Chapter 11

In the morning, Zhou Ming and Su Han got up, and neither of them said much about what had happened the night before. However, Zhou Ming could see Su Han's evasive eyes and her slightly flushed face, and even if he wasn't very good at understanding women, he could guess what she was thinking. After all, it wasn't like it was twenty years later, when men and women could go to a hotel on their first meeting. Su Han must have done a lot of mental preparation before coming to his room.

After having breakfast at the hotel, Zhou Ming and Su Han took a car back to Nanhui County and went directly to the Agricultural Bank. Since Zhou Ming had called Dai Zhenjiang before returning, as soon as they walked into the bank, they were immediately escorted to a reception room by the staff waiting there. Seeing Dai Zhenjiang, Zhou Ming took out 13,000 yuan from his bag and handed it to him: "Director Dai, this trip to Jiangxia didn't disappoint you. This is the interest we agreed upon."

Dai Zhenjiang took the money and looked at Zhou Ming in amazement: "It's incredible, I can hardly believe it. Did you really sell the treasury bonds in Jiangxia at an interest rate of 15%?"

Dai Zhenjiang glanced at Su Han, who was wearing a new set of clothes. Clearly, he was also momentarily dazzled by her beauty when she came in, but his focus was still on the money, so he didn't pay much attention. It wasn't until now that he remembered and thought for a moment before denying it: "No, you must have sold them at a higher interest rate. How did you manage to do it?"

Faced with Dai Zhenjiang's question, Zhou Ming just smiled and didn't answer. Dai Zhenjiang then realized his indiscretion and said, "Sorry, my question was too stupid. This is your secret to making money, how could you tell me?"

Zhou Ming showed that he didn't mind: "Director Dai, can we talk about the cooperation now?"

"Of course, of course!" Dai Zhenjiang said. It would be a fool who would turn down a sure profit.

Dai Zhenjiang looked at the time: "It's almost noon. Let me treat you to a meal at a restaurant! Also, I want to introduce a friend to you. You can't do the treasury bond business without him."

Dai Zhenjiang led Zhou Ming and Su Han to the Nanhui Hotel, the most upscale restaurant in Nanhui County. Dai Zhenjiang booked a private room, and after the three of them had been sitting in the room for a while, the door was knocked on, and a middle-aged man walked in. Zhou Ming immediately called out his name: "Doggy?"

The man who came in was Doggy, who had lent Zhou Ming high-interest loans for the treasury bond business. After Dai Zhenjiang explained, Zhou Ming understood that Dai Zhenjiang and Doggy had always had financial dealings. Doggy's real name was Li Gou, and the reason he had so much money to lend at high interest was because he got bank loans from Dai Zhenjiang. At that time, the bank's loan interest rate was extremely low, and Dai Zhenjiang and Doggy could make a lot of money from the interest rate difference.

After Dai Zhenjiang introduced him, Zhou Ming praised, "Director Dai and Doggy are really impressive. To come up with such a way to make money, you must have made a lot of money over the years."

Doggy waved his hands and said, "Don't say that. How can we compare to you, young brother? I heard from Director Dai that you only went to Jiangxia once and sold the treasury bonds at an interest rate of over 15%, which is more than what I make in half a year. If you say we're good, you're just mocking us!"

Zhou Ming didn't comment. He knew that "floating" was the slang term for high-interest loans. Selling treasury bonds was definitely better than floating. First, floating was illegal, but selling treasury bonds wasn't. Second, floating required waiting for the debtor to repay, while selling treasury bonds aimed for quick profits. Finally, and most importantly, floating was risky, as no one could guarantee that the debtor would have the ability to repay. The debtor for treasury bonds was the state, so there was no risk of default.

For these reasons, Dai Zhenjiang, seeing that Zhou Ming had returned from Jiangxia and received the promised high interest, was eager to invite him to a meal and discuss cooperation.

"Doggy, don't scare our young brother. I heard he's a college student from the provincial capital, a cultured person, not like us country bumpkins," Dai Zhenjiang said.

"College student? No wonder you could come up with such a good way to make money. College students are smarter than us!" Li Gou praised.

Su Han proudly raised her head, genuinely happy that Zhou Ming was recognized, especially by the two most economically astute and wealthy people in Nanhui County.

However, compared to Su Han, Zhou Ming was much calmer. He said to Dai Zhenjiang and Doggy, "Director Dai and Doggy, you're too kind. I just found a loophole. Without Director Dai's help and Doggy's high-interest loan, I wouldn't have made this money no matter how smart I am."

Zhou Ming's words made Dai Zhenjiang and Doggy look at him with new respect. They originally thought that Zhou Ming, being so young, would be easily flattered, but they were surprised to find that he was very clear about his situation. This made Dai Zhenjiang and Doggy even more impressed by Zhou Ming's abilities. Moreover, Zhou Ming's mention of the high-interest loan might not have been unintentional.

Doggy hesitated and said, "If you have the ability, you have it. If you don't, you don't. Don't be too modest, young brother! The high-interest loan was just a joke. I wouldn't charge you such a high interest rate! Consider it a loan from me to you as a college student. You can pay it back whenever you want, with no interest."

