Chapter 922
It's not that I'm afraid of rich kids squandering their wealth, it's that
Qian Youyou's sigh was like a cold needle, piercing the murky air in the office, which was filled with the smells of smoke, perfume, and despair.
“Stop, brother.” Her voice was tired and heavy. Her gaze pierced through Xiao Jun’s feigned composure and looked directly into the flame in his eyes that was a mixture of “greed” and “fear.” “Don’t let things get out of hand, and then even I won’t be able to help you.”
Xiao Jun's expression suddenly changed, like a cat whose tail had been stepped on; his feigned composure shattered instantly.
He suddenly grabbed Qian Youyou's arms with such force that her bones ached slightly.
"No! Stop now? All the money I've invested will be for nothing! That's real money!" His voice was hoarse, filled with a desperate madness. "Sister, please help me this one last time! I know you still have money, lend me another hundred million! Just one hundred million US dollars! I still have two hundred million on hand, so let's make it three hundred million! As long as the stock price stabilizes, as long as we seize a decent rebound opportunity, I can recoup all the losses I've made! I promise you, after this gamble, I'll never act on my own again, I'll listen to you and brother-in-law from now on! If you tell me to go east, I'll never go west!"
He spoke rapidly, his spittle almost splashing onto Qian Youyou's face, his eyes filled with the frenzied fervor of a drowning person grasping at a straw.
Qian Youyou looked at him as if she were looking at a stranger who had gone mad with desire.
She forcefully shook off his hands that were tightly gripping her arm, the force carrying a resolute disappointment.
"Brother, don't you understand yet? I came here today to advise you to pull back from the brink, not to give you money to keep throwing into this bottomless pit!" Her voice suddenly rose, sharp with heartache. "You have no idea how deep or how widespread this stock market crash is! Every single decision Lu Yang made, was it without reason? Wasn't it proven right every time? You don't believe him, you insist on gambling, and no one can save you!"
She took a step back, straightened her sleeves which Xiao Jun had crumpled, and said with a cold and distant look in her eyes, "I'm leaving. Take care of yourself."
After saying that, she turned around without hesitation, her high heels clicking crisply and firmly on the polished floor, each step seeming to pound on Xiao Jun's nerves on the verge of collapse.
"Wait! Qian Youyou! Stop right there!" Xiao Jun stood frozen for a few seconds, seemingly unable to comprehend this utter rejection. Then, a surge of anger and despair at being betrayed by his closest relative overwhelmed him. He roared at his sister's resolute back, "Why?! I'm your brother! I'm your own brother! You could have helped me this time! Why?! Why are you treating me like this too?!"
Qian Youyou did not pause in her steps, nor did she look back.
Her upright figure disappeared through the office door, leaving Xiao Jun standing alone in the middle of the mess, like a completely abandoned caged beast, his heavy breathing particularly jarring in the silence.
"President Xiao..." a timid, yet alluring voice rang out.
The female secretary, who had just hurriedly tidied her clothes and touched up her makeup, swayed her hips and her face still flushed. She carefully pushed the door open and closed it behind her. "Do you... still want to continue?" Her eyes held a tentative look and a hint of barely perceptible expectation.
"Get out! All of you, get out of here!!" Xiao Jun was like a powder keg that had been lit, all his humiliation, anger, and fear finding an outlet at this moment.
He abruptly swept the mountain of documents, reports, and empty coffee cups off his desk, sending papers flying like snowflakes.
However, his frantic movements came to an abrupt halt when his gaze fell upon the computer screen that was emitting a dim light.
He can't smash it!
That was his only window of hope!
He rushed to the computer, his fingers trembling with excitement, furiously refreshing the Nasdaq chart, especially the heartbreaking precipitous drop in the prodigy's stock price.
His eyes were bloodshot as he stared intently at the constantly changing green numbers, as if trying to mentally turn them back to red.
