Chapter 20 of 100

Chapter 20

14 min read3,539 words

As the night breeze blew, Zhou Ming and Lin Muqing walked back to the factory. Along the way, Zhou Ming hummed, "What kind of rhythm is the most swaying, what kind of song is the most joyful," clearly in high spirits after persuading Dai Zhenjiang to help him secure a 400,000 yuan loan. Originally, Zhou Ming had planned to borrow 200,000 or 300,000 yuan from the county agricultural bank, which would have been enough. After all, in 1987, when monthly incomes were less than 100 yuan, several hundred thousand yuan was an astronomical sum. A 400,000 yuan loan was already a pleasant surprise beyond his expectations.

Lin Muqing listened to Zhou Ming humming a song she had never heard before, feeling as if she were in a dream. She remembered when Zhou Ming first told her about borrowing money to do business in Nanjiang, she thought he was being overly ambitious. In her memory, even the leaders of the city TV station found it difficult to secure such a large loan, yet Zhou Ming managed to negotiate it over a meal.

"Zhou Ming, what kind of magic trick did you pull off?" Lin Muqing asked, incredulous.

Hearing Lin Muqing's voice, Zhou Ming turned and smiled slightly, saying mysteriously, "Sister Muqing, this isn't a magic trick, but a matter of seizing the opportunity. 400,000 yuan is indeed a large sum, but to me and Director Dai, it's not as significant as you think. When Director Dai and I were doing the treasury bond business, we often traveled across the country with 100,000 or 200,000 yuan in treasury bonds. Now, a 400,000 yuan loan is nothing compared to that. Why wouldn't he do me a favor?"

Zhou Ming paused for a moment and continued, "Besides, I offered him the treasury bond business he has always wanted. He had no reason to refuse."

The loan approval process in the bank was very lax in those days. Even Lin Muqing, who knew nothing about finance, understood that whether a loan could be approved and how much could be borrowed was entirely up to Dai Zhenjiang, the director of the county agricultural bank.

"Still..." Lin Muqing asked, "Are you not regretful about using the treasury bond business as leverage?"

"Sister Muqing, are you thinking that I'm killing the goose that lays the golden eggs?" Zhou Ming asked. Lin Muqing lowered her head, embarrassed, because that was exactly what she was thinking. However, Zhou Ming was not angry. He said, "Sister Muqing, the premise of killing the goose is that the treasury bond business will be more profitable than my business in Nanjiang."

Lin Muqing, realizing this, asked, "Are you saying that your business in Nanjiang will be more profitable than the treasury bond business?"

"Much more, so much that you can't even imagine," Zhou Ming said.

Lin Muqing gasped in surprise. She couldn't understand Zhou Ming's words. In her view, Zhou Ming had made nearly 100,000 yuan in half a month by trading treasury bonds, which was already an unimaginable speed. Some of the factory's workshops, with their poor performance, couldn't even produce that much in half a month. Yet Zhou Ming said his future business would be even more profitable. Did he have the ability to turn stones into gold?

Zhou Ming could read Lin Muqing's thoughts. He said, "Sister Muqing, I don't have the ability to turn stones into gold, but I have the ambition to make a lot of money!"

Lin Muqing stared at Zhou Ming, feeling the firm belief he conveyed through his words. The confidence in Zhou Ming's eyes pierced her heart, making her feel that he was incredibly charming, and she was almost mesmerized.

After a while, Lin Muqing came to her senses and quickly turned her head away, silently scolding herself for being so infatuated with a younger man.

...

The day passed quickly, and by the morning of the third day, Zhou Ming received good news from Dai Zhenjiang. He immediately went to find Lin Muqing and together they went to the county agricultural bank.

In the reception room of the county agricultural bank, Dai Zhenjiang took out two contracts and said to Zhou Ming, "Although we are good friends, we still need to follow the procedures. This is the 400,000 yuan loan contract with an annual interest rate of 5%. Do you have any questions? If not, you can sign it, and I will immediately deposit the 400,000 yuan into your account."

Zhou Ming shook his head, saying there were no issues. As Dai Zhenjiang had said, today was just a formality. The content of the contract had already been discussed the previous day, so there were no problems.

Zhou Ming signed the contract without hesitation. According to the contract, Dai Zhenjiang quickly instructed the bank accountant to deposit the money into Zhou Ming's account.

After filing the contract with the bank staff and asking them to leave the reception room, Dai Zhenjiang said to Zhou Ming, "Xiao Zhou, now that the contract is signed and filed, and the money has been deposited into your account, can you share the secret of the treasury bond business with me?"

Zhou Ming knew this was what Dai Zhenjiang most wanted to know today. He didn't keep him in suspense and said directly, "Director Dai, there's no secret to my treasury bond business. I just know that the interest rates in places like Jiangxia and Haibin are higher than here. I take the treasury bonds from you and sell them there, making a profit from the difference."

