Reborn in 2012, building a new energy empire

As October arrived, the summer heat of Nanjing was finally swept away by the autumn breeze, and the edges of the sycamore leaves were quietly tinged with a pale yellow.

However, the atmosphere was somewhat tense inside an office in a high-end office building in Shanghai.

Zhou Mingyu's slender fingers tapped lightly on the surface of his large mahogany desk, producing a rhythmic sound. A document lay open in front of him: a summary of the September operations report from "Jiutian Investment."

This is information that the administrator regularly discloses to the limited partners, as stipulated in the previous partnership agreement.

This monthly report is standard practice for industry information exchange, but he found some of the position directions disclosed in it quite puzzling.

The monthly report clearly shows that, as of the end of September, the net short position of the accounts managed by Jiutian Investment in soybean meal had reached the upper limit agreed upon in the agreement, accounting for nearly 60% of the total assets.

More importantly, these short positions were mainly established in late September, a time when the mainstream market opinion was still discussing "healthy corrections in a bull market" and "buying on dips."

Zhou Mingyu's gaze lingered for a long time on the columns "Net Short Positions" and "Position Establishment Period".

His father's company's proprietary trading desk, as well as most investors in the industry whom he had just inquired about, reduced their positions during the September correction, but based on their long-term positive outlook on supply and demand fundamentals, their core stance remained bullish, at most taking a wait-and-see approach.

For companies like Jiutian Investment to not only completely reverse course but also bet on short positions with such a high leverage ratio is aggressive, even... somewhat glaring.

"The core factors driving the market have not changed," Zhou Mingyu said to his assistant, who was standing beside him, as he picked up his cup, took a sip of his now-cold coffee.

"The hype surrounding North American weather is still lingering, and while domestic demand for aquaculture is fluctuating, the long-term fundamentals remain intact. To place such a heavy short position at this level..."

He didn't finish his sentence, but the doubt and worry in his eyes were clearly visible. As a major investor and shareholder, he had the right to question the management's strategy.

More importantly, deep down he didn't believe that his college classmate could be more accurate than seasoned veterans in the market. His previous bullish predictions now seemed more like a risky gamble based on intuition.

He picked up the internal phone and dialed the number for Jiutian Investment's Shanghai office. Chen Jingge answered the phone.

"Mr. Chen, I've read the September monthly report." Zhou Mingyu's voice was as calm as ever, revealing no emotion. "The short positions in soybean meal are quite heavy. I heard Mr. Jiang has been at the university recently? Was this operation his personal decision?"

Chen Jingge on the other end of the phone seemed prepared, his tone respectful yet neither servile nor arrogant: "President Zhou, yes. All position directions and adjustment timings are decided and instructed by President Jiang personally over the phone, and we are responsible for strictly executing them."

"President Jiang anticipated that you might be interested in this, and he asked me to tell you: market divergence is precisely where the opportunity lies. The market will provide the reason why in a month."

"Please rest assured that all positions are currently within the risk control framework agreed upon in the agreement. The previous long positions have yielded substantial profits, and the net asset value has a sufficient safety cushion. No liquidation or warning lines have been triggered."

"One month..." Zhou Mingyu murmured, a sharp glint flashing in his eyes before disappearing beneath his calm exterior. "Okay, I understand. Tell President Jiang I look forward to seeing the answer."

After hanging up the phone, the office fell silent again. The calm on Zhou Mingyu's face slowly faded. He got up and walked to the floor-to-ceiling window, looking down at the turbid currents of the Huangpu River and the bustling Bund across the river, his eyes dark and brooding.

"Jiang Haoran... Jiutian Investment..." he murmured the two names.

In the arena of capital, trust is a luxury, and performance is the only passport. This investment was exploratory and observational from the very beginning.

Today, managers have chosen an aggressive strategy that goes against market consensus, which undoubtedly pushes this experimentation to its peak.

Is this "classmate" he casually invested in just a fleeting stroke of luck, or a serious competitor?

This investment is already tied to the chariot, and all he can do now, besides conducting more in-depth research, is wait and wait for the market to give him the "answer".

The answer came more tragically and directly than many people had anticipated.

On October 4th, on Jiang Haoran's personal computer screen, the price curve of the soybean meal 1301 contract was plunging downwards in a heart-stoppingly steep line.

As he predicted, after the market exhausted its last bit of strength in the fragile rebound at the end of September, it failed to mount any effective resistance, and prices fell all the way down below the 3900-point mark.

His previously patiently placed pyramid-shaped short positions below key resistance levels have now become a deadly trap for precisely capturing the trend.

The floating profits in the account fluctuated rapidly, eventually stabilizing at an astonishing amount: approximately 2622 million yuan. Total equity subsequently exceeded 3822 million yuan.

The cold, hard numbers silently attest to the precision and decisiveness of his strategy of "adding to positions when the rebound is weak".

This is not speculation, but a textbook example of tactical escalation based on a deep understanding of market sentiment, capital structure, and trend inertia.

However, this was merely an appetizer. The real storm was brewing all weekend.

Multiple negative factors crashed into the market like a landslide and a tsunami: the expectation of the new season's soybean meal entering the market has increased, the effect of the previously sky-high soybean prices on suppressing downstream demand has begun to appear, and speculative funds that had flooded in earlier have begun to withdraw on a large scale... The market logic has been completely reversed.

Prices began a second major downward wave, which was even more severe than in September.

3800 points, 3700 points... one important psychological barrier and technical support level after another were breached as if they were made of paper.

The forum is no longer filled with debates between bulls and bears; all that remains are screenshots of margin calls and desperate cries. Most of the IDs that previously flaunted huge profits and proclaimed a "millennial bull market" have disappeared without a trace, or are now only known by fragments of words after losing everything.

Jiang Haoran's short-selling profits grew exponentially amidst the market collapse. He calmly continued to execute his "downward pyramid" strategy of adding to his positions. His confidence stemmed not only from the market's performance but also from his memory of events that were destined to occur and would further erode market confidence.

On October 11, news that the general manager of a commodity exchange was under investigation shocked the market and exacerbated panic.

On October 18, Ernst & Young Futures announced a "major restructuring," which was quickly confirmed to be taken over by a securities firm, and the former head was arrested. The industry was thrown into turmoil, triggering a new wave of panic selling.

With the "coordination" of these events, Jiang Haoran's stock purchases were as precise as a scalpel.

Near 3800, add 4000 lots to the short position; below 3700, inject another 5000 lots into the short position. These operations demonstrate a firm commitment to and amplification of the trend when the downward momentum is strongest, market panic is at its peak, and negative events are converging.

By late October, soybean meal prices had approached 3500 points—almost back to the starting point of the epic bull market in June. All prosperity eventually turned to ruins.

At this moment, Jiang Haoran brought up the final account settlement page. The total holdings had reached an astonishing figure: 21000 lots, with profits exceeding 9414 million yuan and total equity surpassing 1.061 million yuan.

The account's risk level was only about 34.6%, and the available funds of over 6900 million yuan provided him with considerable operational space and financial freedom for his strategic ambitions in subsequent industrial investments.

Through this highly efficient "pyramid-style averaging down" strategy, the initial 12 million yuan has snowballed to approximately 100 million yuan, achieving a return of nearly 9 times.

Reborn and returned, he fought for months.

Jiang Haoran's personal futures account has grown from 150,000 yuan to over 100 million yuan during this complete bull-bear market cycle.

He achieved a "small goal" that shines brightly in the dreams of countless people, through the most primitive and violent means of the financial market.