I changed the world.

"Hey, President Wang... no, listen to me, please increase my limit a bit more, don't force liquidation..."

"No... listen to me, with such a large amount of money on hand, I wouldn't owe your bank any money..."

"No...no...just give me another 10%...please don't force a liquidation..."

"Hello? Hello?..."

"Damn it!!!" Gu Haowen slammed his phone to the ground, breathing heavily. After a while, he rubbed his face vigorously, reached for the coffee on his desk, and took a big gulp. The coffee had already gone cold, but he didn't notice at all.

A somber atmosphere filled the office. Everyone, including Gu Haowen, looked haggard with bloodshot eyes, clearly having stayed up all night again.

As a star fund manager, Gu Haowen manages two main funds under his company, one of which is an equity fund and the other is a mixed investment fund. Last year, his equity fund ranked fifth in the industry with a gain of 62%, while his mixed investment fund also ranked among the top in the industry with a gain of 36%.

With his aggressive investment strategy, employing compound leverage to amplify the returns from stock investments, Gu Haowen's stock investment products have maintained an annual return of over 50% for the past three years, far exceeding the industry average. As a result, numerous accolades have followed. Earlier this year, he was interviewed by Fortune magazine and hailed as "the best fund manager of the new generation." This has brought with it a glamorous lifestyle and immense wealth, with numerous investors scrambling to buy his funds. Even after the funds closed, some investors called the investment company, pleading to entrust their money to him for management.

Having tasted success, his investment style became increasingly aggressive. Especially with the increase in his capital, he particularly favored investing in leading aerospace technology companies, even going so far as to manipulate their stock prices. This was partly due to the widespread need among technology companies to boost their stock prices, as the executives of these companies often hold significant wealth in the form of equity, making stock price manipulation beneficial to them and, consequently, to investors. Secondly, aerospace technology companies involve heavy asset investment, making entry and exit relatively easy for a large fund like Gu Haowen's.

After all, large-scale capital operations differ from ordinary retail investor investments. Stocks with market capitalizations of hundreds of millions, billions, or even tens of billions are too small for large funds. For them, the price rises immediately after buying and falls immediately after selling, lacking counterparties for trading, making it impossible to manipulate the market. It's like how whales can't be kept in a bathtub; the only suitable environment for whales is the ocean.

Of course, it wasn't that no one warned him about the risks involved. After all, technology stocks have generally seen significant gains and are mostly at historical highs. Coupled with the huge risks brought about by high leverage, it is easy for him to be liquidated if the market experiences significant fluctuations.

Gu Haowen completely ignored these warnings. He only knew that one could not succeed without being obsessed. If it weren't for this aggressive operating strategy, how could a college graduate from a small city like Songjiang have gained a foothold in the highly competitive financial industry in just a few years?

Therefore, a calligraphy framed with the words "Only by striving can you win" hangs in Gu Haowen's office all year round.

However, unexpectedly, everything changed in just a few days. Due to a lack of sufficient funds and high leverage, the stock funds he managed experienced consecutive margin calls during the recent market downturn. Currently, the stock funds have fallen by a cumulative 79%, and the mixed investment funds have fallen by 56%.

Because the stock market decline exceeded expectations, the previously prepared reserve funds vanished like snow in spring. After a series of margin calls, he had to beg and plead with each bank to increase his loan amount and to loosen the limits on forced liquidation.

Volume Two: The Truth Hidden Behind History Books: Chapter 1048 An Interview with Mr. An Zhengquan

However, at this time, those bank executives who used to call him brother and even begged him to lend them more money either changed their tune or simply avoided him. In short, they talked about risk control and fund security all the time, and not one of them was willing to lend him money...

The general manager of the investment company has also been out looking for money these past few days, probably because he doesn't want to see the company in such a chaotic state. In short, he hasn't been seen in the past few days, and although he's said to be looking for money, he hasn't managed to find a single penny.

He overheard some of his subordinates discussing yesterday that the general manager had already left the company premises...

As for customer service, the investment company's phones have been ringing off the hook these past few days, almost entirely with calls from investors questioning and even hurling insults, as well as demands for redemption or even compensation...

It's said that yesterday, many customer service staff were brought to tears by the verbal abuse, and two people even submitted their resignations due to excessive pressure...

If it were just a matter of cursing customer service, that would be fine. But what worries Gu Haowen the most is that he has received a court summons, as some investors have jointly launched a lawsuit against him.

