Chapter 32: Father Lin's Scheme

Early the next morning, Lin Chu hurried to the hotel where Li Fengyu and Li Sen were staying and knocked on their door. The two had just woken up. As soon as the door opened, Lin Chu exclaimed, "Fengyu, Sen, there is hope for the Xinmin Group!" Li Sen looked delighted, but Li Fengyu was not surprised; it was exactly what he had deduced the night before. Li Fengyu said in a calm tone, "It is best if we can save it, of course, but the conditions must be very steep, I imagine."

Lin Chu nodded and replied, "You are right. Xinmin Group must successfully pull off one more major deal to prove to my father that they truly have the capability. However, the difficulty may be immense." Li Sen asked with some confusion, "What do you mean?" Only then did Lin Chu recount the conversation he had with his father after Li Sen and Li Fengyu had left the previous night.

It turned out that Lin Chu’s father had made a wager with him, a bet that was extremely insidious and ruthless. Lin’s father would provide capital to be combined with Xinmin Group's existing funds to manipulate a futures contract. If they succeeded, he would not dismantle the Xinmin Group. At first glance, it seemed straightforward, but in reality, it was fraught with peril.

First, the commodity Li Fengyu was required to trade was silver futures. Before June 2020, silver futures had never seen a major surge and were heavily influenced by foreign capital, making the risk extreme. Furthermore, there was one detail Lin’s father had withheld from Lin Chu: according to private intelligence, someone was already manipulating the silver futures market—a titan of the financial world.

Lin’s father’s plan was simple: if Li Fengyu could successfully topple this mogul, it would prove that Xinmin Group and Li Fengyu possessed genuine strength, justifying a partnership. If Li Fengyu and Xinmin Group failed, he could immediately distance himself from them, ensuring he would have no connection to the fallout, losing at most a trivial amount of capital. In other words, Lin’s father intended to use them as pawns; success would be a windfall, and failure would be of no consequence to him.

One has to admire the cunning of a businessman’s mind. At that moment, Li Sen and Li Fengyu were still deeply grateful to Lin’s father for giving them a chance, unaware that they had already fallen into a trap. Whether Li Fengyu and Li Sen could truly emerge unscathed remained to be seen.

Back at the hotel, Li Fengyu and Li Sen were still discussing the details of the operation with Lin Chu. Neither Li Fengyu nor Li Sen suspected the elder Lin’s conspiracy, and Lin Chu, equally oblivious, was doing his utmost to assist them.

Lin Chu said, "During the iron ore deal, we all gave our best. Despite the perilous process, we succeeded in the end. This time, my father has allocated a batch of funds to us, and combined with the capital our company can mobilize, we will certainly succeed. Xinmin Group is my life’s work; I will never watch it perish." Li Fengyu took Lin Chu’s hand and said, "Still, I am very grateful that you spoke up for us yesterday." Li Sen nodded with a smile as well. Li Fengyu then stood up and said with a smile, "We must use our own strength to carve out a new future. Let’s do this!" The other two joined in, "Let’s do this!"

At that moment, the three of them had no idea what kind of dangerous and terrifying situation awaited them. It was only later that Li Fengyu and Li Sen would truly understand that the financial world is a realm filled with deceit, treachery, and calculated malice. For now, they remained immersed in their optimism.

Meanwhile, the international landscape was shifting rapidly. The financial world was witnessing a surge of new talent, as brilliant minds emerged to challenge the "heroes" of the previous century. A bloody storm of change was on the horizon. Where would Li Fengyu, Lin Chu, and Li Sen go in the midst of this unprecedented upheaval?