What's wrong with me being a rich man?

Chapter 449 They did it too.

Silicon Carbon Group has no plans for publicity at this stage, but the interview with CCTV is still worth filming.

After finishing the interview, Yu Xing chatted with a reporter from Beijing. He listened to the reporter say that the higher-ups hoped to see the results of the domestic automobile industry as soon as possible. Yu Xing didn't make any grand promises, because he didn't dare to be the first in the world.

As for this "hope," there's no need to express it so mysteriously. Such a large car market certainly hopes for the rise of its own brands; otherwise, there wouldn't be subsidies and policies. It's just that the performance was poor after all the mixed bag of products, which is why Tesla was introduced as a catalyst.

Yu Xing is focused on building cars and striving to bring the industry's achievements to fruition as soon as possible.

After finishing the interview, which he estimated wouldn't generate much of a response, the first thing he did was call Liu Wanying to inquire about the SEC investigation.

“Insider trading, market manipulation, that’s the reason.” Liu Wanying’s attitude was very calm. “There are many short sellers shorting Vania this time. I don’t know how much they are right now, but there must be a lot of people who have entered the market temporarily in the past few days. Our official website and fund operations should be fine.”

Yu Xing repeated two words: "Should?"

“Over the Peak is just a research company. There are no funds operating in its accounts at all. The two sides are completely separate, and all actions are carried out through offshore companies.” Liu Wanying said carefully. “This time, there is an additional engagement with a law firm, but the operation of the US law firm is normal. I think there is no problem. It’s just that… I can’t guarantee 100%, after all, it’s the SEC.”

She joked, "If anything goes wrong, just wait for the reporters to swarm your door."

After hesitating for a moment, Yu Xing said, "Then I really have nothing to say. What can I say?"

The short-selling report by Guoshanfeng comes from publicly available information, including the attack on Vanlia. In theory, it should be operating under the rules, but it's uncertain who holds the "rules".

Moreover, the thought of those Chinese concept stocks that were being shorted, and even Xu Xin and Li Song who wanted to improve their skills in short selling, still made Yu Xing's scalp tingle.

Liu Wanying chuckled: "The SEC should be investigating more details about Vania Corporation."

Yu Xing sighed and tried to put himself in their shoes: "Maybe they're investigating both of them."

He chatted for a few more minutes, and because of Xiao Ying's stable attitude, he was temporarily relieved. The last investigation in Tokyo didn't yield any results, but he didn't know if the SEC would let it go this time or if they would insist on making an example of her.

Vania's stock price continued to fluctuate, but the continuous sell-off did release a great deal of sentiment, turning the sharp drop into a gradual decline.

During the two-day weekend market closure in the United States, no positive news emerged for Vania. Instead, 16 investment banks, including Goldman Sachs and BMO, successively downgraded Vania's rating to "sell," and the proportion of institutional holdings also decreased from 78% to 56%, setting a record for the largest single-week sell-off in the pharmaceutical industry.

Yu Xing and Liu Wanying reviewed their actions and were still surprised by the appearance of "Hillary".

They had previously agreed that Vania's aggressive actions would not be limited to just raising prices. Once things become aggressive, they are difficult to control. Therefore, it was to be expected that the news of using related-party transactions with pharmacies to manipulate financial statements would be a surprise.

However, Hillary Clinton's statement and the subsequent remarks from the Democratic Party exceeded many people's expectations.

What happened even more unexpectedly occurred on Sunday afternoon.

The New York Times, which previously exposed Vania's financial fraud, has struck again, this time pointing to another pharmaceutical company that also engaged in price gouging – Israel's Teva Pharmaceuticals.

It exposed that Teva had colluded with 20 other pharmaceutical companies since July last year to manipulate the prices of more than 100 generic drugs, with some drugs seeing price increases of more than 10 times their original price!
These drugs generated billions of dollars in sales across the United States in just over six months!

Another "Enron"?

Yu Xing and Liu Wanying noticed the latest news and looked at each other in bewilderment.

Good heavens, Vania's methods are still too aggressive. While Vania acquires and raises prices over several years, this Israeli company, Teva, directly conspired with 20 pharmaceutical companies... and it's the price of over 100 generic drugs...

This thing...

After recovering from his shock, Yu Xing had only one comment: "This is truly a case of finding one cockroach when there are already many more hidden in the shadows!"

"So, if we find some solid clues or suspicious situations while crossing the mountain peak, we can actually start by reviewing similar situations throughout the entire industry." Liu Wanying is quite career-oriented, and her first thought was how to replicate it. She then pondered and said, "It's the same in pharmaceuticals, and look, isn't it the same in car companies?"

