Chapter 983: The Final Showdown Begins!

The next morning!

Li Yi got up early. After a quick breakfast, he arrived at the stock exchange under the protection of Zhang Ziqiang and his team.

With some time still left before the market opened, Li Yi once again gathered the company’s key personnel.

Once everyone was present, Li Yi turned to Pang Feiyan and asked, “Yang Qian, what’s the situation out there now?”

Yang Qian replied immediately, “The situation is very unfavorable for us. After a night of speculation, coupled with someone fanning the flames behind the scenes, yesterday afternoon’s announcement is now common knowledge.”

“As a result, all investors are now bearish on our companies. It’s predictable that once the market opens, our stock prices will inevitably plummet again.”

No sooner had she finished speaking than Lan Xinming, sitting below Li Yi, added, “Boss, last night, members of the joint investigation team moved into our companies. When I came in this morning, I specifically stopped by the newsstand to take a look—several major newspapers are reporting on this matter.”

“Clearly, their goal is to collude with those overseas financial groups to drive down our stock prices!”

Li Yi nodded, then turned to Pang Feiyan and asked, “Have the earnings figures from yesterday been tallied yet?”

“They’re in!”

Pang Feiyan continued, “Yesterday, by shorting first and then going long, we made a total of 32.5 billion Hong Kong dollars. However, we don’t have many shares of those companies left in our portfolio now.”

Hearing this, everyone in the VIP lounge looked stunned.

Earning over 30 billion Hong Kong dollars in a single day—not even a money-printing press could do that fast.

Yet Li Yi’s expression didn’t change much; it was as if he’d made thirty dollars instead of over thirty billion.

After a moment’s thought, Li Yi said in a deep voice, “Don’t get too excited just yet. Yesterday was merely an appetizer. In fact, our showdown with those overseas conglomerates has only just begun.”

At those words, everyone was stunned.

It’s already this intense, and it’s only just begun?

“Boss, what should we do once the market opens?” asked Pang Feiyan.

Li Yi paused briefly before replying, “Our mission today is to launch a full-scale counterattack against those foreign conglomerates, prevent them from buying up those companies at rock-bottom prices, and above all, stop them from gaining controlling stakes.”

“Boss, I’m a bit confused. If you’re so worried about them taking control of those companies, why did you cooperate with them yesterday to short-sell those companies?” Pang Feiyan asked, puzzled.

Pang Feiyan’s question echoed the thoughts of the others; even now, the group still couldn’t fathom what their boss was thinking.

Although they had made a significant profit yesterday, they had also sold off a considerable number of shares, resulting in a noticeable drop in their ownership stake.

More importantly, if they were to launch a counterattack against those overseas conglomerates to prevent them from seizing controlling stakes, they would inevitably have to invest massive amounts of capital to outbid them for shares. In that case, the money they made yesterday would have to be reinvested—so what was the point?

Li Yi replied calmly, “There are two reasons for collaborating with those people to short these companies: one is to make money, and the other is to clear the field!”

“Clear the field?”

They could understand the profit motive, but what did “clearing the field” mean?

For a moment, everyone’s faces were filled with confusion.

Li Yi didn’t keep them waiting long, explaining directly, “This is a decisive battle that will determine the very survival of our Chinese Chamber of Commerce. Originally, I had absolute confidence and was certain of victory in this battle.”

“However, there are now a large number of brokerage firms, speculative capital, and retail investors in the market ready to speculate. Although their strength is scattered, if they band together, they won’t be any weaker than any of us. Therefore, we must eliminate them before the decisive battle.”

Upon hearing this, Pang Feiyan, Yang Qian, Lan Xinming, Li Yunbao, and the others were all stunned.

Not only had they not anticipated this, but it was likely that the retail investors, hot money, and brokerage firms hadn’t foreseen it either—that their own boss’s first move upon entering the fray would not be directed at those overseas financial conglomerates, but at them.

