There is no love without reason in this world, and there is no hatred without cause.
If one were to ask why Wall Street capitalists and financial conglomerates hated Gilbert so deeply, it was perhaps because he stubbornly resisted and refused to be harvested, creating a huge psychological gap that those accustomed to wielding unchecked power simply could not accept.
If it had been just him alone, that might have been one thing. But Wall Street's capitalists and financial groups suddenly realized that the Silicon Valley capital behind Gilbert had already gained the strength to contend with them by riding the wave of the internet.
If such a new group of capitalists refused to accept being harvested and instead sought to build a separate system of their own, it was something they absolutely could not tolerate.
Capital is tough, believing it naturally deserves to possess everything.
Capital is also fragile—once it suffers a heavy blow, it will immediately bow its head to preserve itself.
Gilbert was, of course, unwilling to accept being harvested or to serve as a white glove. He had built such a vast business empire not to hand money over to others.
So he had to resist. Unlike the American public, known for its extreme tolerance, he believed in the creed that princes and generals are not born superior.
After Christmas, the New York stock market looked no different from usual.
The share prices of various technology companies continued to rise, with Apple being the most eye-catching, having already surpassed a market value of 300 billion dollars.
Yet beneath this surface calm, undercurrents were surging. Wall Street tycoons of all sizes, seasoned by years in the market, all sensed something unusual.
On the very day the market opened, The Wall Street Journal suddenly released a piece of news, stating that Field Hedge Fund and Morgan Stanley Bank were interested in Watermelon Company and Banana Company.
As soon as the news broke, the stocks of Watermelon Company and Banana Company surged throughout the opening day.
By the close of the first trading day, Watermelon Company's share price had risen from 563 dollars per share to 703 dollars per share, while Banana Company's had climbed from 342 dollars per share to 524 dollars per share.
The soaring share prices drove the market capitalizations of both companies sharply upward. Ordinary retail investors went mad over this, constantly joining the game of stock-price revelry.
Unfortunately, what retail investors did not know was that this was the result of institutional manipulation.
Perhaps some of them did know, but everyone believed they could keep things under control and exit smoothly before the institutions began their harvest.
Yet money stirs the heart, and human greed is endless.
By the time retail investors realized they wanted to get out, they would find they were already firmly trapped.
Fortunately, the purpose of this round of manipulation was not to harvest these retail investors, but to target the two companies themselves. The goal was to push the share prices up, then make them collapse.
To deal with the threat, Ivanka had originally been busy wrapping up matters in South Korea. After receiving Gilbert's call, she had no choice but to rush back to New York overnight to personally take charge at Fruit Fund.
The energy of the Rockefeller family and the Morgan family was indeed formidable. The banks controlled by both families were also member banks of the Federal Reserve, giving them considerable influence.
However, neither family could directly mobilize the power of the Federal Reserve, as they were still subject to regulation. Otherwise, if private families could directly wield the Federal Reserve's power, the system would fall into chaos.
As for the claim that the Rothschild family controlled the Federal Reserve, that was not entirely accurate. In its early days, the Rothschild family did indeed have influence over the Federal Reserve.
But after years of decentralization and restructuring, the Rothschild family's influence over the Federal Reserve had greatly diminished, now even less than that of the Rockefeller and Morgan families.
Unable to use the power of the Federal Reserve, this move was entirely a joint effort by the Rockefeller and Morgan families, along with several Wall Street funds, planning to deliver a massive blow to the two companies through the stock market.
Ivanka and David, the manager of Fruit Fund, were completely unflustered. When it came to capital, Fruit Fund was hardly lacking, and it also had the backing of Silicon Valley capital.
Thus, a fierce battle unfolded between both sides in the stock market, fighting until the sky darkened and the earth trembled, while continuously driving up the market values of Watermelon Company and Banana Company.
By the eve of the 2011 Super Bowl weekend, Watermelon Company's share price had already skyrocketed to 1,024 dollars per share, while Banana Company's had surged to 763 dollars per share.
Such exaggerated yet rapid price increases drove countless retail investors into a frenzy.
Retail investors who had hesitated earlier out of fear of institutional harvesting were now filled with regret and hurried to join this carnival of soaring stock prices.
At this point, both sides had already reached their limits.
Next, for the Rockefeller and Morgan side, what remained was to pull away the chair and calmly watch Watermelon Company's and Banana Company's stock prices enter free fall.
When the prices hit rock bottom, they would reenter the market and acquire the shares at dirt-cheap prices.
In doing so, they would not only give Gilbert a profound lesson, but also achieve the objective the Wall Street financial groups had wanted from the very beginning.
An internet technology company, in their view, should become a multinational corporation under Wall Street's shrewd leadership, making it easier for them to harvest wealth—rather than drifting outside the financial consortium system and becoming a new force.
This was a fundamental contradiction, and it was impossible to reconcile.
After being busy for more than two months, Ivanka was utterly exhausted. In order to raise funds, Fruit Fund had no choice but to sell off part of the high-quality assets it had acquired during the financial crisis.
These mineral resources, oil and gas assets, and land holdings scattered across the world were all highly sought-after goods and were very easy to dispose of.
On the other side, while the Rockefeller family and the Morgan family were battling Fruit Fund in the stock market, they were also snapping up quite a number of high-quality assets themselves.
Although it was somewhat painful, Ivanka and Gilbert believed all of this was necessary.
After all, these premium assets had been acquired in the first place to serve as reserve blood bags, and now they were finally fulfilling their purpose.
At the Los Angeles Melon Manor, a family meeting was being held. Facing such a massive crisis, the family had to confront the challenge together.
"I think the timing is about right now. The other side is about to take their final step," Ivanka said after finishing her data report, plunging everyone into deep thought.
Naomi Watts looked toward the calm and composed Gilbert and asked, "Darling, do we have any other preparations?"
Gilbert set down the teacup in his hand and nodded to his cousin, Ellie Mays.
Ellie Mays took out a briefcase and distributed the documents inside to everyone present, then began her explanation.
"As early as 2005, Watermelon Company acquired Android and established the Android team. On November 5, 2007, Watermelon Company officially unveiled this operating system called Android to the public.
On that same day, Google announced the establishment of a global alliance organization, composed of 34 mobile phone manufacturers, software developers, telecommunications operators, and chip manufacturers.
It also formed the Open Handset Alliance together with 84 hardware manufacturers, software developers, and telecommunications operators to jointly develop and improve the Android system.
This alliance supports the mobile operating system and application software released by Google. Watermelon Company released the Android source code under the authorization of the Apache free and open-source license."
"Sorry."
Jennifer Connelly raised her hand, admitting she did not quite understand. "I didn't really get it. You mean this is a mobile phone operating system? Like Microsoft's operating system?"
"That's right."
Ellie Mays nodded affirmatively. "Unlike Apple's closed-source iOS system, the Android system is designed to unify smartphone operating systems and has achieved an astonishing market share.
At present, the Android system has been upgraded to version 2.3, with the number of compatible mobile applications reaching one hundred thousand. The smartphone era that my cousin talked about has truly arrived."