"Young Master Lu, Liaoguo Securities has started moving!"
Within 10 minutes, Liaoguo Securities indeed began their actions, just as in the previous world.
"How did you predict that?"
Was it flawless foresight?
Li Li found it hard to believe. Lu Yiming's ability to anticipate every move was astonishing.
Every step the opponent took was within Lu Yiming's calculations.
"Guess? Same as I said before—there isn't much time left for the Gao brothers."
Liaoguo Securities went all in to buy long, but the price began to steadily fall.
"Fall?!"
Yes, it was indeed falling.
Liaoguo Securities had bought 20,000 contracts at once.
However, instead of causing a stir, the price dropped.
"This is impossible."
Li Li leaned in closer to the monitor.
20,000 contracts—almost 30 million in funds buying long, and yet instead of stabilizing the situation, it caused a price drop?
Before, the price had been rising steadily.
"Check if there are any large short orders being sold."
"No need to check."
"Young Master Lu?"
"If I were Wanguo Securities, I would have used accounts under my name to take action as well. Large sums of money can only push the price down, but they will also leave the market time to react. Manager Guan isn't an idiot, he wouldn't do something like that."
"Assistant Li, what Young Master Lu said is correct. There are indeed many sell orders, but they are all scattered. It gives the impression of retail investor behavior."
"They want to stimulate retail investors to start selling?"
Li Li quickly understood. This method must have been carefully prepared.
No wonder Lu Yiming had been so confident earlier, claiming that Wanguo Securities still had a backup plan. Looks like her background check wasn't thorough enough.
"It's a do-or-die situation. Even if they survive this, there will be no future for Manager Guan."
"Young Master Lu, what do you mean by that?"
"Have you done your background check? Does Wanguo still have this much money on their books?"
"No."
Li Li was very clear. Wanguo Securities had become a hollow shell. The funds they held couldn't support such large-scale short actions.
Unless...
"Hiss..."
"Have you figured it out?"
"He's gone mad."
The consequences of such actions were more than Wanguo could bear.
"Cornered, this battle will probably have no winners."
"Young Master Lu, should we report the situation to Mr. Lu and let him decide?"
The situation had surpassed expectations. Entering the market now, the outcome was uncertain. The crazed Manager Guan had already sealed his fate, and today's events were destined to go down in history.
"Watch as retail investors lose everything?"
The struggle between Wanguo and Zhongjingkai was taking a toll on retail investors.
For them, this could be a lifetime's worth of savings.
"It's their own greed."
"So they deserve to lose everything?"
"This..."
Li Li couldn't believe that Lu Yiming would say something like this. Since when did Lu Yiming stop caring about these things?
But Li Li knew, deep down, that Lu Yiming had convinced her.
Yes, millions of families, was it wrong for them to invest their savings?
Why should they be dragged into the fight between Wanguo and Zhongjingkai?
"Young Master Lu, what's the next step?"
"Take the market, buy up whatever we can."
"Understood."
"Assistant Li?"
"Didn't you hear Young Master Lu? Buy."
"But we were instructed to cooperate with Wanguo and short the market."
This was something Mr. Lu had decided at the beginning, but now, buying long was like using the company's cash to prop up the market.
What good would this do for the company?
"Follow Young Master Lu's orders."
If it was just Lu Yiming, perhaps he couldn't control all of Lu's elite staff, but with Li Li backing him, everything changed.
Dozens of people sprang into action.
A large amount of cash flowed in, and the suppressed price quickly shot up.
"149.9 yuan."
"150 yuan."
At the same time, at Zhongjingkai...
"Someone's taking action, but it's not retail investors."
The high-ranking officials of Zhongjingkai had gathered as well.
This small-scale trust company had always been known for its strong "government background."
It started by managing the Ministry of Finance's agricultural revolving funds, and later, the entire Ministry of Finance's revolving funds and the Agricultural Comprehensive Office's funds.
Zhongjingkai was the leader of the bullish side.
Its aggressive and ruthless style was well-known in the industry.
However, unlike Wanguo, Zhongjingkai wasn't flush with cash. It had to rely on continuously releasing good news to stabilize the market.
Retail investors were the main force behind Zhongjingkai's actions.
To prepare for today's showdown, Zhongjingkai had applied for a large amount of emergency funds.
But they hadn't expected that, before they could take action, someone else had already moved to stabilize the market.
"Check who it is."
Even if they were allies, with so much money entering the market, Zhongjingkai had to know who was behind it.
"It's the second exchange."
"The second exchange?"
"Yes, all the accounts are from the second exchange, and they were set up in a short period of time."
"Who's behind it?"
"Lu's Group."
"It's him?!"
At this moment, the high-ranking officials at Zhongjingkai were also shocked.
How could this be?
Didn't they receive word that Wanguo and Lu's had formed a comprehensive partnership?
The large amount of funds they applied for was precisely to guard against Lu's interference.
But now, everything was unfolding in the opposite direction.
"Should we take action?"
"Hmph, strike when they're weak."
Early this morning, a major piece of good news had been released.
The national debt would be redeemed at 148.50 yuan.
This news triggered a rise in prices.
Just as Wanguo pushed the price to 148 yuan, they hadn't expected that Lu's intervention would cause the price to soar again.
At this point, Zhongjingkai, in a "kick them when they're down" mentality, also injected large amounts of capital into the market.
"Young Master Lu, the price is now at 150.5."
"151 yuan."
The price had risen by two full yuan, and it was still climbing.
If the market closed at this price,
Lu's Group would undoubtedly make a significant profit.
At this moment, Li Li couldn't help but look at Lu Yiming with new respect.
He remained calm in the face of enormous success.
Young Master Lu, you're becoming more and more unpredictable to me.
"Smash..."
Manager Guan threw his favorite blue-and-white porcelain teacup to the floor.
"Damn Lu family, flipping their stance!"
Originally, with Lu family pulling out and his own desperate move, even with Zhongjingkai's backup, he thought the market chaos would be inevitable.
Once retail investors panicked, they would immediately sell off their positions, causing the price to fall further.
But now, with both Liaoguo and Lu's betrayal, Manager Guan had been struck twice in the back.
The final outcome was inevitable.
They lost. They lost completely.
"Get out."
"Manager Guan..."
"Get out."
One by one, the high-ranking officials left the office.
Manager Guan sat there, stunned.
The empire was falling.
No, no, I can't accept this. There must be a chance. There must be a way out!