A $50 million margin call? I'll short Wall Street.

2008年3月1日，上午9点54分。

The air in the conference room seemed to have frozen into ice.

Lu Ze didn't look at the stack of documents, nor did he look at Richard's face, which was full of the superiority of a victor.

He simply picked up the glass of Wild Turkey Bourbon whiskey on the table and swirled it gently. The amber liquid left a ring of oily teardrops on the crystal glass, reflecting an eerie luster under the cold white operating light.

"Oh……"

A very faint, almost inaudible laugh rang out in the deathly silent conference room.

Richard's arms, which were crossed over his chest, stiffened almost imperceptibly, and his eyebrows, which had been raised high, furrowed sharply at the completely inappropriate chuckle.

The feeling of losing control, like a prey escaping the predetermined script, pierced his previously triumphant nerves like an extremely fine needle.

His pupils contracted slightly in his eye sockets, his gaze fixed on Lu Ze's face like radar, trying to find the cracks in that calm mask that had completely collapsed.

But Lu Ze still didn't look at him.

Lu Ze took a sip of whiskey and slowly put down his glass. Then, he leaned back in his chair, his long, slender fingers tapping lightly on the black walnut surface of the conference table.

"Thump...thump...thump..."

Each strike was like beating some kind of invisible war drum.

"Richard, I'm very curious."

Lu Ze's voice was soft, yet it carried a chilling coldness:

Do you think your script is perfect?

"Do you think this is an absolutely perfect, classic hunting textbook that could be included in Goldman Sachs' new employee training manual?"

Richard's smile froze slightly.

Lu Ze continued, his voice still calm as still water:

"CDO, Collateralized Debt Obligation. What a wonderful form of financial alchemy."

Lu Ze's lips curled into an extremely sharp arc.

"We all know very well what those underlying assets are really like."

"You came from northern Manhattan, from the Bronx that reeks of urine all year round, from the most dilapidated neighborhoods in Queens..."

"From those illegal immigrants and strippers who couldn't even get credit cards, had no stable income, and couldn't even speak fluent English, we found subprime mortgages with extremely poor credit ratings and actual default rates soaring to an alarming 14% or even 18%."

Lu Ze picked up the Cohiba cigar, which was still emitting wisps of smoke, and gently flicked off the ash.

"Of course, simply packaging isn't enough."

"To make this pile of shit look like a chocolate cake, you bribed a rating analyst at S&P—if I'm not mistaken, it was that old dog that Goldman Sachs has been keeping inside S&P for years, what's his name again… Michael Harrison?—to get him to stamp an 'AAA' on the rating report."

Richard's expression changed instantly.

His fingers, resting on his thigh, gripped the fabric of his trousers tightly without his control.

John and Emilia exchanged a glance, a barely perceptible look of astonishment flashing in their eyes.

Lu Ze seemed oblivious to their reactions and continued on his own:

"Not only that. In order to get rid of these toxic assets from Goldman Sachs' balance sheet before they completely collapse and become worthless pieces of paper..."

"You deliberately concealed from me the true default data of the underlying assets, the cash flow crisis, and inside information that the rating agency was about to downgrade your rating."

Lu Ze leaned slightly forward, and the surrounding air seemed to become heavier and more oppressive as his center of gravity shifted.

"What's even more damning is..."

"You, or rather you instructed your subordinates, to openly forge due diligence and qualification assessment reports targeting me and Yuanxing Capital."

"You had my bank statements and asset certificates altered, blatantly inflating my actual net worth of only $23 million on paper into an absurdly high $80 million in the system!"

"Then you used your vice president's signing authority to bypass the second review by the chairman of the risk control committee and the chief risk officer, and forcibly approved that over-the-counter transaction agreement with 50x leverage."

"Smack."

Lu Ze stubbed out the still-burning cigar in the heavy crystal ashtray! Sparks flew everywhere as the expensive tobacco was instantly crushed to dust, making a teeth-grinding squeaking sound.

His voice had completely lost its previous calmness, transforming into a cold, deadly blade, like one forged from ice water:

Richard Kleiman, Vice President and Head of Structured Products at Goldman Sachs.

"You have violated Sections 302 and 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, which require mandatory disclosure of the truthfulness of financial reporting."

"You have violated FINRA's FR-2008-014 notice regarding the prohibition of dumping structured products known to have material defects to investors."

"You have violated Section 10b-5 of the SEC's Securities and Exchange Act, which prohibits fraud, misrepresentation, or omission of material information in securities transactions."

Under the barrage of legal statutes, each word a veiled attack, the once arrogant Richard slumped completely in his large office chair, his back soaked with cold sweat that clung stickily to his back.

Lu Ze stood up.

The deep blue Tom Ford suit accentuated his tall and imposing figure. With his hands on the conference table, he looked like a cheetah poised to pounce, surveying the four people opposite him who were completely frozen in place.

"I will not sign now, nor will I pay the additional fifty million US dollars."

Lu Ze spoke slowly and deliberately, his voice as cold as a knife:

"Please refer to Article XIV.B of the ISDA Master Agreement – ​​Material Misrepresentation and Valuation Fraud Clause."

"I, Lu Ze, the actual controller of Yuanxing Capital, hereby formally file a review procedure with Goldman Sachs regarding the valuation dispute concerning the underlying assets of this batch of CDOs, numbered GS-CDO-2008-02-25-007A."

"Richard, listen carefully. In this controversy I just brought up, the SEC has appointed an independent auditing firm—such as Deloitte, PwC, or EY from the Big Four—to send an independent auditing team to thoroughly investigate every single rotten account you've hidden in that filthy pool of funds, until the truth comes out..."

A cruel smile curled at the corner of Lu Ze's lips:

"Goldman Sachs has no right to force liquidation, much less the right to liquidate any of my assets."