Chapter 254: To Run or Not to Run

Tao Yaoyang’s mood these past few days had not been very good.

First of all, several companies he had invested in had suffered losses. Among them, Xingxing Media had suffered losses last year, and its performance had begun to decline.

So, this year, Xingxing Media was preparing to launch a big project to turn losses into profits. They first bought the TV series adaptation rights of a very popular online novel, and then invested 80 million to set up a crew. They invited a top traffic star to be the male lead, and also invited a very talented young actress to play opposite him. This could be said to be a strong combination, and the CP feeling was full. It was believed that after it was filmed, it would definitely become a popular drama.

After three months of hard filming, this TV series, which Xingxing Media had high hopes for, was finally completed. Then came the intensive post-production.

Just as Xingxing Media was about to complete the production, the male lead, the top traffic star, suddenly had a scandal. He was confirmed to have participated in a multi-person sport, and was also exposed to have taken drugs. Public opinion was in an uproar.

Although this top traffic star tried his best to deny it, sending out lawyer’s letters, refuting rumors, and calling the police, it was clear that he was going to be finished.

Even their Xingxing Media’s 80 million investment might be wasted, and the release date was far away. Of course, according to the current film and television technology, this TV series could be re-released through methods such as face-swapping.

Or simply find a new male lead and reshoot the male lead’s scenes.

However, one would definitely have to add a lot of investment, and the other was that this face-swapping technology had not yet reached the point of being able to pass off the fake as the real. After the change, it would definitely affect the audience’s viewing experience, and it was clear that it would be a bad film.

What’s more, if additional funds were added for face-swapping or reshooting with a new male lead, what if the cost could not be recovered, or even more was lost?

This obviously gave the current leadership of Xingxing Media, including him, this major shareholder, a headache.

In the end, they came up with a solution that was not a solution, that is, this TV series would be temporarily shelved, and they would wait for the final result of that top traffic star to come out. But for the sake of Xingxing Media’s market value and shareholder interests, a new project must be established as soon as possible.

This was what Tao Yaoyang had told Chen Feng before. They had re-purchased the TV series adaptation rights of a popular online novel, and then pulled in more capital to enter the market together. They would no longer be so stupid as to invest 80 million on their own as they did last time. The risk of doing so was too great.

Of course, at that time, they thought that the 80 million investment was a sure win, so they invested it all, and then they were about to lose miserably.

The matter of Xingxing Media was not Tao Yaoyang’s biggest worry. The most worrying thing was the Hengshen Fund, where he was the executive director. These few days, it was suddenly investigated by the regulatory authorities.

Unlike in the past, this time the regulatory authorities seemed to have mastered certain evidence. If it was verified, not to mention whether he, this director of Hengshen Fund, would be sued, just the economic loss would be in the hundreds of millions.

One could imagine his mood when such a thing happened.

In addition, several other companies in which he had shares had also suffered losses to varying degrees. For example, two of the hot pot franchise chains in which he had shares had been losing money for several months since the beginning of this year, and now they had simply closed down.

In short, Tao Yaoyang felt that he had been really unlucky recently.

It was precisely because of such losses that Tao Yaoyang had sold the high-quality property of the No. 8 villa to Chen Feng before. Because he had to mobilize some funds to fill the loopholes of these loss-making businesses.

Especially recently, he had taken a fancy to a new domestic internet company. This company had only been established for three years, but now its market valuation was as high as more than one billion US dollars, and it was planning to go public on NASDAQ. It could be foreseen that as long as this company’s IPO was successful, its stock price and market value would definitely soar.

So, more than a month ago, he had been actively trying to join this capital feast, trying every means to get the original shares of this company.

For this, he had spent a lot of favors and money, and finally got a spot, but he was still short of funds.

After he borrowed some funds through his connections, the gap was still relatively large. He didn’t want to sell his real estate again, so he thought about it and thought of Chen Feng, this “stock god.” He wanted to secretly follow him to buy a wave of stocks, and then make a lot of money.

This would be enough to make up for his funding gap, and there would even be a lot of surplus.

As for the risk of being discovered by Chen Feng, he couldn’t care about it for the time being. After all, wealth was tempting. What’s more, he thought that what he was doing did not touch Chen Feng’s interests. He just wanted to follow him to eat some meat and drink some soup. It was that simple.

And he would definitely keep this matter a secret, including that Zhuo Libin would not be so stupid as to leak it.

