085 Crash, It Must Crash
It was an ordinary afternoon. Roberts sat in his seat at the library, staring at his computer screen, occasionally tapping the keyboard.
The library today was the same as usual. People were reading different books, or busy taking notes, making excerpts, or using a computer like him. There was no central authority managing it, yet it was orderly. This free order was the environment Roberts liked the most.
At this moment, he noticed a message from a friend: 【Can you help me check a flagged email?】
Roberts didn’t think much of it and replied: 【OK.】
To check this flagged email, he needed to log into his account—the dedicated account for the highest-level administrator of the Silk Road website.
Just as he had logged in and clicked on the email without looking closely, a loud female shout suddenly erupted beside him: “FXCK!”
Roberts was startled and subconsciously turned around, only to see the woman who had just cursed loudly jump over in a single stride and snatch the computer from his desk.
Roberts was about to snatch his computer back when he found his arm being grabbed. Then, the attacker from behind threw him to the ground, pinned him down, and put him in handcuffs.
The feeling of his cheek pressed against the floor was surprisingly cold.
The other patrons in the library were now all staring at him and the several plainclothes agents around him. Someone shouted indignantly:
“Who are you people? Let him go!”
“What did that kid do to deserve this?”
“You haven’t even shown any identification!”
But the agents ignored the clamor of the people around them.
Roberts also finally came to his senses and shouted, “You have no right to do this!”
An agent squatted down in front of Roberts, looked down at him, and said with a smile, “We have the right. And with just the evidence of your computer, you won’t be getting out of prison before you’re seventy. No, maybe it’s a life sentence.”
Roberts struggled to lift his head and stared coldly at the other party. “I need a lawyer.”
“Of course, although it won’t be of any use.”
**
“Director Lu, would you like to have a working lunch together?”
Lu Qi looked at the man in front of her, who appeared polite but was in fact relentlessly persistent, and sighed inwardly, but on the surface, she remained impassive. “I’m sorry, Director Tan. I’m used to having lunch in my office. I can also do some things while I eat.”
“Director Lu is really busy. Then how about I pack a lunch for you and bring it up?”
This man who was fawning over Lu Qi was named Tan Meng, a few years older than her. Although he also held the title of ‘Director,’ his professional direction was completely different from Lu Qi’s, and the money and power he held were far beyond what Lu Qi, the technical director of a project team, could compare to.
Because Tan Meng was a high-level executive in Penguin Company’s venture capital department, an investment director.
Within the venture capital department, the ranks from low to high were mainly Analyst, Investment Manager, Senior Investment Manager, Vice President of Investment (VP), Senior Vice President (SVP), Investment Director (D), and Executive Director (ED). Those below Vice President (VP) were basically junior employees, while Vice Presidents (VP) and Senior Vice Presidents (SVP) were considered to have made it.
As for a strongman like Tan Meng, who had reached the level of Investment Director (D), higher than VP and SVP, in his early thirties, regardless of whether he relied on his own ability or his social connections, he was undoubtedly worthy of the character ‘Meng'(fierce) in his name. His salary and benefits were also not something Lu Qi could compare to at this time; they weren’t even in the same order of magnitude.
Therefore, Tan Meng felt that as long as he was proactive and showed his sincerity and charm, this “Flower of Code,” who had attracted the secret admiration of many men within Penguin Company, should be an easy catch for him. After all, a high-quality young man like him, with an annual income in the millions, was more than one in ten thousand.
However, over the past few days, Lu Qi’s attitude had greatly disappointed him. There was no ambiguity at all. The distance between the two of them had not shortened in the slightest. They still only maintained a colleague relationship of superficial friendship, and a cold one at that, with no work-related communication.
Just now, after his invitation for lunch was unsuccessful, Tan Meng had volunteered to pack lunch for her and bring it back. Logically, there should be no excuse to refuse this, right? She should obediently let him close the distance, right?
However, Lu Qi opened a drawer and took out a cup of instant noodles. “Thank you, but no need. I’m having this for lunch today.”
Tan Meng was dumbfounded. You, a dignified technical director, have a cup of Old Altar Pickled Cabbage noodles in your office? Where is your elegant, elite female demeanor?
Lu Qi took out a small packet of ham sausage, closed the drawer, stared at him, and asked, “Is there anything else, Director Tan?”
Tan Meng thought for a moment and could only shake his head. “Then I’ll go and eat by myself.”
With that, he turned around and grabbed the doorknob. But in the instant before he turned the doorknob, Tan Meng heard a voice from behind him again.
Lu Qi was asking, “Director Tan, have you been paying attention to Bitcoin recently?”
Tan Meng let go of the doorknob, adjusted his bow tie, and then turned back with an elegant smile.
This top elite in the investment field said, “A dangerous project, very, very dangerous, and it has no value anymore. Just yesterday, the news broke that Silk Road was taken down by the US federal government with a heavy blow. The kind where both the people and the goods were seized, with no possibility of a comeback.”
Lu Qi said thoughtfully, “So Bitcoin is going to crash?”
The corner of Tan Meng’s mouth curled up, and his smile grew wider. “The value of Bitcoin is almost entirely dependent on darknets like Silk Road. It’s the dedicated currency for all kinds of outlaws around the world. In the past, the governments of various countries didn’t care. Now that everyone has noticed them, where is there room for these guys to survive? Oh no, to be precise, this kind of low-level criminal will never disappear, but a rat’s nest exposed to the sun is beyond saving.”
Lu Qi: “Then in your judgment, the future price of Bitcoin will…”
“Plummet all the way down!”
Tan Meng said this with absolute certainty, leaving no room for doubt.
However, Lu Qi neither questioned nor agreed, just nodded slightly. “Understood. I’m going to make my noodles now. Aren’t you going to eat, Director Tan?”
The lady had given him the order to leave, so Tan Meng naturally couldn’t shamelessly stay here any longer. As he opened the office door, he was still secretly pondering why Lu Qi had asked such a question. Had she bought Bitcoin?
If he used investment as a topic in the future, would he be able to close the distance between them?
Thinking this, Tan Meng almost collided with the person coming towards him.
It was a handsome young man, so young that he looked more like a student who hadn’t left campus.
The young man said “sorry,” dodged past Tan Meng, and walked into Lu Qi’s office.
Tan Meng turned to stare at the door, unable to help but secretly speculate—what was the relationship between that young man and Lu Qi? If he was Lu Qi’s subordinate, could he just walk in without knocking?
***
Translator’s Notes
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Roberts: The text uses a Chinese transliteration for “Roberts,” which is likely referring to Ross Ulbricht, the creator of the Silk Road website, who was arrested in a San Francisco library.
