The following days, the campus was especially lively.
It wasn’t just the students from the Finance classes in the Business School and the School of International Relations who were preparing to compete; the fervor had spread to many other less relevant majors.
In fact, because of the nature of the Magic Capital, virtually every university in the city was aflutter with activity.
Fu-Jiao Financial Trade, Shuang Polytechnic, Shuang Normal University—all of them already had their own stock market clubs, and, it was said, even intercollegiate private groups that were all eagerly rubbing their hands in anticipation.
Students from universities in second-tier cities could hardly imagine such a scene.
Similarly ranked private universities, such as those with Finance majors at Jida, may not even think about entering the stock market until their junior year, with their biggest dream being to work at a bank.
Local students at Shanghai International Studies University, on the other hand, often already have hands-on experience as freshmen.
That’s why Duan Xiaoyi and Xia Hongjuan were able to achieve a 20% return.
The two of them both had two to three years of stock market experience, making them old hands. In the simulation, they could operate without any pressure and were very smooth operators.
In the Magic Capital, there were quite a few students like them.
Not being academically gifted enough to get into a top university doesn’t mean one’s stock trading skills will be weaker than those of the talented students from Project 985 universities, see?
A straight-A student from the countryside who got into Qingbei might not necessarily be that strong in practice.
In fact, the traders who were able to start with a small capital and make it big were rarely from elite institutions.
High-IQ top students usually go upstream, where they earn low-risk, high-return "intelligence money."
The short-term market, however, is a battlefield for heroes rising from adversity and rock bottom.
「Back to the current competition.」
A bear market, 9 weeks, a 20% return—it doesn’t sound high, but it’s actually quite challenging.
According to Han Lie’s memory, after playing the full 9 weeks, the final two contestants who advanced from the simulation to the grand finals had no more than a 40% total return.
Of the many contestants, less than a tenth ended up with a positive return.
Of course, to say it was a bear market at that time wasn’t entirely accurate.
The simulation and real-market competitions happened just before the last dip of the bear market, during a stabilizing phase.
The index fluctuated narrowly, and there were plenty of opportunities for oversold stocks to bounce back, with the ChiNext Index continuing to lead the gains.
Relatively speaking, this phase wasn’t so tough.
Just pick a speculative stock at random, buy half a position, hold it a little longer, and you could easily achieve over 40% returns.
By the time the final round came, everyone started to get unlucky.
It just happened to coincide with the last dip during the switch from a bear to bull market, and it was particularly difficult to deal with.
If Han Lie remembered correctly, the champion of this year’s finals ended up with only a 10% return rate.
In the end, everyone was competing on their defensive capabilities.
Purely unlucky timing.
Take the 2014 Tencent stock trading competition, for example, where the simulation contest winner achieved over 150% returns, and the real-market contest winner made a clean profit of 600,000 with Tencent’s capital.
As long as you made it to the final round, everyone had a positive return.
Truly like picking up money off the ground.
What was the funniest thing?
Out of 1,200,000 registrants, 1,000,000 made a positive return, 10,000 gained 20%, and more than 10,000 gained over 50%.
Among them, there were quite a few complete novices.
Then they all thought they were capable, rushed into the market with real money, happily made a quick buck, and ended up getting buried in the stock market crash.
Truly, the more they were ’cut,’ the ’healthier’ they became.
That’s why professionals always emphasize: Making money in the stock market is easy, but making it consistently and over the long term is hard, and one must continue learning...
Unfortunately, not many retail investors heed this advice.
So it ends up being win a little, lose a lot... lose and lose some more...
Such is human nature, alas, alas.
Take these Finance major students, for example—judging from personality alone, only a mere three or four have the potential to make long-term, steady profits.
Xi Luting won’t make it—she’s aggressive, hardheaded, pure cannon fodder.
Duan Xiaoyi won’t make it either. She’s impulsive, vain, and sloppy. She won’t make much in a bull market and will be stuck in a bear market for years.
Yu Yun has potential—resilient, clever, with clear goals, but sadly misdirected, always looking for an easy way out through others, never willing to buckle down and learn.
Chen Ping doesn’t stand a chance. He’s arrogant, conceited, and delusional. The more he earns in a bull market, the more likely he is to jump in a bear market.
Fang Feifei won’t cut it either—impulsive, easily hyped up, not one for calculations; just another piece of fodder.
Han Lie liked to analyze his classmates whenever he had nothing better to do, and his psychology experience points had accumulated to over 20,000. He felt he was getting a deeper and deeper grasp of human nature and becoming increasingly adept at social interactions.
No one would believe that in his past life, he was slightly socially anxious.
But from the moment he was reborn, he wasn’t anymore.
Even as the entire school was getting excited about the competition, Han Lie continued to do what he had to do according to his plan.
On the 7th, The Goddess CEO was finally up for sale.
At noon, the total number of favorites froze at the number 7,899.
Yep, perfectly stuck at nine.
And they had both the length of a baguette and the firmness of a frozen fish, making the story very compelling.
Unlike those short and shoddy authors, full of flaws, whose launch announcements are delayed and still lack substance.
The Goddess CEO certainly had its launch speech; Brother Lie wasn’t short of words.
