The Tragic Yuan Jiancheng

It was lunchtime at a crossroads, and streams of students were coming out of the elementary school.

At long last, she had a day off. Ren Tianxue had met a close friend for breakfast that morning, then gone on a shopping spree at Wanda Plaza. Now, thoroughly satisfied, she was on her way back.

She dropped her friend off at the intersection. As she waited for the traffic light, she turned her head slightly and happened to spot a familiar figure walking out of the elementary school.

That person? Why does he look so familiar?

Strangely, as soon as he came out of the school, the students around him seemed to deliberately avoid him, leaving him isolated.

"I heard Teacher Yuan got fired!"

"Yeah! Apparently he owes a lot of teachers money and never paid it back..." Two elementary school students discussed it as they crossed the street.

Ren Tianxue's eyes suddenly lit up. That was right! Yuan Jiancheng—the man who had come to Shen Qiong's home that day to have his fortune told, then gotten into an argument with him.

Could the Teacher Yuan those two kids were talking about be him?

Ren Tianxue pressed the accelerator and drove up to the school gate. Yuan Jiancheng looked utterly dejected, so she honked at him.

Yuan Jiancheng looked up and saw Ren Tianxue sitting in the car. Tears immediately streamed down his face.

"Huh? Why are you crying?" Ren Tianxue murmured, completely baffled.

A grown man was actually crying in the street. What on earth had happened? She quickly got out to check on him.

Yuan Jiancheng recognized her, of course. The moment he opened his mouth, he said, "I was wrong! I really was wrong!" He spoke between sobs, sounding utterly wretched.

Ren Tianxue stared at him in astonishment. What was going on?

"Don't cry just yet. What happened? I remember your surname is Yuan, right?" she asked, supporting him.

The two of them went to a little shop beside the school and sat beneath a large sun umbrella...

Yuan Jiancheng said between sobs, "If only I'd listened to Master Shen's advice back then, I wouldn't have ended up in this state."

Ren Tianxue suddenly remembered that Shen Qiong had argued with the man in front of her. He had even shouted that he could make money trading stocks in three months, and that Shen Qiong would give him twice whatever he made.

She had even gone on about it to Shen Qiong at the time, so Ren Tianxue naturally remembered.

Was he in such a sorry state because he'd lost money in the stock market?

"I really regret not listening to Master Shen. All of this is my own fault..." Yuan Jiancheng murmured with his head bowed.

"Huh? What exactly happened?" She was stunned.

Yuan Jiancheng swallowed and said with difficulty, "I was a fool back then. I lost my head for a moment. After I came back from having my fortune told that day, I borrowed tens of thousands from my coworkers, then put it into the stock market the next day."

"You..." Ren Tianxue gazed at him, speechless and helpless.

Yuan Jiancheng continued, recounting his miserable ordeal. "I'd gradually put nearly three hundred thousand into the market. The stocks had gone up and down over the years, and I was left with less than two hundred thousand. I thought that stock had fallen about as far as it could, so I borrowed more and put it in just to spite Master Shen. Little did I know that was when I stepped straight into the abyss."

"The day after I put the money in, the stock went up. I didn't pay much attention or think anything of it. After all, I'd already invested my money. But the following day it hit the daily limit down, and I lost nearly thirty thousand in one go. I almost passed out."

"What was I supposed to do? Sell and get out?" Yuan Jiancheng asked Ren Tianxue agitatedly.

In her heart, Ren Tianxue shouted, Of course you should've sold and gotten out! What if it kept dropping? She had already witnessed Shen Qiong's fortune-telling abilities, so she knew from the start that the stock would keep falling.

Ren Tianxue didn't say anything. She only looked at him helplessly. Yuan Jiancheng continued, "That's right, I missed another chance to get out. If only I'd sensed the danger then instead of fixating on my losses."

"Then it kept plunging for a whole week. Between my own money and the tens of thousands I'd borrowed, I lost thirty percent in no time. Anyone would've found that unbearable. I'd worked so hard to save that money for so long, and some of it belonged to my coworkers. In the blink of an eye, it was all gone." He wore a blank expression, like a walking corpse, as though he weren't talking about himself.

"Finally, last week, one of my coworkers had a family member fall ill and came to ask me for the money. How could I possibly give it back? In an instant, everyone found out I'd lost money in the stock market. They all came knocking to collect, afraid that if they waited, I wouldn't be able to repay them." His face was pale as he described something terrifying.

"When they came to my home to collect, my wife and child found out. That was when I had no choice but to come clean to them." He closed his damp eyes, trying to keep the tears from spilling over.

"It's gone! Everything's gone! The principal found out, and I couldn't keep my job either." He gave a bleak smile.

Ren Tianxue remained silent. She truly had no way to comfort him; all she could do was listen with a worried look.

"The day before yesterday, I had no choice but to cut my losses and sell all my shares, withdrawing all the money to pay off my debts. My wife got angry and took the child back to her parents' home. I've lost everything." He spoke expressionlessly, as if he had given up all hope.

"But that's not even the worst of it. Really. What truly made me feel like the sky was falling was what happened after I sold the stock. Damn it! It hit the upper limit and got suspended!" He broke into a desperate, unhinged laugh. Grabbing Ren Tianxue by the arm and shaking it, he said in a terrifying voice, "It got suspended, do you understand? They say it could go up by a dozen or more limit-ups after the restructuring... A dozen or more!!!"

Ren Tianxue was so frightened that she stood up. His expression was simply terrifying.

With a thud, he dropped to both knees on the ground, eyes wide as he stared at the ground. He murmured, "Just a few days... If only I'd held on a few more days!!!"

He suddenly jerked his head up. His eyes had turned bloodshot!

"No, I didn't sell it. They forced me to sell! It doesn't count, it doesn't count! I still own the stock. I can make the money back..." His eyes were vacant as he muttered endlessly.

Ren Tianxue stared at Yuan Jiancheng in shock. She had a vague sense that the man before her had gone mad from grief.

Yuan Jiancheng struggled to his feet and staggered down the road, still muttering, "I didn't sell it. I haven't sold it. I can make the money back..."

Ren Tianxue immediately took a deep breath. Passersby had noticed that something was wrong with Yuan Jiancheng and were giving him as wide a berth as possible.

She decisively took out her phone and called the police!!!

"Hello, I'm at the entrance to Lingxi Elementary School. Someone here seems to be having a mental breakdown, possibly from excessive shock. I'm worried something might happen to him. Please come quickly!"

Before long, a police car arrived at the school gate. Guided by Ren Tianxue, the officers found Yuan Jiancheng, who was acting deliriously.

At that moment, Yuan Jiancheng was crouched in the grass with his head in his hands, still murmuring, "I can make the money back..."

Ren Tianxue explained to the police, "He lost money in the stock market and suffered a serious shock..."