American Hunting: Starting with Solitary Life in the Wilderness

Chapter 269 Deeply Intertwined Interests
Lin Yu'an witnessed that frenzy firsthand in her previous life.

On January 22, Citron Research, a well-known short-selling firm, surrendered, and its stock price soared to $76.

On January 26, a tweet from Elon Musk added fuel to the fire!
Then came the two days of January 27th and 28th, the most insane 48 hours in human financial history.

The stock price defied physics, soaring vertically into the sky: $350... $480...

Lin Yu-an, who was in Canada at the time, witnessed his boss's account being wiped out due to shorting GME, and he roared like a desperate trapped beast in the conference room.

He will never forget the moment that will be recorded in history: the moment when the brokerage platform Robin Hood abruptly pulled the internet cable, prohibiting retail investors from buying, and how the entire market plummeted from its peak in an instant.

That storm was an unforgettable, hands-on lesson in human nature and capitalism for him.

He was not involved; he was merely a humble witness.

But now, the date is January 1, 2022, and the script of history lies quietly before him, waiting for him, the only prophet, to place the decisive piece!

After making the final family decision, Lin Yu'an didn't hesitate for a moment. He kissed Aria and Emily on the forehead, then went into the study alone and closed the door.

Lin Yu'an didn't turn on the light, but stood quietly in the darkness, letting his thoughts sink into the turbulent depths of capitalism.

He knew that the $1300 million wasn't just his own wealth. If it were just about making money, he had countless safer and more secure ways.

He recalled Marcus Chen's seemingly enthusiastic yet condescending demeanor. He remembered Scout and Brian showcasing their connections and platform to him through private jets, the LV Group, and other means.

He felt like a dwarf invited to a banquet by giants, dressed in fine clothes and sitting at the table, but the food on his plate was still decided by the giants.

Although the signing with CAA, Scout's strategic planning, Brian's connections, and Marty's ruthless methods opened a door for him to the center of world power.

But he was also keenly aware that behind that door, he was still the weakest and most rootless newcomer.

Their collaboration is currently based solely on a commercial contract. Scout sees his future potential, Brian sees the Chinese market behind him, and Marty sees the challenges and rewards this case brings.

All of this is based on "interests"!
Relationships that begin with mutual benefit are also most likely to end because of mutual benefit.

Lin Yu'an was well aware that if he could no longer create value that met their expectations in the future, or if a more promising newcomer emerged, things would change.

This seemingly unbreakable trio alliance will not hesitate to marginalize him or even abandon him.

Binding is too superficial! Because it's superficial, they can withdraw their goodwill at any time and kick him aside at any time because of changes in their interests.

The feeling of having one's fate controlled by others is truly infuriating!

Therefore, what he needs is no longer simply wealth accumulation, but a ticket that will allow him to board Noah's Ark in front of the sharks of CAA! Not just a ticket for the animal pods on the Ark.

What he needed was to become someone Scout had to treat as an equal partner, not just a potential asset.

He needs to become a force powerful enough that even a behemoth like CAA has to consider opportunity costs when competing with him.

He didn't want to be the product that was chosen and valued forever. He wanted to be the player who held the chips and set the rules!
But he also knew very well that his current strength was far from enough to become a rule. In this cold world built by capital, a mere brand ambassador without real power is like a sandcastle on the beach, easily washed away by a single wave.

In the game of capital, he's not even the smallest player. To accumulate enough capital to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Scout and LVMH through traditional asset appreciation methods would take at least several years, or even longer. He doesn't have that much time.

Therefore, he decided to build his own tank, and he decided to use a tank that was already fully fueled and about to go out of control.

GME is the perfect machine! Its fuel is not a mere ten million dollars, but the anger and resentment of countless ordinary people towards Wall Street that has been accumulating for decades.

He wasn't the instigator of this war, nor even a major player. What he needed to do was leverage the momentum!

He was riding the wave of this "people's war," launched by countless rabble and destined to be recorded in history! What he wanted to borrow was the momentum of the times, the momentum of the people's hearts!

He can perfectly hide in this era of retail investors; his funds will become part of the driving force, but will go unnoticed by anyone.

He needs to take advantage of this momentum and drag these three Hollywood giants—CAA, Scooter, and Marty—from a simple business partnership into the water!
But what should I do? Tell them the truth directly? Tell them I'm a reincarnated person? That would only make them think I'm crazy. Give them a simple stock code? That would at best make them think of me as a lucky friend.

He had to demonstrate to these three seasoned veterans of the fame and fortune world a value far exceeding that of internet celebrities or artists—a value that transcended talent, popularity, and even money itself.

He needs to drape himself in a mysterious aura, an indestructible aura.

The impending GME incident is his "oracle." It's his only chance recently to upgrade himself from an invested asset to a fellow investor.

