November 24th, Saturday…
It was a rest day and Meng Chang did not have much work on hand. After all, the publicity for the Real Estate Agent Simulator was already prepared. He only lacked the right opportunity and was just waiting.
However, he did not stay at home this weekend. Instead, he went out to meet an old classmate who had just returned from overseas and had not seen him for two years.
Both of them met at a nearby Fish-Catching Internet Cafe.
“Fan Xiaodong! Over here!”
Meng Chang raised his hand to greet his old classmate when he saw him enter.
Fan Xiaodong was tall and wore a long trench coat. He had a little western feel to him.
He smiled when he saw Meng Chang.
However, after smiling, he quickly looked surprised.
He sat down at Fish-Catching Internet Cafe’s coffee area. Puzzled, Fan Xiaodong asked, “Brother, I haven’t seen you in two years. How did you end up like this?”
“I heard that you managed to get an investment and set up your own fast food brand. What’s going on now?”
Fan Xiaodong and Meng Chang were university classmates. They had a good relationship after bed.
What’s more, both of them were very smart. No matter what they did, they were very similar. They were well-deservedly outstanding in school.
Their trajectories were completely different after graduation. Meng Chang chose to stay in China and joined a large company, preparing to accumulate experience and wait for an opportunity to start a business. Fan Xiaodong, on the other hand, went overseas to study and was currently in a financial company in the United States.
In Fan Xiaodong’s impression, Meng Chang had always been very concerned about his image. He exuded an elite aura from inside out.
What’s more, they had heard that he had started a fast-food brand in China and was doing very well. That made Fan Xiaodong very envious.
After all, even though he worked in a finance company and had a lot of income, it was incomparable to the expected income of a successful entrepreneur like Meng Chang.
However, Fan Xiaodong was not sure what happened after that.
Firstly, he was very busy with his own work. Secondly, Meng Chang silently broke off contact with most of his friends and classmates after his entrepreneurship failed. He was also in seclusion in Tengda, so they did not share their situation in time.
It was only when Fan Xiaodong was about to return to China that he contacted Meng Chang and specially made a detour to Jingzhou to meet him.
In the end, Fan Xiaodong was very surprised when they met. What was wrong with Meng Chang?
He still looked very energetic, but he was obviously much more slovenly now. He was no longer as exquisite as before.
What’s more, his aura seemed to have changed.
Meng Chang had no reason to be in his current state no matter whether he succeeded in entrepreneurship or failed in entrepreneurship.
According to Fan Xiaodong’s understanding of Meng Chang, if he succeeded in his entrepreneurship, Meng Chang would definitely make a huge splash and hold his head high. If his entrepreneurship failed, Meng Chang would probably be discouraged and collapse.
However, the current state… felt much more peaceful and calm.
What was going on?
Meng Chang smiled and called the waiter over to order two cups of coffee. Then, he said, “Cold-Faced Lady has failed. I’ve taken a huge debt. However, there’s good news.”
Fan Xiaodong was stunned. “Good news? What good news?”
He was very surprised. After all, he knew the risks of entrepreneurship in the country. It was definitely not a small figure if Meng Chang said that he had a huge debt.
Meng Chang paused and said, “I met an expert.”
“Do you know Boss Pei of Tengda? My entrepreneurship might have fallen into his hands but he has also taught me many things. I think I’m about to graduate.”
“Once I graduate, I’ll definitely be able to make a comeback, much less easily repay these debts!”
Fan Xiaodong was silent for a moment. “…It’s good that you can maintain such an optimistic mentality.”
“However, I still don’t understand. Why are you thanking him even though your entrepreneurship has been plotted against by him? You even said that you’ve learned something from him?”
“You sound like PUA or Stockholm Syndrome…”
The corners of Meng Chang’s mouth twitched. “Don’t talk nonsense. Do I look like a fool?”
“I can tell if it’s brainwashing or learning the real thing.”
“Forget it. It’s too complicated here. What I’ve learned is too deep. I can’t explain it to you in a few words.”
“Let’s talk about you instead. How has work been recently?”
Fan Xiaodong took a sip of his coffee. “I’ll leave it at that. It’s floating overseas. I won’t starve to death even if I don’t live well. The income is alright, but in my current environment… it doesn’t matter how much I earn.”
“Apart from working, I also play with the US stock market occasionally. In any case, I can earn some money.”
Based on Meng Chang’s understanding of Fan Xiaodong, he knew that he was definitely being humble. His so-called money might be the salary of some salarymen for several years.
However, Meng Chang did not think that Fan Xiaodong was acting cool. After all, they were both such people. Once they earned more money, they would not be so sensitive to the quantity of money. Perhaps this money was only a small sum in Fan Xiaodong’s eyes.
At the mention of the US stock market, Meng Chang suddenly thought of something. “Eh, that’s right. Is Home Corporation listed on the US stock exchange?”
Fan Xiaodong nodded. “Yes, it has been rising quite well recently. Do you want to buy some? I can help.”
