Chapter 2: 001 Innate Violent Thunder Sacred Body

This year, the capital was about to host the Olympic Games, Shanghai was expected to surpass the Pearl of the Orient, real estate had just birthed a 26-year-old female richest person, and the three internet giants were taking shape alongside a booming industry.

This year, the people of Guangzhou had not yet strongly suggested raising water and electricity prices, terms like "slow employment" and "young-old" had not yet been invented, and the country still had 720 million rural residents, among whom were 225 million migrant workers surging like the tide.

In June of this year, a brief thunderstorm made the weather in Jin Ling even more sultry, and the sticky air was increasingly suitable for the tearful romances of the graduation season.

Yu Xing was awakened by violent shaking. Before his eyes could adapt to the surrounding light, a pungent smell of alcohol first evoked the familiar memories in his nasal cavity.

"Senior Brother, your phone, someone is calling you, twice already! It's about to shake the culture dishes in the incubator to death!"

Yu Xing listened to the complaints in his ear, staring blankly for a long while at the face that seemed somewhat familiar, his mind a chaotic mess.

"What's wrong? Dazed from sleep? Had a nightmare?" Zhong Zhiling waved his hand, looking at his dazed Senior Brother with some curiosity.

Yu Xing let out a long breath, as if thoroughly waking from a long dream. He felt both relieved and fearful, then tentatively asked, "Zhao, Zhao Zhiling?"

Zhong Zhiling was full of question marks. After a few seconds of silence, he said, "Senior Brother, my surname is Zhong. Zhong Zhiling."

Yu Xing nodded. That was about right. He couldn't blame himself for not remembering; this person hadn't been in contact since leaving school.

Hmm...

There were two unlucky guys in the lab. The one in front was one, and the other unlucky guy...

Yu Xing sighed in confusion. Was there anything more miserable than investing money before the 2008 global financial crisis?

Yes!

Investing with relatives' money!

He rubbed his face, still unable to distinguish reality from dreams, feeling only a deep exhaustion and numbness still lingering in his heart. This wasn't just because of the messy financial investments, but also because of the encounters that followed...

The financial crisis exploded, he dropped out of his first year of pathology graduate school, searched in vain for the Senior Brother who was supposedly doing private equity in the US, couldn't be a doctor, thought internet companies made money faster, finally got into LeEco, only to find it wasn't doing well after a few years, and the boss ran away later.

Leaving LeEco, he intended to fight for an earlier opportunity, went to a small yellow bike company founded not long ago...

By the time he couldn't even get his own deposit back, he was already over thirty. After much thought, he went to a very prosperous industry, chose the industry leader Evergrande to sell houses...

Not only sell, but also buy...

Started by studying medicine, failed to practice, later sold televisions, encountered "returning to the country next week," then shared economy, deposit not returned, then threw himself into real estate, achieved some success, finally picked a good property, but it couldn't be topped off...

Yu Xing sat blankly on the lab chair, feeling only a sense of emptiness after the nightmare of the explosion.

Were his choices wrong?

Wasn't it ecological reaction? Wasn't it a capital trend? Wasn't it "too big to fail"?

How did he step on a mine at every single step?

Was it because he didn't work hard?

Working from dawn to dusk, how much harder could he work?

Yu Xing sighed deeply, remembering the questioning from the eyebrow pencil seller in his dream: "Where is it expensive? Sometimes look for your own reasons. Have your wages risen over these years? Have you worked seriously?"

He had already become an "Innate Palworld Sacred Body," how could he work seriously?!

"Senior Brother, what's wrong? Why do you keep sighing?" The other unlucky guy, Zhong Zhiling, poked his head out and asked.

"Nothing, had a nightmare, dreamed a large sum of money was gone." Yu Xing shook his head and began flipping through his phone contacts, intending to ask about the situation of the Senior Brother far away in the US.

"It's just a dream, just wash your face." The unlucky guy Zhong Zhiling comforted him.

Yu Xing dialed the number while saying gloomily, "The nightmare was too real, really like it was real. Sigh, think about that feeling."

