“I know, don’t worry. I’ve already taken care of things on her end.”
Jiang Tian smiled faintly, but deep in his eyes, there was a trace of subtle bitterness.
“What happened again tonight? Why did Xu Ruocheng change her clothes? You two wouldn’t have…”
Ye Ziwei had clearly jumped to the wrong conclusion.
It wasn’t surprising, really. In her past life, Jiang Tian had been a real flirt, carefree and reckless, chasing after women everywhere and leaving a trail of romantic debts. He wasn’t good at much else, but picking up girls? He was a pro.
She figured Jiang Tian must have won Xu Ruocheng over in no time, which explained why Xu Ruocheng’s attitude had changed so drastically.
“Oh my god, where’s your mind going with that? I won her over with my real abilities! I would never betray Qing’er!”
Jiang Tian was so frustrated he looked like he had a dark cloud over his head.
The deaths of Nie Feng and Sun Lingyu didn’t cause much of a stir in high society in Jinling. The Nie family, the Sun family, and their allied families, like the Chen family, all kept a tight lid on things. What leaked out to the public was that Nie Feng had sadly passed away from lung cancer.
Only a handful of people in the inner circle knew that Xu Ruocheng had pledged allegiance to Jiang Tian. And after her threats and warnings, who would dare spread the word? So, that matter also remained largely unknown.
On the surface, Jiang Tian’s life seemed pretty calm.
But beneath the surface, Jinling was a gathering storm. Undercurrents swirled as various forces converged on the city, poised and ready to strike.
…
“The Jiang family’s strength might not be as weak as we imagine. Nie Feng actually died at the hands of the Jiang family’s crown prince, Jiang Tian. Young Master Nie, keeping this from me—that’s not very nice, is it?”
At a luxurious golf course in the heart of Jinling’s city center, a man with graying hair was gracefully swinging a club.
Building such a vast golf hotel on prime, expensive downtown land clearly demonstrated the owner’s immense wealth.
But Jinling’s high society knew that this golf hotel was just one of the man’s many leisure spots, and a fairly low-key one at that.
Beside him, Nie Mingyuan and Xia Miao, who could command the wind and rain in Jinling, stood with very humble expressions.
Xia Miao, in particular, had eyes shining with intense admiration, like a fan meeting their idol.
“Professor Fang, I actually wasn’t trying to hide it from you on purpose. I was just worried about shaking everyone’s confidence.”
Nie Mingyuan paused for a moment, a flicker of surprise crossing his face, then spoke with a hint of embarrassment.
“Know yourself, know your enemy, and you’ll never be defeated. I hope, Young Master Nie, that you’ll speak freely and share all the information.”
Professor Fang strolled lazily across the course.
He was past fifty, but kept in great shape, with sharp eyebrows and bright eyes. He lacked the greasy look common in middle-aged men—he must have been a total heartthrob when he was younger.
“How much do you know about Jiang Tian, Professor Fang?”
Nie Mingyuan handed Professor Fang a bottle of Evian water and asked with a smile.
“Hong Kong looks across the sea at Yangcheng. We have a lot of cooperation, sharing what we have. I probably know even more than you do!”
Professor Fang, dressed in casual pants, a polo shirt, and a baseball cap, looking like a relaxed, wealthy retiree, laughed and said:
“This guy dominates Lingnan, rules Yangcheng. He’s not just a martial arts expert, but also a master of mystical arts. Xu Mozhai, the Feng Shui master from Hong Kong, told me that Wei Shuofeng, a master of mystical arts in Yangcheng, was killed by him!”
“Our intelligence says the same. He’s known as Master Jiang of Jiangbei!”
Nie Mingyuan nodded and asked with intrigue: “Professor Fang, you wouldn’t be afraid of the Jiang family, or of Jiang Tian, would you?”
“Afraid? Why should I be?”
