If it were before the穿越, Zhongshi would have scoffed at it, dismissing it with a sneer. As a high-achieving student at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), who obtained his Ph.D. in astrophysics at the age of 28, he naturally looked down on these amateurish speculations.
Caltech is a world-renowned university located on the west coast of the United States in California. Founded in 1891, the university has fewer than 2,000 students from around the globe. It ranks among the top universities globally in fields such as physics, chemistry, aeronautics, earth sciences, electrical engineering, mathematics, and computer science.
Unlike the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), another globally renowned institute of technology, Caltech is a more refined and scientifically intense institution. It has a higher number of Nobel laureates, published papers, and citations per capita compared to the prestigious university on the East Coast.
Qian Xuesen, the famous "Father of Chinese Missiles," once mentioned the differences between the two institutions:
"At MIT, I didn't feel anything special; I completed my master's degree in a year with top grades... Later, I transferred to Caltech, and immediately felt a significant difference... Here, you must think of things others haven't thought of and say things others haven't said... Taking small steps won't do; you'll be quickly overtaken..."
Zhongshi completed his undergraduate education at Yanjing University and then successfully applied for a Ph.D. in astrophysics at Caltech. In just four years, he obtained both his master's and doctoral degrees.
In the United States, a master's degree (Master Degree) is often seen as a transitional degree. People generally value undergraduate and doctoral education more. It usually takes at least five years to obtain a Ph.D., and if one cannot complete the dissertation within seven years after achieving ABD (All But Dissertation, meaning all requirements except the dissertation are completed), they will never be eligible for a doctoral degree.
Throughout history, there have been some genius students whose doctoral theses were published in top professional journals before their defenses. Some were even too long and had to be serialized over several issues. The famous Chinese economist Zhang Wuchang's doctoral thesis, "The Theory of Share Tenancy," was serialized in four issues of JLE (Journal of Law and Economics) before his defense, becoming a pioneering work in modern contract economics and causing a sensation in the Western economic community.
Although Zhongshi was not as dramatic, he still obtained his Ph.D. in four years, causing a minor stir at Caltech.
There was no help for it; there were too many geniuses here. With an IQ of 160, Zhongshi was only considered to be of average to below-average talent.
After graduating from the sunny state of California, Zhongshi declined NASA's invitation and instead joined the embrace of Wall Street.
Starting in the 1980s, quantitative investment gradually entered Wall Street's field of vision. With the success of several hedge funds that primarily used quantitative models, Wall Street began to favor graduates with backgrounds in mathematics, physics, and statistics.
Mathematicians, statisticians, rocket scientists, and even Ph.D.s in physics began to flood the industry, which primarily dealt with financial statements and macroeconomic data.
Zhongshi joined the fixed income department of the famous Wall Street investment bank Morgan Stanley and quickly made a name for himself in the bond trading market, becoming a star trader. Soon, he was promoted to Senior Vice President (SVP).
In 1997, Morgan Stanley entered Hong Kong and set up operations in Central. Due to his mainland background and fluent Mandarin, Zhongshi was dispatched to the Asia-Pacific region as an Executive Director (ED).
Thanks to the rapid development of the Chinese mainland and the rapid expansion of the joint venture investment bank China International Financial Co., Ltd., and the efforts of a group of geniuses in the Asia-Pacific region, Morgan Stanley firmly held the upper hand over its arch-rival, the other prestigious Wall Street investment bank, Goldman Sachs, in the Asian market.
However, after 2002, the tide turned, and Goldman Sachs began to dominate the Asian capital market. (Dear readers, can you think of why?)
In 2007, Zhongshi had been promoted to Managing Director (MD) of Morgan Stanley's Asia-Pacific region. However, that year, due to the accidental exposure of an internal email, he had to resign and leave the company he had served for decades.
The internal email was from the then Chief Economist of the Asia-Pacific region, harshly criticizing the political policies of a small Southeast Asian country. For well-known reasons, the economist and Zhongshi had to leave.
After leaving Morgan Stanley, Zhongshi did not worry about his future. After a two-month break, he founded his own hedge fund. Due to his consistent excellent performance, many investors flocked to him, including the China Investment Corporation, which manages China's vast foreign exchange reserves.
Zhongshi did not disappoint. Since the fund's inception, its net value steadily increased, even rising against the market during the 2008 financial crisis, making it a star fund in the Asia-Pacific region. He himself was named one of the most outstanding fund managers in the Asia-Pacific by The Wall Street Journal.
Although most of his investments were in the European and American capital markets, to attract high-net-worth individuals from the mainland, he also established a China Growth Fund focused on the A-share market. Unfortunately, the Chinese capital market operates under a different system from other major Western markets, and he, as a star fund manager, suffered repeated setbacks in the A-share market, even becoming a laughingstock among some fund managers.
Having studied abroad for a few years and worked on Wall Street for seven or eight years, and although he worked in Hong Kong, he was never on the mainland. His understanding of the mainland remained from over a decade ago, naturally not matching the long-term experience of fund managers who had grown up in the A-share market.
After dissolving the A-share fund in 2011, he was feeling depressed and decided to go on a trip to clear his mind. He set sail from Hong Kong on his luxury yacht, passing through South Asia, India, the Middle East, the Mediterranean, and finally arriving in London.
