140: Chapter 140 Greed Leads to a Huge Pit
Lin Fan called Wang Ruoxue directly.
"Ruoxue, I need a sum of money, immediately. Three billion." Lin Fan got straight to the point.
Wang Ruoxue on the other end of the line was silent for a few seconds.
"Lin Fan, are you crazy? Three billion in cash? The mining industry in Jiangnan Province has just finished integrating, and the total liquid assets on the books only add up to a little over a billion. Why do you need so much money?"
Lin Fan lowered his voice.
"The Chen family is shorting me, and I need money to intercept an overseas gold mine project of Bai Ze's. As long as this project succeeds, it can double in half a month. By then, I'll pay you back five billion."
Wang Ruoxue sighed.
"You're gambling way too much. I can only scrape together two billion for you; this is my bottom line. Any more, and the foundation in Jiangnan Province will collapse."
"Fine, two billion is two billion. Wire it to the secret overseas account I gave you immediately."
After hanging up the phone, Lin Fan forcibly withdrew another one billion from the reserve fund of Tianyang Group. Having gathered three billion, he had Zhou Ming transfer it through a dozen overseas jump accounts, splitting it up to avoid detection, and invested all of it into the financing pool of that "South African Purple Gold Mine" of Bai Ze's.
After finishing all this, Lin Fan leaned back in his boss's chair and let out a long sigh of relief.
"Bai Ze, since you're using my money to fill your pit, I'll use your mine to make a fortune. Let's see who gets the last laugh."
For the next few days, Lin Fan stared at the data Zhou Ming sent him every day.
In the first three days, the stock of the South African Purple Gold Mine soared in the overseas market, and the book value of the three billion Lin Fan invested had already turned into four point five billion.
Lin Fan was so excited that he ate two extra bowls of rice every night when he got home, and even looking at Zhang Cuihua seemed much more pleasing to his eyes.
By the fifth day, Lin Fan felt it was about time.
"Zhou Ming, sell! Sell all the shares we hold and cash out!" Lin Fan issued the order in the office.
Zhou Ming sat in front of the computer, his fingers tapping rapidly on the keyboard.
Suddenly, Zhou Ming's face changed, and a layer of cold sweat appeared on his forehead.
"Lin... President Lin. We can't sell."
The smile on Lin Fan's face froze.
"What do you mean you can't sell? Is the keyboard broken?"
Zhou Ming swallowed hard, his voice trembling.
"No. It's that the capital account has been locked. South Africa just released an official announcement saying that the South African Purple Gold Mine has serious environmental problems and labor disputes, and it has been shut down and sealed by the local government indefinitely. The stock for this project has hit its limit down, and there are no buy orders at all. Our money... is trapped."
Lin Fan's head buzzed, as if he had been struck by a club.
He rushed to the computer, staring at the green curve plummeting on the screen, his hands pressed against the desk, his knuckles turning white.
"Impossible! The system clearly stated that the proven reserves were extremely high; how could it suddenly be shut down?" Lin Fan gritted his teeth.
Elder Tang pushed the door open and walked in, his face livid.
"President Lin, something has happened. Bai Ze just held a press conference and publicly announced that the Chen family has withdrawn from the South African Purple Gold Mine project and sold this bad asset to an unknown overseas fund. And the actual controller of this fund..."
Elder Tang paused, looking at Lin Fan.
"...is that secret overseas account you used."
Lin Fan slumped into his chair, completely stunned.
"A trap within a trap... This is a trap within a trap!"
Lin Fan understood everything now. Bai Ze was never short of money; that South African Purple Gold Mine project was a dead end from the start. Bai Ze deliberately dangled the lure of high returns just to get Lin Fan, this big fish, to take the bait.
He exploited Lin Fan's psychological need to get money to protect his stock, making Lin Fan voluntarily send three billion in cash into the pit. Then Bai Ze escaped smoothly, dumping all the mess and the debts from the shutdown onto Lin Fan.
Now, Tianyang Group not only failed to get the money to protect the stock, but instead lost three billion. The capital chain was completely broken.
"Boss, there's more." Zhou Ming wiped his sweat and pulled up another set of data.
"Because the South African Purple Gold Mine incident was exposed, the market now knows that Tianyang Group has fallen into an overseas investment black hole. The Chen family took the opportunity to increase their shorting efforts, and Tianyang Group's stock price hit the limit down at the opening today. The banks also received the news; they just called and demanded that we repay one billion in loans ahead of schedule."
Lin Fan felt a fishy sweetness in his throat and almost spat out a mouthful of blood.
He was too confident. He thought that without the system's direct cheating, he could still navigate the financial market with his own brain. He completely underestimated the ruthlessness of a top-tier trader like Bai Ze.
"Lin Fan, you've lost your mind!" Shen Bing rushed into the office, her eyes red.
"I warned you long ago that you shouldn't touch these high-profit projects of unknown origin! Now look, there's no money to buy equipment for the factory in the east of the city, the workers' wages can't be paid, and the banks are calling in their loans. Tianyang Group is about to go bankrupt and be liquidated!"
Lin Fan looked at Shen Bing's anxious appearance, and his heart stung.
He took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down.
"Wife, don't panic. The sky isn't falling. If the money is gone, we can earn it back. As long as I, Lin Fan, am alive, Tianyang Group won't collapse."
Lin Fan stood up, his gaze becoming incredibly sharp.
He knew that complaining and regretting now were useless. He had to find a lifeline immediately to fill the hole.
"Elder Tang, if I mortgage the shares of Tianyang Group now, how much money can I borrow?" Lin Fan asked.
Elder Tang shook his head.
"President Lin, Tianyang Group is now in the eye of the storm; no domestic bank dares to take your offer. Unless you go to private underground banks, but that would be drinking poison to quench thirst; the interest rates are terrifyingly high."
Lin Fan gritted his teeth.
Just then, Lin Fan's phone rang suddenly.
Picking it up, he saw it was an unknown number.
After connecting, a voice that was charming to the bone came through.
"President Lin, I heard you're short on money recently? You've been pitted quite badly by Bai Ze, haven't you?"
Lin Fan frowned.
"Su Man? How do you know?"
Su Man's giggling laughter came from the other end of the line.
"The business circle in Tianhai City is only so big; your Tianyang Group has basically been stripped bare, so how could I not know? President Lin, you saved my life before, and I said I would repay you. Tonight at eight, come to my private villa. I'll introduce you to a big shot. As long as you can make her happy, let alone five billion, she can even bring out ten billion."
Lin Fan's eyes narrowed.
"What big shot?"
Su Man lowered her voice, her tone carrying a hint of teasing.
"A female tycoon who returned from overseas. But President Lin, this sister has a very eccentric temper; she likes young, hot-blooded men with strong bodies like you the most. Tonight, you'd better be prepared for a 'big bloodletting'."