What's wrong with me being a rich man?

Chapter 608 Ke Zhen'e of Jiaxing (6k)

The king of short sellers, Guoshanfeng, was exposed in an unexpected way on an ordinary Monday.

Public opinion is buzzing with discussion, and people inside and outside the industry are exclaiming in surprise. The parties involved were caught off guard, and the regulatory agencies are also at a loss.

While the mainland is still cautiously studying the matter, the Hong Kong Stock Exchange sent three letters to Lingang from morning to evening on Monday.

Huishan Dairy was targeted by short sellers last Friday. The Hong Kong Stock Exchange immediately demanded that the listed company explain the situation and address allegations of financial fraud.

However, the Hong Kong Stock Exchange did not receive a response from Huishan Dairy over the weekend. Just as it was about to formally establish an investigation team on Monday, it saw news just before the market opened that Guo Shanfeng was suspected to be Yu Xing.

The "King of Short Sellers" is renowned worldwide, and he has shorted numerous Hong Kong-listed companies over the years, naturally attracting much attention. However, like many regulatory agencies, the Hong Kong Stock Exchange is also unclear about the ins and outs of the "King of Short Sellers." Now, upon suddenly seeing the correct answer, it was shocked and immediately rushed to become the first exchange to send a letter to the "King of Short Sellers."

However, just as the inquiry regarding the investigation into Guo Shanfeng was sent out, the Hong Kong Stock Exchange remembered the Huishan Dairy company that was currently undergoing an explosion, and at noon it issued a second formal written letter to Yu Xing, requesting his cooperation in the investigation of Huishan Dairy.

Neither inquiry received a response, which is understandable, as the suspects have been identified. There is no rush to act, and the focus has shifted to discussing a multi-departmental coordinated investigation into Guo Shanfeng and Yu Xing.

Zhou Ziwei, senior investigation officer of the Markets Division of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, officially became the person in charge of the investigation of the mountain peak task on Monday afternoon.

However, while he was still considering how to connect with this special figure, the King of Short Sellers, another piece of news about Guo Shanfeng suddenly leaked out, which actually concerned a new Hong Kong-listed company.

Zhou Ziwei immediately became restless and promptly sent a third inquiry letter that evening, demanding that the "King of Short Sellers" explain the situation with Qingtian Software.

He was unable to contact Yu Xing himself and received no feedback all day, but he still tried his best to convey his thoughts to the King of Short Sellers.

Finally, after several twists and turns, Zhou Ziwei managed to speak with Yu Xing's secretary, Zhang Yangxu.

Zhang Yangxu reluctantly expressed his position: first, Guoshanfeng did not launch any short selling against Qingtian Software; second, any questions should be directed to the company itself.

Zhou Ziwei was not satisfied with this answer and pressed further: "Where is President Yu? I need to speak with him. Does he have any information about Qingtian Software? Also, President Yu cannot evade the Hong Kong Stock Exchange's investigation; he must come forward and answer all our inquiries."

By evening, Zhang Yangxu had calmed down considerably, and no matter how shocked he was, he had accepted the reality that his boss was Guo Shanfeng.

He could only maintain a relatively conciliatory attitude towards the Hong Kong Stock Exchange's inquiries: "The information circulating on the internet is basically untrue. Any inquiries you have about Huaxia Qingtian Software should be directed to the company itself. Mr. Yu will contact you as soon as possible."

Zhou Ziwei said, "We sent a letter to Huaxia Qingtian Software immediately, but President Yu should cooperate with our investigation."

Zhang Yangxu repeated his previous statement: "Okay, President Yu will contact you as soon as possible."

"According to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange Rules and the Securities and Futures Ordinance, Mr. Yu must provide a written response and cooperate in providing information within the time limit specified by us. Refusal to cooperate without a justifiable reason will result in fines, trading restrictions, market bans, or even referral to the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission for criminal prosecution," Zhou Ziwei emphasized at the end of the call. "Please do not ignore this, Mr. Yu."

call ended.

Zhou Ziwei still regrets not being able to speak with the King of Short Sellers himself, but he can't hide his excitement and agitation as soon as he puts down the phone. Over there is Guo Shanfeng, the doomsday short seller, the King of Short Sellers, the century-level short seller!
Regardless, being able to participate in such an event is something to be remembered for.

