The Great Sage Returns from Ten Years of Imprisonment

9:30 a.m., Shanghai.

At China Eastern Airlines headquarters, the second round of negotiations between representatives of various airlines and Goldman Sachs' Shanghai branch began on schedule.

When Anthony walked into the conference room with several of his senior executives and lawyers, the representatives from various airlines who were waiting there were all stunned, their eyes filled with astonishment.

What surprised them was Anthony's condition.

In just two days, Anthony seemed to have aged more than ten years.

He was no longer as arrogant as before; his face was haggard, his eyes were bloodshot, and his complexion was pale, as if he had been up for several sleepless nights.

Fortunately, his suit was decent enough to maintain the dignity of Goldman Sachs, the world's largest investment bank.

After exchanging greetings and pleasantries, the two sides sat down on either side of the conference table.

Before getting to the main point, the general manager of Air China asked, feigning concern:

"Mr. Anthony, you don't seem to be in good condition. I wonder what happened to cause this?"

"If your current state affects the negotiations, we can suspend them and continue until you've recovered."

"Waiting one more day won't make a big difference. Fortunately, international oil prices performed well today, which gives us a chance to catch our breath."

Yeah! You guys don't need to rush, but I am!

If I can't handle this today, I'll be out of a job tomorrow.

I won't even be able to wait until the sun rises tomorrow before I have to jump into the Huangpu River to feed the fish!

Anthony muttered a few bitter words to himself, then quickly shook his head.

"I'm fine and it won't affect today's negotiations. I'm used to working through the night because of the half-day time difference between China and the US..."

Are you working all night? You must be exhausted!

The Chinese representative chuckled inwardly and naturally became less polite.

Immediately afterwards, both sides got down to business.

"Gentlemen, after careful consideration and with the approval of our New York headquarters, our company has decided to make another concession and only charge each airline 50% of the penalty for breach of contract."

"This is our bottom line. If the airlines can accept these termination conditions, then we can terminate the fuel hedging agreements that our company has signed with the airlines today."

Mike, representing Goldman Sachs' Shanghai branch, presented new termination terms.

As soon as he finished speaking, the general manager of Air China on the other end of the line smiled and shook his head.

"A 50% penalty for breach of contract? We cannot accept this termination condition; we can only accept a 40% penalty at most."

"Given the global financial crisis, our airlines must consider cash flow issues and prepare for the impact of the financial crisis."

"We cannot give you all of our limited funds; otherwise, it would be very difficult for airlines to withstand this devastating financial crisis."

At this point, he suddenly changed the subject.

"As far as I know, Goldman Sachs, the world's largest investment bank, is also currently in a huge crisis."

"The stock price has plummeted for several days, its money market fund has defaulted, and it has also faced a run on its funds by numerous investors, resulting in an unprecedented liquidity crisis."

"We sympathize with Goldman Sachs' situation and hope that they can consider the needs of our airlines and that we can all compromise..."

Anthony and his team felt a chill run down their spines, sensing that something terrible was about to happen!

Finished!

These guys were so well-prepared that they even knew Goldman Sachs was facing an unprecedented liquidity crisis!

You bunch of airline executives, what are you doing studying international financial markets? Are you just bored and have nothing better to do?

As Anthony predicted, Goldman Sachs’ Shanghai branch completely lost the initiative in the ensuing negotiations!

While this negotiation was underway, another negotiation had already begun on Hong Kong Island.

The two parties in that negotiation were the Hong Kong Island branch of the Broad Group and a representative of the bankrupt Lehman Brothers Bank.

In comparison, that negotiation was much easier and progressed very smoothly!

New York, late at night.

Goldman Sachs headquarters building, crude oil futures trading department.

The once bustling trading area, as lively as a boiling pot, was now eerily silent.

As far as the eye could see, almost all the traders had their heads in their hands, their faces ashen as they stared intently at their computer screens, their eyes filled with despair and disbelief.

