How A Ride-Hailing Driver Comes To Dominate The World? [EN]: Chapter 593

Lu Haoming was still waiting outside for Yang Chen when Kurk called.

Lu Haoming: “Hello, Mr. Kurk, I…”

Kurk: “What the hell are you doing? Why couldn’t you convince Yang Chen not to short our company’s stock?! Look at how much our stock has fallen! Over a trillion dollars in market value, gone!”

Lu Haoming: “So fast! I came to Starlight Investment to find him, but he’s avoiding me. I’ve been waiting right here at the door, and he still hasn’t come out.”

Kurk: “Are you out of your mind? They’ve already shorted our stock. What’s the point of waiting outside? You’re fired! Pack your things and get out!”

Lu Haoming: “Mr. Kurk, Yang Chen’s decision to short Apple stock must be based on the current market situation. It has nothing directly to do with us. Even if my daughter hadn’t had a conflict with him, he still would have shorted Apple’s stock. It’s unreasonable to fire me using this as an excuse.”

Kurk: “I don’t care about all that. You failed to complete the task I assigned you. I have a million legitimate reasons to fire you. Cooperate honestly, and we’ll give you the compensation you deserve. If you don’t, I’ll notify them to sue you. We’ll drag this out.”

Kurk hung up, and Lu Haoming stood there, stunned.

Lu Xiaoyue, seeing her father’s strange expression, cautiously asked, “Dad, what happened?”

Lu Haoming, in a fit of anger, slapped his daughter.

“It’s all your fault! If it weren’t for you, how would I have walked into this mess? Damn it, headquarters is looking for someone to take the blame, and I’m the fall guy!” Lu Haoming roared.

Lu Xiaoyue had never seen her father so out of control. Now she knew things were serious.

“What exactly happened?” Lu Xiaoyue asked, crying.

Lu Haoming: “I’ve been fired. Are you happy now? Get ready to sell the house. I can’t afford the mortgage anymore.”

Lu Xiaoyue panicked completely and said, “Dad, can we fix this? Can we talk to Yang Chen again?”

Lu Haoming: “They’ve already shorted Apple’s stock. It’s too late now.”

Just then, Yang Chen and Jin Ming came out.

The shorting operation was complete. Now they just had to wait for Apple’s stock price to drop to the target price and then buy to cover the positions.

There was no need for everyone to stay up all night watching the market. They could go home and rest.

Seeing Yang Chen come out, Lu Xiaoyue quickly ran up to him and said, “Mr. Yang, I apologize. Please cancel the shorting of Apple. Can you do that? I’m begging you. If you don’t, my dad will be fired. We just bought a new house, and the monthly payment is over 50,000 [currency not specified, assuming RMB]. If my dad loses this job, we’ll soon be unable to afford the payments, and our whole family will be homeless. My grandparents are in their seventies. We can’t let them sleep on the streets. Please, Mr. Yang.”

Yang Chen: “Are you kidding me? The short positions have already been opened. You think I can just cancel them? Or will you spend 90 billion U.S. dollars to buy back my short positions?”

Lu Xiaoyue: “Where would we get 90 billion U.S. dollars! If we had that much money, would we still need to work for someone else?”

Yang Chen: “Then there’s nothing I can do. Besides, weren’t you quite arrogant this morning? Where’s that arrogant and domineering attitude now? Didn’t I tell you not to come apologizing and begging only when you feel helpless, Director Lu?”

Lu Xiaoyue didn’t understand shorting operations, but Lu Haoming understood a little.

Since Starlight Investment had already released the short positions, it was impossible to cancel them.

Even kneeling down and kowtowing [traditional Chinese gesture of deep respect] to Yang Chen wouldn’t work. Only using 90 billion U.S. dollars to cover the positions could end the shorting.

But where would they get that much money?

Yang Chen would never spend 90 billion U.S. dollars for them.

“Mr. Yang, well played. I am sincerely convinced. I wish you success in shorting Apple and making as much money as possible!” Lu Haoming said with a wry smile.