What he wanted to do was not merely to get a share of this feast for himself. He wanted to reveal this "oracle" to them in a mysterious and ambiguous way.

He wants them to be torn between doubt, speculation, greed, and fear, until they finally succumb to irresistible temptation and place their bets.

Only in this way, when the final result comes true, will the shock penetrate to the bone. They will redefine him from a lucky kid into a strategic ally with mysterious channels and unfathomable background.

By then, his position in the alliance will have completely changed. His relationship with them will no longer be a simple contractual one, but a deep and binding one that can bring them greater benefits.

Although this profit comes with great risk, Lin Yu'an believes that as long as there is profit to be made, these old white people in Hollywood see the risk as nothing more than a plate of turkey.

For GME, this is a bait more significant than any contract, a bait that will make their hearts race and fill them with awe whenever they recall that cold Alaskan night in the years to come!

Thinking of this, the last trace of hesitation in Lin Yu'an's eyes vanished, replaced by an iron-like resolve.

He was rapidly constructing the entire plan in his mind.

He picked up the encrypted satellite phone and dialed the first number—Scooter.

"Lin? It's so late, is everything alright?" Scout's slightly tired but still sharp voice came from the other end of the phone.

"Scooter, I'll get straight to the point." Lin Yu'an's voice was calm, yet carried an undeniable penetrating power.

“I’m prepared to invest my entire Arc’teryx signing bonus, $1300 million, into a battle that’s about to erupt. I think you, as my friend and agent, have the right to know this.”

There was a two-second silence on the other end of the phone. Scout was clearly caught off guard by this opening line: "Battlefield? Lin, what are you talking about?"

“GME, Game Station,” Lin Yu’an recited the code directly.

“I know that to you, this is a company on the verge of bankruptcy, a joke. But I’m telling you, an epic short squeeze is about to erupt in the coming weeks.”

"Lin, are you crazy?!" Scout's voice instantly turned serious. "That's a bunch of lunatics on Reddit hyping up a piece of junk stock! Melvin Capital is almost shorting it to the point of delisting! You throw 1300 million into it, and you won't even make a ripple!"

“No, Scout, a stock that’s been shorted by 170% won’t be delisted; it will just explode.” Lin Yu’an calmly stated the fact that would send chills down the spine of any financial professional.

"I'm not asking for your opinion; I'm just informing you of my decision and offering you a friendly suggestion."

He deliberately emphasized the word "friends," then his tone became as if he were talking about the weather: "If you have millions of dollars to spare, the kind of entertainment money that won't keep you up at night even if you lose it, I suggest you give it a try."

The hidden sarcasm in those words sent a chill down Scout's spine. It didn't sound like the madness of a gambler; it sounded more like someone with inside knowledge was offering operational guidance.

He subconsciously asked, "Lin... where did you get all this information from?" Lin Yu'an chuckled, his voice carrying a mysterious and distant quality: "Scooter, Wall Street elites always think they are the center of the world, but they forget that there are many players outside the poker table that they can't see."

He paused, as if carefully choosing his words, before slowly saying, "You know, I always make some interesting friends in the wilderness. Some are from China, some are from Russia."

"They don't like to think in terms of dollars; they prefer to think in...other ways. In their view, the GME incident is not just a financial game, but a golden opportunity to shake the credibility of Wall Street."

"China and Russia?" Scout felt his brain couldn't process this massive amount of information. This went beyond business; it sounded more like politics and intelligence networks!

He immediately recognized the enormous risk and said in a resolute, professional tone, “Lin, my friend, I didn’t hear anything! You haven’t called me this night either! Have a good hunt in Alaska!”

As he finished speaking and was about to hang up, he heard Lin Yu'an say in a softer yet more penetrating voice, "Scooter, hanging up this call is easy."

Scout's fingers froze on the hang-up button.

“You can treat it as a hallucination, a crazy dream from Alaska.” Lin Yu’an’s voice was calm and unhurried. “You can continue to be your top-notch, most professional, and safest broker, always right and never wrong.”

“But three weeks later,” Lin Yu’an’s tone became slightly more serious, “when you see GME’s stock price break through three hundred, four hundred, or even five hundred dollars, when you see on the news that Melvin Capital has been wiped out and countless short sellers are bleeding profusely…”

"When you look back on that phone call you hung up on tonight, what will it become?"

There was a deathly silence on the other end of the phone. Scout could even hear his own heart pounding.

"It will become a thorn, a thorn stuck in your heart." Lin Yu'an's voice was like a devil's whisper. "It will torment you repeatedly in countless nights to come. You will wonder, what if I had believed back then? How much of the wealth that should have belonged to me would actually be there?"

"Scooter, professional caution can help you avoid risks, but sometimes it can also make you miss out on a fortune that should have been yours!"

These words completely shattered Scout's psychological defenses. His pride in his professionalism, rationality, and caution seemed incredibly fragile and laughable in the face of the regret Lin Yu'an had painted of the future.

