Those Classmates who Suddenly Disappeared
Chapter 1106: The Unfathomable Enemy

Chapter 1106: Chapter 1106: The Unfathomable Enemy

Early one morning, when Gu Fan arrived at work, he saw Du Jun and immediately pushed him into the office with an urgent demeanor, causing their colleagues to sense that their relationship was out of the ordinary.

"Gu Fan, what are you doing? Stop pulling and dragging me around. It makes people think we have some unspeakable secrets," Du Jun said somewhat unwillingly. Then he added, "I’ve been planning to propose to Qin Jia recently."

"Congratulations, you’ve made it in your career, it’s definitely time to settle down. But let’s defend our city first," Gu Fan pleaded in a way that convinced Du Jun to listen attentively.

Gu Fan continued, "Since X Fund settled in our city, the stock prices of all the listed companies related to this city have been rising, including your father Du Changhui’s Yongchang Group."

Du Jun nodded, "Yes, my father has been in contact with X Fund frequently lately. Since X Fund intends to increase its holdings in Yongchang Group, my father has also bought more to earn a profit."

Gu Fan pressed him, "Besides that, has your father followed X Fund in buying any other stocks?"

"Of course, with X Fund’s massive power, they wouldn’t just buy stocks of one or two companies. They certainly buy a lot, and my father joins in on these purchases," Du Jun replied. Then, a sudden realization made him anxious, "What’s going on, Gu Fan? Do you think there’s something wrong here?"

"Luo Jingrong’s company has also recently gone public, and X Fund has heavily increased its holdings," Gu Fan said and touched his chin, deep in thought.

A bit worried, Du Jun questioned, "Could it be that X Fund is out to trap my father?"

Gu Fan shook his head, "X Fund has bought so much themselves, trapping your father would mean they are trapping themselves too."

"That makes sense," Du Jun reasoned and felt somewhat relieved.

"Apart from Du Changhui and Luo Jingrong, do you know of any other major bosses who have close dealings with X Fund?" Gu Fan asked, concerned. With his experience and capabilities in the financial sector, he found it hard to guess what X Fund was really after.

Du Jun thought carefully, "Yes, there are quite a few. Several bosses who do business with my father also followed X Fund in buying stocks."

"Those who have business dealings with your father must be influential bosses." Gu Fan pondered for a while, then inquired about the industries those bosses were involved in.

Du Jun provided examples, mentioning a boss who produced leather shoes, another who was in food processing, and so on.

Listening intently, Gu Fan noted each one down in his notebook and added one more on his own—that Luo Jingrong was in the health products business.

"Alright, thank you Du Jun." Gu Fan promptly took his leave, leaving Du Jun perplexed as to why Gu Fan had come to inquire about these matters so early in the morning. There couldn’t possibly be something amiss, could there?

Back at his seat, Gu Fan reviewed his notebook repeatedly, trying to find a commonality between these bosses. After much research, he came up empty. Perhaps X Fund’s choice to cooperate with these bosses on the stock market was unrestricted, with sheer capability being the only criterion.

Hence, Gu Fan imagined himself as X Fund, pondering why he would generously lead so many bosses to wealth. Given X Fund’s scale and connections, there was no need for Luo Jingrong and Du Changhui’s assistance to inflate stock prices, nor to go through the trouble of befriending so many local bosses in utterly unrelated fields.

"It doesn’t make sense. If I were X Fund, I’d just get together with a few city bosses like Du Changhui and Luo Jingrong, alongside previous partners, and easily stir things up," Gu Fan thought, unconvinced that X Fund’s intention was simply to aid all these bosses in making a profit.

If X Fund aimed to acquire this city’s listed companies, then it wouldn’t make sense to alert so many bosses and divide the spoils.

If X Fund’s intent was to scam these bosses, including Luo Jingrong and Du Changhui, then purchasing even more stocks would only mean incurring greater losses.

"What exactly are you trying to do?" Gu Fan pondered for a long time without understanding, yet he knew there was undoubtedly a scheme at play.

Now, under X Fund’s leadership, some bosses had made a fortune, turning many others green with envy and prompting a surge of entry into the group, following X Fund to cause upheaval in the stock market.

Gu Fan considered that X Fund must be looking to profit. Now, the stocks were in the hands of X Fund and some bosses; they decided the share price. But without anyone to take over, it was all just paper wealth.

"So who will take over? The general public?" The thought sent a chill down Gu Fan’s spine. Could X Fund be plundering the wealth of the common people? How else could they and so many bosses get rich?

The stock market was booming, with no shortage of newcomers potentially ready to take over the baton.

"That’s not right. If X Fund and so many bosses were preparing to pull out of several companies’ stocks, it would be impossible to do so collectively. With such a massive amount of shares at such high prices, it’d be extremely difficult to find enough buyers in a short period," Gu Fan reasoned, stroking his chin, imagining himself as one of those bosses who had bought a stock en masse following X Fund’s lead, and so had several other bosses.

Now that the stock had peaked, it was time to exit. But how? If everyone exited simultaneously, the stock price would plummet before they could sell much, making the entire venture scarcely profitable.

If they didn’t exit all at once, then who would leave first? It had to be X Fund, but would the other bosses agree?

"There must be a way for you to withdraw unscathed," Gu Fan muttered silently. However, with his limited experience in financial markets, he had no clear understanding of X Fund’s abnormal behavior and could not find a reasonable explanation.

So, Gu Fan started his analysis anew, firstly counting how many stocks X Fund had bought, secondly tallying how many bosses had followed X Fund in purchasing stocks, and thirdly listing which stocks these bosses had bought alongside X Fund.

To complete this analysis, Gu Fan needed to gather a lot of information and the assistance of many people, including Li Shi. But the problem was whether Li Shi had access to genuine data now?

With a try-and-see attitude, Gu Fan called Li Shi, to which she replied that there was no problem at all. Although she hadn’t been a financial journalist for long, she often went out and met many people who could provide her with the information she sought.

"Okay, then thank you." Gu Fan ended the call and took a deep breath, knowing that a silent battlefield was about to begin. The biggest problem was that the opponent had already set up on the battlefield while Gu Fan was still somewhat lost for direction.

Gu Fan massaged his head, then closed his eyes, trying to envisage what he would do if he were Organization X, and this time, not for the sake of money. Could it be that the ultimate goal was directed at him, Gu Fan?