Chapter 356: Trap and loophole (Part 2)

On the morning of Monday, April 26, after having breakfast, Ming Zhou drove to the office of Rogers at the Bank of Brighton building. Rogers invited Ming Zhou to sit on the sofa in the reception area and asked the secretary to make tea for Ming Zhou. He handed Ming Zhou the teacup himself.

'After Mr. Zhou Ming mentioned black tea to me last time, I specially asked my friend in China to buy some Pu'er from Yunnan. According to my friend, this is the best black tea in China. He said that drinking tea in the morning is refreshing.' Rogers said to Zhou Ming, still using the Chinese pronunciation for "refreshing". He then brought up the sugar and creamer, 'If Mr. Zhou Ming doesn't think the tea has any flavour, you can add something to it, and it will taste better.'

Zhou Ming felt a little helpless. Although milk tea is also available in China, he really felt awkward adding sugar and creamer to a cup of brewed tea. I'm afraid this is the way Westerners do it, right?

In addition, if you analyse it strictly, Pu'er is not really black tea in terms of production process. But for these foreigners, who drink coffee and milk every day, where would they know the profoundness of the tea ceremony? Especially the nature of tea, which is related to the traditional yin and yang and the five elements, is something that many Chinese people don't understand, let alone these Americans. Pu'er is relatively famous internationally, so they just buy it, no big deal.

Of course, an even more important point is that Zhou Ming did not come here today to discuss the domestic tea ceremony with Mr Rogers.

Therefore, Zhou Ming politely declined Rogers's offer, took a small sip, and then put down the teacup and said to Rogers, 'Manager Rogers, let's get back to business. You have already contacted your client, right? Today, we will sell all the stocks we have and give him another Black Monday.'

Rogers hesitated a little, 'Mr. Zhou Ming, do you really want to do this?'

'What's the problem?' Ming was a little surprised. "Was it your friend who told you that there was a problem with his investigation, that Senator Brook's funds had not yet entered the market, and that he was just playing a game of hide-and-seek? Or did the SEC halt trading in Deep Blue Airlines today?'

Rogers shook his head: "Neither. It's just that we have a combined total of hundreds of millions of dollars in Deep Blue Airlines stock, and if we suddenly withdraw it, it could easily cause an avalanche of selling.'

'That's why we have to go quickly. Congressman Brook's funds have just entered, and the previous trend of Deep Blue Airlines has been quite good, and it is in an upward period. He will definitely not sell now. This is the best opportunity.' Zhou Ming saw that Rogers was still a bit hesitant, so he continued, 'Manager Rogers, last week you kept wanting to leave the market, but now I suggest that you leave, and you disagree?'

At Zhou Ming's words, Rogers himself laughed: 'People are contradictory, and their thoughts at different times are of course different. However, I am not worried about my clients this time. I believe Mr. Zhou Ming, since you said that now is the best opportunity, then it must be the case. I am just a little worried about you, Mr. Zhou Ming. After all, you have publicly invested 30 million US dollars in it. If Mr. Mark...'

Zhou Ming waved his hand and said, 'There is no need to worry. Since I dare to do it, I must have a way to solve it. And if there were no problems at this level, how would the famous Congressman Brook dare to enter the market with confidence?'

At the end of the day, Zhou Ming added, 'Manager Rogers, I have already informed my employees that they will sell all the stocks they have in their hands after the stock market opens this morning. If your clients do not sell, I cannot be responsible for the losses that arise.'

Rogers opened his mouth to say something, but in the end he gave up and could only nod and say, 'I understand, Mr. Zhou Ming. It seems that this is your oriental strategy, and I am increasingly unable to understand it.'

After saying this, Rogers turned around and went to get the phone to call each of his clients, all of whom were instructed without exception to sell all of their shares of Dark Blue Aviation after the stock market opened today. Zhou Ming, on the other hand, was sitting on the sofa drinking tea, because this was also a critical moment in his plan, and there could be no mistakes. He looked up at the time, which was 8:45 a.m.

Starting in April, the U.S. stock market implemented daylight saving time, and the stock market opened at 9:00 a.m.

A quarter of an hour quickly passed, and when it reached 9 o'clock, the sound of the opening bell seemed to ring in Zhou Ming and Rogers' ears.

Five minutes later, the stock price of Dark Blue Airlines on the TV screen jumped for the first time, up 0.02%; eight minutes later, it jumped again, up 0.06%... By 9:30, the stock price of Dark Blue Airlines had already risen by 1%.

'What's going on? Did our sell order not go through?' Rogers asked in surprise.

'Manager Rogers, please calm down. Our trading order must have been sent, it's just that there is a significant time lag in the market's feedback. In addition, last week, there was good news that Blue Sky Airlines had obtained a loan from Brighton Bank, and at the end of trading on Friday, Congressman Brooke bought a large amount of Blue Sky Airlines' shares. All of this is very good for market confidence and will definitely drive up the stock market today. When the whole market is bullish, even if we sell in large quantities, it will not be reflected immediately.'

