50s: Starting with a storage ring

Chapter 408 Double Happiness
That night, Sun Zhiwei rested at Chen Damin's home in Chinatown. Early on the 13th, he took a flight back to the mining area in San Francisco.

Tomorrow is the last day of the three-day deadline, and regardless of whether Seth Johnson, the manager at the California bank, can pull some strings, he doesn't have time to wait any longer.

After having lunch at the mining area on the 14th, there was still no news, and Sun Zhiwei had given up hope.

He plans to go to the California bank vault tomorrow to retrieve all his gold reserves and deliver them to the Cathay Bank headquarters vault in Los Angeles.

Although it's a bit risky for Cathay Pacific to come up with so much cash at once, banks can lend to each other.

Cathay has been operating for 20 years, so it has a certain network of connections. In addition, it has a large amount of gold reserves in its vault as collateral, so it is not difficult for it to achieve this.

Moreover, he doesn't necessarily need to withdraw the money; he can do so through interbank transfers, or even without cash, simply by using checks.

Just as the last rays of the sun were about to disappear below the horizon, Sun Zhiwei's phone rang in his office in the mining area.

He was taken aback when he heard the phone ring, because he hadn't given this number to many people, and since he wasn't usually in the mining area, no one would call him.

"Hello, who is it?"

“Mr. James, I did it! The $2000 million credit line, I didn’t miss the deadline, did I?” Johnson’s voice, a mix of excitement and trepidation, came from the other end of the line.

"Congratulations, Johnson, you seized this opportunity."

"From now on, your life will enter a new stage, which is truly a cause for celebration."

“You gave me this opportunity, and I should thank you.” James’s tone was full of sincerity.

"Mr. James, you can come to our bank at 10 a.m. tomorrow to complete the formalities and collect the check."

"However, our general manager would like to see the money you have in the vault. Of course, it's just to see it and confirm that you have the credit, not as collateral."

"No problem, then see you tomorrow."

See you tomorrow, sir.

Surprisingly, Johnson actually managed to do it; I wonder how much effort he put in.

But thinking about it carefully, it's not surprising. After all, he had worked in the bank for so many years and had some connections. As long as he was willing to be shameless, he could still get some things done.

However, none of that matters to him; all he cares about is signing the agreement and getting the money tomorrow.

Since Johnson is useful to him, it wouldn't be a big deal to give him some benefits in the future.

That evening, Sun Zhiwei notified several managers at the mine that he would be transferring the gold stored in the California Bank Insurance Vault the next day.

Now that the Bank of California knows about his gold reserves, he has to take precautions.

However, the newly mined gold each month will continue to be stored in the California Bank.

Cathay Bank's San Francisco branch won't open anytime soon, as they still need to find a location, do renovations, and build a vault.

All of this will take a considerable amount of time; if the San Francisco branch can open within three months, that would be considered fast.

The next morning, Sun Zhiwei drove to the California Bank and, led by Manager James, met with the bank's general manager, Nelson Adams.

After a brief introduction and pleasantries, the two went to the vault together.

When General Manager Adams and James saw the 116000 ounces of gold in the vault, they had no further objections to the credit line.

Before this, they had also figured out why Sun Zhiwei was unwilling to mortgage gold.

Because international gold prices have been rising for several consecutive months, the board of directors has been instructing them to focus on increasing their gold reserves. Although this sum of over 100,000 ounces of gold doesn't belong to them, as long as it's stored in their bank, it will be counted towards their gold reserves.

The three returned to the bank's reception room, where they signed the agreement and discussed their conversation.

"Mr. James, I heard that your gold mine produces gold every month. Would you be willing to continue storing your gold with our bank in the future?"

"I have no plans to change the storage location at present, and the gold mine will continue to store the new gold bricks mined each month."

"That's wonderful." General Manager Adams handed a signed agreement and a checkbook to Sun Zhiwei.

"I believe we will have a very pleasant collaboration in the future."

“It’s a pleasure to cooperate.” Sun Zhiwei smiled as he accepted the agreement and check and shook hands with Adams.

With the agreement signed, the subsequent service work fell to Manager Johnson. General Manager Adams said goodbye to Sun Zhiwei and then left.

Johnson began explaining the precautions for handling checks to Sun Zhiwei.

“Mr. James, there are a few things you should pay attention to when signing this check.”

"Well, you go ahead."

"The entire book of checks contains 25 checks, with a minimum signed amount of $100 and a maximum of $1000 million."

"The checks can be cashed at any branch of the Bank of California."

"Once all the checks have been written, you will need to retrieve the used check stubs and exchange them for a new checkbook."

No fees will be charged for credit lines that are not withdrawn, and no fees will be charged for repayment of withdrawn amounts within 30 days.

"Interest will be calculated at an annual rate of 15% if the amount withdrawn is more than 30 days old. We will send you a bill every month."

"This credit line is for 24 months. If an extension is needed, a new agreement will be required. Do you understand?"

"Understood. We have enough time, Manager Johnson. We will have a pleasant working relationship from now on."

“Mr. James, thank you for choosing Bank of California, and thank you for choosing me.”

When Sun Zhiwei walked out of the California Bank, it was not yet 11 a.m.

He hadn't expected things to go so smoothly. He had finished his business here, received the money, and it was time to go to Seattle.

He didn't know when the Liulin Hai ship would arrive, so he needed to go to Seattle in advance to prepare.

On the afternoon of the 15th, Sun Zhiwei arrived in Seattle.

After leaving the airport, he went directly to the port to inquire about the arrival information of the Liulin Hai vessel, where he unexpectedly met a colleague from the embassy.

He learned from his colleagues that Seattle officials had prepared a grand welcoming ceremony for this maiden voyage.

The embassy also organized local Chinese communities in Seattle to participate, and Ambassador Mu will personally attend the ceremony on the day.

Upon hearing that Deputy Director Han had arrived ahead of time to participate in the planning and organization of the welcoming ceremony, Sun Zhiwei immediately followed his colleagues to the temporary residence of the embassy staff.

Before meeting Deputy Director Han, he had packed a can of Tieguanyin tea he had bought in Hong Kong Island in his bag.

He had promised this, and Lao Han had already mocked him last time, so he couldn't break his promise again this time.

(End of this chapter)