His palms, gripping the phone, were sweating. He knew Lin Yu'an was right. Whether he placed a bet tonight or not, this phone call had planted an indelible seed in his heart.

He had been dragged into this high-stakes gamble, both at the poker table and in his own mind.

"What do you want from me?" Scout's voice became hoarse and dry as he dropped all pretense and asked the most crucial question.

Lin Yu'an knew that the fish had taken the bait.

“I don’t want anything.” His tone returned to its initial calm. “Like I said, this is just a friendly suggestion between friends. Because I believe that our future cooperation will go far beyond a brokerage contract, nothing more.”

"But please remember to leave on January 26th. Know when to quit while you're ahead and don't linger at the end of the party when it's over."

After saying that, Lin Yu'an hung up the phone with a snap.

Listening to the busy tone on the phone, Scout Braun could no longer calm down. He put down the phone and paced restlessly in his office, Lin Yu'an's suggestion echoing in his mind like a curse.

Everything was in chaos. Reason was screaming at him, warning that it was a scam; reason was telling him it was a complete and utter scam!

But his intuition—the business instinct that led him to discover Justin Bieber and sign Ariana Grande—was frantically warning him! His powerful intuition told him that Lin Yu'an was telling the truth!

China, Russia, sanctioned oligarchs, scions of red families… these wild thoughts were mixed with his fear of Melvin Capital.

But a moment later, all these chaotic thoughts were completely crushed by Lin Yu'an's final, piercing words: "It will become a thorn."

Yes, a thorn.

If Lin Yu'an's words are true, then the forces behind this are enough to wipe out Melvin Capital. And if he misses this opportunity... he will miss a chance to make a fortune!

He no longer needed to analyze the veracity of the news, because Lin Yu'an had already laid bare the consequences of his choice before him: either bear the limited financial risk or endure endless psychological torment.

As a speculator who is always looking for opportunities, he could never tolerate the latter!
That damned Alaskan barbarian Lin Yu'an isn't giving advice at all; he's using a calculated scheme to hijack the present! He's using the future to hijack the present, and greed to hijack reason!

Finally, he took a deep breath, his eyes filled with a gambler's madness and determination. He opened his private trading software, looked at the GME stock price still hovering around $20, took another deep breath, and entered a number he could accept even if he lost it all.

"Buy, $500 million."

After hanging up Scout's call, Lin Yu'an didn't stop and immediately dialed a second number: Brian Lord, co-chairman of the CAA.

When the call connected, there was no immediate sound from the other end, only an oppressive silence, as if waiting for Lin Yu'an to speak first.

Lin Yu'an didn't repeat the same line he used with Scout. He knew that with someone like Brian, he had to be more direct and honest.

“Brian, it’s me, Lin.” He got straight to the point. “I’m calling to make a deal with you.”

"A deal?" Brian's voice held a hint of amusement for the first time. "Tell me about it."

“GME will experience an epic short squeeze within three weeks.” Lin Yu’an’s tone was as if stating a given fact.

“I can provide CAA with precise entry and exit timings. In return, I need something.”

"what?"

“A decent jungle plane,” Lin Yu’an said casually. “As for the model and configuration, I trust CAA’s taste. It will appear on the runway in Wiesman as a signing gift from CAA.”

There was a long silence on the other end of the phone.

This request, while not insignificant, is not trivial either. A top-of-the-line jungle aircraft costs hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars, but for the CAA, it's just a drop in the ocean. However, the manner in which this request is made is extremely provocative.

Lin Yu-an wasn't making a request; rather, it was as if he were using unverified information to extort a gift worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Brian didn't ask about sources like Scout did. For someone like him, sources weren't important; what mattered was the risk-reward ratio of the deal.

He finally spoke, his voice calm yet carrying the oppressive air of a superior: "Lin, you used a substantial signing fee to gamble on a stock on the verge of bankruptcy. That is indeed your prerogative."

"But you seem to have forgotten that what CAA has invested in you is intangible assets that are far more valuable than money: CAA's reputation, platform, and top-tier resources."

He paused, his tone turning icy: "If you lose the bet, you go bankrupt. For CAA, that means our signed future legend has turned into an investment scandal that requires urgent public relations."

"According to the contract, we certainly have the right to have you participate in various activities to make up for this loss. You're right, you're still under the control of the contract. The variety show clown in Tokyo is still a possible option."

This is a more sophisticated warning, elevating Lin Yu'an's personal behavior to the level of harming the overall interests of CAA, using his reputation to morally and commercially blackmail him.

Faced with this pressure, Lin Yu'an unusually remained silent for a moment, then asked in an extremely serious tone, "Brian, do you believe in mathematics?"

This seemingly unrelated question caused Brian's rhythm to falter.

"What do you mean?"

(End of this chapter)