Just now, almost all accounts at Goldman Sachs headquarters that were long on international crude oil futures have been liquidated.

The funds in these futures accounts vanished instantly, and not a single penny could be recovered.

Such an event, with such staggering losses, is almost unprecedented in Goldman Sachs' history of investing in international crude oil futures!

From the day Goldman Sachs entered the international crude oil futures market, it has been the fastest sickle in the market, and it has always been Goldman Sachs that frantically harvests profits from retail investors!

But who would have thought that the once invincible Goldman Sachs would become a victim of exploitation, ruthlessly fleeced by others!

Even more critically, Goldman Sachs is currently facing an unprecedented liquidity crisis and needs to borrow a lot of money from all sides to resolve this huge problem!

But even the richest family has no surplus grain. A devastating financial crisis is sweeping the globe. At this critical moment, who would lend money to Goldman Sachs?

As a result, many crude oil futures traders were frantically demanding additional margin to ensure their futures accounts wouldn't be liquidated, but the company couldn't even raise one-third of the required margin.

Everyone was stunned when they learned of this!

Many traders could only suffer in despair, watching helplessly as their managed futures trading accounts were liquidated, and all the funds in the accounts vanished in an instant.

It took these veteran crude oil futures traders a full four or five seconds to come to their senses.

The huge trading area erupted in chaos the next moment.

Many traders jumped up, unleashing a torrent of angry curses that nearly ripped the ceiling off.

"Fuck! Fuck! Can anyone tell me why the damn international oil prices, which were rising so well, suddenly plummeted?"

"Screw them, are those bastards in the decision-making body possessed? From yesterday to today, not a single decision they've made has been correct."

"And they kept changing their stance and using leverage hundreds of times. These idiots ruined me; all my savings of over a decade have vanished!"

"It's over, completely over. We will definitely pay the price for today's huge losses. Those investors will never let us off the hook."

While many traders were venting their frustrations, some more level-headed individuals were frantically searching online, trying to find the reason for the sudden plunge in international oil prices.

They quickly found the reason and shouted it out.

"The financial collapse of Morgan Stanley triggered panic among most energy traders, leading to a collective sell-off."

"This recent plunge was caused by a collective sell-off by global energy companies, and we just happened to run into it!"

With this reason revealed, the angry curses and jeers in the trading area immediately intensified.

Moreover, the targets of the curses quickly expanded, with Morgan Stanley and countless energy traders around the world suddenly becoming the targets of a frenzied attack.

Meanwhile, in the upstairs office area.

A senior vice president from Goldman Sachs, accompanied by several executives and a group of security personnel, strode into the office area and headed straight for the office of the director of the crude oil investment department.

Their arrival immediately caused a huge commotion in the office area.

All the employees who were working overtime stood up as if they had been electrocuted, looking at these uninvited guests with trepidation.

"It's Vice President Miller and the head of the group's security personally leading the team. Tommy's doomed this time; the company's top management will definitely make an example of him!"

"That's inevitable. If we don't make an example of him, how can we explain it to so many investors? We can't have the group's CEO jumping off a building himself!"

Just as everyone was discussing it, Goldman Sachs Vice President Miller and his entourage arrived at Tommy's office door.

Upon seeing them arrive, the voluptuous secretary standing guard at the door immediately spoke timidly:

"Good evening, Mr. Miller. Tommy has gone to the restroom. Please wait a moment."

"Go to the restroom? Don't give me that nonsense. Doesn't his office have a private bathroom? Get lost!"

Miller cursed coldly, his face dark.

As he spoke, he prepared to lead his men to force their way into the director's office.

Just then, a terrified scream suddenly came from the window.

"Look, someone jumped off a building, it looks like Mr. Tommy!"

"brush"

Everyone turned to look at the same time, and each person reacted quickly.

The next instant, everyone saw a figure in a gray suit flash past the window and plummet towards the ground of Wall Street in a freefall motion!