“Stabilize… Damn it! When will it stabilize?!” He roared at the screen, as if cursing his fate. “Impossible! It absolutely cannot fall any further! It’s been falling for ten days straight! The technical indicators are already oversold! A rebound is imminent! It definitely will! I still have a chance! I still have two hundred million US dollars! As long as I seize this opportunity…”
He abruptly raised his head, his eyes gleaming with a morbid, almost obsessive light: "Money! Yes! We need more money! More money! Only then can we reduce costs and seize a bigger rebound!"
This thought, like a poisonous vine, instantly ensnared all his reason.
It's okay if my sister won't lend it to me! He has other options!
As if whipped by an invisible lash, Xiao Jun abruptly shut down his computer, grabbed his expensive suit jacket draped over the back of his chair, and stumbled out of the office without even having time to straighten his disheveled hair and tie, leaving behind a mess and a stunned secretary.
He's going to the hospital! To find his mother!
Since the old master of the Qian Group suffered a stroke and fell into a coma, the power of the company has indeed fallen into the hands of his younger sister, Qian Youyou.
However, their mother, Mrs. Qian, is a veteran and vice president of the company, as well as an important member of the board of directors. More importantly, the Qian family shares under her name are truly high-quality assets!
His sister refused to help him. After counting all the circles he could reach, he couldn't think of anyone other than his mother who could come up with hundreds of millions of US dollars in a short period of time and who could be persuaded to help him.
That night, in the corridor outside the intensive care unit of a top private hospital in Shenzhen.
The disinfectant smelled cold and pungent, and the stark white lights illuminated the corridor as if it were another world.
Mrs. Qian, dressed in an elegant suit, sat on a bench with a deep look of exhaustion and worry on her face. Her gaze was fixed on her husband, who was covered in tubes, through the thick glass window.
Her figure appeared particularly frail in the empty corridor.
"Mom." Xiao Jun's voice, deliberately low and cautious, broke the silence.
Madam Qian slowly turned her head and saw her son. A complex look flashed in her eyes, a mixture of worry and a subtle sense of estrangement.
"You've come." Her voice was a little hoarse.
"Is the old man... feeling any better?" Xiao Jun approached, his gaze also fixed on the intensive care unit, his tone carrying a formulaic concern.
Mrs. Qian shook her head, her voice filled with an overwhelming sorrow: "It's still the same. This is the third time in the last three months that he's been admitted to the ICU. The doctor... said the situation is very pessimistic and he might not make it through the year."
She paused, took a deep breath, and forcibly suppressed her surging emotions. She looked at Xiao Jun, her gaze sharpening. "Alright, your mother isn't that fragile. I don't need your comfort. So, what's the matter that you came all the way to the hospital to wait for me?"
She knew her son too well.
People don't visit temples without a reason, especially not at times like this.
Xiao Jun felt a little guilty under his mother's direct gaze. He licked his dry lips, his Adam's apple bobbed, and finally managed to speak with difficulty, "Mom... I... I'm in a bit of trouble and urgently need some money. Could you... lend me some money?" His voice lowered, filled with pleading.
"How much do you want?" Mrs. Qian frowned slightly, her tone calm, but alarm bells were already ringing in her mind.
"One hundred million." Xiao Jun's voice was even lower.
"What?" Mrs. Qian thought she had misheard. "One hundred million? Where would I get so much cash? Ever since your stepfather fell ill, the company has long been handed over to your sister. Moreover, when your stepfather was lucid, he had already transferred most of the group's shares to Youyou's name. I don't have many shares left, and they're not cash! At most, I can help you raise ten million RMB for emergencies. That's all I can do. You'll have to figure out the rest yourself."
She didn't even ask her son what he wanted the huge sum of money for.
It's nothing more than encountering some difficulties in doing business.
We urgently need working capital.
Otherwise, if one only squanders money on food, drink, and women, and doesn't start a business, why would they need to use hundreds of millions of yuan in such a short period of time?
