I'm reborn and I'm an international student again?

"How's things going with the association lately? I heard Xu Yun is doing quite well." After finishing his company business, Chen Xi turned to inquire about other news.

"Well... it didn't go too smoothly." Qian Jiajia tilted her head and thought for a moment before answering truthfully.

"Oh?" This unexpected answer surprised Chen Xi.

According to Lin Xi, under Xu Yun's leadership, the association is making a fortune every day, with its business covering the globe and its scale ranking among the top in the world.

He clearly remembered that the Overseas Returnees Association in his previous life was indeed very powerful, even exceeding the total revenue of many large domestic companies.

However, since the association does not operate as a company, it has not attracted widespread attention.

"The association is involved in many overseas projects, including foreign trade. But recently, many accounts have been locked. It's not just the association; many factories and logistics companies along the coast are also facing the same problem... They call it risk control and require proof of the source of funds to unfreeze them. It's said that some fraudulent companies have appeared overseas, but I haven't heard of that..." Qian Jiajia sorted out what she knew.

"It's just an excuse to make money. There's a reason why the economy is getting worse. If funds can't circulate, how can businesses do business?" Chen Xi sneered.

Seeing that Qian Jiajia was still somewhat confused, he continued to explain, "You should be familiar with the term 'harvesting leeks.' If you can't harvest the leeks anymore, what do you do? You can only go to their door and pick them up."

As they were talking, Chen Xi's phone vibrated. He answered the call, his brows furrowing even more deeply.

"What happened?" Qian Jiajia judged from his expression that it was definitely not good news.

"What I just mentioned has happened; the accounts of several farmers who cooperate with Huahetong have been locked." Chen Xi shrugged helplessly.

"Huh?" Qian Jiajia exclaimed in surprise.

Chen Xi appeared calm, after all, he had experienced a similar situation in his previous life.

"So what does the vice president plan to do? I heard that those in foreign trade can unlock it as long as they bring their transaction records to the relevant departments to complete the procedures," Qian Jiajia said, revealing the solution she knew.

“As far as I know, once a foreign trade account is unfrozen, it will be locked again the next time funds are deposited. Business people have to go to unfreeze it every week. How can they do business like that?” Chen Xi shook his head.

"so what should I do now?"

"Let's just start fighting!"

Chen Xi thought about the solution he had found in his previous life.

If there are indeed problems with your business, then you can't force it. But if you're operating legitimately and without any issues, then there's absolutely nothing to fear.

He used to see many people hire lawyers to unlock their accounts, which was a complete waste of their time and effort, like giving a man a free ride to a lawyer.

Several hours later, in a certain town.

"Boss, thank you for making this trip. We're mostly illiterate, and we have no idea how to prepare the materials the relevant departments need." A middle-aged man with a wrinkled face and a simple, honest appearance handed over a Hongtashan cigarette.

Chen Xi didn't object, took the cigarette and lit it: "There's no need to prepare, those materials are impossible to get."

"Exactly! When I went to the bank to get my bank statements, they asked me all sorts of questions and made me provide this and that proof. Before I could even finish proving what happened before, new demands popped up. It's like playing with nested dolls!" The middle-aged man became increasingly angry as he spoke.

He went to the bank to argue his case yesterday, but was kicked out by security guards.

At that time, rural banks did not have self-service equipment; printing bank statements had to be done at the counter. And the counter staff, naturally, had a condescending attitude. When problems arose and people wanted to resolve them, they found that every step was fraught with difficulties.

"Don't worry, as long as your business is legal, you have nothing to fear."

"Of course it's legal! We're just farmers, we sell what we grow to people who are willing to pay, and who the buyer is is none of our business," the man assured him, patting his chest.

After understanding the situation, Chen Xi dialed the number provided by the man.

"Hello, is this the XXXX Bureau? My bank card has been locked..."

"Call this number if you have a lock problem." The operator on duty dropped a number and hung up impatiently.

Chen Xi had no choice but to dial again. This time, the person who answered seemed half-asleep, and after a long pause, managed to squeeze out, "Where are you from?"

This statement clearly indicates that the other party locked not just one location or one person's account, but rather a batch operation, to the point that even they themselves couldn't remember which specific account it was.

"Siping County, Erlong Village, Hu Hao, Card Number 62XXXXXXXXX".

"Oh, print out five years' worth of bank statements. Bring your ID and come with us." The other person yawned.

