A 49-year-old executive at a major tech company sees his life collapse overnight! Stock market losses, a luxury home turned into a liability, and a high-paying job offer that is really a setup to take the fall!
At 49, Qian Zhenduo stands on his balcony, gazing out at the glittering nightscape of Shenzhen, filled with despair.
A year ago, he was a senior executive at a major tech company earning 1.8 million yuan a year. Now, after losing 98% of his money in the stock market, everything he owns is worth barely enough to cover a single month’s mortgage. The home he bought at the 2020 peak for 8.5 million yuan is now worth just 5.2 million. Selling it would leave him owing the bank another 800,000 yuan.
His full-time homemaker wife cannot find a job, while the warm home his son draws has become a liability crushing them in real life.
A phone call brings an offer for a COO position paying 1.8 million yuan a year, but the price is acting as a nominee legal representative and taking on criminal liability. After he turns it down, a consulting offer from a former subordinate seems like a way out, but it is shrouded in uncertainty.
With only seven days left before the 32,000-yuan credit card bill is due, how much is a middle-aged man’s dignity really worth?
