Chapter Three: A Billionaire Who Could Not Buy Water

Lin Mo paid ¥8,000 for the shipment, received ¥80,000 back, and funded vehicles, labor, and fuel from the public pool. Two hours later, two thousand bottles reached the shop. A line formed. Each person could buy six bottles at the old price. Those without money registered labor—unloading, maintaining order, or caring for elderly residents. Origin converted completed work into spendable credit. At ten, three black vans arrived. Zhao Kun, vice president of Horizon Capital, emerged with guards and a camera crew. Yesterday he had controlled more than thirty billion yuan. Today his accounts were nonsense like everyone else’s. “Horizon offers one hundred million yuan for your phone,” Zhao said. “The contract pays as soon as the system recovers.”