Starting with a fully invested A-share portfolio to become a capital...

Chapter 281 Beleda's Arrogance? A Turning Point in Negative Public Opinion Has Arrived!

As the sun and moon rise and set, the morning mist in Manhattan, New York, has not yet dissipated, but the glass curtain wall of 55 East 52nd Street has already caught the first rays of sunlight.

Designed by the renowned architectural firm SOM, 55 Tower was completed in 1981. It has 44 floors above ground and a total height of 175 meters. The building features a unique 15-sided exterior design, with a blue-green reflective glass curtain wall that contrasts sharply with the surrounding urban landscape.

Building 55 also has another name: BlackRock Tower.

Founded in 1988, BlackRock initially focused on fixed income and risk management, and developed Aladdin, the world's first enterprise-level risk analysis system, to provide quantitative investment solutions for institutional clients.

After merging with Merrill Lynch Asset Management in 2006, its assets under management exceeded US$1 trillion.

During the 2008 subprime mortgage crisis, BlackRock was commissioned by the Federal Reserve to liquidate the "toxic assets" of institutions such as Bear Stearns and AIG, and to monitor Fannie Mae's $5 trillion balance sheet. It was a core executor of the US bailout plan.

In June 2009, BlackRock acquired Barclays Global Investors, a subsidiary of Barclays Bank, for $135 billion, gaining access to iShares, the world's largest ETF platform. After the transaction, BlackRock's assets under management jumped to $2.7 trillion, making it the world's largest asset management company.

In just 21 years, BlackRock has become a company with trillions of dollars in assets. Why has it been able to grow so fast?
The reason is simple: the company behind BlackRock is a Jewish family that controls the dollar economy.

At this moment, Shen Yufan, dressed in a long light gray trench coat and wearing a British gentleman's hat, arrived in front of Building 55. He glanced at the "BlackRock" metal nameplate above, then quickly looked away and walked through the glass revolving door with ease.

Upon entering the building, you are greeted by a spacious lobby with a ten-meter-high ceiling, and a rest area on one side.

The most eye-catching feature is the electronic display screen hanging above the lobby, which displays not only the Dow Jones, Nasdaq, and S&P indices, but also data on gold, oil, and the US dollar index. However, since it is the weekend, the data is not currently changing.

Because he had an ID card, Shen Yufan did not go to the front desk, but went directly to the elevator lobby on the side, took the elevator to the top floor, and went straight to CEO Larry Fink's office.

The two blonde, blue-eyed receptionists ignored Shen Yufan; the building's elevators were equipped with sensors, and those without authorization could not ride them.

After several minutes of searching, Shen Yufan arrived at the door of Larry Fink's office.

"咚咚-"

He knocked on the open doorframe.

Since he had made an appointment by phone in advance, Larry Fink was not surprised by Shen Yufan's arrival. Instead, he greeted him with a smile and said, "Shen, welcome back to the United States. You've lost weight in the past six months."

Shen Yufan's wife is Jewish and comes from the Kissinger family. According to the logic of Jewish society, Shen Yufan is "one of us".

“The food in eastern Guangdong, China is generally quite light, and with my exercise, I’ve probably lost a little weight. But, President Fink, you seem to have lost weight too,” Shen Yufan replied with a smile.

"haha, really?"

"It's true."

The two exchanged a few polite words before moving to the sofa in the negotiation area.

As soon as he sat down, Larry Fink got straight to the point: "You said on the phone yesterday that you already knew the identity of that Mr. J. What kind of funds does he belong to? Is it Huijin or Zhengjin from China?"

"No."

Shen Yufan shook his head.

Seeing that the other party was getting straight to the point, he didn't beat around the bush either, and directly revealed his identity: "This Mr. J is Zhang Yang, the one who is currently causing a great stir on the Chinese Internet."

"Zhang Yang?"

"hiss--"

"I think I've heard this name before."