Unlike Zhang Jing's previous life, the rules of the Great Zhao financial market in this world stipulate that if an investment fund suffers significant losses, the fund manager may be subject to accountability review, requiring them to prove whether they have fulfilled their duties and obligations. If there are violations of laws and regulations or misconduct towards investors, investors or regulatory agencies may file lawsuits against the fund manager, demanding compensation for losses or payment of fines.

It must be said that, as a fund manager, he did engage in some borderline practices during his operations. In fact, given the large amount of capital he managed, it was unavoidable that he might have colluded with the companies he invested in.

Of course, that's not the most important thing. The most crucial point is that the financial industry is one that places extreme importance on reputation. After all, this involves real money, and no investor would entrust their money to a company with a bad reputation.

Therefore, Gu Haowen knew that even if he could pass this test smoothly, his reputation as a star fund manager in the industry would be ruined, and the days of gathering such a large amount of funds and making a fortune like before would be over.

Thinking about all the effort he had put in to increase his fame, including hiring online trolls to create hype, and how all that effort had now been wiped out, he felt depressed.

However... on the other hand, at least he still made money. As long as he can win the lawsuit, even if he loses all his money, it's still the client's money. In the past few years, his commission alone has exceeded nine figures. Even if he retires from this business, he can live a life of comfort and ease.

Thinking about this, he couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. From another perspective, retiring early wasn't so bad; financial freedom awaited him in the not-too-distant future...

The only concern is how to deal with those customers...

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"Boss, look! Mr. An Zhengquan's interview is on the homepage of Qianluo.com!" Analyst Luo Yong, who was sitting not far from Gu Haowen in the open-plan office, walked quickly to his side, his voice filled with anticipation.

Gu Haowen, who was staring blankly at the vast expanse of green stock, mechanically opened the homepage of Qianluo.com upon hearing this. Sure enough, the homepage title was a personal interview marked with a red "Important" tag.

Upon opening it, I found it was an interview program called "Up Close," where each episode interviews well-known figures in society. This time, the interviewee was An Zhengquan, the chairman of the board of directors of Qianluo Group.

Prior to this, An Zhengquan, the chairman of the board of directors of Qianluo Group, was extremely low-profile and rarely appeared in the public eye. He also rarely gave special interviews.

This time, Qianluo Group, which just announced its investment in Southern Bank, has undoubtedly dropped a bomb in today's stagnant capital market. Therefore, this interview at this moment is bound to attract attention.

Gu Haowen immediately opened the video and started watching.

In the video, An Zhengling, dressed simply and wearing cloth shoes, answered many questions from the host with an extremely sincere demeanor. He spent a significant portion of the video recounting his past experiences of starting from scratch and his family's modest childhood, sharing many relatable moments with ordinary people.

An Zhengquan did not mince words regarding the current economic situation, offering a relatively optimistic view. He humorously remarked that he was "voting with money," and that investing in Southern Bank was his vote on the future economy.

Of course, he also stated during this period that economic development is not linear, and the capital market had previously shown signs of overheating. The current decline is clearly a correction of this overheating. As for whether the deep space exploration concept, which many economists are currently discussing, is a "bubble" or a "scam," An Zhengquan claimed that he started in the internet industry and doesn't know much about aerospace. However, in his view, human development will inevitably lead to technological progress, and technological progress will in turn support human development. In the long run, venturing into deep space is a necessary process for humanity to become an interstellar civilization, much like a baby leaving the womb. Therefore, the claim that it is a "scam" is unfounded.

Of course, the market has already provided the answer to whether the current situation constitutes a "bubble." An Zhengquan also discussed his views on market correction mechanisms, believing that the market itself has both rational and irrational aspects; it is rational in the long run, but often exhibits irrationality in the short term. The market is like a river, and everyone is a boat in this river. The difference lies in the fact that Qianluo Group's boat may be larger, while an ordinary person's boat may be smaller, but the essence is the same…

Finally, An Zhengquan devoted considerable time to discussing his views on social responsibility, believing that companies must shoulder social responsibility, and that with great power comes great responsibility. Therefore, he pledged to further increase the group's annual investment in charity and public welfare, and to allocate funds for so-called "contrarian investing," making long-term investments in "valuable" companies to help them weather the current volatile capital market.

......................................................

