On the last Thursday before June arrived, visible storm clouds hung over Manhattan Island in New York, as if a heavy rain were about to fall at any moment.
To escape the coming rain and the stifling heat in the air, Bem unconsciously quickened his pace.
Here was Wall Street. If the global economy were compared to the complex neural network of a human brain, then this street, barely a third of a mile long, was the most sensitive and crucial nerve in that complex network.
And he, Bem, a top graduate of Harvard University and a high-performing investment banking elite at a Goldman Sachs Group subsidiary, was one of the firing neurons on that most sensitive nerve...
After entering the company, taking the elevator, avoiding a colleague approaching with an armful of documents, Bem walked into his office and set the briefcase he carried with him on the desk.
The colleague who had arrived before him spun his chair around and looked at him.
"Did you follow the morning news?"
Bem said, "I got up a little late today. Did something happen?"
Karel said, "It's precisely because nothing happened that I feel like something is about to happen. You know, just yesterday afternoon, our Department of Justice claimed it had obtained key evidence proving that the patent acquisition case six years ago was illegal. I've been watching for news from Starry Sky Technology... or rather, from Hua Nation, since yesterday. But so far, nothing has come. With your skills, you should be able to tell that this is highly unusual."
Bem took out the tools of his trade from his briefcase and arranged them on his desk.
After turning on his computer, Bem shook his head and continued in a somewhat disappointed tone.
"More than unusual. The longer they