Ahem

The soup Zhang Weimin had just taken a sip of went down the wrong way, thanks to Ye Chen's words.

"How much? How much did you say?"

With a face full of disbelief, as if he'd misheard, Zhang Weimin, forgetting to wipe his mouth, exclaimed.

"Around eighty billion, give or take!" Ye Chen replied with a casual smile.

"Eighty...billion?" Zhang Weimin's face twitched as he was thrown into confusion.

For the former Party Secretary, he understood the concept of eighty billion, especially eighty billion in cash!

And his grandson, Zhang Jingshan, had made over eighty billion in just a few days with the person in front of him?

This is outrageous!

Even the usually refined Zhang Weimin almost couldn't stop himself from swearing.

"Well, yes, I was a bit surprised too. I didn't expect him to commit such a large sum!"

Since Zhang Weimin had already seen through it, Ye Chen simply stopped trying to hide anything.

However, at that moment, Zhang Weimin was speechless.

A fifty-times short selling leverage, with a drop of over forty percent, meant a return of over two thousand percent.

Eighty billion divided by over two thousand percent...

That meant four hundred million?

In other words, Zhang Jingshan had used four hundred million RMB to follow Ye Chen in shorting Stella?

That rascal, doesn't he know his limits?!

Instead of being happy or excited about Zhang Jingshan's huge profit, Zhang Weimin glared and gritted his teeth in anger. He himself was still in debt from the aftermath of those substandard projects, and his grandson had invested four hundred million in shorting stocks! What a reckless move!

"Ahem, Secretary Zhang, your words put me in an awkward position!" Ye Chen said uncomfortably, feeling a sense of guilt for "corrupting" Jingshan.

Zhang Weimin paused, realizing his choice of words was inappropriate.

"I'm criticizing the action, not you personally! I don't object to him following you in speculative trading, but he's forgotten his own limitations! Four hundred million—what kind of number is that? His internet company barely makes thirty million a year, even generously estimating. I know he's made a lot of money with you before, but even so, investing four hundred million is beyond what he should be doing!" Zhang Weimin said.

Ye Chen was at a loss for words.

Indeed, Zhang Jingshan's investment of four hundred million had also surprised him, as it was almost a desperate gamble of his entire fortune.

"No, I'm just puzzled. What were you all thinking? That brat could spend four hundred million, so you must have invested even more—no less than eight or ten billion. Aren't you afraid of losing it all? They say even if you haven't eaten pork, you've seen pigs run. Although I haven't played the stock market and don't understand its intricacies, I've heard a little about leveraged short selling. With fifty times leverage, even a slight fluctuation can lead to total ruin. How can you be so confident? You have Yiren Ruxue as a safety net, but that kid has probably put in everything he has. If he loses, he'll be back to square one. Has he gone mad?" Zhang Weimin said.

Ye Chen smiled and said, "Secretary Zhang, although I didn't expect him to invest so heavily, if I dared to let him follow me, I wouldn't let him get hurt! To be honest, I'm absolutely confident in shorting Stella. The reasons for my confidence are complex and involve many deeper factors, so I won't go into detail now. Isn't the current result good? At least in terms of sharing wealth and hardship, we're sharing wealth!"

As Zhang Weimin stared in astonishment, Ye Chen continued, "Secretary Zhang, please rest assured. I have a very clear understanding of everything. I will always learn from the past five years, and what happened to me then will never happen again! Therefore, every choice I make, whether it was the Sihai Group, the acquisition of Jinzhong Village, or even this short selling of Stella's stock, I truly have over ninety percent confidence!"

Zhang Weimin didn't make superficial comments like, "Is there a difference between ninety percent and fifty percent? Isn't it still gambling?"

Instead, he looked into Ye Chen's eyes.

He didn't know where Ye Chen's confidence came from or how he achieved such incredible things.

But seeing the confidence in Ye Chen's eyes, he knew that anything he said would be redundant.

Perhaps the old himself was truly out of touch with the younger generation.

"It's not just that brat Jingshan who's following you in shorting Stella's stock, is it?" Zhang Weimin changed the subject.

"Well, there's also Changfeng and Jiwei!" Ye Chen admitted.

"I knew it!" Zhang Weimin nodded. "How much did they earn?"

"Around sixty billion each!" Ye Chen replied.

Zhang Weimin's face twitched again.

"You bunch of lunatics!"

Ignoring Zhang Weimin's comment, Ye Chen suddenly asked, "By the way, Secretary Zhang, I have a question for you. Do you know much about Changfeng?"

"Hmm? What do you mean?" Zhang Weimin raised his eyebrows.

"What's his background? I'm suddenly a bit curious, but it's not appropriate for me to ask him directly, so I'm asking you!" Ye Chen said.

"Even Jingshan hasn't asked me this question, but you have!" Zhang Weimin chuckled.

"And then?" Ye Chen asked.

"There's no 'and then'! Don't pry into those things, or the relationship will change. If you think he's a good person, then be a true friend. If you think he's not, then keep your distance. It's that simple. Is there a need to dig deeper?" Zhang Weimin said with a smile.

"Secretary Zhang, from what you're saying, Changfeng's background is quite extraordinary, isn't it?" Ye Chen said.

He was now puzzled.

If Li Changfeng's background was as extraordinary as he imagined, why did the Zhang family suffer such a tragic fate in his previous life?

Was it because Li Changfeng's car accident prevented him from helping?

But that didn't make sense!

"Don't overthink it. In short, Changfeng is a guy worth making friends with! I'm relieved that Jingshan is with him. If I'm worried about anything, it's that Jingshan might corrupt Changfeng!" Zhang Weimin said vaguely with a smile.

But this vague statement undoubtedly added to the mystery surrounding Li Changfeng.

Seeing that the old man didn't intend to elaborate, Ye Chen had no choice but to give up.

"Alright, I won't ask then! But where are the talents you mentioned on the phone?" Ye Chen asked.

"Don't be impatient. Let's eat first!" Zhang Weimin said with a hearty laugh.