অধ্যায় ১৩৪: এন আকৃতির

কথ is a common saying that women are the most ruthless, and when a woman turns cruel, she is far more terrifying than any man.

Yun Xiaolan was young and not skilled in martial arts, but her intellect surpassed that of ordinary people. Shen Fei suddenly felt that he had truly underestimated this woman.

Regardless of whether Wei Zijun turned his deep love into hatred or intended to use affection from the very beginning to achieve other ends, he would be played to death step by step by this woman.

Just like Qin Shaodong, who fancied himself exceptionally clever, he would ultimately lift a rock only to drop it on his own feet.

"What on earth is your plan?" Shen Fei leaned against the desk, smoking irritably.

It turns out this woman had calculated everything from the very beginning, deliberately mentioning how crucial the shares held by the four major shareholders were, simply intending to make him go and find them.

And if Wei Zijun truly made a move to purchase the shares from Li Bin and the others, they would inevitably establish a connection with one another.

In doing so, it created the illusion that Yun Xiaolan was anxious yet returned empty-handed.

What would Wei Zijun do?

He would feel that he had gained the upper hand.

There is another saying in this world: the higher you climb, the harder you fall. The more confident Wei Zijun felt of his victory, the greater the impact would be when failure struck right as success seemed within his grasp.

Regarding this, Shen Fei felt gloomy inside. Although he did not know what Yun Xiaolan's exact plan was, this woman was truly formidable. Not only was she finding ways to defeat Wei Zijun, but she was also going to inflict a massive psychological trauma upon him.

She would let him "win" first, and then deliver a fatal blow at the most crucial moment, leaving him with no chance of a comeback.

Why remained she indifferent even after Wei Zijun purchased the shares of Li Bin and others, and why had she harbored such an intention from the start?

Perhaps, all she wanted was for Wei Zijun to do precisely that. She had accurately gauged Wei Zijun's ambition to swallow up Maple Leaf whole, and had simply given him a gentle push in that direction.

One must know, no matter how massive an enterprise is, who would idle around hoarding a vast amount of cash flow in their hands?

Once driven by intense ambition to deploy a massive sum of money to purchase shares as winning chips, Wei Zijun's capital chain might snap, and for Yun Xiaolan, the moment for counterattack would arrive.

Ah, women!

Yun Xiaolan shook her head and said calmly, "You will find out this afternoon."

"..." Shen Fei was speechless, then added, "You are truly ruthless."

"Are you thinking that the most ruthless thing in the world is a woman's heart?"

She could even guess that?

Shen Fei touched the bridge of his nose and let out two dry laughs.

Yun Xiaolan smiled self-deprecatingly, "Do you regret marrying such a bad woman like me?"

"A little bit." Shen Fei grinned broadly.

Yun Xiaolan held her breath and let out a light snort.

Shen Fei coughed and said, "Actually, none of that matters. I am a very simple-minded person; as long as she is pretty and can bear a son, that's enough. As for the rest... uh, just kidding, truly a joke."

What awaited him was a cold glare, accompanied by utter indifference.

Somewhere.

Gu Shaojie stood behind several young people, staring at the data displayed on the computer screens across more than a dozen monitors.

Aside from the composite indices and sector indices, there were also the stocks of Maple Leaf, Xing'an, Wanhong, and even Baihua.

"How is it looking?" Gu Shaojie was not a professional; some things he understood, while others he didn't.

One of the young men turned around and said with a serious expression, "Director Gu, Maple Leaf's trading volume ranks first in the market, and its turnover rate is also first. If nothing unexpected happens, it will continue to surge this afternoon."

Trading volume and turnover rate, plainly speaking, are the activity parameters for buying and selling a stock.

Maple Leaf had plummeted at the opening bell, then surged by ten percent, and subsequently dropped by seven or eight percent, creating a volatility range of eighteen percent. Such fluctuations were bizarre and deeply terrifying.

"Don't talk to me about these useless things; I just want to know if Maple Leaf can hold its ground!" Gu Shaojie said with displeasure.

