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

Chapter 313 Zhang Rong Comes to Attract Deposits
Shi Guangrong eventually left, saying he was going to Wuxi to see Jiang Yiling, would stay in Hangzhou for a while longer, and would return to Shanghai during the Spring Festival.

Fang Qingye wasn't too worried, but she told the workers in the nursery to be careful not to let strangers in, and to make sure Wangcai was alert.

The weather was bad today, exceptionally gloomy and cold. It started drizzling again half an hour ago, so outdoor work at the nursery has basically come to a standstill, and the workers are all inside chatting and warming themselves by the fire.

Fang Qingye sat alone in his office, drinking tea and reviewing the sales plan for the Huguang Yazhu residential project: increase publicity but don't set a price, raise the project's profile first, and then raise homebuyers' expectations.

Fang Qingye did not interfere with the specific operational plan, as Luo Yan's entire team was more experienced than her in property sales.

Just then, they heard a knock on the door.

"Please come in."

The door opened, and a gust of cold wind blew in. A young man wearing a down jacket walked in, his face pale, perhaps from the rain.

It turned out to be Zhang Rong, whom I hadn't seen for many days!

"Why did you come here? Please sit down." Fang Qingye greeted him warmly and poured him a cup of hot tea.

Zhang Rong said thank you, took a sip of hot tea from the cup, and felt much better. He couldn't help but mutter a curse:
"Damn weather, it's fucking cold!"

"Exactly, why are you here on such a cold day instead of going to work?" Fang Qingye asked.

Zhang Rong resigned from Dongfangxing and was appointed as the deputy branch manager of Liulin branch of Nanxin Rural Bank. I heard he's extremely busy every day.

"I'm at work. My job now is to run around doing business every day," Zhang Rong said with a smile.

"How's work?" Fang Qingye asked.

"Busy, damn busy, running around to clients and handling internal controls... Thinking back to my time at Dongfangxing, those days were so easy," Zhang Rong sighed.

"That's a pretty good offer, isn't it?"

"Benefits? Sigh, don't even mention it," Zhang Rong sighed.

Fang Qingye was somewhat surprised to hear this: "I heard that Zhao Wenjun is carrying out salary reforms at your rural bank, and some employees are earning much higher salaries than employees with similar qualifications at other banks."

"Yes, that's because you have to complete the monthly performance targets. If you don't, not only will you not get a bonus, but your performance will also be penalized. Some people will only receive their basic salary, less than 1000 yuan!"

The compensation structure of rural banks has significantly reduced basic salaries while increasing performance-based pay and bonuses. The more you work, the more you earn; if you fail to meet your monthly targets, you receive no bonus and your performance bonus will be reduced. As a result, there are significant differences in the monthly salaries received by employees.

This is said to be one of the reform measures implemented by Zhao Wenjun after he became the bank president, aimed at motivating everyone.

"Zhang Rong, you're the deputy branch manager, are you sure you won't fail to complete your task?" Fang Qingye asked again.

“What? I didn’t meet my target last month, so I lost my bonus and only received half of my performance bonus. I only received 2600 yuan in total,” Zhang Rong said.

"You don't know, that Zhao Wenjun is a monster! Putting everything else aside, just take attracting deposits, for example. Everyone in the entire bank, including the temporary cleaning lady, has a quota! Do you know how much they assigned me?"

“I need to guarantee a corporate deposit balance of 1000 million and a personal deposit of 300 million every month! It’s almost the end of the year, and my target is 1300 million for corporate deposits and 500 million for personal deposits. Sigh, how can I possibly achieve this?” Zhang Rong sighed after saying this.

Fang Qingye vaguely sensed Zhang Rong's purpose in coming to see her.

Sure enough, Zhang Rong took another sip of tea and said, "Qingye, I'm here today to ask you for a favor. Help me save some money. The end of the year is a critical time, and I can't afford not to complete my tasks. Otherwise, not only will I not get a bonus or have my performance bonus deducted, but I might even lose my position as vice president."

"How much are you short?" Fang Qingye asked.

"We are still short 300 million for corporate accounts and 80 for personal accounts."

“The 80 for personal use is no problem, I can even help you save more, but I can’t help with the 300 million for business purposes,” Fang Qingye said bluntly.

“The company in which I have a stake has internal regulations that allow us to open accounts only with the four major state-owned banks, not even Postal Savings Bank. I cannot change this without authorization.”

