My autobiography is definitely not a tragedy!
Chapter 185 - 154 Cater to Their Interests

Chapter 185: Chapter 154 Cater to Their Interests

The next morning, Galaxy Securities.

"Manager! Manager! We’ve got a big deal!" Tony burst into the office excitedly.

"How big of a deal?"

The bald manager nibbled on a one yuan bun and sipped soy milk costing two yuan, lifting his head lethargically to glance at him.

There was no helping it, recently the bonuses had drastically decreased, on top of housing and car loans...

One’s economic standing dictates their status within the family, which is why the allowance he got from his wife had also seen a significant cut, forcing him to tighten his belt...

"A 300 million deal!"

"Pfft! Cough cough!" The manager spat out a mouthful of soy milk.

"You... how much did you say?"

"300 million!" Tony’s face turned a bright red.

"You’re talking about South Vietnam Dong?"

"I’m talking about RMB!"

The manager’s breath suddenly quickened.

"Come on, spill it, what’s going on?"

"It was this morning, I suddenly got a call, the lady on the other end said she was the chairman of Changqing Biological, wanting to do financing and securities lending. If the conditions were satisfactory, she’d directly deposit 300 million with us!"

"Hmm?"

After his initial excitement, the now calm manager became instantly alert.

Doesn’t he know all too well what social standing Teacher Tony has? Let alone knowing a big boss with a net worth in the hundreds of millions, a few million was about the ceiling for his social connections.

"It’s not a scam call, is it?"

Who’s to say scam calls only target individuals? These days, ruthless scammers don’t even spare the government, let alone companies.

"Er... it shouldn’t be, she said she was referred by Mr. Meng! That Meng Lang, you remember him, right, Manager?"

"Even turned to ash, I couldn’t forget him!" The manager rolled his eyes.

If it weren’t for him, would his department, with its soaring performance, have ended up like this?

"She also asked us to go directly to the headquarters of Changqing Biological for a detailed discussion. I checked, and Changqing definitely has the strength to come up with a few hundred million."

This time the bald manager began to believe it. After all, there was no need for such an easily disproven lie.

"Let’s go! Bring the contract, we’re heading there right now!"

"How should we draft the terms of the contract?"

"Are you stupid? This is a 300 million capital we’re talking about! Of course, we draft it with the most favorable conditions!"

...

Half an hour later, at Changqing Biological headquarters.

"Knock knock!"

"Come in."

"Chairman Gao, your guests have arrived." The receptionist let Niu Ben and the bald manager into the office.

"Alright, you can leave. Which one of you is Teacher Tony?" Gao Yuan put down the file in her hand and looked up at the two men.

"Err, that’s me. I’m not worthy of the title ’Teacher’! Truly unworthy!"

Upon seeing the chairman calling him by his "stage name," Niu Ben repeatedly expressed his unworthiness.

"Oh! Chairman Gao, this is Manager Liu from our company," Niu Ben quickly pushed his own manager forward.

A big business deal worth 300 million wasn’t something a small fry like him could decide on.

"Chairman Gao, it’s an honor to meet you! I’ve heard so much about you!" The bald manager smiled warmly.

Just the sheer scale of the Changqing Company told him all he needed to know about its capabilities, how could that not excite the bald manager.

"No need for formalities, please take a seat. Let’s get straight to the point.

I recently have a sum of foreign currency, which when converted to RMB, is approximately 314 million. I’d like to use it to make a margin financing and securities lending investment.

I am aware your Galaxy Securities has an investment institution in Xiangjiang, and you can also carry out investment activities by exchanging foreign currency to RMB, correct?"

"Of course, currency exchange investment is definitely not a problem! Our services in the financial field are absolutely top-notch at Galaxy Securities, you can rest assured!" The bald manager said excitedly.

What Gao Yuan referred to as margin financing and securities lending includes both "financing" and "securities lending" components.