Larry Fink flashed a look of confusion.

"The second Buffett charity lunch this year, that tall, thin young man, is also the owner of Caiyan.com," Shen Yufan then reminded him.

“I remember now.” A blurry young face flashed through Larry Fink’s mind, and he suddenly realized, “Buffett invited him to the investment dinner. I never imagined that he was Mr. J.”

"!!!"

Shen Yufan was suddenly startled.

Did Buffett invite Zhang Yang to a dinner party?
What is their relationship?
Don't even mention the feeling of wishing we'd met sooner!
After a brief hesitation, Shen Yufan couldn't help but ask, "Did President Fink speak with him at the banquet that night?"

“No, I only remember someone saying that he talked with Buffett for a while and then left on his own, and it seems he took Taylor Swift with him?” Larry Fink was a little uncertain.

Due to Taylor Swift's recent surge in popularity, she has attracted the attention of Wall Street capital, which wants to rely on her to further expand the influence of Jewish capital.

Before Shen Yufan could speak, Larry Fink couldn't help but sigh, "I didn't expect Zhang Yang to be Mr. J. But that's good, it eliminates the possibility of the Chinese government getting involved."

"Oh, right."

He suddenly thought of something and looked at Shen Yufan, saying, "Shen, based on my understanding of you, revealing Zhang Yang's identity shouldn't be enough to make you go back to America."

"Yes, there's one more thing."

Shen Yufan nodded.

Larry Fink: "What is it?"

"Strive to make it public."

As soon as Shen Yufan finished speaking, Larry Fink became interested and asked, "Oh? How do you try to win him over?"

"China is about to auction a 'securities sales license.' As far as I know, the leading internet finance companies are actively raising funds. Tonghuashun has even approached SoftBank Group to seek cooperation with international capital."

Shen Yufan paused for a moment, then said, "I suspect that Zhang Yang's recent aggressive behavior is because he wants to raise funds through stock trading to bid for this 'securities sales license'."

"So, you want us to step in and help him get a 'securities sales license'?" Larry Fink asked again.

“That’s right.” Shen Yufan nodded slightly and explained, “Stock trading returns are uncertain, while the returns from securities platforms are very stable. In addition, I found that Zhang Yang has not been in contact with venture capital. Perhaps we can extend an olive branch first, and he will most likely not refuse.”

"Um……"

Larry Fink thought about it carefully.

About 10 seconds later, he shook his head and said, "Although Zhang Yang has some trading talent, it's not enough for us to take too much risk. Let's continue to accumulate shares discreetly and wait for the A-share index futures to be listed on the exchange."

However, Shen Yufan disagreed, retorting, "If we could get the cooperation of a securities company, we would achieve twice the result with half the effort."

"..."

Larry Fink remained silent; he was still undecided.

After hesitating for a moment, he suddenly stood up and said, "Winning over Zhang Yang might be feasible, but we need to get the consent of those families."

Shen Yufan quickly stood up and said confidently, "As long as they agree, I believe Zhang Yang won't be able to refuse the green card."

In his view, no wealthy person can refuse a U.S. green card, especially a young tycoon like Zhang Yang who became famous at a young age.

It's important to understand that the United States has always prioritized money above all else.

If you have money, you can legitimately unlock special privileges, such as donating money to the local police station so that drunk driving and speeding won't be a problem, provided that no car accident occurs.

"I hope so."

Larry Fink was also very curious about how Zhang Yang, at such a young age, could outperform professional analysts from financial institutions such as Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and HSBC.

Was this really his doing?

Or is it someone else?
Larry Fink was extremely curious.

……

November 23, Monday, China.

At 9:15 a.m., the two major A-share indices fluctuated again.

The banking sector, which is considered a "stabilizing force," seems to have entered a downward trend. Among them, ICBC, after touching 5.62 yuan on November 18, has experienced two consecutive days of decline, falling back to 5.48 yuan on November 20. The candlestick patterns of the three days all have upper and lower shadows, indicating that the battle between bulls and bears has intensified, with the bears temporarily in the lead.

