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

That night, it rained heavily in Hangzhou.

But on the other side of the ocean, Wall Street is experiencing a tsunami more violent than a torrential downpour.

It's 9 PM Beijing time.

That is, half an hour before the US stock market opens.

The Muddy Waters website has been updated.

An 80-page PDF file was like a depth charge thrown into a calm lake.

The cover is black, with the famous "fishing in troubled waters" logo printed on it, along with a blood-red title:

[Alibaba's colossal lie: A house of cards built on the "W Plan"]

The report's summary contains only three points, yet each one is fatal:

Fake traffic: Allegations that the millions of daily active users of "Weipintuan" are all zombie fans, using the "cut a price" model to inflate traffic in a pyramid scheme manner.

Empty shell logistics: On-site investigation revealed that "Weiguang Logistics" was an abandoned warehouse just half a month ago and had no capacity to handle orders worth tens of millions of yuan.

Transfer of benefits: Through complex VIE structures and offshore accounts, assets of listed companies are transferred to individuals.

"boom--"

Following the release of the report, Alibaba's stock price plummeted instantly on the Bloomberg terminal.

Pre-market trading prices.

$68.00 -> $65.00 -> $61.50...

It fell straight down.

The decline exceeded 10%.

This means that before the bell even rang, Alibaba's market value had already evaporated by 200 billion US dollars.

The panic on Wall Street was instantly transmitted to the operations room in Hangzhou's Xixi Park via the undersea fiber optic cable.

......

The operations room was brightly lit.

On dozens of large screens, the charts were all red, showing a downward trend and negative public opinion.

The air was thick with the strong smell of coffee and the acrid smell of sweat.

"Phone calls! They're all from investors!"

The director in charge of IR practically roared, "Blackstone, Fidelity, Temasek... they're all asking the same question: Is Microlight Group a scam? Is that Lin Che a fraudster?"

"Where's the PR department? Delete the posts!" Old Xiao was sweating profusely, his tie was even pulled askew.

"We can't delete it!" Wang Shuai's face turned ashen. "It was posted on Twitter and Bloomberg. We can't control what the Americans say! And... the domestic media have started following up too."

a mess.

This is the power of short-selling institutions.

They don't need solid evidence, they just need to create panic.

As soon as panic spreads, funds will flee and stock prices will collapse.

They had already placed huge short orders, ready to reap huge profits.

in the corner.

Lin Che sat in an ergonomic chair, holding a freshly printed Muddy Waters report in his hand.

He read very slowly.

He even circled several excellent passages in red pen.

"Well written."

Lin Che muttered to himself.

He pointed to a photograph on page 45 of the report.

That was a photo of the Weiguang Logistics warehouse taken by Muddy Waters' investigators two weeks ago.

In the photo, the warehouse is empty, with only a few rusty shelves and garbage scattered all over the floor.

The caption reads:

This is what they call a logistics center. Empty. Just like Alibaba's promise.

"Lin Che!"

Mr. Ma's voice came through.

He strode into the operations room, followed by a solemn-looking Tsai Chung-hsin.

Mr. Ma's face no longer held its usual composure; a deep anger was simmering between his brows.

"Look what you've done!"

Mr. Ma pointed to the cliff-like candlestick chart on the big screen.

"This is the 'unicorn' you were talking about? Now the whole world thinks it's a Ponzi scheme!"

"If the business is failing, we can fix it. But right now, our integrity is bankrupt!"

Mr. Ma's anger is justified.

For a company about to go public, "integrity" is its lifeblood.

Once labeled as "fraudulent," even if the company later clears its name, its valuation will be discounted.

The entire operations room fell silent instantly.

Everyone looked at Lin Che.

That young man who was a hero yesterday, but is now a sinner.

Lin Che closed the report.

He stood up and threw the report into the trash can.

Clang.

"Mr. Ma."

Lin Che's voice was steady, penetrating the surrounding noisy background noise.

Why do you think Muddy Waters was able to successfully short sell?

"Because they identified the pain point!" Joseph Tsai quickly answered, "Because Microlight Logistics was indeed empty before! That was a fatal flaw!"

"No."

Lin Che shook his head.

He walked to the big screen, his back to the plummeting curve.

His shadow was stretched long, like a sharp sword, cleaving through the red expanse.

"It's because they're arrogant."

"They use Wall Street logic to measure China's lower-tier markets."