"Go to your place? There's no high-speed rail there, and it would take several days to get there by bus. Who would bear the time and financial losses? Besides, the bank can't even print out five years' worth of bank statements..." Hearing this reply, which was exactly the same as in his previous life, Chen Xi's temper flared up immediately.

"Do whatever I tell you to do! Do you still want to unlock it?"

"Then tell me, which transaction went wrong? How much was involved? Why was a legitimate transaction locked? If the transaction was illegal, the payment should be confiscated, the criminals should be arrested, and are the goods still with you?"

"Is that what you should be asking?"

"I pay so many taxes every year so you can solve my problems, not my! Let me guess, according to your logic, the scammer first contacts the victim, then impersonates the victim to contact buyers online to facilitate the transaction. Next, the scammer transfers the victim's money to the seller, Hu Hao, as payment for goods. Afterwards, Hu Hao's account is frozen because of this stolen money. The scammer gets Hu Hao's goods, while the victim's money is returned, which means the scammer takes Hu Hao's goods for free..."

"Well, buying and selling transactions must be conducted using your own account." After a long silence, the other party offered a new explanation.

"Must be the account holder's own? What brilliant mind came up with this rule? There's never been such a precedent in history!"

"How can you talk like that? You've been so aggressive the whole time. Let me tell you, this phone call is being recorded!"

"Keep recording! What's your employee number? I'm going to file a complaint!"

The two men got angry and started arguing fiercely.

The middle-aged man next to him had never seen such a scene before and was so astonished that he couldn't close his mouth.

In his mind, those in uniforms were all high-ranking officials, and now they were being insulted like this. If it were him, he wouldn't dare to do it even if he had ten times the courage.

Qian Jiajia, however, wasn't surprised. She had seen her father do similar things before. When dealing with these staff members, you had to be firm, otherwise they would really take your words as gospel. After a long while, Chen Xi finally hung up the phone, exhausted from his outburst. He said to Hu Hao, "Just wait, I guess we'll have to spray him a few more times before it unlocks."

Based on his past experience, he had to spray the solution two or three times before it was resolved, and this time should be no exception.

"Can it really be solved? That's great! We need money for daily household expenses, and this card is practically worthless now." Hu Hao was overjoyed upon hearing this.

"Hey bro, I want to ask you something. I heard there's been a scam targeting subsidies lately, do you know anything about it?" Chen Xi changed the subject.

Normally, people in the village wouldn't easily reveal such things. But Chen Xi had been a great help today, so Hu Hao hesitated for a moment before speaking up: "Actually, it's nothing much. Recently, several agricultural technology companies came to provide guidance, saying that using advanced analytical techniques combined with equipment control could increase yields. We've seen this kind of thing many times; it's nothing more than a scam to make money. But what's strange is that not only did they not charge us, they also gave us a lot of things and then taught us how to make big money..."

As the relevant departments have said before, these farmers were instigated to use various means to obtain subsidies.

Chen Xi already knew about this and didn't care much. What he was interested in was what Hu Hao would say next.

"Actually, the subsidies aren't much, at most a few thousand or tens of thousands of yuan at a time. Some farmers don't even care about them, thinking that it's not as good as taking out a loan to make money faster."

"Oh? How does the loan work?" Chen Xi became interested.

"It's about raising chickens and ducks to get bank loans, then selling them to buy more high-value livestock like cattle and sheep to continue taking out loans. Once you have enough money, you can buy a big house in the city, and then sell it a few years later for double the money... There are even people who specialize in renting out livestock and poultry, just for these borrowers. It's a pity I don't have the start-up capital..." Hu Hao revealed the truth.

Chen Xi nodded. This had happened in his previous life as well, but the financial sector was handled by Huaxing. He had already reminded them at the last emergency meeting that there shouldn't be too many bad debts.

"What are the names of those companies that teach you all this?" Chen Xi offered him a cigarette.

"I can't remember the name, but they said they have a partnership with your Huahetong."

I rely on!

Hearing this, Chen Xi cursed inwardly.

These monsters and scoundrels are actually using their company's name to commit all sorts of atrocities; it's simply outrageous.

At this moment, in a hotel room.

