What do you mean by quitting the business? I'm not a big shot.

Chapter 581 The Treasurer
Chen Jinfen gritted her teeth, leaned on her cane, and stood up: "Let's go!"

“Since Mr. Yin has the guts to open the door for us, how can we not dare to place an order? Wouldn’t we have lived in vain? I’ll go back to the company immediately and use the channels to let the public know that the transaction continues.”

"Hold on!"

The word "hold on" is easy to say but hard to do. Relying on Kowloon or Chaoshan alone is definitely not enough to withstand the Financial Secretary's decisions.

Chen Jinfen left the 8th floor and returned to the 12th floor. She first announced to the public and shareholders through the media and her stockbrokers that she did not agree with the market suspension and proposed that trading continue in the afternoon.

When Yin Zhaotang returned to his office, he picked up the phone and kept calling Hu Bochao, Liang Chaoying, Chen Weinan, Dong Jianhua and others, urging influential figures in society to step forward and apply for the market to reopen.

There's no time to visit the chamber of commerce leaders, councilors, and local gentry one by one. One phone call is all it takes: either you take it or you stay out of the way.

Rumors quickly spread throughout the community. Some said the market would open in the afternoon, while others said it wouldn't. Some investors genuinely thought the market was closed, while others hoped it would open so they could sell their stocks as soon as possible.

He brought a glass of water over with his left hand, placed it on the table, and said to the big boss who had just finished a phone call, "Have a glass of water first, Brother Tang."

Yin Zhaotang picked up the cup, took a big gulp, and nodded, saying, "Thank you."

"Spotting?"

"Will the market open this afternoon?" Zuo Shou's eyes were filled with anxiety, his hopes fading. Getting the market to open in the afternoon wasn't as simple as breaking down the locks on the trading floor.

As the owner of the trading building, she has the key to her office. But the stock trading system is locked. Whether major companies and investment institutions dare to trade, and whether individual investors dare to trade, is another matter entirely. Even if Chen Jinfen stakes her reputation and gets councilors and local gentry to endorse her, it doesn't mean she can persuade the investors.

Conversely, as long as a sufficient number of investors dare to trade, the Financial Secretary's order to suspend trading is useless. So what if the Kowloon Club and the Gold and Silver Club step in to take orders, violating the Securities Exchange Control Ordinance? At worst, they'll be fined!
Looking at his left hand, Yin Zhaotang smiled easily and comforted him, "Just do your best. Success or failure depends on people's hearts. At 2 p.m., Mr. Chen will have six signs put up at the entrance of the trading hall, updating the Sydney, London, Toronto, Tokyo, Seoul and Dow Jones in real time."

"The TV station will send reporters. In short, if someone comes to make a deal, we'll take the order. Tell Zeng Jingfu to arrange security properly, and be careful that no one tries to cause trouble."

He nodded with his left hand: "I understand, boss."

Outside the trading plaza, shop representatives who were having lunch after receiving a notice of market closure suddenly received calls from their company: "Stay in the trading hall; trading may resume this afternoon."

Amidst the flurry of rumors and confusion, the branch representatives gradually returned to the trading hall. By then, the Kowloon Club traders had brought in eight whiteboards and placed them at the entrance of the hall.

The chart displays closing data for the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the Straits Times Index, the FTSE 100, the Nikkei 225, the Sydney Composite Index, the KOSPI, and the Toronto Composite Index.

Different countries have different opening times; Japan and South Korea have already opened their markets. Traders in front of the whiteboard record the index every two minutes based on messages transmitted through their earpieces.

"The Nikkei 225 index in Tokyo fell 200 points."

The Seoul KOSPI index fell 70 points.

The Straits Times Index fell 120 points.

They provided concrete evidence that although the Hong Kong stock market was closed, the stock market crash continued. Representatives from various trading companies looked visibly agitated, and one couldn't help but ask, "How do I place a sell order?" "Go to the trading hall and place your order through the computer system," Chen Jinfen explained as she appeared on the scene.

"Let's go into the hall and continue the transaction!"

"That's right, how can the market be closed when a stock market crash is coming?"

"Li Fuzhao and Zhai Kecheng are two lunatics, trying to smother me?" With a respected senior figure taking charge, the traders' morale soared, and they flocked back to the exchange to return to their original positions.

Seeing trading continue, retail investors couldn't contain themselves and rushed into the trading hall. In the offices of various trading companies, traders, seeing that the systems were still operational, didn't want to miss the opportunity and immediately began processing trades. Gradually, everyone came to their senses, realizing that the market closure was merely a pretext to facilitate large investors' escape.

Retail investors, unaware of the power struggle between the Chamber of Commerce and the Hong Kong government, were in a state of panic, and the trading company's phone lines were ringing off the hook.

Li Fuzhao, dressed in a suit, was eating a boxed lunch at the tea table in the Financial Secretary's office when he suddenly received a phone call. He gave a few serious replies and then looked at Zhai Kecheng across from him: "Financial Secretary, the Chaoshan Chamber of Commerce and the Kowloon Association are colluding and calling on Chinese capital to violate the market closure notice. They have occupied the trading hall and are conducting stock trading."

Zhai Kecheng's blue eyes flashed with displeasure. He pressed the accounting button on the landline, summoned his secretary, and instructed, "Call the police station and tell them to go to the trading square to arrest the person!"

"Yes, sir!" the secretary bowed and immediately turned around.

Zhai Kecheng started as a legal assistant in the Hong Kong government. In recent years, he was promoted by Governor Youde and transferred from a business position to an administrative position. He is a foreigner who graduated with a law degree.

He first served as Secretary for Economic Affairs, enjoying the treatment of a Class A Chief Executive, and was then promoted to Financial Secretary, becoming the number two figure in the Hong Kong government. He was a staunch supporter of Edward Youde's policy of "expanding British capital and giving back to the ancestral homeland," and was the actual person in charge of the "four-in-one" system.

To ensure the Far East Consortium's continued dominance in the stock market and to maintain its position as chairman of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, Li Fuzhao had already become friends with Zhai Kecheng.

Li Fuzhao cautiously reminded him, "Master Cai, the Chaozhou Chamber of Commerce President Yin Zhaotang has a background in the underworld and his connections with the North are quite different. The police have always been on good terms with them, so the Commercial Crime Bureau probably can't handle it."

Zhai Kecheng raised his hand and called to his secretary, "Call the ICAC to come along!"

"Yes, sir!"

Li Fuzhao's expression immediately relaxed, and he lowered his head to eat, chatting and laughing with the Finance Minister. Meanwhile, the Hong Kong government's order had been given, and Yin Zhaotang received the news, calling over Zuo Shou and saying, "The Commercial Crime Bureau is coming soon; hand over two brothers."

With a cigarette dangling from his left hand and his arms crossed, he leaned against the wall and said, "Don't worry, they're all brothers from the Zhi Guild. We won't make things difficult for them."

When you run into the police, the only tactic is to stall, until the stock market closes today.

In less than half an hour, the police arrived, and Lao Zhong obediently handed over the men. The Commercial Crime Bureau had fewer than two hundred officers in total, while the trading hall held over three hundred store representatives. Without orders from the top officer, taking two back was enough to shut the foreigners up. As for how the higher-ups argued with the foreigners, that was none of their business.

Just as Senior Inspector Yao Xuhong and his team were getting into their car, two ICAC official vehicles suddenly stopped in front of the Exchange Square gate, drawing their attention away from them.

(End of this chapter)