Yu Xing thought it made sense.

But the next moment, he said, half-laughing and half-crying, "Why do I suddenly feel like the whole world is against me? Let's back down, the SEC is everywhere outside..."

Liu Wanying pondered whether Teva would bring about further changes.

However, just as Teva issued an emergency statement declaring the report false, a new revelation emerged on Monday, accusing the American company Abbott of raising the price of "ritonavir" from $1 to $5 per tablet as early as 2010.

This is a drug that patients need to take long-term to treat HIV.

Investment banks downgraded Vania's rating, and similar practices were exposed against Israel's Teva and the US's Abbott. Affected by this news, the US pharmaceutical sector once again plummeted across the board, and some media outlets called for a thorough investigation into the pharmaceutical industry.

Yu Xing watched the commotion from afar and thought that a thorough investigation would be a good thing, as it would be a way for him, a former medical student, to give back to the industry.

However, something happened that left Yu Xing dumbfounded.

Sources have emerged from companies like Vanilla, Teva, and Abbott, and this particular source...

"It is understood that The New York Times contacted sources from the Mountain Peak camp. As the world's most mysterious short seller, it began to conduct in-depth contact and research on the pharmaceutical industry as early as two years ago, and only recently successfully persuaded several insiders."

"Guoshanfeng may also have more inside information about the pharmaceutical industry."

"We have reason to believe that after making huge profits this time, Guoshanfeng will choose another opportunity to expose the inside story in order to continue to make even greater profits."

Lehman, a well-known analyst on Wall Street, described the situation at the mountain peak on Twitter.

Yu Xing recognized each character individually, but when they were put together, he suddenly couldn't recognize them...

This is so methodical and precise, it looks quite professional...

What sources are behind the Mountain Peak faction?
What does "two years ago" mean, and what does "successfully persuaded several insiders" mean?
Holy crap, it sounds so real!
Yu Xing was shocked and bewildered. He called Liu Wanying, explained the situation, and then hesitated before asking, "Xiaoying, we didn't do this, did we?"

Liu Wanying replied firmly: "Nonsense! You're taking the blame! You were the one who pushed this together, how could I possibly hide anything from you and do those things?"

“I think it’s 99% impossible,” Yu Xing said. “But when I think about how a car manufacturer is actually backed by a well-known short seller, I feel like nothing is impossible in this world.”

Liu Wanying felt that this logic was unsolvable.

She was equally bewildered: "They're trying to pin this on us. No, the official website should issue a statement saying that Guoshanfeng is not responsible for such incidents. It's either true or it's not."

However, Liu Wanying only discovered after ending the call that Guoshanfeng's official website had been hacked once again.

She didn't give up and contacted her previous media outlets again via confidential email, but only two released a statement online that failed to make a significant impact. One said it wasn't Guo Shanfeng's doing, while the other claimed it was Guo Shanfeng's bombshell. Who was right and who was wrong?
Anyway, they don't show their faces when crossing the mountain peaks.

The series of revelations left Vania's CEO, Pearson, feeling quite aggrieved.

When the SEC announced the expansion of its investigation into Vania, including Pearson and other high-ranking officials, he angrily told the media, "They all did it, why are you only shorting us?"

They all did it; their job was to climb the mountain!
Yu Xing quickly noticed the discussions about the latest situation on the Baixiaosheng forum, and helplessly saw that many praises were being given to Guo Shanfeng.

"I really dislike short sellers, but this time the mountain peak is fine."

"Overcoming the mountain peak is awesome!"

"Tsk, either don't do it at all, or do it directly into the medical field. No wonder they want to keep it mysterious."

Yu Xing also noticed that some people raised questions and mentioned the clarification statement from Guo Shanfeng, but the latter has been defined as "rumored" and has no credibility, and such questions have been refuted by more people.

This isn't me at all!
They insist it was me!

After considering the situation, Liu Wanying could only helplessly say, "Forget it, the innocent will clear themselves."

Yes, the innocent will clear themselves... but what about those who are inherently corrupt?
It's probably just adding insult to injury.

Yu Xing found it both absurd and funny.

On Wednesday morning Eastern Time, a congressional hearing was held in Washington, D.C., and as expected, the drug pricing bill was not passed. Despite the recent high-profile pharmaceutical scandals, it was still a matter of partisan interests and political struggles, and the bill was not passed.

This should be good news for Vania, but dragged down by its peers recently, it still hasn't stopped its downward trend.

