Chapter 52: A Streak of Success

“Everyone, please remain calm! Just put your minds at ease! This is nothing more than a chance occurrence in an upward trend! Individual bonds, after all, are issued by the state, so some fluctuations are perfectly normal! Just wait a moment, and you'll see—the collective bonds will undoubtedly flourish with vitality once more!”

Suddenly, someone shouted out, a voice that steadied the crowd, striking right at the core of their anxieties. In that instant, the restless mood was soothed, and the crowd's fervor returned to their bodies.

“That’s right! A momentary dip is inevitable! Collective bonds have not yet reached their peak!”

“Exactly! Collective bonds will surely rally again and continue their powerful upward momentum!”

“It’s always darkest before the dawn. Another surge needs time to build. Let’s wait patiently and witness the glory of the collective bonds together!”

The hall once again rippled with heated discussion.

“Huang Silu, did you see that? Did you hear it? Even if your individual bonds fluctuate by chance, it won’t stop their eventual collapse! So, stop wasting your time—there’s no possibility between us!”

Listening to the chatter in the hall, Qiao Ya’s face darkened to its extreme. Just a trace of so-called success, not even worthy of real joy, and that was enough to make him so excited? Lacking in depth, not steady at all. In the end, he’ll never amount to anything great.

Especially since he took advantage of a simple fluctuation to boast about his supposed unique insight. Such a person made her feel sick to even remain in the same room.

“If you all want to indulge his nonsense, go ahead! I’m leaving.”

With those words, she turned and strode out without hesitation. This time, Liu Qian did not stop her. Qiao Ya had clearly reached the end of her patience. If she forced herself to side with Huang Silu, their relationship would surely shatter—and for Liu Qian, that was unacceptable.

So she could only watch helplessly as Qiao Ya’s figure receded, her face full of regret. Huang Silu really was a good person.

Wu Ya also made no gesture to Liu Qian. Could she not be persuaded to stay?

A low chuckle escaped Wu Ya.

“What are you laughing at?” Liu Qian spun around, glaring at Wu Ya. Didn’t he see that Huang Silu was already devastated by Qiao Ya’s departure? While he’s here, heartbroken, you’re laughing. Are you gloating?

Setting aside your feelings for Huang Silu, you shouldn’t kick a man when he’s down. You’re stabbing him in the heart! And as for this whole situation—isn’t it your fault, Wu Ya? If you hadn’t given that lousy advice, maybe there would have been another way to patch things up between them! Now, because Huang Silu trusted you, he’s lost everything and any hope with Qiao Ya! Yet you still laugh? Heartless!

Usually, when she grew angry, Wu Ya would show signs of surrender. But this time, Wu Ya ignored her.

“You—!” Liu Qian’s anger blazed, ready to erupt...

“One, two, three! Stop right there!” Wu Ya inexplicably began to count, his final words suddenly ringing out with authority—directed at Qiao Ya’s retreating figure.

What did he mean by that? Liu Qian’s confusion hadn’t even fully formed when chaos erupted in the room.

“What’s going on! What’s happening? Why are individual bonds soaring while collective bonds are plunging?”

“It’s over! All that talk about a normal dip, a minor fluctuation in the trend—damn it, this is an unstoppable decline!”

“A crash! It’s a disaster! The drop is even sharper than the previous fall of individual bonds! It’s become a vertical line, plummeting straight down!”

Panic spread across every face. The red line that had thrilled them since the market opened, climbing higher and higher, now turned green and crashed to the bottom as if weighed down by a great stone. Not a single ripple softened its fall—just a direct, brutal, and abrupt descent. What appeared was a perfectly straight line, plunging down with no resistance at all.

Terrifying.

And as for the individual bonds—

“Heavens, this can’t be! How is this possible? There are two parallel lines again!”

“This is the greatest irony! The two parallel lines have reversed!”

“My God! Is this the end for me? I swapped all my individual bonds for collective ones! How could the tide turn so suddenly, with individual bonds skyrocketing?”

Cries of shock and wails of despair filled the hall as the big screen showed the once-rising red line now plunging green. In an instant, the entire hall was awash with turmoil.

The line that had once run parallel to it, the green one, was now bursting with life, soaring ever upward. In the blink of an eye, it shot from thirty cents to three dollars—a tenfold increase—and was still rocketing toward the top of the screen with unstoppable speed.

“Ha ha ha! A miracle! A miracle! Qiao Ya, look, look! A miracle has happened!”

Huang Silu, who had been lost in despair, now, swept up in the sudden joy, seemed nearly delirious. He shouted wildly at Qiao Ya, who had stopped in her tracks, her face blank with astonishment. In less than five minutes, he had experienced the full range of emotion, from despairing of Qiao Ya and all hope, to renewed delight and confidence. His excitement was beyond words.

“I did it! I proved myself.” Overwhelmed with joy, Huang Silu forgot himself completely. After shouting at Qiao Ya, he began muttering to himself, as if this miracle, this feat, this ending that brought Qiao Ya to a halt, was all his own doing. He was utterly swept away by the exhilaration of success.

“Wu Ya, what’s going on? How could you possibly have known it would end up like this?” The hall was full of mixed expressions and tangled emotions. But for Liu Qian, none of it truly mattered. Though she too was stunned by the dramatic turn of events, she kept her wits. After all, the plan was Wu Ya’s idea. Given their relationship, there was no way Wu Ya would set Huang Silu up to fail, let alone deliberately crush his dreams.

That left only one conclusion: Wu Ya had foreseen the surge in individual bonds.

But how?

With these thoughts, Liu Qian’s gaze at Wu Ya grew openly suspicious.

“Be honest! The miracle you wanted to create—the greatest miracle in Suiyan District’s history—was it this? And if so, when will your miracle appear?”