Yang Chen nodded and said, “Thank you. It’s getting late. Go back and rest.”

With that, Yang Chen left with Jin Ming and the others.

The father and daughter watched them enter the elevator, and then Lu Xiaoyue cried and asked, “Dad, why didn’t you beg him? Wouldn’t it be fine if he just canceled the shorting?”

Lu Haoming: “Do you think this is a game? You think you can just cancel it? It’s a 90 billion U.S. dollar short position. Do you have the money to cover it?”

Lu Xiaoyue: “Then what do we do? Are we just going to accept reality? We just moved into our new home. I don’t want to move again. And I really like this house. I don’t want to sell it. Dad, think of a way.”

Lu Haoming sighed and said, “You’re still saying these things. I really regret spoiling you all this time. They say you should spoil your daughter and raise her to be rich, haha… It’s all a bunch of lies. Whether it’s a boy or a girl, you have to discipline them well, or you’ll end up like me.”

…

Companies are like people. When it’s time for them to be unlucky, there’s no stopping it.

Early in the morning, a certain communications expert posted on Weibo [Chinese social media platform].

The gist of it was that he took Metro Line 10 home from work yesterday and noticed that his phone only showed a 4G signal, while a young man next to him had a full 5G signal on his Apple phone.

As far as he knew, Metro Line 10 did not have 5G network coverage, so why was this young man’s Apple phone showing a full 5G signal?

So, after returning home, he called a leader at China Unicom [Chinese telecommunications company] and asked about the 5G signal coverage on Metro Line 10 in Beijing.

According to that leader, Metro Line 10 in Beijing was not covered by 5G signals.

Although this communications expert did not disassemble the Apple phone, the existing evidence already proved that Apple phones falsely advertise 5G signals.

Apple phones already have poor signal strength. They may lose signal at any time in places where other domestic thousand-yuan phones have signal.

In addition, when Longwei [fictional brand] released the Mate 50, many Apple fans and internet trolls mocked Longwei for selling a 4G phone for 9,000 yuan. Their ugly faces are still vivid in his mind.

So, when this news was exposed, it quickly topped the trending charts, and Apple phones and Apple phone users were mocked by the entire internet.

“Oh, so the 4G phone selling for 9,000 yuan was Apple. We all misunderstood them.”

“First there was Apple, then there was heaven. A 4G phone costs 13,000. First there was Apple, then there was earth. A 4G signal is labeled as 5G.”

“It’s no big deal. The distinguished Apple phone users will automatically adapt. I just saw a heaven-defying comment saying that if Apple can deceive me, it’s its ability. Tsk tsk tsk… I can only say ‘amazing’!”

“Haha… some brands clearly have 5G speeds but label them as 4G, while others clearly have 4G signals but label them as 5G.”

“I think phones are completely a matter of personal preference. There’s no need to praise one and step on another. Longwei phones are very good, but I still think Apple tastes better.”

…

The reason why netizens mocked so much was to retaliate against those who had mocked Longwei for selling a 4G phone for 9,000 yuan. They were just chasing the trend and joining in the fun.

But!

At this time, the exposure of this kind of news was not a good thing for Apple.

It can be said that Apple was in a time of trouble, and any disturbance would have a big impact on it.

Under the impact of Longwei’s Mate 60 Pro and the ban on Longguo civil servants, Apple phones in the Longguo market were already showing signs of being universally condemned.

Now, with the addition of this black material of falsely labeled signals, the sales prospects of Apple 15 were even more uncertain.

However.

It still wasn’t over.

Near noon, another message was exposed.

The gist of it was that Apple 15 was assembled in a factory in A San’s country [derogatory term for India]. Because A San’s country’s industrial base was too poor and the workers’ standards were not high enough, the yield rate of Apple 15 was only about 50%.

In order to avoid a high return rate and other after-sales problems, Apple specifically chose Longguo as the first launch market, because Apple executives believed that Longguo’s Apple fans had the ability to “adapt on their own.”

