Chapter 5: This kid definitely has something going for him!

Li Huilin observed that Su Hao's expression was somewhat subtle when he looked at the screen.
It wasn't quite surprise, but rather a hint of understanding flashed deep in his pupils;
It wasn't quite complete control, but rather a slight surprise that even he himself hadn't anticipated.
"...Ah, I just saw it too. Strange...how could it go up..."
His tone also carried an inexplicable...unnaturalness.
As if he was trying to hide something.
Was it just her imagination?
Li Huilin's mind was filled with doubt: "But...out of so many promising stocks, how did he pick this one of them?"
This coincidence was far too...precise, wasn't it?
Like precisely grasping the only shining star in the darkness.
She couldn't help but press, "You really didn't know?"
"Hmm?"
"To be honest," Li Huilin leaned closer, lowering her voice, "did you already know it was going to go up today?"
"H-How could that be?" Su Hao's eyes flickered, and he quickly denied it, subconsciously averting his gaze.
...That's true.
Li Huilin composed herself, realizing her thoughts were somewhat ridiculous.
At the time, the entire market believed that gold's previous gains were excessive, coupled with a significant reduction in long positions in US gold futures, even experienced traders predicted a correction in gold stocks.
How could a newcomer like him, who had only been with the company for two days and couldn't even recognize all the candlestick charts, possibly know any insider information beforehand?
She must be overthinking it.
It was purely sheer luck.
Just then—
"Su Hao."
A deep, penetrating voice rang out in the office; it was Manager Zhou Yi.
"Ah, yes, Manager." Su Hao quickly straightened up.
Zhou Yi's gaze swept over Su Hao and Li Huilin, and the messy desk, his expression unchanged. He simply raised his chin and said, "Come with me for a moment. I need to talk to you privately."
"Yes!"
Su Hao didn't dare to delay and quickly followed.
Watching Su Hao's slightly thin figure follow behind Manager Zhou Yi's burly back into the manager's office, Li Huilin carefully wiped the coffee stains off the documents, her mind racing.
Why call him over suddenly? He shouldn't be being reprimanded, right? He behaved quite well yesterday…
Could it be… the manager saw that demo account too?
***
Following Zhou Yi into his private office, Su Hao was actually a little dazed.
When he bought that stock, he had managed to keep it firmly at its daily limit down. He thought his "ability" had completely failed him, and he was even somewhat disheartened.
Plus, he had been so busy yesterday, spinning like a top, that he hadn't had time to pay attention to its performance.
And then… it actually went up? And even hit the daily limit?
“Su Hao,” Zhou Yi sat down in the chair opposite him, his fingers interlaced on the table, his bulging biceps almost bursting out of his shirt sleeve, “You’ve been here for three days, how are you feeling? Getting used to it?”
“Ah, it’s great, Manager. My colleagues are all very considerate of me, and the work… I’m still learning and adapting.”
"That's good. Originally, I was thinking of letting you take your time, not rushing you to handle too many specific tasks. But as you saw, the market volatility yesterday was enormous; the whole department was swamped, and I couldn't do anything about it."
"It's alright! It's alright!" Su Hao quickly reassured him. "Manager, please give me any tasks you need; I'm willing to learn and do anything."
Zhou Yi was silent for a moment, his sharp eyes scrutinizing him for several seconds.
Su Hao felt a little uneasy.
Then, Zhou Yi spoke slowly, his voice low but each word clear:
"In our trading department, currently, only I know about this."
Su Hao was taken aback: "...What is it?"
"You were parachuted into our department by the chairman's orders."
"Ah..." Su Hao immediately understood.
So the manager already knew he was a "connected" employee.
“Of course, this kind of thing probably can't be kept secret for long. In a few days, word will spread, and the whole department will likely know.”
Zhou Yi said, picking up a large shaker cup with a gym logo on the table, unscrewing the cap, and taking a sip.
The cup contained a cloudy, viscous liquid with a peculiar, sweet smell.
Su Hao had heard Li Huilin gossip about it; it was the manager's daily high-protein muscle-building powder.
No wonder the manager had such muscles…
“Normally, I don't like to pry into other people's private lives, but since things have come to this, I'll ask anyway. You and the chairman… are you related?”
“No.” Su Hao immediately shook his head in denial.
“No?” Zhou Yi's brow furrowed almost imperceptibly.
"Then why did the chairman personally go to the trouble of putting someone like you, with no experience or background, into our department? You should know very well that with your qualifications, you absolutely couldn't get into Fanghuan Investment through normal channels."
