After the Divorce, I Could Hear the Voice of the Future

"Temporarily halt pre-market trading."

Sun Yutao's anxious voice came through the earpiece. The investors in the Hong Kong stock market seemed even more fragile than he had imagined.

Ten minutes passed, and with only 120 million US Dollars in capital outflow, nearly 10 billion US Dollars began to flee frantically.

If this were Big A, the retail investors would be accustomed to significant swings, and their reactions would definitely be slower.

Even with capital outflows, most people would still hold onto the idea of not shedding tears until they see the Yellow River, not giving up until they hit the limit down.

"Mr. Lu, am I overdoing it?" Sun Yutao asked Lu Liang cautiously, with a pained expression.

The last three minutes for order submission paused, and as the market was about to open, the Hang Seng Index pierced through 24,000 points at the last second.

Now, he could ensure that as long as Tianxing Quantitative's trading frequency was fast enough,

the 15.8 billion US Dollar short position would definitely be covered in a flash, like a special offer flash sale.

But it would bring up a new problem: if no one steps in to save the market, 23,000 points on the Hang Seng Index might not even be the bottom.

It's somewhat like a Qingming tomb-sweeping, intending to burn some paper money to worship ancestors, but unintentionally causing an uncontrollable forest fire.

Sun Yutao was unsure of Lu Liang's subsequent plans and feared that the steep drop would burden the upcoming strategies.

"No worries, the more it drops, the better."

Lu Liang's lips curled into a slight smile, "Change the plan. When the market opens later, we'll execute slow selling quant trades."

Before this, they were concerned that if the short covering was too aggressive, it would cause a market rebound, increasing the cost of later acquiring shares in HSBC.

Given HSBC's high market value, even after Friday's large drop, it's still 789 billion, equivalent to more than 100 billion US Dollars. To reach a 5% disclosure threshold, at least 5 billion US Dollars are needed.

Moreover, as soon as someone realizes their intentions, the stock price will rise, and it will become increasingly difficult to obtain shares.

Thus, they needed to create a massive drop in the market environment and then quietly acquire HSBC's shares from the secondary market.

But now, it seems they were overthinking.

After all, Hong Kong stocks are not like A-shares; Hong Kong stocks are T+0. You can buy today and sell today. If going long doesn't work, you can go short, offering more choices.

120 million triggering nearly 10 billion US Dollars in outflows clearly shows the trend of retail investors following blindly, while institutions and speculative traders remain inactive.

Although it's uncertain whether these shrewd traders will hinder their upcoming plans, from the perspective of short covering, the benefits currently outweigh the disadvantages.

To prolong the bearish market, Lu Liang hoped that when Liang Wenhu cleared his position, he would extend the timeline.

Doing so would not only make the cunning investors believe that selling in time and shorting were the right choices but would also muddy the market waters even further.

On Friday night, at the Li family villa on Tai Ping Mountain, many had already guessed Lu Liang's plan. His target was either HSBC or Standard Chartered.

Though a choice between two, he didn't want others to guess so quickly. The waters needed be muddier.

So no one would see the opportunity for profit and become a stumbling block in the path of acquiring HSBC shares.

At 9:30 AM, the Hong Kong stock market opened.

Sell orders were instantly executed, and the Hang Seng Index dropped from 24,000 points to 23,500 points, plummeting another 500 points.

Compared to last Friday's closing price, after just one second today, the Hang Seng Index had already dropped over 1,300 points.

"A new round of stock market disaster has begun."

The hosts of TVB, ATV, and Phoenix's three financial programs all cried out in unison.

Though shorting is an option, very few can flip to shorting while losing money on long positions.

The majority could only choose to add to their positions or leverage further, hoping for a rebound to eliminate all losses in one go.

However, as the saying goes, 'Rain will fall, and brides will marry.'

The minor ripples before the market opened could not prevent the arrival of Black Monday.

"How tragic for the Hong Kong market; for the first time, Big A feels so warm."

Many mainland investors flooded into the Hong Kong stock board's comments section, delighting in others' misfortunes.

Previously, Hong Kong stocks and Big A were interdependent. Typically, when Hong Kong stocks fell, Big A could hardly evade the same fate, and vice versa.

But ever since Tianxing Quantitative settled in Xiangjiang half a month ago, it's like two parallel lines crossing for the first time.

And as the crossing intensifies, by now, the Hang Seng Index fell sharply at -5.25% on opening, while the Shanghai Stock Exchange Index only opened low at -0.32%, subtly showing a trend of opening low and moving high.

However, the gloating A-share investors were rendered speechless by one sentence from a Hong Kong counterpart: "Ten years ago, the Hang Seng Index was at 10,800 points, even now it's 23,500, but what about the Shanghai Stock Exchange Index?"

"Heartbreaking, buddy. Born of the same root, why devour each other so urgently."

Lies don't hurt, truths cut deep. At least the Hang Seng has its ups and downs; it seems A-shares only have ups and downs and downs and downs…

Meanwhile, at the Zheng Family's Yiyun Villa, the disbanded Big D Society reunited, though the presence of Li Zhikai was missing, and even Liu Cixin participated through a remote video conference.

"Is there really only that much quantitative shorting money? Why hasn't there been any covering yet?"

As they watched the trading volume rapidly climbing towards 400 billion Hong Kong Dollars, the people present looked perplexed.

