At three o'clock in the morning, the computer screen flickered with a soft glow. Lin Shen refreshed the trading page for the 17th time, as the Bitcoin candlestick chart shook violently like a roller coaster. He licked his cracked lips, his finger trembling slightly above the confirm button for 10x leverage.

Three days ago, he was just a nine-to-five programmer until he heard at a class reunion that Zhou Ming had bought a riverside apartment in cash after six months of trading cryptocurrencies. At this moment, his Huobi account held a freshly deposited 50,000 yuan, money that was originally meant for a diamond ring for his fiancée.

"BTC breaks 68,000!" A bold red announcement suddenly popped up in the Telegram group. Lin Shen pressed the mouse hard, and the 5x leverage long position was executed instantly. The candlestick chart surged up like a wild horse, and his account balance jumped every second; three hours later, his profit had already exceeded half a month's salary.

On the seventh day, he quit his job. The rental apartment was filled with Red Bull cans, and inspirational quotes from 'The Wolf of Wall Street' were posted on the wall. When his weekly earnings exceeded 80%, he adjusted the leverage to a reckless 125x and even secretly transferred out 300,000 yuan meant for the down payment.

Until that stormy night, when the central bank's announcement about cleaning up virtual currency trading fell into the crypto sphere like a meteor. Lin Shen watched helplessly as BTC plummeted 15% within ten minutes, with margin call alerts popping up continuously. He frantically recharged his account, maxing out six credit cards, but each time he tried to add more funds, it felt like pouring water into a leaking boat.

"Your account has triggered automatic liquidation; remaining margin: 2.00 USDT." When this gray text appeared, the noise of the morning rush hour came from outside. Lin Shen stared at that glaring number, suddenly recalling what his fiancée had said three months ago when she left: "There’s a green light in your eyes, like a gambler who has lost everything."

The exchange's sunrise effect lit up on time, the pink-purple gradient background beautiful yet ironic. He trembled as he transferred the last 2 USDT into his wallet, the transaction fee exactly deducted 1.8. Now there quietly lay 0.2 USDT, just enough to buy a nearly expired rice ball at the convenience store.