Chapter 361: Hinting, Testing

Words : 1951 Updated : Oct 9th, 2025

Late into the night, Lu Liang was on calls. Mainly dealing with new foreign friends, as his old domestic friends knew his nature and wouldn’t bother him rashly. [On August 28, the Federal Reserve announced its fourth interest rate increase, raising it from 1.50% to 2.0%, an increase of 50 basis points] "This interest rate hike came a bit quickly.” Lu Liang stayed in his study till late at night, his mind still plagued with several doubts, perhaps a trip to Beijing in a few days would resolve them. Sёarᴄh the nôᴠel Fire.nёt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The underlying logic of the Federal Reserve’s interest rate increase was to explode the economies of countries around the world, banking on their own robust health, as the whole world recognizes the US Dollar. Some financially strong countries would naturally withstand the interest rate cycle, but those that couldn’t would simply become harvest targets. The sheer size of the United States is too large, so large that the globe could only accommodate their dominance. In the past when East Country hadn’t developed, slicing a bit off the European Union, Japan, Korea, and tormenting the Middle East made life somewhat flavorful. Now that East Country had developed, forcibly squeezing onto the table meant someone got more while others had to take less. Last year’s south and this year’s west all wanted to use the simplest and crudest methods to force them to bow. Once military force proved ineffective, they might soon be faced with a situation similar to the old Soviet-US tensions. "Investments in Detroit Lu Liang sighed. Once competition was brought into the open, His investments in Detroit were likely doomed, and even future travels to Europe and America would need careful consideration. As a businessman, Lu Liang naturally wished for world peace and prosperity for all. Today making some money domestically, tomorrow earning in Japan and Korea, and the day after in Europe and America, but he knew it wasn’t possible. If initially it was merely an internal struggle between the US and Soviet, this time it involved a clash of different civilizations and ideologies. … On Tuesday, LeEco officially resumed trading and hit the limit down immediately, but it did not impact the trend in the new energy sector. Last night someone saw Zhang Wei arriving at the Beijing airport. Old Jia wasn’t boasting — he really had his wife return. After all, the two were married, with a son in the domestic country, making Old Jia’s video yesterday somewhat credible. Besides, he announced on Weibo FF’s cash flow, a full one billion dollars, seeming more than just slides this time, this was for real. So much so that LeEco’s shares temporarily broke the limit, with many harboring hope vigorously buying the dip, looking to score low-priced chips. "The dog would shake its head at this.” Lu Liang couldn’t help but laugh and cry. Ten years of financial report falsifications, overstated revenue by 1.8 billion, inflated net profits by 1.7 billion, only several million in liquid assets on the books, fined over two hundred million, and the founder absconded. Facing such massive negative news yet breaking the limit, it sometimes really isn’t strange why institutions liked to harvest ‘leeks’ domestically. It was just too easy to cut, and like spring breeze, they grew back again. Obviously, it was institutions and speculation funds setting this stage, making retail investors hope, allowing their capital to flow out. If retail investors wanted to exit en masse, regardless of the institutions or speculation funds, they would all have to accompany LeEco in its downfall. Although institutions had the priority in block trades, the key was the need for someone to buy for them to cash in. This might be the last chance for retail investors to exit, yet some still disregarded the warnings, always thinking they had hit the bottom. Little did they know, they were caught mid-slope. Close to eleven o’clock, in just an hour and a half, LeEco’s trading volume reached 13.5 billion with a turnover rate as high as 68%. From the heart-stopping limit down straight line, to a slow rise, almost touching the middle line that would turn it green. At this moment, Lu Liang posted an emoji on Weibo “Husky’s wise eyes.” "A husky? What is Liangzi implying?” The netizens were still discussing and guessing why Lu Liang would suddenly post this emoji. The institutions behind LeEco’s setup knew, their faces turned grim: “This damn thing, meddling too much.” Almost instantly, just as LeEco’s stock price was struggling to climb, it was like suddenly stepping into thin air, beginning to freefall. The K-line suddenly missing support, below it resembled a vast cliff, plummeting without any support, seemingly only stopping at the floor. The retail investors had orders expecting the stock price to fall further, waiting for the right price to enter for maximized profits. A daily profit of 20%, the ultimate dream of every retail investor, just the thought of it was exciting. However, LeEco’s stock price crashed suddenly, before they could cancel the orders, with the trading software confirming the transactions. Thousands, tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of shares, in an instant, reached the limit down. A large number of bottom fishers were once again trapped. Over ten billion in funds pressing down, a daunting sight with no hope of breaking the limit. "Fuck, did Liangzi just mock us LeEco retail investors with that Husky?” "What else? Based on this trend, to be precise, you’ve all basically become shareholders.” "I’m dying, buying stocks of a fake accountant, and people still think of bottom