Chapter 10: Fully stocked again The doorbell rang suddenly. “Who’s there?” Zhang Qian pulled on her bathrobe, adjusting the fishnet stockings to cover the tears from their “battle.” “Room service,” Lu Liang chuckled, gently moving her legs aside as he went to open the door. It was the late-night snack he’d ordered. After drinking and then another round of exertion, he was feeling hungry. The server was discreet, keeping his gaze lowered as he wheeled the cart in without glancing around. A steaming pot of seafood congee along with a few delicate side dishes filled the table. “Please enjoy, Mr. Lu.” “There’s a yoga class I’ll be late for if I don’t go now.” She came over, kissed him lightly, and said, “Bye-bye.” “Bye-bye.” Lu Liang didn’t ask her to stay, knowing she’d come back and likely even more eagerly. Ten minutes later, another alarm went off. He switched off the remaining alarms he’d set last night to prevent oversleeping. Today was Friday, the last trading day of the week, and he wanted to buy into Chinese Online as soon as possible. “This week’s trading behavior has been strange,” he thought. Lu Liang slipped into his bathrobe, a cigarette dangling from his lips as he watched the stock trends. Chinese Online’s trading pattern suggested a large player was quietly accumulating shares at low prices, preparing for a surge. Not wanting to miss the opportunity, he started placing small, staggered buy orders the moment the market opened. The opening price was 17.93 yuan, with an increase of 0.89%. A single lot (100 shares) was valued at 1,793 yuan. At first, he cautiously bought just a few lots, afraid that the big players would notice a “mouse stealing oil.” He soon realized that his concern was unwarranted. Chinese Online’s market cap was 12 billion yuan, with a 2.42 billion float. His holding of over 10 million yuan wasn’t insignificant, but at best, it was just a mid-sized player. The big players had set resistance at 18.00 yuan to give the impression of a ceiling, keeping others from pushing the price higher. Meanwhile, he set a buy line at 17.90 yuan; each time the stock failed to break through resistance, he scooped up shares. Having read plenty of books recently, Lu Liang was beginning to understand retail investor psychology: every failed push led some to lose hope, selling off, thinking there was no way the price would break higher. Acting as a ready buyer, he could accumulate shares without inflating the price, effectively scooping up their holdings at a reasonable rate. However, with only 10 million yuan at his disposal, he couldn’t be a true stabilizer in a hundred-billion-yuan market. At 9:45 a.m., thirty minutes after the opening, was one of the day’s most active trading windows. Chinese Online failed to break past 18 yuan for the second time. Losing confidence, many retail investors began selling off, eager to ride the current market’s upward trend instead. Over the past four trading days, the main index had climbed 395 points, reaching 4,700 with a staggering 8.75% gain, adding 750 billion to the main board’s market cap. In contrast, Chinese Online had only risen by 5.52% over the same period, and on two of those days, it had closed lower. The stock had underperformed the main index, frustrating its holders and prompting them to sell off rather than endure further stagnation. “The market is so strong right now; why am I holding onto this garbage stock?” “Even if it can’t match Baofeng Technology’s gains, it should at least keep up with Meiyan Holdings!” “I thought there was hope in you, but I guess not. Goodbye, and good riddance…” A chorus of angry retail investors sold off. Within moments, Lu Liang’s brokerage account was flooded with confirmations as his orders filled. In mere seconds, his millions of yuan were spent, leaving him with 588,800 shares and just 480.4 yuan in cash—a 99.9% position. Once again, Lu Liang was all in. Meanwhile, Zhang Qian, taking a cab home, was also tracking the stock. As a longtime Shanghai Drifter, she’d set up her brokerage account years ago and even opened access to the Hong Kong stock exchange. However, being cautious, she usually invested only in funds. Recently, with the market rallying, she’d made a tidy profit of over 80,000 yuan. “Is this stock really reliable? Why is it in the red while everything else is in the green?” Staring at Chinese Online, Zhang Qian was puzzled. Just moments ago, the 17.9 yuan level lost Discover more novels on NovelHub - your gateway to endless stories. Today’s market rose by another 1.2%, with a thousand stocks surging and only 65 in the red, including Chinese Online.