Blowup

Introduction to Breaking Point

The day Lehman Brothers collapsed in 2008, a young man named Cheng Yaojin had only 200 yuan in his pocket in Baishizhou, Shenzhen, when he registered a company called Chengpin Finance. His friend Zhou Quan put in 50,000 yuan, his entire nest egg: "I believe in you." Fourteen years later, Chengpin had grown from 60,000 yuan into a hundred-billion-yuan empire, and Cheng Yaojin had become the "godfather of finance." At the annual meeting, three thousand people sang Beyond the Vast Sea and Sky in unison.

Then the tide went out.

Twelve thousand investors lost everything. Cheng Yaojin was arrested, and everyone called him a con man. But at the trial, Zhou Quan handed over a USB drive. It contained ten years of truth: Cheng hadn't taken the money alone, and he hadn't orchestrated the scheme alone. The real mastermind had fled long ago, leaving him behind as the sacrificial lamb.

He was sentenced to twelve years. In his detention-center diary, he wrote: "I'm not a con man. I'm a mirror. Everyone saw in me what they wanted to see."

Seven years later, a new clay-pot congee shop opened in Baishizhou. Its owner was a bald, middle-aged man. Hanging on the wall was a crooked inscription: "Integrity Wins the World." Someone recognized him. "Are you Cheng Yaojin?" He wiped the table. "I'm a congee seller."

The tide will come again. But next time, they'll know: they have to learn to swim.