Not only the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, but also the China Banking Corporation, China Construction Bank and Agricultural Bank of China followed the same pattern, all closing with a doji candlestick.

At this point, the banking sector turned green again, and the securities sector, which was supposed to be the "bull market leader," remained stagnant, causing retail investors to gradually become anxious.

Meanwhile, some retail investors began frequently opening the Joker trading channel, but Zhang Yang unusually did not post any strategy posts. This unusual behavior further confirmed the rumors circulating online.

[That Winter]: What's going on? Yesterday, over the weekend, Joker didn't post his Monday stock market predictions. Now that the A-shares market has opened and the banks are performing poorly, he still hasn't posted. Could he have really been cyberbullied to the point of quitting the internet?
[Health is capital]: He's just feeling guilty. If he dares to post again, thousands of retail investors will curse his mother out.

[Air Conditioner for Life]: I still can't accept that Joker is Fuchun Road. It's ridiculous. They're like two completely different personalities. But to be fair, can Joker please keep updating his posts? I'm so confused!
[Old Monk Loves Sister]: I study psychology, and I strongly suspect that Zhang Yang suffers from schizophrenia and multiple personality disorder. Perhaps he himself does not even know that he is the evil Zhuang Fuchun Road.

[Tadpole Nest]: 666, you can still defend Zhang Yang like this? Why don't you say that Zhang Yang is exploiting us retail investors to fund children in impoverished mountainous areas?

The A-share market's early morning decline, coupled with its unusually aggressive trading style, once again intensified online public opinion. At this point, most retail investors had already accepted that the "joker god" they respected was the notorious stock manipulator Fuchun Road.

However, what retail investors don't know is that this was actually Zhang Yang's deliberate act.

The bigger the storm, the more expensive the fish!

He's going to create a storm right now!
As Zhang Yang deliberately intensified the spread of public opinion, the hashtag "Joker hasn't updated" trended on Weibo's hot search list.

For a while.

The financial professionals were completely dumbfounded.

When Shen Jun, the CEO of Eastmoney.com, saw the trending topic, he couldn't help but wonder, "What exactly is Zhang Yang up to? He not only doesn't come out to refute the rumors, but he keeps stabbing himself in the back."

First, Xu Zhirou's emails were exposed, and then Zhang Yang didn't update his thought posts. These unusual actions left Shen Jun completely baffled.

According to his idea, Caiyan.com should immediately refute the rumors for its own boss, and then spend money to lower the topic's popularity on Weibo and Baidu. As for Zhang Yang, he should continue posting but not respond directly, and the public opinion will naturally subside after a while.

In order to break the tactic, Shen Jun spent a lot of money, just waiting for Caiyan.com to do emergency public relations.

But the result?

It's not that Zhang Yang isn't responding, it's that Caiyan.com hasn't responded either!

Emergency public relations?
It's all just fluff, it doesn't exist!!

Looking at the trending topic, Shen Jun squinted and guessed, "Could it be because Caiyan.com is such a shoddy operation that they don't even know how to handle emergency public relations?"

"Um……"

"That might really be true!"

Aside from the explanation of it being a makeshift operation, Shen Jun couldn't think of any other possibility.

The leak of emails from executives of Caiyan.com clearly shows that Xu Zhirou wanted to control the spread of public opinion. However, she did not expect that the email content could be leaked. Coupled with various confusing behaviors, this made Shen Jun think that it was a makeshift operation.

Meanwhile, Yi Zheng at the headquarters of Tonghuashun saw through the mystery at a glance, saying, "As expected, a small company that has been established for only half a year is just a makeshift operation. It hasn't even stabilized its team yet, but it has expanded in a disorderly manner. Now Zhang Yang is getting his comeuppance."