fishing?” "Wait for death then, forget about getting out in this lifetime.” While the stock bar boiled over, Lu Liang also received a call from Zhao Jisheng of the Securities and Futures Commission. He was filled with helplessness and said with a wry smile, “Mr. Lu, someone has complained about you again.” "Why complain about me out of the blue?” Lu Liang’s mouth curved into a smile, feigning ignorance. "Manipulating stock prices.” "Which stock?” "LeEco.” "How did I manipulate it?” "Using celebrity influence, spreading comments.” "What did I even say?” Zhao Jisheng was at a loss for words, a simple emoticon, what could that prove? Even if it was a mistake, it could be explained away. He, of course, knew that Lu Liang hadn’t manipulated anything, but there were just too many complaints, and he had to ask as a routine. Zhao Jisheng sighed helplessly, “Mr. Lu, try to stay out of such matters next time, it really puts us in a difficult position.” Lu Liang was indifferent, laughed, and said, “Director Zhao, how about we go play tennis together sometime?” Zhao Jisheng nodded and said, “Sure, you set the time, I’m free on weekends.” Lu Liang instantly understood, then added, “Sorry for the trouble this time.” Old Zhao’s willingness to accept his invitation indicated it was really just an insignificant routine inquiry. It seemed that the Securities and Futures Commission had no objections to him launching a new private equity fund and bringing in foreign capital. Lu Liang called over Sun Yutao, instructing him to set up the new fund, prepare the contracts, and wait for his return from Beijing to immediately issue it. Even without the LeEco incident, he would have stirred up something to catch the attention of the Securities and Futures Commission, intending to test their attitude. It was just that LeEco happened to fall into the line of fire, giving Lu Liang a reason to probe and even earn a good reputation. Over the next three days, even with Old Jia’s high-intensity updates on Weibo and Zhang Wei holding a board meeting in Old Jia’s name to soothe the creditors, they couldn’t stop the collapse of the LeEco empire. Hundreds of thousands of retail investors were like having reversed IPO lotteries, ending today’s trading at 9:15 AM, moments before official market opening. A market value of 36.2 billion yuan, with four more days of limit-down, dwindled in a blink to only 23.75 billion yuan. Meanwhile, as Tianxing Fund continued to increase its holdings, Ningde Era announced its second-quarter financial report, showing a 58.6% increase in revenue year-on-year, with expectations of over 70% for the next quarter. BYD’s new energy vehicles caught fire, and as a leading power battery manufacturer, Ningde Era naturally became the preferred partner for major new energy brands, breaking through a 20% market share to reach 25.2%. For every four new energy vehicles, one was powered by a Ningde Era battery, the company’s market value stabilizing at 120 billion yuan, becoming the top company on the Growth Enterprise Market. On Friday afternoon, Lu Liang boarded a plane to Beijing. The commendation ceremony and the national conference of outstanding young entrepreneurs were scheduled for the following Tuesday and Wednesday. He arrived in Beijing three days early, primarily to check on the progress of the smart driving R&D, and also to attend a shareholders’ meeting at Douyin. By 8 PM, Lu Liang arrived at Zhongguang Village, where the office buildings on both sides were nearly all brightly lit, shining like daylight. Unlike Modu, the financial capital, Beijing was a hub of internet conglomerates, where 996 was the norm, and 007 not uncommon. He arrived at the SOHO Tower, and because the number of programmers had exploded recently, the company’s total staff had reached over 1400 people, prompting Hu Weiwei to rent out both the 15th and 16th floors as well. "Are you still at work?” Lu Liang came on a whim, without informing Hu Weiwei beforehand. "I have nothing to do at home anyway, so I might as well stay and work overtime with them, see if they need any help.” Hu Weiwei smiled, they say a career can give a man a second spring, and it’s the same for women. Even though after introducing Golden Sand River and DiDi, her 5% stake was diluted down to 3.6%. But 3.6%, was clearly more valuable than the 10% at Mobike, currently worth at least two hundred million. Although it was equity, not sellable, and dividends far off, it at least gave her a sense of belonging. Besides, she had been a journalist in the automotive industry for ten years, giving her best years to the sector, and now had come full circle back to where she started. Fate, it was wonderfully indescribable. "Qin Siyuan, I still have some things left to do, might come over later.” Hu Weiwei knew the purpose of Lu Liang’s visit, and hurriedly contacted Qin Siyuan, who was working downstairs. "No rush, let him finish his work first.” Lu Liang informed her that he had secured land in Su City, where Wang Xiaofeng and Liu Pei were still there and wouldn’t return anytime soon. Hu Weiwei furrowed her brows, “Once the research building is complete, do we have to move everything from here?” She didn’t mind, but some who had obtained Beijing residency might not agree. "Once it’s built, moving there is inevitable, if they don’t want to go, they can remain working in this office.” Lu Liang had considered this issue too, in the future the focus would definitely shift to Su City, and Beijing would gradually decrease. There was no need to worry about Modu though, after all, with the cities being just over a hundred kilometers apart, relocation wouldn’t be difficult.

Chapter 361: Hinting, Testing

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