"Lu, you really are a god."
During the procedure, Zhao Haisheng brought up the recent market performance of Baofeng Technology.
Last Thursday, the day after Lu Liang cleared his inventory, Baofeng Technology became mischievous again, with its stock price performing a Sky Floor during trading.
That day, the trading volume reached 1.85 billion, with a turnover rate of 65.7%. For a new stock, it was simply incredible.
It could be said that there was a complete change of ownership, and it attracted even more aggressive players; everyone was expecting the Baofeng legend to continue.
But on the second day, the third day, it just lay on the floor, hitting five consecutive drop limit boards until just yesterday, when it barely broke the limit.
The stock price had plummeted from its highest point of 327.15 yuan to a closing price of 191.14 yuan the day before.
The entire market was a scene of misery; not everyone had bought in at a low price, more had received the baton at the peak.
Among these people was Zhao Haisheng.
If it weren't for the particularly good market this year, with brokerage practitioners earning several times more, he would have felt the pinch for a long time.
"I never expected that I'd have such foresight," said Lu Liang with a smug look, like an armchair strategist, sharing his experience, "At the time, I had a premonition that what goes up must come down."
"Of course, my man Lu has got that talent," Haisheng replied with a sycophantic smile on his face, though inside he was silently sneering.
At first, he had thought that Lu Liang might have had some insider information, but now he had completely dispelled that concern.
It was purely good luck, after all, in one's lifetime, everyone is bound to have a few strokes of dumb luck.
Some grasp it and become rich overnight, others miss it and continue with mediocrity.
Approaching noon, Lu Liang had his new account set up.
Each trade's service fee was reduced to 0.012%, and the account was now open to international trading channels, including stocks in Hong Kong and the US, foreign exchange, and precious metals.
This account also had an annual conversion limit of 1 million US dollars; there was no need to go to the bank, as conversions could be done autonomously within the account.
But for a larger US dollar conversion limit, one would need to apply at the bank.
After all, the domestic management of foreign exchange is quite strict; ordinary people have a yearly limit of only 50,000 US dollars.
Lastly, there was Lu Liang's most concerned financial service: by freezing 2 million, he could get a credit line of 10 million.
However, this money could only be used for investment in the market and could not be cashed out; it was essentially an 8 million loan limit extended to him.
The daily interest rate was 0.014%, the monthly rate 1.2%, and the annual rate 14.4%, just 1% shy of the legal usury threshold.
Strictly speaking, the overall annual interest should be over 14.4%, considering the 2 million in frozen funds.
It's undeniable that brokerages and banks always find loopholes in the law to maximize their benefits.
"Lu, if everything looks good, go ahead and sign, and you can start using this account next Monday."
Lu Liang saw through this but did not object; one was willing to fight, the other to suffer, nothing more to say.
After that, Zhao Haisheng took Lu Liang to the nearby Bank of China to apply for an international bank card.
RMB can be withdrawn at any domestic bank, but it's best to hold a separate card for US dollar funds.
Only US dollars in an international card are truly yours; if kept in a domestic card, they're simply a figure.
Each use would result in changes based on the daily exchange rate since there's the addition of a domestic bank intermediary.
But the Bank of China is different; it has an independent international division. To gain international recognition in their expansion abroad, they've been given considerable authority.
Zhao Haisheng made an analogy; if in any domestic branch bank, leaders could easily access your financial details, with Bank of China's international card, unless there's an official document, the usual leaders don't have the authority to do so.
After all, facing international clients required discussing human rights and privacy, otherwise they were always at risk of being fiercely criticized by the foreign media.
Busy until two o'clock in the afternoon, Wu Tianzheng called to inform that the Mahua Team had arrived in Modu and were in the Heaven and Water Room at the Linjiang Pavilion.
Lu Liang's account and international card had also been nearly finalized, and he said to Zhao Haisheng, "I apologize, but I have something to do later so I won't be able to take you out for a meal. Next time, definitely next time."
"Lu, you're helping me achieve my performance goals, how could I let you treat? Next time, next time I'll take you out instead."
Zhao Haisheng burst into a smile; Lu Liang was registered under his name, the more frequent the transactions and the higher the handling fees, the more bonuses he earned.
"Alright, next time you're treating then, I have to go now as I still have some things to take care of."
Lu Liang also didn't stand on ceremony any longer and drove away.
After all, he was also a seasoned intermediary and understood that it was a matter of mutual needs, with no place for gratitude.
Moreover, if they really started to compete, Zhao Haisheng indeed owed Lu a meal and a full-service wash.
Because Lu Liang was the party with the capital—the 'A' party daddy, while Zhao Haisheng was just one of the many 'B' party service providers.
After three o'clock in the afternoon, Lu Liang arrived at Linjiang Pavilion, situated in the lower central part of Modu, near Expo Garden.
He gave his name and followed the restaurant waiter to the Heaven and Water Room on the second floor, where six people were present in the private room.
"Mr. Lu, you've arrived."
"Let me introduce you, this is Mr. Zhang Chen from Happy Mahua, and this is the director Yan Fei... and this is the famous comedian Mr. Shen Teng, as well as Ms. Mary."
Seeing Lu Liang enter, Wu Tianzheng's face beamed with smiles as he introduced each person, who were mainly the creative minds behind Happy Mahua.
"Mr. Shen, hello, I saw your sketch last year, and it was really well done," Lu Liang said with a smile, shaking hands with everyone, though among this group, he only recognized Shen Teng.
He suddenly understood why Wu Tianzheng and many investors in the market didn't have high hopes for this movie.
Since Benshan had stepped down from the stage, the New Year's Gala had become increasingly uninspiring each year, its influence dwindling by the year.
Without the bitter cold of the north prohibiting outings on New Year's Eve, perhaps even the last fig leaf would be torn away.
From such a New Year's Gala arose comedians who, 99% of the time, couldn't carry a movie's box office on their own.
Although there was a 1% chance of becoming a dark horse, investors weren't gamblers, which was evident from the structure of the movie's funding.
The currently prepared 15 million US Dollar budget included 10 million from the Mahua Theater and the remaining 5 million from individual investors, with Shen Teng, Mary, and director Yan Fei all prominently among them.
When a movie's actor and director start chipping in funds, it says that investors really aren't interested.
The rustling of flipping paper pages filled the private room as Lu Liang reviewed the more detailed script and project proposal.
Aside from Wu Tianzheng, everyone looked eagerly at him, awaiting the final verdict.
They were genuinely out of money, otherwise they wouldn't have come all the way from Yanjing to Modu to dine with Lu Liang.
A dozen minutes later, Lu Liang closed the file with a calm demeanor, and everyone's hearts instantly sank to rock bottom.
These days, they'd seen too many expressions like his and could guess what Lu Liang would say next.
"We're missing five million, right? I'm in," Lu Liang said with a slight smile at the corner of his mouth. "I think the story is good; if filmed well, it could blow up big."
Shen Teng, Mary, and the others were all momentarily stunned, with Shen Teng the most emotionally charged, "Mr. Lu, are you... are you going to invest in our movie?"
"What? Do you guys choose your investors now?" Lu Liang teased with a smile.
"No... no, not at all, you misunderstand me, I'm just too excited."
Shen Teng was incoherent. He was a main creator for Mahua, an investor, and the male lead.
This movie was incredibly important to him, it could even be described as a pivotal moment in his career.
But since its inception, the film had faced nothing but obstacles, rejected time and again by investors, causing the entire team to doubt themselves—was their script really that bad?