I'm in the county town, and you say I'm a big shot?

Chapter 169 Investing in a Gas Company
By mid-August, Fang Qingye's parents had returned from their trip, and she officially started working again. The weather was still hot.

The weather is still green, and it's fine to stay in the air-conditioned room instead of leading a team to conduct on-site inspections of enterprises. Just like Xia He said, it's careless to do work.

Just before she was about to leave work, Fang Qingye suddenly received a call from Song Qingdong.

"Xiao Ye, are you free tonight? I'd like to invite you to my house for tea."

Song Qingdong suddenly invited me for tea?
Fang Qingye was taken aback for a moment, but quickly agreed.

"Okay, what time?"

"Come over after you finish eating. We're all family, no need to be so polite."

"Ok."

After finishing get off work, Fang Qingye tidied up the documents on her desk and rode her scooter home. When she passed the entrance of Shijiaba Market, she ran into Song Dahai again.

Although he has now been promoted to the position of squadron leader of the second squadron, he still has to patrol and direct the streets, and seems to be busier than before.

But Song Dahai never tired of it.

Seeing Song Dahai directing two subordinates to drive away a street vendor who was illegally occupying the road, Fang Qingye rode up on her scooter.

"The sea!"

"Ye Zi, are you off work?"

"Yes, you seem quite busy," Fang Qingye said.

"I'm busy. I ran into a few disobedient guys who were playing guerrilla warfare with me. I'll see how I deal with them!" Song Dahai snorted.

"Hey, can I ask you something? Your dad just called and invited me out for tea tonight. What's up?" Fang Qingye asked.

“My dad invited you, how would I know?” Song Dahai asked back, then thought for a moment and said, “It could be about funding. Our company has expanded quite a bit this year, and our funds are quite tight, but I don’t know the specifics.”

Fang Qingye guessed the same thing.

Although Song Dahai is a close friend, Song Qingdong is an elder and a very busy man who would never invite you for tea and a chat when he has nothing better to do.

The saying "No one visits the temple without a reason" means exactly this.

Seeing that Song Dahai was busy, Fang Qingye didn't bother him anymore. She called out and rode her scooter home.

After finishing her meal, Fang Qingye arrived at Song Dahai's house on time. By then, Song Dahai had already returned from get off work and was having dinner in the living room on the first floor.

"Ye Zi, have you eaten?" Song Dahai asked while eating.

"I've eaten. Where's your dad?"

"In the tea room upstairs."

"Okay, I'll go up then."

Fang Qingye went up to the tea room on the third floor, where Song Qingdong was already waiting.

Seeing Fang Qingye come in, he smiled and said, "Little Ye, I had a friend bring you a jar of Da Hong Pao tea from Fujian Province. I know you like to drink this, so I invited you to try it today."

"Really? Thank you, Uncle Song."

Fang Qingye sat across from Song Qingdong at the tea table, and Song Qingdong brewed tea for him. Although it was hot, sitting in the air-conditioned tea room and enjoying the fragrant tea felt quite nice.

"How does it taste?" Song Qingdong asked.

"Yes, it's quite authentic."

"Take this can of tea with you when you leave," Song Qingdong said generously.

"Thank you," Fang Qingye said without being polite. The two chatted idly, and Fang Qingye wouldn't ask any questions unless Song Qingdong brought up the important matter.

After a while, Song Qingdong finally got to the point: "Xiao Ye, I invited you here for two reasons. First, to enjoy some tea. Second, I have a favor to ask you about. Could you lend me another 2500 million from your bank?"

"Uncle Song, you've already borrowed 4000 million from our bank, haven't you? Forgive me for speaking frankly, but that's already exceeded our bank's credit limit."

"Yes, but we can raise the credit limit," Song Qingdong said with a smile.

Fang Qingye shook his head.

“It’s very difficult. You’ll have to go to the city branch to find a solution. It’s beyond the authority of our branch.”

oh.
Song Qingdong stopped speaking.

"Uncle Song, didn't you apply at another bank?" Fang Qingye asked in return.

"I've applied for everything. I've taken out every loan I could, even going to banks in neighboring counties. Now I'm almost ready to take out a high-interest loan," Song Qingdong said with a wry smile.

Fang Qingye was somewhat surprised: "Uncle Song, what projects have you undertaken this year? Why is the funding requirement so large? Is it because of a significant investment in the infrastructure of the new energy industrial park?"

It turns out that Kerry Real Estate Group, where Song Qingdong works, has already won the bids for the construction of roads in the industrial park and the design and planning of the park's management committee building. They are also vying for the construction of employee dormitories.

"That's only part of it. The main reason is that our company acquired a lot of land in Jinghai city this year, which tied up a lot of funds. Also, I partnered with someone to secure a natural gas project in the county. You've heard of that project, right?"

"I've heard that the county held a meeting this spring and designated this project as a key project for the entire county," Fang Qingye said.

"Yes, to be honest, we started planning to compete for this project six months ago. We set up a special preparatory group and raised funds. Natural gas construction projects have a large profit margin, but the competition is very fierce."

They gave you a ten-year monopoly, how could the profits not be huge?
Fang Qingye mentally complained and then asked, "Uncle Song, are you not the only one interested in this project?"

"Of course not, there are plenty of people interested in this project," Song Qingdong said with a smile, explaining the reason.

It turns out that Song Qingdong, together with Qian Weimin of Tenglong Industrial Group, is actively vying for this project, while his main competitor is another company in Nanxin, Linyuan Group.

Linyuan Group also started in real estate, and now its business covers logistics, transportation, commerce and other fields. It is a well-known enterprise in Nanxin.

"Actually, Qian Weimin and I aren't afraid of Lin Yuan's family alone, but they found outside help: Jinghai Zhongtong Gas Company. This company is in the gas business and is very powerful. I heard that in the newly established company, Zhongtong takes the majority share, while Lin Yuan only takes a small share."

Song Qingdong said.

“Now our two families are arguing fiercely. We are both from Nanxin, and we are each using our own methods, which is making things very difficult for the county leaders.”

Song Qingdong laughed. "Later, I don't know which county leader came up with an idea, saying that according to the preliminary budget, the budget for building this gas project is about 1.2 million yuan. Whoever can come up with 1.2 million yuan and put it in a special account for dedicated use, to ensure that the project will not be interrupted due to lack of funds, I will hand over the project to them."

"You and Mr. Qian each invest half?" Fang Qingye asked.

"Yes, that means I need to invest 6000 million, but my company is currently facing a severe cash shortage and simply cannot come up with that much. At most, I can raise 3500 million, so I want to borrow 2500 million from your bank. Otherwise, I will be forced out of the game and will also implicate Qian Weimin."

That's it!

No wonder the Nanxin Ranqi project was encroached upon by outside companies in the past; it turns out that local companies couldn't compete with them.

Fang Qingye then thought of another question: "Uncle Song, have you found any professional technicians?"

“We found them. We poached a technical team from a local company in Anhui Province under China Resources Gas Holdings and promised them an 8% stake.”

"Hmm, that's not bad either." Fang Qingye nodded, then suddenly said, "Uncle Song, is it possible to find a third investor instead of taking out a bank loan?"

"Who are you looking for?"

"I."

(End of this chapter)