Reborn as a landlord in Shanghai

Chapter 126 The Mid-Autumn Festival Phone Call

"By the way, you just mentioned someone causing trouble in the Tencent stock market. What's going on?"

Suddenly, Ma Huateng calmly recalled what Zhang Lei had just said, mentioning a certain person. This alerted Ma Huateng, and he couldn't help but ask.

Upon hearing Ma Huateng's question, Zhang Lei couldn't help but think of Mao Xiaoyu's smiling face, and then of the money she had made from him. His mood, which had been quite good, suddenly soured.

"How should I put it? He's a very, very cunning kid, but anyone who underestimates him will definitely suffer the consequences," Zhang Lei said helplessly.

"Oh? Now that you mention it, I'm even more curious. Did this kid cause you any trouble?" Ma Huateng asked curiously after hearing Zhang Lei's words.

"I suffered a small loss because my Hillhouse Capital doesn't have many people, so I suffered a great loss in the stock market when acquiring Tencent's shares. In addition, he has been manipulating Tencent's stock for some time."

So my acquisition was very difficult. In the end, in order to acquire enough Tencent shares, I found an intermediary and bought 10 million Tencent shares from him.

Little did I know that the stocks I bought from him would be used by him to sell tens of millions of shares over the next few days in an attempt to drive down Tencent's stock price. This ultimately caused Tencent's stock to plummet.

"He must have bought back quite a few at a low price later. More importantly, judging from the Tencent shares he sold, he probably owns more shares than I do, not fewer," Zhang Lei said quietly.

Of course, there are some inaccuracies. For example, Mao Xiaoyu did not sell tens of millions of shares, but because Mao Xiaoyu sold more than 1000 million shares, it triggered others to sell, which made it appear as tens of millions of shares. However, Zhang Lei directly attributed it to Mao Xiaoyu.

In Zhang Lei's view, if Mao Xiaoyu was portrayed as even more formidable, Ma Huateng would pay more attention to her in the future. If Mao Xiaoyu tried to profit from Tencent's stock, Ma Huateng would definitely be more wary. This way, Mao Xiaoyu's future attempts to profit from Tencent's stock would be less likely to succeed.

Making money online is never easy.

"He dumped tens of millions of shares at once?" Ma Huateng asked, startled.

"Pretty much. According to the data analysis, if we look at the time pattern, he sold at least 10 million shares of Tencent stock. If we go a bit deeper, it could be 20 to 30 million shares. After all, he drove down the entire Tencent stock market in those two days. That's not something a small number of shares can bring down." Zhang Lei's words were also skillful, mixing truth and falsehood, leaving Ma Huateng to analyze it himself.

"He's not very old, much younger than the two of us. Judging from his appearance, he's only about 18 or 20 years old. You don't know, the first time I saw him, I actually went to his school to find him. He was still studying at the time. And what you won't believe is that he's not from Hong Kong, he's actually from the mainland." Zhang Lei couldn't help but complain.

"So young?" Ma Huateng asked, somewhat surprised.

"To be honest, even I can't believe it. When I bought his stock, we were trading hundreds of millions of Hong Kong dollars. That guy didn't even blink. He agreed after only half an hour of talking. And to make sure I had class the next day, he traded the stock with me that very night. That was incredibly fast."

Then the next day, he directly dumped shares, driving down the entire Tencent stock price. After two days of this, the stock price dropped by more than two yuan. Then, you could see that he started accumulating Tencent shares. Judging from this series of operations, he was simply a master in the stock market.

You see, I initially planned to buy Tencent shares on the secondary market, but after two and a half days, I hadn't acquired many shares, and Tencent's stock price jumped by 2.5 yuan. How could I possibly buy any more? I had to find an intermediary and buy 10 million Tencent shares from him to finally acquire the Tencent stock.

Later, seeing how much he dumped shares, I realized that this guy must have been holding onto Tencent's stock all along, and no one else could touch it. I just jumped in headfirst and got ripped off again and again. Thinking about it, I feel like I lost a lot.

