Chapter 34: Account Income Breaks Five Million for the First Time
Xu Jingren was also taken aback when he looked at Fang Hong. This guy had come up with several ideas in just a few words, and after thinking about them, they all seemed feasible.
But Xu Jingren immediately responded, "If we promote it according to your ideas, it is feasible, but it will cost a lot of money. We're talking about sending chicken legs, sponsoring an art festival, and chartering cars to send students home for the New Year. Roughly, we're looking at tens of thousands of yuan. Currently, we only have a total of 100,000 yuan, and there's about 60,000 to 70,000 yuan left in the account."
Clearly, Xu Jingren's point was straightforward—money was tight.
Fang Hong immediately replied, "You don't need to worry about the money. I've been talking to investors these past few days, and there's potential!"
At this, the other roommates' eyes lit up, and everyone stopped what they were doing to gather around.
Xu Jingren asked excitedly, "You got the investment?"
Everyone turned their attention to Fang Hong, who smiled and said, "Not yet, but we're in talks. Although it's not finalized yet, the investor has shown strong interest. That's why it's even more important that we don't focus on small amounts of money now—it would be a huge loss. I'll talk to the investors as soon as possible. I'm confident about it, and this will also help show investors that we're serious."
Everyone nodded as they listened. Even though the investment hadn't been secured yet, the positive signs were encouraging.
Xu Jingren asked again, "What about the next step?"
Fang Hong, speaking confidently, said, "The second step is to replicate the promotion strategy that Xincheng University used in other universities across the country. We should be looking to attract investment by then."
Everyone nodded.
Fang Hong continued, "When we expand to over 2,000 universities nationwide, Quandong Weibo's user registrations should reach around 20 million by then. That's when capital from all industries will pour in. At that point, we'll go for refinancing. Once the new funds are in place, we'll move to the third phase of our promotion strategy."
"The third step is to target netizens across the country. We can follow the idea of Sina Blog, inviting celebrities or famous personalities to settle in and authenticate their identities. After authentication, they'll get a 'V' next to their usernames to show their verified status. The celebrity effect will drive fan registrations and spark early user growth."
"However, we also need to add our own creative touch. For example, we can have different levels for the 'V' badges—if a user has over 100,000 fans, they'll get a gold 'V'; over 1 million fans will get a platinum 'V'; over 10 million fans will get a diamond 'V'; and if a user exceeds 100 million fans, they'll get a red 'V'. Red has a strong symbolic meaning in our country."
The roommates' eyes lit up upon hearing this.
"That's a brilliant idea!" Xu Jingren exclaimed, clapping his hands in approval. "I suggest we extend this 'big V' rating system to regular users as well. The only difference is that it won't be verified, but users could still apply for certification, since many users with fans are essentially celebrities."
Fang Hong nodded in agreement. "Yes, let's finalize the details."
At that moment, Sun Xin spoke up, his face filled with doubt. "I'm wondering… will those stars actually come to join us?"
Fang Hong smiled and calmly said, "Just throw some shiny red bills at their faces, and they'll come. If they don't come, it simply means the money isn't enough. We'll just increase our offer."
Yuan Jie immediately flattered Fang Hong, "As expected of the boss, you're so dominant!"
After a while, Fang Hong looked around at everyone, his tone turning serious. "Remember, don't leak our promotion strategies and ideas. The internet industry is all about timing. Once an idea becomes popular, others will quickly copy it. We have to use this window of opportunity to expand and attract users before they can replicate it."
Everyone nodded in understanding.
Fang Hong spent more than half an hour in the studio, coaching his team members, before leaving.
...
The following day, Thursday, September 18th.
Fang Hong decided to skip class again and was in his residence at Binhu Community, observing the stock market.
That day, the A-share market experienced what was called "Black Thursday," with the market opening lower and plummeting to -2.74%.
Since September began, the market had been in a downward spiral, hitting new lows every day without any signs of recovery.
Investors in the major forums and trading groups were either posting wailing messages or the forums were eerily quiet, with no one speaking up.
Who had the energy to chat in the groups when the market was in such a dire state?
Even the experts had lost their confidence. They had predicted that the market index wouldn't fall below 2,000 points, yet it had now slipped to 1,800 points. The experts were now claiming that the A-shares had no hope left.
After the market opened, the Shanghai Stock Index continued its downward trend, plunging rapidly.
However, the steep market decline in September didn't affect Fang Hong's returns. Despite the market crashing, he continued to operate based on his strategies.
In the early trading hours, he sold a few of his stocks, rushed to arbitrage, and earned a nearly 6% premium.
His account balance had now surpassed the 5 million yuan mark, reaching a total of 5.1346 million yuan.
After disposing of the stocks he held from the previous day, Fang Hong turned his attention to Zhongxin Securities, with stock code 600030. He placed a limit order to buy at the limit price.
Fang Hong knew exactly what would happen today—the mysterious fund he had been tracking would push the stock prices up. He didn't need to spend time scanning the market to analyze sentiment or capital flow. He simply closed his eyes, knowing exactly how the market would shift.
With 5.1346 million yuan invested in Zhongxin Securities, Fang Hong placed a limit order to buy 3,330 shares at 15.42 yuan per share, even though the stock had fallen to 16.09 yuan, a drop of over 6%.
But Fang Hong remained unaffected. He was confident that the stock would hit the lower limit in early trading, then rebound slightly before dropping again just before the afternoon session. The limit order would be executed as soon as the stock hit the lower limit.
Fang Hong's entire position was set at the lower limit price, and the order was waiting for the market to turn.
...