My 1999

After arriving in New York, Xu Liang checked into the Hyatt Regency Hotel on the west bank of the Hudson River.

Standing in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows of the presidential suite, you can see the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center across the river.

As the tallest buildings in Lower Manhattan, the two shining silver buildings radiated dazzlingly under the autumn sunshine on September 8th, like two towering trophies, demonstrating the glory of the American Republic's global hegemony.

Ring ring ring….

Xu Liang's cell phone suddenly rang.

I looked at the caller ID and just pressed the answer button.

Sun Zhenping's voice filled with great joy came over.

"Mr. Xu, good news, great news. A fire broke out last night at Enron's most profitable Teesside Power Plant, which has dragged down Enron's stock price by six dollars, and it's still falling."

"Is this Teesside power station important to Enron?"

"Very important……."

Through Sun Zhenping's description, Xu Liang also gradually understood the significance of Teesside Power Plant to Enron.

There is a Teesside Industrial Zone in northeastern England. In order to support the development of the industrial zone, the UK decided to build a large power plant here in 1989.

Enron, as an American energy giant, undertook this project.

At that time, this power plant had a power generation capacity of 1,825 megawatts, accounting for 4% of the entire Commonwealth's electricity supply, and a project cost of US$1.3 billion. It was the largest thermal power project in the world.

After the power plant was completed in 1993, the Teesside Power Plant contributed $100 million in net profit to Enron every year.

Remember, this is pure profit, not revenue.

It can be said that Teesside was the real anchor project of Enron Energy Company.

The burning of Teesside Power Station had a decisive impact on Enron's share price.

Watching Enron's stock price on the New York Stock Exchange rise red on the computer, Xu Liangzhong also became happy.

"This is a real surprise."

Originally, his real target was 9/11, but unexpectedly Teesside came in the middle.

"The market proponents on Wall Street are probably going to be furious."

——

"Damn, that loser Keesling, how does he manage Enron? Does he know how important it is to us now?" John Thain said angrily.

After successfully making money from shorting Enron, in order to increase Enron's stock price, he persuaded Goldman Sachs' proprietary department to invest US$300 million and use ten times leverage to control US$3 billion to increase Enron's stock price.

In line with the news released by Goldman Sachs in the media, everything went smoothly.

In just three days, Enron's stock price rose to $54.

It was only six dollars short of the closing line he set for his self-operated department. According to the previous situation, it could be reached in a week at most.

Unexpectedly, before he could be happy, something as big as the Teesside Power Station being burned would appear.

"Boss, we should close the position immediately. If we act faster, we can completely keep the cost. With the profit from the short sale some time ago, we will still make a profit."

Hearing the secretary's reminder, John Thain also woke up from his rage.

I was about to pick up the phone and call to close my position.

There was a knock on the door.

"Come in."

Squeak.

With the sound of the door opening, a middle-aged man wearing a black suit, with long light blond hair, brown round glasses, slightly raised corners of his mouth, and a somewhat cold temperament opened the door and walked in.

Seeing him, John Thane's expression changed and he said coldly.

"How did you come?"

"I heard that there was a fire at the Enron Teside Power Plant. I rushed over as soon as I got the news. I wanted to remind you to close your position as soon as possible. If you are late, not only will you lose all the money you made from short selling some time ago, but also It will harm the company.”

With that said, the visitor sat down on the sofa next to him.

He crossed his legs naturally, with a smile on his face, as if he was thinking about you.

"Hmph. I know how to do it without you having to remind me."

After finishing his words, he gave the secretary a look, and the latter quickly turned around and went out to call the self-operated department to close the position.

John Thane sat across from the man.

"Thornton, although I made less money this time, I still have the profits from short selling. This year I have created a profit of 430 million US dollars for the company. In comparison, you are only 320 million US dollars now. You want to see my profit?" It’s a joke, it’s a little early.”

John Thornton's expression changed slightly.

He and John Thain are both the current CEO and president of Goldman Sachs. Each is the other's most powerful competitor, in order to overwhelm the other and officially take over Goldman Sachs from Henry Paulson, who is about to leave. Scepter.

"OK, you are indeed right. Now your performance is indeed better than mine. However, the premise is that you can survive the crisis of Enron's collapse.

Moreover, there are still three months until Christmas, and it is not certain who will win or lose. "

"Then we'll see."

The two looked at each other, refusing to give in to each other.

——

September 11th.

Xu Liang deliberately got up early, finished exercising, and after breakfast, went to his presidential suite.

I found the best angle, moved a stool to the floor-to-ceiling window, and sat down.

Looking at the orange-red World Trade Center under the afterglow of the morning sun, Xu Liang narrowed his eyes subconsciously.

The reflected light is a bit harsh.

When he moved his eyes downward, he felt much better.

Look down.