After hanging up the phone, Zhang Yangxu was extremely troubled by the various things that he had absolutely no control over.

He browsed through the social media platforms that were still generating buzz, and then focused on the situation of authoritative media outlets such as CCTV. He found that they were relatively restrained, and previous interviews with the boss about new energy and reports about the development of mobile internet had been taken down.

Zhang Yangxu smoked for a while with worry, and only a sliver of comfort remained in his heart. He had probably been the boss's man for a long time and could be considered an outer member of the mountain peak.

Compared to the shock and panic during the day, the carbon silicon group in Lingang completely returned to order at night. Orders for November have already surged, and the three-shift production capacity has been fully utilized. Although there are rumors that it will not be able to go public, it is already enjoying top-tier status in the industry.

Around 9 p.m., Alibaba and Tencent's portal websites and mobile browsers successively published special reports on the "King of Short Sellers." Unlike the daytime verification and investigation by their counterparts, their reports were generally more aggressive in tone.

—Yu Xing, a fraudster!

Yu Xing's rapid rise has been destructive to the market!
Yu Xing faces legal risks in multiple regions around the world, and he will pay the price for his actions.

At 9:30 p.m., Pony Ma rushed back to Shenzhen to work overtime in a meeting. They discussed the possible impact of today's unexpected events and concluded that a fierce conflict between Alibaba and Silicon Carbon was inevitable, and that Tencent would have an excellent opportunity to accelerate its development.

On the one hand, WeChat is gradually gaining the upper hand, and on the other hand, Weishi should cherish the changing situation.

His judgment was not opposed.

However, the executives who did not attend the Internet Conference in Shanghai were more curious about the "King of Short Sellers."

As the meeting was about to end, Xu Chenye, one of the "Penguin Five Tigers," asked, "Is Yu Xingzhen now definitively identified as a member of Over Peak?"

Pony nodded.

Xu Chenye clicked his tongue in amazement: "Unbelievable, this is truly unbelievable, bizarre. This may be the most bizarre thing I have ever seen in my life. In other words, we are not only competing with the founder of Carbon Silicon Data, but also with the king of short sellers. Yu Xing is competing in the market while constantly keeping an eye on the secondary market."

Upon hearing this, Pony made another belated observation: "Yu Xing may have secretly shorted Tencent's stock price, perhaps around the time he sold WeChat to Alibaba."

He's definitely not stupid. His previous actions were just a matter of habit. He hadn't issued a short-selling report on Tencent before, but he noticed Yu Xing's change in demeanor on the spot. Combined with the short-selling attributes and the fluctuations in Tencent's stock price, he figured out the approximate timing for shorting.

Tencent has experienced two major stock price declines in recent years: the 3Q War and Alibaba's acquisition of WeChat.

The former was beyond Yu Xing's control, while the latter was orchestrated by Yu Xing.

From the perspective of "overcoming the mountain peak," would Yu Xing let such an opportunity pass by?
Upon hearing the BOSS's assessment, the people in the conference room immediately began to discuss it again. They hadn't expected that there was another layer of hidden capital market secrets behind the events of the past. Indeed, shorting a mountain peak doesn't necessarily have to be done openly; it can be done secretly.

Ren Yuxi, who witnessed the true face of the short-selling king on this trip, waited until the discussion subsided before saying, "Carbon Silicon Group can no longer go public. Lingang will face great financial pressure. The founder's reputation often affects the public's attitude towards the company's products. Short selling has gone too far. Alibaba is already going all out to target Carbon Silicon's products, with Douyin being a key focus."

The Penguin team flew from Shanghai back to Shenzhen, while Alibaba returned to Lin'an. Therefore, the furious giant has already launched a highly efficient competition with silicon carbon, and this competition is going to be even more extreme.

It is said that Alibaba has made a statement to many channels, saying that it's either Alibaba or another, much like the "choose one of two" policy it previously used in the e-commerce sector.

This level of targeted scope is quite rare.

In the past, giants have often used such tactics, but they were usually limited to their core businesses. Now that they have expanded to traffic acquisition and promotion, it is clear that the number one giant is determined to succeed.

"I think Mr. Ma is also taking advantage of this momentum to gain a legitimate reason for his attack," Xu Chenye said with a smile. "Anyway, the opponent is a demonic behemoth, so we'll all fight side by side."

