Reborn in 2012, building a new energy empire

On Saturday morning, sunlight filtered through the gaps in the sycamore leaves, casting dappled shadows on the open space in front of the dormitory building.

Jiang Haoran stood downstairs at the girls' dormitory building, watching Lin Miaomiao walk out of the lobby.

She wore a light blue dress today, her hair loosely tied back, with a few wisps hanging down beside her ears, gleaming softly in the morning light.

"Have you been waiting long?" She walked up to him, a smile in her eyes.

"Just arrived." Jiang Haoran naturally took the backpack from her shoulder. "Have you decided where to go?"

"I'll listen to you." Lin Miaomiao looked up at him, her eyes bright.

The two took the subway to the downtown commercial district. The commercial district was bustling with people on the weekend, and the bright shop windows displayed all kinds of goods.

Like any ordinary couple, they strolled along the pedestrian street with great interest.

As Lin Miaomiao passed a charming silver jewelry shop, she slowed her pace. A pair of earrings in the window caught her eye; their simple silver teardrop design shimmered softly under the spotlight.

Lin Miaomiao picked one up and carefully brought it close to her earlobe to compare in front of the mirror on the counter. The girl in the mirror had bright eyes and an unconscious smile on her lips.

"Does it look good?" She turned her head and looked at Jiang Haoran standing behind her in the mirror.

Jiang Haoran's gaze shifted from the earring in the mirror to her profile. The silver sheen reflected on her fair skin, and it truly complemented her features.

"It looks good." He said it seriously, not just as a polite remark.

Lin Miaomiao looked in the mirror again, her eyes revealing obvious liking, but after hesitating for a moment, she gently placed the earring back on the velvet cushion.

"Never mind, I'll just take a look..." she said softly, preparing to turn around.

"Wrap it up." Jiang Haoran had already turned to the shop assistant and pulled out two hundred-yuan bills from his wallet.

"Hey, no need—" Lin Miaomiao tried to stop him.

"Consider it a celebration for your successful experiment last time." Jiang Haoran said naturally, taking the small gift bag handed to him by the shop assistant and placing it in her hand.

Lin Miaomiao held the small bag, her fingertips able to feel the delicate texture of the paper. She looked up at him, her eyes curving into crescents: "Thank you."

In the afternoon, they took the subway to an amusement park on the outskirts of the city. The autumn afternoon sun was warm and pleasant, and the amusement park was filled with laughter and music.

When they reached the roller coaster area, Lin Miaomiao stopped.

She looked up, her fingers unconsciously clenching Jiang Haoran's sleeve.

"I...I've never ridden in one before," she said softly, her eyes filled with a mixture of curiosity and trepidation.

"Are you scared?" Jiang Haoran felt the slight trembling of her fingertips.

"A little," she admitted honestly.

"Then let's not sit there," Jiang Haoran said. "Let's go ride the carousel."

"No." Lin Miaomiao took a deep breath, as if she had made up her mind, and pulled him toward the queuing area. "We're already here."

The roller coaster slowly started moving, climbing up the steep slope, and she held his hand tightly.

The ascent was slow, and you could hear the clicking of gears meshing. Upon reaching the top, the whole world seemed to unfold beneath your feet, and then you suddenly plummeted down.

A sudden feeling of weightlessness washed over him. The wind howled in his ears, and his heart felt like it was about to leap out of his chest. Lin Miaomiao's scream was scattered by the wind, and her disheveled hair brushed against Jiang Haoran's cheek.

Amidst the rapid spinning and falling, in the intermittent gaps of light and shadow, Jiang Haoran saw that her eyes were tightly closed, but the corners of her mouth were turned up.

When she got off the roller coaster, her face was a little pale, but her eyes were surprisingly bright.

"Are you alright?" Jiang Haoran held her arm.

"It was fun!" she laughed, panting. "My legs were a little weak though."

Her eyes shone brightly, filled with excitement and relief after the ordeal, as well as a sense of closeness that came from having shared a challenge.

At that moment, Jiang Haoran suddenly realized clearly that on the road to struggle after his rebirth, there were some things that were more precious than any amount of money or foresight.

It was already dark when we left the amusement park. The streetlights came on one by one, the night market stalls opened for business, and the air was filled with the aroma of grilled skewers and jianbing (Chinese crepes).

They bought takoyaki and sat on a bench by the roadside to eat it. Lin Miaomiao carefully blew on it to cool it down before offering it to Jiang Haoran's lips.

"Try it, it's delicious."

Jiang Haoran took a bite. The sauce melted on his tongue, warm and slightly sweet.

On the bus back to school, Lin Miaomiao fell asleep with her head on his shoulder.

The neon lights outside the car window flickered across her face, sometimes bright, sometimes dim. Jiang Haoran sat up straight, making her more comfortable.

On Sunday afternoon, they went to the park together to take photos again.

When I arrived at the lotus pond, the last few late-blooming lotuses were just opening. The pink and white petals were slightly translucent in the autumn sun, swaying gently in the breeze.

Lin Miaomiao took out her phone to take a picture, and Jiang Haoran stood behind her, watching her intently adjust the angle.

"Okay." She finished taking the picture and turned to show it to him.

The lotus flowers in the photo are beautiful, but Jiang Haoran thinks the person who took the photo is even more beautiful.

On Sunday afternoon, Jiang Haoran escorted her to her dormitory building.

The setting sun cast long shadows of the two people, which overlapped on the concrete ground.

"Are you coming out again next week?" Lin Miaomiao asked, her fingers unconsciously twirling the backpack strap.

"Okay." Jiang Haoran nodded. "I might have to go home for a few days next week, I'll ask you out again when I'm free."

"Okay." She paused, then said softly, "Be careful on the road."

Watching her figure disappear, Jiang Haoran stood there for a while before turning and leaving.

After packing his things at his apartment, he boarded the high-speed train back to school.

……

At 8:40 a.m. on Monday, Jiang Haoran sat down in front of his computer on time.

He pulled up the position data. The positions of the top five long positions decreased further, with the third-ranked long position reducing its holdings by 8,000 lots in a single day. This is a clear signal that large funds are withdrawing.

After the market opened in the morning, the price fluctuated narrowly around 4050. Trading volume shrank significantly, and the market was lifeless.

Jiang Haoran began to take action.

He adopted a pyramid-style averaging strategy: for every five points the price dropped, he would add 500 short positions.

At 4050, he first placed a short order of 500 lots at 4045.

By the morning close, the price had fallen to around 4020. Jiang Haoran had added three batches of short positions, bringing his total open interest to 1,500 lots, with an average cost of 4035 points.

The decline accelerated after the market opened in the afternoon.

4015, 4010, 4005... the key psychological levels were breached one after another. Every time the price hit a new low, Jiang Haoran added to his position as planned.

At 3:00 PM, the price closed at 4010 points.

At this point, the total open interest reached 9,000 short positions. Jiang Haoran retrieved the account details:

Total assets: 29 million.

Margin holdings: 18.04 million.

Available funds: 10.96 million.

Risk level: 62 percent.

This position is quite large, but the risk is still within a controllable range. Crucially, the timing of the additional short positions was excellent; the short positions established around 4050 points will not incur losses even if the price rebounds to 4100 points.

More importantly, he has over ten million yuan in cash on hand, which can be used to deal with any emergencies.

Jiang Haoran closed the trading software, leaned back in his chair, and let out a long sigh of relief.

With assets of 29 million and cash of over 10 million, he has more than enough to support his future business ventures.

But he wasn't very excited.

On the contrary, a heavy sense of responsibility welled up in my heart.