The richest man started taking advantage of loopholes after joining Alibaba.

The first snow of 2018 came earlier than usual.

And it's Blizzard.

The snowflakes, as fine as goose feathers, were like shredded cotton, frantically stuffing themselves into every crevice of Beijing.

The temperature plummeted to minus fifteen degrees Celsius overnight.

On the top floor of the Weiguang Building, the underfloor heating in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows is running at full blast.

Lin Che held a cup of hot tea in his hand, the tea steaming with wisps of white vapor.

He stood by the window, looking down at the city that seemed particularly vulnerable on this night.

His indifferent face was reflected in the glass, along with the collapsing world outside the window.

"Brother Che, the data... it's off the charts."

Xie Yu stood behind him, his voice trembling slightly.

He pointed to the monitoring screen of the Abyss system.

The screen no longer displayed red candlestick charts, but instead a dense array of black warning dots.

Each black dot represents a group incident that is taking place.

Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Hangzhou.

The shockwaves from the collapse of Anju Apartments, like a tsunami, finally crashed heavily onto the shore on this snowy night.

Don't look at the data.

Lin Che took a sip of tea, his gaze piercing through the wind and snow as he looked down at the street below. "Looking at people."

……

If you zoom in, you'll find that this isn't a snowy night at all, but a battlefield.

An old residential community in Chaoyang District.

"Get out! All of you, get out!"

A roar tore through the wind and snow.

An elderly landlord in a military overcoat was wielding a large iron hammer, frantically smashing the lock cylinder of the security door.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

The sound of a hammer striking metal was so jarring in the dead of night that it made your teeth ache.

"Sir! Please! Don't smash it!"

The door opened.

A young girl in her pajamas knelt on the floor, her makeup ruined from crying. "I've paid a year's rent to Anju Apartments! I really did! This is my contract!"

She shakily held up a crumpled piece of paper.

"Don't mention affordable housing to me!"

The landlord's eyes were bloodshot, as if he wanted to devour the paper. "Those bastards have been arrested! I haven't received my money! They owe me three months' rent! This house is mine! If you don't leave, my whole family will starve!!"

He grabbed the girl's suitcase and threw it, along with her clothes and cosmetics, onto the cold cement floor of the stairwell.

"I'm not leaving... I have nowhere to go..."

The girl clung tightly to the doorframe, her fingers frozen purple. "It's snowing outside... I'm still paying off my loan... I have to pay three thousand yuan every month... I really have no money left..."

"That's what you deserve!"

The landlord kicked the door, shaking the girl's hand away. "Who told you to be greedy for cheap deals! Who told you to take out a loan! Get out!"

boom!

The security door slammed shut.

The girl slumped to the ground, staring at the tightly closed door.

The draft in the hallway cut her face like a knife.

This scene is playing out simultaneously in thousands of residential communities across Beijing.

……

The Weiguang Building, the command center.

Xie Yu looked at those images, his throat went dry.

That's the sound of a bubble bursting.

There was no champagne, no applause, only shattered locks and the cries of young people.

"That's terrible."

Xie Yu said in a low voice, "Anju Apartments ran off with their rent, the bank is pressing them for their loans, and the landlord wants to kick them out. They're practically driving people to their deaths."

He looked at Lin Che, "Brother Che, should we... do something? The public opinion is starting to get out of control. Many people are criticizing capitalists, and even Weiguang is being criticized."

"Shall we enter now?"

Lin Che turned around and put down his teacup. The bottom of the cup made a slight clinking sound on the table.

"Entering the market now is just becoming a sucker for those who are already holding the bag."

He walked up to a huge electronic map, where the red disaster areas were constantly expanding.

"Those landlords are angry right now. They feel like they are the victims. If you try to buy them now, they will take out all their grievances on you and ask for an outrageously high price."

Lin Che's finger lightly traced the core area on the map.

"And those banks, they haven't realized this is a bad debt yet, they're still hoping someone will bail them out and pay off Jia Yue's billions in loans."

Lin Che's voice was as cold as the wind and snow outside, "Only when they are completely desperate, only when this wound rots and oozes pus, will they understand who the only doctor is."

"But..." Xie Yu pointed to the girl huddled in the stairwell on the screen, "People will freeze to death tonight."

"Charity cannot save business."

Lin Che closed his eyes, as if listening to some kind of countdown. "Notify the public relations department to remain silent. Weiguang should not issue any statements now. We are waiting."

