Love in the Courtyard: Starting with Engineers

The streets of Tokyo, Japan, have long lost their former prosperity.

The rioting crowd smashed shop windows, burned national flags and banners of the M country's troops, and clashed violently with police maintaining order.

On the street corner, homeless people huddled together, scrambling for the little food they had.

Long queues formed outside banks as desperate people tried to withdraw their savings only to be told their accounts had been frozen.

"The government is incompetent! Get out of here, America!"

"We want to eat! We want to work!" Angry shouts rose and fell, plunging the entire country into complete chaos.

Amidst the ruins of economic collapse, debt collection letters from Country M rained down on the Japanese government like snowflakes.

With the deadline for the $100 billion in reparations approaching, the US Secretary of State issued an ultimatum over the phone: "If the full amount is not paid within three days, we will freeze all of your country's overseas assets and terminate all trade relations."

The repercussions of the violence perpetrated by US soldiers continue to unfold, with clashes erupting from time to time in the streets as civilians attack military bases. US soldiers have also begun live-fire patrols, creating a tense atmosphere.

Inside the Japanese Prime Minister's official residence, a cabinet meeting was held for three days and three nights in a hazy atmosphere, with everyone looking pale and sickly.

"Public discontent is boiling over in the country, the US is pressing us hard for debt repayment, and the soldier incident is far from over. What should we do?" the Minister of Justice asked wearily, his voice filled with despair.

The Prime Minister rubbed his throbbing temples, his eyes dark and menacing: "Investigate! Investigate thoroughly! What exactly happened?"

Why did the housing market suddenly collapse? Why did American soldiers suddenly riot?

After a week of intensive investigation, a thick report was placed on Shinzo Abe's desk.

The head of the intelligence department reported gravely, "Your Excellency, we've found out! All of this is being orchestrated by China!"

"China?" The Prime Minister looked up abruptly.

"Yes." The intelligence chief nodded.

"The housing bubble was inflated and then detonated by Li Yu of China through capital operations."

"The riots by the US soldiers were orchestrated by Li Yu through bribery."

"Our semiconductor industry was also defeated by Longteng's technology blockade and price war."

"All the chaos was a carefully orchestrated conspiracy by Li Yu!"

The meeting room was deathly silent. The ministers looked at each other, their eyes filled with shock and anger.

"This Li Yu, he wants to destroy our country!" The Minister of Defense slammed his fist on the table and roared.

The Japanese prime minister gripped the report tightly, his knuckles turning white: "Now that things have come to this, we have no choice but to reveal the truth."

"Only by letting the public know who the real enemy is can we shift the focus of conflict and stabilize domestic sentiment!"

The following day, major Japanese television stations and newspapers simultaneously released the truth.

The Japanese Prime Minister, in a tearful televised address, said, "Fellow countrymen, the reason our country is in its current predicament is not because we haven't tried hard enough, but because of the conspiracy of China!"

"A Chinese man named Li Yu, through capital manipulation, technological blockade, and sowing discord, has ruined our economy and provoked conflict between us and the United States! We can no longer tolerate this!"

The news caused an immediate uproar in Japan.

The Japanese people transformed all their despair and suffering into resentment towards China and Li Yu.

"Down with China! Kill Li Yu!"

"Blood for blood! We must take revenge!" On the streets of Tokyo, people held up scarecrows with Li Yu's name on them, burning and trampling them wildly, their shouts deafening.

Seeing this, Country M immediately seized the opportunity and began to bombard the Japanese people with information.

Under the direction of the United States, Japanese newspapers and television stations began to vigorously promote war ideology: "China is our sworn enemy! They destroyed our homeland, and we must avenge them with war!"

"Only by defeating China can we rise again!"

"Country M will stand shoulder to shoulder with us to fight against the threat from China!"

These inflammatory remarks, like adding fuel to the fire, further fueled the war sentiment within Japan.

Large numbers of people took to the streets, demanding that the government declare war on China.

"Start war immediately! Take revenge on China!"

The slogan, "We are not afraid of sacrifice, as long as we can defeat China!" resounded throughout the cities of Japan.

Inside the White House emergency meeting room in Washington, the President of the United States looked at the news reports from Japan, a sinister smile creeping across his face.

"Excellent! Japan's war sentiment has been stirred up!"

He addressed his cabinet members, saying, "Now, we will use this wrecked ship of Japan to completely set China's economy back by at least 20 years!"

