Monday morning arrived with a clear winter sky and a brisk, biting breeze over Yanjing’s Financial Street.
Inside the grand trading floor of the Yanjing Securities Exchange, hundreds of institutional brokers in dark tailored suits sat behind glowing banks of computer monitors. The air was thick with the bitter smell of burnt instant coffee, cold cigarette smoke, and nervous sweat.
It was 9:28 AM.
Two minutes remained until the opening bell.
On the central digital ticker board hanging high above the trading pit, Crown-Home Real Estate Group was listed under stock ticker 00988. On Friday afternoon, the stock had closed at forty-two yuan per share, representing a total corporate market valuation of two hundred billion yuan.
At 9:30 AM sharp, the opening buzzer sounded across the trading floor.
BUZZZZ.
The electronic board flashed green as trading began. In the domestic securities market, bright green signified a falling price, while red indicated rising value.