"What are you waiting for?"

"Wait for a distress signal."

……

Three o'clock in the morning.

The blizzard intensified.

The entire city of Beijing seemed to be sealed inside a giant piece of white amber.

Social media has exploded.

The hashtags #AnjuApartmentsFailure#, #100,000TenantsHomeless#, and #WillYoungPeopleHaveToPayForScams# dominated the top three trending topics.

Under each Weibo post are tearful accusations.

The government's pressure to maintain stability has reached its limit.

The police station's phone was ringing off the hook, long queues formed outside the petition office, and people even started gathering near the CBD.

A conference room in Zhongnanhai.

Smoke swirled around.

Several high-ranking leaders in charge of finance and people's livelihood looked solemn.

An urgent report was on the table.

"It can't be suppressed anymore."

A leader stubbed out his cigarette, his brow furrowed. "Too many people are involved, and the amount of money is too large. If the banks don't stop pressing for loans, it will immediately trigger systemic risks. Landlords evicting tenants could easily lead to violent conflicts."

"We must find someone to take over immediately."

Another leader banged on the table, "Although Anju Apartment has collapsed, the buildings are still there. The key now is to find an organization with funds, systems, and operational capabilities to take over these properties immediately and stabilize the situation."

"What about state-owned enterprises?"

"The approval process for state-owned enterprises is too slow! By the time they finish the process, the snow will have melted! A plan is needed tonight!"

A brief silence fell over the meeting room.

All eyes eventually turned to that name.

The name that just emerged unscathed from the P2P storm, holding hundreds of billions in cash, and possessing the most advanced management system in the entire industry.

A faint light.

"Lin Che".

The leader at the head of the table slowly uttered the name, "This kid, he's already cast his net. He's waiting for us to call him."

"This is simply taking advantage of someone's misfortune." Some people were indignant. "He's using society's wounds as bargaining chips."

"That's skill."

The first leader sighed, picked up the red phone on the table, and said, "At this time, the person who can solve the problem is the best person. As long as he is willing to come in, the terms... can be discussed."

……

The CEO's office in the Weiguang Building.

Four o'clock in the morning.

The office was extremely quiet, with only the white mist from the humidifier slowly drifting through the air.

Lin Che did not sleep.

He remained standing by the window, like a statue.

He was looking downstairs.

Downstairs at the Weiguang Building, dozens of young people who had been evicted had gathered at some point.

They dragged their suitcases, shivering, and huddled under the eaves of the Weiguang Building to avoid the snow.

The security guards tried to drive them away, but Lin Che stopped them.

"Let them stay there." That was all Lin Che said at the time. "They are our users."

Sudden.

On the desk, the red secure telephone, which had never rung since its installation, suddenly emitted a piercing ring.

Ring ring—

The sound echoed in the empty office, each sound like a declaration of power.

Xie Yu suddenly jumped up from the sofa, looking at the phone with a terrified expression.

"Brother Che..."

Lin Che turned around.

His face showed no surprise, only a calm that he had already anticipated.

He walked to the table and placed his hand on the receiver.

But he didn't answer immediately.

He silently counted to three in his mind.

One.

two.

three.

This is the final link in the psychological game.

The other person needs to know that you asked me to make this call.

Lin Che picked up the receiver and put it to his ear.

"I am Lin Che."

A dignified yet weary voice came from the other end of the phone. There were no pleasantries, only unquestionable commands and a hint of barely concealed urgency.

"Lin Che, this is the National Financial Stability and Development Committee."

"The snow in Beijing is too heavy."

"We must get in immediately."

Lin Che gripped the receiver slightly tighter.

He glanced out the window.

The wind and snow continued to rage, but in that instant, he seemed to see a golden road leading to the pinnacle of power slowly unfolding across the ruins.

"clear."

Lin Che spoke slowly into the phone.

"We can take over at any time, but if we're going to build on this mess, I'll take all the foundations."

There was a two-second silence on the other end of the phone.

"allow."

……

Lin Che hung up the phone.

"Xie Yu".

"exist!"

"Tell everyone, there's no need to play dead anymore."

Lin Che picked up the black coat hanging on the coat rack and put it on.

At that moment, the coldness emanating from him was even more biting than the blizzard outside.

"Project Vulture, Phase Two, Initiated."

He walked toward the door, his footsteps clearly audible in the deathly still night.

"Tonight, we're going to eat up the whole city."