The two talked for a long time. Although Meng Yanchen didn't know what Chen Cheng was up to, he eventually agreed.

Chen Cheng was right; if this case succeeded, it would be absolutely beneficial for him to take control of Guokun.

It would allow Guokun's management to see his capabilities in asset mergers and acquisitions, debt restructuring, and post-investment integration.

Chen Cheng also handed over the team he had prepared in advance to Meng Yanchen.

The finance department would be led by Andy's accounting firm, which Chen Cheng had secretly discussed with Andy in the dead of night.

The legal team would be a bilateral team composed of the law firm partnered with Likely Chen Chengs company, along with Han Su.

As for the rest, the tax, risk control, and governance teams would be assembled by Meng Yanchen.

The only thing not yet planned was the business reorganization after the acquisition.

If Meng Yanchen had to do that too, he might as well go sell coffee.

The funding issue didn't need to be solved in a hurry.

This kind of acquisition case would take at least half a year, and up to a year or two.

Assembling the team and designing the path would keep Meng Yanchen busy for a while.

As it happened, it was estimated that the Han Family still wanted to stir up some trouble.

Half a month later, when the flu began to spread globally.

Chen Cheng took a private jet from the South Pacific island nation to Angel City.

After arranging the acquisition matters, Chen Cheng immediately planned his trip to Angel City.

He had already stayed in Vanuatu for two weeks.

This time, besides two Bodyguards, only Zou Yu was accompanying him.

Eleven, Xing Lu, and Ming Zhen were all on vacation, resting at home.

Although Chen Cheng also wanted 1+1 > 2, this was a time of extreme tension, paranoia, and global panic.

There was no need to take them along and risk it.

On the morning of the 19th, local time, Chen Cheng, accompanied by Zou Yu and two Bodyguards, walked into the office of Company Name located on Wilshire Boulevard.

"Boss~" As soon as he entered the door, John, who was waiting at the entrance, gave Chen Cheng a big hug.

John had lost a lot of weight recently.

It was unclear whether he had really succeeded in losing weight or if he had been drained dry by his girlfriend.

After the hug, John bumped fists with Zou Yu, "Ms. Zou, Happy New Year."

A bright smile appeared on the corners of Zou Yu's mouth, "Happy New Year~"

After the two greeted each other, Chen Cheng walked toward the trading hall while asking, "Are you ready?"

John nodded, "According to your instructions, I have already bought the floor downstairs."

"It has been converted into apartments, with complete entertainment and fitness facilities."

"The security team has also increased its manpower."

"As for the traders, it has been made clear that they cannot contact the outside world or leave this building for the next month."

"They are all old hands, so we can rest assured regarding confidentiality."

Chen Cheng nodded; the traders at Company Name hadn't changed; it was still the same twelve people from last year.

After several years of screening, the staff had stabilized.

Chen Cheng took off his coat, and Zou Yu took it very naturally, folded it neatly, and placed it on an empty seat nearby.

Chen Cheng glanced at his watch and looked up at the pre-market K-line on the big screen.

On the two rows of workstations facing each other, twelve pairs of sharp eyes were fixed tightly on Chen Cheng.

At this moment, they were waiting for Chen Cheng's order to charge into the battlefield and tear the enemy to shreds.

Chen Cheng pulled up a chair and sat down. Facing the crowd staring at him, he smiled, "No need to be so nervous."

Boom~ Laughter erupted instantly.

Someone even whistled.

Chen Cheng smiled brightly, turned his head to look at Sara, who came over to bring him coffee, "Oh, thank you~"

"Can you prepare some snacks for everyone?"

"Everyone seems a bit nervous."

Sara was a Mexican-American woman, thirty-five years old, and a mother of two children.

Her husband was a blue-collar worker responsible for mechanical equipment maintenance at a nearby factory.

When Chen Cheng set up the office, Sara was already at Company Name, usually responsible for some administrative and logistical work.

She was very reliable.

The corners of Sara's mouth curved into crescents, her eyes smiling, "Okay, Chen."

Foreigners couldn't distinguish between front and back nasal sounds, and Chen Cheng was used to it.

Chen Cheng ate snacks while leisurely waiting for the market to open.

"The crude oil group should open short positions for the May and June contracts. Take it slow and control the pace. Opening 50 million for May and 30 million for June today is enough."

Crude oil is traded 24 hours a day, but Chen Cheng waited until the casino opened to see the market reaction before moving on crude oil.

"I got it," the two traders' faces immediately lit up with excited smiles.

Chen Cheng smiled, "The rest of you," he waved at Zou Yu, and Zou Yu immediately distributed small slips of paper with stock codes to the traders.

"Each of you has been assigned 1 to 4 trading targets."

"Just execute the trades according to the plan above. Don't be too anxious; my goal is just to complete the assigned amount before the market closes today."

"Understood?"

The trading hall erupted in excited howls, "Yes sir."

Chen Cheng had led them in this kind of unconventional trading not just once or twice.

They all knew what it meant.

Excitement couldn't describe it; "frenzied" would be more accurate.

Chen Cheng smiled, "You have thirty seconds to memorize the trading plan in your hands."

After he finished speaking, Zou Yu, who had just finished distributing the slips, walked to the first person and collected the slips.

After collecting them, she immediately lit them with a lighter.

At the market close, John summarized and reported to Chen Cheng, "3 billion, all put in, with an overall leverage of 2 times."

"The oil positions were also entered."

Chen Cheng nodded, "Good."

The trading plan he created used various methods to short the top thirty market cap targets.

Chen Cheng called this entire shorted group 'Snow Leopard 30'.

The next day, Chen Cheng followed the same procedure, still using instant slips to send trading plans to the traders.

It was just that the trading capital was reduced, 20% less than the previous trading day, and a short position of 2.4 billion was opened.

On the third trading day, the market began to plummet, with the Nasdaq closing down 1.79%, and Company Name still managed to put in 1.6 billion.

This was the last trading day of the week. Over these three trading days, Likely Chen Chengs company used leverage to accumulate 14 billion dollars in short positions.

On crude oil futures, the margin expenditure was also close to 200 million, with five times leverage, holding nearly 1 billion in short positions.

Afterwards, Chen Cheng did not intend to add more short positions in crude oil.

In terms of liquidity, no other trade was as good as stocks. Gold and crude oil were not as good either.

After the market opened on Monday, influenced by the weekend flu confirmation data and the economic forecasts from America's official social survey institutions.

The Nasdaq fell by 3.7%, and the Dow fell by 3.5%.

Company Name was still slightly increasing its short positions, reaching a position of 15 billion.

On Tuesday, the Nasdaq fell again by 2.78%, and the Dow fell by 3.15%. Company Name's positions increased to 16 billion.

On Wednesday, the market decline narrowed, with the Nasdaq closing down 0.17% and the Dow down 0.46%. Company Name's positions reached 16.5 billion.

On Thursday, everyone's expectation for the decline to stop failed. The Nasdaq plunged again by 4.46%, and the Dow fell by 4.42%. Company Name's positions increased to 17 billion.

On Friday, the Nasdaq fell by 1.39%, and the Dow stopped falling, down 0.01%, closing almost flat. Company Name's positions reached 17.5 billion.

On Monday, the market really stopped falling and rose sharply.

Only Chen Cheng knew that this was just the calm before the storm.

Company Name's positions reached 18 billion.

This was almost an all-in move; the 10 billion fund raised only had less than 800 million in liquidity left.