The pharmaceutical scandal in the United States has made the Baixiaosheng Forum very lively. This kind of issue is easy for everyone to pay attention to, and it has also brought up the GlaxoSmithKline bribery case that occurred in China last year.

Inflated drug prices, misappropriation of funds, and systemic commercial bribery.

GlaxoSmithKline is a publicly traded company in the United States, and this has affected many people in the industry.

Yu Xing did not participate in the discussion; he simply watched silently as everyone talked about all sorts of things but eventually managed to bring the conversation back to the specific individuals involved.

The online community has been discussing this with great interest for two days.

Yu Xing received a call from his mentor, Liu Jingrong.

The other person hesitated for a moment, then asked, "Yu Xing, can you still manage your old forum?"

"Huh? What's wrong?" Yu Xing asked curiously. "Are you talking about Bai Xiaosheng?"

"Yes, Bai Xiaosheng, it's the one that's been talking a lot about hospitals lately. It mentioned one of my senior brothers. He was actually quite wronged. He was covered in shit. This, this..." Liu Jingrong couldn't finish his sentence.

Yu Xing had already understood what his mentor meant. He thought for a moment and asked, "Brother Rong, do you understand me?"

Liu Jingrong didn't understand the question and hesitated to speak.

Yu Xing continued, "Brother Rong, if you understand me, you shouldn't have spoken. If you don't understand me, you shouldn't have spoken either."

Hearing this, Liu Jingrong gave a wry smile: "Alright, you're right, forget it, forget it."

Yu Xing chuckled: "Brother Rong, it's really nothing serious, it'll be gone in a couple of days."

That's how things are on the internet, and this isn't even a new revelation. What's most intriguing right now is the powerful, mysterious, and premeditated overreach of the mountain peak.

It's even said that Hong Kong authorities have already investigated the situation at the mountain.

This time, it wasn't just the US pharmaceutical sector that suffered a setback; it also affected global stock market sentiment towards this sector.

Guo Shanfeng didn't want to take responsibility for this, but it seemed he had no choice.

After overcoming her initial shock, Liu Wanying reconciled with herself and indeed found a solution: "It's alright, as long as we cross the mountain and launch a new attack, everyone will stop thinking about the medical stuff."

Yu Xing believes this is an excellent way of thinking.

Over Peak used a total of $4000 million to short Vania. Because it was unclear what the final effect of alerting Vania would be, and considering the large number of institutional shareholders, it did not use too much leverage. In particular, the additional $1000 million was entered despite the prevailing trend.

Ultimately, Over Peak recouped nearly $8500 million, adding a small portion of its capital to its efforts to shake up the automotive industry.

"Xiao Ying, go to Jinling and set up a scholarship for my school, either in your own name or in the name of Hong Jun. Let's start with 200 million." Yu Xing hadn't forgotten the matter his mentor had brought up. He didn't want to interfere with Bai Xiaosheng's operations, but he could handle it in other ways.

However, after learning about this, Liu Jingrong called again, unwilling to accept such funds: "Yu Xing, you don't need to do this, it's unnecessary, and it has little to do with you."

"Brother Rong, you're overthinking it. It's just a donation to my alma mater," Yu Xing laughed. "That's money for the school, it has little to do with you. Are you going to refuse it on behalf of the school?"

Liu Jingrong found it hard to refuse.

He just felt... sigh, building cars is so expensive, and money doesn't just fall from the sky, Yu Xing has it tough too.

Finally, Liu Jingrong, on behalf of the school, first thanked his former students for their donation.

On March 19, when Yu Xing noticed a special report about overcoming mountains on the Tencent portal website, he received a call from the United States. It was Jim, the Facebook director whom Xiong Xiaoge had previously introduced.

His phone call was an agreement to invest in Mus.

Yu Xing was quite pleased with the investment, and during the conversation, he inevitably asked about the other party's decision.

“Sigh, I originally thought I could observe MusVid’s development further, but I’ve lost a lot of money in the stock market recently.” Jim sighed repeatedly. “I’ve thought about it, and instead of losing money on those damn pharmaceutical stocks, I might as well invest in you guys.”

He said with a hint of helplessness, "I hope MusVid can achieve good development. Mr. Yu, you should probably thank that short seller in your country, Guoshanfeng, this time."

Yu Xing quickly expressed his gratitude, lighting a cigarette as a reward for Guo Shanfeng's help in raising funds for MusVid.

　I recommend a book called "Starting from 2008". You might be interested in checking it out.
　　
　
(End of this chapter)