"Is it that simple?" Dai Zhenjiang asked.

Zhou Ming nodded, and Dai Zhenjiang continued, "How high are the interest rates in Jiangxia and Haibin?"

"When I went to Jiangxia, the interest rate was 18%, and in Haibin, it was 21%," Zhou Ming said.

"21%?" Dai Zhenjiang's eyes widened in disbelief. "How can the interest rate be 21%? Is the interest rate in our Nanhui County too low? But we are all part of the banking system, how can their rates be so much higher than ours?"

Zhou Ming understood Dai Zhenjiang's confusion. Even 20 years later, when people looked back on this, they found it hard to understand why there was such a significant difference in treasury bond interest rates across different cities. But regardless of whether you could understand it, this was how it happened in that special era.

"Director Dai, that's the reality. If you don't believe me, you can call and check," Zhou Ming said.

Dai Zhenjiang stared at Zhou Ming for a while and finally sighed, "You've already made so much money using this method, and the facts are right in front of me. How can I not believe you? I just didn't expect it to be so simple. But even if it's simple, it's not easy to discover and have the courage to do it. Zhou Ming, I've never admired anyone in my life, but you are one of them!"

Zhou Ming smiled and said thank you. At this moment, Lin Muqing was so surprised she couldn't speak. She never thought that Dai Zhenjiang, the director of the county agricultural bank, would be so sincerely impressed by a young man ten years his junior. Even more surprising to her was that the treasury bond business was so simple. Zhou Ming had just traveled between cities with treasury bonds and made nearly 100,000 yuan.

Lin Muqing looked at Zhou Ming's profile and thought, "He said his future business would be more profitable than the treasury bond business. What kind of business could that be? Would it be even simpler? I'm really looking forward to going to Nanjiang with him..."

Thinking this, Lin Muqing suddenly scolded herself in her heart: "What am I thinking? How can I be so shameless, looking forward to traveling hundreds of miles to another city with a man, even though he is younger than me, he is still a man!"

...

After leaving the county agricultural bank, Zhou Ming and Lin Muqing went home together. Only his mother, Wang Fengqin, was at home. When asked where his father was, Wang Fengqin said he had gone to the factory to find the leadership.

Zhou Ming's heart sank. Since his father was fired from the factory, he had been going to the factory every day to find the leadership, but the people at the factory either refused to see him or passed the buck. His father, being honest and straightforward, had no way to deal with them.

"Mom, it's okay if Dad loses his job. It's okay if both of you lose your jobs, but don't get into conflicts with the people at the factory. They are unreasonable," Zhou Ming said.

Wang Fengqin replied, "Don't worry, your father is the kind of person who wouldn't even fart if you hit him with a stick. He wouldn't get into any conflict with the factory leadership."

"That's good," Zhou Ming said, then told his mother about his plan to go to Nanjiang with Lin Muqing to do business.

Wang Fengqin looked at Lin Muqing, who introduced herself naturally, "Auntie, I'm Lin Muqing, I used to work at the factory TV station."

Wang Fengqin scrutinized Lin Muqing for a moment, then pulled Zhou Ming aside, "Zhou Ming, what's going on? You're not seeing Su Han anymore, and now you're with this woman? Don't you know what people at the factory say about her? She's not a good woman, she's deceiving you!"

"Mom, it's not like you think. Sister Muqing and I are just going to Nanjiang to do business. We have no relationship," Zhou Ming explained. "And the things people say about Sister Muqing are just rumors."

"Rumors don't come from nowhere," Wang Fengqin said. "How do you know if they are rumors or not? Zhou Ming, you're still young and don't understand many things. I don't oppose you going to Nanjiang to do business with her, but you must not have any relationship with her, do you understand?"

Zhou Ming didn't know what to say to his mother's words. A woman like Lin Muqing, any man would want to have a relationship with her, but his mother wouldn't allow it, as if he would be at a disadvantage if he did. In his mother's eyes, her son was always the best, and the factory people's opinions of Lin Muqing were not good.

"I understand," Zhou Ming said.

Wang Fengqin reiterated her warnings to Zhou Ming before feeling reassured. Zhou Ming and Lin Muqing were leaving the next day, and the train tickets were still booked as sleeper tickets with Dai Zhenjiang's help.

That evening, Zhou Ming had dinner with his parents at home. Zhou Ming knew that his father had still not received any results from his visit to the factory leadership that day. At the dinner table, Zhou Ming looked at his father's silent expression and silently vowed: "Just wait, in at most half a year, I will come back. I will buy the entire 760 Factory and make sure my parents are no longer bullied by those scoundrels!"

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