As soon as this news was exposed, even Apple fans were dumbfounded.

Were they being treated like fools?

Netizens were already mocking Apple fans, and this news gave them another reason to mock.

“Haha… I’m dying of laughter. Is it really that direct? How can Apple fans bear this!”

“Apple fans: I treat Apple like my first love, but Apple treats me like a sucker.”

“Haha… I said that Apple fans will automatically adapt. It’s not a problem at all. It seems that it’s not just us who define Apple fans this way, even Apple defines them this way.”

“Damn it, if this news is true, 14 will be my last Apple phone. No matter what brand I use in the future, I’m a dog if I buy any Apple products again.”

…

Does it matter if this news is true?

Not at all.

The important thing is that this news once again brought uncertainty to the sales of Apple 15.

At this time, it was late at night in the United States, but Kurk couldn’t sleep at all.

He really didn’t expect the situation to develop to this point, completely beyond his expectations.

However, things still weren’t over.

A few days ago, Tesla’s CEO, Max [likely Elon Musk], said that Apple phones were too garbage and that there had been no innovation in recent years’ new products.

Now, he saw someone on Twitter introducing that Apple invested 26.25 billion U.S. dollars in research and development last year, and the body weight of Apple 15 will be 1 gram lighter than the body weight of Apple 14.

Then he forwarded this message and commented: “That’s really not cost-effective. Apple’s investment and return are not proportional. I don’t know what the difference is between the new Apple phone and the past versions. Is the camera 10% better?”

As everyone knows, Max is also a ruthless person. He spent 44 billion U.S. dollars to acquire Twitter just to “protect his freedom of speech.”

After the acquisition, he carried out a large number of layoffs and organizational structure adjustments, and brought the overtime culture into Twitter, and even ate and slept with employees in the company.

Although he said last week that Apple’s new mobile phone was not innovative, Kurk and other Apple executives did not dare to say anything to him.

Rumor has it that Apple phones are likely to need Max’s Starlink [satellite internet constellation] to add satellite calls and other functions to the phones.

If Kurk and others quarreled with Max, they were worried that it would increase the difficulty of future cooperation between the two parties, at least it would increase Apple’s cost of using Starlink.

Max is likely to rely on this point, so he dares to repeatedly discuss how garbage Apple’s new mobile phone is on public platforms.

Now the situation is very clear. Not only is Longguo full of “hostility” towards Apple’s new mobile phone, but even their own people look down on it.

Under this atmosphere, should the sales expectations of Apple 15 be lowered again and again?

As a result, when the U.S. stock market opened, Apple’s stock quickly fell to 176 U.S. dollars, and the company’s market value also fell from 3 trillion U.S. dollars to 2.7 trillion U.S. dollars. In just two days, 300 billion U.S. dollars of market value evaporated.

The price of the short positions released by Starlight Investment was 198 U.S. dollars per share, which means that each share has already obtained a price difference of 22 U.S. dollars. The shorting income obtained from 500 million short positions is 11 billion U.S. dollars, and the rate of return has exceeded 10%.

According to Yang Chen’s estimate, this operation will achieve the expected effect if it makes a profit of at least 10%.

The important thing is not how much money he made through this shorting, but to tell everyone through this successful shorting of Apple’s stock that he is fully capable of manipulating the U.S. capital and technology companies on his own.

Yang Chen said to Jin Ming: “Place orders below 176 U.S. dollars to buy back and close our short positions in batches.”

Jin Ming: “Okay. Comrades who are trading Apple stocks, pay attention. Start buying back and closing our short positions in batches below 176 U.S. dollars. The purpose of our shorting this time has been achieved. Thank you for your hard work.”

The traders quickly started placing orders, buying 500 million shares in batches to close the 500 million short positions released by Starlight Investment.

On the other side, Luckin Coffee rose sharply again, and the price has reached 15 U.S. dollars per share.

The short positions opened by the Wall Street Alliance, including the Lion Fund, have been liquidated. Now they are holding a meeting to study whether to cut their losses and close their positions immediately, or continue to hold on.