The question was extremely direct, even merciless.
"This..."
Su Hao's mind instantly flashed back to the chairman's repeated instructions—
Under no circumstances should he mention to anyone in the company that they met in an online game!
Absolutely! Absolutely not!
As for why he couldn't say it?
Su Hao now vaguely understood.
If the people in the company knew that the chairman of Fanghuan Investment!
had actually forced a kid he met in a game, with no relevant background, into the core trading department like a nepotism hire…
Wouldn't that cause an uproar?
He would probably become the laughingstock of the entire company, even the entire financial world!
Taking a deep breath, Su Hao raised his head to meet Zhou Yi's gaze, trying to make his tone sincere and firm:
"I'm sorry, Manager, this... I can't say."
"...Okay."
Manager Zhou Yi gave him a deep look, seemingly unsurprised, but his eyes became even more meaningful.
"Since you can't say, I won't press you further."
He changed the subject: "But there's another matter. What's the deal with the ST Zhongrun shares you bought in the demo account?"
Just as expected!
Su Hao's heart skipped a beat. The manager had indeed called him in for this reason!
He could only bite the bullet and continue with his previous explanation: "Well... it was just... good luck, pure coincidence."
"Luck?"
"Su Hao, do you know what our traders' daily target return is?
It's usually 0.1% to 1%.
In a market like yesterday's, with such high volatility, top traders might be able to seize the opportunity and achieve a 3% to 5% return.
But at the same time, they might also bear the same huge, or even greater, risk of loss!
That's why we set our daily targets so conservatively! What we fear most is...
Someone being reckless, pursuing high returns and incurring even greater losses."
Li Huilin had mentioned these things to him yesterday. The team's monthly target was around 3% to 10%, which was already top-tier in the industry.
"But you completed most traders' monthly targets in just one day yesterday. Not to mention this stock might hit several consecutive limit-up days."
Zhou Yi leaned forward slightly, his gaze piercing.
"To be honest, this level of accuracy is beyond what our conventional analysis can achieve.
Um, if I may be frank, did you have some 'insider information' that we can't access at this level? Or was it just luck?"
"..."
Su Hao fell silent again, unable to answer.
He simply didn't understand fundamentals, news, or technical analysis.
Every time the department held a meeting, he guaranteed he wouldn't understand a single punctuation mark in the discussions filled with various technical terms and industry jargon!
Although he had been studying diligently, buying several textbooks for the qualification exam and cramming whenever he had free time,
a complete newcomer who had only been there for three days was no different from a toddler learning to walk in the face of this ever-changing, treacherous world of finance.
He couldn't very well confess to the manager here:
"Actually, manager, the reason I was able to pick that stock is because I seem to have a superpower from a game world—the ability to predict low-probability events..."
Wouldn't that be suicidal?
He'd be sent to the hospital as a lunatic!
"Hmm...that's not convenient to answer, is it?"
Seeing him remain silent for a while, Zhou Yi nodded knowingly, as if he had already anticipated this outcome.
"That..." Su Hao hesitated.
"Alright, I won't ask anymore." Zhou Yi waved his hand, his tone carrying the air of a seasoned veteran.
"To survive in this brutal market, everyone has their secret weapons.
Showing them off easily is something only a fool would do, especially in our industry. Performance is everything; true skills must be kept hidden.
Traders, especially, should be like that."
He even chuckled self-deprecatingly, "I admit I was being nosy. I shouldn't have pried into your business so rashly. Sorry."
"Ah, no, no. You flatter me!"
"Alright, keep up the good work today.
Once the news spreads throughout the department that you're a 'connected' employee, there will inevitably be people looking at you with prejudice, or gossiping behind your back.
But that's alright."
He tapped his finger on the desk. “As long as you demonstrate your true abilities, prove your worth with solid results and hard work, everyone's opinions will naturally change.”
“Yes! I will do my best!”
“Go. When you leave, have Li Huilin come in.”
“Yes!”
Even though he hadn't received a single scolding throughout the entire process, and the manager had even offered a few words of encouragement at the end.
Yet, as Su Hao walked out of the office, his heart was still pounding wildly in his chest, and a layer of cold sweat had even seeped down his back.
Manager Zhou Yi possessed an aura, not intentional, yet it instilled a sense of awe and pressure in those who beheld him.
Perhaps it was because of those muscles that seemed about to explode… radiating power.
