CHAPTER 65: CHAPTER 63: OSCAR-WINNING ACTOR

Xi Luting couldn’t decipher Han Lie’s look but still felt this bastard was just as rude as ever.

I’ll tolerate you for a bit longer.

Just you wait until I’ve completely figured you out...

"Could it be that you don’t dare to go? Coward!"

She glanced sideways at Han Lie, starting to provoke him again.

Actually, she wasn’t angry at all; she was in a good mood.

The main reason she behaved this way was to test Han Lie’s reaction.

"Afraid?" Brother Lie let out an amused chuckle. "Who should I be afraid of?"

Xi Luting blurted out carelessly, "Yu Yun and Fang Feifei, or maybe me, take your pick!"

"Psh! All wrong."

Han Lie raised an eyebrow disdainfully, speaking with a completely indifferent attitude, "Tagging along is tagging along, no matter with whom. Fine, let’s go."

Xi Luting’s eyes lit up.

That’s right!

This was exactly the attitude!

He doesn’t take anyone seriously; they can do whatever they want. He couldn’t care less who anyone is or what they do, not even if it’s the top beauty of the Commerce College!

Initially, Xi Luting thought Han Lie was just playing hard to get, but now she didn’t think so.

She was certain that she didn’t have that kind of beauty privilege in front of Han Lie.

When she first realized this, she was quite annoyed.

Why does he treat me like this?

But after calming down, she found it fresh and exciting.

As a great beauty, Xi Luting had been adored and supported since childhood. With her strong personality, anyone who wanted to be friends with her had to be capable.

To become romantically entangled with her, they not only needed capability but also had to be more dominant than her.

Han Lie happened to meet all the criteria.

...

The two slowly walked to the cafeteria, side by side.

Xi Luting was curious about so many things that, for a moment, she didn’t even know where to start the conversation.

In the end, she asked foolishly, "Do you really think you can make money in the stock market?"

Han Lie was amused.

"Why not?"

"Because... the domestic market is more like a large casino, where dealers and institutions eat people without spitting out the bones. Without connections or insider information, aren’t you just cannon fodder?"

Han Lie wasn’t surprised by Xi Luting’s thoughts.

Now, and even ten years later, many laypeople would still think this way.

Xi Luting had just started her freshman year; it was perfectly normal for her not to understand.

But still, Han Lie put on a look of profound disappointment.

"As a future professional, you actually think like this? Then what’s the point of your studying finance?"

"Uh..."

Xi Luting was stumped by the question.

Then, unconvinced, she retorted, "Then tell me, what’s wrong with it?"

"Everything is wrong," Han Lie shook his head, calmly educating her.

"Firstly, a casino is an absolute balanced market with no logic, only probabilities, devoid of any trends. Every bull market in the A-share market, every collective movement of a sector, has its underlying logic. The purpose of studying finance is to master that logic and then follow the trend to gain wealth. It’s a good thing for laypeople to compare the stock market to a casino because this makes them revere the market and not dive headfirst into it as cannon fodder when they know nothing. But for professionals to speak the same way is somewhat... well, ignorant."

Xi Luting’s cheeks instantly flushed red.

I’ve just started freshman year, how am I considered a professional?!

That damn man, intentionally putting me down!

She guessed correctly; Han Lie had intentionally been so blunt.

But because Han Lie’s reasoning was indeed sound, she couldn’t refute him and had to swallow her anger silently.

"Hmph! Continue!"

Han Lie glanced at her, smiling as he shook his head.

"Secondly, there are hardly any so-called market manipulators nowadays. Criminal Law Article 182, the crime of manipulating securities and futures markets, is specifically crafted for those kinds of manipulators. From 1990 to 2005 was the first phase of our country’s stock market. During that period, manipulators reigned supreme, and retail investors were keen on learning how to follow their lead. But now it’s already 2013, sister! This is the era of hedge funds and institutions; those who don’t play by the rules will be dealt with severely by the iron fist of the law. With stricter supervision and tighter policies, do you understand what that means? It means that manipulative securities transactions, which previously weren’t considered criminal and only drew administrative penalties from the Securities Regulatory Commission, are now all criminally prosecuted.

"In early September, Hu Qiang, the president of Hongyuan Securities, was taken away by public security officers. In mid-September, Sun Mingxia, the president of the Fixed Income Department at Guoxin Securities, was arrested. This year, more than 400 people have been arrested. Don’t you pay any attention to industry news at all? No matter, you can start paying attention now and see how many industry big shots will be sentenced next year for insider trading and market manipulation.

"The wheels of time roll on relentlessly. The new tricks today involve collaborating with listed companies to manipulate markets, and in the future, even using AI for manipulation. The old practices of cornering the market are simply far too criminal now. Of course, these so-called new tricks, as long as they involve insider trading, will eventually be brought to account. In our country, there are only things the authorities haven’t gotten around to addressing yet; there’s nothing they *want* to address but *cannot*. Do you get it?"

Really?!

Xi Luting was completely dumbfounded.

Her perspective was nowhere near broad enough to see the big picture.

Now, having been enlightened by Han Lie, she discovered that the market was not as she had imagined, and she was utterly shocked.

Han Lie shrugged. "If you don’t believe me, go ask Professor Luo who teaches Securities Law."

In fact, from 2020 to 2025, every year there would be investors who inadvertently stumbled upon major incidents involving insider trading by "listed company executives and actual controllers" and got arrested.

Regulations were becoming increasingly stricter, and the situation more brutal.

Eventually, stock commentators, certified investment advisors, and hedge fund magnates would all be forbidden from publicly mentioning stock names and codes on public platforms; even discussing them would be off-limits.

To share techniques, they would have to blur out stock names first. Otherwise, they could easily be in violation of "front-running transaction manipulation."

Even if a certified investment advisor wanted to write a novel about stock investing set in 2013, they would have to obscure the names of the stocks; otherwise, they would attract scrutiny from auditors, leading to reduced exposure or, worse, a ban.

Some platforms had already received warnings and couldn’t stir up any more trouble; their planned storylines and saved drafts were all abandoned.

Xi Luting, greatly shocked, turned her head and stared fixedly at Han Lie.

Admiration she couldn’t hide shone in her eyes.

"How do you know so much?"

"Because I have a dream," Han Lie replied, his gaze deep as he looked toward the distant horizon.

At that moment, the morning light spilled down, casting a warm golden glow on the sharp features of the despicable man’s face.

It was as if he wore the mask of a deity.

Han Lie’s clear and lucid eyes reflected the brilliance. From the side, they seemed to burn with golden flames, hot enough to melt Xi Luting’s heart.

She retracted her gaze as if struck by lightning, her mind going blank momentarily.

As time ticked by, Han Lie relaxed his pose and took the initiative to ask, "Is there anything else you want to know?"

His voice was gentler than ever before, causing Xi Luting’s heart to pound like a drum, leaving her utterly intoxicated.

Clearly, the Oscars owe our Brother Lie an award for Best Actor.