about this stock?"
The stock Su Hao bought with his full position was a gold concept stock—ST Zhongrun.
ST stocks, due to delisting risks and poor liquidity, inherently carry significantly higher risks than ordinary stocks and are explicitly prohibited trading objects within the company.
What's more, today, due to a technical adjustment in gold prices, the entire gold sector was in disarray, glowing green!
Could it really have been a slip of the hand?
"Forget it… stop thinking about it." He admonished himself.
He's just a connected person, most likely here to experience life, get some polish, and then leave.
As for the new employee assessment, that's impossible to pass.
Promoting an outsider who can't even read a K-line chart to a formal trader and letting him manage real money?
Manager Zhou Yi wasn't that naive, and the company's senior management surely wouldn't be so muddle-headed.
So, let him be, let him mess around, and see what tricks he can pull.
***
"Time really flies, it's already this late…"
Unconsciously, the clock hands had pointed to seven in the evening.
Su Hao had stepped into the company gates at seven in the morning and had been confined to this small space for a full twelve hours.
But strangely, this day felt like it was just the blink of an eye.
"Time really speeds up when you're here," Li Huilin said with a smile as she packed her things.
"Perhaps it's because everything here emphasizes 'speed is life,' and everyone is desperately running."
During the initial period of market opening, the two of them, being relatively free, didn't have many specific tasks.
But once trading entered a white-hot stage, various instructions and errand tasks poured in from all directions:
"Quickly print this report!"
"Deliver that data to the foreign exchange trading team!"
"Coffee! Coffee! Need to refuel!"
…
Su Hao was completely bewildered, only able to follow Li Huilin like a little sidekick, learning as he ran.
"But seriously, Su Hao," Li Huilin encouraged with a smile, "as a newcomer on your first day, you performed quite well. Well then, see you tomorrow, Su Hao."
"Ah, thank you, Sister Huilin! Okay! See you tomorrow!"
Su Hao watched Li Huilin's receding figure, standing in a daze.
To be honest, today's work intensity far exceeded his expectations.
But thinking about it, it was only natural; this was a top-tier private equity firm that countless financial talents were desperate to get into!
It would be too unreasonable to start complaining on just the first day.
Thinking of his parents, who were still working hard to support him, their former deadbeat son, the hardships they endured must be far greater than his, sitting in an air-conditioned office.
Moreover, with Li Huilin guiding him, it was already a very good start!
What right did he have to complain?
Keep up the good work! Strive!
He checked the time.
"Oh no, it's dungeon time! The guild leader and the others are still waiting for me in the game!"
Su Hao immediately quickened his pace, practically jogging towards the subway station…
***
Around six or seven in the morning, the city hadn't fully woken up, and office workers preparing for work yawned and sighed, starting their daily commute.
This was the fast-paced life of modern professionals!
But there was always a group of anomalies; not only did they not complain at all, but they appeared in the office early with an almost pilgrimage-like reverence.
They were—traders.
These people would become anxious and restless on weekends when the stock market closed, their fingers trembling unconsciously, as if experiencing withdrawal symptoms.
That restless, fidgety feeling was no different from gamblers eager to rush into a casino, longing for the roulette wheel to spin.
Of course, it couldn't be generalized. Not all traders were like this.
But at least, in Manager Zhou Yi's career so far, more than half of the traders he had seen exhibited this "dopamine addiction" trait.
Manager Zhou Yi was still the earliest to arrive at the office today.
He meticulously reviewed the overwhelming amount of documents and reports, needing to understand what events had occurred on the other side of the globe in those sleeping markets that could stir global capital.
He quickly filtered information while sipping his… protein powder mixed with water.
Coffee? That was for mere mortals.
"Good morning, Manager." Gradually, his team members, like precise gears, began to appear in the office right on time.
"Everyone, prepare; we'll have our morning meeting in fifteen minutes."
"Yes!"
The brief morning meeting mainly reviewed yesterday's market performance, analyzed the current situation, and refined and confirmed the preliminary trading strategies based on the latest information.
After issuing a series of instructions, Manager Zhou Yi returned to his desk with multiple monitors.
There was 1 minute until market opening.
Despite having been in this industry for many years, at this moment, he still felt a heart-tightening tension and an indescribable excitement.
His fingertips felt an uncontrollable urge to type on the keyboard, a signal that he was about to enter battle.
Beep beep beep beep—!
The opening bell, like a starting gun, instantly broke the stagnant air.
