The Next Day.
Johny Lee was in an excellent mood. Having achieved a small but significant success with the speech draft, he felt much more confident walking into the office.
He had also just received his first salary this month, so he felt a bit more affluent than usual.
He made an exception and splurged at the breakfast stall near the office entrance. He ordered a bowl of lamb stew, a sesame flatbread, and a tea egg. As the saying goes, 'Joyful occasions lift the spirits,' and Johny had an exceptionally large appetite today. Still not feeling full, he went to the crepe stall next door and bought a savory crepe.
He spent most of the loose change in his pocket, but he ate his fill.
Burping contentedly, Johny happily entered the dilapidated iron gate of the West City Sub-bureau.
"Oh, here comes the great hero," Tammy said with a playful smile, beckoning him over as he walked in.
Johny felt smug inside but knew better than to show it. He quickly replied humbly, "What hero? I just happened to be lucky yesterday. When it comes to writing, I can't compare to any of you veterans."
Jane, applying lip gloss at her desk, chuckled. "Hehe, Johny, you don't need to be modest."
Old Quinn smiled, shaking his morning newspaper. "Yeah, I heard Section Chief Lee praised you after he found out yesterday."
Johny gave a dry laugh. "Please, don't flatter me. I really don't have much ability."
Paul was busy scribbling something at his desk, head down, grunting away. When Johny returned to his own seat, he deliberately glanced over at Paul's workspace.
To his surprise, he saw a few stock K-line charts and small sticky notes with phrases like "broke below 5-day moving average" and "fund accumulation."
Only then did Johny realize the game. Director Zane was likely an avid stock investor, and Paul was trying to curry favor with the boss through shared interests.
After all, when it came to official duties, completing tasks was just part of the job description.
But if you could find common ground with the leader on personal matters or even help with private affairs, the significance was totally different. That was how you built real connections.
Around 9:30 AM.
Paul took the paper with the K-line chart and knocked on the door of Director Zane's private office.
He didn't come out for half an hour.
Just after ten o'clock, Paul finally emerged. He closed the door as softly as possible, his face beaming.
Turning around, his cheeks were flushed with pleasure, as if he had just been praised by the Emperor himself.
Over by the fax machine, Tammy, who was organizing documents, called out. "There's a document here that needs Director Zane's signature. Who wants to take it?"
Paul instinctively reached out to volunteer but paused, perhaps realizing it would look suspicious to go back in so soon.
"I'll go." Johny seized the opportunity. He walked over, took the document, and turned to knock on the small office door.
"...Please come in."
Johny pushed the door open and entered. "Director Zane, there's a document that needs your signature."
Director Zane held the few sheets of A4 paper, glancing at the document while keeping one eye glued to the daily chart of a stock on his computer screen.
A week ago, Zane definitely would have minimized the stock software to prevent a subordinate from seeing it. But now that they were more familiar and Johny had proven himself useful, Zane felt the kid was obedient and sensible.There was no need to hide anything.
"Hehe, Johny. Bureau Chief Yates praised you verbally on the phone yesterday. Keep up the good work."
"Yes, I will definitely live up to the leaders' trust..."
Johny felt Zane's attitude toward him was clearly warmer than before. He was secretly delighted and quickly rattled off a bunch of assurances.
After Johny finished speaking, Zane nodded slightly and pleasantly gestured to the guest chair. "Sit, please sit."
Johny carefully sat on the sofa. Unsure where to look, his eyes naturally drifted to the stock chart on the monitor.
The stock on the screen was DaQin Railway. Director Zane had likely bought heavily into this stock; otherwise, he wouldn't be staring so intently at its daily chart.
Johny had heard on the news yesterday that there was positive development domestically for infrastructure. Railway and automobile stocks had collectively risen for two days. Looking at the chart, DaQin Railway was performing well.
It had jumped from 8.59 to 9.03 at the open, pulled back slightly to 8.89, and was now surging again to 9.25....close to the daily limit up.
This stock is doing well.
Johny glanced at Zane's profile and saw a smile on his face, a hint of self-satisfaction.
Before long, Zane signed the document and smiled kindly. "Okay, hehe, you can take it."
Johny took the document with both hands, ready to leave. Zane, with a look of delight, turned back to stare at the continuously rising stock ticker.
But before he could be happy for even two seconds, disaster struck.
DaQin Railway suddenly plummeted without warning.
A massive sell order of over twelve thousand lots hit the market, wiping out most of the buy orders below. This was followed instantly by sell orders of eight thousand and five thousand lots.
Whoosh!
In the blink of an eye, the price dropped back below 9.00! It happened faster than lightning!
Zane exclaimed, "Ah!" and slapped his thigh regretfully. "The market maker is dumping! Damn it! I should have sold earlier!"
Johny, who was about to open the door to leave, froze upon hearing this. He looked back at the daily chart on the computer, sensing keenly that this was another opportunity.
"BACK!"
...
Flash!
The scene before his eyes changed abruptly! His perspective shifted!
Swish, swish, swish.....
Director Zane signed his name on the document and smiled kindly. "Okay, hehe, you can take it."
The price of DaQin Railway on the screen was still fluctuating around 9.26, seemingly about to challenge the resistance level of 9.30.
Although Johny felt it was somewhat presumptuous, he didn't want to miss this rare opportunity to get closer to the leader.
He quickly pointed at the monitor.
"Director Zane... if you hold this stock, you should sell it quickly. Automobile and railway stocks rose quite a bit yesterday. When good news is exhausted, it becomes bad news. I think this daily chart looks very dangerous right now; it's about to fall."
Zane frowned, looking dismissive. "Is that so? I think it can hit the limit up today."
Johny advised firmly. "I'm not sure about the trend this afternoon, but I'm certain DaQin Railway will fall below 9.00 before noon!"
Zane felt slightly annoyed at the unsolicited advice.
He shook his head, turned his back to Johny, and said nothing more.
Having been tempered in the office bureaucracy for some time now, Johny knew when to retreat.
If he stayed there watching the stock crash exactly as he predicted, the leader would feel humiliated. Everyone cared about "face." Zane might even think Johny was mocking him, which would be counterproductive.
Johny composed himself, quickly pushed the door open, and left.
He returned to his desk but watched Director Zane's door intently.
Five minutes...
Ten minutes...
Twenty minutes...
It wasn't until lunchtime, when Johny was about to go to the cafeteria with Tammy and Samson, that Director Zane finally pushed open the door and came out.
His expression was unchanged from usual, a mask of calm authority. He smiled and exchanged a few casual words with Jane and Paul.
Just as everyone was about to leave for lunch, Zane suddenly called out.
"Johny. Come here for a second."
Here it comes!
Zane lowered his voice so only Johny could hear. "You know how to trade stocks?"
Johny replied modestly, "Yes, I know a bit about short-term trading."
Zane nodded heavily. He patted Johny's shoulder with a newfound respect.
"Go eat. Help me look at some stocks tomorrow."
Authors Note:-
That's chapter 24.
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