And that launch speech was especially saucy.
"Dear readers and beautiful fairies,
"This is your newbie author, Ham.
"Just a brief introduction of myself—
"Real name Han xx, 35 years old, a tall, rich and handsome man with an extra dash of maturity—guess you could say a handsome uncle.
"This book is actually an autobiography that Xi and I co-authored.
"Xi and I met in the vast sea of people, probably at the same age as the vast majority of you.
"Then, lots of stories happened between us, and finally...
"Please allow me to keep you in suspense for now.
"Anyway, we suddenly decided to document everything that happened between us.
"It doesn’t matter how it performs; I’m not short on cash, so please don’t tip me.
"But your support is important; I hope you like this story, like the true things we experienced, so try not to read pirated versions.
"Also, if we can publish a physical book later, I will consider using Xi’s photo for the cover.
"Stay tuned; her beauty will definitely be beyond your imagination."
Han Lie blabbered on, totally bewildering the watching Xi Luting.
A Lonely Cucumber: "Dizzy! What are you doing?!"
Ham for Cucumber: "Scamming for subscriptions!"
A Lonely Cucumber: "Then why tell them not to tip?"
Ham for Cucumber: "Jinjiang doesn’t have a culture of tipping. How much is that little reward really worth?"
A Lonely Cucumber: "???"
Ham for Cucumber: "Dumb! If we don’t ask for tips, wouldn’t they be embarrassed not to subscribe?"
A Lonely Cucumber: "But you can’t sell me out! What if the physical book really comes out???"
Ham for Cucumber: "I’m pulling in popularity for you, gathering fans! When you write your own book later, just use the author name Xi Mengjun. Can you imagine the popularity?"
Ham for Cucumber: "It’s best if you can use your own photo, but if you really look too awkward, then we’ll drag it out..."
A Lonely Cucumber: "Who’s awkward! I’m looking pretty here! If necessary, I will use my own photo, scare them to death!"
Xi Luting was finally overwhelmed by Han Lie’s scheming.
Brother Lie watched his skills in "Bluffing" and "Instigating" skyrocket in experience, snickering nefariously.
If you dare to post a photo, your male god will surely discover it!
Wave after wave of social death, could it transform you into a woman as crafty as me?
Dog men and women?!
Alright, the dog men and women development plan is just a side story.
The key point is that within the hour, the successful subscriptions soared to over 6,000.
At this rate, we could possibly have 15,000 subscriptions in 24 hours.
How much money is that?
Han Lie couldn’t figure it out and happened to see Little Kirin online, so he asked her.
But the response was disheartening.
A Lonely Cucumber: "Wow wow wow! We’re really going to get rich! (starry-eyed)"
Ham for Cucumber: "Rich my foot, I’m about to lose my mind!"
A Lonely Cucumber: "Huh? What’s wrong?"
Ham for Cucumber: "I just found out that Jinjiang’s royalties aren’t paid monthly. You have to wait until the whole book is completed, then apply in the backend to withdraw... damn it!"
A Lonely Cucumber: "Oh my God! That’s so scheming?! Are you sure?!"
There you go, she’s a gullible one too.
Han Lie sighed, feeling quite despondent. Check latest chapters at N0v3l.Fiɾe.net
He had been counting on spending the royalty money, and now it was all locked up, not reaching his hands for four months.
All that wasted anticipation!
In this light, the prize money from the stock trading competition became increasingly crucial.
The weekly champion’s ten thousand yuan might slightly relieve the pressure, while the one million yuan "pimping fee" for the final was a quenching source of hydration, the kind that if he didn’t win it, he’d be completely out of options.
But the issue is, if you don’t have the royalties to upgrade your stock trading skills, how could you make money in the plummeting market of the finals and take off?
Damn, so much pressure!
Ironically, it was Little Cucumber comforting him: "Don’t worry, it’s ours sooner or later. Imagine how fabulous it will be when we get rich all at once."
Han Lie hummed a few times in agreement, but his enthusiasm remained low.
Lacking the anticipated royalties, he wasn’t sure if he could upgrade his stock trading skills to Level 4 before the finals.
Actually, even with Level 3 trading skills, his entry into the finals wasn’t very stable.
After all, it was a large-scale competition with a million participants and swarming with strong contenders.
Moreover, the schedule meant there was a very low margin for error.
Or maybe...
Find a way to earn a quick buck somewhere?
It doesn’t have to be a lot, just a hundred thousand would suffice.
Return to Dream City to mortgage the second property?
The paperwork would take at least a week, but there are matches on every workday, leaving no time to spare...
After much deliberation, he couldn’t find a good solution, and Han Lie even played with the idea in desperation: If things get really tight, I only have to turn to someone!
Yes, him—my big brother Pan!
The Black-hearted White Lotus is tough to deal with, and her dad is now very anxious.
You give me a hundred thousand yuan, and I’ll straighten out your daughter, would that deal work?
The value was definitely there, but it was a good way to get beaten up.
Plus, messing with both Xi Luting and Pan Ge, and then facing a women’s doubles, the chances of surviving were not high.
Unless absolutely necessary, better not be so reckless...