My Life with Narration

Chapter 524 - 515: Your Little Brother... Doesn’t Like Men, Does He?

The purpose of everyone present was different, even Tang Nan, who seemed to merely be helping to introduce people, had her agenda.

After all, being part of the entertainment circle, her friends wanted to meet with her Stock God friend. To maintain relationships and to help Su Qing expand his social circle were all part of her intentions.

Perhaps she wouldn’t gain any tangible benefits, but she would certainly gain in terms of personal favors. If a collaboration could really be achieved, both Su Qing and her friends would owe her a favor.

Personal favors are the hardest debts to repay. At their level, small benefits can be set aside, and personal favors are exchanged for more personal favors.

As for Su Qing and the women, it’s entirely an exchange for mutual benefit, to see if the other has something they need.

As for discussing personal favors among them? Forget it. What kind of personal favor could there be at a first meeting? Let alone helping you make money.

That’s why when Xia Wanning said what she did, the atmosphere in the room got awkward for a moment. Fortunately, someone in the room swiftly moved past the awkwardness without a word.

This is also the way most business people interact. If everyone could be as perceptive as Su Qing and see through others’ thoughts, it would be terribly unpleasant.

When people are scheming, the dark side of their hearts might exceed your imagination and even subvert one’s preconceived notions.

The atmosphere in the private room soon returned to normal, and Su Qing seized the opportunity to speak:

"I advise everyone not to touch the stock market recently. I also plan to keep a low profile for a while."

Hearing this, the women were quite surprised. This is the famed Stock God after all. Especially after the last incident, although Tang Nan informed them how to operate, the real decision-maker was the young man in front of them. He calculated the stock trends with precision.

"Why? Is it because the stock market environment has been bad lately?" Gao Yuan asked softly.

After all, this concerns whether their planned cooperation can succeed.

The other women also watched him closely. In response, Su Qing smiled: "That’s just one aspect. The current overall market is indeed not optimistic. To say the least, it could take from half a year to a year or even longer to bounce back. The trend will be downward, though it won’t fall as rapidly as it recently did.

The reason I want to lay low is I didn’t expect the last event to blow up as much. Initially, I just wanted to give those students a little benefit in class, but with how fast things spread online now, it scared me. I couldn’t even bring myself to invest small amounts, let alone large sums, for fear of being noticed."

At this, the slightly younger Xu Jing and Xia Wanning spoke up:

"Why is that? Is there something more to this?"

"Yeah, can’t people talk about stock rises and falls? I often see so-called experts and influencers predicting the stock market online."

But before he could explain, Gao Yuan, knowledgeable as she was, interrupted: "You two, don’t interrupt little Su. Just listen quietly."

Then she looked at Su Qing suspiciously and asked, "Are you afraid of... the Securities Regulatory Commission or something..."

She didn’t spell it out, but at least she understood the field.

Su Qing nodded: "Manipulating stock prices through personal influence is no laughing matter. A company approached me some time ago, offering a million to recommend their stock. I turned it down; the money isn’t that easy to earn, and the risks are too high."

Saying this, he looked at Xu Jing and the others, whose expectant expressions showed what they were thinking. He continued:

"The reason for the last major gains was the influence spread online, causing a large number of investors to follow suit, which drove Tianchen Technology’s stock price to such heights. Otherwise, with just the money from you few, it might have increased a bit but wouldn’t have changed much. You wouldn’t have earned even a third of what you did.

Moreover, the risks were enormous. Just last time, several financial institutions were in the fray, trying to swallow up you large investors. Good thing you withdrew early; otherwise, you’d be lucky not to lose money.

And in the current situation, if the information isn’t public and you rely solely on the funds you have, you might not even hedge against the falling stock price. This is stock trading, with inherent risks. There’s no such thing as a sure-profit, no-loss deal in the world!"

Seeing Su Qing’s calm and smiling demeanor, the women fell silent. Indeed, where is there a sure-profit, no-loss deal? If such a good thing existed, wouldn’t others do it themselves?

And what can they offer?