They had successfully discerned that Lu Liang's aim in shorting the Hong Kong stocks was merely a means to an end, not the end itself.

They had also reunited here to create some trouble for Lu Liang, hoping to achieve peace through confrontation.

But they were unsure whether Lu Liang's target was HSBC or Standard Chartered, so they waited for the quant fund to cover its shorts, waiting for Lu Liang to reveal his hand.

But after an hour, the trading volume in the Hong Kong market reached 380 billion Hong Kong Dollars.

With the frequency of quantitative trading, they should have closed their positions long ago, and Lu Liang should have taken the next steps.

However, whether it was HSBC or Standard Chartered, stock prices were falling with no unusual activity.

This puzzled them greatly. Could they have misjudged Lu Liang's intentions? Was shorting the Hong Kong market just for profit?

Zheng Jiachun looked thoughtful as he stared at the screen, "Liu Cixin, what do you think?"

"It's a fifty-fifty choice, so let's bet on both sides," Liu Cixin said, his background a dazzling starry sky.

He was in Switzerland, with a six-hour time difference with Beijing. It was 10 a.m. in Xiangjiang and 3 a.m. his time.

"Betting on both sides in advance would expose our intentions, wouldn't it offend Lu Liang?" Yang Shoucheng looked worried.

Ever since hearing his younger son Yang Qisheng say that Xingheng Investment planned to acquire an investment bank, entering the Xiangjiang market within half a year.

If one has ideas but lacks funds, or resources from the mainland or internationally, they could contact him for help.

Upon learning this news, Yang Shoucheng already had the intention to step back, not wishing to make an enemy of Lu Liang, advocating peace through harmony.

He had been a messenger for a lifetime and did not want his descendants to become messengers among major powers.

Lu Liang's arrival would inevitably change the Xiangjiang market, more thoroughly than during the handover.

If they could seize the opportunity, supposedly the Zheng, Li, Guo, and Yang families might not be able to replace them.

"We are intervening in the market to save it, standing on the moral high ground," Zheng Jiachun's attitude was unquestionable, setting the tone.

Since Lu Liang's target was not confirmed, they would bet on both sides in advance, ensuring they wouldn't lose first, then fight for more.

He glanced around at everyone, then said, "As usual, let's vote by raising hands."

"I have no objections," Liu Cixin was the first to respond. Anyway, being overseas, most of his assets had already been transferred, and he was not afraid of offending Lu Liang.

Seeing Liu Cixin raise his hand, Zheng Jiachun slowly raised his hand, focusing his gaze on Yang Shoucheng, as if saying when there are no heroes, even rogues can make a name.

If his father Uncle Tong were still alive, Yang Shoucheng wouldn't even have a chance to make a statement, having to act as they dictated.

But now, Yang Shoucheng had become a mainstay of their organization, and if he didn't agree, implementation would be very difficult.

Seeing all eyes on him, Yang Shoucheng said in a deep voice, "Since no one has objections, let's proceed with the project."

"The Zheng family invests 5 billion Hong Kong Dollars."

"The Liu family invests 3 billion Hong Kong Dollars."

"The Yang family invests 1.5 billion Hong Kong Dollars."

"..."

With these responses one after another, they had already raised 38.9 billion Hong Kong Dollars, equivalent to 4.98 billion US Dollars.

"Liu Cixin, the market operations are up to you, can your body take it?" Zheng Jiachun asked.

Liu Cixin smiled, showing the back of his hand, "Don't worry, I'm on meds, and it's just buying stocks, no problem."

"Jiachun, Liu Cixin, I'll go prepare the funds," Yang Shoucheng said with a smile.

"Quickly, try to have all the funds ready before the afternoon market," the two said in unison.

"Alright."

As Yang Shoucheng left, Zheng Jiachun started chatting with Liu Cixin: "How's the environment in Switzerland?"

"The mountains are good, the water is good, the air is fresh, looking at this sky full of stars, it feels like the shelf life of the kidneys has been extended."

"I say you should have a zipper installed on your lower back, to save having surgery every few days."

"I'd like to, but the doctor disagrees."

"Hahaha~"

Ordinary people avoid talking about illnesses for fear of hitting a sensitive nerve with the other side.

But they don't care much, even if it's kidney failure, it's just a matter of spending more money and getting a transplant.

Walking out of Yiyun Villa's main building, Yang Shoucheng was preparing funds while also calling his young son waiting at the door.

"Qisheng, what do you think we should do?" Yang Shoucheng truthfully told him all the details of their discussions inside.

Yang Qisheng frowned, saying in a deep voice, "Lu Liang is tough but fair, acting like this might make him mistake us as hostile forces."

From that night's gathering, judging by Lu Liang's attitude and words, he believed that he had come to Xiangjiang as a king, without needing to regard anyone.

Having Li Zhikai organize the gathering in his name was his way of giving local forces the most basic respect.

Having honored that, anyone who recklessly moves next can't blame him for not warning in advance.

This attitude would undoubtedly make those uncles in the room feel very uncomfortable.

But Lu Liang indeed had this capability.

Now they had grasped Lu Liang's plan and intended to seek peace through battle, to let Lu Liang know they're not made of clay.

However, in Yang Qisheng's view, it made no difference, whether dying standing or kneeling, it ends in death.

Why choose to die when you can live?