Reborn in 2012, building a new energy empire

Li Zhenyu also noticed Chen Zian's unusual behavior and followed his gaze. With a "whoosh," the wine glass in his hand tilted, and the wine almost spilled.

Next was Wang Hao. He leaned forward, gasped, and muttered, "Holy crap!"

The previously noisy booth quickly fell into an eerie silence, centered around Jiang Haoran. Only the background music continued to play incongruously.

Jiang Haoran seemed to be "awakened" by the unusual silence. He raised his head, looked at everyone with a hint of doubt, and then followed their frozen gaze to the "surprise" on his phone.

On the screen, the futures account's position page prominently displayed soybean meal 1301, 500 long positions, with a profit of 101 million. The huge unrealized profit figure was like a silent flame, scorching the eyes of everyone who saw it.

A fleeting, perfectly timed look of surprise and annoyance crossed his face, as if he regretted inadvertently revealing a secret.

He flicked his finger, quickly turned off the screen, placed the phone face down on the table, smiled, and tried to cover it up with a relaxed tone: "Nothing, just checking the overseas market tonight."

But it was too late.

"Jiang...Brother Jiang..." Zhao Rui's voice was hoarse, and his finger trembled slightly as he pointed to the table, "That...that was your account just now?"

"Holding 500 long positions in soybean meal, an agricultural product, has already yielded a floating profit of one million," Li Zhenyu's voice changed, he was also shocked by the terrifying profit.

Wang Hao voiced everyone's thoughts: "Haoran, you're not investing... you're robbing people!"

Chen Zian didn't speak, but the way he looked at Jiang Haoran again was completely different.

It was no longer about observing an insightful classmate, but about examining a living, breathing money-printing machine, a miracle itself.

Zhou Mingyu took in everyone's reactions. He suppressed his shock, didn't look at his phone, and kept his gaze fixed on Jiang Haoran's face, observing the subtle changes in his expression from "focus" to "surprise" and then to "attempt to hide".

It was so natural, so natural that it didn't seem like a carefully planned show. But the more natural it was, the more astonishing the impact of that fleeting glimpse became.

"Well, actually... I just put into practice that little bit of 'weather logic' theory that I'd been tinkering with before. About ten days ago, I thought the position and odds were okay, so I invested around 100,000 yuan."

He put down his glass and unconsciously traced the rim with his finger. "Later, I was really lucky. There were signs of weather speculation in North America, and the arrival and unloading of our imported soybeans were not smooth at that time. All these factors came together, and hot money in the market also flocked in... I was lucky to catch it."

He spoke casually, simplifying a trade that was precise in its vision, shrewd in its execution, and yielded a tenfold return in just over half a month into the bland phrase "good luck," as if the astonishing return was merely a byproduct of following the trend.

This effortless and understated approach is far more persuasive than any eloquent or impassioned argument.

"In just over ten days, the account balance increased tenfold." Zhou Mingyu's voice was soft, but every word was clear. "The average daily compound growth rate exceeded 13%. Even if you were fully invested the whole time, it would be hard to imagine such a return."

"With your returns and real-money trading skills, I now believe that the rumors circulating at the school might even be an understatement."

"I was lucky." Jiang Haoran took a sip.

"How did you come to be so bullish on soybean meal this time? What was your logic?" Chen Zian couldn't help but ask, his eyes behind his glasses gleaming with an almost fanatical light.

"Our finance department also reviewed the market at the time. The consensus was that demand was weak, port inventories were accumulating, and the technical indicators didn't really support a rebound. Your entry point was almost at the lowest point. Why?"

Jiang Haoran remained silent for a few seconds.

The booths were so quiet you could hear the faint sound of ice melting.

"What you call consensus is often not necessarily correct. A lot of information is what others want you to see. The market trend is the correct one." He finally spoke, his pace calm.

"The news you're seeing—weak demand, poor macroeconomic conditions, and accumulating port inventories—is not necessarily true. The market is generally counterintuitive."

"But I caught an unusual piece of news: soybean meal is heavily reliant on imports, this year is the year of the El Niño phenomenon, and the United States, the main soybean producing country, has begun to hype up drought, while the USDA report shows that the planted area has decreased by 7% year-on-year."

"The number of live pigs in China actually bottomed out and rebounded in March, but the data was lagging. My team and I found through investigation that the demand for feed has been expanding."

Finally, the interest rate cuts left a large amount of capital without channels for speculation, and agricultural products happen to be the most vulnerable to short-term weather conditions.

"So I started building a long position." Jiang Haoran took a sip.

"USDA reports can be edited, and customs data can be delayed, but cargo ships at ports don't lie, and the length of truck queues at feed mills doesn't lie. Our team has been to the port three times and dined with purchasing managers from three feed mills. Actual investigation is always more reliable than research reports."

Chen Zian opened his mouth, only to find that the data, models, and reports he was usually so proud of suddenly lost all their luster and became pale and abstract in the face of Jiang Haoran's casual "counterintuitive" actual investigation.

These students in their ivory towers are still immersed in the carefully crafted research reports of their institutions, while the other side has already dived beneath the surface to touch the most real and raw gears driving the market.

"However, it's not too late now." Jiang Haoran changed the subject, his gaze sweeping over every young and eager face present. His tone became casual, yet carried an undeniable certainty.

"In my personal opinion, this rally in soybean meal prices, driven by a combination of fundamentals and capital flows, is far from over."

He picked up his glass and examined the amber liquid under the light, as if he could see the patterns in the candlestick chart: "This short-term drop is just a prelude to a better rise; this position is the golden pit."

"Based on technical indicators and the current position structure, it is highly likely that this is just a pullback to confirm the bottom and build a more solid temporary bottom before turning upwards."

His fingers tapped lightly twice on the cold, solid wood table, highlighting the key point: "The 3350 to 3450 range is a very important zone for the shift between bullish and bearish trends, and a crucial technical and psychological barrier."

"If the price can stabilize here and trade sideways with low volume for several trading days, it means that the main players are washing out weak hands, which may provide a second opportunity to get on board with a pretty good risk-reward ratio."

"If you're interested, you might want to use some spare change to place a small position and get a feel for the market's pulse."

He paused, looked around at everyone, and at the same time reminded them of the risks: "Of course, there is no such thing as 100% certainty in investing."

"This is just a personal deduction based on current information. The market is constantly changing, so please think independently and be responsible for your own profits and losses."

He finally raised his glass, his tone relaxed yet profound: "Investing is like savoring this wine; you can't rush it, nor can you be greedy. Only by finding the right rhythm and controlling the amount can you achieve long-term success."