When they decided to short Longgai stocks [Chinese concept stocks] to teach Yang Chen a lesson, everyone was full of confidence and unanimous in their opinion, that is, short them without hesitation.

But now it’s different. Faced with Yang Chen’s magical operation, some of them were timid, and even started to retreat.

“I think we must persevere. We must not lose this battle no matter what. If we admit defeat like this, what will people all over the world think of us?”

“No one wants to admit defeat, but what can we do now? We spent three months focusing on shorting Luckin, and originally even God couldn’t save it, but Yang Chen saved it. Do you know how much money his broken coffee made? It sold 100 million on the first day, do you understand? Subsequently, Moutai [famous Chinese liquor brand] will continue to launch the Jiangxiang coffee series with Luckin, and there is no way to short Luckin.”

“We should believe in our strength and ability, and not admit defeat when we encounter a little setback. He can save one Luckin, and I don’t believe he can save every one. My suggestion is to add some cash to the brokerage firm on the Luckin side and temporarily hold on without closing the position. Next, we will short ten Longgai stock companies in one go. As long as he can’t save one, we can make a big fuss about this company and force it to delist. As long as a company is forced to delist, other Longgai stocks will definitely fall collectively. Maybe the stock price of Luckin Coffee will fall back then, and we won’t have to close our positions at a loss.”

“Seriously, I regret not listening to Buffett’s advice at the beginning. I should have listened to his advice at the time and not shorted Longgai stocks with you. Now I’m in a dilemma, and it’s making me too uncomfortable.”

“Jerry, can you be a little ambitious? What’s this? Do you need to say such frustrating things? Please, we are Wall Street giants. Does what you say live up to your identity?”

“Okay, okay, stop arguing. Nothing has happened yet, and we are already fighting among ourselves. I think Mike’s suggestion is good. First, add cash to hold on to the short positions of Luckin Coffee without closing them. Next, we will release all the ten Longgai stock short reports we have prepared in one go. As long as one is not saved, we will have a chance to turn defeat into victory. In this way, to be fair, let’s vote by show of hands!”

…

These people quickly raised their hands to vote. In the end, only two abstained from voting, and everyone else raised their hands in favor of this method.

Phil Tartas, president of the Wall Street Shorting Alliance’s leading Lion Fund, said: “OK! It’s settled. Don’t be discouraged, victory will eventually belong to us.”

If shouting slogans was useful, everyone would be rich.

At this time, at Apple headquarters.

Kurk looked at the company’s stock price continuing to fall, his brows furrowed together, not knowing what to do.

In fact, anyone with a discerning eye can see that whether Apple’s stock price continues to fall to a reasonable price or can rebound completely depends on the sales of Apple 15.

If the sales are good, Apple’s stock price will be saved.

If the sales are not good, it will likely continue to fall to find a support level.

But no matter what the result, at this moment, Starlight Investment has successfully closed its positions and left the market.

This is a shame for Apple. Faced with Yang Chen’s shorting, they had no ability to fight back and could only watch themselves being slaughtered.

“Hoo… F*ck…”

At this moment, Kurk could only use this sigh and a curse to express his bad mood.

At this time, Buffett, who was shopping, was surrounded by passers-by.

“Mr. Buffett, what do you think of the battle between the Wall Street Alliance and Yang Chen? Luckin Coffee has risen a lot, it has risen two times.”

“Yang Chen successfully shorted Apple, and is expected to have a profit of more than 10%.”

“In the current battle situation, will the Wall Street Shorting Alliance lose?”

