Shan City, Southwestern University of Finance and Economics.
The office of Xu Yong is on the innermost side of the fifth floor of Administration Building. Outside the window is a row of ginkgo trees that have been planted on campus for more than 20 years.
The ginkgo leaves in July are at their greenest, and they cover most of the windows in dense clumps.
There is only a gap left, and you can see several students playing football on the playground in the distance.
He has sat in this office for more than ten years, from associate professor to vice president,
From the Finance Department's class to Henglong Group's Board of Directors, there are always two types of books on his bookshelf at the same time--
One is classic textbooks on financial theory and corporate governance, and the other is the meeting minutes and financial reports brought back from Henglong's previous Board of Directors.
This morning, there was an additional document in his mailbox that did not fall into either category.
Attached to the email sent by Lin Shicheng is a complete reply letter submitted by Era Vanguard to the SEC, consisting of four files and more than 200 pages.
There is only one sentence in the body of the email--
"Principal Xu, this is the initial source of funding statement submitted by Era Vanguard to the SEC.
It has been reviewed by the SEC and confirmed that all numbers are consistent. For your reference."
Xu Yong read over two hundred pages of documents from beginning to end.
He read slowly, turning over each page carefully, sometimes turning back to compare the previous numbers.
From the 500 million Hong Kong Dollar pledged stocks,
Go to Coinbase and Bitfinex to buy the first batch of 355,000 Bitcoin at an average price of 855 US Dollar.
Additional purchases were made near Swing Trading and two thousand US Dollar midway,
Then in the days when Bitcoin exceeded 17,000 US Dollar, Zhao Chen issued a liquidation order.
And the last bolded number - 7.94 billion US Dollar.
He didn't leave the office all morning, and even the tea brought by his secretary was cold.
The shadow of the ginkgo tree moved from the east side of the window sill to the west side.
Xu Yong finally took off his glasses and placed them on the documents, leaned back in the chair, closed his eyes and remained silent for a long time.
He is not settling accounts - the accounts have already been settled, and every transaction can withstand anyone's magnifying glass.
What he was thinking about was not how much Zhao Chen made, but how Zhao Chen made the money.
A young man in his 20s pledged all the equity in his family business in exchange for 500 million Hong Kong Dollar,
Then they all crashed into Bitcoin, which was still below 1000 US Dollars at the end of 2016.
There are young people in this world making similar big bets every day, but after buying it, he got nearly 17,000 US Dollar before selling it.
It's not buying for 800 and selling for 1,300. It's not buying for 2,000 and selling for 5,000. It's buying for 800 and selling for nearly 17,000--and there are swings and additions in between.
He held it for nearly thirteen months from beginning to end, and remained unmoved when everyone said it had risen too fast and it was time to sell.
Bitcoin did not get thrown off the car in every violent fluctuation when it fell and then rose and rose and fell again.
Xu Yong opened his eyes, picked up the landline microphone on the table, and dialed Independent Director Sun Zhengping.
"Zhengping, are you at Shan City?... Let's have a cup of tea together in the evening.
I have read the attachment of Era Vanguard. It is more than two hundred pages, and every transaction is recorded.
It's not the ledger, it's the time - he took it for nearly thirteen months."
At 7:30 in the evening, Chongqing Jiangbeizui is in a quiet teahouse.
When Sun Zhengping arrived, Xu Yong had been sitting in the private room for almost half an hour. There was a pot of Iron Goddess of Mercy brewing in front of him, and the tea had already been brewed for the third time.
The private room is small, with a mahogany tea table, two armchairs, and a landscape vertical scroll imitating Dong Qichang hanging on the wall.
The river view outside the window was mostly covered by bamboo curtains, leaving only a sliver of light that flickered out in the night.
Sun Zhengping has been in a supervisory position for more than 20 years, and has seen too many people try to cover up the origin of First Pot of Gold after making a lot of money--
Some people forge trade contracts, some fabricate overseas income, and some stuff illegal gains into multiple layers of Offshore Structure in an attempt to launder them.
While working at the Securities Regulatory Bureau, he also personally handled several cryptocurrency-related violation cases.
