After a week of calm, on March 9th, a piece of news shattered the entire market.

The production cut talks between the Russian Bear and the Camel collapsed, compounded by the spread of the flu.

Chen Cheng had finally waited for the circuit breaker he wanted!

Within five minutes of opening, the S&P 500 fell over 7%, triggering a circuit breaker and pausing trading for 15 minutes; the Nasdaq fell 7.29% that day, and the Dow Jones fell 7.79%, marking the largest single-day point drop since 1915.

In the trading room, everyone looked at Chen Cheng with radiant faces, including Zou Yu and Sarah.

John rubbed his flushed face, exhaled deeply several times, and then slowly asked: "Boss, when do we liquidate our positions?"

Chen Cheng smiled while holding his red wine glass, "No rush. Let the bullets fly for a while."

He hadn't even touched the short strategies he controlled himself. He was even less in a rush here.

On the 12th, health authorities declared a global pandemic, and many European countries locked down their borders.

The S&P 500 plummeted 9.51%, the largest single-day drop since "Black Monday" in 1987; the Nasdaq plunged 9.43%, the Dow Jones plunged 10%, and the market panic index (VIX) soared to 75.

John looked at Chen Cheng anxiously, "Boss~"

Chen Cheng smiled but said nothing.

"With the market falling like this, the government will definitely step in to save the market."

"Shall we close our positions?"

Chen Cheng shook his head, "Wait a little longer."

On the 16th, despite the Federal Reserve's emergency rate cut to zero the previous day, it failed to boost confidence, and daily new confirmed cases topped a thousand; the S&P 500 triggered a circuit breaker right at the opening.

This time, it wasn't just John who was anxious; Zou Yu also anxiously pulled on Chen Cheng and urged, "Close the positions."

Chen Cheng stared at the ticking timestamp on the screen.

He was waiting, waiting for the trading pause to end.

Sure enough, the market did not disappoint him; after the trading pause ended, the three major indices continued to plummet.

Chen Cheng watched as they got closer and closer to the second circuit breaker and knew it was time.

Don't try to squeeze out the very last penny; lock in the profits first.

By the day after tomorrow, with the fourth circuit breaker of the month, he could buy at the bottom.

Finishing the liquidation today would prevent any scrambling later.

He looked at the traders waiting expectantly, "Close positions~"

Instantly, the trading room was filled with the clatter of keyboards.

Chen Cheng chuckled, returned to his office, and tapped on his keyboard a few times.

His own option strategies also began to liquidate.

Half an hour before the market closed, Chen Cheng returned to the trading room, his face glowing.

His option strategies had all been liquidated.

It was no wonder Chen Cheng was excited. Excluding the borrowed one billion dollars in principal—ignoring interest since the time frame was short and the interest was negligible.

The total net profit was 6.862 billion dollars; in less than three months, the net return rate was 686%.

Unfortunately, such an opportunity might only come once in a lifetime.

When it comes to shorting, compared to other methods, options are a very safe strategy; one doesn't face unlimited losses, and the greatest risk is the premium paid.

He immediately made arrangements for Zhencheng Hong Kong to use the profit funds to buy large amounts of Company Name's stock.

After two trading days of suspension, Company Name had to resume trading again.

Compounded by market panic, before Chen Cheng intervened, Company Name had already fallen to around 2 dollars.

However, the turnover rate was very high; for the past week, the turnover rate had been over 60% every trading day.

Large amounts of speculative capital were snatching chestnuts from the fire.

Zhencheng Hong Kong's massive buying directly pulled Company Name, which had been following the market down by 6.35%, into the green.

Chen Cheng stood in the trading hall, looking at the bright red colors of the three major indices on the screen, the corners of his mouth curling up slightly.

Within half a month, three circuit breakers; the entire market was in a panic.

The three major indices had all fallen by 12%, and with less than half an hour left, this decline was expected to continue until the close.

John walked over, suppressing an excited smile at the corner of his mouth, "Boss, the entire market is in a panic sell-off. Things are going very smoothly on our end, and it will be over soon."

Chen Cheng used his "Midas Touch" cheat to take a look at the trend of the "Five Sisters" for tomorrow. After thinking for a moment, he looked at the traders who had started watching others close their positions.

"Those who have finished liquidating their positions can find your friends and buy some 'Ten Sisters'."

"Control the amount for each person under 80 million, and the price cannot be higher than 2% of the current price."

The traders who were just watching the show immediately returned to their seats, adjusted their program parameters, and began to absorb the sell orders from the market.

As soon as the market closed, John quickly compiled a summary.

"Boss, as of the close, all the short positions in our hands have been liquidated."

"After deducting leverage fees, the net profit is 5.07 billion."

Needless to say, the numbers after the decimal point were intentionally created by these traders.

"1.02 billion in established positions, and another 200 million in crude oil futures."

Hearing about the profit, Chen Cheng unusually didn't smile; instead, he was quite calm.

It looked like a big operation, but in reality, this profit wasn't even as much as the option strategies he had bet on.

But there was no help for it; when the scale gets too large, some trades lose their significance.

The leverage here was just over two times overall, while the option contracts in his hands had an actual leverage of up to 45 times.

The risks weren't on the same magnitude, so naturally, the profit levels weren't on the same magnitude either.

Feeling the expectant gazes of the traders, Chen Cheng finally smiled and looked at John, "Old rules: you write the report, I'll approve it."

"Chen!" "Chen!" "..."

The trading room suddenly erupted in thunderous cheers.

Sarah, being tactful, brought two security guards, champagne, and glasses over, and began pouring drinks for everyone.

Zou Yu walked out of the office and watched as everyone surrounded Chen Cheng in the center, excitedly roaring, singing, and some even dancing.

Her gaze kept lingering on Chen Cheng's handsome face, practically stringing together with longing. Her red lips parted slightly, and she muttered, "He is the king here."

At night, while Chen Cheng was still passionately entangled and lingering with Zou Yu.

Zhencheng Hong Kong and Company Name issued two consecutive announcements.

Zhencheng Hong Kong announced it was increasing its stake in Company Name again, acquiring another 5.01% of Company Name shares through public bidding, bringing its equity stake in Company Name to 10.02%.

Company Name announced that it had formed a consortium with Zhencheng Hong Kong and Guokun Group to make a tender offer for Company Name, which was waiting for the grim reaper's judgment: to acquire the remaining 90% equity of Company Name at 12.7 dollars per share, for a total price of 2.7 billion dollars, to privatize Company Name.

A valuation of 3 billion.

This valuation wasn't set by Chen Cheng.

It was calculated by the finance team after factoring in the risk of subsequent fines.

Guokun Group joining as a financial investor was proposed by Meng Yanchen, and Chen Cheng agreed, going with the flow.

This move by Meng Yanchen made it seem much more legitimate for him to go sell coffee in the future.

Of course, the acquisition entity and controlling party were still Company Name.

For the previous 5.01%, Company Name spent 230 million; but this time, for the 5.01%, Company Name only spent 33 million.

A tender offer might seem like big news in the financial world, but in the face of continuous circuit breakers in America...

...it didn't even generate much buzz.

It only attracted the attention of a small group of people.

The speculators who sold Company Name today were beating their chests in regret;

The 'shareholders' who held on to the stock until today were teary-eyed;

The bank syndicate and the custodian accountants breathed a sigh of relief.

Only the old man from the Han Family was cursing loudly, 'Wolfish ambition! Wolfish ambition!'

'Jiang Han! Jiang Han, you wolf cub.'