Not only Shen Jun and Yi Zheng, but almost all the CEOs who were concerned about this matter, including Ma Yun and Li Yanhong, felt that Caiyan.com's public relations capabilities were extremely poor. They actually wanted to cool down this extreme public opinion. How is this any different from the Lotus MSG incident?
However, while retail investors were arguing and CEOs of various companies were lamenting that Caiyan.com was a makeshift operation, Zhang Yang had already boarded a flight to Beijing. As for Lin Guangchang, Liao Guopei, Chen Xiaoqun, and others, they stayed behind at their base, using swing trading to reduce their own holding costs.

There's a saying that goes, "If you can't time the market, making a profit in the stock market is as difficult as climbing to heaven."

……

Around noon, Zhang Yang arrived in Yanjing. Instead of having a meal first, he went straight to the cadre ward of Peking Union Medical College Hospital.

When I saw Bao Xingwei again, he looked much older.

Inside the ward, there were two men and a woman, all in their forties or fifties, possibly Bao Xingwei's children, though Zhang Yang wasn't sure. Strangely, Bao Xingwei's assistant secretary, Cheng Hongfa, was nowhere to be seen. "Mr. Bao."

Zhang Yang knocked on the door.

All of a sudden.

Everyone turned their heads and looked at Zhang Yang at the door.

"Zhang Yang is here. You can all leave. I need to talk to him alone." Bao Xingwei, leaning against the headboard, waved his hand, signaling everyone else in the ward to leave.

"Dad, we're right outside. Call us anytime if anything happens."

The tall man at the head of the group spoke in a deep voice. His face was dark, and his voice was strong. Zhang Yang could roughly tell that the other party was probably from the military.

"Dad, please get some rest."

"Don't get tired."

The other two then offered their advice.

"Okay, go ahead and go." Bao Xingwei waved his hand again.

This time, the three of them left the VIP ward without hesitation.

As soon as Zhang Yang entered the ward, Bao Xingwei reminded him, "Close the door."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Yang turned around and closed the door.

"Click——"

After closing the ward door, he quickly went to Bao Xingwei's bedside and asked with concern, "How are you, Mr. Bao? Are you alright?"

"It's nothing, just weakness, an old ailment," Bao Xingwei shook his head.

Anyone who has cared for the elderly knows that winter is the worst season for older people, because the cold not only depletes the body's energy but also easily triggers a series of cardiovascular problems.

To put it bluntly, a gust of cold wind could kill someone; it's that exaggerated.

Therefore, there is an ancient saying about "calamity," and if one survives the winter, one can extend their life by another year.

"I came in a hurry this time and didn't bring you any nutritional supplements to help you recover. You're feeling weak, I'll ask the doctor how to do it later."

As soon as Zhang Yang finished speaking, Bao Xingwei smiled and said, "It's futile to try to nourish someone who is weak."

"Then take it slow and make sure to get proper nutrition. Also, Mr. Bao, you need to be careful to keep warm in winter," Zhang Yang said with concern.

“I know that.” Bao Xingwei nodded, then said, “I asked you to come here this time to ask you what kind of compensation you want.”

"Compensation?" Zhang Yang's eyes flashed with confusion as he asked, "I don't understand, why should I get compensation?"

Bao Xingwei closed his eyes, perhaps not daring to look Zhang Yang in the eye, and whispered, "Now that you are being attacked by online public opinion, it has something to do with Cheng Hongfa. Since he is my assistant secretary, I have to take responsibility for him."

"Mr. Bao, are you saying that those transaction slips were made by Cheng Hongfa?"

Zhang Yang asked again.

Bao Xingwei: "Part of it is."

"What about the others?"

Zhang Yang continued to ask questions.

With his eyes closed, Bao Xingwei replied from his hospital bed, "He has been transferred, and he and I will have no relationship in the future."

“Okay, I understand,” Zhang Yang replied, but made no demands.

one second.

Five seconds.

ten seconds.

