Volume One: Reborn from the Ashes, Brilliant as Summer Flowers

Prologue: The Fall of a Genius

November 23, 2010, Haidu Intermediate People’s Court, Binhai Province.

On this day, the display screen in the main hall of Haidu Intermediate Court did not reveal any cases of particular note. However, the observant could still sense that the atmosphere at the court was different from usual—a nondescript notice was posted on the bulletin board at the entrance, announcing a trial. The defendant was none other than the renowned chairman of Feiteng Group in Haidu, Nathaniel Johnson.

At 36 years old, Nathaniel Johnson had dominated the business world for over a decade, once becoming the richest man in Binhai Province and even the entire country, hailed as a business prodigy who appeared out of nowhere. For many years, he became an inspirational model for countless young people in China, a grassroots legend to emulate.

On the 24th, the trial of Nathaniel Johnson continued. The court, usually bustling, was unusually quiet that afternoon, with only one formal case being heard. The doors at the front and back of courtroom C101 were tightly closed, with only the prominent indicator light at the entrance showing that the trial was in progress.

Dozens of reporters, some business figures, and a few of Nathaniel Johnson’s relatives and friends were allowed to observe the trial. Nathaniel Johnson stood wearily and powerlessly in the defendant’s dock, wearing a beige vest emblazoned with “Haidu Detention” in Chinese characters. Although the once resolute and sharply defined face had lost its former brilliance, his tall frame—over 1.8 meters—still stood straight and proud.

Indeed, such a tall and upright figure surprised the media reporters watching silently from behind, while for Nathaniel Johnson’s family, it brought unspeakable sorrow.

The judge’s stern and powerful voice echoed through the courtroom. Nathaniel Johnson suddenly turned his head, and in his lifeless eyes, a cold light flashed like lightning, shooting straight at a middle-aged man sitting in a corner of the gallery. The man was wrapped in a black European-style wool coat, collar up, wearing a black baseball cap, and with a pair of wide sunglasses covering his face, making it impossible to see his features.

It was him! Henry Parker! No matter how tightly he was wrapped, even if he turned to ashes, Nathaniel Johnson would recognize this despicable, shameless man! If not for the betrayal of this once highly trusted subordinate whom he had personally promoted, how could he have ended up as a prisoner in such a miserable state?

……

……

In 2009, because of a business deal, Nathaniel Johnson offended Ashley Brooks, the chairman of Hailan Group and the well-connected son of a high-ranking official, and was framed and sent to prison. He never imagined that the one stabbing him in the back from the shadows was his own deputy, Henry Parker—the very man who betrayed him and defected to Ashley Brooks for personal gain.

Ashley Brooks and Henry Parker instructed others to conspire, using twelve men and women to open dozens of securities accounts, manipulating the stocks of Feiteng Energy and Feiteng Real Estate under Nathaniel Johnson’s control. They created the illusion of active trading in the secondary market to lure and extract funds from investors, involving amounts totaling billions of RMB, which quickly drew the attention of the securities regulatory commission… In July 2010, Nathaniel Johnson was arrested.

The process may have been tortuous and complex, but the result was singular: the once business prodigy, a peerless talent, had fallen.

“…The Haidu Intermediate People’s Court sentences Nathaniel Johnson to two years and six months in prison for the crime of manipulating securities trading prices; and one year in prison for the crime of falsely reporting registered capital, with a combined sentence of three years…”

At the moment of the verdict, Nathaniel Johnson understood.

After so many years, his business acumen and forward-thinking mind had always been ahead of the system and environment… and finally, he paid a heavy price for it. The betrayal by his deputy Henry Parker and the framing by Ashley Brooks were merely the last straw that toppled the dominoes—he knew where he had gone wrong, and where he had lost.

As a businessman who had fought his way up from the very bottom of society, Nathaniel Johnson had no political backing. Without the support of power, and disdaining to associate with the powerful, he had indeed succeeded, but at the same time, he had sown the seeds of his own downfall… Finally, one day, Nathaniel Johnson’s business empire vanished in an instant, and his always independent and unconventional nature finally brought him the bitter fruit of his own character.

It all seemed too late, but… was it really too late?

The judge’s voice announcing the verdict abruptly ceased. From that moment, the sensational Nathaniel Johnson case was settled. And almost at the same time, Nathaniel Johnson, exhausted to the extreme, desperate to the extreme, furious to the extreme, collapsed with deep resentment and unwillingness, his tall body crashing to the ground.

Chapter 001: The Goddess in His Heart