Chapter 67: Mysterious and Unpredictable

Around 1990, Pujiang successively established three major securities companies: Wanguo, Haitong, and Shenyin. Among them, Shenyin was affiliated with the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, and Haitong was affiliated with the Bank of Communications. Constrained by the system, these two securities companies were managed quite strictly, and their development was relatively slow.

Wanguo Securities was affiliated with the Pujiang International Trust and Investment Company and operated under a joint-stock system with fewer red-tape constraints. Coupled with the outstanding ability and daring, aggressive style of General Manager Guan Jinsheng, it quickly stood out. After 1992, it monopolized over 60% of the underwriting volume in the Pujiang A-share market, suppressing Shenyin and Haitong until they could barely breathe.

After seeing Di Ye off, Tang Renrong returned to the proprietary trading room of Haitong Securities and asked his subordinates, "Is Shenyin participating in the 327 Treasury Bond Futures trading?"

"Shenyin's boss, Kan Zhidong, has gone to Hong Kong on a business trip and is not in Pujiang. They shouldn't be participating, and even if they are, the scale won't be very large."

"Has Gao Ling from Liaosheng Guofa still not been reached?"

"No, there has been no response from the landline, the Big Brother, or the BB Pager."

Tang Renrong's sense of crisis grew even stronger at this moment. After a moment of contemplation, he said, "Use my Big Brother to send a BB Pager message to Gao Ling. Tell him to call back within 10 minutes, otherwise, we will force a liquidation of his position."

The trader sitting in front of the computer was startled and warned, "Manager Tang, if we liquidate at the current price, only 6 million of Manager Gao's 50 million margin will remain. Furthermore, this is a client position, not our proprietary position; operating this way is a violation of regulations."

"Forced liquidation is better than a blown-up account. I am doing this to save him."

After Tang Renrong finished speaking, he recalled the micro-recorder Xia Fangfei had used to interview him when he treated Di Ye to dinner the night before last. He turned and instructed his secretary, "Little Wang, go find a tape recorder. If Gao Ling calls later, record the entire conversation as evidence."

"Manager Tang, there doesn't seem to be a tape recorder in the company."

"If there isn't one, go buy one immediately!"

Ten minutes later, Gao Ling still hadn't called back. Seeing that the secretary had already bought the tape recorder, Tang Renrong immediately ordered the liquidation. As soon as the operation was completed, Gao Ling called, spoke a few listless, polite words of thanks, and then hung up.

"Was the call recorded?"

"It was recorded."

"Give me the cassette."

Only then was Tang Renrong's sense of crisis relieved, and his hanging heart finally relaxed. He returned to his office, locked the cassette in his desk drawer, and made several calls to Beijing to inquire about information related to Di Ye. He had originally thought that Di was not a common surname and should be easy to inquire about, but he ended up with nothing.

"Could this kid have popped out of a crack in a rock?"

Tang Renrong was completely baffled. He made a few more calls to acquaintances working at the Ministry of Finance to probe for news. From their roundabout hints, he learned that the Ministry of Finance would issue Announcement No. 3 of 1995 tomorrow, clearly stipulating that the 327 Treasury Bond would "accrue interest based on an annual rate of 12.24% plus the value-preservation subsidy rate for July of this year as announced by the People's Bank of China."

The content of this announcement was exactly the same as Di Ye's analysis, which made Tang Renrong even more convinced that his background was not simple. He called over the major client manager to ask about the details of Di Ye's life in the trading room over the past few days.

"How does Mr. Di come to our company?"

"He usually takes a taxi, occasionally walks."

"Then do you know where he is staying?"

"Mr. Di is staying at the Paramount Hotel..."

Tang Renrong gasped, slapped the table, and scolded, "Such important information, why are you only telling me now! Paramount is the stronghold of Wanguo Securities. He didn't open an account there, but instead came to us. Did you ever ask why?"

"I asked. He joked that Paramount is synonymous with a 'money-burning den,' suitable for spending money, not for making it."

"Nonsense, Paramount is just an ordinary hotel; how could it be called a money-burning den?"

The more Tang Renrong thought about it, the more he felt something was wrong. He stood up, put on the trench coat hanging on the floor rack, and said, "Come with me to Paramount to find him."

Seeing this, Wang Mishu hurriedly tried to dissuade him, "Manager Tang, it is currently trading hours. It is not appropriate for you to go to Paramount. It is best to wait until the market closes to avoid causing misunderstandings among the people at Wanguo."

The relationship between Wanguo, Shenyin, and Haitong was somewhat like the tripartite confrontation of Wei, Shu, and Wu. Now that the Wanguo Securities building was on the verge of collapse, it was indeed inappropriate for Tang Renrong to go to Paramount. He nodded and said, "You're right, it's not appropriate for me to go. You go in my stead to contact Mr. Di and say that I would like to treat him to another meal tonight."