The ward fell silent.

Seeing that Zhang Yang was hesitant to mention compensation, Bao Xingwei opened his eyes and looked at Zhang Yang beside him, saying, "Why don't you say what kind of compensation you want?"

"There's nothing more to say. The convenience that Mr. Bao has provided me is already the best compensation," Zhang Yang replied neither humbly nor arrogantly.

From the operating license of Caiyan.com to the platform of the Economic Forum, Bao Xingwei has repeatedly stepped forward to provide convenience for Zhang Yang.

If you take this opportunity to make demands, it will only make you appear arrogant and greedy.

Of course.

Zhang Yang didn't know what to bring up.

"Don't be so polite with me." Bao Xingwei glanced at Zhang Yang and said, "You want a 'securities sales license', right? Don't waste your money bidding. You might not be able to compete with big capital. Let's see if I can help you apply for it next spring."

Zhang Yang: "No need."

"???"

A look of surprise flashed across Bao Xingwei's face.

If he remembered correctly, Zhang Yang had mentioned in the last phone call that the reason for investing in Shancheng Beer and shorting Huaguo Unicom was to raise money to bid for a "securities sales license." Now that the opportunity was right in front of him, why was he not taking it?

He was puzzled.

He was extremely confused.

"why?"

When those three words were spoken, Zhang Yang straightened his back and said, "I don't know how many favors you need to owe to get through the approval process for the second 'securities sales license,' but in terms of the amount of funds I currently have, I may not lose to those peers who are backed by large capital."

"How much money do you have now?"

Bao Xingwei inquired.

"It might be around 50 billion. If that's not enough, I'll find a way. I'm determined to get this license," Zhang Yang calmly replied.

When the words "victory is certain" were uttered, Bao Xingwei swallowed hard. He had thought Zhang Yang would readily accept his proposal, but the young man had chosen "hand-to-hand combat" instead.

Confidence or arrogance?

Bao Xingwei's sense of confidence.

Because he had seen Zhang Yang's transaction records and inquired from various sources about the young man's initial capital, which was not 20 yuan, but 800 yuan. In March, the securities funds of this individual, "Zhang Yang," amounted to only 800 yuan.

Turning 800 yuan into 50 billion yuan in less than 9 months—this speed of making money would even frighten Warren Buffett.

However, just as Zhang Yang said, if Bao Xingwei were to get the "securities sales license," he would definitely have to do favors and might even have to risk his reputation, which Zhang Yang was unwilling to see, since Bao Xingwei was his benefactor who had helped him so many times.

Of course.

And there's the most crucial factor.

The "securities sales license" auctioned in December was created because Xueyu Securities was poorly managed, and with the rapid development of the internet, the authorities wanted to test the potential of online brokerages. Others couldn't find any fault with it. But if Bao Xingwei had handled it himself, it would have been a different story…

Seeing that Zhang Yang was determined, Bao Xingwei sighed and asked again, "Since you are confident that you can win, then I won't say anything more. Also, how do you plan to deal with the public opinion on the internet?"

"That's a secret for now. I can only say it might be soon," Zhang Yang replied with a faint smile.

Bao Xingwei: "Soon?"

Zhang Yang: "Yeah, almost there."

Bao Xingwei looked at Zhang Yang with a higher opinion and gave him a wry smile, saying, "Sometimes, I really don't know if you're 21 or 201 years old. I really can't figure out what you're thinking. You always surprise me."

From the perspective of Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, he felt he couldn't figure out Zhang Yang.

He initially thought it was just a misperception, but after getting to know Zhang Yang, he found that Zhang Yang exceeded his expectations time and time again. Sometimes, Bao Xingwei even wondered if Zhang Yang and Buffett had lived in the same era, would Buffett still be the "Oracle of Omaha"?

……

The next day, February 11th.

Perhaps Zhang Yang didn't expect that his "soon" would come so quickly.

