Chapter Twenty-Nine: Dreams

Li Fengyu slammed his hand onto the table and rose to his feet upon hearing this. Out of respect for the relationship between Lin Chu and Li Sen, he refrained from hurling insults at Lin Chu's father to his face, yet he was still consumed by uncontrollable rage. Trembling, Li Fengyu said to Lin Chu, "Lin Chu, I have always considered you a brother for whom I would risk my life. From the very day we met, the three of us have poured our hearts and souls into the Xinmin Group, working ourselves to the bone. We have navigated countless dangers and emerged unscathed, only to see our efforts on the verge of collapse now. Isn't it your goal to earn your father's approval? Are you truly content to see things end up like this?"

Li Fengyu had a point, though his words were not entirely sincere. When he first joined Lin Chu's company, it had been a calculated move to pave the way for his own political career. Yet, despite his self-interest, he genuinely regarded Lin Chu as a friend, owing to the kindness Lin Chu had shown him early on. This gratitude had driven him to serve Lin Chu with unwavering devotion—bolstered, of course, by the desire for wealth and professional experience. Regardless of his motives, Li Fengyu had poured too much of his lifeblood into the Xinmin Group to let it go easily.

Memories flooded his mind: the countless strategies he had devised to appease shareholders on Lin Chu's behalf, and the sleepless night he spent consumed by anxiety before the negotiations in Shanghai. Li Fengyu clenched his fists and gritted his teeth; he was unwilling to accept this defeat. Sensing Li Fengyu's agitation, Li Sen chimed in, "Lin Chu, we have all given our absolute best for the Xinmin Group. To see our life's work crumble like this—Li Fengyu cannot accept it, and neither can I. Can you try to persuade your father?"

Lin Chu was caught in a state of profound internal conflict. He understood better than anyone how much Li Sen and Li Fengyu had sacrificed for him and the company. Without Li Fengyu’s efforts to pacify the shareholders and his personal intervention in the Shanghai negotiations, Lin Chu would never have reached his current position. He knew it was deeply unfair to them. However, Lin Chu was naturally timid and often lacked conviction. He had never dared to defy his father, having spent his entire life yearning for his approval and believing that his father’s word was law. It was with this mindset that he had entered the Xinmin Group in the first place. Now, torn between his career and his brothers on one side and his father’s dictates on the other, Lin Chu felt the crushing weight of the ancient dilemma: one cannot serve both loyalty and filial piety. He was suffering a harrowing internal torment.

A deathly silence descended upon the office. Finally, Lin Chu spoke with great difficulty, "Fengyu, Sen, I am not content with this either. For your sake, I am willing to let you meet my father once. If you can convince him, there is still hope. But you must understand that I will never go against his wishes. If you cannot persuade him, then there is nothing I can do, and we will have no choice but to dissolve the company."

Li Fengyu and Li Sen wiped beads of cold sweat from their brows. Li Fengyu managed a strained smile and said, "We are brothers; I would never put you in a difficult position. I will certainly convince your father. If it doesn't work out, I will never hold it against you. Without you, I wouldn't be who I am today. We will be brothers until the end."

Lin Chu's father lived in Beijing, which was quite close, so they planned to take the train the following day. On their way home from work, Li Fengyu saw that Li Sen was despondent and comforted him, "Don't be so upset. At worst, we can go back to school or find work at another futures firm as entry-level clerks. We can start from scratch and make a comeback." Hearing this, Li Sen managed a faint, bitter smile. "I just can't accept it. Since the day we joined, we’ve done so much and poured so much of ourselves into the Xinmin Group, only to be undone by a single word from the boss." As he spoke, Li Sen began to weep. Li Fengyu, feeling a deep ache in his own chest, gritted his teeth and said, "The umbrella is always held by those who stand tallest. Without money or power, we will always be at the mercy of others. If we want to achieve something truly great, we must have a company of our own."

In that moment, a seed was planted in Li Fengyu’s heart—a dream that would one day exert a massive influence on global finance. Li Fengyu would eventually become a name that struck terror into the hearts of men, from the financial hubs of London in the Northern Hemisphere to Wall Street in the West.