Therefore, Zhao Chen's instinctive reaction to this huge profit on Bitcoin is not envy or admiration.
But be vigilant - whether this account can stand the test.
"Old Sun, please read the attachment first. This pot of Iron Goddess of Mercy is enough for several brews."
Xu Yong pushed a printed excerpt on the table in front of Sun Zhengping,
"I've highlighted the key pages for you."
Sun Zhengping did not refuse.
He put on his reading glasses and read the section marked by Xu Yong from beginning to end.
After reading the exchange statement, I also looked at two bank transfer receipts and the fee list for the period before and after the liquidation.
Turning to the signature area of the last page, he pushed up his reading glasses, picked up the tea and took a sip.
"Clean."
He put down the teacup, and the words he spoke after careful consideration sounded particularly loud in the private room.
"It's not just as clean as usual, it's been clear and clear from the first pledge financing--
Bank transfers, registration and tax status of Offshore SPV are all fully documented.
People in the currency circle can take the initiative to keep the bank's receipt for every handling fee. I find it incredible from a regulatory perspective.
He didn't think about compliance after making money, he managed himself as an institution that could be audited at any time from the beginning.
No matter which country's regulatory authorities come to investigate, they will come to the same conclusion as the SEC."
"So you're not worried that there's something wrong with his account."
Xu Yong picked up the teapot and filled it for the two of them.
"You were frightened by the compliance awareness reflected in this transaction."
"I'm not scared, I just can't believe it."
Sun Zhengping brought the tea cup to his mouth but did not drink it immediately.
"Last year we opened Board of Directors in Henglong. When he took the money earned from clearing Bitcoin and invested in Nvidia,
I thought he was just lucky enough to encounter this trend.
Now see the complete transaction record - not luck, but discipline.
This young man set himself stricter rules than most Licensed institutions at such an early point in time, at the most ambiguous stage of compliance.
This is not investment ability, this is management ability."
Xu Yong put the tea cup down, and the bottom of the cup hit the mahogany tea table with a soft but steady muffled sound.
"He said before that Era Vanguard's money is clean, I believe it.
But I didn't expect it to be so clean - not clean afterward.
It's as clean as writing a draft for future regulatory reviews from day one.
So I said he was not a gambler. A gambler would buy at 800, sell at 1,300, take it back at 2,000, and sell at 5,000 - he didn't move all the way.
He can hold on to Bitcoin from the beginning to the end as it rises from 800 to nearly 17,000. This kind of person is not a gambler.
A gambler is someone who bets in the right direction but can be scared away by fluctuations at any time;
He was not in charge of the direction, he saw the direction clearly and sat there waiting for the destination."
Two old men who have been working in the financial field for decades, a scholar and a former regulatory official,
I was silent for a long time in front of the half-pot Iron Goddess of Mercy which was almost tasteless.
The weight of the last cup of tea in the pot was much lighter than the weight in their hearts at the moment.
Sun Zhengping finally spoke to break the silence. He turned the tea cup around and seemed to be thinking of words:
"After this attachment is made public, the stock price of Henglong is expected to rise again.
But I don't care much about the stock price now. I'm thinking about another thing--
We have been worrying about corporate governance, but if you look at these more than 200 pages of materials, he has set up the rules for us in each of them.
He knew that he needed to be restrained earlier than the two of us Independent Director, and he has been cooperating with this restraint.
I have worked in the regulatory system for nearly a lifetime, and I have never met many entrepreneurs who can do this."
"A few of us Henglong Independent Directors have been worried about one thing in the past -
Zhao Chen is too young and moves too fast. Will he fall into a hole someday?
But this attachment completely dispelled this concern for me.
It's not that he won't be tricked, but he will definitely keep all the evidence before he is tricked, so that he is not the one who is tricked."
Sun Zhengping Put down the tea cup, pick it up, and put it down again.
"I will go back to the office and read this report carefully. Then I will give him a call."
He picked up his mobile phone and looked for the number Zhao Chen under the dim light of the teahouse.
"In Henglong Board of Directors, he is Chairman and I am Independent Director.
But when it comes to investing - I have to get to know this person again."