Meng Chang shook his head immediately. “Buy? Of course not. If you trust me, my suggestion is to short the stock.”
Fan Xiaodong was stunned. “Short it? Home Corporation just released the third quarter’s financial report at the beginning of this month. It’s developing well, and there are small increments in the market share.”
“It’s still too early for other similar companies to threaten Home Corporation’s market share.”
“Previously, the storm of ‘formaldehyde houses’ had basically calmed down. It was not considered a huge injury. The stock prices that fell previously had also begun to rise. It seemed like there would not be many public relations events recently. Instead, their recent publicity has created good popularity.”
“No matter how I look at it, it looks like it’s going to increase. How can I short them?”
In layman’s terms, it was “buy the fall”. If the stock fell, it would make money. If it increased, it would lose money.
What’s more, the risk of shorting was extremely high. In theory, there was no limit to the amount of losses he would incur.
Would he be tired of living if he were to short Home Corporation under such circumstances?
Meng Chang took a sip of his coffee. “It’s difficult to explain the specific situation in a few words.”
“I can only say that the project I’m working on now might directly destroy the reputation of Home Corporation and create a huge public opinion crisis against them.”
“Of course, it’s hard to say how much we can achieve. After all, Home Corporation is huge. It’s very difficult to hurt them. However, I’m certain that the storm this time will not be small.”
Fan Xiaodong blinked. “Your current project?”
“How much funding can cause a huge public opinion crisis for Home Corporation?”
“What do you have on them?”
Meng Chang shook his head. “There’s no direct evidence against them, and there’s not much scandal.”
“I cannot divulge the amount of funding. I can only say there’s a lot.”
“However, that’s not the main point.”
“There is a better way to attract enough attention and create a crisis of public opinion.”
“I can’t explain it to you in detail now, and it’s very difficult to explain it clearly. I can only say that if you believe me, you can consider using a small sum of money to empty out Home Corporation. Don’t blame me if you lose money. Just treat me to a meal after you earn it.”
“It’s just that I don’t have money on hand now. I’ll definitely spend all my money on shorting it if I did.”
Fan Xiaodong was in disbelief. “Are you that confident?”
Meng Chang nodded. “That’s right.”
“Where did your confidence come from?” Fan Xiaodong asked.
Meng Chang said confidently, “From a higher dimension.”
“Home Corporation might look like a monster on the surface, but it actually has a fatal weakness from the root. However, ordinary people would not be able to catch it nor do they have the ability to.”
“That’s because they either don’t have the voice and influence, or they don’t have a clean butt.”
“However, Boss Pei happens to have this ability and this idea.”
“This is a method that only Tengda can use. I happen to be an executor.”
Fan Xiaodong did not ask further and fell into a short silence.
A moment later, he nodded. “Alright! I’ll take out a sum of money to short it. I believe you!”
“I won’t blame you if you make a loss. I’ll split the money with you if you make a profit!”
“You don’t have to be polite with me given our relationship. You can tell me if you receive such accurate news in the future. Wouldn’t it be good for us to earn money from these big companies together?”
He would definitely not believe it if others told Fan Xiaodong that they were going to short Home Corporation.
However, he and Meng Chang were old classmates after all. They trusted each other very much. What’s more, he knew that Meng Chang was very smart. What he did might be risky sometimes but the risks and benefits were proportional.
There must be a reason why he sounded so confident this time.
What’s more, people like him had a much stronger thirst for opportunities than ordinary people.
Meng Chang nodded and did not say much. In any case, the results would be clear at the end of this month.
Fan Xiaodong asked again, “Eh, you said that Boss Pei had this idea and you happened to be an executor? Could Boss Pei have made up his mind long ago?”
Meng Chang did not expect him to ask such a question. He was stunned for a moment before saying, “I don’t know about that.”
“However, I’ve never heard of Boss Pei touching the stock market. If he wants to, he can open his own securities or funds company to play. I believe many people would fight to give him money.”
“Perhaps he’s too high-class and doesn’t care for these low-class tricks.”
“He used money to make games, movies, physical industries, or investments. None of them could make less money than playing in the stock market. What’s more, there was no risk because the success rate of him making these was too high.”
Fan Xiaodong nodded. “That’s true. If we can achieve 100% success with a 90% success rate like entrepreneurship and venture capital investment, who would want to play in the stock market? Only poor people like us can earn some quick money from the stock market.”
“Then, when will this public crisis that you mentioned be exposed?”
Meng Chang thought for a moment. “It’s very difficult to accurately determine the date at the end of this month or at the beginning of next month, but it won’t be later than the 15th of next month.”
That was because there was still a certain amount of time for public opinion to ferment after the real estate intermediary simulator was released. Meng Chang himself was not sure how long this time would be. It might explode in two or three days if it was fast. It might also take a week if it was slow.
However, no matter what, it would not be delayed for long.
Fan Xiaodong quickly said, “It’s precise enough! I’ll arrange it immediately!”