Xiao Jun's face showed an extremely bitter expression. He raised his head, looked directly into his mother's eyes, and said in a trembling voice, as if he had made a desperate gamble: "Mom... it's not 100 million RMB. It's... 100 million USD."
"One hundred million... US dollars?!" Mrs. Qian gasped, sitting bolt upright, her face turning deathly pale. "Are you crazy?! What do you need so many US dollars for?!"
This number far exceeded her imagination and her ability to bear it.
"Mom! I know this is difficult! But you have to help me this time!" Xiao Jun knelt down in front of his mother with a thud, grabbing her arm tightly as if it were his last piece of driftwood. "I know you have shares in Qian's Group! Use those shares to get a mortgage loan from the bank! I have friends at HSBC, and as long as the collateral is genuine and valid, they can approve it! My friend can also help with the US dollar issue! Mom, please help me this once! I can pay the money back quickly! I promise! I promise with my life!"
Seeing her son kneeling on the cold ground, his eyes filled with desperate pleas, Mrs. Qian felt as if an invisible hand was gripping her heart.
Reason told her that this was a bottomless pit and she couldn't jump in.
But the person kneeling before her was, after all, her own flesh and blood, the only person in the world she couldn't let go of, besides her husband lying in the hospital room.
The long silence felt like a heavy lead weight pressing on their hearts, while the regular beeping of the monitors sounded like a countdown to death.
Finally, Mrs. Qian let out a long, deep sigh, a sigh filled with helplessness, struggle, and a kind of resigned indulgence.
She reached out, her hand trembling, and touched Xiao Jun's disheveled hair, her voice dry and weary: "But... Jun'er, what if... what if you can't repay... these shares of mine... and what if your sister finds out..."
"No way! Mom! Absolutely not!" Xiao Jun's eyes blazed with ecstatic joy as he urgently interrupted her, "I'm confident! This time we'll definitely turn things around! Believe me! If we succeed, your son will become the major shareholder of Little Prodigy, a listed company with a market value of 20 billion US dollars."
As Mrs. Qian looked into the familiar, almost obsessive fervor in his eyes, her heart sank, but the words had already been spoken and could not be taken back.
She closed her eyes, then slowly opened them again, as if using all her strength: "Alright... Mom... Mom will help you this one last time." Her voice was so low it was almost inaudible, "But... it's a promise, this matter... you absolutely mustn't let your sister find out, not a single word can leak out! Otherwise... Mom really won't be able to explain this..."
"Thank you, Mom! Thank you, Mom! Don't worry! I will keep it a secret! I will repay you as soon as possible!" Xiao Jun was so excited that he was incoherent and kowtowed repeatedly, as if he could already see the dawn of a turnaround.
April 13, New York, Nasdaq Stock Exchange. A tense, cautious atmosphere hung in the air.
The continued weakness in the global financial derivatives market has cast a shadow over exchanges that should be filled with the joy of listing.
Of the 13 companies originally scheduled to list today, only 3 gritted their teeth and persevered under immense pressure to maintain their original plans.
The remaining 10 companies chose to back down at the last minute, temporarily canceling their IPO plans and opting to wait and see in this unfathomable market.
Among these three "warriors," two stand out—both come from the far East and carry the halo of "Chinese portal websites": Sina and NetEase.
Especially NetEase.
According to the original plan, it shouldn't have appeared on this "last train"; it should have been delayed by at least a few months.
Dante San Shi, the helmsman of NetEase, sensed the terrifying impending storm after Lu Yang's subtle yet extremely stern reminder.
He demonstrated remarkable decisiveness and execution, sparing no expense to streamline processes and expedite NetEase's IPO, catching the "last train" fraught with unknown risks.
Everyone knows that going public at this time is like launching a small boat into a stormy sea.
The chill of the bursting dot-com bubble has already made investors extremely wary and suspicious of any "concept stocks".