Moreover, it was foreseeable that once the market opened, the retail investors and speculative funds that had heavily invested the previous day would flee.

After yesterday’s two market reversals, most retail investors would have suffered heavy losses and would no longer dare to jump between the two major players. This would allow their boss to focus entirely on taking on those foreign conglomerates.

Once they grasped Li Yi’s strategy, everyone was both stunned and impressed…

Just as everyone was reeling from the revelation, Li Yi’s voice rang out again: “Once we’ve weeded out the speculators, it will be time for us to go head-to-head with the foreign conglomerates!”

“Once the market opens, the stock prices of these companies are bound to plummet. Sang Chai and his crew are waiting for exactly this opportunity—they’ll definitely snap up these stocks at rock-bottom prices just before they hit the floor. So today, our mission is to intercept them.”

“Feiyan, Lianghe, keep a close eye on the activity in the trading floor and be ready to jump in and snap up shares of these companies at any moment!”

“Yes!”

“Yang Qian, you keep an eye on the Governor’s Office and the Independent Commission Against Corruption. They’ll definitely be working hand in hand with those overseas consortiums—there’s bound to be more to come!” Li Yi said.

“Yes!”

“Yunbao, your task is…”

………

“Ring-ring-ring!”

As the opening bell rang, the exchange buzzed with activity once again.

Just as Li Yi had predicted, the speculative retail investors who had heavily invested in various companies’ stocks the previous afternoon all chose to cut their losses and flee at the first opportunity after reading the Hong Kong-British government’s announcement and the media reports.

With so many people fleeing and very few daring to step in at this moment, sell orders flooded the entire market.

Under these circumstances, the only way to cut losses in time was to lower prices.

It was just like selling goods: when products were slow to sell and there was fierce competition, the only options were either to set a unified price or to launch a price war.

But the stock market is even more ruthless than the real economy, and those seeking to strike it rich in the market are accustomed to cutting their losses when prices fall. If you dare to list at HK$50 per share, I’ll dare to list at 49, or even 46.

Consequently, as hot money and retail investors scrambled to exit, the share prices of various companies plummeted.

Take Wharf Holdings’ stock price as an example: at last night’s close, it was still holding at HK$45 per share, slightly lower than the HK$46.60 it had traded at the day before.

But less than half an hour after the market opened today, the price plummeted to HK$38.

Take Longheng Bank’s stock price as another example: it closed at HK$28 per share yesterday, but has now dropped to HK$22—a decline of over 20%.

More importantly, as a result of this, the stock prices of other companies in the Chinese Chamber of Commerce are also falling.

However, since these companies are not on the government’s list of announced entities, they have been less affected, and their share price declines have been limited.

Even so, a dark cloud still hangs over the entire Far East Stock Exchange, with a sense of despair pervading the market.

To make matters worse, at 10:00 a.m., the British Hong Kong government issued another announcement stating that several companies had serious operational issues and may have been involved in criminal activities, leading to the summons of executives from several firms…

Unsurprisingly, most of the companies whose executives were summoned belonged to the Chinese Chamber of Commerce, with names like Wharf Holdings and Lung Hang Bank prominently featured on the list.

As a result, the stock prices of these companies plummeted once again.

This situation persisted until 3:00 p.m., at which point the stock prices of those companies—including Wharf Holdings, Longheng Bank, and the Ho Group—were dealt another severe blow, with all experiencing declines of over 50%.

Even at this point, sellers still outnumbered buyers by a wide margin.

Just as everyone was speculating how low these companies’ stock prices would fall, suddenly, someone in the market began buying up large quantities of their shares—it was Star Investment!

Almost simultaneously with Star Investment’s move, Sangchai issued the same order, and the two sides began competing for shares in perfect unison.

However, this time only these two sides were in the fray; the vast majority of retail investors, speculative capital, and brokerage firms all chose to sit on the sidelines. The decisive showdown between Li Yi, Sang Chai, and their respective teams had begun…

………..