Chapter 351: Gloomy Monday

On Monday 12 April, Brighton, which had been sunny for many days, suddenly became overcast. The sky was dark as if it had been covered with a large pot, and strings of spring rain fell from the sky like fine needles, making people irritable. When Zhou Ming brought the entire finance class to the economics building, he heard countless people complaining about it.

'Damn it! What's with this damn weather? If I didn't have 100% confidence in my watch, I'd even think it was 3am!'

'I don't mind the darkness, but what I can't stand is the weather. This rain feels like 10,000 ants crawling on you, but there's no point in using an umbrella. I'd rather have a hailstorm or a tornado!'

Some people also brought up the same old church line: 'Hey, you stupid humans, don't you know? God said let there be light, and there was light. Since God has given us such strange weather today, there must be a reason. I guess something very sad is about to happen. This is just a preview for us.'

Zhou Ming could only helplessly think: It seems that popularising science among Westerners has a longer way to go than in China!

Zhou Ming then shook his head and followed the students in the finance class into the classroom. Today's lesson was on securities laws and regulations and professional ethics. This was a very important course. After all, in the opinion of the Harvard administration, only by being familiar with securities laws and professional ethics could one become a good trader, otherwise one would be training high-quality economic criminals for society.

At 9am, the bell rang for Harvard's morning class, and the teacher, as if on cue, walked into the classroom carrying a stack of textbooks.

'Hello, students, I am your teacher of securities law and professional ethics. I personally advise you that if you don't want to be kicked in the butt by the burly FBI agents or thrown into the gloomy, dark prison one day, then you'd better pay attention and put away all your unrelated books and thoughts, and remember every word I say.'

After this very American-style opening, the morning class began. But as the teacher opened the textbook on the first page of the podium, Zhou Ming's pager vibrated. Zhou Ming opened the pager, and it was a very bad message from Rogers, the key account manager of Brighton Bank Securities Company: Mr. Zhou Ming, something bad has happened! The stock of Dark Blue Airlines plummeted at the opening today, and the decline in just ten minutes was already more than four percentage points.

'Teacher, what's going on?' Ye Ning saw Zhou Ming looking down at his pager and asked with concern.

Zhou Ming shook his head and said it was nothing, then put the pager back around his waist and continued listening to the lecture. But after only half an hour, the pager vibrated again, still a message from Rogers: 'Mr. Zhou Ming, the stock of Deep Blue Airlines has now fallen more than 6%. The decline is continuing, and it is likely that someone is targeting it. We must find a way to stop this decline to avoid even greater losses!'

Zhou Ming still ignored him, but in the following hour, his pager vibrated like crazy, and the messages basically all came from Rogers, with two from Mark, the chairman of Deep Blue Airlines, in between. The content was invariably all about the stock of Deep Blue Airlines, so Ye Ning could guess just by looking at how often Zhou Ming received messages.

'Teacher, is there something wrong with the stock of Dark Blue Airlines? You always tell us that we must race against time in the stock market. Is it really okay if we don't deal with this?' Ye Ning asked.

'I didn't expect you to use this big principle to retort at me,' Zhou Ming shook his head helplessly and continued, 'But don't worry, I have long been prepared for the stock of Dark Blue Airlines. I will just give a call after class.'

Zhou Ming said this, but by the time he called back, it was already noon. At twelve o'clock, Zhou Ming dialed Rogers' number on his phone. The phone was immediately connected, and Rogers said as soon as he heard Zhou Ming's voice, 'Thank God, Mr. Zhou Ming, you finally called back. If you don't call back, I'm afraid I really have to call the police. Mr. Zhou Ming, I think you must have seen the message I sent you, right?'

Zhou Ming nodded and said that he had seen it. Rogers immediately said, 'Then why didn't you call back sooner, Mr. Zhou Ming? Don't you know that the stock of Dark Blue Airlines has been falling all morning?'

'This damned stock is just as gloomy as today's weather,' Rogers continued, 'As of the morning break, the decline has exceeded eleven percentage points. Based on the current situation, it is likely to continue to fall in the afternoon and fall below the fifteen percentage point limit. I hope you can come to me for a visit. I think we need to take measures!'

'Something definitely needs to be done. This situation is so abnormal. Let's have dinner together tonight, okay?' Zhou Ming suggested.

'What night?' Rogers was surprised and thought he had heard wrong. 'Mr. Zhou Ming, you're not joking with me, are you? Do you know that the stock market will be open in the afternoon and the stock price of Deep Blue Airlines will continue to fall, and we won't be able to meet until tonight?'