"They think that delivering a box of tissues for only $9.90 is a scam, because in the United States, shipping costs $10."

"They felt that it was impossible to build a logistics network in half a month, because in the United States, it takes half a year to get approval to build a warehouse."

Lin Che turned around and looked directly into President Ma's eyes.

"Mr. Ma."

"Muddy Waters' biggest mistake was that they believed the 'truth' they saw."

"They thought that was the truth from two weeks ago."

"But they forgot, this is... China speed."

Lin Che took out his phone.

I dialed Fatty Wang's video call.

"Screen mirroring".

"Sizzle—"

The big screen flickered.

Screen switch.

The candlestick chart is no longer red.

Instead, it's a real-time monitoring screen of the Hangzhou West Weiguang Logistics Distribution Center.

In the picture.

The lights were on full display, as bright as day.

Countless conveyor belts were running at high speed, making a huge roar.

Thousands of packages sped along the conveyor belt like a flowing river.

Hundreds of trucks lined up in a long queue, loading and unloading goods in an orderly manner.

That was a real, physical "margin call".

"this......"

Old Xiao's eyes widened, and his mouth opened so wide it could fit an egg.

"Is this our warehouse?"

"right."

Lin Che pointed to the timestamp in the corner of the screen.

2014-09-18 21:35:00

"It was empty two weeks ago."

"But Muddy Waters didn't know that with Alibaba's $100 million and Zhao Sihai's execution ability, half a month would be enough for us to create a miracle."

Lin Che looked at President Ma, a cruel smile curling at the corner of his mouth.

"Mr. Ma."

"Muddy Waters' report is excellent."

"They helped us prove one thing to the whole world—"

"Weiguang Group's logistics 'does not exist'."

"So."

"What if we invited global media to do a live broadcast from here tomorrow?"

"When they saw this warehouse, so busy there wasn't even room to put their feet down."

"When they discovered that Muddy Waters' report was a complete 'outdated news'."

Lin Che's voice rose a few decibels, carrying a bloodthirsty excitement.

"How much energy does that contrast generate?"

Mr. Ma was stunned.

Joseph Tsai was stunned.

Everyone was stunned.

This is hardly crisis management.

This is a strategy of luring the enemy deep into our territory, then trapping and beating them.

Lin Che had long anticipated that Muddy Waters would investigate, and that the empty warehouse might even be a "flaw" he deliberately left for Muddy Waters to see.

When Muddy Waters comes out with solid evidence to short the stock, it drives down the price and fills up its short position.

then.

He then revealed the trump card.

At that moment, the reversal of the truth will be like a nuclear bomb, blasting all the short sellers to smithereens.

"As long as the bears are not dead, the bulls will not stop."

Lin Che walked up to President Ma and bowed slightly.

"Since they want to die."

"I will grant their wish."

Mr. Ma looked at the young man in front of him.

The anger in his eyes disappeared, replaced by a deep sense of apprehension and an irrepressible admiration.

This scheme is incredibly sophisticated.

Even he was fooled.

"What do you want?" Mr. Ma asked.

"I need permission."

Lin Che raised his head, his gaze intense.

"I need to utilize all of the group's media resources."

"Tomorrow morning at nine o'clock, I will hold a press conference that will be broadcast live globally at the Weiguang Logistics Park."

"I've already thought of a theme."

Lin Che paused, then uttered four words:

"seeing is believing."

Mr. Ma remained silent for three seconds.

Then, he waved his hand.

"allow."

"Old Xiao, notify the public relations department to cooperate fully."

"Joseph Tsai, prepare the funds."

"If the market reverses tomorrow, drive the stock price up until these short sellers go bankrupt!"

"yes!"

The atmosphere in the entire operations room changed instantly.

The panic I felt earlier vanished instantly.

Instead, there was a fervor of anticipation for going to the battlefield.

Lin Che walked to the window.

Looking out the window at the torrential rain.

Rainwater washed against the glass, blurring the view.

But he saw it very clearly.

Behind the layers of rain, countless greedy eyes were fixed on this piece of fat meat.

"Carson Block".

Lin Che murmured the name.

"You think you're a hunter?"

"pity."

Lin Che reached out and pressed his hand against the cold glass.

"In my script."

"You are just... the prey."

He took out the anonymous phone.

I sent a text message to Edward:

[Activate the trap, buy call options now.]

This battle.

It's not just about winning fame.

I still want to win money.

They won every single penny in their hands.