50s: Starting with a storage ring

Chapter 405 A stepping stone

Cathay Bank currently has limited funds, and each new branch requires a certain amount of funds to be reserved locally. It can't possibly transfer funds across state lines for every small business transaction.

Now, they are facing this difficulty.

It wasn't actually that difficult. In the original history, they simply relied on time to gradually increase the number of branches.

However, as a result, they missed the opportunity of a surge in trade volume during the honeymoon period between China and the US that began this year.

Sun Zhiwei believes that as the first Chinese-owned bank, they would definitely be willing to take advantage of the opening of China to the world if given the opportunity, and this is his chance.

So, on April 12, Sun Zhiwei arrived in Los Angeles, more than 500 kilometers away, which is also in California.

Los Angeles is the second largest city in the United States, located between the Pacific coast and the San Antonio Mountains.

Surrounded by mountains on three sides and facing the sea on one side, it is home to Caltech, one of the world's top ten universities, as well as Hollywood, the mecca of the American film industry. It is commonly known as the "City of Angels".

Cathay Bank here is just a small bank serving a specific group of people; its headquarters are located at 777 North Broadway in Los Angeles.

After getting off the plane, Sun Zhiwei did not go directly to Cathay Bank. He was relatively unknown at the time, and they might not be willing to meet him.

However, he had already figured out the key to getting in.

Two hours later, two fully armed armored vehicles drove up North Avenue and came to a smooth stop in front of Cathay Bank at No. 777, immediately alerting the bank's security.

But they soon relaxed when they saw the markings printed on the armored vehicle—GDBA.

Gavin de Becker (GDBA) is a private bodyguard company that was established in Los Angeles last year, and it has already made a name for itself in Los Angeles in just one year.

GDBA isn't very well-known now, but nobody knows that decades from now it will grow into the number one private bodyguard company in the United States.

Even now, their equipment and services are enough to demonstrate their professionalism and prudence.

After the armored vehicle stopped, more than a dozen armed guards immediately got out and secured all the key positions at the bank entrance within seconds.

After they were all in place, Sun Zhiwei got out of the second car and walked into the bank lobby under the protection of four bodyguards in suits.

After Sun Zhiwei entered the bank, the first armored vehicle turned around and reversed into the bank's main gate.

Then, the rear door of the armored vehicle was opened from the inside. After confirming that it was safe, the armed guards began to drag one portable safe after another out of the vehicle.

Their exaggerated actions had already alarmed the senior management of Cathay Bank. Upon receiving the news, the bank's president, Cheng Damin, rushed down from his upstairs office.

Cheng Damin is a minor shareholder of the bank. He is able to become the president, which means he must have considerable insight.

The scale of guards and security measures is enough to indicate that they will be welcoming a major client today.

Sun Zhiwei and Chen Damin met in the bank lobby, and the bodyguard instinctively prevented the stranger from getting close.

Chen Damin immediately stopped and introduced himself from ten steps away: "Welcome, sir. I am Chen Damin, the president of Cathay Bank. How can I help you?"

Sun Zhiwei gestured for his bodyguards to step aside, then approached and replied, "I am James Robert, and I'm here to deposit money."

Upon hearing this, Chen Damin's smile widened, and he immediately extended a warm invitation: "Yes, Mr. James, please come with me to the VIP room, where I will personally serve you."

After saying that, he gestured for Sun Zhiwei to stop, and then led the way.

Sun Zhiwei saw that the armed guards protecting the safe behind him had entered the hall before he followed Chen Damin. The two quickly arrived at the VIP room next to the hall.

Two bodyguards had already entered and conducted a quick security check of the several-dozen-square-meter VIP room. Only after receiving a safety signal from the bodyguards did Sun Zhiwei enter and sit down on the sofa in the middle.

Two of the four bodyguards had already gone to the door to begin their guard duties, while the other two stood in the corner of the room.

Chen Damin was speechless at how cautious they were; it showed how little trust they had in their bank's security.

However, this was the guest's prerogative, and he couldn't interfere. He could only pour tea for Sun Zhiwei while starting the conversation.

"Mr. James, you are also Chinese, right?"

"That's right, my ancestors have been here for many years, but I was born here."

"Thank you for choosing our bank. How much money would you like to deposit this time?"

Sun Zhiwei did not answer directly, but instead gestured to the security guards outside to bring all the safes inside.

Soon, the guards towed twenty safes into the VIP room in a trailer, placed the safes on a long table next to it, and then left the room one by one.

"That's all," Sun Zhiwei said, picking up his teacup and pointing to the box.

Chen Damin had already seen the twenty safes and was quickly estimating how many US dollars they could hold.

A standard carry-on safe can hold $500,000, so these 20 safes would hold $10 million. Given Cathay Bank's current size, that's a huge sum of money.

When Cathay Bank was first established more than a decade ago, the total original share capital of all its shareholders amounted to only US$55.

Although Cathay Bank's total assets have increased to US$5000 million over the years, most of that is customer deposits.

This amount of money is fine to show off, but it cannot be used casually.

Chen Damin couldn't help but be excited about the $1000 million in new deposits he received at once.

"Can I open it and take a look?"

Sun Zhiwei remained seated, simply gesturing for him to open it himself.

Chen Damin immediately got up and walked to a safe, opening the hidden lock with a click.

When the ten standard gold bars neatly arranged in the box came into view, his breath caught in his throat.

He never imagined that the box he thought contained US dollars actually contained gold.

After a dozen seconds, Chen Damin managed to calm his pounding heart and began to quickly open the remaining boxes.

One by one, the boxes were opened, and finally, all twenty boxes of gold were revealed before him. Chen Damin's heart was pounding in his chest.

With his professional eye, he quickly estimated the value of the gold.

每个箱子10块400盎司的标准金砖，20个箱子合计8万盎司，换算一下就是2.268吨。

Today's international gold price is $262 per ounce. The gold bars here are worth a total of $20.96 million, which is almost half of Cathay Bank's total assets.

Gold is fascinating, but he didn't lose his mind.

He understood perfectly well that Cathay Bank was just a small bank, and no matter what, a multi-millionaire would not choose to deposit so much money in his own bank.

(End of this chapter)