In simple terms, financing transactions mean investors use cash or securities as collateral to borrow funds from brokers for securities trading, and they pay back the principal and interest within the agreed period.

Securities lending transactions are where investors pledge cash or securities as collateral to borrow securities from brokers to sell, and within an agreed period, they buy back an equivalent quantity and type of securities to return to the broker and pay the corresponding securities lending fee.

This can also be understood as leveraging for long and short positions.

However, the domestic margin ratio is only 1:1, that is, 2x leverage.

It’s not that Gao Yuan didn’t want to use higher leverage ratios; it’s more that financial tools like options, which offer high leverage, are hard to find a taker for when it comes to sums as large as over 300 million - at least not quickly.

When you’re all in, it’s obvious to everyone that there’s something fishy about it!

Even if there truly was a gambler willing to take the risk, if Gao Yuan made tens or hundreds of billions in the end, it’s very likely she wouldn’t see a penny of it, not to mention the potential troubles it could cause.

Small winnings you might disregard, but when you’re taking in the big ones, the kind that can bankrupt someone, you need to be wary of them retaliating with all they’ve got.

Better to be smart and only earn money within the red line, the legal and compliant kind.

As for currency conversion investment, it involves Gao Yuan depositing foreign currency into Galaxy Securities’ Xiangjiang account.

Then Galaxy Securities credits the equivalent onshore RMB into Gao Yuan’s account for investment activities – a method often used to circumvent regulations on currency conversion restrictions.

Of course, Galaxy Securities can also earn a fee during this process.

Considering many factors, Gao Yuan didn’t go through a bank to directly convert this sum of US dollars into RMB.

"Hmm! I’ve consulted with a few other brokers before as well. I wonder what kind of terms your company can offer?"

The mention of competitors immediately made the bald manager anxious.

"You can rest assured, Chairman Gao, we came with the utmost sincerity. Here’s our contract for you to look at.

If you’re not satisfied, we can also negotiate the specific terms further."

Gao Yuan carefully reviewed the contract and then nodded her head.

"Hmm! I am quite satisfied with the conditions; let’s sign the contract."

"Err..." The two from Galaxy Securities were dumbfounded.

Just like that? Was it really going to be this easy?

...

Half an hour later, when Teacher Tony and the bald manager finished all the formalities for Gao Yuan and walked out of the headquarters building of Changqing Biological, they still felt as if they were dreaming.

Three hundred million!

To be precise, 314 million!

Gao Yuan had promised that the money would be in the account on the same day the account was opened.

You should know that all the client funds of their entire branch didn’t even total three hundred million, and now they had just doubled it!

This meant higher fee income, higher interest income, and higher bonuses...

"I’m not dreaming, am I?" Niu Ben’s legs were wobbly.

Compared to the bald manager, this deal would change his income drastically, truly a world turned upside down.

His salary could be multiplied ten or twenty times, and that wasn’t impossible.

The Red Carp! That Brother Meng, he really is a Red Carp!

Look! Isn’t that the Green Carp coming right now?

The bald manager’s heart was also racing, but in front of his subordinate, he still had to maintain a rather reserved facade.

"Aiya! I didn’t expect it! The last transaction lost over ten million, today we actually lost our way into three hundred million.

We’re like buying a valuable horse bone by sheer fluke!"

"Did you see? This money is definitely Mr. Meng reciprocating the favor in kind!"

"Huh? What do you mean?" Niu Ben was puzzled.

"Are you silly! Three hundred and fourteen million! Do you remember how much Mr. Meng earned from us?"

"Fourteen million... oh! It’s indeed! If you hadn’t mentioned it, Manager, I wouldn’t have noticed; this little extra is a hint to us!

I was wondering why there was a ’zero’ after the three hundred million, it’s truly unexpected. Mr. Meng, remembering his benefactor while drinking water, is a friend worth having indeed!"

Niu Ben was so excited he started slipping into dialect.