The Minister of Defense immediately chimed in: "Mr. President, we can provide Japan with weapons assistance to support their military action against China."

"Although China has a strong military, Japan's madness is enough to drag them into a quagmire of war."

"At that time, we will join forces with our allies to impose comprehensive sanctions on China, and their economy will inevitably collapse!"

The finance minister added, "That's right! China's economy is now highly dependent on exports."

"If we cut off their trade routes, freeze their overseas assets, and then unite global capital to short the RMB, we can completely collapse their economy!"

The President of Country M nodded: "That's settled! Inform the Japanese government that we are willing to provide them with $100 billion in arms aid, and at the same time, we promise to provide them with full support in the military, economic, and diplomatic spheres should war break out!"

Inside the Longxing Factory command center, Li Yu watched the war-frenzied images of Japan on the screen.

He said to Lou Zhenhua, "Notify the finance team to start shorting the Japanese yen in large quantities, regardless of cost, and completely drain their cash flow!"

"Understood, Mr. Li!" Lou Zhenhua replied immediately.

"We have joined forces with several European hedge funds and have prepared $500 billion in short-selling funds, ready to act at any time."

Following Li Yu's instructions, a massive amount of capital began frantically selling Japanese yen in the global financial markets.

In just one day, the Japanese yen plummeted 15% against the US dollar, marking its largest single-day drop in history.

The Bank of Japan intervened urgently, using its foreign exchange reserves to intervene in the market, but it was like a drop in the ocean in the face of the surging short-selling funds.

"Your Excellency Prime Minister, our foreign exchange reserves have been exhausted!" The Chancellor of the Exchequer rushed into the Prime Minister's residence, his face pale as he reported.

"The Japanese yen continues to depreciate, and has now fallen below the 200 yen to 1 US dollar mark!"

The Prime Minister's body went limp, and he slumped into his chair.

He knew that the depletion of foreign exchange reserves meant that the government had completely lost its ability to control the exchange rate, as well as its ability to purchase imported goods and repay foreign debt.

"Our cash flow... has completely dried up," he muttered to himself.

In the following days, the Japanese yen experienced a rollercoaster of wild fluctuations.

The exchange rate sometimes plummets, and sometimes rebounds slightly with a small amount of capital intervention, but the overall trend is still a precipitous decline.

By the fifth day, the Japanese yen had fallen to 300 yen to the dollar, and domestic prices were soaring. The prices of daily necessities such as rice and cooking oil had tripled in a week, making them unaffordable for the general public.

In Tokyo supermarkets, shelves were empty, and large crowds gathered at the entrances, trying to snap up the few remaining items, which even led to stampedes.

An elderly woman, clutching an empty shopping basket, sat on the ground and wailed, "We can't live like this anymore! We can't even afford rice, we're going to starve!"

The Japanese government attempted to raise funds by issuing new government bonds, but due to the collapse of the domestic economy and the bankruptcy of international credit, no one was willing to buy them.

"We've reached the end of our rope!" the Chancellor exclaimed in despair.

"Without cash flow, we can't buy weapons, maintain social order, or even pay our civil servants' salaries!"

Inside the financial command center of Longxing Factory, Lou Zhenhua reported to Li Yu: "General Manager Li, Japan's foreign exchange reserves have been exhausted, its national bonds are unwanted, and the government's cash flow has been completely drained. Japan is now an empty shell, unable to even maintain basic operations."

Li Yu glanced at the report in his hand and said, "Very good. They want to start a war, so we'll cut off their supplies first."

"Without money, weapons, or supplies, how will they fight?"

Inside the Japanese Prime Minister's official residence, the Prime Minister, looking at the dire situation in his country, was caught in a dilemma.

The people's war sentiment has been stirred up. If he doesn't go to war, he will be scorned by the people and may even be overthrown.

However, if war breaks out, Japan is currently incapable of competing with China and will only bring about its own annihilation.

"Your Excellency Prime Minister, the US has called again, urging us to launch military action against China as soon as possible," the secretary said in a low voice as he entered.

The Prime Minister closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and a glint of madness flashed in his eyes: "Notify the Ministry of Defense to prepare for war! We have no way out; we can only fight to the death!"

Meanwhile, in the White House in Washington, the President of the United States was saying to the Secretary of Defense, "Let Japan go first, and we will support them from behind."

"Once China and Japan are both severely weakened, we'll strike first and reap the benefits!"