The phone went unanswered, and there was no sound from the side either.

A moment later, the unlucky guy Zhong Zhiling's voice came over faintly, "If I lost a large sum of money, I'd have to jump off a building."

Yu Xing's hand, which was about to continue dialing, suddenly stopped. Oh, so the person was gone...

No wonder there was no contact later... it was indeed impossible to contact...

He didn't respond to that, silently dialed the phone three times, all unanswered. Instead, his mother, Chu Qiying, who hadn't received the call earlier, called in again.

Yu Xing took a deep breath, trance-like, as if hearing his mother's nagging in his dream again, regretting that he should have insisted on finishing graduate school no matter how difficult it was, and should have been a doctor no matter what...

"Mom..." Yu Xing answered the phone with complex emotions. The dream was too real, and his mother's deep regret seemed to still be in his ears.

Chu Qiying was just calling her son as usual, nothing else, but hearing his tone, she felt something was wrong and asked sharply, "What's wrong? What happened?"

Yu Xing was silent for two seconds, adjusted his emotions, and sighed, "Nothing, the cells in my culture dish went bad, have to start over again."

"Then start over, can't you redo it?" Chu Qiying said.

"Yeah, start over." Yu Xing's mood lifted a little.

Chu Qiying felt her son's mood wasn't high and smiled, talking about some things at home.

When Yu Xing heard his mother mention his aunt who was looking for a house, he couldn't help but interrupt, "Mom, Aunt doesn't have to live nearby, her temper..."

"Your aunt is just like that, living nearby, everyone can help out a bit," Chu Qiying said dismissively.

Yu Xing stopped talking. The private equity investment that the Senior Brother was running started last year, and it did make money. Precisely because of this, everyone invested more money this year.

Not only that, the Senior Brother kept the phone number and privately contacted everyone one by one to persuade them to raise money.

The final result was...

The aunt who sold her house, the uncle who mortgaged his, the grandfather who took out money... everyone worked together to create such a broken mess...

Yu Xing felt a headache. Mom, the financial storm is coming, relatives should stop contacting each other for this period...

But he couldn't say this, couldn't explain it, and it wouldn't be beneficial to the current situation.

He could only listen silently, considering his current situation.

Chu Qiying chatted for a while about things at home and urged her son to eat on time. Before hanging up, she suddenly said, "Son, don't be under too much pressure. If it really doesn't work, come back and grow grapes with your uncle."

Yu Xing was about to agree when he was suddenly stunned, "Ah? Mom, you, you've always wanted me to be a doctor, right?"

Chu Qiying admitted, "Yes, I wanted you to be one. You've studied for so many years, it's a waste not to be one. However, the doctor-patient relationship is so tense now, and the pressure on doctors is also quite high."

She continued naturally, "Of course, I prefer you to be happy."

Yu Xing didn't expect the regret his mother had been nagging him about for so many years to turn so lightly into a completely different answer.

His nose felt a little sore, and he couldn't speak.

Chu Qiying smiled again, "Look at your uncle, he grows grapes happily, even with the cold wave this year."

Yu Xing rubbed his face and sighed, "Mom, Bai Jiujiu might be happy in front of you, but he cries secretly at home in the middle of the night."

Chu Qiying was stunned. Huh, that seems to make some sense.

Thinking about it, she couldn't sit still and hurriedly said, "Son, take care of yourself. I'll call your uncle first, lest he can't even grow grapes later!"

Yu Xing: "..."

Before he could speak, there was only a dial tone left on the phone.

Yu Xing shook his head and put down the phone. Who's going to grow grapes?

What's the point of growing grapes? Intercropping affects the growth of grape seedlings, the next year's yield is low, uneven garden land easily leads to stiff seedlings, and grafting old trees to change varieties affects the next year's flower volume...

He really had grown grapes with his uncle in a disheveled state in the gaps between the successive explosions...

Yu Xing dialed the American Senior Brother's phone for the fourth time to no avail, got up, walked out of the lab, and washed his face. He didn't know why, perhaps it was numbness, perhaps it was the indistinguishable dream, but at this moment, he was not so angry, feeling quite calm instead.