Of course, if they had used fifty million US dollars and converted it at the exchange rate of 6.28, they would come up with a rather coincidental figure...

It’s just a beautiful misunderstanding...

"It is all thanks to your insight, Manager. If you hadn’t spontaneously bought that insurance policy from Mr. Meng last time, we might not have had this opportunity today!"

In his excitement, Niu Ben didn’t forget to flatter his leader a little.

"Haha! This is all basic operations, basic operations, ahahaha!" The manager was clearly delighted by the flattery.

Sowing seeds without intent and reaping an unexpected harvest; they had originally aimed for the over ten million in Meng Lang’s pocket.

But unexpectedly, instead of the ten million, three hundred million came rolling in!

"That’s why customer service is paramount. If the customer doesn’t make money, how can they become a return customer and how would they introduce more clients to us?

Never would have thought that Mr. Meng would have such... ostentatious friends.

Maintenance! Such a well-connected high-quality client must be well maintained!"

"So how should we maintain this relationship? Should we... buy some gifts to thank him in person?"

"Eh! That would be too deliberate, making us look inferior! If we want to maintain customer relationships, we need to appeal to their interests!

Didn’t you notice that after I simply bought an insurance policy last time, Mr. Meng became much warmer towards me? What does that tell you?" the bald manager asked with a shrewd look.

"Does it mean... he gets a high commission?" Niu Ben ventured hesitantly.

Bald manager: "..."

"Are you stupid! He made over ten million, would he care for that small commission? That’s poor man’s thinking!"

"Then... why is it, then?"

"It’s a sense of achievement, that’s what it is!"

"Apart from making money, don’t wealthy individuals feel empty, lonely, or cold? With money, don’t they need some kind of spiritual pursuit?"

"Oh~ I get it, so if we cater to their interests..."

The two exchanged a glance.

"Go buy insurance!"

...

Meanwhile, Meng Lang, blissfully unaware of the business performance heading his way, was busy receiving deliveries.

"Over here, over here! Just put it here, how many more boxes are there?"

"There are still five boxes. I mean, boss, what’s in these? They’re so heavy?"

"Oh! They are books."

"Wow! So many, boss, are you planning to open a bookstore or something?"

Indeed, the books Meng Lang ordered from Dangdang.com had arrived today.

Having just received this batch of disguise props, the door opposite opened suddenly. Lin Haitang, dressed like an office worker and seemingly about to leave, was momentarily taken aback by the dozen or so courier boxes in the opposite room.

"Uh... what did you buy?" Lin Haitang curiously looked towards Meng Lang, who was busy opening boxes.

"Oh! I’ve set up a study, and I’m bringing back some books." Meng Lang turned to see Lin Haitang and didn’t hide anything.

Lin Haitang, looking a bit curious, stepped into Meng Lang’s spacious "study" and after surveying it and then the room full of boxes, she turned to Meng Lang with a puzzled look.

"Didn’t you say you read ’The Wanli Emperor’s Fifteenth Year’ on your phone?

You also mentioned that it’s the information age now, the nation advocates for paperless work, it saves on paper, just uses electricity. What, you’re not environmentally friendly now?"

"Uh..." It’s kind of embarrassing to be countered with your own words.

But in this day and age, isn’t it okay to have double standards when it comes to being green?

"Cough! Actually, a friend of mine opened a bookstore, but due to the dawn of the information age, it failed and the bookstore closed down.

He had nowhere to store these books, so I just helped store them."

"Oh!" Lin Haitang glanced at him, just subtly nodding her head, neither confirming nor denying her belief.

She then glanced at Meng Lang’s meticulously arranged study, with a tinge of melancholy in her eyes.

"My father made a lot of money once, and for a while, like you, he always liked to buy loads of books to look impressive. But most of those books, he never even touched."

"Uh..."

Am I inadvertently catering to a certain nouveau riche mentality?