“Young people are just young people after all. Such a big project, and they insist on making it so idealistic. Can ideals put food on the table? They're always doing unrealistic things. If you ask me, we should do whatever makes money, and do it as quickly as possible. First, we should increase revenue through subsidies, then go public through a reverse merger and issue more shares. We can use my environmental protection fund to raise funds and make loans, and make money from money…” Duan Yixiong said with a smug look on his face as he smoked his cigarette.

Sun Dixun nodded repeatedly, "President Duan is right. I've disliked that kid for a long time. He has so many profitable projects, but he insists on choosing the hardest and least profitable jobs. But then again, it's not easy to get cash out these days. If we make money, who will take care of this mess?"

"Heh, there are plenty of bosses in China. If everyone contributes a little, are we worried about not being able to fill this hole? Don't forget, we have Feng Yun among our shareholders. With the economy in such a slump, there are quite a few people who resent the rich. They'd love for these bosses to suffer and use their own money to mend the sky. But..." Duan Yixiong paused, his tone turning serious, "I do have a question. Which side is Huaxing on? Why did you approve so many loans for that Chen kid before? And in the recent meetings, why are those two of you always contradicting me?"

"Mr. Duan, it doesn't matter which side Huaxing stands on, what matters is that we're standing together. As for the loan, that's all the higher-ups' decision..." Sun Dixun smiled, raised his glass, and clinked it with Duan Yixiong's.

“We’re all seasoned veterans, we can’t let a young upstart get us. Give it your all, I need to take him down completely this time.”

"Don't worry, there are plenty of people in rural areas taking out loans these days, hehe." Sun Dixun revealed a sly smile.

"If this hole can't be patched up, aren't you worried, Mr. Sun?" Duan Yixiong asked, puzzled by Sun's relaxed expression.

"What's this? Which family doesn't have a few bad debts? All these rural loans combined aren't even a fraction of what a large company owes." Sun Dixun was clearly a bit drunk and blurted out a truth.

What he said wasn't untrue. The money the Xu family took from him was probably more than ten times the total amount of Huaxing's entire rural business.

Upon hearing this, Duan Yixiong did not ask any further questions. The two clinked glasses again and continued drinking.

Meanwhile, outside one of Duan Yixiong's residences.

"Fuck your grandma, you won't answer the phone or open the door, huh?!" Wang Xianqi cursed and banged on the door.

Duan Yixiong had given him some money before, saying it was to help him with a small favor.

At first, it was just a few personnel changes, and Wang Xianqi didn't pay much attention to it.

But ever since the last emergency meeting, he couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong.

He tried to contact Duan Yixiong several times in the past few days, but the other party seemed to have vanished into thin air.

Instead of using the money he received to cover his losses, Wang Xianqi invested it in online games.

Online loan interest rates were too high, and he always wanted to gamble again, hoping to turn his fortunes around in one fell swoop.

"What should I do... what should I do..." Wang Xianqi was as anxious as an ant on a hot pan.

It wasn't that he had a change of heart, but rather that he felt he had been taken advantage of for such a small amount of money, and that he was really losing out.

Although this matter seems to have nothing to do with him on the surface, anyone with a brain can see that Duan Yixiong definitely has ill intentions.

"Buzz!" The phone suddenly rang.

Wang Xianqi was overjoyed, thinking that Duan Yixiong had called back.

But the screen displayed only the name Wang Zhi, and his mood instantly sank again.

On the other end of the phone, his father sounded excited, as if he had some good news. Wang Xianqi immediately perked up again.

“Son, that deal fell through, but don’t worry, I’ve come up with another way to make money! Didn’t Musk come to Xinlu the other day? I heard he’s planning to build a factory in Shanghai for mass production. Once the cars are in mass production, they need to be sold. Selling them one by one at the dealerships is too slow. I’m thinking, isn’t group buying all the rage now? Why don’t we just sell Teslas in bulk overseas! You have a good relationship with Chen Xi, go talk to him, let’s go big, export the whole cars, make a little less profit on each one, and go for volume!”

Wang Zhi’s idea may seem unrealistic to many people.

After all, Tesla has always used the official website pre-order sales model, and even if you buy through other channels, the price is almost the same.

In fact, Wang Zhi had tried this business in his previous life. Although he didn't make a lot of money, it wasn't a problem for him to earn some pocket money each year to make a living.

Right now, Wang Xianqi is having a falling out with Chen Xi. Hearing his father bring up the idea again, he was extremely reluctant. (End of Chapter)