The matter was just like that; it had already happened, so he should think about how to solve it.

He looked at himself in the mirror, still remembering how panicked he was when he first encountered the financial crisis, but now... perhaps there was something that could provide a bottom line.

If it really didn't work, he would endure the mess for a few years, and buying coins could fill the deficit.

After the initial daze, Yu Xing had been thinking about how to respond. Continuing graduate school to graduate and work was too slow, speculating in real estate had no capital and was too far away to solve the immediate problem, and buying lottery tickets, not to mention not remembering the numbers, even if he bought them according to the numbers, the grand prize would likely fall into someone else's hands...

How to solve this immediate fire that was burning his eyebrows?

The Senior Brother's phone didn't get through, but even if it did, how could he get money out of a closed-end fund?

There were only 3 months left until the stormy waves of September 15th of the financial crisis. How could he make up for the 5 million hole for the old and young in this short time?

Yu Xing's brow furrowed, as if feeling the giant waves of the era rolling in again, and encountering the heavy dust falling from above.

Various thoughts rolled, including the present and the future, his mother's nagging, and the same feeling as her.

Didn't he also hope she would be happy?

Yu Xing's somewhat chaotic thoughts gradually calmed down. He suddenly thought of his former bosses. Although their endings were not good, they could be considered figures of the era for a period of time.

He muttered to himself, "If it were Jia the Accountant, Boss Dai, or Xu the Belt, think about what they would do?"

"Who are they? What do they do?" Zhong Zhiling, who had just returned from borrowing books from the lab next door, happened to come to wash his hands. Hearing his Senior Brother's muttering, he asked casually.

Yu Xing looked at this unlucky guy, saw the book in his hand, and said gloomily in a way the Junior Brother could understand, "They, they are my Martial Soul True Body."

"What the hell, how did you get my Senior Brother's true body out?" Zhong Zhiling gave a "hey" and laughed, "Let's go, let's go eat."

Yu Xing shook his head, having no appetite at all, and sent this prospective Junior Brother away with work in the lab.

Zhong Zhiling was recommended for admission, and he wouldn't actually be a first-year graduate student until autumn. Now he belonged to familiarizing himself with the environment in advance.

He watched the Junior Brother's lighthearted back as he left, thinking about the current situation and the "past" future encounters, and couldn't help but let out a long sigh.

He had also come through by looking at the famous quotes on the classroom walls: "Books are the ladder of human progress," "Nothing in the world is difficult for one who sets their mind to it," "A sword's edge comes from sharpening, plum blossom fragrance comes from the bitter cold"...

How did... how did he go astray?

What was wrong with this world?

What was wrong with one more person like him getting rich later?

Yu Xing walked slowly back to the lab, and just as he was about to sit down, he received a return call from the American Senior Brother, Yu Xuhui.

He was just about to answer the phone, warn the other party about financial risks, and try to get back the invested funds, but a thought flashed through his mind like lightning.

Was this money really invested in private equity by this Senior Brother?

Yu Xing in the dream had never doubted this question for more than ten years. On one hand, he tried to recover the losses, and on the other hand, he felt that such a giant wave of the era was just bad luck. Although the Senior Brother hadn't returned to the country since then, he could be considered a victim to some extent.

However, at this moment, the bold and unrestrained style of his former bosses flashed through Yu Xing's mind...

He suddenly didn't hesitate to speculate on his good Senior Brother with the worst malice.

Yu Xing didn't think further, answered the phone, and recorded it by the way.

"Yu Xing, what's the matter?" Yu Xuhui in the US said on the phone, "It's only morning here in New York."

Yu Xing suppressed the suspicion surging in his heart and said in an anxious voice, "Brother Hui, Brother Hui, my uncle was just diagnosed with a rare disease and urgently needs a large sum of money for treatment! The money in that fund needs to be taken out!"

Yu Xuhui was stunned and asked with concern, "So sudden? What rare disease does your uncle have?"

