When I went home for Chinese New Year, I spent a million times more money on my foreign wife.

Five days after the Moby-Dick incident, everything returned to calm.

No one on the dark web mentioned the Dragon Slayer Society anymore, and the Gray family's North American businesses collapsed rapidly under the strangulation of debt from the Snow Palace Foundation.

Chen Yue reports on the progress daily as a routine matter; the numbers are shrinking, and the pace is faster than expected.

Chen Yang had a few rare days of leisure.

Katyusha flipped to a magazine and learned that Shanghai was hosting a world-class high-end jewelry fashion week, organized by Langfeng Group from the Rooster Country, the world's largest luxury goods empire.

"I want to go and see."

Chen Yang didn't hesitate: "Let's go."

Upon hearing the news, Chen Yue volunteered to go along, explaining that with the Snow Palace about to open, it would be a good opportunity to go to Shanghai to connect with several top suppliers.

Chen Yue is becoming more and more like a strong woman.

Three Gulfstream aircraft took off from Harbin and landed in Shanghai two and a half hours later.

-

The main venue for Fashion Week was set up in a century-old building on the Bund. The entire building was booked by the Langfeng Group. Black carpets were laid at the entrance, and reporters carrying telephoto lenses stood on both sides.

Chen Yue had her assistant contact the organizer in advance, and the name given was "Snow Palace Group".

When the three arrived, a middle-aged man in a gray suit came up to them. His name tag read "President of Langfeng Group Greater China - Philippe Duval".

Duval glanced at Chen Yang's clothes, then at Katyusha, and gave a polite but perfunctory smile.

"Snow Palace Group? We've never seen them in our list of core clients."

Chen Yue handed over her business card: "Snow Palace Venture Capital Fund, managing assets of 200 billion US dollars."

Duval took the business card, looked at it for two seconds without any change in expression, then turned to his assistant and said something in French.

The assistant led the three of them inside.

Walk through the hall, past the exclusive seats in the front row that are emblazoned with the family crest, and all the way to the corner of the last row.

Three folding chairs, none of which had cushions on the backrests.

Chen Yue stopped in her tracks: "What does this mean?"

The assistant replied in broken Chinese, "I'm sorry, the front seats are reserved in advance for our long-term partners."

Katyusha glanced down at the chair but didn't say anything.

Chen Yang pulled her hand, and the three of them sat down.

Chen Yue lowered her voice: "Brother, this is obviously done on purpose. Half of the seats in the front row are empty."

"Watch while sitting."

-

The lights dimmed, and the spotlights on both sides of the runway turned on.

Models walked by one after another, the jewelry reflecting dense points of light under the lights, the whole place was quiet except for the sound of camera shutters.

After the third set of exhibits concluded, Duval went on stage and picked up the microphone.

"Ladies and gentlemen, Langfeng Group has been rooted in the haute couture field for 120 years. Every piece of our work carries the aesthetic genes of the Rooster Kingdom."

He paused for a moment and glanced at the audience.

"The soul of haute couture lies in originality," Duval said in French-accented Chinese. "I've noticed that in recent years, the demand for luxury goods in the Eastern market has grown rapidly, but to be honest—purchasing power is not the same as aesthetic taste."

Some people in the audience were whispering among themselves.

"We welcome consumers from all markets, but Langfeng's haute couture collection, from design to craftsmanship, from fabrics to jewelry setting, every aspect stems from a century of heritage. This cannot be replicated by simply piling up capital, much less by imitation and patchwork."

The last sentence was said very lightly, but its meaning was profound.

The Chinese buyers and brand agents present all looked rather grim, but no one uttered a word.

Katyusha, sitting in the last row, gripped the program in her hand tightly.

Chen Yue turned to look at her sister-in-law, whose program schedule had been crumpled into a ball.

"He's saying that Chinese people don't deserve to wear haute couture," Katyusha said in a low voice.

Chen Yang did not respond.

Duval was still on stage: "So Langfeng's positioning has never changed—we only serve customers who truly understand aesthetics, not simply...buy machines."

Katyusha stood up.

Chen Yue raised her hand to stop her, but couldn't.

Katyusha walked to the middle of the aisle, and under everyone's gaze, raised her right foot and kicked the back of the VIP seat in front of her.

The chair back broke at the hinge, and the entire chair tipped forward, crashing to the ground with a loud thud.

The entire room fell silent.

Duval was stunned on stage.

Katyusha addressed the stage in fluent French: "After 120 years of history, is this how the president of Langfeng Group treats his guests?"

Her French had a pure Mochâteau high society accent, and she pronounced every word clearly.

Duval's pupils dilated.

He recognized the accent.

"Ekaterina Ivanova," Katyusha announced her full name. "The first heir to the Ivanov Energy Group. My father's annual spending at Langfeng is enough for you to buy an island in the Pacific. I will have my father's legal team review every word you just said."

Duval's face flushed red and then turned pale; his lips moved a few times, but no sound came out.

Whispers began to circulate among the audience. Everyone present was well aware of the significance of the Ivanov name in the European luxury goods industry.

Chen Yang stood up from the last row and straightened his cuffs.

Instead of looking at the stage, he took out his phone and dialed a number.

As soon as the call connected, Chen Yue's phone rang simultaneously beside her.

"Chen Yue".

"Brother, I'm here."

"I'm going to take down Langfeng Group on global stock markets in ten minutes."

Chen Yue paused for a second.

"Its parent company is listed in the United States with a market capitalization of 340 billion US dollars. We have 2.7% of its outstanding shares in our dark trading account, plus the leveraged position of Snow Palace Fund—"

Is that enough?

"That's enough. Ten minutes might not kill it, but it's enough to make its stock price drop by 15 percent today."

"Let it fall first." Chen Yang hung up the phone.

He walked over to Katyusha and took her hand.

"Get out of here, these chairs aren't fit for you."

The three of them headed straight for the exit.

Duval stood on the stage, watching the three figures disappear through the doorway, sweat beading on his forehead.

Stepping out of the building, the night breeze of Shanghai swept across the Bund.

Chen Yue's phone screen lit up, and the numbers on the trading terminal began to jump—Langfeng Group's stock price was dropping at a rate that refreshed once per second.

Katyusha glanced at Chen Yue's screen, then turned her head away.

"Buy it."

Chen Yang turned his head to look at her.

"I said, buy Langfeng Group." Katyusha released his hand, walked to the convoy parked by the roadside, opened the car door and got in.

Chen Yue followed behind and whispered, "Brother, she seems to be serious."

Chen Yang stood still, glanced at the still-falling candlestick chart on his phone, put the phone back in his pocket, and opened the passenger door.