Scars Torn Open and an Unexpected Refusal

The server gently lifted the bamboo curtain.

Xu Chengyuan straightened his back. The words "Hello," which he had rehearsed countless times in his throat, were already on the tip of his tongue.

But the next second, the words stuck fast.

A young man walked in.

He was far too young.

He wore a simple light-colored short-sleeved shirt and trousers, and had barely bothered to style his hair. His face was handsome, but the student air about him was impossible to hide. He looked eighteen or nineteen at most.

Xu Chengyuan froze.

He had long since pictured a secretive financial magnate or a brooding agent, but the young intruder before him tore that image to shreds.

Did he come into the wrong private room?

That was the first thought that came to Xu Chengyuan's mind.

But the young man barely spared him a glance. He walked naturally to the table, pulled out a chair, and sat down.

No explanation, no pleasantries.

The young man picked up the teapot on the table and poured himself a cup of warm tea, his movements as effortless as if he were back on his own turf.

Xu Chengyuan's Adam's apple bobbed with difficulty, his eyes full of uncertainty.

"If I may ask."

He tried to steady his voice, his hands hanging at his sides. He didn't dare sit down.

"Are you here to pass on a message from an elder in your family, or have you come on some boss's behalf?"

Lu Chuan raised the teacup, blew on the steam rising from it, and took a sip.

"Neither."

He set the cup down and raised his eyes, his gaze settling calmly on Xu Chengyuan's face.

"Sit down, Xu Chengyuan. Let's talk."

At the sound of his name, Xu Chengyuan's eyelid twitched sharply.

The other party knew him.

And it wasn't the kind of polite familiarity gleaned from a business card. It carried the certainty of someone looking down on him from above.

Xu Chengyuan pulled out a chair and sat down somewhat stiffly, his body still tense. He stared hard at the excessively young man before him, trying to find some sign on his face that this was a joke.

Lu Chuan gave him no time to puzzle it out.

"Don't bother guessing who sent me. There's no one else. I'm the one who emailed you last night."

Lu Chuan tapped his fingers lightly on the table twice, his tone as matter-of-fact as if he were reading an old newspaper he'd seen yesterday.

"I looked into you."

"At your last firm, you led a team shorting overseas commodities. You were right about the direction, but your boss secretly diverted money from the fund pool to plug other holes. That left you short on margin, and a short squeeze wiped out your position. In the end, your boss got away unscathed, and you were pushed out to take the fall."

The fragrance of tea still drifted through the private room, but Xu Chengyuan's breathing had already fallen completely out of rhythm.

Lu Chuan looked at him. He didn't raise his voice, but every word cut deep.

"Your reputation was ruined, several major firms in the industry joined forces to blacklist you, and you were saddled with a pile of bad debt you can't possibly pay back now. Right now, you're a dead man, worse off than even a retail trader."

All color drained from Xu Chengyuan's face in an instant.

These sordid affairs were among the most taboo topics of conversation in Jiangcheng's financial circles. Even those who knew the truth didn't dare flay him so openly to his face. Besides, these details weren't something anyone could find with a casual online search.

"Who the hell are you?"

Xu Chengyuan's voice was as hoarse as if he had swallowed sand. His hands gripped the fabric over his knees.

"Who I am doesn't matter."

Lu Chuan casually picked up the crude oil analysis report on the table and flipped through a couple of pages.

"I've read this report. The logic is sound, and you've broken down the underlying factors in detail. Your nose for market sentiment hasn't failed you yet."

"You know exactly what situation you're in. No one dares hire you, and no one dares listen to you. But I'm different."

Lu Chuan tossed the report back onto the table.

"I have some capital, and I need a trader who works cleanly and decisively. I came here today because I'm willing to give you a chance to get back to the table."

The private room fell silent.

Lu Chuan had spoken bluntly, laying the bloodiest reality and the most tempting bargaining chip on the table at the same time.

Anyone else trapped in such desperate straits would most likely have been so excited they were already pledging their loyalty.

Xu Chengyuan kept his head down, staring hard at the report on the table, the one he had stayed up all night writing.

A chance.

A return to the table.

To him, those words mattered more than life itself.

But when he raised his head and looked again at the college student sitting across from him in a white T-shirt, holding a teacup, the hunger in his eyes slowly began to ebb.

In its place came an immensely complicated sense of absurdity and wounded pride.

Xu Chengyuan took a deep breath.

He had once been a star trader who controlled over a hundred million in capital. Even though he had now fallen into the mud, the reverence for the market and the trader's pride deep in his bones had not died out completely.

The young man before him had indeed investigated him thoroughly, and his methods were seasoned.

But that didn't change the fact that he was only a teenage student.

How much money could a college student have?

A few hundred thousand? Or a million or two in New Year's money?

He wanted to recruit people with that little bit of money and charge into the overseas commodities markets?

"Sir... no, young man."

Xu Chengyuan's voice turned cold.

He slowly stood up, reached out, and gathered the reports Lu Chuan had looked through, stacking them neatly.

"I'm impressed you managed to investigate me so thoroughly. Perhaps your family really does have a powerful background, and let you take some pocket money out to try your hand."

Xu Chengyuan looked at Lu Chuan, a near-desperate stubbornness in his eyes.

"But I can't accept."

Lu Chuan raised his eyes slightly but said nothing.

"Even though I've fallen as low as I can go and am burdened with debts I can't repay, I haven't sunk so far that I'd go along with some rich young master playing at simulated trading and make-believe."

Xu Chengyuan clutched the reports in his hands, veins bulging on the backs of his hands.

"The overseas markets are no joke. Throw a few hundred thousand or a million in, and when a wave of sentiment rolls through, you won't even hear a splash."

"I've already died once. I can't afford to lose, and I'm in no position to take that little bit of New Year's money you have into the market to satisfy your curiosity. If you really want to play at trading, go find one of those brokerage account managers willing to humor you."

By the time Xu Chengyuan finished speaking, he seemed to have exhausted all his strength.

He stuffed the documents on the table into his bag and turned around.

He didn't look at Lu Chuan again.

"Sorry for the trouble today."

He set off toward the door of the private room.