“This is my business card.” David Hill took out a business card and handed it to Evan Ford with both hands, sincerely saying, “Evan Ford, little brother, thank you, I’ll remember this. Since you’re into stocks, if there’s ever anything I can help with, just let me know.”

Evan Ford smiled and nodded.

“The phone number and address are on there. I’m with Wanguo Huangpu, though my position isn’t very high…” David Hill said a few more words, then suddenly looked up at Evan Ford’s eyes, hesitating a bit, “Little brother, you bought so many at once… To be honest, even for us insiders, it’s only because the higher-ups forced us that we barely bought one or two…”

He’s a decent guy, even worrying about me. But from the looks of it, even the insiders aren’t sure about this! That’s a good sign.

“Don’t worry, Brother Hill, I discussed this with my family.”

After saying that, he put the business card in his pocket and turned around.

“Fool, even Yang Millionaire didn’t buy a single one, and you bought so many. Just wait and see—you’ll be crying soon.” The burly young man from before was waiting at the door, threw out a taunt, and then left.

Not a kind guy, Evan Ford thought. I helped him out of such a troublesome situation, and not only did he not thank me, he even mocked me.

“Alright.” Evan Ford replied with a smile, ignored him, and stood there waiting for the others to leave.

Huh, why is it again “Yang Millionaire didn’t buy a single one”?

A sudden alert popped up in Evan Ford’s mind:

Could someone be deliberately creating this kind of public opinion and atmosphere? Among those who are so earnest in persuading others not to buy, could there be one or two who are secretly putting in all their savings, quietly hauling subscription certificates home?

Smart people—at this time, they already know how to guide public opinion to sway the masses, influence the bigger picture, and profit from it.

Anyway, these people are actually in the same trench as me right now. The only difference is, they’re feasting on meat, while I can only sip a bit of soup.

Even so, just a bit of soup—one set is a hundred consecutively numbered subscription certificates, and Evan Ford now has two sets in his hands.

Is two sets a lot? Compared to the average person, it’s quite a lot, and should bring Evan Ford a decent fortune—maybe a hundred thousand, maybe several hundred thousand. But considering how rare and precious this opportunity is, it’s not much at all—in fact, it’s far too little, much too little.

The next time subscription certificates are issued will be in Shenzhen, with millions lining up, strict purchase limits per queue, one ID per purchase, and extremely low lottery odds. In terms of difficulty and profit, it’s nothing like this time.

So this is really a one-shot deal.

Evan Ford doesn’t plan to stay in the stock market long-term. The information he remembers isn’t enough or clear enough; if he keeps swimming in these waters, one big wave could drown him any day.

He just wants to dig out his first pot of gold from here—the more, the better.

Just now, when he reached out to take those two beautifully printed sets of stock subscription certificates, Evan Ford felt joy, excitement, even elation. But now, his mood had turned to disappointment, regret, frustration, and helplessness.

Opportunities like this don’t come twice. There’s nothing wrong with this kind of greed… because Evan Ford knows the outcome for sure. In this situation, not being greedy would be foolish.

He knows he can’t influence the bigger picture; he just wants to buy a few more sets, the more the better… but if it’s really not possible, even just one more set would be good.

The problem is, he’s out of money. His family’s been cleaned out, and there’s no one left to trick or borrow from.

Three thousand yuan is a huge sum in this era. Few families can scrape it together, and those who can are reluctant to part with it.

It’s like knowing there’s an auction in Myanmar tomorrow, and one piece of jade rough can be bought for a hundred million. Once cut open, it’s worth two billion—but you can’t get to Myanmar, and you can’t get a hundred million. What do you do? Find a partner? But who would believe you? And even if they do, how can you be sure they’ll let you in on the deal?!

You can only watch helplessly as another rich person gets even richer.

Being broke is so painful.

……

……

Staying alert, Evan Ford waited until he saw the guy with the knife turn the corner ahead before he doubled back into another street, blending into the crowd.

“Someone’s following me.”

He hadn’t gone far before Evan Ford sensed it.

He turned his head and saw a man of about forty, a bit scruffy, clothes dirty, hair messy, a cigarette dangling from his mouth.

Even after being spotted, the man didn’t hide. Instead, he smiled and came closer.

“I just happened to see you buying subscription certificates at the Industrial and Commercial Bank over there, bought a lot at once… You know, wealth shouldn’t be flaunted.” The man spoke with a strong Hujian accent.

Was that a threat or a genuine warning?

Evan Ford tensed up, but replied calmly, “Thank you.”

“I saw you kept your money in your inner pocket, the stitching was very neat and tight, hard to open, so I’m guessing you didn’t sew it yourself—your mom did, right?” The man saw the confusion in Evan Ford’s eyes and smiled, explaining, “So I figure, you bought so many not because your family is rich, but because this is probably all your family’s savings, maybe even borrowed some… betting everything you have. But you looked so calm just now—are you really that confident?”