"That's why I wanted you to acquire Tencent's stock in the company's name. It's because of him. Otherwise, whoever buys Tencent's stock in the future will be in trouble. Tencent's stock is unlikely to rise much, and even if it does, he'll end up taking the biggest cut. Since that's the case, it's better to use the company to break this deadlock and make him back down," Zhang Lei analyzed.

Hearing Zhang Lei's words, Ma Huateng felt that the matter was even more serious. Ma Huateng already had a very strong desire to control Tencent, and now that someone was stirring up trouble in Tencent's stock, Ma Huateng certainly couldn't let someone do that to him.

Therefore, he secretly decided to have the company spend one or two hundred million Hong Kong dollars to acquire Tencent's shares on the secondary market. This way, shareholders would have a stable channel to sell their shares and would not let the stock price rise or fall drastically.

"What's this person's name?" Ma Huateng finally asked Mao Xiaoyu's name.

"Mao Xiaoyu, surnamed Mao, is a very rare surname," Zhang Lei said.

"Let's meet this young man you mentioned, Mao Xiaoyu, sometime when we have the chance. If possible, let's become friends, so we don't cause any trouble with Tencent's stock," Ma Huateng said quietly.

Hearing Ma Huateng's voice, Zhang Lei was delighted. This was exactly the feeling he wanted: if he wasn't having an easy time, Mao Xiaoyu wouldn't be either.

The two then talked a lot about Mao Xiaoyu, and of course, Zhang Lei secretly complained a lot about Mao Xiaoyu.

"Achoo, achoo."

Mao Xiaoyu sneezed twice, rubbing her nose as she muttered to herself who was talking about her behind her back.

Today is September 18th, the Mid-Autumn Festival. It's already the last two days of mid-September, and Mao Xiaoyu knows she's about to break her promise again.

Originally, Mao Xiaoyu planned to attend school casually and then travel back to Shanghai for a few days in mid-September. However, despite her good intentions, time did not allow it. With the intense studying every day, Mao Xiaoyu forgot about the plan.

In fact, the average college student has a pretty comfortable life, but Mao Xiaoyu is studying too much. She has three courses, which keeps her busy from morning till night. In addition, Mao Xiaoyu has never studied any of these subjects before, which means that she has to learn a lot of things here and there.

Even on Sundays, the school would arrange filming, so Mao Xiaoyu's schedule was packed every week, leaving her no time to go back.

According to the original plan, she should have called her parents yesterday, but since she didn't go back and today is the Mid-Autumn Festival, Mao Xiaoyu sent the gifts back a few days ago to make up for the missed holiday.

This is Mao Xiaoyu's first time sending something from Hong Kong to Shanghai. The price is really expensive, and some items even have to be taxed. But no matter how expensive it is, it's a token of her affection.

This morning, the three-person filming team worked tirelessly for half the day to finish shooting all the footage. They were given a short break in the afternoon; Mao Xiaoyu took a nap at home, and upon waking, she couldn't stop sneezing. She wondered who was talking about her behind her back. How shameless!

Now that she was awake, Mao Xiaoyu called home, and as always, she called Mao Jun.

"Dad, Happy Mid-Autumn Festival!" Mao Xiaoyu shouted as soon as the call connected.

"Didn't you say you were coming back in mid-September? You didn't come back in person, but you brought back a big package. I thought you packed yourself up and sent yourself back," Mao Jun said irritably on the phone.

"Isn't school tiring? The classes are so tight every day, and the teachers don't give us holidays. What am I supposed to do? Have you seen those photos? To ease your longing, I took some photos with my classmates at school and sent them all back at once. Now you should believe I'm studying here, right?" Mao Xiaoyu boasted.

"Pah, pah, pah, what love-sickness? Who loves you? With your face, who would want you?" Mao Jun said rudely.

"Fine, if you don't miss me, fine. I miss you all. Didn't you see how many gifts I sent back to you so you could have a good Mid-Autumn Festival?" Mao Xiaoyu retorted.