Zhou Ming thought for a moment and then said, 'As a key account manager, I think you, Mr Rogers, must know better than me. I don't know how much confidence you have in your clients, but at least I have a lot of confidence in my employees. If I say to sell at the opening, they won't drag their feet for even a second.'

'I also have great confidence in my clients, and they all trust my judgment,' Rogers added.

In fact, as a professional securities practitioner, Rogers of course knew more about the stock market than Zhou Ming, but the situation was different now, and he was unable to maintain that kind of objective calm.

It wasn't until 9:50 that the stock of Deep Blue Airlines finally experienced its first decline since the opening bell. However, this decline was not serious, only a small 0.01%, but this decline opened the door to a new era. Subsequently, the stock showed a downward trend, dropping from 0.03% to 0.6% in each jump.

In just one and a half hours, the stock price of Deep Blue Airlines fell by seven percentage points.

This decline made Mark, the chairman of Deep Blue Airlines, unable to sit still. He immediately called Zhou Ming and said, 'Mr. Zhou Ming, what is going on in the stock market today? Why is there another Black Monday? We just received a loan from Brighton Bank, which should be good news for market confidence. Why is the market reaction deviating in the opposite direction?'

Mark was dizzy from all the questions, but Zhou Ming had already prepared the answer for him: 'Don't worry, Mark. This situation is the result of my friends and I dumping our shares of Dark Blue Airlines.'

Mark was stunned and didn't say anything for a long time. Zhou Ming didn't rush him, and after a while Mark tentatively asked, "Mr. Zhou Ming, are you joking with me? Today is not April Fools" Day.'

'I'm not joking, Mr. Mark, my friends and I have indeed sold all our shares,' said Zhou Ming.

After Zhou Ming finished speaking, Mark's breathing could be heard on the other end of the line, and it was obvious that he couldn't accept this answer. He was very angry, but in the end he managed to hold back and said steadily, 'Mr. Zhou Ming, can you tell me why? If you are planning something, I think you still have to tell me. After all, I am the chairman of the board of directors of Deep Blue Airlines, and I can better mobilize the market if I step in.'

'I'm sorry, Mr. Mark, but the truth is not what you think. I just think that the stock of Deep Blue Airlines has reached its growth ceiling, so I and my partners have withdrawn our investments,' said Ming.

'So Mr. Ming, you are trying to avoid your losses?' Mark asked.

Ming could hear his voice shaking, and could clearly feel him holding back his anger, but Ming still answered yes.

Mark exploded on the other end of the line: 'Zhou Ming, you despicable liar, selfish little man! You were the one who told me that we could use the stock market's rise to gain more and greater benefits for the company. You also said that you were investing, that you weren't trying to speculate, and that you were bullish on the development potential of Deep Blue Airlines. Now that Deep Blue Airlines has fulfilled its promise well, promising the most generous dividends and bond interest, and also cooperated with you to release a lot of good news, but you have betrayed your promise, you shameless traitor!'

Mark became more and more agitated as he spoke, and finally he was yelling into the phone: 'You previously advertised yourself as coming to the rescue of the depressed Blue Sky Airlines, and I believed you were the saviour of Blue Sky Airlines from its decline. But I was blind to believe you, shameless bastard, that you were actually as greedy as the other speculators, and that your only aim was money, money, money!'

Mark continued to scold, 'You taught me what it means to work together in the same boat and what it means to endure hardships with patience. But you trampled on them yourself. You have no noble soul. You only have a disgusting and ugly face. On the outside, you are the bell ringer of Notre Dame Cathedral, but on the inside, you are the miser Scrooge McDuck!'

Facing Mark's scolding, Zhou Ming simply couldn't find a chance to interrupt. He could only wait until Mark stopped to catch his breath before saying, 'Mr Mark, you're scolding me too harshly. As the Chinese saying goes, even if the deal doesn't go through, the friendship remains. We've worked together for such a long time, you can't be like this.'

'Scold you? I hate to throw you into a meat grinder and grind you into mincemeat!' Mark said in a high-pitched voice. 'You shameless scoundrel, I won't let you off the hook. I have consulted my lawyer, and your actions violate the securities trading law. I have the right to claim compensation from you. I can make you go bankrupt and lose everything. I will also report you to the FBI and put you in jail!'

'That's enough, Mr. Mark. I think I need to explain to you that today, it is true that my withdrawal of capital caused the stock price of Deep Blue Airlines to fall a lot, affecting the rating and credibility of Deep Blue Airlines, but strictly speaking, there was no actual loss. On the other hand,' Zhou Ming said, 'it is true that someone should go to jail, but that person is not me. If Mr. Mark is willing to listen to me,'

Mark thought about it for a long time and finally said, 'Okay, you can tell me. I hope that after this, we can still be friends.'

'Thank you very much, Mr. Mark. I think we will definitely be friends,' said Ming Zhou.