42: Chapter 42 Apology Letter

After Robert's email was leaked, Wall Street was silent for three days.

For those three days, no one came out to say anything.

The stock prices of those hedge funds continued to fall, dropping even more sharply than before.

Reporters staked out Robert's home, but they didn't catch him.

Calls were made to his office, but no one answered.

There were rumors that he had flown to Switzerland, and others said he was hiding in a villa on some small island.

Lin Feng scrolled through the news, biting on a straw, and asked Yuki beside him:

"Do you think he will come out and apologize?"

Yuki thought for a moment and typed a line on her phone:

[No. People like that don't apologize.]

Lin Feng nodded: "I think so too."

But on the fourth day, Robert apologized.

It wasn't that he wanted to apologize himself.

It was the people behind him who forced him to apologize.

Those big shots he dragged down with him had lost over a billion, and they needed a scapegoat.

Robert was that goat.

Accompanied by his lawyer, he held a press conference.

In front of the cameras, he looked pale with shifty eyes, reading from a prepared script:

"Regarding the recent false reports about AmeriMotor, I express my deepest apologies. Those reports were published without my knowledge; they were the misconduct of certain employees..."

Lin Feng watched the live stream and laughed.

Frank, sitting nearby, asked: "What are you laughing at?"

Lin Feng said: "He's lying."

Frank paused, stunned: "How do you know?"

Lin Feng pointed to Robert on the screen:

"His eyes are looking at the script, not the camera. His hands are shaking. He's trying to suppress his voice, but he can't."

Frank stared at the screen for three seconds, then said:

"You're right."

Lin Feng stood up and dusted off his pants:

"Let's go. We're heading to New York."

The next day, Lin Feng, accompanied by Xiao Su and Yuki, appeared at the entrance of Robert's law firm.

Xiao Su carried a camera on his back, and Yuki held a laptop.

Lin Feng squatted by the door and waited.

After waiting for two hours, Robert came out.

He saw Lin Feng, paused in surprise, and then turned to leave.

Lin Feng called out to him: "Robert, let's have a word."

Robert stopped.

He didn't turn around, but he didn't leave either.

Lin Feng walked up to him and squatted down—just a slight bend of the knees:

"No one believed that apology of yours just now."

Robert was silent.

Lin Feng continued: "Do you know why nobody believed it?"

Robert looked at him but didn't speak.

Lin Feng said: "Because you're taking the fall for someone else. The script you read wasn't what you wanted to say."

Robert's expression shifted.

Lin Feng stood up and patted his shoulder:

"If you really want to apologize, write it yourself. No lawyers, no PR, just what you want to say."

He stuffed a business card into Robert's hand:

"Once you're done, send it to me. I'll publish it for you."

Then he turned and left.

Xiao Su and Yuki followed.

Robert stood in place, staring at the business card for a long time.

Three days later, Lin Feng received an email.

Sender: Robert.

Subject: I'm sorry.

Lin Feng opened it and read it line by line.

The letter wasn't long, but it carried a lot of weight.

[Mr. Lin:]

[My name is Robert. I've worked on Wall Street for thirty years. In those thirty years, I've seen countless people pushed off cliffs, and I've pushed some myself. I always thought that was the rule of the game. The winners stand, and the losers shut up.]

[The day you told me to shut up, I thought you would do the same to me. But you didn't.]

[You squatted in front of me and told me to write a letter myself.]

[I wrote for three days. In those three days, I thought about a lot of things. I thought about how I looked when I first started, the words my first boss taught me, and the eyes of the people I had pushed down.]

[I don't know if they are still laughing now. But I know that I'm not laughing anymore.]

[This letter is not a PR piece. It's something I wrote myself. I'm not asking for your forgiveness, nor am I asking anyone else's. I just want to say—]

[I'm sorry.]

[Robert]

Lin Feng finished reading and remained silent for a long time.

Then he forwarded the letter to Xiao Su.

"Publish it."

The next day, Robert's apology letter appeared on the homepage of JOY TV's official website.

At the same time, it made the headlines of all major media outlets.

The comment section was in an uproar.

Some called him hypocritical, some said he deserved it, and others said he was forced into it.

But there was also one person who left a different kind of comment.

[My name is James, and I'm the union president of AmeriMotor. Robert insulted us, slandered us, and almost cost us our jobs. But this letter made me cry. Not because I pity him, but because of that line—I'm not laughing anymore.]

[Thirty years without laughing. That's much more miserable than us.]

This comment received one hundred thousand likes.

When Lin Feng scrolled across it, he handed his phone to the old man beside him.

The old man read it and was silent for a long time.

Then he said:

"Lin Feng, you made him cry. And you made him laugh again."

Lin Feng shook his head and said earnestly:

"It wasn't me. He wanted to laugh again himself."

A month later, Robert appeared at the JOY TV studio.

Not as a guest.

As an audience member.

He sat in the audience, watching Harold host the show.

The topic Harold was discussing that day was: Can a person start over?

Halfway through, Robert's eyes turned red.

After the show ended, Harold walked up to him.

"Are you that Robert?"

Robert nodded.

Harold stared at him for three seconds, then said:

"I read your letter. It was alright."

Robert was stunned.

Harold continued: "But writing a letter isn't enough. You have to do something."

Robert asked: "Do what?"

Harold pointed to the street outside the studio:

"On this street, there are many people who need help. Go help them. Once you're done, then write another letter."

Robert was silent for three seconds.

Then he stood up and walked out.

Half a year later, someone saw Robert handing out sandwiches to homeless people on the streets of Los Angeles.

Someone asked him: "Aren't you that Robert from Wall Street?"

Robert nodded.

The person asked again: "What are you doing here?"

Robert thought for a moment and said:

"I'm learning how to laugh."

[Chapter 42 End]