Professor Fang gave a cold laugh and said: “Every skill has its strengths and weaknesses. He’s good at killing, stealing, mystical arts, and martial arts. But business operations and financial trading? That’s my specialty.”
“I know he’s got deep connections, he’s ruthless and doesn’t hesitate to kill, very destructive. But the capital market is about transactions, strategy, and building things. No matter how talented he is, can he stop the stock price of his Yaowang Group from crashing? Or stop my trading team from buying and selling?”
Nie Mingyuan’s spirits lifted, and he clapped his hands, laughing: “Professor Fang makes a good point. Business has its own rules. We’re just conducting legitimate financial operations. No matter how powerful his background is, he can’t just go around killing people and violating business rules. Otherwise, there’d be no place for Jiang Tian in all of China!”
Professor Fang smiled disdainfully: “Over the past year, under Jiang Qingfeng’s leadership, Yaowang Group’s business strategy has changed frequently, their core business is showing weakness. And now they’re spending money to buy land in Fulong Mountain, which means they’re straying from their main business and diversifying too much. No one can save a company like that.”
“Exactly. Plus, the old man of the Jiang family is seriously ill and bedridden. The group has no successor, and their edge is gone,” Xia Miao chimed in.
“With the funding from the three major families of Jinling and many partners, and with my trading team, I guarantee that within a month, Yaowang Group will change hands.”
Professor Fang stood on the green, gazing into the distance toward a lake, gave a cold laugh, and spoke with firm conviction.
“Professor Fang, it’s truly the honor of my life to be able to fight alongside you!”
Xia Miao’s body trembled upon hearing this, then his eyes lit up with waves of fanaticism admiration as he spoke excitedly.
This Professor Fang seemed unassuming, but he was actually a big deal.
His full name was Fang Zhanbo, the famous “Stock Market Prodigy” of Hong Kong, with a brilliant track record.
At 16, he earned a master’s degree in finance from the Wharton School. He got his Ph.D. in Corporate Finance in a record-breaking year and a half, under the supervision of Nobel Prize-winning economist Oliver Hart.
He’s taught at several Ivy League business schools in the US, served as a corporate governance consultant for the World Bank, and returned to Hong Kong in 1996 to become the Chair Professor of Corporate Finance, the highest academic title, at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.
During the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis, he set up the White Knight Fund. Partnering with Hong Kong’s four major conglomerates and coordinating with the People’s Bank of China, they defeated international financier George Soros and the Quantum Fund, winning that legendary battle to defend Hong Kong’s stock market and currency. That victory made him famous.
Since then, the White Knight Fund has become renowned for short-selling public companies, with an impressive, undefeated record, building a fearsome reputation.
In 2004, they took down and took control of the Delong Group, then valued at tens of billions. In 2005, Kelin Electric. In 2006, Jiangren Brothers Pictures and Feiyang Heavy Industries. In 2007, Greeno International…
You could say that wherever the White Knight went, the landscape was devastated, leaving nothing but ruin in its wake, and the management and controlling shareholders of many public companies lived in terror of them.
The White Knight’s short-selling model typically involves auditing financial reports and public data of listed companies, uncovering fraud or deception, or identifying operational downturns. Then they short the stock, sometimes even executing reverse mergers.
Fang Zhanbo wields immense influence in the capital circle, with many allies. He can rally numerous funds and investors to short a target company and then issue third-party negative reports.
After that come class-action lawsuits from lawyers, letting the judicial and regulatory authorities deliver the final blow, further crushing the target company’s stock price.
“Professor Fang, with you here, I believe we will surely win from the start!”
Nie Mingyuan’s expression was excited. Then he snorted, full of disdain: “Who cares about some so-called Master Jiang of Jiangbei? He’ll be broke in no time.”
“Professor Fang, numerous fund companies, private equity funds, investors, media companies, and third-party research institutions in Jinling are waiting for you in the conference room!”