"Yes, I will go immediately."

After the secretary left, Tang Renrong continued to interrogate the major client manager, only to hear more information about Di Ye developing software worth millions of dollars and being recommended for a doctorate at Yun University. He couldn't help but scratch his head and ask, "Do you think he is bluffing, or is it true?"

"He didn't tell me on purpose; he inadvertently revealed it while on a call with the speakerphone on. Yesterday, the Dean of their college urged him on the phone to return to school immediately, saying that reporters from *China Education Daily* and *Computer News* wanted to interview him. It should be true."

Tang Renrong now knew the location and status of Yun University, and he was even more confused about Di Ye, because in his understanding, someone with such a background and talent would not go to a third-rate key university in a poor place like Yuncheng.

About half an hour later, Wang Mishu called to report that Di Ye was not in his suite. The front desk at Paramount had seen him return with his girlfriend after 1 o'clock, but they didn't know if he had left afterward.

"Wait for him there. If he hasn't appeared by 6 o'clock, then forget it."

Tang Renrong dismissed the major client manager and went to the proprietary trading room again, staying there until 4:20 PM. Seeing that the market would close in 10 minutes, the price of the 327 Treasury Bond Futures still couldn't break through 152 yuan, while the trading volume was rapidly expanding. That dangerous feeling from before emerged again, so he picked up the phone and dialed the office number of Wei Wenyuan.

"Manager Wei is not there?"

"That's right, Manager Wei is accompanying Director Geng and Director Yao from the Futures Department of the China Securities Regulatory Commission to visit the trading floor."

"The treasury bond futures trading is a bit off right now. You go find Manager Wei now and have him immediately announce a suspension..."

Tang Renrong was only halfway through his sentence when he heard several subordinates let out gasps in unison. He looked up and saw the market chart on the computer screen dive in a straight line, instantly knocking the price of the 327 Treasury Bond Futures from 151.3 down to 147.5.

"What's going on?"

"Someone just dumped a massive amount of short orders; the trading volume shows at least tens of millions of lots!"

"Wanguo couldn't possibly have tens of millions of lots in short orders. Is there a problem with the system?"

Tang Renrong tossed the receiver aside, walked to the computer screen, and leaned in to stare at the K-line chart. He watched for a full minute, then shook his head and smiled bitterly, "Each securities company can only hold a maximum of 400,000 lots in positions. Wanguo actually came up with tens of millions of lots; it must be a violation of regulations. Now not only is Wanguo finished, but Guan Jinsheng is also finished. To flip the table in this way and leave such a mess—it'll be hard not to go to jail!"

"Manager Tang, such an operation is too crazy. Will it affect our Haitong?"

"We should be fine, but Wei Wenyuan will likely have to take the blame. I am a member of the Securities Exchange Council; I cannot stand by and watch. I have to go over there and see the situation."

When Wanguo Securities used a massive amount of short orders to crash the market and blow up all the long positions, Wei Wenyuan was in high spirits, leading Director Geng Liang and Deputy Director Yao Gang of the China Securities Regulatory Commission to visit the trading floor. That awkward scene could only be described by a famous quote from *Lurk*: I wanted to show my face, but ended up showing my backside.

The Pujiang Securities Exchange closed at 4:30 PM. Tang Renrong arrived at Wei Wenyuan's office at 4:45 PM and offered three suggestions: do not publish the clearing data for the time being, report the matter to the public security organs, and suspend treasury bond futures trading tomorrow.

Wei Wenyuan was busy answering calls coming from all directions and was noncommittal about these three suggestions. Tang Renrong felt a bit bored and had to leave the office, only to run into Guan Jinsheng, who was coming in a hurry, in the hallway.

Both of them were in a heavy mood and did not greet each other, only nodding. As they passed each other, Di Ye's face flashed through Tang Renrong's mind. He hurriedly turned around and called out to Guan Jinsheng, asking, "Old Guan, have you ever heard of a person named Di Ye?"

"No."

"Then have you been interviewed by a female college student recently?"

Guan Jinsheng was out of his wits and had no heart to chat about such topics. He said impatiently, "I just chatted with her for a few idle words while eating; it doesn't count as an interview at all."

"Did you mention 327 to her?"

Guan Jinsheng was slightly stunned and asked back with a dark face, "Why are you asking this?"

Tang Renrong's heart skipped a beat, and he hurriedly said, "Nothing, Old Guan, you go ahead and get busy, I'll be going."

After walking out of the gate of the Pujiang Securities Exchange, Tang Renrong immediately took out his Big Brother and called Wang Mishu, ordering, "Keep watch at Paramount 24 hours a day until Di Ye appears. If he appears, notify me immediately."

"Manager Tang, Mr. Di is right next to me."

"I'm coming over right now."