"Speaking of gifts, I feel that the gifts you bought were not cheap. The cosmetics you bought for your mother are all English brands. Just by looking at the packaging, you can tell they are not ordinary things."

And the gift you bought for me was a Rolex watch! I was wondering if it was real or fake. It looks real, but I also wondered, do you really have that much money to buy a Rolex as a gift for me?

And there's something even more important: you and your sister bought about 10 Barbie dolls at once. You really have money, don't you?

You actually bought Barbie dolls, ten or more at a time? Did you buy them wholesale?

"And all those other gifts, like snacks and local specialties, these random things aren't worth much. How much will it cost to send them back? It's such a waste of money." Mao Jun kept complaining on the phone.

Hearing her father's complaints, Mao Xiaoyu actually felt quite warm. At least her father cared about her gift, and it was clear that everyone had received it.

This time, Mao Xiaoyu spent a lot of money on gifts. Her father's Rolex alone cost more than HK$4, her mother's cosmetics cost more than HK$3, and even her sister's 10 Barbie dolls cost more than HK$2. In addition to the miscellaneous gifts, postage, and luxury tax, the total cost was HK$15.

Despite spending so much money, Mao Xiaoyu was still quite satisfied. After all, she had earned her own money, and it was normal to buy gifts for her family. She could be a little frugal herself, but it was best to treat her family better.

"Alright, alright, it's just a little gift, why are you making such a fuss? Don't you know it's easy to make money in Hong Kong? Don't think that we work hard to earn 1 or 2 at home. People here in Hong Kong earn much more than we do."

The money for the gifts is what I've earned recently. I'll use the gifts that are useful, bring the ones that are appropriate, and play with the ones that are fun. Otherwise, it won't be fun if the cosmetics expire, the watches become outdated, and my Barbie doll gets too old to play with anymore.

"I won't be able to come back in September. School in Hong Kong ends around December 18th, which is about 10 days. I'll come back then. I called today to wish my parents a happy Mid-Autumn Festival," Mao Xiaoyu said with a smile.

"Take care of yourself out there, kid. Your parents don't need these gifts. As long as you're doing well, that's all that matters. Since you're in school, study hard. When you graduate, you'll be able to find a good job." Mao Jun said with a sigh after hearing his son's words.

"Don't think too much about it. I know what the future holds. Just take good care of yourself and Mom. I'll give you a big surprise when I come back this time," Mao Xiaoyu said.

"What a surprise! Do you have a girlfriend? Are you planning to bring her back this time?" Mao Jun asked curiously.

"No, it's not that early. Besides, girls in Hong Kong are very materialistic. How can you have a girlfriend if you don't have money?" Mao Xiaoyu said jokingly.

"Since I don't have a girlfriend yet, what kind of big surprises can there be? I can't feel any other kind of surprises," Mao Jun said dejectedly.

"Sigh, alright, alright, let's ask Mom and my sister to answer the phone. I want to wish them a happy Mid-Autumn Festival too," Mao Xiaoyu said speechlessly.

"Okay, okay, okay, you wait." After saying that, Mao Jun took his phone and went to find his wife and daughter.

"You little brat, you finally called back." After waiting for more than ten seconds, Mao Xiaoyu's mother started cursing on the phone.

"Happy Mid-Autumn Festival, Mom," Mao Xiaoyu said, trying to coax him.

Next, Mao Xiaoyu had a long chat with her mother and younger sister, showering them with compliments. When they got to the point where Mao Jun called out that they were out of phone credit, she reluctantly hung up the phone.

Since it was still early, Mao Xiaoyu called Guo Xiaoyan, Li Mingyue, and Liu Yue to ask about work and wish them a happy Mid-Autumn Festival.

After finishing with the others, Mao Xiaoyu called Yang Ying and the two talked on the phone for half an hour before they finished.

Seeing that she had finally finished the call, Mao Xiaoyu tossed her phone onto the bed, as if she had completed a task and was done.

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