When Su Qing casually mentioned a million just for speaking a word, it shocked them.

For the people here, a variety show or a movie might earn that much,

even if some could earn more, company cuts would still leave them with less.

But filming a variety show or TV drama is not something that can be completed in a short period.

Before today, some were thinking that in the best-case scenario, pooling together a million or ten might buy a stock market tip from him.

But as it now appears, they were daydreaming.

If someone isn’t interested in a million, why would they care about their petty interests?

Moreover, Su Qing clearly stated that last time was a special case. Even if it rose again, they likely wouldn’t earn as much.

Calculating like this, if they invest a lot, the risk is too high for them to bear, and if they invest little, the returns might not exceed their expenses. After all, nobody does a deal where they lose money.

"Seems like working with little brother is out of the question, but at least today wasn’t without its rewards. We got to know such a... hmm, lovely little brother. It was worth coming!"

As the women felt a bit disappointed, Gao Yuan laughed and said.

The reason they came today was for potential cooperation and to meet this rising star.

Although cooperation wasn’t possible now, what about in the future? The stock market won’t always be like this; a rebound day will come, presenting numerous opportunities to collaborate later on.

Whether friends or connections, you don’t expect to generate immediate benefits at the first meeting. Otherwise, it would only be a one-off deal or pure transaction, far less stable than relying on relationships and personal favors.

That’s why Gao Yuan wasn’t disappointed; making a valuable friend is still a good outcome.

Hearing this, the others nodded in agreement with smiles.

It must be said that older people handle things thoroughly, especially sophisticated individuals who make interactions pleasant.

"Although the stock market isn’t great recently, there might be cooperation opportunities in other areas."

Su Qing’s sudden words left them bewildered.

"In other areas, like what?" Li Ranran asked curiously.

Su Qing shrugged: "I haven’t thought about it yet, but I believe having money eases matters. How about you share your plans, and we brainstorm together? Maybe I could invest."

After all, he hadn’t given up on finding opportunities among them; maybe some of them have the ’crossroads’ described by the narration.

Hearing this, the women rolled their eyes at him.

"What can we do? We primarily act and participate in variety shows. We were hoping to hear your thoughts!" Ding Sheng laughed.

They, as entertainers, lead relatively singular lives; besides acting and appearing on shows, they’re not much more capable than ordinary people, despite interacting in different circles and occasionally getting project involvement.

But if you expect them to start something themselves, they really wouldn’t know how. After all, relying on acting fees alone already ensures they have no financial worries.

A few years ago, many stars ventured into opening hotpot and restaurants; even though the marketing was simple, they couldn’t avoid eventual closure.

But they weren’t relying on the shop yields; they eyed the franchise fees, which were the true jackpot.

As they spoke, suddenly, the private room door opened, and two men walked in. One was thirty-five or six, but handsome and mature. He was a popular actor in the entertainment industry, Han Zhuo. The other man, whom Su Qing didn’t recognize, was a scruffy-bearded man in his forties.

"Sorry we’re late, something came up last minute!"

"Forgive us, forgive us,"

Both immediately apologized upon entry.

"Brother Han, Director Wang, you’re finally here. Any later and we’d have finished eating. Let me introduce you: Su Qing, the one I mentioned last time. Little brother, here’s Han Zhuo, and this is Director Wang," Tang Nan introduced.

Upon her words ending, the narration in Su Qing’s head sounded once again.

[At life’s crossroads, gold buried in the sand needs only a little excavation to shine and bring enormous benefits.]

Hearing this, Su Qing’s eyes widened in amazement. So, all this time, he had been working in vain; his efforts were misdirected.

He realized the women weren’t the main focus. Why was he talking to them so seriously? It was just an emotional waste!

Suddenly, under the startled gaze of the women, Su Qing quickly moved to the two men and warmly shook their hands:

"Hello, Brother Han, Director Wang, I’m Su Qing. Pleased to meet you!"

Seeing his enthusiastic demeanor, Li Ranran nudged Tang Nan and whispered:

"Your little brother... he doesn’t like men, does he?"

Tang Nan: ...

...