"Why would you do something like this?" Dr. Cooper tapped his temple lightly, then asked the question that most perplexed him. "So someone offered you a billion dollars. You've been by my side, you should know a billion dollars isn't much to us. If we wanted to, we could move tens or hundreds of billions with ease."
"And you, as my most trusted confidant, manage Goldman's most crucial department. After I step down, you would at least become a Vice President of Goldman, continuing to assist our family's descendants. And if the descendants proved unfilial, you could even become President of Goldman. That's unparalleled power."
"Isn't that far more tempting than a mere billion dollars?"
"Yet, for that paltry billion dollars, you've thrown away an opportunity that countless people in this world would struggle to attain. Why would you do something so foolish? It's not like you. Do you truly believe this matter could be kept secret forever, that I would remain in the dark?" Dr. Cooper asked, his brow furrowed.
"Of course, I'm not that stupid. I also knew this couldn't be hidden from you forever. If it failed, I would lose all my prospects. But that's predicated on failure. What if I succeeded?" Coropi sighed.
"Succeeded?" Dr. Cooper blinked in surprise.
"Alas, this agreement only lasts for a short month. It will expire in five days, on July 10th. Once the time comes, all relevant assets will be immediately unfrozen, and everything will return to normal!" xxs1
"By then, I would have taken a risk for the company, single-handedly helping it earn a massive profit of 9.6 billion dollars. At that point, you wouldn't be here questioning me; I'd be at a celebratory banquet, receiving everyone's congratulations!"
"Indeed. I never set my sights on that billion-dollar bribe from the start. I didn't take a single cent of that billion dollars; I distributed it all to others. My sole focus was on the company. If I succeed, won't this 9.6 billion dollars in profit fall to the company, not me personally?"
"Everything I did was for the company, for the great Goldman Sachs Group!"
"Alas, I miscalculated one step after all. I failed!" Coropi's face was etched with the grayness of defeat.
"This is the consequence of your foolish decision. You actually thought the company could hold out until after July 10th. Don't you know that in this current situation, the longer the delay, the greater the risk the company faces? Fleeing a day earlier gives you a chance to escape this quagmire!"
"For a mere 9.6 billion dollars, you plunged the company's over 400 billion dollars in assets into a swamp, and you still think you're clever? It seems my teachings over the years have been in vain. You can't even grasp basic profit-and-loss calculations or market dynamics. You're utterly idiotic!" Dr. Cooper slammed his fist on the desk in anger, his voice echoing throughout the office.
"Yes, I am indeed utterly idiotic. My more than ten years by your side were truly wasted!" Coropi suddenly let out a bitter laugh. "Yes, I should have realized that with your personality, you wouldn't just sit idly by, nor would you fully cooperate with others."
"You would definitely find ways to trample over everyone else and be the first to lead the company to escape. My every mistake, my greatest mistake, was forgetting this very point. I naively believed you would cooperate with everyone else until after July 10th."
"I still underestimated you. While other Wall Street institutions were doing their utmost to maintain the market, you were the first to flee. I calculated everything, but I never anticipated this. It is truly my utmost stupidity!"
"Ginger is indeed spicier when old. Following you, I never learned the essence of your skills. I deserve to die!"
"..."
Coropi's words caused Dr. Cooper's face to twitch repeatedly, as each sentence felt like a harsh slap to his face.
Indeed, Coropi's calculations and thoughts weren't entirely wrong. As long as Dr. Cooper hadn't intended to flee early and had instead made every effort to maintain the market's facade with other Wall Street institutions, all these problems would have naturally resolved themselves after July 10th.
However, Dr. Cooper fled prematurely. On July 5th, he triggered the bomb, intending to escape first amidst the explosion's smoke. This caught Coropi completely off guard, and coincidentally, it also made Dr. Cooper, who had ignited the bomb, look foolish.
After igniting the bomb himself, Dr. Cooper discovered that his own leg was chained to the wall, rendering him immobile.