Su Han was stunned. She couldn't believe her ears. Doggy, known as one of the "Three Tyrants of Santang," was famous for his ruthlessness. It was said that if someone missed a month's interest, he would send people to chop off their fingers. Now, he was actually waiving Zhou Ming's interest!

Su Han glanced at Zhou Ming, feeling that this man was becoming more and more impressive!

Zhou Ming remained calm on the surface, but he was also surprised inside. His mention of the high-interest loan was indeed intentional. He originally planned to use this opportunity to renegotiate the interest rate, as a daily 10% interest was not a small amount. However, he didn't expect Doggy to waive the interest entirely, which was quite unexpected. This also made Zhou Ming realize that Dai Zhenjiang and Doggy were determined to get into the treasury bond business.

"Thank you, Doggy," Zhou Ming said. "Since Director Dai and Doggy are so generous, I shouldn't ask for more, but I hope you can help me with two things."

Dai Zhenjiang raised an eyebrow, and Doggy said, "I know. I heard about the problems at your factory. Isn't it that Factory Manager Ma posted a notice against you? I'll talk to him today, and I'm sure he'll understand. And I heard that his son, Ma Lin, has a conflict with you? If you trust me, I'll take care of it."

Zhou Ming raised his glass to Doggy, "Thank you, Doggy."

"It's a small matter," Doggy said.

Then Zhou Ming and Dai Zhenjiang discussed some specific cooperation details. The cooperation wasn't complicated, as selling treasury bonds wasn't a complex matter. The main issue was that Zhou Ming needed to gain Dai Zhenjiang and Doggy's trust. Once they cooperated, he would have to go alone to other places with 100,000 or more treasury bonds. If he only had his own money, it wouldn't be enough. But to hand over these treasury bonds to Zhou Ming and trust him not to run away with the money required courage.

Since Zhou Ming had taken the initiative to seek cooperation with Dai Zhenjiang, he had considered this. He said, "This is easy to solve. Director Dai, you don't need to give me all the treasury bonds at once. I'm not without capital. I can use my money to buy treasury bonds from you at a certain ratio. When I sell these treasury bonds in other places and get the money, I can return the difference to you. This way, my capital can accumulate, and you don't have to worry about me running away. My parents are still here, and I wouldn't abandon them. I'm not inhuman."

Doggy was delighted and slapped the table, "Young brother, you're smart. I, Li Gou, really regret not meeting you earlier!"

Dai Zhenjiang also praised, "Truly, each generation has its talented people, and the younger generation surpasses the older!"

Zhou Ming said, "Thank you, Director Dai and Doggy. I should have met you earlier. I hope you can take care of my family if anything happens."

Dai Zhenjiang nodded, "Don't worry. Although I'm just the branch manager of the Agricultural Bank, I have influence in various departments in the county. Even in Linyang City, I have many friends. As long as it's not something like treason, I can help you."

Doggy also patted his chest, "Young brother, don't worry. Your problems are my problems. If anyone dares to bully your family, I, Li Gou, will be the first to step in!"

Zhou Ming had a few more drinks with Dai Zhenjiang and Li Gou, and they talked until three in the afternoon.

After the meal, Zhou Ming and Su Han walked on the street. Su Han still couldn't believe it and looked at Zhou Ming, "Is it really settled? They will really allow you to buy 100,000 yuan worth of treasury bonds with just 20,000 yuan?"

Su Han was referring to the purchase ratio that Zhou Ming had discussed with Dai Zhenjiang and Doggy. Whether it was because they had drunk too much, or they believed that wealth required taking risks, or they trusted Zhou Ming's steady character and upright appearance, or all three, they ultimately decided that Zhou Ming could buy 100,000 yuan worth of treasury bonds with 20,000 yuan.

"Of course. I believe they wouldn't deceive us, and they really want to convert the treasury bonds into cash as quickly as possible," Zhou Ming explained.

"That's great!" Su Han said happily. "We have nearly 30,000 yuan now, so we can buy 120,000 yuan worth of treasury bonds. At an interest rate of 18% in Jiangxia, we can make 21,600 yuan in interest in one go!"

"Yes, and we don't have to go door-to-door to collect treasury bonds like before. Doggy will find people to do that. We just need to buy them directly from Director Dai," Zhou Ming added.

"It's just a pity that we have to give a large portion to Director Dai and Doggy," Su Han said unhappily.

Zhou Ming patted her head, "Be content. Without their help, we probably couldn't monopolize the entire Nanhui County treasury bond market."

Zhou Ming was speaking from the heart. This was the main reason he had planned to cooperate with Dai Zhenjiang from the beginning. Collecting treasury bonds on his own was limited by manpower, and the factory had only so many people, so the amount of treasury bonds they could collect was limited. But with the help of Dai Zhenjiang and Doggy, the efficiency would be much higher, and they could collect official Nanhui County treasury bonds, which was something a small factory like 760 couldn't match.

At this moment, Su Han suddenly remembered and asked Zhou Ming, "What about Ma Lin? Will Doggy deal with him?"

Zhou Ming was confident, "As long as Doggy is sincere about cooperating with us, he has no reason not to deal with Ma Lin."