Financial Street, Xicheng District. Skyscrapers reflected pale March sunlight.
Li Wei wore his best (still cheap) clothes and carried a black duffel bag containing 4 million RMB cash — withdrawn in careful batches to avoid flags.
Huatai Securities lobby — marble floors, polite smiles.
"Opening an account. Cash deposit. Private room."
Teller counted with shaking hands.
Broker Zhang Wei — mid-40s, thinning hair — frowned at the order ticket.
"Four million all into long-dated call options? These are highly leveraged. A small drop and it's gone."
Li Wei remembered the timeline with crystal clarity.
Virus → supply chaos → rare earth restrictions → EV battery boom.
BYD, Northern Rare Earth, SF Express — all would explode.
He placed the orders himself.
Transaction complete.
[Ding! Expenditure detected: 4,000,000 RMB]
[+400,000,000 RMB cashback]
Zhang stared. "Mr. Li… if this plays out…"
"It will."
Li Wei left.
Next: 50,000 RMB to a dark-web private investigator.
[+5,000,000 RMB]
Report arrived 36 hours later.
Father — gambling debts now 380k.
Sister — borrowing from loan-shark boyfriend for luxury.
Mother — sending money to relatives while crying poor.
Li Wei closed the laptop.
One final "gift" was coming