Tencent suffered a similar loss during the 3Q War, but fortunes change, and now it's time for carbon and silicon data.

Upon hearing Xu Chenye's description, Pony laughed and said, "The Demon King, the Demon King, Yu Xing is actually Ouyang Feng, the Western Poison."

Ren Yuxi commented, "He's an even more cunning Ouyang Feng from the Western Poison Sect!"

The competition between Tencent and Alibaba in the past has often been described as two Murong Fus using each other's methods, and this view is inseparable from Yu Xing's instigation back then.

Xu Chenye asked the last question he was curious about: "Pony, I saw online that you guys went to Yu Xing's office, and that someone from Qingtian was accused of forgery and a fight broke out?"

“No fight broke out.” Pony denied this statement, but then hesitated for a moment and shook his head, saying, “It seems that Ali and Fenzhong’s people went back again. I don’t know if they made a move, but President Yu used a loudspeaker that everyone could hear to chase after and mock them. I guess there will be some turmoil in the end.”

Xu Chenye felt a little regretful about this question. He had already gone, so why not stay until the very end and finish watching?

Regardless, the escalating conflict between silicon carbon and Alibaba is good news. Short videos are developing while they are arguing, and e-commerce is quietly supporting Pinduoduo. The market landscape will inevitably undergo significant changes in the next year or two.

After the Tencent executives finished their meeting, someone on WeChat Moments quoted the boss's evaluation, saying that Yu Xing was like Ouyang Feng, the Western Poison.

A martial arts-themed nickname is a label that spreads easily. For example, Alibaba's internal nicknames were like that in the early days. Ma Chuan himself was "Feng Qingyang". In recent years, the most influential nicknames are still the battles between Murong Fu and Murong Fu on WeChat and Wechat.

The post was widely circulated among Penguin executives' WeChat Moments. Xu Chenye, Ren Yuxi, and others thought it might become a viral label for Yu Xing. However, after Penguin's comments appeared on Zhihu and Baixiaosheng, another early label suddenly became popular again.

—Jiaxing Kezhen E!

Yu Xing's hometown is Haiyan, which is a county under Jiaxing. Back when he stood up against Tencent after the 3Q War, he was nicknamed "Jiaxing Ke Zhen'e". Many people disapproved of Tencent's "difficult decision" and felt that Wechat's copycat strategy was too ugly, so they gave Yu Xing the nickname of Zhen'e.

Ke Zhen'e was the leader of the Seven Freaks of Jiangnan. Regardless of his martial arts skills, the old blind man's reputation in the martial arts world was universally acknowledged. Even Yang Guo chose to believe Ke Zhen'e after hearing him say that his father, Yang Kang, was a villain, which speaks volumes.

Whether Guoshanfeng is now suspected of market manipulation or insider trading, since its inception, it has stated that companies that commit fraud have indeed engaged in various fraudulent activities, and its judgments are as valuable as those of the leader of the Seven Heroes of Jiangnan.

In a short time, Ouyang Feng, the Western Poison, only stirred up a ripple in public opinion before disappearing. Instead, similar nicknames such as "Ke Zhen'e of Jiaxing," "Yu Zhen'e of Haiyan," and "Ke Zhen'e of Lingang" appeared in the new trending searches of the media.

—There are no wrong names, only wrong nicknames. If Ke Zhen'e from Jiaxing says a company is counterfeiting, I will sell it off immediately without hesitation!
—I still hope that CEO Xin of Qingtian doesn't embarrass herself. She's currently a strong candidate to break the "Jiaxing Ke Zhen'e" reputation. As long as the stock price doesn't fall tomorrow—no, not just not fall, but doesn't plummet—CEO Yu's "Ke Zhen'e" reputation will automatically become invalid. —I now suspect that those people who brought CEO Xin into CEO Yu's office were all conspiring to set her up, just to screw her over!

—This is an enhanced version of Ke Zhen'e at the level of the Five Greats.

Pony noticed the shift in public opinion and was surprised that Yu Xing had such a good reputation among netizens.

He glanced at the time, and after much deliberation, sent a text message to Liu Chiping, whom he hadn't had much time to talk to today: "Martin, come back to Penguin. You're always welcome here."

Liu Chiping replied: "I'm fine here, no need to mention it again."

