Chapter 6

*Slap!*

When a thick stack of hundred-yuan bills was placed on the table in front of them, Su Han and Zhang Lei’s eyes immediately widened. Although the bank manager had already said that the exchange could be made, the impact of actually seeing over 15,000 yuan in front of them was completely different from just hearing the amount.

"Here is your principal and interest, a total of 15,334.58 yuan. Please count it," the manager said.

At this moment, Su Han and Zhang Lei were so shocked that they couldn’t speak. In contrast, Zhou Ming was much calmer. He took the over 15,000 yuan and carefully counted it three times before looking up at the manager and saying, "It’s correct."

After saying this, Zhou Ming put the money into his bag, stood up, and said to the manager, "Thank you, Manager Dai. I’ll be going now."

"Alright, let me see you out," the manager replied.

As the manager escorted Zhou Ming, Su Han, and Zhang Lei out of the bank, he suddenly asked Zhou Ming, "Comrade, can you tell me where you got these treasury bonds from?"

Actually, Zhou Ming had been cautious when the manager offered to see them out. Now, hearing the manager’s question, he thought, "As expected," and then smiled, answering, "I’m here to exchange them on behalf of the employees and families of Factory 760."

This made the manager pause for a moment. He just smiled and shook his head, then walked back into the bank without saying anything.

Outside the bank, Su Han clung tightly to Zhou Ming’s clothes, her dark almond eyes looking at him excitedly, "Zhou Ming, is this real? Did we really exchange over 15,000 yuan? Are we not dreaming?"

It’s no wonder Su Han was so flustered. Just a few hours ago, she was worried about a fine of a few dozen yuan, but now, in just a short time with Zhou Ming, they had easily earned 5,000 yuan. Anyone would find it hard to believe!

Zhou Ming smiled at Su Han and said, "Of course this isn’t a dream. We have indeed exchanged over 15,000 yuan, and not only that, we will earn even more in the future."

At this moment, Zhang Lei chuckled and said, "Yeah, in just a few hours, we earned over 5,000 yuan. If we work hard every day, we can make two or three trips to the bank, which would be 15,000 yuan a day. In a month, that’s over 400,000 yuan. In two or three months, we’ll be millionaires and can lend money at high interest rates like Dog Grandpa in Sanyang!"

Zhou Ming, however, slapped him and said, "Dream on! Your calculations are good, but don’t forget how many treasury bonds our factory has. And the reason we can do this so easily now is because no one knows the value of treasury bonds, and no one is competing with us. But do you think no one will notice if we keep doing this? Once others find out, do you think it will still be this easy to make money?"

Zhou Ming paused and then continued, "Did you notice the question the manager asked me when I was leaving the bank? I think he might have already noticed something."

Zhou Ming’s words were like a bolt of lightning, shocking Su Han awake.

Although Su Han didn’t understand much about economics or business, she knew that when only one person is selling eggs in the market, they will always make money. But once others start selling eggs too, it becomes much harder to sell. The same goes for treasury bonds. If the bank manager starts competing, it might only take a day for all the treasury bonds in Factory 760 to be gone. And those who lend money at high interest rates have muscle, so how could they compete?

Thinking about this, Su Han asked Zhou Ming anxiously, "Zhou Ming, what should we do?"

"Don’t worry. I think no one will compete with us for at least three days. If we work hard during these three days, we can earn our first pot of gold. As for the future," Zhou Ming pointed to his head, "I have other ideas to make money."

Su Han had always trusted Zhou Ming’s words, and now, seeing his almost magical ability to turn things into gold, she trusted him even more. She said, "Let’s go back and continue collecting treasury bonds."

Zhou Ming nodded and said, "Of course, we should go back. I’m sure Sister Wei has already gathered her relatives and friends, waiting for me to come and collect the treasury bonds."

Hearing Zhou Ming’s words, Su Han burst out laughing. She thought about how those people were mocking Zhou Ming as a fool while continuously giving him money, allowing him to earn in a few hours what they would take years to earn. She wondered who the real fool was. If they realized this later, they would surely regret it. Ha! They deserved it for trying to take advantage of Zhou Ming and not being as smart as him, not understanding the value of treasury bonds!

"Xiao Han, what are you daydreaming about? We need to go back to the factory," Zhou Ming said.

