After a long while, Lillian Lewis finally went home in disappointment and lost all interest in going out to play.

Chapter 007 The First Pot of Gold

Under the scorching sun, Nathaniel Johnson rode his bicycle straight to the Haidu Securities branch at the intersection of Jianshe Road. Although the domestic stock market in 1996 had only been around for a few years, stock trading was already extremely popular. Going into business and entering the stock market became the two most fashionable things in society at the time.

The year 1996 held great significance in the short six-year development history of the emerging domestic securities market. In 1996, inflation disappeared and bank interest rates dropped; starting in March, the stock market began a major upward trend, and for the whole year it basically moved in a single upward direction. Even the management’s “Twelve Golden Orders” couldn’t rein in the raging bull market. It wasn’t until the end of the year, when exhaustion erupted and two consecutive limit-downs occurred, that the rally finally ended and investors returned to rationality.

That year, the hottest news in all major media was stock market reports. Various stock commentaries and expert opinions filled the media pages. 1996: Bull Market! Bull Market!—headlines like this appeared frequently in reports.

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The trading hall was packed with retail investors, all craning their necks to stare at the stock quotation system, which alternated between red and green. The noise was deafening. Squeezed among the crowd, Nathaniel Johnson observed for a moment, then found the target he had come for this time: Haiminyuan, stock code 0518.

Nathaniel Johnson didn’t know if this was the deliberate arrangement of fate, or perhaps some kind of compensation for the misfortunes of his previous life. The moment after his rebirth, once he confirmed the time, he knew clearly and ecstatically that heaven had given him a generous gift. And this might just be the first pot of gold for him to turn his life around.

June 1996—this point in time was connected to what would later become the most serious securities fraud case since the establishment of the national securities market, shocking the entire country.

In July 1988, Haidu Minyuan Modern Agricultural Development Co., Ltd. was registered and established in Haidu. In September 1992, it raised 30 million legal person shares in the National Securities Trading Automated Quotation (STAQ) system, with paid-in capital of 30 million yuan. On April 30, 1993, under the name Haiminyuan A-shares (stock code: 0518), it was listed in Shenzhen, becoming one of the five non-local enterprises listed in Shenzhen at the time. In the second year after listing, “Haiminyuan” began to decline, with poor business performance and little interest in its stock. In the 1995 annual report, “Haiminyuan” had earnings per share of less than 0.001 yuan, and on the day the report was released (April 30, 1996), its stock price was only 3.65 yuan.

But starting from July 1, 1996, the price of “Haiminyuan” began at 4.45 yuan and soared to 20 yuan within just a few months, multiplying several times over. After being carefully manipulated by some invisible hands, “Haiminyuan” became a dark horse that created a stock market legend in 1996.

After a round of careful packaging, on January 22 and February 1, 1997, Haiminyuan published its annual report and supplementary announcement in the Securities Times, claiming that the company achieved profits of more than 570 million yuan in 1996, and increased its capital reserve by 657 million yuan that year. The annual report boldly stated: earnings per share of 0.867 yuan, net profit up 1,290.68 times year-on-year, and a distribution plan of 98,000 bonus shares for every 10 shares held. As soon as the annual report was released, “Haiminyuan” stock price soared to 26.18 yuan.

From 2.08 yuan on April 1, 1996, to 26.18 yuan in January 1997, the price increased 16-fold in less than a year!

But soon after, on March 1, 1997, a joint investigation team formed by the CSRC and several other departments determined that “Haiminyuan” had falsified its annual report, fabricating 540 million yuan in profits and inflating its capital reserve by 657 million yuan. Of the 540 million yuan in fake profits, the company had, without obtaining land use rights, concocted invalid contracts for cooperative construction and equity transfers with related companies and others, without approval from relevant state departments. The 657 million yuan in capital reserve was fabricated through asset evaluations of four investment projects, again without land use rights or approval and confirmation from relevant state departments.

Haiminyuan was delisted and reorganized, and the relevant executives were brought to justice. This once sensational stock market dark horse faded from investors’ view as quickly as it had appeared. But for Nathaniel Johnson, this half-year window was already enough.

Of course, this was speculation. But in a sense, life itself is a kind of speculation—some people seize opportunities, others let them slip by. This was an excellent chance to change his own and his family’s financial fate, and Nathaniel Johnson would never give it up.

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After watching the stock market for a while, Nathaniel Johnson was about to leave. As he was leaving, he ran into an acquaintance at the door. The wife of Haidu City’s Deputy Secretary-General Evan Fox, Samantha Lane, who was also the Deputy Director of the Haidu District Agricultural Committee. She was a deputy section-level cadre. Nathaniel Johnson was also high school classmates with Samantha Lane’s son, Benjamin Fox, and they lived in the same neighborhood.

“Aunt Lane.” Walking head-on into her, Nathaniel Johnson had no choice but to greet Samantha Lane with a smile.