Chapter 419: Your Cousin Is Going to Repay Your Debt

The classical music and clinking of cups and plates on the other end of the phone stopped abruptly.

In Wilson's voice, the fatigue and the alertness of being disturbed were instantly replaced by a needle‑sharp keenness.

"Boss?"

He didn't even bother to verify Lu Qingshan's identity; at this hour, calling this number and saying those words could only be done by one person.

In the apartment, David Cohen and the others dared not even breathe; everyone's ears perked up, trying to catch the slightest sound from the other end of the phone.

"Your cousin, Zoe Shason, is having coffee in New York with Hong Kong Island Li Jiasheng's son, Li Zexun," Lu Qingshan said, his voice flat, merely stating a fact.

"They think that I just toppled Morgan Stanley, so now must be its weakest moment."

"So they want to take advantage."

"Snatching the leftover bones from me."

Thud— a heavy glass was set on the table on the other end of the line.

"That mongrel!" Wilson's voice was pressed low, but the hatred squeezing out of his teeth sent a chill through the apartment even across the Atlantic Ocean.

The internal struggle of the Shason Family is far more brutal than outsiders imagine.

Wilson could sit in the family head's seat only with Lu Qingshan's help, and he has trampled countless rivals' corpses.

And Zoe, aside from Henry, is the most resentful cousin, the one most eager to pull them off their horse.

"He thinks that hitching a ride on old fox Li Jiasheng's ship will let him wrestle with me in America?" Wilson sneered, "Boss, what do you need me to do? I can make them disappear in New York right now."

His words carried an unmistakable scent of blood.

That made the observing Lu Qingjun's eyelids twitch; he realized that after hanging with his older brother for so long, his companions were all ruthless types who could make people 'disappear' at a moment's notice.

"Disappear?" Lu Qingshan laughed, "That's too cheap for them."

"Wilson, when you were fighting for the family head position in London, you lost a lot of money, didn't you?"

Wilson on the other end of the line was momentarily stunned, not understanding why the Boss suddenly brought it up.

"Yes, to keep those old guys in Europe steady, I paid a hefty price."

"Very well." Lu Qingshan walked to the floor‑to‑ceiling window covered with a network diagram, looking at the freshly written names "Zoe Shason" and "Li Zexun".

"Now, your cousin is going to double those money back for you."

Wilson's breathing suddenly became rapid.

"Boss, you mean..."

"Li Zexun and Zoe think they're clever, trying to sip the broth while Wall Street is in chaos. They'll analyze my next move, set up in advance, get ahead of me, even snatch the loot from my hands."

Lu Qingshan picked up a pen and drew a big cross over the name "Lehman Brothers".

"They will think my next target is Lehman."

In the apartment, Li Junjie and David Cohen's pupils contracted simultaneously.

They had just been excited about the Short Selling plan on Lehman Brothers, and now realized it was a massive bait.

"They will mobilize all their resources to build a huge short position on Lehman Brothers' stock, waiting to share the feast with me," Lu Qingshan said, a hint of amusement in his voice.

"What we need to do is simple."

He turned around, looking at the shocked faces in his team.

"I want you, Wilson, to mobilize the Shason Family's entire power in Europe. Not Short Selling, but Long Buying."

"What?!"

This time, the exclamation came not only from Wilson on the line but also from David Cohen in the apartment.

Long Buying?

Long Buying Lehman Brothers?

The company is rotten to the core, its financial statements full of holes; it's the Titanic of the Subprime Storm, a ship destined to sink!

Going Long on it now is like throwing money into the sea, isn't it?

"Boss... this... this is suicide!" David Cohen stammered, feeling his whole financial worldview completely overturned.

Lu Qingshan ignored him, simply continuing to issue orders to Wilson over the phone.

"I not only want you to go Long, I want you to do it flamboyantly. I want the entire London Financial City to know the Shason Family backs Lehman Brothers, believing it can survive this crisis."

"I want you, personally, to give your dear cousin Zoe a call."

