Chapter 108: Stocks and Futures

Returning from the lake to the civilian base, Xie Han had been pondering how to deal with the aquatic zombies lurking beneath the water. Unlike human zombies, the aquatic ones had many weaknesses, yet their habitat rendered them nearly untouchable—living in water, a natural no-go zone for humans, effectively nullifying most of their vulnerabilities and making them extremely difficult to combat.

However, solutions did exist. At the very least, Xie Han knew that all types of zombies shared a common trait: heightened auditory sensitivity, far surpassing that of normal humans. Usually, these creatures lay in wait, but at the slightest disturbance, they would surge out from their hiding places to launch their most ferocious attacks. Xie Han’s plan was to exploit this shared weakness, luring them to a designated location for extermination.

During the return journey to the base alone, Xie Han had already devised a preliminary strategy. Yet, its implementation required extensive preparation—far from something achievable in a short span of time.

In the days that followed, Xie Han practically lived within the moat construction site. The sight of over three thousand people laboring together was truly spectacular. Perhaps due to the long hiatus from manual work, they managed to dig only about 0.8 kilometers that day. Maybe as they acclimated to the workload, progress would accelerate. Xie Han knew well there was no rushing such matters.

The plentiful supplies acquired from the Yong’an freight yard last time allowed Xie Han to order the canteen to serve each person five taels of steamed rice and half a can of meat, without deducting from their work points, on the first day of labor. Compared to the mere steamed buns distributed at the Wangtian base, this meal was nothing short of paradise versus hell, igniting in everyone a fresh sense of hope—that life here might not be so bleak after all.

The civilian base enforced a curfew at 10 p.m., but until then, people were free to engage in activities. Unlike Wangtian base, where electricity was rationed, here power was nearly round-the-clock, thanks to the small nuclear power plant within the military experimental base. It supplied enough electricity to cover both the military facilities and the consumption of the more than three thousand residents of the civilian base.

This arrangement bore fruit immediately. On the very first evening, along the three streets formed by the base’s tent city, a few vendors set up night market stalls. Though modest in number, it marked a promising beginning. Seeing this, Xie Han was confident that night markets would soon become the most vibrant form of nightlife in the civilian base.

Xie Han’s return to the present took place in the officer’s quarters within the military base, just as the city lights flickered on. Habitually, he retrieved his phone from his apartment drawer. Upon powering it up, dozens of messages and over ten missed calls awaited him. Most texts were from friends, filled with everyday banter and a few spam messages, which he promptly deleted.

Among the several missed calls, several were from his parents. He called them back first, enduring their usual barrage of nagging about his seemingly aimless endeavors. Aside from offering weak excuses and smiles, there was no way he could tell them about acquiring an appliance factory just yet; that time had not come.

After about twenty minutes of their lecturing, he ended the call and immediately dialed Meng Nan. His voice was slightly weary: “Han, where have you been all this time? Like a dragon’s head but missing the tail.” Soon, though, he brightened: “Han, the appliance factory’s finally been reconfigured! Only three production lines are usable, but the others can be converted into assembly lines. We can crank out over twenty thousand units a month without much trouble.”

Hearing this made Xie Han genuinely pleased. “That’s fantastic. To have it ready so quickly, Meng, you’ve done great work.”

Meng Nan grumbled, “Don’t flatter me. I’m just fighting for my own livelihood.”

Xie Han understood the joke. Then he asked, “Meng, how much capital is left in the factory’s funds?”

At the mention of money, Meng Nan sighed bitterly. “How dare you ask? With your one million yuan, if I hadn’t scrimped and saved every penny, we’d probably still be in debt before starting. And Han, the factory’s about to start operations. When will the next tranche of funds arrive? I really feel like I’m just waiting for the rice to cook.”

Xie Han smiled awkwardly. “Don’t worry, it shouldn’t be long. By the way, how much is left now? I need some urgently.”

Meng Nan was taken aback. “What? You need money so badly you’re asking about the remaining balance? Are you crazy? I thought you were broke.” Xie Han felt even more embarrassed and hastily made up an excuse: “You know how it is sometimes with cash flow—funds don’t come all at once. It takes a little time to rotate. Don’t worry, Meng. The factory’s money will never be short. You know who I am, right?”

Meng Nan thought it over and said, “Since you need it badly, there’s about 110,000 yuan left in the factory. I have some savings too, around 100,000 yuan. If that’s not enough, you can take it all.”

Xie Han laughed heartily. “Aren’t you afraid Yanzi will make you kneel on a washboard? I thought that money was for your wedding banquet. If that falls through, won’t she be chopping me up with a knife?”

Meng Nan was annoyed. “Come on, do you want it or not? If yes, stop whining.”

Xie Han chuckled again before getting serious. “Alright, let’s get down to business. Meng, tomorrow morning you go to the futures company and open an account for me. Deposit all the money there—I’ll have use for it.”

“Futures company?” Meng Nan couldn’t believe it. “Don’t tell me you’re planning to play the futures market? That’s way too risky for us. It’s not something we can handle.” Thinking about past losses, Meng Nan grew angry. “Damn it, haven’t we lost enough in the stock market? Our assets have shrunk by more than half. Good thing the money was ours, or we’d be jumping off buildings.”

The tsunami from November 2007 to November 2008 had indeed devastated many, including Xie Han and Meng Nan. Every time they looked at stocks, it made them want to vomit blood. Though the market was warming up now, who could say if it wasn’t just the big players setting the stage to offload shares? Jumping in blindly would only mean sinking deeper into losses.

But was this still the same Xie Han as before? Did he still worry about losing money? More than that, he feared winning too conspicuously and drawing unwanted attention.

Unlike stocks, futures had no real concept of a bear market. Price fluctuations always stayed within the bounds of trading range, especially with T+0 trading, making it the best way to quickly recoup funds. With the right moves, a hundred thousand yuan could multiply many times over in a single day.

Given the futures’ price charts, Xie Han’s task was to identify a highly volatile commodity to stir things up.

This kind of venture was potentially a gold mine in the early stages. Xie Han had no intention of letting go. He believed that by keeping his capital relatively small, he could avoid influencing the market data too much. Small fluctuations meant the funds he extracted from the futures market would last longer, greatly benefiting his future plans.