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

Rewind time.

Forty-eight hours ago. Friday, 14:55 PM.

Hong Kong, Ark Fund trading room.

The numbers on the screen were jumping wildly.

"Five minutes until the market closes!"

Xie Yu's voice was hoarse, his shirt soaked with cold sweat and clinging to his back. "Short position volume 85%...88%..."

Lin Che stood in front of the huge floor-to-ceiling window, his back to the busy traders.

He was looking at the sea.

The waters of Victoria Harbour are a deep green, like a huge, opaque piece of jade.

Beneath the surface, undercurrents surge, much like the unpredictable capital market.

"How much is left?" Lin Che asked.

"A shortfall of thirty million US dollars!" Xie Yu roared. "Buying orders from Huaying are drying up. The market makers seem to have sensed something's wrong and are withdrawing their orders!"

"Eat it at all costs."

Lin Che's voice was soft, yet it pierced through all the noise.

"Dump the price, even if it means losing five percent, we have to shove this last bit of leverage into their mouths."

"clear!"

The sound of the keyboard suddenly became increasingly aggressive.

Traders went crazy, throwing their sell orders into the market without regard to cost.

14: 58.

Huaying Entertainment's stock price suddenly experienced a strange plunge at the end of the trading day, leaving a long lower shadow.

14:59:58.

"make a deal!"

Xie Yu slammed his fist on the table, all his strength drained away in that instant.

He slumped into his chair, panting heavily, pointing at the final number that froze on the screen.

"Brother Che... all short positions have been opened."

Leverage multiplier: 5.

"Total notional value of holdings: US$3.5 million."

Lin Che turned around.

He looked at the room full of traders whose faces were pale, as if they had just been through a war.

Their eyes held fear, excitement, and, most of all, a sense of bewilderment at the unknown.

They know they've just shorted half of the Chinese entertainment industry, but they don't know what gives them the confidence to do so.

"Thanks for your hard work."

Lin Che raised his wrist and unbuttoned his cuff.

"Notify administration to collect all of everyone's cell phones and lock them in the safe."

Everyone was stunned.

"This weekend, everyone is going to Tai O fishing village for team building," Lin Che said casually. "We'll charter a yacht and go fishing at sea. No one is allowed to go ashore or touch the internet before the market opens on Monday."

"Boss, this..." someone hesitated.

"I'm protecting you."

Lin Che walked up to the man and patted him on the shoulder.

"Because in the next forty-eight hours, the outside world will become hell."

"And I don't want you to be burned by the fires of hell."

……

Let's go back to the present.

Sunday, 19:50.

The lights were off in the office on the top floor of the Weiguang Building.

Lin Che sat alone on the priceless Italian leather sofa, with a glass of ice water and a cell phone screen facing up on the coffee table in front of him.

No red wine, no cigars.

He is waiting.

Like a sniper, locking onto the prey's heart through the scope, quietly waiting for the moment when the wind speed and the heartbeat coincide.

"Abyss system report".

A cold, synthesized electronic voice filled the air.

"The public opinion monitoring module has been activated. Keywords: 'Cui Yongyuan,' 'yin-yang contracts,' 'Huaying.' Current popularity: low; trend: stable."

Lin Che closed his eyes.

He mentally reviewed every step of the process.

The chain of evidence is now closed.

The funding route has been secured.

He even arranged for someone to submit anonymous materials to the tax department's complaint mailbox.

All is ready except for the opportunity.

And this favorable wind is currently brewing in a study in the western suburbs of Beijing.

……

Old Cui's Study.

In the western suburbs, there is an inconspicuous old-fashioned villa.

The curtains were drawn tightly shut, not letting in a single ray of light.

Old Cui sat at the desk piled high with books and documents, the light from the screen illuminating his haggard yet excited face.

The ashtray was piled up like a small mountain.

His fingers hovered over the Enter key, trembling slightly.

On the screen was a long, edited article. The title, though only four words, carried immense weight:

Tell the truth.

The accompanying image was a contract with the subject line blurred out, but the key words "5000 million" and Ms. Fan's signature were blurred out as thinly as a sheet of paper.

Old Cui took a deep breath.

The smoke burned in my lungs.

He knew that once he pressed that button, he would have no way out.

He will become the public enemy of the entire entertainment industry, face fierce retaliation from capital, and may even face imprisonment.

But he doesn't care.

He recalled the days when he was suffocated by the power of capital, the humiliation of being verbally abused by popular celebrities, and the countless evils that bred like maggots in the industry.

Fuck you.

Old Cui swore.

His eyes suddenly turned fierce.

His fingers fell heavily.

Snapped!

The crisp sound of the keyboard echoed in the quiet study, like the ringing of a gun.

Sent successfully.

……

The top layer with faint light.

20:00:00.

The phone screen in front of Lin Che lit up without warning.

There was no ringing, only a short, powerful vibration.

hum.

That was the notification sound for being followed on Weibo.

Lin Che opened his eyes.

He didn't rush to get his phone; instead, he glanced out the window first.

The CBD outside the window was still brightly lit and dazzling. In the distance, fireworks from the Huaying Celebration were still blooming in the night sky, spectacular and dazzling.

How ironic.

Over there, it's a time of grand celebration; over here, death is knocking on the door.

Lin Che reached out and picked up his phone.

On the screen, a red dot appeared in the upper right corner of that familiar profile picture.

He clicked on it.

The Weibo post titled "Speaking the Truth" immediately caught my eye.

Just ten seconds later, the number of comments below had jumped to "1000+".

The number of reposts is skyrocketing at an alarming geometric rate.

Lin Che opened the comments section.

The once peaceful internet suddenly exploded.

"Holy crap! Is this for real?"

"Fifty million? A dual contract? This is blatant tax evasion!"

"Fan Ye? Isn't this Fan Ye's signature?"

"The world's changed! Old Cui is going to take us all down with him!"

Lin Che stared at the rapidly scrolling comments, his face expressionless.

But he could sense that the air in the city had changed.

The greed and restlessness that had been lingering in the air are being replaced by a tremendous panic.

This is more than just a Weibo post.

This is a nuclear bomb dropped into a cesspool.

"Xie Yu".

Lin Che pressed the speakerphone button and dialed the number.

"Brother Che! Did you see that?! It exploded! It completely exploded!"

On the other end of the phone, Xie Yu's voice cracked with excitement, "The Weibo servers are already lagging! The trending topic has jumped straight to number one! And it's been trending!"

"The PR team at Huaying Film Studio must be going crazy. They're desperately trying to remove the trending topics, but they can't! This wave of traffic is huge; it's public outrage!"

Lin Che walked to the floor-to-ceiling window.

He looked down at the city below.

The headlights, which were originally moving smoothly, seemed to become restless.

"This is just the beginning."

Lin Che said calmly.

"Let the online trolls get involved and make the fire burn even brighter."

"Remember, do not attack Ms. Fan personally; guide public opinion to hold the capital behind her accountable and hold the regulators accountable."

"We need to put Huaying on the fire and roast it."

"clear!"

hang up the phone.

Lin Che looked at the fireworks that were still rising into the sky in the distance.

Bang, bang, bang.

The colorful firelight illuminated half the night sky, and also lit up Lin Che's unfathomable eyes.

Every time those fireworks exploded, it meant that Huaying's market value evaporated by billions.

This was indeed an expensive fireworks show.

It is worth billions.

"So beautiful."

Lin Che raised the glass of ice water and gently clinked it against the fireworks outside the window.

Ice cubes hit the side of the cup.

It made a crisp sound—

Ding.