Darkstone Code
Chapter 183 - 0181 Black October [Part 3]

Chapter 183: 0181 Black October [Part 3]

Within the three major exchanges, there are bank tellers from the six major banks. Financial investors frequently have capital needs. If they leave here to go to the bank and then return with a receipt, the soup might have gone cold by then.

Standing in front of the Shenghua Bank counter, the teller glanced at him, then withdrew her gaze. Her face displayed a standardized smile, but her eyes showed only fatigue.

Working at the exchange is an intense job, and mistakes are not allowed. A minor mistake might mean losing your job; a major one might involve legal liabilities and compensation for the losses.

Two kinds of people are assigned here: those with connections and those without.

Those with connections become managers at the exchange business department. They only have to reconcile the accounts once every evening to easily complete their tasks and receive at least a fine evaluation. Holding such a key position makes it easier to receive promotions.

As for those without connections, they are now standing in front of the broker.

The broker opened the briefcase, turning it around to reveal neatly arranged bonds inside.

Red, green, and purple are the primary colors of these bonds. Each bond bore the same design, with a prominent "100" at their center, denoting a denomination of one hundred. According to the instructions on the back of the bond, the current holder could redeem it at the bank according to the issuance announcement at that time, though clearly, it no longer held much value.

The counter teller looked at the bonds, estimated to be around twenty thousand, feeling a bit dazed, "Sir, I don’t quite understand your intention?" Her attention began to focus, and she adjusted her sitting posture.

The broker sighed. "I want to redeem these bonds!"

The girl behind the counter looked somewhat odd and shook her head. "Sorry, sir, we’ve issued an announcement. Shenghua does not handle redemption or exchange services for overseas bonds. You might want to look next door."

The teller at the nearby bank counter curled her lips at this buck-passing tactic, showing appropriate disdain, though she would do the same shortly.

The broker didn’t leave immediately. Instead, he pressed both hands on the counter, leaning forward, "Listen, this concerns the safety of my wife and children. These bonds also originate from your bank..."

This batch of bonds was commissioned for sale by Shenghua through the broker’s company, and the other party received a 7% rebate according to the nominal value.

Simply put, for every million in bonds sold by the broker’s company, they could earn seventy thousand in fees from Shenghua Bank, plus no less than a 2% fee from the purchaser, totaling almost ten percent.

When clients need to sell these bonds, they can still earn not less than a 2% bilateral fee, which means not less than four percent of the total transaction amount.

The more transactions, the more commissions the financial company receives. This is why they encourage clients to try more and keep trading stocks and securities.

Yet, they don’t have to incur any risk, not even a hint of potential loss connected with risk.

This is also why financial companies like Bupen have been increasing in recent years. As long as they have a trading seat, they aren’t afraid that those wanting to profit in the stock market and securities won’t join them.

Ordinary people don’t have priority trading rights. When the financial market was less developed and prosperous in previous years, they could still trade normally. Now, these trades are only matched within trading seats, leaving them no choice but to become financial company clients.

With clients, financial companies become brokers and banks’ most valued partners, continually gaining more and more profit.

In fact, the method with small yellow slips and initial public offerings is quite similar. Issuers must give these financial companies more rebates to aggressively recommend stocks and achieve the myth of multiplying market values on the first day of listing.

As for what happens afterward, that’s a different matter. The financial companies’ "legal scam" framework has sustained until today, flourishing without a hint of collapse, making it clear they already have a complete scheme to deal with ordinary people.

But this time, the opponent the broker encountered was determined, not listening to any of his innocent explanations. Frank only recognized his broker - "You’re the one who made me buy this, I’ll find you only!"

The teller shook her head. "Sir, you know I’m just a regular teller. I don’t make decisions of this level. Instead of giving me a hard time here, why don’t you consider other solutions?"

"Moreover, if your family is facing danger, I suggest you make a full stop."

The broker disappointedly closed the briefcase. He knew from the start it would end like this. Why would such a high-level economic entity of a bank bother with a broker of negligible value?