Pony sent another text message, bringing up old news: "Yu Xing may have shorted Tencent back then while Alibaba was acquiring WeChat. Do you think this is acceptable?"

Liu Chiping replied with four words: "I can accept it."

Pony stared at those four words, sighed deeply, and completely gave up the idea of ​​recruiting Liu Chiping back to Goose.

Monday night was fraught with tension.

Yu Xing is facing many troubles, and many of his plans have been disrupted. He even had to find someone to move his parents' house at the last minute. He also has to strengthen his security arrangements, as one can never be too careful.

While the companies targeted by short sellers may indeed have committed fraud, the losses suffered by those companies and their controlling shareholders are also real. Therefore, we must be wary of their desperate retaliation.

Aside from the listing of the Silicon Carbon Group and the safety of parents and family members, the news of the "King of Short Sellers" had just been transmitted to the other side of the ocean as daylight arrived.

The peak of short selling was last year's bloodbath in the automotive industry and the resulting chain reaction. It received just as much attention overseas as it did domestically, and naturally gained the same or even higher level of public attention.

Yu Xing received a series of interview requests from overseas media during the day, and the later it got, the more calls he received from major media outlets, including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Reuters, AFP, Asahi Shimbun, and Der Spiegel.

They are all authoritative media outlets with significant global influence.

This is indeed worthy of the mountain peak, and it is indeed a great trouble. On the contrary, the domestic media are basically local media or portal websites, and there is no interview from CCTV or other Beijing-based media.

At 11 p.m., Yu Xing saw the performance of his listed company—Baixiaosheng had fallen by 5 points…

This is truly an undeserved disaster...

Yu Xing is a major shareholder of Baixiaosheng, and this incident is likely to affect Baixiaosheng's listing. He will soon have to receive a letter of appeal.

He silently rubbed the corner of his eye, pondering the latest situation. A casual glance revealed a new message from his secretary: following the removal of reports from CCTV and other media outlets, the previously scheduled program "Let's Talk" had also been forced to cancel its recording due to scheduling conflicts.

A small incident, but one that reflects the cautious handling of complex business figures by authoritative domestic media.

Yu Xing naturally didn't care about being recorded or not. He lit a cigarette, quickly flipped through the important information, and found that overseas media had started to give him special reports even though they couldn't get his interview.

Compared to the solid evidence in China, overseas discussions are still about the effectiveness of this voiceprint identification, and of course, there is also much scrutiny and verification of one's multiple identities.

The fact that the king of short sellers is an Easterner has long been a highly probable trend, but the sudden revelation of this answer has had a similar impact both domestically and internationally.

Yu Xing browsed through the two reports and noticed some remaining questions.

After careful consideration, taking into account the Hong Kong Stock Exchange's three letters a day, he first simply listed the companies and times that Guoshanfeng had publicly shorted over the years, and then handed over the task of completing the "King of Short Sellers'" public statement to Red Falcon Capital.

Liu Wanying is in Hong Kong, which gives her more flexibility between the two places. With the official exposure of Guo Shanfeng's identity today, Red Falcon Capital immediately transformed into a subsidiary of Guo Shanfeng in a "wartime" temporary manner.

Regarding issues such as how to demonstrate the legitimacy of shorting Guoshanfeng, review the compliant flow of funds provided by Guoshanfeng, and respond to investigations by overseas supervisory agencies, Red Falcon Capital will handle all of these matters first.

What Guoshanfeng needs to do is firmly deny charges such as market manipulation.

Seeing that it was almost midnight, Yu Xing knew that his parents were probably still awake. After drinking a couple of sips of tea to soothe their throats, he made a comforting phone call and briefly explained the situation in the most relaxed tone possible.

Half an hour after the call ended, he was about to lock the screen when he saw a message from Zhou Hongyi of 360.

Zhou Hongyi: "President Yu, 360 has been targeted by short sellers for the past few years. Was that your doing?"

Although 360 has never been publicly shorted by Shanfeng, it has suffered from short selling several times in recent years. When Zhou Hongyi reflects on today's news late at night, such questions inevitably arise.

Yu Xing replied, "No."

Zhou Hongyi: "Really? I don't believe it. Do you have other short-selling institutions besides Guoshanfeng? Are all the confirmed cases handled by Guoshanfeng, and the unconfirmed ones handled by other institutions?"