However, in this suffocating atmosphere, the market played a bizarre joke.
On this day, the Nasdaq Composite Index, after nearly a month of continuous decline and several panic sell-offs, surprisingly closed with a small positive candle!
Although the increase was pitifully small, more like a dead cat bounce or a technical oversold rebound, for a market already saturated with despair, this faint glimmer of light was like a long-awaited rain after a drought!
This tiny rebound, like a miraculous fulcrum, pried open the taut nerves of investors, who were yearning for hope.
Sina (SINA):
Issue price: $17
Opening price: $17.75 (higher than the offering price)
Intraday high: $29.64 (an astonishing increase!)
Closing price: $20.09
Up from the offering price: approximately 21%
NetEase (NTES):
Issue price: $15.5
Opening price: $16.1 (higher than the offering price)
Intraday high: $20.96 (also showing strong performance)
Closing price: $19.01
Up from the offering price: approximately 22.65%
No break below serve!
Not only did they not fall below their issue price, but they both recorded a considerable increase of over 20%!
This sudden "success" was like a powerful stimulant, instantly injecting into the cold and desperate market.
Countless eyes lit up, and countless hearts began to stir anew.
Could it be that... the worst is over?
Could it be that... the spring of the internet is about to return?
Confidence, the most precious and fragile thing in the market, seems to have been rekindled at this moment by this unexpected "double whammy"!
Hong Kong, Victoria Peak, Repulse Bay Road, Li Zekai's study.
Outside the huge floor-to-ceiling windows, the night view of Victoria Harbour remains dazzling, with neon lights outlining the silhouettes of skyscrapers and reflecting on the dark sea, creating a shimmering spectacle.
However, inside the study, Li Zekai had no interest in appreciating the scenery worth hundreds of millions.
His gaze was fixed on the computer screen in front of him, as if drawn by a magnet.
The screen clearly displays the intraday price chart of Sina (SINA) on its first day of listing.
The candlestick that opened at $17.75, surged to nearly $30, and finally closed steadily above $20 was like a golden lightning bolt, cleaving through the gloom and humiliation that had accumulated in his heart due to his father's authoritarian interference!
"It's gone up...it really has gone up! And by such a large amount!" Li Zekai muttered to himself, his fingers unconsciously tapping on the expensive mahogany tabletop, producing a dull thud.
An irrepressible excitement and a long-suppressed sense of pride, like boiling magma, surged in his chest.
He is a shareholder of Sina!
Although it was during the last round of financing before the IPO that a secretive Hong Kong company intervened, squeezing out Xiao Jun, who originally intended to continue investing, this did not prevent him from sharing the joy of this "success" at this moment. More importantly, this "success" seems to confirm his initial judgment!
He slumped back in his chair, his mind replaying the image of his father, Li Ka-shing, furiously halting his bottom-fishing plan that day, his elder brother, Li Zeju's silent yet smug gaze, and Aunt Zhou's professional pity... These images had tormented him day and night like poisonous thorns.
"...Isn't Father's concern a bit...too conservative?" A bold, rebellious thought popped up uncontrollably.
Yes, the Nasdaq index has indeed been declining recently, and global markets are on edge. But could this decline be just a technical correction? Or is it profit-taking? Look at the index after the crash on March 13th; it has clearly shown signs of stabilizing recently! The successful IPOs of Sina and NetEase today are even stronger evidence!
"Perhaps... the opportunity lies amidst this panic?" Li Zekai's eyes burned with intensity, his heart pounding wildly.
He seemed to see the candlestick chart of the little prodigy, which had also plummeted to a disastrous state.
If... if we buy the dip now...
"How about... we give it a try?" The thought was like the devil's whisper, full of temptation.
His hand, resting on the mouse, trembled slightly from the intense inner struggle within him.
Yingke Digital was the brainchild of his creation, and his only asset to prove himself to his father and everyone else. It could no longer withstand any major setbacks.
