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

Central, Hong Kong: Ark Fund's secret trading room.

There are no windows here, only dozens of huge screens.

"Target confirmed: A-share film and media sector ETF."

Xie Yu loosened his tie, rolled up his sleeves to his elbows, and his voice was hoarse as if he were roaring.

"Ignore the price! As long as there are buy orders, dump them! I want all the liquidity!"

Crackle, crackle.

The keyboard clicks were so dense they sounded like machine gun fire.

The traders' fingers were trembling.

Most of them were tough guys who had returned from Wall Street and had seen big scenes, but they had never seen such a suicidal fighting style.

This isn't short selling; this is massacre.

"Boss, here is the 'special attention' list you requested."

Xie Yu grabbed a handwritten note and handed it to Lin Che, who had been silent behind him.

Lin Che sat on a high stool, fiddling with a coin in his hand.

He took the note and glanced at it.

Above is a string of red stock codes.

300027 Huaying Entertainment

000802 Brothers Media

600XXX Tangde Film & Television

...

In Lin Che's eyes, every piece of code is more than just a number.

Memories from past lives overlapped.

2018 was a year of tax upheaval.

These once invincible giants with hundreds of billions in assets, like dominoes that have been toppled, have plummeted one after another, with more than a dozen consecutive limit-down days, burying countless retail investors and institutions in the ruins.

At that time, he was a corpse under the rubble.

Now, he is the one who pushes the dominoes down.

"Is the TRS (Total Return Swap) channel all set up?" Lin Che asked.

"Get everything set up." Xie Yu's eyes were bloodshot, and he was frighteningly excited. "We'll use six shell companies registered in the Cayman Islands, layer upon layer, and finally place the order through Goldman Sachs' proprietary trading desk. Nobody will know it's us; they'll just think it's foreign capital withdrawing."

"very good."

Lin Che flicked his finger, and the coin made a crisp "clink" sound.

"Then don't be shy."

"Use up all the bullets."

"I want to make sure that the entire entertainment industry's capital feels no warmth at all this winter."

"Yes, Sir!"

Xie Yu suddenly waved his hand: "All positions short! Execute!"

The candlestick chart on the screen, which had been fluctuating at a high level, suddenly plummeted straight down like a kite with a broken string.

In that instant, billions of dollars worth of sell orders flooded the market.

……

Microlight's headquarters, Beijing.

Unlike the bloodthirsty frenzy of Hong Kong, this place is a desolate, apocalyptic silence.

The office area was filled with unease.

Several employees gathered in the break room, speaking in hushed tones, as if discussing the funeral arrangements.

"Have you heard? Headhunters say that nobody dares to accept resumes from Weiguang anymore."

"Sigh, I thought it was a unicorn, but it turns out to be a sick cat. Have you seen the trending topics? #FaintLightRetreats# has been trending all day."

"I just saw the content department director leave with a suitcase, without even handing in his resignation letter."

"Should we...?"

Just then, the sound of leather shoes hitting the ground came from behind.

Da, da, da.

The rhythm is steady and cold.

Everyone immediately shut up and scattered like birds and beasts, pretending to wipe the table that wasn't dirty at all.

Lin Che walked through the office area without looking to either side.

He could feel those gazes.

Fear, doubt, pity, and schadenfreude.

Outside his office, the HR director was sweating profusely, holding a stack of documents and waiting.

"Mr. Lin... Mr. Lin," the director stammered, "this morning, another twenty-three middle managers submitted their resignations, along with several key technical personnel..."

"Approved."

Lin Che didn't stop walking and pushed the door open to enter.

"But..." the director said anxiously, following behind, "What will happen to the business if everyone leaves? There are rumors outside that we're going to go bankrupt. Should we send out an internal memo to reassure everyone...?"

Lin Che stopped and turned around.

That look in his eyes made the director feel like a clown who had been stripped naked.

"Those that want to leave are just trash sorting itself."

Lin Che looked at him coldly, "Weiguang doesn't need people who waver at times like this. Wage all their options and put them back into the pool."

"As for appeasement?"

He scoffed, pushed the door open, went inside, and slammed it shut behind him.

"That's what the weak need."

boom.

The heavy solid wood door shut out the outside world.

Lin Che walked behind his desk and sat down, and the world instantly fell silent.

He glanced at the mountain of so-called "crisis public relations plans" piled on the table, then casually pushed them all into the trash can.

He doesn't need public relations.

What he needs is a nuclear bomb.

Lin Che opened the drawer and took out an old black Nokia phone from the deepest part.

This phone is not connected to the internet to prevent tracking; it's specifically used by him to contact "that kind of person."

He skillfully pressed a string of numbers.

This number was widely circulated online in a previous life and was known as the "Revenge Hotline".

But in this lifetime, it remains silent.

beep - beep - beep -

The long wait continued.

Each sound felt like a blow to the heart.

Finally, the call went through.

There was no sound from the other end, only heavy breathing and the rustling of papers.

He revealed a deep weariness and vigilance.

"Who is it?"

His voice was hoarse, carrying the anxiety of long-term insomnia.

Lin Che leaned back in his chair, looking out at the gray sky.

got windy.

"Teacher Cui, I've heard so much about you."

Lin Che's voice was soft, yet it possessed a strange allure: "I am Lin Che of the Glimmer."

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

"President Lin?" Old Cui's voice held a hint of surprise. "You, as a rising star in the internet industry, why are you looking for a washed-up host like me? I'm a plague now; whoever gets involved with me is doomed."

"Bankruptcy?"

Lin Che laughed. His laughter was low and echoed in the empty office.

"That's just a show for fools."

"I'm looking for you because I know you have something."

"The things in that drawer."

The breathing on the other end of the phone stopped instantly.

Then came a series of chaotic sounds, like a cup being knocked over.

"How...how did you know? Who sent you? Huaying? Or those money launderers?" Old Cui's voice became sharp, like a trapped beast cornered against a wall.

"take it easy."

Lin Che toyed with the fountain pen in his hand, the nib drawing sharp marks on the table.

"The enemy of my enemy is my friend."

"I know what you're trying to do. You want to tear off this fig leaf and make those people pay the price."

"But Teacher Cui, your situation is very dangerous. You have no money, no connections, and they've even cut off your microphone. What can you use to fight them? Just passion?"

There was silence on the other end of the phone.

A deathly silence.

Lin Che knew he had hit a nerve.

"I have a powerful remedy here."

Lin Che leaned forward and spoke into the microphone, enunciating each word clearly.

"I don't lack money, I lack a knife."

"A knife that can pierce the sky."

"11 PM tonight, at that club in Xishan. I'll be waiting for you."

"Do you dare to come and take it?"

After saying that, Lin Che hung up the phone.

He threw his phone back on the table.

The sky outside the window had completely darkened, and the neon lights began to flash, adorning the city like a dream.

On the trending topics list, #FaintLightFallsBack# is still at number one.

But Lin Che knew.

Before long, every word on this list will become a bloody reality.

"Thank you, Mr. Xie."

He pressed the intercom button on the table.

"What's wrong, Che-ge?" Xie Yu's voice blared from the speakers, accompanied by deafening keyboard clatter and cheers. "These bastards are starting a panic sell-off! Our unrealized gains have already exceeded two hundred million US dollars!"

"Continue to increase investment."

Lin Che stared out the window at the Huaying Building, his eyes sharp as knives.

"Pledge all the employee option pool that was just recovered and convert it into short positions."

"Tonight, I'm going to give them nightmares."