In conclusion, after watching the entire interview, it seems that something was revealed, but not much was gained. However, in general, Gu Haowen believes that this interview should be considered "positive," since at this difficult time, the fact that a large group like Qianluo Group is investing in the banking industry is essentially a sign of optimism about the capital market.

Volume Two: The Truth Hidden Behind the History Books: Chapter 1049 Capturing Gu Haowen

However, it must be said that at this point in time, any positive news may be over-interpreted by the market, because this is seen as a lifeline by many people. Therefore, by the time Gu Haowen finished watching the video, there were already hundreds of comments in the video's comment section.

"Mr. An is also optimistic about the stock market; it seems it has truly bottomed out!! (Applause)"

"Qianluo is a responsible company, and Mr. An truly deserves to be called one of the most visionary entrepreneurs in China!!!"

"The banking sector is about to rise, right? Southern Bank is up 5% today, I wonder if it will hit the daily limit by the end of the day..."

"A big shot has entered the market! I feel like it's hit rock bottom... Please help me get out of this mess!!! (Tears) (Tears)"

..............................

"Don't be too optimistic. I feel like they're just making a purely financial investment. Don't be too optimistic; the yearly and monthly charts are both huge pits, and they're far from bottoming out..."

"The person upstairs is a jinx!!! Get lost! %￥*＆…………"

Overall, the comments below are mostly praising the stock market, with a significant portion hoping for a bottoming out, and some supporting Qianluo Group or Mr. An. Of course, it's also possible that many of these comments are artificially inflated by paid commenters, after all, this is Qianluo.com...

"Boss, the banking sector is up!!!" A colleague suddenly exclaimed from the side of the office. Gu Haowen quickly switched the screen to the banking sector and found that the entire sector had risen by two points, with Southern Bank leading the gains, already up more than 6%...

Gu Haowen watched the still fluctuating chart, his expression remaining completely unchanged...

He knew perfectly well that the problems his fund was facing were far beyond what a rise in bank stocks could solve.

Furthermore, even though banks saw an increase, other sectors did not show any signs of following suit, and my holdings are mostly technology stocks…

Actually... even if the prices rebound now, those stocks I've already liquidated are meaningless...

Let's think about what to do next...

That said, since I still have a large sum of money on hand, I can do some arbitrage to accumulate some "retirement money" for myself...

Hmm... insider trading is too dangerous. I should talk to those listed companies again. At this stage, many companies want me to prop up their markets...

His eyes were still on the trading screen, but his thoughts had already flown to another dimension...

Just then, a loud argument erupted in the distance, accompanied by the company receptionist's desperate screams...

Gu Haowen turned his head away, somewhat puzzled...

Then a short, young female employee rushed towards him, shouting in a panic, "Mr. Gu, something bad has happened... something bad has happened..."

"Wha...what happened?" Gu Haowen asked, his eyes red as he looked at the female employee. He recognized her immediately as an intern who had joined the company two months ago. Back then, he had encouraged her to work hard and strive for financial freedom before she turned thirty...

“There were so many customers, so many customers, all coming to the company entrance. The security guards couldn’t stop them, and they were trying to rush in…” The female employee seemed a little afraid of Gu Haowen’s bloodshot eyes, and turned her head away from his gaze, murmuring.

"How...how could this be..." Gu Haowen suddenly realized that his throat was extremely hoarse.

"They said they wanted to get their money back..." As the female employee was speaking, she saw several security guards and receptionists being pushed back into the office area, followed by a group of people of different ages and clothing who rushed in.

Gu Haowen instinctively lowered his head, intending to leave. He immediately understood what had happened. His funds were all closed-end funds, which, theoretically, wouldn't be open for redemption until the lock-up period ended. However, the funds had fallen so sharply in the early stages that clients had completely lost faith in him. In the past few days, whether online or through phone calls to the company, all the requests were for early redemption.

From Gu Haowen's perspective, if he were to redeem the property now, his reputation would be completely ruined; he wanted to take a gamble...

only……

He watched the people rushing into the office area, then lowered his head and strode quickly towards the side door; he needed to leave first…

However, the photos that had been widely publicized online gave him away. Among those who rushed into the office area, someone clearly recognized him, pointing at him and shouting, "That's him! Gu Haowen is over there! Grab him! He's trying to run away!!!"

Immediately, a large number of people rushed towards Gu Haowen's direction. Seeing that the situation was not good, Gu Haowen turned and ran...

Seeing Gu Haowen flee, the people who had rushed into the office area became even more enraged, shouting and chasing after him...