Xia Miao looked at his phone, then told Professor Fang with a joyful expression: “Professor Fang, you’re truly amazing. The whole city of Jinling is buzzing that you’re running this operation. Dozens of investors have shown up. I estimate the funds raised this time will be at least twenty billion!”
“Alright, let’s go.”
Fang Zhanbo stretched lazily and ambled back toward the hotel.
“Jiang Tian, oh Jiang Tian. So what if you’re a good fighter and know mystical arts? This is financial unconventional warfare. You’re just a country bumpkin from a fallen family. This time, you’ll run out of tricks.”
A sinister look appeared on Nie Mingyuan’s face. Hatred blazed in his eyes, and the corner of his mouth curled into a mocking smile.
After Jiang Tian’s rebirth, some butterfly effects had indeed occurred. For instance, the attack by the Nie family and the other two major families on the Jiang family had been moved up.
Also, the Xu family, a martial arts family that had laid low for many years, was getting restless and even directly intervening.
And the scene before them—
In his past life, the one who crushed Yaowang Group and executed the hostile takeover was a local financial trading team led by Xia Miao.
But now, it was Fang Zhanbo, who had weathered the Asian Financial Crisis and made the White Knight Fund famous across Asian financial markets.
A powerful enemy was approaching. Dark clouds pressed down on the city, threatening to crush it.
…
That day, after setting up the production line, Jiang Tian returned to the villa and happened to run into Ye Ziwei.
He smiled faintly and said, “Sis, those pills I showed you before? They’re ready for mass production.”
“What? So fast!” Ye Ziwei couldn’t believe it.
“Yeah, I’ve picked out a factory building. Starting tomorrow, the production lines will be fully operational,” Jiang Tian said with a calm smile.
“Prepare for a new product launch, along with a signing ceremony with the military and the Ministry of Health.”
Leaving those words behind, Jiang Tian headed to the airport to welcome a financial expert returning from Wall Street—Chen Zhenming.
Chen Zhenming was only about twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old. He had a tall, straight posture, handsome features, and wore a pair of gold-rimmed glasses. His shirt was crisp white, his trousers had sharp creases, his shoes were shiny—the look of a business professional.
Behind him followed a group of foreign nationals with blonde hair and blue eyes.
Some pulled suitcases, others carried laptops. Each one looked sharp, capable, and distinguished. These were the trading team members of his “Cyclops Fund.”
“Jiang Tian, thank you so much for the heads-up! By shorting U.S. subprime real estate, I made five hundred million dollars!”
Chen Zhenming hugged Jiang Tian warmly, then playfully punched his arm, his face beaming with excitement and emotion.
Thanks to Jiang Tian’s tip, he had studied U.S. subprime mortgages last year and indeed discovered a repayment crisis. Using financial derivatives, he shorted subprime real estate and made huge profits. Now he was a famous new star on Wall Street.
In fact, Paramount Pictures was making a mockumentary called The Big Short based on his team’s story.
But what he couldn’t figure out was how Jiang Tian, a guy who never studied and had no background in finance, could make such an accurate judgment and see through the thick fog to identify the crisis in U.S. subprime mortgage bonds?
“Heh, you’re on your own now, right?” Jiang Tian’s expression was calm, but a deep emotion flickered in his eyes.
In his past life, Chen Zhenming, also from the courtyard-dwelling families of Qixia County, tried to save the Jiang family with his own hard-earned money.
But because Yaowang Group’s fundamentals were already rotten, funds were insufficient, and the opposing trading team and capital were too powerful and too strong, Chen Zhenming not only failed to save the group but also lost everything. That bastard Xia Miao made him so mad he coughed up blood, fell seriously ill, and left town full of regret.
In this life, Jiang Tian had made a powerful return, creating uniquely favorable conditions in terms of timing, location, and alliances.
He didn’t bring Chen Zhenming back just to save the Jiang family.
He brought him back to fight side-by-side, to crush the three major families, and at the same time, make a huge fortune—piling up profits until they overflowed.