My father's warning hung over my head like the Sword of Damocles.
"Never mind...wait a bit...observe a bit more." In the end, the deep-seated fear of his father's authority and the concern about the current state of Yingke Digital temporarily overwhelmed his restless speculative desires.
He dejectedly released the mouse and let out a long sigh, but that sigh was filled with resentment and regret.
He offered himself a seemingly reasonable excuse: "Wait two months... until Sohu goes public. If Sohu can also successfully list like Sina and NetEase, without falling below its IPO price or even rising, then it means that the foundation of Chinese internet concept stocks is still there, and market confidence is truly recovering! At that time... at that time, it won't be too late to consider buying the dip in Little Prodigy!"
He seemed to have convinced himself, and turned his gaze back to the screen, staring at the still low stock price of the prodigy. Deep in his eyes, the flames of "ambition" and "comeback" had not been extinguished, but were just waiting for a more "safe" point of explosion.
Pengcheng, Little Prodigy Headquarters, President's Office.
The heavy curtains blocked out the sunlight from the outside world, leaving only the cold glow of the computer screens in the office. Xiao Jun paced excitedly around the room like a shark that had smelled blood, his face flushed with an excitement he hadn't felt in days.
"Opportunity! The opportunity has finally arrived!!" he roared into the air, his fists clenched.
The successful IPOs of Sina and NetEase, especially their over 20% price increases, were like a powerful stimulant injected into his heart! He was also an original shareholder of Sina! Moreover, he invested in the company one round earlier than Li Zekai, who later rose to prominence! What does this prove? It proves that his foresight was correct! It proves that the spring of the internet is still here!
More importantly, what does this prove? It proves that the Nasdaq has recovered! Market confidence has returned!
So, as another company listed on Nasdaq and also basking in the glory of being a "Chinese high-tech concept stock," Xiaoshentong's stock price has definitely hit rock bottom!
Since the Nasdaq crash on March 13, Little Prodigy's stock price has been halved from its peak of $69.50 to less than $31 now!
The drop exceeded 50%!
Isn't this the bottom yet?
Technical indicators suggest the market is already oversold to the point of being unbearably oversold!
A rebound is just around the corner!
No, the rebound has already begun with Sina and NetEase!
Next up, it'll definitely be the little prodigy!
"Opportunity knocks but once!" Xiao Jun's eyes gleamed with the fervent light of a gambler seeing the dice cup about to be revealed.
During this period, he has been gradually converting the last bit of money he could use into Little Prodigy's stock, like an ant carrying grains of sand.
Now, he has less than $100 million left in his hands.
"We must put it all in! Now! Immediately! Right now!" He grabbed the phone on the table, his fingers trembling with excitement, but his dialing motion was unusually resolute.
The call connected, and before the other party could speak, he issued an almost roaring order: "It's me! Listen up! Starting tomorrow when the market opens, pour all the money left in your account! All of it! Throw it all in! Go all out to buy the dip! Buy as much of Little Prodigy's stock as you can! Don't hesitate! This is an order! Seize the opportunity and use every last bullet!"
He could almost see the stock price soar like Sina and NetEase, and he could see the shocking losses in his account being quickly wiped out, or even turned into profits!
He shouted into the microphone with unwavering conviction: "The opportunity has arrived! The Nasdaq has bottomed out; what follows is a long and uninterrupted upward climb."
Xiao Jun's idea is not wrong. As long as you are sure, if you don't invest all of your money before the stock price rebounds, are you going to wait until the stock price rises and then pay a high price to buy it?
Sigh, Xiao Jun's idea is quite beautiful.
Unfortunately, the prerequisite is that you must be accurate in your judgment.
result.
On Friday, April 14th, at 9:30 AM North American time, the stock market opened, and the truly historic panic-driven plunge in the Nasdaq began. (End of Chapter)