“But if…”
As he walked to his workstation, a thought involuntarily popped into his mind.
“What if… this ability could actually be used?”
A special ability, unique to him, unknown to others!
Maybe yesterday was pure luck, a one-in-a-million chance, but… what if?
What if this ability, stemming from a game, also works in this cold, cruel reality?
Ultimately, the so-called stock market is filled with all sorts of data, analyses, and models.
But isn't the final outcome also influenced by massive amounts of randomness, unexpected events, and unpredictable human factors?
In a sense, isn't it like a much larger, more complex, and more lucrative… lottery game?
Even if someone analyzes all the available data flawlessly and masters all the technical indicators,
a sudden black swan event, or a group of irrational investors' collective frenzy, could render all the analysis and predictions worthless.
Who can guarantee the final outcome with absolute certainty?
"Hopefully… today will be a little less stressful."
Su Hao sat back in his seat, silently praying.
This way, he could properly test whether his "ability" from the game world was merely an illusion, or... a reality capable of changing his destiny!
***
"As expected... this kid has a secret."
Zhou Yi sat in his large office chair, his fingers unconsciously tapping the smooth mahogany desktop, producing a dull "tap-tap" sound, his thoughts already drifting far away.
He had always been puzzled by Su Hao, this "connection hire."
Huang Fengwen, the founder and chairman of Fanghuan Investment, was renowned in the industry for his meritocratic approach.
His ability to build a small, unknown private equity firm from scratch into an industry leader in just a few years was not solely due to luck.
It was widely acknowledged in the industry that Huang Fengwen's most powerful weapon was his keen eye for talent!
He could always discover hidden geniuses and give them ample trust and resources, allowing them to create astonishing value for the company.
That's why Zhou Yi had always been puzzled.
How could someone who so vehemently believes in merit and despises all forms of nepotism suddenly act out of character, personally appointing a young man with mediocre resume and no experience to his most valued core trading department?
Initially, he was deeply disappointed that his respected chairman had resorted to such nepotism.
But just now, upon asking, it turned out the two weren't even related!
"Even... he refused to reveal the reason why he was exceptionally hired, using 'I can't say' as an excuse?"
Interesting.
This kid has guts; he's kept his mouth shut all along.
Moreover, through that seemingly calm but subtly pointed conversation, Zhou Yi was almost certain—
"Su Hao absolutely! Absolutely knew in advance that ST Zhongrun would surge!"
Although the kid claimed it was luck, his expression was very convincing.
But those subtle changes in expression and tone, that fleeting glint in his eyes, couldn't escape his eyes, honed by years of experience navigating the cutthroat world of finance.
So… that simulated trade yesterday really might have been accomplished by his own skill?
Daring to go all-in on a single ST stock, especially when everyone was bearish!
…This almost insane, irrational decisiveness and audacity!
And, when the entire market believed gold stocks were about to undergo a major correction, he alone saw through the fog and seized that one exception… This incredible insight!
Could it be… this kid…?
A glint flashed in Zhou Yi's eyes.
“Manager, you wanted to see me?” Li Huilin's voice rang out at the door, interrupting his thoughts.
“Oh, Huilin.” Zhou Yi looked up. “Have you prepared all the materials for the morning meeting?”
“Yes, everything is ready.”
“Hmm. Okay.” Zhou Yi pondered for a moment, as if making a decision, then tapped his finger heavily on the table.
“Go and let our department and other relevant departments know. Today, you and Su Hao don’t need to go anywhere; just stay at your desks.”
Li Huilin was taken aback: “…Huh?”
“You’ve been too busy lately, haven’t you? Perfect, let him focus on practicing today and get familiar with trading. You can guide him from the sidelines.”
“Ah…yes, I understand.” Although a little surprised, Li Huilin immediately agreed.
Zhou Yi still didn’t understand why Boss Huang Fengwen had forced that kid named Su Hao into his team.
Perhaps it was some kind of hidden arrangement by higher-ups.
But Su Hao…
This kid definitely has something.
That thing, whether it possesses incredibly powerful information channels, or astonishing insight akin to a freak, or even just a recklessly audacious gambler addicted to risk and dopamine…
Whatever it is.
From now on, observe carefully, scrutinize closely, and the truth will eventually come to light.
Of course, there might be one last possibility—that the kid really just had incredible luck, a lucky break.
But in the stock market, there's an old, undeniable saying:
"Three parts hard work, seven parts destiny."
Those with truly extraordinary luck can do whatever they want!