Yu Xing was a medical graduate, and the thought spun around and came out of his mouth: "It's X-linked adrenoleukodystrophy!"

Yu Xuhui listened to the disease name and pondered, "Kidney is not good?"

Yu Xing explained for his uncle, adding some crying tone this time: "It's mainly a genetic mutation, it's a problem with the white matter of the brain. Brother Xu, this really needs a large sum of money. Human life is at stake. Let's stop investing in the fund for now!"

"Yes, treatment, it must be treated. Yu Xing, don't be anxious," Yu Xuhui said seriously. "You just said it's a rare disease. The medical level in New York is very high. I'll help you inquire about the treatment situation for this disease first."

Yu Xing cursed silently. Just not mentioning money, right?

He kept his crying tone: "Brother Hui, we are already looking for the best doctors in the country. You know, I studied medicine. It would be better for my uncle to be treated domestically. Now we just lack money!"

"Yu Xing, you also know that the fund is closed-end. The money cannot be redeemed now," Yu Xuhui said in a dilemma. "How about this, let your uncle start treatment first, and I will help you raise money here. When the closed period ends, the money will be redeemed immediately."

Seeing him shirk, Yu Xing made a request: "Brother Hui, my situation is special. Give me the contact information of the fund director again, and I'll call and talk about it."

Yu Xuhui's tone became more serious: "Yu Xing, what I just said is the regulation of the fund. What is our relationship? I will definitely help you if I can mediate for you."

Yu Xing insisted: "Brother Hui, in which state is your fund registered? Maybe there are different redemption regulations."

Yu Xuhui was silent for a while, then suddenly laughed: "Yu Xing, what do you mean? Should I be happy?"

Yu Xing asked in confusion: "What do you mean? What are you happy about?"

"I'm happy that your uncle has no illness." Yu Xuhui guessed in his heart, but tested firmly, "Are you worried about our GK fund? Did you see some media talking nonsense again? Wasn't the money from the beginning of last year redeemed by the end of the year? Yu Xing, don't be ungrateful. If it weren't for my internal recommendation, your money wouldn't have gotten in."

Yu Xing listened to this voice with a subtle smile, and his heart sank. This money was probably not going to be returned. New York was beyond reach. In fact, not only did Yu Xuhui disappear after the financial crisis, but his family had already gone abroad at this moment.

Examining it now, this looked more like an unremarkable financing scam.

After a few seconds of silence, Yu Xing said slowly, "Brother Hui, did you actually invest the money in the fund? Or does it belong to a Ponzi scheme at all?"

Borrowing new to pay old, robbing Peter to pay Paul—the exclusive name for this kind of scam came from the Italian Charles Ponzi over 100 years ago, but its high-interest temptation made the routine endure.

By the end of the year, Madoff, who was on par with Buffett and had a fraud amount exceeding 65 billion US dollars, would be imprisoned, setting the largest financial fraud case in history. Yet, he used exactly this routine.

Similarly, what led to this scam being unsustainable was the institutional clients withdrawing up to 7 billion US dollars in funds after the financial crisis.

The phone didn't hang up, but there was no sound for a long time.

The answer was self-evident.

After a long time, Yu Xuhui on the phone spoke and asked a question: "Yu Xing, why do you have such a question?"

Yu Xing didn't answer. At this moment, he was even too lazy to ask further, too lazy to hear his personal admission, and instead asked: "Brother Hui, how did you guess my uncle wasn't sick?"

"Not natural enough," Yu Xuhui commented lightly. "Yu Xing, still need to practice."

Yu Xing's mood, which couldn't be said to be numb or calm, suddenly cracked. A sense of hostility made his temples throb, but his tone remained calm, just humbly accepting the suggestion: "Okay, Brother Hui, I will come to find you."

"New York welcomes you," Yu Xuhui answered at the end and ended the call.

Yu Xing put down the phone, thinking about this conversation, thinking about the good Senior Brother's condescending evaluation, and couldn't help but narrow his eyes. Must people eat people?