Yu Xing chuckled, finding it quite logical.

His final reply was: "No need. If you shorted the peak, you wouldn't be so unaffected."

Zhou Hongyi: "Damn, I believe you!"

He did believe it. With the reputation of being the king of short sellers, just like the despair faced by the chairman of Qingtian Software, even if 360 didn't plummet, the drop wouldn't be small. If Guoshanfeng was solely focused on profit, he could use this reputation to do many things.

Zhou Hongyi believes that Guo Shanfeng does not not pursue profit, but only does not pursue it completely.

He posted a long message reminiscing about the past, but received no further response.

Zhou Hongyi waited for a long time but didn't receive a text message. She was a little annoyed, but when she browsed Weibo, she found that the chairman of Qingtian Software was already trying to contact President Yu everywhere.

Among today's explosive news stories, Huishan and Qingtian are likely to compete for the title of the most tragic figure, but most people still believe that Qingtian should be ranked first.

Huishan's public statement was confirmed by Mr. Yu's Weibo post. While this is certainly a dismal situation, its stock price had already been halved last Friday. This was merely a tentative explosion. Qingtian neither obtained a formal short-selling report from Shanfeng nor was it simply following the crowd...

Therefore, even the onlookers felt that Qingtian was in a terrible situation, and Chairman Xin Yingmei felt even more desperate.

She didn't leave Lingang, hoping that Mr. Ma could mediate, but he ignored her. She then tried to find a place to put pressure on him, but she heard that Huishan's methods hadn't worked. In the end, she could only turn back halfway and linger near the carbon silicon area, wanting to find Mr. Yu to back down.

Xin Yingmei had already given in on the spot, but she was still concerned about the opinions and views of others, and was eventually carried out of the office.

With that lift and that departure... I could no longer contact Mr. Yu, let alone see him in person.

Xin Yingmei even went to Lingang, hoping that they could help her arrange a meeting with President Yu, but she only received excuses.

She became increasingly panicked, and the rumors she saw fueled her despair. In the end, amidst a deluge of news and onlookers, she managed to get the company to issue a public statement clarifying the situation. She didn't dare mention the "King of Short Sellers" or the specific events that had occurred during the day; she simply stated that the rumors circulating online were untrue.

Day and night turned, and I was completely sleepless.

As the opening time of the Hong Kong stock market drew ever closer, Xin Yingmei's extreme panic turned into numbness. Amidst this numbness, a sliver of hope arose. After all, there was no official short-selling report on Guoshanfeng; it was all just rumors circulating at the moment, and the stock price might not necessarily perform so badly.

However, by 9:00 AM, during the pre-market trading session of the Hong Kong stock market, there was already a large number of panic sell orders submitted by investors for the stock of Qingtian Software.

Xin Yingmei stared intently at the fluctuating drop in the numbers. After a long while, she seemed to wake from a dream and tried to contact President Yu one last time, but the result was as cold as yesterday.

Hong Kong stocks opened sharply lower, plummeting by over 30% in just a few minutes, mirroring the 90% drop seen in Huishan Dairy over two days.

The stock performance of Hong Kong-listed company Skytech is probably the most watched stock in the history of the internet. When it plummeted as netizens wished, almost everyone cheered.

—This is clearly a battle of the Five Greats, why are you, a mere ghost from the Western Hills, getting involved?
—As expected, this is the short sellers' exit signal. Can you handle this 100% gold-medal signal from the king of short sellers?
—Damn, the market sentiment is terrifying…

There's a saying that even a fool's consensus is still a consensus; now, the consensus on the king of short sellers is also a consensus.

—With Zuo Huishan on the left and Qingtian on the right, the king of short sellers has returned to power!
The sharp drop in the stock price, amidst widespread consensus, became fodder for subsequent news reports about the "King of Short Sellers" in various media outlets.

At this juncture, the European legal team that bought tickets immediately after the mountain peak's identity was revealed yesterday has arrived in Shanghai, ready to provide the world's most professional legal support to the short-selling king.

At the same time, a user named Baixiaosheng, who had just suffered unfair treatment at his company, watched the stock price of Qingtian Software plummet and pondered the clues of his company's fraud. Suddenly, he fell into deep thought.

(End of this chapter)