Chapter 249: Lao Yang, your task

At around 9am, Lao Yang arrived at the stock exchange on his 28-speed bike. As usual, he parked his bike in the bicycle shed and then went to the newsstand to buy the newspaper.

'Look, there's Lao Yang; hello Lao Yang! Lao Yang is always so energetic, and he reads the securities newspaper every day. He could become a stock commentator for the securities newspaper in the future!'

As Lao Yang walked over, he heard many people greeting him, and of course there were also people asking him about the stock market: 'Lao Yang, what's your opinion on today's stock market? I personally think that the recent stock market situation is very good, and there may be a bull market for some time to come. But today's stock market experts say that the stock market situation will be very unstable in the near future. What do you think, Lao Yang?'

Listening to these people greet and ask him questions, Lao Yang had no choice. Ever since the last technical correction in the stock market, he had gone against the market trend, buying stocks when everyone else was selling, and as a result, he had become the biggest winner. After that, whenever he came to the stock exchange, there were always a lot of people who took the initiative to greet and ask him how he was, and there were also people who came to him to ask about the stock market situation, as if he were already a star player, like a stock god.

Having been in the stock market for more than two years, how would Lao Yang not know the mentality of these people?

Most of them are just like Kong Yiji, the village idiot, who never wants to get his feet wet. They are always thinking about where they can get a little bit of insider information and take advantage of loopholes that no one else knows about to make money.

It is precisely for this reason that every time I explain to them that they can grasp the basic stock market trends by simply listening to the account manager at An Guo Securities, they just won't listen. They even think that I am deliberately hiding the truth from them. On the contrary, they think that if I casually reveal something, they will be overjoyed. Today is no exception. They all asked me questions while I was just saying hello.

Since this happens every day, Lao Yang is already used to it. As he walked along, he said, 'The stock market is in a bad but not a very bad situation right now. It may go up or down, the situation is not very stable.'

In fact, what Lao Yang said was just nonsense, but the others immediately had an epiphany after hearing it. One after another, they either looked back at the big screen above the stock exchange or ran off to study something. Of course, some people loudly praised Lao Yang, saying that he was a genius of the stock market!

Faced with such praise, Lao Yang was not so happy. He just shook his head helplessly, and then walked into the stock exchange under everyone's gaze.

As soon as he entered the trading hall, a staff member waiting at the door approached him and said, 'Please, Comrade Lao Yang, follow me to the office on the second floor. Our leader wants to talk to you.'

Lao Yang did not put on airs. After listening, he nodded and walked away with the staff member. However, this was a very ordinary move for Lao Yang, but it looked so different to everyone else. Facing Lao Yang's back, everyone discussed: 'Did you see that? Lao Yang was invited away by the staff of the stock exchange. There must be some insider information in the stock market that they want to tell him internally.'

Some people analysed Lao Yang's character: 'This Lao Yang guy, don't let his usual silly appearance fool you, but he's actually pretty shrewd. You see, would he voluntarily tell you if he had any stock market information? Never. The same thing happened last time the stock market corrected. He didn't even let out a peep beforehand, just went to the counter and bought it himself. He's just pretending to be a pig to eat the tiger!'

These people did not deliberately avoid Yang, so Yang could only helplessly shake his head and smile wryly when he heard these words.

Yang decided not to bother with these people and asked the staff, 'Which leader is looking for me?'

'It's President Luo. He said he has something very important to tell you today,' the staff member suddenly remembered something and continued, 'And I heard that Advisor Zhou is here too.'

At first, when he heard that it was Luo Han looking for him, Lao Yang didn't react much, but when he heard that it was Zhou Ming looking for him, he immediately widened his eyes and said excitedly, 'So it was Consultant Zhou looking for me? Did he say specifically what it was that he wanted with me? Is there some important arrangement that he wants to give me? Oh, no, you're just a staff member, you probably don't know either. I'm sorry, I'll just go up and see Consultant Zhou and find out.'

The staff member could not help but smile bitterly at Lao Yang's incoherent rambling, but it was understandable. Consultant Zhou did have that kind of charisma. In fact, if they had known about Consultant Zhou's other deeds, they would have admired him even more.

A few minutes later, Lao Yang followed the staff member to the office on the second floor. Zhou Ming and Luo Han were sitting on the sofa in the office. They smiled and waved at Lao Yang when they saw him coming over. 'Lao Yang, you're here? Come, sit here. I have something to ask you.'

Yang was immediately excited when he heard Zhou Ming say this and said, 'Consultant Zhou, you can give me any task and I will do my best to get it done!'

Zhou Ming smiled and patted Yang on the shoulder. However, Zhou Ming did not get straight to the point, but instead asked Yang, 'Comrade Yang, you are in the stock market every trading day. What do you think the current trend of the stock market is?'

'After the last stock market correction and the high-profile investment of funds from Hong Kong, everyone is very optimistic about the prospects of the stock market and believes that this will be the beginning of the next big bull market.' Lao Yang spoke his mind, but although Lao Yang was honest and straightforward, he still sensed something. He then asked, "Consultant Zhou, is there going to be another change in the stock market in the future?'

