Ah Jun still remembers that summer night in 2019. At a street stall, VZai patted his shoulder and said, "Bro, I have a guaranteed profitable business."

On the phone screen, red and green candlesticks flickered as VZai gestured: "Last month, I turned 5,000 into 50,000. Now's a perfect opportunity, follow me and guaranteed profit." At that time, Ah Jun was an apprentice at an auto repair shop, earning 3,200 yuan a month. His father suffered from liver cirrhosis and needed medication year-round, and his sister was still in high school.

Seeing VZai holding a new iPhone and dressed in designer brands, he couldn't hold back. He transferred all his savings of 48,000 yuan, saved over two years for marriage, to him.

In the first month, his account grew to 60,000. Ah Jun was so happy he treated VZai to Haidilao. The other party patted his chest and said, "This is just the beginning." He didn't expect that VZai had long been setting him up in a pump-and-dump scheme, even creating a "Crypto Brothers Club," where people posted daily gains and shouted, "Family, buy the dip."

Ah Jun was completely hooked. He even invested his father's medication fund and borrowed online loans, asking relatives for money.

On March 12, 2020, Bitcoin plummeted 40%. He woke up to find his account wiped out. VZai called pretending to be sympathetic, urging him to raise more money to buy the dip. Ah Jun borrowed his sister's tuition fees. It wasn't until debt collection calls came to the factory and the boss publicly questioned his personal affairs that he finally woke up.

He confronted VZai at a coffee shop, only to see him get out of a new Tesla, wearing a Rolex, with a woman sitting in the passenger seat. Ah Jun simply said, "I'm done playing," and turned to leave.

Later, VZai bought a house in Hainan and posted daily photos of the sea view. Meanwhile, he was repairing cars during the day and delivering takeout at night, working two jobs to fill the debt hole. Sometimes late at night, he would accidentally open the trading app he had long since uninstalled, unable to help but wonder: if he had made money that summer, would the person driving the Audi have been himself?