Li Zitan stepped back into the central atrium of the auction house, his phone humming in his hand. ¥380,006.50 RMB. The number on the banking app was real. For the first time in three years, the suffocating grip of poverty wasn't choking the breath out of him.
He walked over to the floor-to-ceiling glass panel looking down on the auction floor below. High-net-worth buyers in crisp suits and elegant evening gowns were taking their seats. Among them, sitting in the front row, was a sharp-featured man in his late fifties—Mr. Zhao of the Zhao Financial Group.
Zitan’s gaze locked onto him, and his upgraded system automatically responded.
[Market Eye (LV. 2) Engaged]
Target: Zhao Financial Group (Publicly Traded: 002148)
Current Share Price: ¥24.50 RMB
Short-term Trajectory: Spike to ¥28.90 (+17.9%) within 4 hours following successful acquisition of rare Tang artifact.
Inside Information: Corporate rivalry buyback occurring at market open tomorrow.
Zitan’s eyes narrowed slightly. He didn't just have an appraiser buying his artifact—he had direct foresight into how the news of that purchase would swing the public equity market.
Before he could process the strategy, a crimson warning box flashed aggressively across his field of vision, accompanied by a rapid, metallic pulse.
[WARNING: Risk Radar Triggered]
Threat Type: Direct Financial / Personal Threat
Source: Red Dragon Micro-Finance (Loan Sharks)
Status: Incoming contact in 3 minutes.
Target Amount Demanded: ¥150,000 RMB (Original principal: ¥20,000 RMB).
Zitan's eyes turned icy. Young master loans. Six months ago, when his mother had been hospitalized before her passing, he had taken out a small emergency loan of twenty thousand RMB. The predatory interest had ballooned into an impossible nightmare, enforced by local thugs who ensured he stayed trapped at the bottom.
Right on cue, his cracked phone vibrated violently. The caller ID read an unlisted local number.
Zitan answered, keeping his voice entirely level. "Speak."
"Well, well. You actually picked up, little boy Li," a rasping, heavy voice sneered through the speaker. It was Brother Tiger, the enforcer for Red Dragon Micro-Finance. "We're standing outside your apartment building right now. Your landlord says you got evicted today, but we know you're hiding somewhere in the district. The boss wants his hundred and fifty grand by midnight, or we start taking payment in fingers."
In the past, those words would have sent Zitan into a spiral of cold panic. Now, standing on the mahogany floors of an elite auction house with nearly four hundred thousand in cash and a system interface floating before him, he felt nothing but precise calculation.
"You're at my apartment?" Zitan asked calmly.
"Don't play games with me, kid," Tiger barked. "Where are you?"
"I'm at Central Avenue," Zitan replied, his tone smooth and almost bored. "And I don't like people waiting on my doorstep. Stay right there. I’ll bring you your money myself."
He hung up before the thug could respond.
Zitan tapped his phone screen, opening a brokerage app he had been forced to abandon months ago when his account hit zero. He deposited ¥300,000 RMB instantly from his fresh balance, leaving ¥80,000 for immediate liquidity.
[System Prompt]
Executing order on Zhao Financial Group (002148)...
Capital Allocated: ¥300,000 RMB
Leverage: 5x Margin (Unlocked via Market Eye LV. 2)
Position: Long at ¥24.50 RMB
"Let's see," Zitan murmured, turning away from the window as the auction master below raised his gavel to open the evening session. "By the time I arrive back at the slums, Mr. Zhao will have bought my mirror, his stock will surge, and Red Dragon Micro-Finance will realize they picked the wrong prey."
He adjusted his damp hood, stepped out into the night, and headed down toward the street. The prey was done running.
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