Chapter 4 of 100

Chapter 4

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San Tang is a town in the southeastern part of Nanhui County and is also a famous gambling town in Nanhui. It is adjacent to Nanting County, which is rich in coal resources, with many small coal mines operating illegally. The coal bosses and miners, having money and nothing to do, often seek excitement by gambling in San Tang. Along with the development of gambling, high-interest loans also flourished. In those days, when people in Nanhui mentioned prostitution, gambling, and high-interest loans, their first thought was always San Tang.

Zhang Lei borrowed two bicycles from the factory and took leave from his boss. He and Zhou Ming rode the bicycles to San Tang. Since San Tang was quite chaotic at the time and Su Han was exceptionally beautiful, Zhou Ming decided not to bring her along, adhering to the principle that it's better to avoid trouble.

Zhang Lei's brother-in-law was a factory leader, and Zhang Lei had accompanied him to handle matters here before, even helping the factory borrow high-interest loans. Therefore, he knew the way and led Zhou Ming to the place, a four-story building. It might not sound impressive, but at that time, it was quite remarkable, even better than the town government building!

After parking the bicycles, Zhang Lei asked with some concern, "Zhou Ming, are you really going to borrow a high-interest loan? It's hard to borrow and even harder to repay, especially with the exorbitant interest rates. Even the factory needs to be mentally prepared to borrow such loans."

"We must borrow!" Zhou Ming said firmly. "As for repayment, Dazhuang, have you forgotten the treasury bonds we exchanged at the bank? With that interest, do you think we can't repay it?"

"I understand, but I still think borrowing a high-interest loan for this business is too risky," Zhang Lei said. He understood Zhou Ming's point, but he couldn't get over the mental hurdle.

"Dazhuang, relax. To do business, you need a bit of冒险精神. This business must be quick in and quick out, but if we succeed, we'll be big bosses!" Zhou Ming patted Zhang Lei's shoulder. With the memory of the next twenty years, Zhou Ming knew that the market is best entered as early as possible. Missing the best opportunity means only picking up the leftovers. In the financial sector, this is especially true. Imagine if everyone in the factory knew that treasury bonds could be exchanged for money, where would they go to collect them? More importantly, Zhou Ming was worried about his father's worsening condition and needed to earn as much money as possible in the shortest time.

With this belief, Zhou Ming and Zhang Lei entered the building. It was different from what Zhou Ming had imagined. The building was clearly designed, with a layout similar to a bank, complete with counters and chairs, though without the iron bars. It looked very formal, far from the chaotic scenes of other high-interest loan places, which gave Zhou Ming confidence in borrowing the money today.

"This is Dog Grandpa's place. He is a powerful figure in Nanhui and one of the richest families in the county," Zhang Lei introduced to Zhou Ming.

Zhou Ming nodded and approached the counter. A young man inside looked up and asked, "Where are you from? How much do you want to borrow?"

"Brother, we're from Factory 760, and we want to borrow ten thousand yuan," Zhou Ming said.

This amount made the young man look up sharply. He sized up Zhou Ming and Zhang Lei, then said with a look of disbelief, "Are you two crazy? Asking to borrow ten thousand yuan, do you know where you are? Don't mess around here, get lost."

Zhou Ming gave Zhang Lei a look, and Zhang Lei said, "Brother, my brother-in-law is Director Fang of Factory 760, and he has a good relationship with Dog Grandpa. Why don't you call him out, he knows me."

The young man thought for a moment and then called down a middle-aged man from upstairs. Zhou Ming knew this was Dog Grandpa.

Dog Grandpa nodded at Zhang Lei and said, "I remember you, you often come here with Director Fang, but borrowing ten thousand yuan is still too much."

At this point, Zhou Ming stepped forward and said, "Dog Grandpa, the amount of money isn't important. What's important is that with my brother-in-law, we can definitely repay you."

"Repay? Sounds good, but do you think it's just a few yuan? Can you really repay it just by saying you can?" Dog Grandpa said. "But let's put it this way, since you're clearly in need, if you really want to borrow, one percent interest per day, can you accept that?"

"Yes," Zhou Ming answered without hesitation.

"I said one percent interest per day. For ten thousand yuan, you pay one hundred yuan in interest per day. One day's interest is equal to a month's salary at the factory, and twelve days equal a year's salary," Dog Grandpa reminded him.

Zhang Lei sucked in a breath, but Zhou Ming remained calm, "I know."

Zhou Ming's confidence surprised Dog Grandpa. He had deliberately said this to play with the two young men, but he didn't expect this guy to actually agree. Was he a fool? Or did he not understand the concept of compound interest? However, these were not Dog Grandpa's concerns. He knew that if someone was willing to pay such high interest, it would be unreasonable not to agree.

So Dog Grandpa said, "Since you're so sincere, I'll lend you ten thousand yuan, one percent interest per day. If you can't repay, don't blame me for being unfriendly."

"No problem, I guarantee I'll repay within a week!" Zhou Ming said.

...

After getting the money from Dog Grandpa, Zhou Ming and Zhang Lei rode back to the factory. As soon as they reached the intersection, they saw Su Han waiting anxiously.

