Chapter 235: I'll let you in on a little secret

Lao Yang was a farmer from Nanhu District. Across the lake from Nanhu was the port city. Due to the close proximity, Lao Yang had relatives on the other side of the port city, and he learned about the stock market and securities through them. As a result, he became one of the first old stock investors in Nanjiang to enter the stock market.

The first stock that Lao Yang bought was the stock of the Nanjiang Development Bank, which was called the Nanjiang Cooperative Credit Union at the time. There were no securities companies at that time, and the reason he bought this stock was because his family had received a large sum of compensation for supporting the city government's demolition. This simple farmer wanted to do something for the country and contribute his own strength with this money.

When he bought the stock, many people laughed at him, saying that domestic stocks were all a scam, including the only university student in the village. But then the securities company was established, and Lao Yang became a famous millionaire in the village in just two years thanks to the stock he owned. Everyone was dumbfounded.

Now Lao Yang has moved out of the village and bought a house next to the securities company, and has become a professional stock investor.

As a professional stock investor, Lao Yang arrives at the securities company very early in the morning. Of course, it has now been renamed the Stock Exchange Company. Lao Yang doesn't understand the difference between a securities company and a stock exchange company, nor does he understand why the original securities company had to be split into a stock exchange and a brokerage firm. However, he knows that he can still speculate in stocks, and that he can still exchange the stocks he bought for money here.

'Hello boss, I'd like a copy of the first issue of today's Securities Times and the last issue of yesterday's.'

Lao Yang arrived at the stock exchange, but he didn't go in right away. Instead, he went to the newsstand at the entrance and ordered two newspapers. This was Lao Yang's habit, so that he could have the most detailed information. Lao Yang never believed that he had any talent for stock speculation, nor did he believe in any stock gods. This honest farmer believed that everything had to be accumulated little by little on one's own feet.

'I've got it ready for you!'

The newsstand owner handed the newspaper to Lao Yang. As Lao Yang came to buy the newspaper almost every day, the newsstand owner got to know him over time and knew that he would come every day, so he had prepared it early.

Lao Yang thanked the newsstand owner and turned to go into the stock exchange, but the newsstand owner stopped him: 'Hey Lao Yang, I heard some gossip here yesterday, do you want to hear it?'

Lao Yang stopped in his tracks and turned back to ask, 'What news? Is it about the stock market?'

The newsstand owner laughed and said, "Of course it's about the stock market. If it wasn't, why would I tell you?'

Lao Yang scratched his head apologetically and said, "You're right. You see, all my questions are nonsense. Then, boss, please tell me, thank you.'

The newsstand owner beckoned Lao Yang over, and after looking left and right, said mysteriously, 'Lao Yang, you know that I can run this newsstand because I have relatives in the city government and I know people at the newspaper office and the stock exchange. They all told me yesterday that the current situation in the stock market is very dangerous and that a crash could happen at any time.'

This news came as a great surprise to Lao Yang: 'A crash? That can't be right, the stock market is still doing very well, isn't it?'

'Yang, keep your voice down. Do you want everyone to hear? This is very secret information, not even announced to the public, for fear of causing panic among investors!' said the newsstand owner.

'Sorry, boss, I got a little excited, but I think the stock market is going in a very good direction right now. All the stocks are rising, and the rise is not small. How could there be a crash?' Yang expressed his confusion.

'That's why they say you don't know anything about stocks, Lao Yang. The stock market is always changing, and there's no way he could have warned you before the crash. Lao Yang, I don't know if you remember the stock market crash two years ago, but who knew it was going to crash? It just happened suddenly, without any warning.' The newsstand owner continued, 'And as you know, the stock market has been rising for a long time, and usually stocks rise before they crash, don't they?'

At the seemingly reasonable words of the newsstand owner, Lao Yang nodded in agreement. The newsstand owner continued, 'Lao Yang, this is also because my relative is in the city government that I know the news in advance. Don't you admire Zhou Ming, the development consultant from Nanjiang? This is the news that came from him.'

'Really? If Consultant Zhou predicted this, there would definitely be news in the securities newspaper!'

Lao Yang said he wanted to flip through the newspaper in his hands, but the newsstand owner pressed him down. The newsstand owner said to him, 'Lao Yang, you're silly. How could such news be so openly published in the newspaper? That Zhou Ming is also a businessman who also speculates in stocks, he must have withdrawn his investment first. This kind of thing is only because I see that our relationship is so good that I would secretly tell you.'

'I see, thank you, boss, I'll buy you a drink some other time.'

After thanking the newsstand owner, Lao Yang left, so Lao Yang did not see that after he left, the newsstand owner said to the next old stock investor, 'I'll let you in on a little secret, the current situation in our stock market is very dangerous, it's about to crash...'

