在2022年7月到8月的十大新闻中，一个关于“阜兴系”巨擘动荡的故事引起了市场的广泛关注。草根投资曾是其旗下公司钡耐贸易有限公司的巨额授信人之一，这个消息如同一道闪电划破宁静，迅速传遍了金融圈和公众。

据透露，上市公司洲际油气曾在5月底发布公告，计划向草根网络投资不超过人民币5亿元。这笔资金被视为对草根投资平台信心的一种体现，同时也揭示了两者的紧密关系。事实上，调查发现草根投资与阜兴集团有着千丝万缕的联系，其中包括一家名为“杭州钡耐贸易公司”的标的项目，该项目与阜兴集团旗下的另一家公司有关联。

grassroot investment, a financial platform that has been in operation since 2014, had previously invested heavily in a company called "Five Happiness Gate", which was supposed to use the funds to purchase nickel from overseas suppliers. The project was expected to generate a profit of 15% per sale, and the repayment plan was based on the company selling the goods and using the proceeds to repay the loan.

However, an investigation by journalists revealed that grassroot investment had provided significant loans to another company under the wing of Thangxin Group - "Pine Needle Trading Co.", Ltd., which is also connected with Thangxin Group's subsidiaries. This connection raised questions about how much influence Thangxin Group actually held over grassroot investment.

The story took a turn when it emerged that one of grassroot investment's shareholders had connections with Thangxin Group. The shareholder, named Wang Wei, had previously worked for Thangxin Group before joining grassroot investment as an investor.

As news of this connection spread like wildfire across financial circles and public forums alike, investors began questioning whether they could trust their investments in companies linked with such powerful conglomerates. Was this just another case of corporate greed or were there more sinister forces at play? Only time would tell as investigators dug deeper into these tangled webs of power and finance.