Understanding it is one thing, but experiencing such disregard personally is another.

He cursed and walked with the case towards their company’s "trading hall." On the eighth floor of the Yikou Exchange, they rented half a floor to represent their company.

Some important charter clients sometimes have the urge to visit the site, and they are arranged here. There is also a bulletin board that continuously scrolls, synchronizing with the trading hall’s bulletin board.

If clients want a more direct experience of real transactions, they can also stand by the trading hall and watch those traders waving their arms and shouting, manually matching transactions in the spacious trading floor.

The market hadn’t opened in the morning, and only the cleaners doing the final cleaning. Those coming here have accounts with their company and at least 100,000 in funds, naturally receiving better treatment.

The broker entered the manager’s office with a cold face. The manager was somewhat surprised by his visit but still warmly greeted him.

The broker is a fairly important business manager at this financial company. As he told Frank, he had several contacts like Frank, earning plenty of opportunities and wealth.

"Anything the matter?" The manager put down his work and looked at him with a smile.

The broker pressed his lips. "I ran into some trouble."

"Tell me. Maybe I can give you some advice?" The manager continued to maintain a very close demeanor.

The broker explained his predicament, including Frank’s insane abduction of his family last night, demanding he redeem the bonds into cash and deposit it back into his account.

At the end, the broker nearly pleaded, "After all, we sold him these bonds. Canceling this transaction wouldn’t lose us anything, and we could even eat up three percent of Frank’s fee after canceling..."

The more he talked, the more logical it seemed, "Maybe our losses could be deducted from Frank’s account, no, this should be done!"

The manager maintained a smile watching the broker’s divergent thinking. When he was almost finished, the manager pointed to the door, "I suggest you immediately leave my office and then report to the police. What you’re talking about is impossible."

"Understand that once a transaction occurs, there is no ’reversal’ option. The bank wouldn’t agree to this either, and then we’d end up with the bonds ourselves."

"Once others learn about this, more people will come to us with problems. How do we deal with that then?"

He softened his tone slightly here, "Frank, the best thing you can do now is report to the police. They will help you resolve everything. Do you need my assistance?"

The manager picked up the phone, one finger on the dial, and Frank’s expression grew uglier.

He understood clearly that it wasn’t time for final settlement yet. In other words, even if Frank’s bonds returned to the pool, it wouldn’t affect the final outcome, but the company refused to do so.

Frank’s face had turned ugly, but the manager’s next words extinguished all his flames of anger instantly.

"Frank, you’ve made quite a bit over these years. Roughly twenty thousand isn’t that difficult for you, so why not try handling it yourself?" The manager’s words gnawed at Frank’s heart like poison.

His face turned pale.

Frank still had about thirty thousand circulating in his account. He also trades stocks but is shrewder than his clients. He belongs to the kind who occasionally gets internal information.

Without accurate information, he wouldn’t act. Once he did, he always benefited.

Of course, there were occasional losses, but overall he always profited.

He bought a big house, a luxurious car, enjoying a comfortable life, all built on some people’s laughter and others’ pain.

Now, the manager’s word tormented him. Of course, family is most important, but so is money!

The manager knew his words had an effect and reassured him after hanging up the phone, "Maybe you should reconsider. Here are only about twenty thousand in bonds. You could pull out the money, pay for your family’s safety, or let the police handle it. The choice is yours, but don’t rely on the company!"

Disoriented, the broker didn’t even know how he left the office. He stood outside the Yikou Exchange, near opening time, and a big crowd of society elites dressed like him began flooding into the exchange.

What once excited people now felt dull and suffocating to him.

A few minutes later, Frank appeared at the police station, choosing to report to the police and subsequently attracted a large number of reporters since he told some media he knew that he was about to drop a bombshell.

He positioned himself as an innocent victim dragged into this. The company had the means to help but chose not to, while the bank was indifferent to the bonds issue, watching him head towards despair.

Then let’s go down together!

But at least he kept his money, and there might be a slim chance to resolve the issue!