Seeing Zhou Ming and Zhang Lei return, Su Han ran over and asked, "How did it go? Did you get the money?"

Zhou Ming patted his bag and said, "Of course, ten thousand yuan is all here."

Su Han exclaimed in surprise, "You really got ten thousand yuan? I was worried those high-interest loan people wouldn't lend to us!"

"With Dazhuang's brother-in-law's reputation, it was easy to borrow the money," Zhou Ming said. "Alright, since we're all set, let's get to work."

With that, Zhou Ming led Su Han and Zhang Lei to the front of the employee dormitories. Looking at the buildings, thinking about starting to collect treasury bonds, Zhang Lei asked excitedly, "Which house should we start with?"

"Any house will do, just don't get too excited and say something you shouldn't," Zhou Ming warned.

Zhang Lei nodded vigorously, "No problem, Zhou Ming, you do the talking, I'll just stand by and watch, I won't say a word."

On the other side, Su Han was also biting her lip, clearly nervous. She had never heard of reselling treasury bonds before and was only doing this because of her trust in Zhou Ming.

"Relax," Zhou Ming patted Zhang Lei's shoulder and said to both of them. Then he went to the first house and knocked on the door. They were lucky; someone was home.

A woman in her thirties opened the door and looked Zhou Ming up and down, asking, "Who are you looking for? What do you want?"

"Hello, ma'am, I'm also from the factory. I'm sorry to disturb you, but I was wondering if you have any treasury bonds, like this one," Zhou Ming said, showing her a treasury bond.

The woman looked at the treasury bond and nodded, "I have some, what's the matter?"

"Can I see them? I want to buy them," Zhou Ming asked.

"Oh, wait a moment."

The woman went inside and brought out a metal box containing several dozen treasury bonds, mostly ten yuan, a few fifty yuan, and two one hundred yuan. It was clear that the family's conditions were not bad. Zhou Ming carefully selected the ones that were due and returned the metal box to the woman, saying, "I'll buy these treasury bonds, a total of 415 yuan. A few are too old, so I'll give you 400 yuan, is that okay?"

"Sure, no problem. This stuff is useless at home anyway," the woman said cheerfully. "But what about the rest, are you not taking them?"

"Ma'am, you can keep the rest. I'll come back to collect them later."

Zhou Ming took out 400 yuan from his bag and handed it to the woman, "Ma'am, here's 400 yuan, please count it."

The woman took the money and laughed, "Four hundred yuan, I won't count it wrong. But you should count the treasury bonds carefully, don't lose out."

"Thank you, ma'am. I've counted several times, the total is 415 yuan, but a few are too old, so I gave you a discount."

Zhou Ming handed the treasury bonds to Su Han to put in her bag, then asked the woman, "Ma'am, do you know your neighbors well?"

"I've lived here for almost ten years since I got married, I know them all very well," the woman said.

"Great," Zhou Ming said, "Can I ask you for a favor?"

The woman nodded, "What favor?"

"I want you to help me collect the treasury bonds from the other neighbors in this building. I'll come back to collect them later, okay?" Zhou Ming saw the woman hesitate and added, "Ma'am, I won't let you do this for free. I'll give you ten yuan as a thank you."

The woman smiled, "Young man, you're too kind. Neighbors are like family, and the people in this building have been hoping someone would come to collect these treasury bonds. They're all on the night shift today, so they're at home. I'll go knock on their doors for you. When will you come to collect?"

"About half an hour later, is that okay?" Zhou Ming asked.

"No problem," the woman said, waving her hand generously.

"Thank you, ma'am. I don't even know your name," Zhou Ming asked politely.

"My surname is Wei."

Leaving Wei's house, Zhou Ming, Su Han, and Zhang Lei split up to knock on other doors. However, since it was still working hours, only a few people were home. Zhou Ming knocked on several doors, but no one was there.

"Zhou Ming."

Just as Zhou Ming was about to knock on another door, he heard someone call his name. He turned around and saw a girl in a floral dress standing not far away. It was his ex-girlfriend, Zhang Qian, who was now with Ma Lin.

If it were the old Zhou Ming, he would have been furious, but after twenty years, Zhou Ming had let go of many things. He asked calmly, "What's up?"

Zhang Qian was taken aback by Zhou Ming's indifference and looked at him with a complex expression for a while before saying, "Zhou Ming, why don't you apologize to Ma Lin? That way, you can return to the factory and get your benefits back. You're a college graduate, you have a long future ahead, don't ruin your prospects over a grudge."

"Let me go back to the factory and be ridiculed by Ma Lin every day?" Zhou Ming laughed. "Sorry, I'm not as cheap as you think."

"Why can't you just lower your head once? Do you think staying at home is good for you?" Zhang Qian glanced at the treasury bonds in Zhou Ming's hand and continued, "What are you doing now? Collecting treasury bonds? Is that useful? Can't you do something more decent and make me respect you?"

"Did Ma Lin send you to find me?" Zhou Ming asked coldly. "Don't worry about what I'm doing. Just tell him that even though he has a good father, I will earn a lot of money, more than anyone else!"

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