In other words, this entire disaster could be attributed to Dr. Cooper himself. If he hadn't fled early, things wouldn't have turned out this way.
"You devil, and now you're trying to shift the blame onto me!" Of course, Dr. Cooper could never admit his own fault, otherwise, he wouldn't be able to account for himself to the family.
Therefore, this blame had to be firmly placed on Coropi, and everything Coropi said was merely an attempt to offload responsibility.
"Yes, I am foolish, and I am the one who acted foolishly! All mistakes lie with me. After all, having followed you for over ten years, you are forever my teacher, and I have always held you in reverence comparable to God. Therefore, I will frankly admit everything to the board. All of this is my fault, my foolish mistake driven by a desire for credit!" Coropi said calmly.
"Alas!" Dr. Cooper patted Coropi's shoulder and sighed. "Truthfully, I hadn't intended to abandon you. If there were any way to save you, I would certainly do my utmost. But the mistake you've made this time is too severe, and you completely disregarded all the company's rules and regulations. The board will not let you off the hook, so you must be mentally prepared for the outcome. However, I promise you here that your parents, family, wife, and children will be taken care of. I will send people to look after them, ensuring they are not affected by this incident. I will also provide them with a substantial sum of money so they can live their future days in peace!"
"Thank you, sir!" Coropi said gratefully. Of course, this also implied that if Coropi dared to speak out of turn later, his parents and wife would face a different outcome.
"I also made mistakes!" Dr. Cooper said with emotion. "You've been by my side for over a decade, and I never realized you had such nerve. To achieve merit, you dared to do such things behind the company's back. I truly don't know who gave you such audacity!"
"Heh heh!" Coropi's lips suddenly curved into a strange smile. "Sir, I never imagined you've forgotten your own past deeds so completely?"
"What did you say?" Dr. Cooper's expression stiffened. "What did I do in the past?"
"Have you forgotten that year when you competed with Mr. Hubby for the position of company president? At that time, your performance and Mr. Hubby's were similar, but Mr. Hubby had better relations with the family, so the presidency was about to fall to Mr. Hubby."
"To win the presidency, you decided to take a risky gamble. You proposed a financial innovation and poured all your resources into it. You infiltrated the Supervisory Committee and bribed the media to spread false information, deceiving the public. Finally, under your overwhelming offensive, you successfully got the committee to approve this unbelievable financial innovation."
"This financial innovation was called: Naked Short Selling!"
"And before Naked Short Selling was approved, you secretly used 300 billion dollars of company funds to operate naked short sales, without the knowledge of the company's board of directors or the previous president."
"How is it, does all of this seem very familiar?"
"It's just that your luck was far better than mine. Your 300 billion dollars ultimately became 460 billion dollars. Within a year, by using the means of naked short selling, you helped the company earn a massive profit of 160 billion dollars!"
"Later, although this matter was exposed due to an accident, the company did not impose any punishment on you. On the contrary, the board and the family personally held a banquet to celebrate you, and at the banquet, it was announced that you would become the next president of Goldman!"
"So, all my actions are modeled after yours. I thought that if I could replicate your path from back then, even if I made a big mistake behind the company's back, as long as I could help the company earn huge profits, you would overlook these violations and reward me, thereby brightening my future!"
"But who would have thought it would end up like this!" Coropi finished speaking, and slumped onto the ground, completely collapsing.
Dr. Cooper sat on the chair, stunned. He could never have imagined that the outcome of today was the fruit he himself had planted years ago. Was this karma?
"Right, what was the institution that asked you to provide collateral?" Dr. Cooper asked after composing himself. "Tell me who they are, and I won't let them off!"
"You are very familiar with this institution!" Coropi said expressionlessly.
"I'm familiar with plenty of institutions. How would I know which one you're talking about?"
"It's the institution whose president you spent all last night plotting to have post that world-shaking news on Weibo. Are you not familiar with them?"
"The Western Mustangs Fund? Did they sign the guarantee contract with you?"
"Besides them, who else would have the guts to enter the market at this time?" Coropi said with a bitter laugh.