Su Han said, "Oh," and sat on the back of Zhou Ming’s bike, holding onto his clothes. She looked at his broad back, thinking that without Zhou Ming, she would probably be like Sister Wei, thinking she was smart while actually being a fool. She remembered that her family had even considered using treasury bonds to cover the windows. Now, thinking about it, she felt so foolish.

Zhou Ming, who had returned from university, was indeed smart and capable. Having such a man by her side was a good thing.

Thinking this, Su Han gently leaned her head on Zhou Ming’s back, carefully observing his reaction. Seeing that he didn’t react, she felt secretly pleased, as if she was taking advantage of him while he was taking advantage of the factory workers.

About ten minutes later, Zhou Ming brought Su Han and Zhang Lei back to the factory. As predicted, with Sister Wei spreading the news, many people were already waiting at the factory entrance. Seeing Zhou Ming on his bike, they immediately waved their arms excitedly, competing to be the first to sell their treasury bonds, fearing they would miss out.

Thus, Zhou Ming’s 15,000 yuan was quickly collected again. After this trip to the bank, the 15,000 yuan had turned into 22,000 yuan.

After this exchange, due to the time, the county bank had closed, so Zhou Ming and the others went home.

Just as Zhou Ming reached his front door, he saw his parents standing there with stern faces, clearly waiting for him, having heard about his large-scale collection of treasury bonds.

Su Han and Zhang Lei wanted to help Zhou Ming explain, but Zhou Ming told them it was fine and asked them to go home first. Zhou Ming then said to his parents, "Mom, Dad, let’s talk about this inside."

As soon as they entered the house, Zhou Ming’s father, Zhou Guoping, asked, "I heard you collected about 7,000 to 8,000 yuan in treasury bonds at the factory?"

"It’s not 7,000 to 8,000, it’s 10,000," Zhou Ming answered honestly, "I collected 10,000 the first time and 15,000 the second time."

Zhou Ming’s answer shocked his parents. They had thought he had only collected 7,000 to 8,000 yuan, but they didn’t expect him to have collected twice, and each time more than the last.

Mother Wang Fengqin worriedly said, "Zhou Ming, where did you get so much money? You’re not doing anything illegal, are you?"

"Of course not. The money is from Su Han, Dazhuang, and me. Don’t you trust your son?" Zhou Ming said.

"But why did you collect so much money to buy treasury bonds instead of doing something else? Do you know that everyone in the factory is mocking you?" Wang Fengqin said.

"Let them mock. Here, Mom, Dad, this is the money I made today from trading treasury bonds," Zhou Ming said, taking out 20,000 yuan.

Seeing the 20,000 yuan, Zhou Ming’s parents were speechless. They had worked in the factory all their lives, earning at most a hundred yuan a month. They had never seen so much money, especially when they heard that Zhou Ming had made over 12,000 yuan in just an afternoon by trading treasury bonds.

"Buying treasury bonds at a low price and selling them to the bank for interest, isn’t this speculation?" Wang Fengqin worriedly said, "If anyone asks, tell them I made you do it, and you know nothing about it, understand?"

Zhou Ming smiled bitterly. In the future, buying low and selling high was a normal business practice, especially in the financial market, where short-term profits were almost impossible without speculation. But in the old generation’s view, this was speculation, a crime punishable by death. That’s why Wang Fengqin was so worried, even willing to take the blame herself, a testament to a mother’s love.

"Mom, it’s fine. The central government has issued a document stating that my actions are legal," Zhou Ming explained to Wang Fengqin.

"Really? How can this be legal?" Wang Fengqin still didn’t believe it.

Zhou Ming had no choice but to find an old newspaper and show it to Wang Fengqin. After seeing the news that the central government allowed free trading of treasury bonds, his parents finally felt relieved.

"Who would have thought that treasury bonds could be so profitable? My son is truly capable, much more so than those in the factory!" Wang Fengqin sighed.

After reassuring his parents, Zhou Ming asked Zhou Guoping, "Dad, how is your health? If you’re not feeling well, you should go to the hospital. I’ve earned so much money, so medical expenses are no problem."

Zhou Guoping shook his head and said, "It’s fine. I went to the hospital after work and got some medicine. I feel much better now. You should keep the money for yourself."

Wang Fengqin also said, "Your father’s stomach problems are old issues. There’s no need to waste money on them."

Zhou Ming was very worried but couldn’t do anything about his parents, who had always been frugal. However, he was determined to earn more money and, if necessary, send his father to the hospital even if his parents didn’t agree.