"Congratulate them on achieving such a visionary partnership with Li Zexun."

"Then, you should 'casually' tell them that, according to your 'insider info', a mysterious fund from the East is about to launch a devastating strike on Lehman Brothers' stock price."

Wilson on the other end fell into a prolonged silence.

He wasn't the academic type like David Cohen; he had clawed his way up through blood‑and‑fire capital battles.

A few seconds later, he understood.

He fully grasped the horror of Lu Qingshan's plan.

It is a scheme.

A earth‑shattering trap that uses the doomed Lehman Brothers ship to hunt another pack of predators!

Zoe and Li Zexun will think Lu Qingshan is crushing the market; they'll crazily increase Leverage, building massive short positions.

But Lu Qingshan will do the opposite, using Wilson's power to go Long openly, creating the illusion of a Long‑and‑Short war.

The real killing move doesn't hinge on whether Lehman Brothers ultimately rises or falls.

It's about artificially creating violent price swings before it sinks!

"Boss... I get it," Wilson's voice trembled with extreme excitement, "You want to push Lehman's stock up in the short term? Even just a day, maybe a few hours?"

"Exactly," Lu Qingshan confirmed his guess.

"When Zoe and Li Zexun use ten‑ or twenty‑fold Leverage to Short, a ten‑percent price rise will trigger a margin call."

"What I want isn't Lehman Brothers' corpse."

"What I want are Zoe Shason and Li Zexun, those two self‑righteous idiots, to lose all their chips before dawn!"

"Use their corpses as the first offering for the real war that is about to come."

Sss—

In the apartment, a sound of sharp inhalation rang out.

David Cohen and Li Junjie exchanged a glance, cold sweat covering both faces.

That's too ruthless.

This plan is downright vicious to the extreme!

This isn't business; it's using financial rules to literally torture people to death!

First, lure the opponent onto the betting table with fake news, tempt them to stake their entire fortune, then brazenly launch a reverse attack, detonating their Leverage where they least expect, leaving them with nothing.

"I'll handle it right away!" Wilson's voice had turned frantic, "Boss, rest assured, that idiot Zoe who left the family, every cent she owes me, I'll make her spit it out with blood!"

"Go ahead."

Lu Qingshan hung up the phone.

He turned, looking at the team members who were completely frozen.

"Now, do you understand what we're about to do?"

Zhang Qianru adjusted her glasses, feeling her heart still pounding wildly, yet her thoughts were clearer than ever.

"We… we will Long Buying Lehman Brothers. After Zoe and Li Zexun have built short positions, coordinating with Mr. Wilson's actions in London, we'll lift Lehman's stock price as fast as possible to trigger their forced liquidation line!"

"Exactly," Lu Qingshan nodded, then looked at David and Li Junjie.

"So, that Short Selling Manual you have now needs to be written in reverse."

"I want you to find every fake news that the market could exploit as short‑term 'positive' rumors. For example, Lehman seeking a Merger and Acquisition, or they are about to divest bad assets, or even that they received a secret capital injection pledge from the Federal Reserve."

"Prepare this 'ammunition'."

"Tomorrow morning, I'll make the entire Wall Street see the most spectacular fireworks."

A curve lifted Lu Qingshan's mouth.

"A grand fireworks display funded by Li Family and Sashun Family's money for us."

He glanced at his watch; there were still seven hours until dawn.

"Alright, everyone."

"Let's return a call to the Emperor of Wall Street."

Ye Ning immediately understood, dialing the Rockefeller Office number she had saved earlier.

This time, the call was answered in almost a second.

"Ms. Ye, how is Mr. Lu considering it?" the assistant to Charles said, his voice clearly urgent.

Lu Qingshan took the phone, not answering the question.

He simply spoke calmly, uttering a sentence that made the whole New York night sky tremble.

"Charles, tell Mr. Rockefeller."

"My condition, add one more."

"I want the Federal Reserve to cooperate with me."