Lost five hundred K in crypto, ran to Hong Kong to self-immolate.
The results were held down by SIR at McDonald's.
This story begins with an ordinary number: five hundred K RMB.
A 34-year-old man from Wenzhou, Zhejiang, reported as unemployed. From February to May, he poured his hard-earned money into some crypto platform.
Like many who once believed tomorrow would be better, he thought there was a chance to turn things around. The candlesticks on the screen rose and fell, as if fate were playing a long joke on him. In the end, five hundred K RMB vanished like smoke, gently dissipating...
He couldn't accept it. So, he kept filing complaints on the platform, like a drowning man clutching at straws. But the platform was eerily silent, as if that money had never existed.
The more he complained, the hotter the fire in his heart burned, until it finally consumed him.
On May 13, he went to Hong Kong with a round-trip permit. The next morning, he left his last words on the platform and social media: he was going to set himself on fire in Hong Kong Park...
He even took a photo, holding a gas canister with an expression so calm it was almost solemn, as if he was completing something that should have been done long ago.
He wanted the world to see just how far a person can go when they've lost everything.
The people on the platform saw it; they stopped being silent and reported it to the police.
At 12:30 PM, in the McDonald's at Pacific Place in Admiralty, people were coming and going, and the air was filled with the smell of fries and burgers. The man with the surname Li sat there, eating lunch alone, like an ordinary tourist.
The police suddenly appeared and restrained him. They found a lighter and two bottles of flammable liquid on him—exactly what he intended to use to end it all.
He originally planned to finish this meal and then head to the park to light himself up, leaving a trail of smoke for the world.
Fortunately, nothing happened.
No one was injured, and no one needed to be evacuated. Those two bottles and that lighter just lay quietly in the evidence bag, like two unfinished sentences.
Later, he was charged with 'possessing items with intent to destroy or damage property'. He appeared in the Eastern District Court on May 15, and the case was postponed to June 26.
Maybe he is still detained, sitting in a quiet place, perhaps thinking about that half a million, or maybe reflecting on earlier times, hoping he is doing well. 🙏
That's how life is; it often brings people to the edge of a cliff, only to gently pull them back at the last moment. Half a million is gone, but life remains. Yet that number, which once seemed capable of changing fate, has become a dull knife, slowly cutting into many people's dreams.
In today's era, many people chase the same things in front of screens, thinking they are smart, brave, and lucky, until one day they realize that no one on the other side of the screen has ever really cared about their wins or losses.
The man with the surname Li is just one of many, and certainly not the last.
Let's be rational, guys.
Cash can be lost, but you can always earn more; once life is gone, there's truly nothing left.
(Source: Hong Kong Police, East Net, Hong Kong 01, Wen Wei Po, Sing Tao Daily, May 2026)