“Alright then, I can’t make things difficult for you. How about you have 380 million in your personal savings? I’ll try to get some of your 300 million to be transferred to a company account from another colleague,” Zhang Rong said.

“Okay, but I only want to deposit for 3 months,” Fang Qingye said, making her own request.

"Okay, okay."

"Okay, I'll go to your branch tomorrow to open an account and deposit money."

"Thank you, thank you so much." Zhang Rong was very happy. "I'll treat you to dinner tonight."

“We’re all friends, no need to be so polite,” Fang Qingye replied, then asked, “How’s your bank’s loan situation?” “It’s alright,” Zhang Rong answered. “You know our bank is a small one, our loan recipients are mostly farmers and small businesses, and the loan amounts aren’t large, only tens or hundreds of thousands.”

"But what?"

"However, recently, two companies had relatively large loan amounts, one for 998 million and the other for 840 million."

"You borrowed so much, which two companies are they?" Fang Qingye asked curiously.

Zhang Rong hesitated for a moment before saying, "It's alright to tell you. One is called Qinggu Xinhe Agricultural Technology Co., Ltd., and the other is called Guyuan Agricultural Technology Co., Ltd."

Fang Qingye had heard of both companies; they were both well-known agricultural enterprises in Nanxin.

Moreover, I vaguely remember that they were all wholly-owned subsidiaries of a company called Qinggu Xinhe Organic Food Group Co., Ltd.!

And this Qinggu Xinhe Group comes from Inner Mongolia!
Of course, I'm not entirely sure.

So he tentatively asked, "Zhang Rong, do you know anything about the background of these two companies?"

"One that I know quite well is Qinggu Xinhe Agricultural Technology Company, which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Qinggu Xinhe Group in Inner Mongolia Province. It was lent out by our branch."

"I'm not too familiar with the other one, but it was also brought in by the county through investment promotion, and its parent company is also in Inner Mongolia Province."

Zhang Rong explained, then, as if remembering something, asked, "Qingye, is there a problem?"

"No, I was just asking casually." Fang Qingye quickly covered up: "If there were any problems, your bank manager Zhao would have noticed them long ago. He has worked in the bank for more than 20 years and has developed a keen eye for detail."

Zhang Rong nodded in agreement: "Everyone thinks so too. President Zhao is a veteran banker. He is wholeheartedly committed to achieving something, so he will naturally be strict in his oversight."

The two chatted for a while longer. Seeing that the rain outside had stopped, Zhang Rong was about to leave, and this time Fang Qingye did not try to stop him.

"Qingye, don't forget tomorrow," Zhang Rong reminded her before leaving.

"Don't worry, I'll drive there tomorrow and call you then!" Fang Qingye said.

"OK!"

After seeing Zhang Rong off, Fang Qingye had no interest in looking at Huacheng Company's sales plan anymore. He took out his phone and called Director Wu of the County Administration for Industry and Commerce—a close associate of Miao Hongbin, with whom he had eaten several meals before and was quite familiar with him.

After exchanging a few pleasantries on the phone, Fang Qingye asked Director Wu about the registration information of the two companies in the industrial and commercial system.

Director Wu didn't ask any further questions and immediately instructed his subordinates to log into the system and check. Just as Fang Qingye had predicted: both companies were wholly-owned subsidiaries of Qinggu Xinhe Group in Inner Mongolia Province!

"Thank you, Director Wu. Please come to my nursery for tea when you have time," Fang Qingye said gratefully.

"Hehe, I've heard your nursery has beautiful scenery. I haven't been there yet, but I'll definitely come sometime!"

The two chatted for a couple of minutes before hanging up.

Fang Qingye turned on her computer and logged into QQ to leave a message for Xia He.

"Are you there?"

Xia He replied quickly.

"Yes, what's up today? You usually talk to me at night, but you're free during the day now?"

"Let's video chat. I have something to tell you. Is it convenient for you on your end?" Fang Qingye typed.

"convenient."

Fang Qingye opened a voice chat and recounted what Zhang Rong had asked him about earlier that day. Of course, the focus wasn't on attracting deposits, but rather on the details of the loans taken out by the two companies.

"Are you saying that both of Nanxin's companies are subsidiaries of Qinggu Xinhe Group in Inner Mongolia?" Xia He asked rhetorically.

“Yes, that’s correct. I called Director Wu of the Industry and Commerce Bureau to verify it,” Fang Qingye confirmed.

"Huh? If what you say is true, then these two loans are illegal!" Xia He immediately said.

(End of this chapter)