There were still a few days until school started. It was August 31st, the fourth day since Fang Bai arrived in Shanghai.
Fang Bai planned to buy a Big Brother phone.
Big Brother phones were too expensive in those days. Fang Bai and the others went to the post and telecommunications office that sold Big Brother phones to inquire about the price.
The Motorola 9800X, which used 1G signal and was launched in 1989, was the progenitor of flip-fold phones.
It wasn't the bulky 8000X produced in 1985, nor the 8900X model, which weighed over a jin; the 9800X was lighter.
The phone cost, a 5,000 yuan network access fee, and a 1,000 yuan pre-paid call fee totaled 28,500 yuan. It was indeed an imported luxury item.
Since the 1G network had just been established, numbers were limited and bound to the phone, one phone per number.
Nearly 30,000 yuan, enough to buy a house.
It was two-way billing; making or receiving a call cost 0.6 yuan, with additional long-distance charges. In an era when the average salary was less than eight yuan, it was unaffordable for ordinary people.
The office only had one unit left. The salesperson said it was selling very well and asked Fang Bai and the others if they wanted to buy it.
"Let's buy this one."
Fang Bai didn't hesitate much and paid for it directly.
Although it weighed nearly a jin and had terrible signal, it was truly inconvenient without it.
He hadn't bought one before because he felt it wasn't necessary.
Hearing that his boss was going to buy it, Wang Dakai took out three stacks of hundred-yuan bills from his bag, then took out a dozen more and put them back in his bag.
Most of the money they brought had been deposited in banks in Shanghai; they didn't carry much cash.
After paying, Fang Bai quickly figured out how to use it by fiddling with it.
Driving a santana and holding a Big Brother phone was a symbol of success in that era.
Of course, holding a Big Brother phone was most useful for showing off.
Putting aside other things, Fang Bai's santana and Big Brother phone, if placed at a scenic spot for tourists to pay for photos, just holding the Big Brother phone next to the car, many tourists would definitely be willing to pay for a photo.
After Fang Bai bought the phone, he threw it directly to Wang Dakai.
Fortunately, Wang Dakai was quick enough to catch it with both hands, but it nearly fell to the ground. He couldn't help but jokingly scold Fang Bai, "Hey, boss, be careful! This Big Brother phone is worth a house. What if it breaks?"
"If it breaks, we'll fix it. Have you forgotten what I do?" Fang Bai was used to thin phones that could fit in his pocket.
When he first got the Big Brother phone, he instinctively tried to put it in his pants pocket.
Weighing nearly a jin, there was nothing much to play with. Wang Dakai held it like a treasure after receiving it.
"Boss, you're awesome!"
After Fang Bai bought the phone, he checked the time; it was just past ten. He told Li Xiaolong to drive to the Stock Exchange Center.
A few minutes later, the car stopped near the Stock Exchange Center. Fang Bai and Wang Dakai got out, and Li Xiaolong went to park the car.
The trading floor was too chaotic. Hundreds, even thousands, of investors were watching outside the main gate. Fang Bai told Qin Shuyu to stay in the car.
"Boss, are we going in to buy stocks?" Wang Dakai asked curiously, seeing Fang Bai stand at the gate for a long time.
"Let's go in and take a look first." Fang Bai replied with a smile. He came here first to experience the atmosphere.
He didn't remember how the stock prices would rise in the future, so he walked into the hall to check.
Currently, only eight stocks could be traded, commonly known as the 'Old Eight Stocks': Yanzhong, Dianzhenkong, Xiaofeile, Aishi, Shenhua, Dafeile, Yu Garden, and Fenghuang.
Twenty or thirty years later, only a few of these stocks had delisted; most were still listed.
Fang Bai and Wang Dakai squeezed through the main gate, then squeezed into the trading hall, seeing countless people staring at the stock prices and trading volumes displayed in the hall, and many investors crowding to queue for trading orders.
Dianzhenkong's price per lot was 521.50 yuan (original face value of 100 yuan). At that time, there was no concept of how many shares made up a lot. Some stocks originally issued with a face value of 100 yuan could be considered one lot per share.
There was also a type with a face value of one yuan, where one hundred shares made up one lot for trading.