The young man uttered an awkward sound and then explained, "The attackers first drove up the stock price and then savagely beat it down, with the intention of triggering panic selling among institutions and major investors, hoping to snap up more shares at a lower price. Judging from the current situation, they have achieved massive results."

During the two hours of trading, the first hour and twenty minutes or so were spent laying out positions, and to be able to seize the majority of the floating shares in the market within the remaining half hour or so makes them masters among masters. This afternoon will be truly bloody."

Pausing for a moment, the young man continued, "If my estimation is correct, they want to snap up at least seventy percent of the shares in the floating market. Proportionally, that can reach twenty-one percent of Maple Leaf's total shares, securing an absolute winning advantage."

Gu Shaojie nodded. Yun Xiaolan had told him about the four major shareholders. In other words, as long as Wei Zijun successfully seized seventy percent of the shares in the floating market, this financial war would be won.

The scramble this afternoon would be extremely fierce and would be a battle of life and death.

If Wei Zijun won, the shareholding structure of the Maple Leaf Group would be reshuffled, Yun Hongquan would lose his position as chairman, Yun Xiaolan's position as executive president would also be unprotected, and Wei Zijun would successfully stage a corporate takeover, becoming the new owner.

"What are Wanhong and Baihua's reactions?"

"There are no unusual movements for the time being."

"Alright, I understand. You all have your preparations in place, right?" Gu Shaojie narrowed his eyes.

The young man smiled and made an OK hand gesture.

Gu Shaojie patted the young man on the shoulder and turned to leave. Wei Zijun, let yourself enjoy the victory for now; until the very last moment, no one can say for sure who wins and who loses.

...

During the two-hour trading session in the morning, Maple Leaf's stock had already unleashed an astronomical trading volume. Even among thousands of stocks in the market, the Maple Leaf Group had ignited widespread discussion in the market, and many self-proclaimed expert charlatans had popped up once again to spout their pretentious theories.

"Boss, we are still short of twelve percent of the shares."

The grim-faced middle-aged man did not look relaxed. Judging from the morning session, they had achieved a great victory, and with a full-force ambush in the afternoon, acquiring the remaining twelve percent of the shares would not be too difficult.

However, as the morning market approached its close, the stock price clearly showed abnormal movements and began to be pushed higher. This was not a good sign.

Having laid out positions for so long and spending an entire morning inciting panic selling, all for the purpose of suppressing the stock price and buying shares at a low price, if someone took the lead in snatching shares, it would trigger a chain reaction just like in the morning.

By then, even if they could acquire enough shares, it would cost a far greater amount of capital, which was not what he wanted to see.

"How much capital do we have left?"

"There are still 3.7 billion left. Based on the current stock price, we can effectively buy the shares we need. If the stock price is continuously pushed higher, we will need to prepare at least another 2 billion in funds."

3.7 billion in funds, plus the shares already held in hand, had already cost over 5 billion. If an additional 2 billion was poured in, everyone would be happy if it succeeded, but if it failed, a full 7. billion would be trapped, stuck right here and unable to move.

To say there was no worry would be a lie. The stock market never has definitive outcomes, and furthermore, Yun Xiaolan's counterattack had already begun; the afternoon would not be as smooth as the morning.

The 2 billion must be prepared to guarantee the ultimate victory.

"I understand."

The grim-faced middle-aged man knew very well that the two hours of the afternoon would be the true contest—the final contest.

"Something's not right. The market maker seems to be moving again. Damn it, this is rhythmically driving retail investors to their deaths."

"Could it trace out an N-shape today?"

The so-called N-shape refers to a rapid surge, frantic suppression, and then a straight upward pull, where the time-sharing trend chart presents an N-shaped formation.

"Whether it traces an N-shape or not, I don't know, but this market maker is truly a bastard, hitting with extreme ruthlessness. Damn their ancestors, I'm going all in! Having already lost so much, screw it, I'll take a gamble."

With one person thinking this way, countless others thought the same, including investment institutions with much more meticulous minds.

Stock prices, psychological warfare, and capital hedging had quietly kicked off a brand-new round of battle.

(End of this chapter)