Chapter 25: Was I more impressive this morning, or last night?

Huang Bingyao, a trader at Xiangsheng Securities, discovered an incredible pattern of activity in one of their company's accounts recently. In just one morning, this account had executed hundreds of trades, and almost every single sell order resulted in a profit, with virtually no losses to speak of. Having worked as a trader for many years, he had never encountered such a mind-boggling situation.

He immediately sought out his supervisor, Luo Zhiqiang, the manager of the business department, and informed him of this anomaly. Upon hearing this, Luo Zhiqiang shook his head repeatedly, refusing to believe what Huang was describing.

"Manager Luo, I am telling you the truth!" Huang insisted. "If you don't believe me, I can give you the account name. You can pull up the trade history yourself, and you'll see that everything I said is true."

"Fine, give me the account name, and I’ll take a look," Luo replied with a nod.

Huang immediately provided the account name belonging to Nina Li. Luo pulled up the records for the securities account opened by her at Xiangsheng Securities. When he saw the trading log, he was stunned on the spot.

"My god!" Luo exclaimed. "This account has recorded hundreds of trades just this morning! With so many transactions, there are only two or three losses, and the amounts lost are negligible—practically non-existent! How on earth did this person manage to do this?"

Luo Zhiqiang had never truly believed Huang’s report. He never imagined that anyone could execute hundreds of trades in a single morning while maintaining such a high success rate, with losses so trivial they were effectively irrelevant. Having spent years in the securities industry, he had never come across such an exceptional stock trading genius. Even their boss, Xiang Zhiqiu, the renowned and universally acknowledged "God of Stocks" in Hong Kong, couldn't pull this off.

"And to top it off, this is just a retail investor," Huang added, looking visibly excited. "For a retail investor to achieve such a high profit margin is unheard of!"

"Unheard of is an understatement," Luo sighed. "I suspect this is the highest profit margin in the history of the Hong Kong stock market."

"Furthermore, this account made 1.09 million in profit just this morning," Huang continued. "Since it was opened, only 370,000 Hong Kong dollars were deposited. Now, the account holds a total of 3.34 million. In just a few trading days, this account turned an initial capital of 370,000 into nearly 3 million Hong Kong dollars! It’s simply incredible."

Luo Zhiqiang’s eyes were filled with disbelief. "It really is incredible. It’s almost god-like."

"Also," Huang prompted, "Manager Luo, take a look at the account's registration information."

Luo pulled up the profile and saw that the account was registered to Nina Li.

"Nina Li?" Luo frowned. "That name sounds familiar."

"She is the winner of the 1986 Miss Asia Pageant," Huang reminded him.

"Right, right!" Luo murmured. "The 1986 Miss Asia champion is named Nina Li. Could this account actually belong to her?"

"It's very likely," said Huang.

"I heard she’s been filming movies lately," Luo mused. "How did she get into stock trading? And how is her technique so formidable? How is she doing this?" He found it hard to comprehend that a female celebrity could be such a master at trading.

"Manager Luo, since Nina Li’s trading is so impressive, should we report this to Mr. Xiang?" Huang asked. He was referring to their boss, Xiang Zhiqiu, the legendary "God of Stocks."

"Let's not rush," Luo said after a moment of thought. "Keep monitoring this account. Let's see if the trading remains this frequent and if the profit margin continues to be this high."

"Understood," Huang nodded before leaving the office.

***

Meanwhile, Chen Hao and Nina Li were walking out of the Stock Exchange trading hall.

"Chen Hao, you are amazing!" Nina said excitedly. "You made another 1.09 million this morning! Our account is now up to 3.34 million!"

"Tell me," Chen Hao said with a faint smile, "was I more impressive this morning, or was I more impressive last night?"

Initially, caught up in the joy of their profits, Nina didn't immediately grasp the implication of his words. However, she quickly realized what he meant, and her face turned a bright, flushed red, like a ripened peach.

"You're impossible!" she snapped, giving him a fierce glare. "Asking me such embarrassing questions in broad daylight!"

"You were the one acting like you couldn't get enough last night," Chen Hao chuckled.

At these words, Nina’s face turned an even deeper, burning shade of crimson. She glared at him again and declared, "I'm not talking to you anymore!" She quickened her pace and walked ahead.

Chen Hao smiled and followed her at a leisurely pace. Nina didn't get far before she slowed down, and Chen Hao soon caught up.

"You haven't answered me yet," he persisted, unwilling to let it go. "Was I more impressive this morning or last night?"

"You were equally impressive!" Nina whispered, her head down and her face burning with shame.

"What?" Chen Hao feigned ignorance. "I didn't hear you. Can you speak up?"

"Equally impressive!" she said, raising her voice slightly.

"Still can't hear you," Chen Hao said, suppressing a laugh.

Realizing he was teasing her, Nina reached out and pinched his arm. "You clearly heard me and were just pretending! You're the worst!"

"Ouch..." Chen Hao cried out, though the pinch was light and he felt no real pain. "That hurts!"