Yu Garden had the highest stock price, reaching 1852.35 yuan per lot, while the lowest, Aishi, was still 68.2 yuan per lot.
Daily trading volume was extremely small. For example, Yu Garden only traded a few dozen lots a day, while Yanzhong traded 2,600 lots.
Currently, a 1% daily limit-up/limit-down system was adopted, and the daily trading volume was required to reach three-thousandths of the stock's circulating shares.
The daily trading volume was around one million yuan. If Fang Bai were to buy, with a slightly higher bid price, many people would probably be willing to sell.
Fang Bai saw that the scene was very lively, but he remained as calm as water.
After watching for a while, he patted Wang Dakai's shoulder to signal their departure.
A few minutes later, the two squeezed out of the trading hall and stood outside the main gate, letting out a sigh of relief.
"It feels like a market fair, so lively! Can you really make money buying stocks?" Wang Dakai didn't quite understand why people were so keen on speculating in stocks.
"Ten out of ten buy, nine lose, only one makes money," Fang Bai said.
"Wow, that bad!"
"Yes, let's go find a place for tea and lunch. In the afternoon, we'll go to Jiao Tong University to look for factory buildings." Fang Bai waved his hand and walked towards the parking spot.
A moment later, everyone drove away from the Stock Exchange Center.
On the way, Fang Bai pondered deeply about stocks and subscription certificates.
Since the Stock Exchange Center opened on December 19th last year, the overall trend of these eight stocks' prices has been rising, but due to the 1% daily limit-up/limit-down system, the increase was limited.
Now, there were about four months, or eighty-some trading days, until the subscription certificates. Even if they hit the daily limit every day, they could only increase by about 120% at most.
In reality, it was impossible to hit the daily limit every day; a twenty or thirty percent increase would be good.
If Fang Bai invested one million yuan, he could earn two or three hundred thousand yuan.
Fang Bai was somewhat concerned. The trading center was too crowded now, and buying stocks was not easy. Buying so many stocks, with a large trading volume, might attract attention.
Currently, his target was the subscription certificates. Before the subscription certificates, he didn't want to get involved in these things at the stock exchange center.
To earn two or three hundred thousand yuan and get entangled in so much trouble was not worth it.
Moreover, it would be exhausting; he might as well stay in his room and read.
However, if he invested in subscription certificates, the situation would be different.
Stocks were registered, while subscription certificates were not. At that time, 450 business outlets, including various securities companies, banks, and trust companies, would sell them, and there was no limit on purchases. Fang Bai could send employees to help him buy them in a decentralized manner.
The plan was to issue five million subscription certificates. The historical final trading volume was 2.07 million certificates, each costing 30 yuan. A sheet of one hundred consecutive numbers was one hundred certificates, meaning one sheet cost 3,000 yuan.
Recently, he had been considering how many to buy. The maximum proportion would not exceed 1.5%, or 75,000 certificates, and the minimum would not be less than 10,000 certificates.
If he bought too many, he was afraid the butterfly effect would change the trajectory of the subscription certificates, not that he was afraid of being discovered.
In fact, if he planned to buy 10,000 subscription certificates, with over ten days of public sales, if he distributed them to 20 people to buy at 5 different business outlets, each person would only buy 10 tickets per day at one sales point, which was not even enough for one sheet of one hundred tickets.
To buy, he would definitely buy entire sheets of one hundred tickets. That is to say, 20 people, each only needing to visit 5 business outlets a day, could buy 10,000 subscription certificates.
In his previous life, many people bought entire sheets of one hundred tickets at once.
Therefore, Fang Bai could secretly buy a large number of subscription certificates, making it difficult to attract attention.
The first lottery drawing began in March 1992, followed by one drawing each month from June to August, totaling four lottery drawings in 1992.
If sold, the same method of distributing sales among many personnel would be adopted, which would extend the timeline.
Fang Bai did not dare to hold so many stocks; the risk was too great. He could only sell a large number of subscription certificates.
He would use trustworthy personnel for sales, with each person trading a small amount of winning subscription certificates each day, accumulating sales over twenty to thirty days.
Due to the relatively large transaction amount, there was a higher possibility of exposure. After each lottery drawing, Fang Bai would send a large number of personnel to Shanghai to protect the traders.
The exact number of subscription certificates to buy would depend on the situation at that time.