Most of his fund company's transactions were conducted using quantitative models and computers. As long as the models were functioning correctly, there was no need for many people to manage it. In fact, his fund company only had 20 employees managing billions of dollars.
On this journey, he experienced the exotic charm of South Asia, the world heritage site of the Taj Mahal in India, the wealth and deserts of the Middle East, the ethnic conflicts in Gaza, the casinos in Monaco, the cathedrals in Vatican City, the snow on the Alps, the bullfights in Madrid, and the arrogance of the British!
After touring the British Isles, he thought that since he had already traveled half the world, he might as well complete the other half.
Crossing the entire Atlantic, the yacht finally docked in the Bermuda Islands.
The Bermuda Islands are located in the North Atlantic and are a British overseas territory, about 1,000 nautical miles from Miami, Florida. Zhongshi planned to rest here for a while before entering U.S. waters.
The Bermuda Islands consist of seven main islands and about 150 smaller ones, with only 20 of them inhabited, and a total population of less than 70,000. However, due to its tax policies, it is favored by the international financial industry and is a famous offshore financial market.
However, Bermuda is more famous for its triangle, the area between the Bermuda Islands, Miami, Florida, and San Juan, Puerto Rico, forming a triangle. In this area, ships and aircraft often disappear mysteriously, and some people even claim there are time tunnels. Scientists from various countries have been unable to explain these strange phenomena, and over time, this area has been called the "Bermuda Triangle."
Zhongshi naturally scoffed at these legends. From his perspective as a Ph.D. in physics, if humans could time travel, according to Einstein's theory of relativity, they would need to travel faster than the speed of light, which would slow down their time. Once they returned to sub-light speed, the time that had passed for them would be less than for others, meaning they would have traveled to the future.
Currently, no object has been discovered that can travel faster than the speed of light. If such an object were found, the entire physics system would need to be revised!
Another theory in physics about time travel is the "wormhole," which suggests that there may be narrow tunnels in the universe connecting two different times and spaces, allowing for instantaneous spatial transfer or time travel. However, according to the theories of the modern physics giant Stephen Hawking, wormholes can connect to other universes, possibly future or past universes. Theoretically, wormholes are very small, even smaller than atomic nuclei, and it is estimated that only by breaking a person down into basic particles could they be transmitted through.
Upon arriving in Bermuda, Zhongshi received a call from Hong Kong. His employee informed him that a "black swan" had appeared in the capital markets, urging him to return quickly to take charge.
A "black swan" in finance refers to an unpredictable major rare event that is both unexpected and transformative.
On May 17, 2012, the Greek President's office announced that the cabinet reorganization had failed and that new elections would be held in June, with the possibility of Greece exiting the Eurozone. The news caused a major shock in the European market, leading to pessimism. The European Central Bank and various governments held large amounts of Greek government bonds. If Greece declared default, these bonds would become worthless. Additionally, if Greece set a precedent, other heavily indebted countries like Spain and Italy could become the next targets.
The yield on Greek government bonds, which had already soared, made it difficult to find buyers in the market. Zhongshi originally believed that the European Central Bank would not stand idly by and would help Greece through the crisis, so he heavily bought Greek government bonds. However, the Greek Prime Minister's decision to hold a public referendum on the EU aid plan shocked EU officials, the Greek parliament, and the entire market.
Subsequently, the Prime Minister resigned under pressure, and the Greek President authorized former European Central Bank Vice President Papademos to form a new government, which helped ease market panic.
After two rounds of EU aid, the market regained confidence in the Greek government, temporarily resolving the Greek debt crisis. However, in May, the failure to form a coalition government in Greece cast a shadow over the possibility of Greek debt default.
During the first EU aid, Zhongshi had aggressively bought Greek government bonds, betting that Greece would not default. Most funds were frantically selling Greek government bonds, with yields rising to 1,000%, meaning they were being sold at one-tenth of their face value.
If Greece managed to save itself, Zhongshi's assets would increase several times over. However, if Greece defaulted, he would lose all the funds he had invested.
This was a serious matter, and Zhongshi, ignoring the stop command from the control tower, flew a small plane to Miami in the midst of thunder, lightning, and heavy rain.
His original plan was to fly to Miami and then to Hong Kong to quickly deal with the Greek government bonds in his possession. However, without the control tower's guidance, he lost his bearings and had to turn back in the thunderstorm.
Just as he was about to call the control tower, a bolt of lightning as thick as an arm flashed in front of the plane. The surrounding air suddenly rippled like waves, visible to the naked eye. Zhongshi couldn't avoid it and crashed into the disturbance with the small plane, disappearing without a trace.
On a small island in Bermuda, a black father and son were fishing in the rain. The young son looked up at the sky and saw this scene. He yelled to his father, who was throwing a harpoon, and the black father looked up, then lowered his head and muttered, "Another unfortunate soul, may God have mercy on him!"
The control tower only heard, "What is this?" before losing all contact. After the rain cleared, they sent out a search team but found no trace of him. In the end, they reported the incident to the U.S. government, but it was left unresolved.