$XIAOMI-W(01810.HK) My Story of Getting Halved: An Ordinary Worker's Bitter Journey in Hong Kong Stocks

Let me clarify first: I'm not a Mi fan, just a post-90s worker from a fifth-tier city in the north. I tighten screws in a factory every day, but I've always used Xiaomi products in my life.

I first heard about Xiaomi stock in 2023, but I knew nothing about it back then and didn't dare to touch it. I really started paying attention in March 2025, when the internet was full of positive comments about CEO Lei Jun. Many people thought he was genuine and reliable, and this goodwill slowly made me consider investing.

I struggled internally for a long time and finally made a bold decision: to go to Hong Kong to handle the relevant investment procedures. I had never traveled far, let alone left the country. I could only prepare the documents bit by bit and apply for the Hong Kong and Macau travel permit. In mid-June 2025, I gritted my teeth and set off for Hong Kong.

On the day of departure, a typhoon hit. All flights from Shenzhen and Hong Kong were canceled. I rebooked a flight to Chaoshan, but the high-speed rail was also suspended. I didn't want to give up halfway, so I searched everywhere for cars and took a long, winding route, which took me a whole day.

When I arrived at the border crossing, I was dizzy with hunger. I followed the crowd through customs to Kowloon. The cost of living in Hong Kong was too high. I couldn't bear to eat out, let alone stay in a hotel. My only thought was to get things done as quickly as possible. I knew from my research that I'd have to queue, so I just sat on the ground outside the bank, waiting for it to open the next day. It rained in the middle of the night. Cold and hungry, I finally spent HKD 50 on a bottle of water and some bread to fill my stomach. The next day, I was the first in line. The process went smoothly. The moment it was done, I just wanted to go home immediately. I had no desire to sightsee at all, because every penny I had was hard-earned money saved bit by bit, and I couldn't bear to waste it.

After crossing the border, I wolfed down a plate of pork knuckle rice. At the airport, I faced another delay of over ten hours. I didn't board the flight home until early morning. When I got home, I collapsed into bed. But at that time, I felt it was all worth it, thinking I could finally invest in Xiaomi.

After completing the procedures, I practiced trading by repeatedly buying and selling around the 50-something price level. My mindset was relatively calm. After the YU7 launch event, I became even more bullish on Xiaomi, firmly believing the company was down-to-earth. But then the stock kept falling to around 51. I couldn't bring myself to sell. My account was already showing a paper loss. During that time, I was still on forums comforting others who had bought in, telling everyone to hold on and not sell at a low point.

I held on stubbornly through July and August. Finally, the day before the September autumn launch event, the stock surged to 59.9, close to its previous high. Not only had I broken even, but I also made a small profit. I was full of plans to sell right after the market opened post-launch, to take profits and secure the gains.

But September 26th became the start of my nightmare. The stock plummeted that day. My mentality completely collapsed. At the 56 level, I went all-in and even added leverage, stubbornly believing a good company wouldn't keep falling and would surely rebound. But what followed was a prolonged, grinding decline for half a year. Every small bounce I thought was a reversal. Every pullback I comforted myself was a shakeout. Later, unable to withstand the pressure, I cleared the leverage, but my principal was already deeply trapped.

Now my holdings have been directly halved. I've blamed Lei Jun, I've blamed Xiaomi, but in the end, I only hate myself. Before buying, I even joked with my wife, saying it couldn't possibly get halved at worst. Little did I know those words would become a prophecy.

I'm filled with regret. I regret going through all that trouble to get to Hong Kong. I regret going all-in. I regret adding leverage even more. But adults have to pay for their own choices. Now I can only hold on desperately, afraid to move. I'm afraid that if I sell, I'll lose everything completely, and even more afraid that switching stocks will lead to more losses. I can only comfort myself by being a friend of time, lying flat and not moving, leaving it to fate.