…

Buffett said with a smile: “When they were preparing to short Longgai stocks, I had already reminded them that this was not a very wise thing to do. You can search online for what I said when I was interviewed. Unfortunately, they didn’t listen to my advice and insisted on shorting Longgai stocks. To be honest, the problem of Luckin Coffee cannot be solved by anyone, and even God can only watch it delist. However, Yang Chen came up with a clever way to solve it, and the effect was very good. Not only did he make the data that Luckin Coffee promoted to the outside world become a reality, but he also made its stock price soar. I think this is enough to explain the problem. If they are smart, they should stop immediately and make peace with Yang Chen. If they continue to resist so stubbornly, something will definitely happen to the company. Based on my experience dealing with Yang Chen, he will likely make the Lion Fund, the leader of the shorting alliance, pay a heavy price. As for Apple, anyone with a discerning eye can see that its stock price is too high and must be lowered by at least 20%, or even more. As for whether it can rise back, it depends on whether the contribution of Longguo’s Apple fans is enough. My point of view will not change, Yang Chen will not lose. The only question that cannot be determined now is how badly the Wall Street Shorting Alliance will lose.”

Hearing this, everyone showed shocked expressions.

“Mr. Buffett, aren’t you too unconfident in the Wall Street Alliance?”

“Or, are you too blindly worshiping Yang Chen? I know you once lost to him, but you can’t worship him so much.”

“I think Mr. Buffett’s point of view is very correct. You people are seeing Longguo people and Yang Chen with arrogance and prejudice. If Yang Chen was an American, or even a European, you would never think so and would have surrendered obediently. Your arrogance and prejudice will eventually make you pay the price!”

…

Buffett laughed and said: “I have already seen it. No matter how you evaluate me, saying that I am old, timid, afraid of losing, or anything else, I can accept it. Because I think time will prove whether I am right or wrong. Let’s wait and see who wins and who loses in the end.”

…

Back in Longguo.

As soon as it dawned, Chen Xi released a new dynamic on Starlight Investment and Yang Chen’s personal social accounts.

“Mr. Yang asked me to share some good news with you. Starlight Investment’s short positions in Apple have all been closed, with a total profit of 11.845 billion U.S. dollars, which is a little better than he expected. Then, Mr. Yang also asked me to remind everyone that the first batch of Apple 15s are produced in A San’s country, and the yield rate is very low. Everyone must be careful when buying them. If such an expensive mobile phone has problems every now and then, it would be quite worrying. Finally, Mr. Yang also asked me to give you a preview. Shorting Apple is only the first step. Starlight Investment will continue to short U.S. companies next. Wall Street can join forces to maliciously short and suppress our companies, and we can also short and suppress U.S. companies.”

“They can come, so can we. From now on, offense and defense change!” Finally, I wish you all a happy new year and good luck in the Year of the Dragon in advance.”

In order to prevent the stock prices of Qualcomm and other three companies from falling in advance, Yang Chen did not tell Chen Xi which companies he would short next.

However, it was enough to reveal this information, and netizens were already excited.

“Boss Yang is awesome! I have sent a lot of words of praise, and I don’t think there is anything to say. In short, Boss Yang is awesome.”

“I think these are routine operations for Boss Yang, and there is nothing to praise. After all, he single-handedly cleaned up even Buffett before, and oil and banks were all harvested by him. Now dealing with an Apple company is not a sure thing?”

“I really didn’t expect that in my lifetime I would see our Longguo also have a capital that can harvest others at will. I remember listening to adults when I was a child saying that Soros shorted Southeast Asia and described him as a robber. Now I find that shorting others seems to be quite cool. You can not only make money, but also humiliate the other party severely. The key is that the other party has no ability to fight back and can only watch themselves being harvested.”

“I hope the country protects Boss Yang. I feel that he is sent by God to change the rules of the world. From now on, offense and defense change. This is so well said. In the past, our companies were bullied, but now with the protection of Boss Yang, our companies will not only not be bullied, but we can also bully others.”

“Everyone knows that foreigners have no credibility. They can break the contract at any time. As long as it is beneficial to them, they can do anything dirty. Boss Yang used so much cash to operate in the U.S. stock market this time. What if they freeze his account and don’t allow his funds to leave? Wouldn’t all the money he has worked so hard to earn for so many years be swallowed up by them? They can do this kind of thing. A lot of money from the hairy bear [Russia] has been frozen.”

…