On the 24th, the Shanghai Composite Index touched 3361.39 points in the morning session before starting a sharp decline, falling all the way to 3214.03, and finally closing at 3223.53 points, a drop of 3.45%.

Why did it drop so sharply?
Foreign capital is behind this!

After the market closed, Haitong Securities analyst Lin Qiang pointed out that today's A-share decline was affected by B-shares. The specific reason is that overseas funds created a liquidity crisis by selling off B-shares in a concentrated manner. Taking advantage of the fact that the B-share market accounts for only 3% of the total market value of A-shares, they used large sell orders to cause the price to collapse.

However, in Zhang Yang's view, the influence of foreign capital is a secondary reason; the main reason is that the expectation of price increases has been shattered.

The previous rise in B shares was mainly due to international capital betting on the appreciation of the Chinese yuan.

However, in mid-November, the management repeatedly emphasized "keeping the RMB exchange rate stable," and on November 24, it clearly stated that it would "keep the RMB exchange rate stable as much as possible," directly breaking the expectation of unilateral appreciation.

A private equity fund manager in Shanghai pointed out that the end of the currency gamble led to a rapid withdrawal of foreign funds that had previously poured into B-shares, especially Shenzhen B-shares, which became the focus of the sell-off. This logic also spread to A-shares, with investors worried that the withdrawal of foreign capital would affect market liquidity.

In the following days, on Saturday, November 28th, Zhang Yang's negative public opinion continued to ferment on the Internet, and more than a million retail investors had angrily criticized him.

然而随着A股在11月24号、11月26号和11月27号出现连续大幅下跌，一部分散户已经开始怀念“joker大神”的交易思路贴。

Since November 22nd, when "曜日之阳" posted a message accusing Zhang Yang of being a malicious stock manipulator called "富春路", the Joker account has stopped updating, leaving a large number of retail investors in a state of confusion.

At this moment, dissenting voices have emerged on the "joker speculative trading channel".

[Butt Fell and Bumped]: My stock price dropped by 20% in a week. If this keeps up, I'm really going to jump off a building and go sell salted duck eggs with my grandma. Come back soon, Joker! We can't live without you!

[Going to the Market to Buy More Stocks]: Dear retail investors, speculators, and media, I beg you, please stop criticizing Zhang Yang! I've been trading for three years, short-term trading in both bull and bear markets. I've lost my house, ruined my family, and now that I finally have Zhang Yang as a guiding light, you insist he's a ruthless manipulator from Fuchun Road. Do you think we don't know Zhang Yang? Everyone encounters a stock trader at some point in their lives. Can you guarantee you'll never trade stocks in your life? Huh?

[Investment Research Only Invests in the Rich and Handsome]: Come back, Joker! Come back, Zhang Yang! No matter if you're from Fuchun Road or not, I support you!

Just as public opinion reached a turning point, Zhang Yang, who had returned to Shanghai and was closely monitoring public opinion, realized that his chance to clear his name had come. Without hesitation, he immediately dialed Xu Zhirou's number and said, "Tomorrow at 12 noon, in the conference hall of the Shangri-La Hotel, I will be holding a briefing."

"Finally couldn't hold back any longer?"

Xu Zhirou murmured to herself.

Her firepower during this period was evident to all, as the number of registered users of Caiyan.com directly exceeded 600 million, far surpassing the year-end target of 500 million.

If we can capitalize on this surge in traffic, it's not impossible to overtake competitors.

After all, Takumi can use drainage ditches to navigate around bends, and Caiyan.com can use public opinion to overtake. It all depends on whether they can completely withstand the offensive.

Quickly gathering her thoughts, Xu Zhirou replied, "Okay, I understand. I'll contact the media and try to maximize the impact. It's up to you tomorrow. Don't let us suffer this much criticism for nothing."

"Don't worry, I never fight a battle I'm not sure I can win," Zhang Yang said with a faint smile.

(End of this chapter)