他們曾攜手登上權力與財富的高峰,直到其中一人「被消失」……
一部來自中國富豪段偉紅前夫、企業家沈棟的紀錄,揭開現代中國金權遊戲背後的腐敗與復仇。
1949年後,因富有的地主身分,祖父被打為黑五類,沈棟的家族因而背負惡名、陷入貧困。成長過程中經歷的一切,讓沈棟決心要改變自己的人生。
取得美國學位後,沈棟回到中國開創自己的事業。他隨後認識了未來的妻子,誓言在男性主導的中國商界闖出一片天的段偉紅。兩人成為最佳的事業夥伴,在與權貴家族建立的良好關係幫助下,一躍成為中國的億萬富豪,不僅在北京機場購得土地,掌握首都航空城,更在北京開發豪華酒店。他們的成功,帶來了龐大的財富,讓他們得以乘坐私人飛機、投資與捐贈大筆款項、買下昂貴的住宅、汽車和藝術品。
在中國擁抱市場力量、追求經濟繁榮的時期,他們抓住了機會,真正改變了原本的人生,直到2017年,與兒子在海外生活的沈棟,得知前妻段偉紅與三名同事失蹤。在政治環境的變化之下,他們原本取得的東西,又將回到來處。
沈棟寫下祖父母輩歷經的劫難、自身在中國的奮鬥過程,以及如今前妻遭遇的事變,不僅僅是一部中國商界闖蕩記,更是部中國現代史,以及對當今中國政權的觀察。
(文/博客來編譯)
"THE BOOK CHINA DOESN’T WANT YOU TO READ." --CNN
SELECTED AS A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR by THE ECONOMIST and FINANCIAL TIMESThis "powerful and disturbing" (Bill Browder, author of Red Notice) New York Times bestseller is narrated by a man who, with his wife, Whitney Duan, rose to the top levels of power and wealth--and then fell out of favor. Whitney had been disappeared four years before, but this book led to her dramatic reemergence.As Desmond Shum was growing up impoverished in China, he vowed his life would be different. Through hard work and sheer tenacity he earned an American college degree and returned to his native country to establish himself in business. There, he met his future wife, the highly intelligent and equally ambitious Whitney Duan who was determined to make her mark within China’s male-dominated society. Whitney and Desmond formed an effective team and, aided by relationships they formed with top members of China’s Communist Party, the so-called red aristocracy, he vaulted into China’s billionaire class. Soon they were developing the massive air cargo facility at Beijing International Airport, and they followed that feat with the creation of one of Beijing’s premier hotels. They were dazzlingly successful, traveling in private jets, funding multi-million-dollar buildings and endowments, and purchasing expensive homes, vehicles, and art. But in 2017, their fates diverged irrevocably when Desmond, while residing overseas with his son, learned that his now ex-wife Whitney had vanished along with three coworkers. This vivid, explosive memoir shows "how the Chinese government keeps business in line--and what happens when businesspeople overstep" (The New York Times) and is a "singular, highly readable insider account of the most secretive of global powers" (The Spectator).