Chapter 4: Broken Board “Hey, Mom, I’ve already had lunch.” “Wenjing? She’s been busy with work lately. I’ll try to find a time to chat with her.” “No, I won’t be coming home for Labor Day. Just let Dad know, and you both take care…” Returning from his afternoon walk, Lu Liang received a call from his mother asking why Lin Wenjing wasn’t picking up her phone. After managing to brush her off, his phone soon rang again—this time, it was his father. “Did you two have a fight?” his father, Lu Jiancheng, asked, his voice tired and weathered. “We divorced last month.” After a brief hesitation, Lu Liang decided to tell the truth. Zhao could only envy Lu Liang’s fortune. The smaller float and the 300,000 RMB threshold in ChiNext stocks created a unique situation. With larger, blue-chip stocks, like those with tickers starting with ‘60,’ you’d be lucky to get five slots on 5,000 entries. The main board lacked an entry threshold, so many more people participated, reducing the win rate to just 0.05%. “Haisheng, I still think this stock has more potential.” After a few beers, Lu Liang expressed his intent—he wanted to open a margin trading account. Zhao was surprised. “Brother Liang, are you really that confident in Baofeng Technology?” “It’s not so much confidence, just feeling like luck’s with me right now. It’s no big deal if I gain a bit or lose a bit,” Lu Liang replied, smiling. “Only someone making money would say that.” Zhao laughed, then asked, “How much do you have?” He didn’t discourage Lu Liang. After all, this was his livelihood, and they were just customer and agent. Back when it was about real estate, Lu Liang was the agent and Zhao the client. Now, their roles were reversed. “Not much—just 250,000 RMB. Can you double it?” After thinking for a moment, Zhao replied, “I can give you a 2:1 margin, so that’s 500,000. The brokerage account will be under our firm’s name.” Lu Liang had considered going through an outside lender, but decided against it. Not only was it illegal, but also insecure. Zhao worked for Guotai Securities, a legitimate institution. Though their leverage was lower, it was safe and reliable. On Monday morning, Lu Liang arrived at Guotai’s office. By nine o’clock, he completed the margin financing, giving him 750,000 RMB in available funds. The securities office was packed, as it had been eight years since the A-shares market had stably reached the 4,000-point threshold. Everyone believed the bull market was here to stay. They speculated it would go beyond 5,000, 6,000, maybe even 7,000 points. Lu Liang shared the same belief. He found a spot to sit and quietly waited for the pre-market session at 9:15. As expected, despite the weekend’s warnings from the CSRC and the company’s own risk reminders, Baofeng Technology was under heavy selling pressure, hitting the lower limit within three minutes of pre-market trading. In that initial frenzy, the price fluctuated by over three percent each minute, with various institutions taking turns stepping in. Had it been a month and a half ago, Lu Liang’s emotions would have risen and fallen with the fluctuations, his understanding of market rules less mature. But now he knew that the first eight minutes of pre-market trading were just noise, offering no real insight. The actual opening price would be determined between 9:24 and 9:25. Since pre-market trading closed at 9:25, every transaction during those last two minutes held weight. Institutions treaded cautiously, uncertain if retail investors would maintain their enthusiasm from the prior week. After a tense pre-market session, the stock opened at last Friday’s closing price. 113.26 RMB—the last closing price and today’s opening price. Lu Liang went all in. He added 6,600 shares, bringing his position to 99.5%, with only about 3,000 RMB left in his account. In the face of transactions numbering in the tens of thousands, his 6,600 shares were like a drop in the ocean. But as if the market were watching him, the price dropped by 5% right after his order went through. Zhao Haisheng received a risk alert from the margin account and rushed over. “Brother Liang, did you go all in?” “I was worried the price would hit the upper limit later, so I wanted to secure my position as soon as the market opened.” Seeing Lu Liang’s calm demeanor, Zhao couldn’t help but warn him, “Brother Liang, if Baofeng Technology hits the lower limit today, it’ll likely drop again at tomorrow’s open.”