However, he had never dreamed that on this day when he made up his mind to follow Chen Feng to eat meat and drink soup, Chen Feng would start to sell stocks. And as soon as he sold them, the stock price immediately fell sharply.

When Zhuo Libin called him, he had just gotten out of the car and was about to walk into his villa. Then he heard this bad news. He was in a daze and tripped on the steps in front of the villa. He fell heavily, and his phone was thrown out. The screen was directly shattered. His forehead and mouth were hit on the steps, and he was bleeding directly. His front teeth were also loose.

This was undoubtedly an unlucky day for him!

However, at this time, he couldn’t care about the injuries on his face at all. He immediately picked up the phone that had been shattered on the ground. Fortunately, other functions were still normal except for the shattered screen. He immediately logged into Shenghua Securities to check the stock information. Then, not long after, he was stunned on the spot. Then he was so angry that he picked up his phone and smashed it to pieces on the ground.

In just half an hour from the securities company to his home, the stock he valued most had fallen by thirty cents. And the situation was very clear. Several large households were selling this stock. Then this stock would definitely hit the limit down today.

And he had spent nearly twenty million on this stock. According to the current stock price, he had already lost a lot of money. When it hit the limit down, it would fall by 10%, which was equivalent to losing at least 2 million today.

It could only be said that he had really been screwed by a dog!

Tao Yaoyang really wanted to run over and question Chen Feng in person: You didn’t sell it early or late. You sold it as soon as I bought it. Are you playing with me?

But his remaining reason told him that Chen Feng was definitely not doing this on purpose. Chen Feng had no idea that he would follow him to buy.

What’s more, he knew that Chen Feng’s background was unfathomable. If he really went to question him like this, he would definitely not get any good.

So, he could only swallow this silent loss.

Tao Yaoyang forced himself to calm down, then waved his hand to dismiss the nanny who had rushed over upon hearing the news. He picked up the phone that he had smashed into scrap, and quickly walked to the study. He took out a brand new spare phone from the drawer, then put in the phone card he had taken out, and turned it on.

He immediately called Zhuo Libin and asked, “What the hell is going on? Why did Chen Feng sell this stock for no reason?”

Zhuo Libin on the other end of the phone thought to himself, you ask me, who do I ask? But he was very clear about Tao Yaoyang’s mood and anger at this time, because he himself was in a very bad mood now, and he was also holding back a fire in his heart, but he couldn’t vent it.

To be honest, Zhuo Libin had more right to question Tao Yaoyang. After all, he was going to give Tao Yaoyang 5 million for the consultation fee. But now, if he really had to give it, he would definitely not be willing.

“I don’t know either. I can only blame us for being too unlucky. If he had been an hour earlier, no, just half an hour, we wouldn’t have followed him to buy. Alas! This luck is too bad!”

Looking at the current downward trend of this stock, it was basically a foregone conclusion that it would hit the limit down today. That is to say, the ten million he had spent on this stock would also fall by one million. Damn it! Zhuo Libin wanted to curse.

“Damn it!” At this time, Tao Yaoyang was also so stuffy that he directly cursed. He had completely lost his elegant demeanor. He said to Zhuo Libin in a very bad tone, “Now you give me your professional opinion. Should I follow him to sell this stock tomorrow to stop the loss? In addition, for safety’s sake, should I also sell the other four stocks tomorrow?”

Hearing this, Zhuo Libin looked embarrassed and said hesitantly, “I’m sorry! I really can’t give you any advice now. This… you have to decide for yourself. I can only say that, looking at the current situation, if you are not in a hurry to use the money, it’s better to withdraw first for the sake of stability.”

Zhuo Libin’s suggestion was also very prudent. At least he himself planned to sell all the five stocks he had bought this time as soon as the market opened tomorrow to stop the loss in time.

As the general manager of a securities branch, the most important quality was to be steady and definitely not to be aggressive. Otherwise, something would happen sooner or later.

The most important quality of stock trading was actually the same as gambling, that is, to take the good and run, to run when you lose, to resist temptation, and to be able to stop the loss in time.

Zhuo Libin’s mentality in this aspect was still relatively calm and open-minded.

From another perspective, he had lost one million on this stock today, but he had also made hundreds of thousands on the other four stocks. In this way, he had only lost a few hundred thousand. If he sold it tomorrow and stopped the loss in time, he could still afford to lose these few hundred thousand.