Manager Zhou Yi's fingers immediately transformed into fluttering butterflies, rapidly moving between the keyboard and mouse.
His gaze swiftly shifted between the several large monitors in front of him, capturing rapidly changing market data, his brain operating like an overclocked CPU, frantically performing calculations and judgments.
When the market trend confirmed his strategy, an indescribable sense of accomplishment and a strong wave of dopamine would sweep through his entire body.
Within just a few short hours, he could experience countless emotional rollercoasters, from heaven to hell, and then back from hell to the human world.
Immersed in such extreme emotional fluctuations, time often lost its meaning.
Unconsciously, six hours would whiz by, and in a flash, it would be closing time.
"Ah…" At moments like these, Manager Zhou Yi would always feel a strange sense of emptiness.
Like a child who had gone wild at an amusement park, facing the park's closing and the end of the festivities, his heart was filled with endless loss and melancholy, reluctant to leave for a long time.
"Manager, today's reports and data are ready. I'll send them to you right away."
His subordinate's voice pulled him back from his brief daze.
Reality didn't allow him to indulge in such emotions for too long.
Today's battle was over, but tomorrow's fierce fight was about to begin!
He had to immediately review and prepare new ammunition!
"Hmm, send them over. Is there anything unusual?"
"Several stocks showed unusually significant gains today. The relevant information has been compiled into a document and sent to you."
"Understood."
Manager Zhou Yi opened the document and began to review today's market anomaly report.
He focused on stocks that had suddenly surged or unexpectedly plummeted today.
Finding the reasons behind these "anomalies" was one of their core daily review tasks.
He scrolled the mouse wheel, scanning the stock anomaly list line by line.
It listed the market's winners and losers of the day, red and green numbers interwoven into a tragicomedy of capital.
Just then—
"…Hmm?"
One stock on the list, like a pop-up window, instantly caught his eye.
This name… was unusually familiar.
"Wait, this is…" A ridiculous thought flashed through his mind.
He quickly pulled up the new employee's simulated trading account records from yesterday.
The data that popped up on the screen confirmed his premonition, yet also made it hard for him to believe!
[ST Zhongrun +5%]
ST Zhongrun was suspended in the morning due to news and hit its daily limit right after the market opened in the afternoon.
"Heh." Manager Zhou Yi involuntarily let out a short, strange chuckle, mixed with disbelief and a hint of absurdity.
The reason for ST Zhongrun hitting its daily limit was quickly determined:
Zhaojin Group announced that it would acquire a 20% stake in ST Zhongrun. After the transaction, the actual controller of the company would change to the local people's government.
And Zhaojin Group, as a giant in China's gold industry, its takeover sparked strong market expectations for asset injection and resource integration!
In Manager Zhou Yi's experience, there would be no opportunity to get on board this stock, which was about to soar!
It would definitely continue to hit its daily limit consecutively!
But! This stock was precisely held by that connected individual!
And it was—a full position!
Although it was just a simulated account, missing out on real money gains was regrettable, but an even stronger thought began to swirl in his mind:
"How did this kid know insider information in advance?"
Recalling yesterday's morning meeting, the team did discuss factors such as US non-farm payroll and CPI data, a stronger US dollar, and technical pressure on gold.
At that time, almost all traders in the company, including himself, predicted that gold stocks would continue to face pressure and adjust.
And facts proved that the market's initial reaction was indeed so.
But that newcomer, as if he had a third eye, precisely dug out the only hidden pearl from a junkyard!
But Li Huilin clearly said that he had bought it 'by mistake'.
The more Manager Zhou Yi thought about it, the more he felt something was off. This was too illogical.
Against the backdrop of a generally bearish market for gold stocks, to precisely pick out "ST Zhongrun" from thousands of stocks, and then "go all-in" on the limit-down price for an ST stock?
This operation, no matter how you looked at it, couldn't be explained as a "mistake."
It looked more like a disguise.
Even… a provocation…
Then, Manager Zhou Yi thought of a very absurd possibility:
Could this kid be a big shot with a deep background and extensive connections?
Because he felt that the identity of a trading assistant demeaned his status, he deliberately chose a sector that everyone was bearish on, and picked the best stock within it!
Then, using extreme methods like full position, limit-down price, and ST stock, he expressed his dissatisfaction in a retaliatory way?
"Hiss~~~"
Thinking of this, Manager Zhou Yi couldn't help but gasp.