A Record of Rise and Fall: From the Peak of a Hundred Billion to Struggling with Debt

He was once a nobody sweating beside an assembly line. After thirty years of struggle, he used blood and tears as bricks to build a business empire worth hundreds of billions. He was also a "sinner" who fell from the clouds into the mire overnight, stripped of every asset and burdened with enormous debts, yet still pressing forward under the weight of it all in his darkest hour.

Told from the first-person perspective, this story lays bare the most hidden wounds of China's business world. Here, the marketplace is a battlefield without gunpowder. There are no flashing blades, yet invisible fights rage everywhere, and every step could lead into an abyss.

The protagonist, Lin Yuanzhou, rises and falls in the turbulent business world. He has witnessed life-and-death pacts sealed over drinks, with vows ringing out as if the men making them would face any danger side by side. But he has also seen the knives in the back after the wine wears off: people who once called him brother turned around and pushed him into a fate from which there was no escape.

Once, he was full of ambition, breaking through the encirclement in a business war with a brilliant surprise acquisition. At the time, he stood at the peak of his career, directing the course of events in splendid style. But in the blink of an eye, he was besieged by capital and abandoned by everyone close to him. Former allies switched sides, while his enemies watched like tigers stalking their prey, driving him to the edge of ruin. He had once attended lavish banquets in mansions thronged with guests, surrounded by elegant clothes and glittering jewels, with people at his beck and call, enjoying all the world's splendor. Yet he also endured the merciless reckoning that comes when the powerful fall and everyone piles on. His former admirers disappeared, leaving only endless blame and people kicking him while he was down. In that moment, the warmth and coldness of human nature were laid bare.