And Tao Yaoyang’s mentality was different. He was very optimistic about that technology company this time, and he had finally managed to get a connection to get the original shares. At that time, as long as he bought the original shares and waited for this company’s IPO to succeed, his net worth would increase several times. How could he give up because of a shortage of funds?

“Mr. Zhuo, from your professional point of view, will these five stocks continue to rise?”

“It’s hard to say. I can talk nonsense to others, but I can only tell you the truth. It’s really hard to predict stocks unless you have real inside information. Do you know what I mean?”

“Alright, I know. I’ll think about it carefully.”

“Okay, Mr. Tao. You think about it carefully before you make a decision.”

“Yes, thanks. I’ll treat you to dinner next time.”

“You’re welcome.”

After hanging up the phone, Tao Yaoyang almost wanted to smash this new phone again, but this time he finally controlled his emotions. He first used a tissue to wipe the blood on his face and mouth, then opened the cigar box on the desk, took out a cigar, cut it, roasted it with a match, and then lit it.

After this set of procedures, and after a puff of cigar smoke was inhaled into his lungs, his emotions finally slowly calmed down.

Thinking about it carefully, although the situation was not very good now, it had not yet reached the point of complete defeat. He still had a chance to follow Chen Feng to eat meat and drink soup. After all, Chen Feng had not sold the other four stocks.

What’s more, except for the stock that was sold by Chen Feng today, the other stocks were all rising.

After Tao Yaoyang comforted himself like this for a while, his mood finally improved a little.

However, he also knew that this was not very stable, especially after experiencing Chen Feng’s sudden sale this time, he really didn’t have much sense of security.

So, after thinking carefully in the study for a while, he decided to test Chen Feng’s tone.

After drafting a long speech in his mind, Tao Yaoyang finally put down the cigar in his mouth, picked up his phone, took a deep breath, found Chen Feng’s phone number, and called him.

“Chen Feng, it’s me. Are you free tonight? Let’s get together again.”

Chen Feng didn’t expect Tao Yaoyang to invite him again. This was a bit too frequent. They had just had dinner at Wenhua Ju yesterday.

“I’m sorry, I’m not free tonight.”

Chen Feng refused naturally. Although he also knew that Tao Yaoyang had a strong background, he really had no intention of flattering him. He just wanted to live his own little life. It was enough to be rich and quiet. There was no need to deliberately expand his social circle.

Hearing Chen Feng’s refusal, Tao Yaoyang was not surprised, because he had long known that Chen Feng was very low-key. So, he followed his words and said, “Then I’m really disappointed. I was originally thinking of inviting you out tonight to learn from you.”

“Learn what?” Chen Feng asked with some confusion.

Tao Yaoyang said with a smile, “There are mainly two aspects. One is your skill and technique in picking up girls. I saw it last night. The four women you brought with you are all interested in you. Especially that Hong Xiaodan, she is a rich and beautiful woman, and her family is very rich. She is actually chasing you. I really don’t know how you did it. I really want to learn from you.

“Another thing is that I know you are a full-time stock trader, and you seem to be very good at it. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be able to buy my and Zhixin’s villas, right? So, I want to learn from you, and it would be best if you could recommend a few stocks to me. I can give you a consultation fee, or simply give you a commission. What do you think?”

Chen Feng really didn’t know how to pick up girls, because he had always been a straight man. Except for actively pursuing Liu Ying in his freshman year, he had never seriously pursued other women, including his ex-wife Shen Lin. On the contrary, many women had taken the initiative to pick him up.

As for the skill of stock trading, he didn’t need to say more. What kind of trick was there? It was all based on his European emperor attribute and his heaven-defying luck.

“You’ve come to the wrong person. I’ve basically never picked up a girl in my life. It’s always been the girls who pick me up. As for stock trading, whether you believe it or not, my level is also very average. It’s just that my luck has always been relatively good. So, it’s really hard for me to choose stocks or give you any experience.”

Hearing his words, Tao Yaoyang was so angry that he almost wanted to curse. He thought to himself, you call this luck has always been relatively good? This is clearly cheating, it’s insider trading.

“Chen Feng, it’s rare for me to ask you for help. You can’t not help me with this small favor, right? Forget about your skill in picking up girls, but you have to help me with stock trading. I hope you can recommend at least two stocks to me. Don’t worry, the consultation fee and commission you deserve will definitely not be less.”

(End of chapter)