Chapter Eighteen: Interpreting the News Content

The punishment game continued late into the night. Zhang Yang occasionally doubled as the grill master, barbecuing for everyone. When the group grew tired, they each retreated into their tents and fell into a deep sleep.

At night, security patrols roamed Pujiang Countryside Park. Since it was not a remote wilderness and there were no large wild animals, safety was not a concern.

The next morning, everyone set out again to admire the cherry blossoms, soaking in the spring atmosphere of 2009—an experience limited to this year alone.

They played until dusk, then had a seafood Japanese meal before Zhang Yang, He Jing, and the others returned to Hudou University of Finance and Economics.

Back in the dormitory, Chen Chuan sighed, “Finally back. Guys, want to dive into an intense game of World of Warcraft?”

“I’m going to sleep first,” Xu Jiafeng said, heading straight to his bed.

Wang Liu glanced up at Xu Jiafeng climbing into the upper bunk and said in surprise, “That’s not like you, Feng. You usually don’t sleep before finishing the dungeon.”

“Maybe I’m just tired.”

Zhang Yang plugged in his Nokia phone to charge, then fetched clothes to take a shower.

In 2009, mobile phone chargers typically delivered around 10 watts of power, meaning a full charge often took six or seven hours.

To ease range anxiety, manufacturers often included an extra spare battery.

“Well, no choice then. We’ll have to recruit a couple more random players,” Chen Chuan said.

“Logging in,” Wang Liu’s gaming addiction was kicking in.

Unbeknownst to the three roommates, Xu Jiafeng lay silently on the top bunk, tears streaming down his face. Large drops slid from the corners of his eyes.

If he had known that confessing his feelings would be this painful, he would have kept his words buried in his heart.

That morning, while the group was admiring the cherry blossoms, he seized the moment to hand Xu Zhiruo a love letter.

The response was clear: she already liked someone else.

Rejected, Xu Jiafeng quickly said it was just a dare and fought to hold back his tears.

After more than ten hours of holding it in, the moment he returned to the dorm, his composure shattered.

“Damn it!”

“I’m done with pure love!”

“I’m going to be a scoundrel!”

“I’ll play with people’s feelings!”

Tears falling, Xu Jiafeng silently vowed to lose weight.

...

Zhang Yang finished his shower, washed his clothes, then sat on his lower bunk opening his laptop to check the news.

A competent finance professional must stay constantly attuned to global changes.

Many might not realize it, but the "News Broadcast" is the most authoritative and valuable source of information accessible to the general public.

Why so?

Because the "News Broadcast" is essentially the nation’s external window.

Whether it’s the “4 Trillion Yuan Stimulus Plan” or the “Automobile Subsidy for Rural Areas,” once finalized, such policies are announced first on the "News Broadcast." These are the so-called policy windfalls.

Zhang Yang first played back the "News Broadcast" online to review the key macroeconomic news. Tonight’s broadcast mentioned:

1. The NATO 60th Anniversary Summit concluded on April 4, focusing on the situation in Afghanistan and NATO’s relationship with Russia.

2. On April 5, Venezuela and Iran signed multiple cooperation agreements covering energy, mining, agriculture, technology, including joint oil field development.

3. Hainan’s southern region experienced heavy rainstorms, with Sanya and Haikou receiving torrential and heavy rain, the maximum reaching 67 millimeters.

While watching, Zhang Yang jotted down key points in a document.

Afterward, he scanned internet news.

One story highlighted a 28-year-old Qingdao native, Wei Shi, who opened five chain bun shops within two years, posting nearly 700,000 yuan in annual profit, becoming a local entrepreneurial model.

Another reported the commencement of the Ludong Longkou coal reserve base construction, with the first phase capable of distributing 10 million tons annually, aiming for 50 million tons in the long term.

There were also warnings about the peak season of hand, foot, and mouth disease, with multiple regions issuing alerts and strengthening prevention measures.

Compiling the news from the past two days, Zhang Yang analyzed potential sectors primed to take off next week.

“NATO’s 60th summit discussed Afghanistan but made no progress; gold and oil prices remain unaffected short-term.”

“Venezuela and Iran’s cooperation agreement essentially means outsourcing development, eyeing oil, but no immediate impact; oil prices still bullish for now.”

“Hainan’s heavy rain…”

He searched for local infrastructure listed companies in southern Hainan.

Since heavy rain often brings strong winds, possibly involving construction and rebuilding, he marked it as a potential signal.

The bun chain, coal reserve base, and disease outbreak news highlighted consumer, coal, and healthcare sectors.

After identifying sectors likely to “ignite” next week, Zhang Yang sought quality stocks, working late into the night.

For a financial professional, gathering, analyzing, and leveraging information is fundamental and crucial.

Even ordinary investors instinctively look for “good news” when trading stocks.

Yet often, the “good news” investors see is exactly what others want them to see.

“Time for bed.”

Zhang Yang stretched.

Before shutting down his computer, he glanced at his email schedule: no classes Monday morning, but two in the afternoon.

Without hesitation, he went to bed.

...

The night passed quietly; time flew.

At eight the next morning, the first rays of sunlight streamed into dorm 308 from the balcony. Zhang Yang, Chen Chuan, and others gradually woke.

Since Chen Chuan and Wang Liu weren’t breakfast people, they chose to sleep a bit longer, waiting for their 9:10 alarm.

Zhang Yang went to wash up, then headed to the cafeteria for breakfast.

Hudou’s breakfast options were plentiful—buns, fried dough sticks, lean pork congee, rice dumplings, soy milk, glutinous rice chicken—affordable and varied.

This was thanks to government subsidies for all university canteens; the better the school, the cheaper the meals.

Zhang Yang ordered two fried dough sticks, four meat buns, two glutinous rice chickens, and a cup of soy milk, spending a total of 3.5 yuan.

In Hudou, this was extremely inexpensive.

He found a seat and had just taken a couple bites of his fried dough stick when his Nokia received a message from Professor Wang Xingbang.

[Wang Xingbang]: “Zhang Yang, after class today, please come to the teacher’s office 4-3-101. Reply with '1' upon receipt. Thank you for your cooperation.”

“Professor Wang wants to see me? Could it be that the secret operation for Lai Weijie has been exposed?” Zhang Yang braced for the worst.

The only questionable thing he was doing—technically breaking the rules—was managing Lai Weijie’s account in the Huaxin simulated trading competition.

No, that couldn’t be.

It shouldn’t have been discovered yet!

The more Zhang Yang thought about it, the stranger it seemed. He hadn’t even fully exerted himself; how could the teachers have found out?

It wasn’t possible that Huaxin Securities had identified another operator through IP tracking, was it?

That was nonsense!

Even if such technology existed in 2009, Zhang Yang was on the campus network, completely untraceable.

“Whatever,” Zhang Yang sipped his soy milk and thought, “Since I’ve been summoned, I’ll face it. Even if I’m caught, the worst-case scenario is disqualification from the competition.”