I drove to Zige's company and parked my car downstairs. I took my document bag and got out of the car. I said to the yellow bag, “Xiahe, wait for my good news.” <br> <br>Back in early March, I had 9 million yuan. This was the money I got from mortgaging and selling my house, essentially all of my cash. I entered the stock market when it was at 3200 points, and when it hit 5000 points in June, I remember it was June 8. That day, I received a call from the hospital: “Hello, are you Yichuan? This is the Critical Care Ward of the hospital. We have a patient here named Xiahe. Please come to the hospital immediately.” <br> <br>That night, during a gathering hosted by Old Guan, Xiahe fell into a deep coma due to sudden cerebral ischemia caused by carotid artery stenosis. <br> <br>The doctor said, “A deposit of 100,000 yuan is required. The Critical Care Ward costs more than 10,000 yuan a day. If this drags on, it will cost a lot of money. Let’s hope they wake up.” <br> <br>I took out Xiahe’s phone. Inside, there was Old Guan’s number. What about the unlock password? I keyed in: 1234, and surprisingly, it unlocked. This silly Xiahe always used such ridiculously simple passwords. She once said, “Passwords are just things meant to confuse oneself.” Indeed, most of the time, what we need to guard against isn’t others—it’s ourselves. That’s why we forget so many numbers, so many passwords, so many account details. These fabricated, fragile connections are what link us to society. Is this the symbol of our existence? To be alive is to have a number, just like prisoners have identification numbers. But our prison isn’t external; it’s inside our minds. <br> <br>I found the number and kept dialing Old Guan. The response was always the same: “The user’s phone is turned off.” What exactly happened that night? I had no way of knowing. All I wanted was for Xiahe to wake up. <br> <br>The Sorcerer Beyond Time updated his Weibo: “Let greed come stronger! I am a preacher on the road of greed. Then let the money be left to those scrambling for it!” <br> <br>The stock market had turned into a giant ship laden with gold. Everyone was clamoring to get aboard, frantically throwing all their money into it. <br> <br>I no longer had the energy to deal with the surging tides of money every day. I wasn’t a traitor on the road of greed; I was an outsider to the game. In order to care for Xiahe, I had no choice but to liquidate all my positions the next day. Who would have thought that the market plunged on June 15 without any significant rebound? Every day, the market opened with A Market-Wide Crash as an astonishing spectacle. In what seemed like an instant, the great ship sank into deep waters. No matter how skilled you were at swimming, if you were still on the ship, you were submerged by the deep sea. The water was bloody, and the people who were celebrating last night now floated helplessly, being devoured by sharks. <br> <br>I was relieved to have left. Deep in my heart, I might even have been grateful for Xiahe’s sudden illness, which allowed me to successfully escape at the peak. In less than three months, I more than doubled my money and now had a total of 21.2 million yuan. <br> <br>But it wasn’t enough. It was too slow. The changes in circumstances stirred my greed. Yes! I was one of the lucky survivors of that giant ship! My eyes burned red as I thought about joining the sharks in feasting on the wealth of the dead. I wanted to wait for the storm to pass so that I could row a small boat and pick up the money left by the deceased. At this moment, my mind was consumed by the idea of repaying my 120 million yuan debt. I kept thinking about how I was a survivor of the stock market. I could still go back and make a fortune! Money would keep me alive! I waited. I wanted to succeed in making a bounce-back! <br> <br>I needed more capital and a higher leverage ratio. Only then could I quickly seize the opportunity to recover my debt. Through a stockbroker, I was introduced to Zige’s company for off-market financing. Using the Homas System by Hang Seng, I signed an agreement with them for a 1:4 leverage ratio. By Monday’s opening, I could leverage 80 million yuan, which, combined with my principal, gave me a total of 100 million yuan. This rapid plunge from 5000 points to Friday’s closing at 3686 points—I predicted the rebound would quickly reach my target. No, I didn’t just predict it; my spiritual intuition suggested that tomorrow would mark the start of this rebound. <br> <br>Spiritual intuition? What is it? Perhaps it’s just an excuse we give ourselves to justify impulsive actions. I laughed at myself. <br> <br>Ding dong. My phone sent a notification. <br> <br>Weibo update—The Sorcerer Beyond Time: “Sailing tomorrow. I am ready to set off.” <br> <br>Zige, a pragmatic Teochew man. Slightly plump, dressed neatly in a golf T-shirt. His hair was closely cropped, and his freshly shaven stubble left a bluish tint on his jawline. He appeared clean and refreshing, trustworthy. The office was grand, approximately 800-1000 square meters. There were only a few people there—all of them his fellow locals, young men aged 20-30. They worked efficiently and decisively. The receptionist was a local woman, with a dignified and beautiful appearance. After visiting several times, I noticed that the men in the company hardly interacted with her. They maintained a clear boundary, treating colleagues purely as colleagues, with no room for jokes or flirtation. Thus, this beautiful woman was like a bowl of braised pork placed among a crowd of vegetarians—a mere decoration. <br> <br>Teochew People are a group with exceptional execution and credibility. They reminded me of the early days of Japanese executives, then Indian executives. Looking at how certain companies like WeiX or GuX have been broken apart by so-called Indian executives, I felt the next era of corporate leadership might come from those villages in Teochew. <br> <br>The contract was signed quickly. Zige said, “We’ve been working overtime these days. So many people are signing contracts. They all believe in this rebound. It might even be a complete reversal.” <br> <br>I said, “Zige, I need to go handle some matters tomorrow. I might not be back for a week. Call me if anything comes up.” <br> <br>Zige: “Yichuan, good luck!” <br> <br>As I left Zige’s company, I glanced at the receptionist and said to her, “Goodbye, thank you!” <br> <br>Having been ignored for so long, she was momentarily taken aback. She quickly stood up, her beauty slightly dazed, and said, “Goodbye!” <br> <br>I stepped into the elevator, silently thinking to myself: This must be a good omen!")