In the bustling Hudson River, cruise ships of all sizes can be seen passing by from time to time.

On the other side of the street, Eleventh Avenue in Manhattan was crowded with traffic and filled with people anxious to go to work.

This is the heart of America and the barometer of the world economy.

After a long time.

"Lu Hui?"

"Mr. Xu, please call me."

"Pour me a glass of red wine."

"yes."

Lu Hui quickly opened the refrigerator in the presidential suite and poured Xu Liang a glass of red wine.

He held it in his hand, shook it, then brought it to his nose and sniffed it.

"The wine is good."

He really didn't know how to taste red wine at first, but after drinking more, he gained some appreciation.

He took a gentle sip, leaned back, crossed his legs, and relaxed his body.

"what time is it?"

Lu Hui looked at her watch, "It's 7:50 New York time. ...Mr. Xu, if you want to visit Manhattan, we can leave at any time."

"No, I'm a little tired today, so I just want to sit here and bask in the sun and look at the scenery. You can go and have a rest. You don't have to stand here."

Lu Hui nodded and sat down on the sofa next to him.

Open your laptop and start your day's work.

Time passed little by little. Although the sun was shining on his body and the heat made him sleepy, Xu Liang did not dare to really fall asleep.

By the time he finished his glass of red wine, more than half an hour had passed.

Sudden.

A deafening roar came from a distance.

The loud noise of the aircraft engine not only attracted the attention of Xu Liang, but also attracted the attention of Lu Hui, Huo Gang, other bodyguards, even tourists on the Hudson River, and all Manhattan employees.

Xu Liang stood up suddenly and stared through the floor-to-ceiling window at the huge passenger plane flying rapidly in the distance.

The naked eye watched it pierce through the sky, and hit the North Tower of the World Trade Center in everyone's disbelieving eyes.

Along with the earth-shattering explosion, the red fire spread rapidly like the flames of hell, and the billowing black smoke instantly covered the sky and the sun.

Plop.

Lu Hui's face turned pale and she sat down on the ground.

Through the glass, Xu Liangdu heard the piercing sirens and incredible screams outside.

Countless people poured out of Manhattan.

The shrill wails echoed across the sky.

When Xu Liang saw those desperate people jumping off the tall Twin Towers, he couldn't help but sigh.

He knew this wasn't the end.

Fifteen minutes later, another plane came from the south and slammed into the South Tower of the World Trade Center.

It didn't take long to see this building, which symbolized the prosperity and hegemony of the United States, completely collapse like a toppled building block.

The raised smoke spread across the Hudson River and reached the Hyatt Regency Hotel where Xu Liang was staying.

Looking at the gray Manhattan, Xu Liang said.

"An era is over."

From the disintegration of the Soviet Union to the time before September 11, the United States was at its most glorious period since World War II. It truly dominated the world and had no opponents in sight.

It is also its most glorious peak.

It's a pity that this prosperous age of burning oil and blooming flowers only lasted for just ten years, and then fell like gorgeous fireworks.

Xu Liang slowly sat down.

I felt a little complicated for a while.

"Old...boss, just now..."

Lu Hui said tremblingly.

His pale face still showed shock.

Huo Gang and Zhang Hongwei, who reacted cleverly, also ran over quickly.

"Mr. Xu, we should evacuate immediately. It's too dangerous here."

"Brother Liang, let's leave quickly." Huo Gang said quickly.

Even if they were as calm as they were, they would never have imagined that such a thing would happen in the core area of ​​the United States, which is known as the global hegemon.

Xu Liang waved his hand.

"Don't worry……."

Before he finished speaking, Huo Gang had already stepped forward, forcibly picked him up and ran outside.

Lu Hui picked up the computer and hurried outside with everyone.

"Okay, Gangzi, let me down. I'll go with you." Xu Liang said helplessly.

He knew that no plane would hit him again, but Huo Gang and Zhang Hongwei didn't know, so he couldn't blame them.

"Brother Liang, you made it right, can't you go back on your word?"

"You stupid head, when have I ever regretted it?"

Huo Gang just put him down, and everyone cleaned up briefly. When they came outside, they found that the corridor was in chaos, and the guests running downstairs panicked.

Obviously, the collision just now also frightened them.

No one dared to take the elevator and could only run down the stairs.

The narrow corridor was filled with panicked people.

After arriving outside smoothly, the streets became even more chaotic. There were people covered in dust and panic-stricken faces everywhere.

Someone stood there in a state of despair, as if they were just a body.

Some people fell to the ground and cried bitterly, as if their parents had died.

Others took advantage of the chaos and started shopping for zero yuan.

The apocalyptic scene made the bodyguards subconsciously protect Xu Liang in the middle.

Everyone found an open area and stopped.

It was not until noon that there were no more accidents before returning to the hotel.