The weekend after Starworm successfully completed the low-altitude hover test,
Zhao Chen held a brief informal meeting at Era Vanguard New York Office.
He just asked Su Wantang to call everyone over--
Lin Shicheng, Chen Xi, Zhang Qingxue, and Shen Zhiyi.
After Su Wantang completed the annual audit of Henglong Charity Foundation in the country,
I just flew back to New York yesterday, and before the jet lag came over, I got a call from Zhao Chen and called me to the office.
Five people were sitting around the conference table. The autumn sun was shining on the Hudson River outside the window.
Sunlight pours in from Floor-to-Ceiling Window, casting a pale golden spot on the table.
"I called you here today not to talk about work."
Zhao Chen's opening remarks made everyone stunned for a moment.
He was sitting at the head of the conference table. There was no Bloomberg Terminal, no position summary table, and no printed legal documents in front of him.
"Yesterday I had a phone call with Elon Musk. Starworm's test was successful.
He said something to me on the phone - 'You flew up these twenty meters with me.'
I said, when Era Vanguard was pressed at the 178 margin call line in May, I was not the only one holding the bottom line."
He picked up the teacup and took a sip,
"I called you here today because I wanted to chat with you for a few words."
"Lawyer Lin, on the plane last November, you said something--
'If it must exceed 10%, I will put forward three conditions.'
Each of those three conditions annoyed me. But you said it and you stopped me.
Without your three conditions, Era Vanguard would have been liquidated before the round of replenishment in May.
You are my brake."
Lin Shicheng did not answer. Zhao Chen had spoken to him alone before.
He has signed his name on every 13D filing of Era Vanguard, and every response to the SEC inquiry letter has been reviewed line by line by him.
But at this moment, he was just sitting there quietly, with the sun shining from behind him, and his eyes behind the lenses could not be seen clearly.
"Chen Xi, on May 9th, the stock price of Era Vanguard hit one hundred and seventy-eight.
You sit alone in front of Trading Desk, staring at the transaction data.
More than 700 million US Dollar entered the market in one day.
Without you, that price cannot hold up. You are my execution."
Chen Xi was silent for a while.
She remembered that day - she was the only one in Trading Room who operated the buy order in front of Bloomberg Terminal.
The hot air blowing out of the monitor's cooling vents made her hand holding the mouse sweat slightly.
She divided the buy order of Zhao Chen into hundreds of small and medium-sized orders.
Accumulating funds quietly in different time periods and different channels.
She opened her mouth and wanted to say, "This is what I should do."
But she didn't say it out loud because of the way Zhao Chen looked at her--
She knew that it was not a polite compliment, it was treating her as an indispensable bearing in a precision engine.
"Aunt Zhang, Henglong's pledge financing, I decided to borrow the money,
But you reviewed every document for me and made it leak-proof.
From Hong Kong Stock Exchange to SEC, from cross-border compliance to anti-money laundering review,
You have defended every legal bottom line for Era Vanguard and Henglong. You are my backing."
Zhang Qingxue gently closed the legal memorandum.
When she got the pledge contract from Hong Kong Family Office, the other party opened a city alliance--
10% annualized interest rate, all pledges of more than 300 million shares, personal guarantees from Su Wantang and Shen Zhiyi, and a clause that she has considered repeatedly:
During the pledge period, any position reduction or Add Position behavior by Henglong Capital must be approved by Pledgee.
She flipped through the contract from beginning to end and marked in red pen all the clauses that might cause disputes in the future.
Only after confirming that there are no additional hidden risks will it be submitted to Zhao Chen for signature.
She did not mention to Zhao Chen that she had repeatedly confirmed with Singapore's trust lawyer for more than two hours overnight.
Until all terms are confirmed, Era Vanguard's repayment channel will not be blocked at some point in the future.
"Wantang, you have done the most for me, and I owe you the most."
Zhao Chen turned his head and looked at Su Wantang. She was sitting on his right side.
There was a cup of cold tea in front of him. Hearing this, his fingers gently stopped on the edge of the tea cup without saying anything.
"From the beginning of Henglong's seizure of power to the most dangerous May of Era Vanguard,
You are never on the front line, but you are always waiting for me behind the last line of defense.
That Henglong pledge financing, if you didn't come forward to guarantee it, the other party would not lend money at all.
You never defend yourself for anything, you just do all the dirty work that others don't want to do.
Whether it's Philanthropic Foundation or the office tea table back then - you never complained.
But I know that you don't complain not because you don't care, but because you care too much."
Su Wantang lowered his eyes, picked up the cool tea in front of him and took a sip.
"And Zhiyi."
Zhao Chen turned his attention to the person who walked into this office last.
Shen Zhiyi is sitting in the corner of the conference table, with an archived copy of Schedule 13D Amendment Filing spread out in front of him.
When he heard his name, his fingers closed slightly on the edge of the document.
"You came to Era Vanguard for the shortest time, but you plunged into the bottom of the Legal Department,
From the perspective of a trainee lawyer, he completed the last piece of the cross-border compliance puzzle for the entire group.
In the days when the storm in May was the fiercest, you sat in the corner and helped me calculate the interest and term of each replenishment fund.
You never asked me why I did this, you always supported me silently and never distracted me."
Shen Zhiyi closed the 13D copy and placed it on his knees, looked down at his fingers, and then raised his head to meet Zhao Chen's gaze.
"I didn't think too much about it. I just thought you needed everyone who could be by your side at that time."
She paused, her eyes flashed slightly in the sunlight outside the window, and then she smiled--
This is not a response to Zhao Chen's gratitude, but a quiet farewell to this long storm from Zhengfa University mock court to Wall Street.
Zhao Chen did not answer immediately.
He picked up the tea cup in front of him, took a sip, and then put it down.
The sunshine outside the window Hudson River was blocked by a thin cloud for a moment. The light in the room dimmed for a moment, and then brightened again.
"I don't want to use the word 'victory'.
Because the closing position of Short Sellers was not won by us, but by their own miscalculation.
We were just in the right position when they calculated wrong."
He put down the tea cup and slowly scanned everyone's face,
"The prerequisite for standing in the right position is that each of you holds your position.
Lawyer Lin has maintained the bottom line of compliance, Chen Xi has maintained trading discipline,
Aunt Zhang secured the legal backing, Wantang secured the financial channel, and Zhiyi secured the last piece of the puzzle.
Thank you."
"Starworm flew twenty meters. Elon Musk said that was the first step for mankind to Mars.
I think the line we drew on the plane last year was probably the first step."
Lin Shicheng suddenly spoke, his voice neither high nor low,
It's like he's talking to himself, but also like he's talking to everyone in Meeting Room,
He unscrewed the Fountain Pen again, but finally put the pen cap back on.
Leave the blank piece of paper in front of you on the table with only the date and asterisk written on it.
Outside the window, the Hudson River water is still flowing silently to the sea, exactly the same as every afternoon in the past.