Rogers continued, 'Do you know that I have already helped you promote the stock of Deep Blue Airlines, and my phone has been ringing off the hook this morning? I can feel their anger on the other end of the line, they are so angry that they can't wait to reach out and strangle me to get their money back!'

'Yes, Manager Rogers, you know that I am still a student at Harvard University, and my top priority is studying,' Zhou Ming continued, 'As for your clients... didn't they make a lot of money on Deep Blue Airlines before? This time is just an exception, you just need to explain it clearly to them, I believe that as a key account manager, Rogers, you definitely have the ability to do so.'

Rogers was at a loss for words after hearing this. His mind went blank at that moment. He racked his brains trying to figure out why Zhou Ming would say that. He couldn't understand what course was so important, more important than the hundreds of thousands of dollars that evaporated every minute in the stock market? Rogers was stunned on the other end of the phone, and just muttered, 'You're not joking with me, are you?'

Of course Ming Zhou wasn't joking, but there was no way he could say otherwise, because his beautiful class teacher, Jie La, was standing right in front of him.

Jie La looked at Ming Zhou in disbelief and said, 'You...just said that your course is the most important?'

Ming Zhou nodded while holding the phone receiver, 'Yes, because I promised you, Miss Jie La, that I would try to come to class.'

Jie La was instantly moved: 'Thank you very much. Although I don't know if you're just saying that to comfort me, I'm very touched.'

Zhou Ming wanted to say something, but Jie La preempted him and said, 'Zhou Ming, you go. I know that the stock price of Deep Blue Airlines has fallen very severely today, and someone must step in to take charge. And you, Zhou Ming, are the only one who can do it.'

'Ms. Jie La, you know about Dark Blue Airlines?' Zhou Ming asked in surprise.

To this question, Jie La's face flushed red, and then she said, 'Of course I know, because you mentioned it just now on the phone! So you must work hard, and no matter who is causing trouble, you must save Dark Blue Airlines!'

After Jie La finished speaking, she left, leaving Ming Zhou helpless. However, Ming Zhou knew that Jie La must have known more than just what he had said. After all, Deep Blue Airlines was just a small airline company, and there were countless listed companies on the New York stock market. Unless it was a coincidence, it would be difficult to learn about Deep Blue Airlines. However, Ming Zhou believed that she had known about it from the beginning, rather than by coincidence.

Although Zhou Ming was very touched that Jie La cared about him so much, he quickly put aside these emotions because Rogers was still waiting for him.

'Okay, Manager Rogers, since you don't want to meet in the evening, let's have lunch together at noon. But you have to find a way to give me a leave of absence, I don't want to lose any credits,' Zhou Ming said.

This sounded like music to Rogers' ears, and he immediately agreed with Zhou Ming, saying, 'No problem. I know the associate dean of your business school. I'll explain the situation to him, and I can guarantee that you won't fail any courses!'

Zhou Ming was just making a casual comment, but he didn't expect to get such a windfall. It seems that there is a way to solve the problem of the classes he missed before.

'Then I thank you very much, Manager Rogers.'

Zhou Ming hung up after saying this, but then his phone rang again. Zhou Ming didn't need to think who was calling, so he answered, 'Chairman Mark, please don't worry, the situation in the stock market today is just an exception...'

While Zhou Ming was here taking one phone call after another, in the office of a financial building in the centre of Brighton, Old Brook was looking at the computer in front of him and beaming with satisfaction.

Young Brooke and his old butler were in front of him. When young Brooke saw him hang up the phone, he immediately exclaimed happily, 'This is great! The stock of Deep Blue Airlines fell so much this morning, and now that guy Ming Zhou must have gone to Brighton Bank Securities. Mr. Brooke, if you ask me, just bury a bomb on the road to kill that son of a bitch!'

Old Brook frowned and looked at his son unhappily, saying, 'Don't think about bombs all the time, that's the stupidest and most uncouth way to do things!'

Young Brook shrugged, saying, "What's uncouth about it? I'd say the best solution is the best solution.'

On the other side of the room, the old butler saw that Old Brook had been angered by Young Brook again, so he immediately came out to change the subject, saying, "But sir, the Chinese guy is pretty calm. Walden just called and said he didn't leave the house until noon.'

Old Brook nodded slightly and said, 'In fact, I've always said that this Chinese person is a character.'

The old butler immediately picked up the conversation and said, "But unfortunately, he was destined to be toyed with after meeting you, Sir!'

'There's nothing we can do about it. No matter how smart he is, he's just a child. Trying to flex his muscles in front of adults is ultimately just a joke," said Old Brook. 'This stock market crash is just the beginning. What's waiting for him next is...