Zhou Ming also nodded without any hesitation and said, "Yes, to be honest with you, the stock market is likely to enter a long period of decline in the future.'

Zhou Ming's words made Lao Yang surprised at first, but then he seemed to understand something and asked Zhou Ming, 'Consultant Zhou, does that mean I need to motivate the investors to continue investing and support the development of the stock market? Or should I keep it a secret for the time being to avoid any unnecessary turmoil?'

It seems that after the last incident, this Lao Yang has also grown up and is no longer the same as before. He also understands the big picture.

However, Zhou Ming shook his head and said, 'Not really, Comrade Lao Yang, this time I hope you can take this news out, so that the shareholders can withdraw from the stock market as much as possible.'

Lao Yang subconsciously opened his mouth to ask why, but in the end he didn't say anything, just nodded silently.

Seeing Lao Yang's reaction, Zhou Ming said, 'Actually, there's nothing to be afraid of. It's very simple. I want you to do this so that the shareholders can minimise their losses as much as possible. The stock exchange cannot directly announce this news, as it will cause instability in the stock market. You know that the stock exchange has only just been established and cannot withstand such instability. Therefore, this news can only be announced as hearsay from your mouth.'

'I see. You are really great, Advisor Zhou. In order to prevent the investors from suffering losses, you are actually willing to go against the world's biggest taboo. Advisor Zhou, don't worry, I will definitely do my best to complete the task you have assigned me!' Lao Yang firmly promised Zhou Ming, his tone full of respect for Zhou Ming.

Lao Yang's words made Zhou Ming feel a bit dumbfounded, because to be honest, he was just doing something to mend the fold after the sheep has been lost.

In fact, when the stock exchange was first established, Zhou Ming knew that the Nanjiang stock market had already reached a peak, and unless the country introduced some extraordinary policies, or there were some huge pieces of good news about investing in Nanjiang, it would be a bear market at any time. And the short selling by Jiang Chunhua and those Binhai entrepreneurs had even set the bear market in motion.

The stock market is still in an upward phase right now, but that's because Lin Muqing brought over 100 million yuan in investment from Gangcheng. However, this is just a temporary illusionary excitement that has given the Nanjiang stock market a shot in the arm. After the excitement wears off, the weakness will come back even more violently.

This is the current situation of the Nanjiang stock market. Anyone with a basic understanding of the stock market can see it. Anyone who has the ability to sit in the stock market will withdraw their investments one after the other, and only ordinary investors will fantasize about the future bull market.

This illusion was created by himself to avoid turmoil, and he must find a solution himself, otherwise when the stock market really collapses, these retail investors will really be unlucky.

This is what he is doing now, but without thinking, he was praised to the skies by Lao Yang, and he even dared to go against the world's great unorthodoxy. This really made Zhou Ming unable to laugh or cry.

'It's no big deal. Someone has to do it, so I'll leave it to you, Comrade Yang.'

Zhou Ming encouraged Yang a little, and although Yang felt a little embarrassed by the encouragement, he had to accept it. He couldn't tell Yang the truth, that would hurt his feelings. Besides, Yang was in his current state, and Zhou Ming was afraid that even if he told Yang the truth, Yang might not believe him, and would just heap more praise on him. So it was better to just accept the situation in silence.

Lao Yang nodded emphatically and reassured Zhou Ming, before rising impatiently and bidding his farewells.

Looking at Lao Yang's departing back, Luo Han asked, 'Consultant Zhou, do you really think Lao Yang can do a good job?'

'If this was when the stock exchange was first established, I would definitely believe that he can do a good job, but now...'

At the end of his sentence, Zhou Ming shook his head heavily and sighed. He continued, 'The world is bustling with people seeking profit. There are too many people in the stock market who want to make money and speculate. Even though we have entered a bear market, there will still be many people who recklessly jump in, hoping to buy at the bottom, not to mention that the situation is still generally good.'

'We can only save a few, and the rest will be left to their own devices,' Zhou Ming said.

Luo Han had nothing to say either. He knew very well that Zhou Ming was right. Zhou Ming clapped his hands and said, 'Well, Mr Luo, we have a clear conscience. Someone has to pay for their greed and ignorance. Besides, if our shareholders don't experience the pain of failure, they will always be like flowers in a greenhouse, too fragile. This will not end well.'

Afterwards, Zhou Ming stood up and said, 'Well, Mr Luo, since everything has been arranged, we can start withdrawing our capital from Gangcheng.'

'Now? Consultant Zhou, isn't that a bit too soon?' Luo Han asked, a little worried.

Zhou Ming shook his head and said, "We're in a race against time. We can't be sure when the fast-in, fast-out will happen on the coast, so we can only try to bring forward the timing as much as possible.'

Luo Han was convinced by Zhou Ming, but Zhou Ming patted him on the shoulder and reassured him, "Don't worry, you have to have confidence in the entrepreneurs on the coast. After all, they are the ones we carefully selected to take over the business!'

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