Lao Yang couldn't hear this because at this time he had already walked into the stock exchange hall. As an old stock investor, Lao Yang was not some stock god or securities tycoon, but because he came here often, he still had a lot of acquaintances, so as soon as he walked in, many people greeted him.

'Lao Yang is here? Lao Yang is here quite early today. Didn't you go for a walk in the park today? You bought two securities newspapers again today. You are really a big and loyal reader of the securities newspaper. I guess the owner of the securities newspaper is laughing behind your back.'

Lao Yang just nodded in response to these words, occasionally replying to them. Suddenly, Lao Yang felt someone tap him on the shoulder: 'Lao Yang, don't rush to look at the market yet. I have some insider information for you.'

The voice was very familiar, and without having to turn around, Lao Yang knew it was Kong Yiji. He was a educated youth who had stayed in the village for some reason. Before any university students came from the village, he was the most educated person in the village. Because he often educated the villagers about literacy and considered himself highly educated, he always liked to say big words that no one understood to educate people. So over time, the villagers gave him the nickname Kong Yiji.

When Lao Yang bought stocks and shares, Kong Yiji strongly opposed it, saying that it was a cancer of the old society and a tool of the capitalists to victimise the people. He even went so far as to threaten Lao Yang that if he bought them, he would be poisoned and his family would perish.

At that time, everyone in the village was scared, except Lao Yang, who bought the stocks. Later, when Lao Yang made a profit, everyone behind his back blamed Kong Yiji, saying that he had blocked the villagers' path to wealth. As a result, Kong Yiji was constantly being pointed at in the village and could not hold his head up. Coupled with the fact that he saw Lao Yang make a profit and went red-eyed, he followed him to the city and lived there, becoming a professional stock investor.

However, unlike Lao Yang, Kong Yiji was not a practical stock trader. He always wanted to be clever, never read the stock market newspaper or record the stock market trends, but only investigated some hearsay.

Kong Yiji believed that Lao Yang was just lucky. He thought that he was more educated and cleverer than Lao Yang. He just didn't understand stocks, which were the stuff of capitalists. As long as he got in, making money would be a matter of minutes.

Kong Yiji did indeed make a lot of money over the year, but it wasn't because his tips were particularly good, it was because the stock market itself was doing well and had been rising all the time. As long as you speculate in stocks, you almost never lose money. In addition, Kong Yiji spent a lot of money on dinners and drinks to find out these tips, and he spent almost all the money he made this way, leaving very little behind. If there was anything good, it was the house he rented, which had changed from a small house to a tenement building.

'What kind of gossip?' Lao Yang asked curiously. He was really curious too, because Lao Yang came to the stock exchange every day and occasionally met Kong Yiji, and they would say hello. However, Kong Yiji was a very stingy person, and he almost never shared his gossip with others, no matter what it was. It was rare for Kong Yiji to greet someone so mysteriously, as he did today.

Kong Yiji took Lao Yang aside and whispered mysteriously, 'I'll tell you, the current situation in our Nanjiang stock market is very dangerous, and it could crash at any time!'

'Crash? How do you know?' Lao Yang asked in surprise.

'Lao Yang, keep your voice down. This is just hearsay, don't let anyone else know!' Kong Yiji said, 'Of course I can know, you don't look at who I am, I'm the one who eats with the leaders of the stock exchange every day. This is what they told me quietly yesterday.'

'Do you know why the securities company suddenly changed to a stock exchange when it was doing so well before? This is not some bullshit planned reform at all. It's just that the powerful officials saw that the stock market was no longer working and wanted to give it a new lease of life in this way. But it doesn't seem to have had any effect.' Kong Yiji continued, 'I'm only telling you because I know you're from the same village. If I were talking to someone else, I wouldn't tell them a thing!'

Kong Yiji saw Lao Yang standing there, and he was very pleased: 'Didn't expect it, did you? So you need to get ready to dump your stocks, okay? Otherwise, when the stock market crashes, you'll lose so much money that you won't have anywhere to cry about it.'

Lao Yang really didn't expect it either, but what he didn't expect was a possible crash in the stock market. Instead, what Kong Yiji told him was the same news as what the newsstand owner had told him earlier. What was going on?

But before Lao Yang could figure out the situation, he heard someone next to him say, 'I'll tell you a piece of gossip: the stock market in our city is going to crash!'

Lao Yang was really dumbfounded. He looked at Kong Yiji blankly, and saw that Kong Yiji was also very embarrassed. 'He probably also knows this piece of gossip.'

Lao Yang, of course, didn't believe Kong Yiji's nonsense, but there was no smoke without fire. There must be something wrong with so many people spreading the same news!

Lao Yang looked up at the stock market, thought for a moment, then apologised to Kong Yiji, left the hall first, walked towards a phone booth by the door, picked up the phone and dialed a number: 'Hello, Manager Li? I'm transferring my account to you. I heard a rumour on the stock exchange this morning, and I'd like to ask you about it...'