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

Chapter 380, 379: "It's easy to invite a god, but hard to send him away."

“Me? I can’t do it.” Fang Qingye immediately shook her head.

"To be honest, Sister Cao, when the rural bank was first established, the current chairman, Zhang Xiaojun, approached me and offered me the position of bank president, but I declined."

“I’m young, inexperienced, and not capable enough. Look at those shareholders, are they all pushovers? If I had taken the job, I might be even more frustrated than Zhao Wenjun now.”

"Just kick them out and play by yourselves."

Upon hearing Cao Ting say this, Fang Qingye looked at her in surprise.

Cao Ting continued:

“My husband and I visited his uncle’s house in Jinghai. During our meal and chat, his uncle talked about the town banks. He said that the root cause of the problems with the village banks lies in their shareholding structure.”

“Baoshang Bank is the major shareholder, it has a monopoly, and the other small shareholders can’t do anything about it. If Baoshang Bank behaves itself, that’s fine, but my uncle said that Baoshang Bank itself has many problems. Its major shareholder has also misappropriated its funds, which makes it a case of the upper beam being crooked and the lower beam being crooked. In addition, those few small shareholders are short-sighted and greedy. No one could be in charge of them now.”

"President Yang is indeed worthy of being a branch leader; his analysis is quite reasonable," Fang Qingye said.

Bank Manager Yang is Cao Ting's husband's uncle.

"So, if you really want to run a rural bank well, you need to kick out all those shareholders, big and small, and bring in big capital, preferably local small investors. You have money and you're an expert, so I think you're the most suitable person to do it," Cao Ting concluded.

"I really hadn't thought about that."

Cao Ting wasn't Xia He, so Fang Qingye naturally wouldn't reveal her true feelings. She quickly changed the subject: "Sister Cao, you can't say these things carelessly, or people will be unhappy if they get out."

"What do I care if they're unhappy? I'm just a young woman saying whatever comes to mind." Cao Ting said nonchalantly, "Besides, would you tell anyone what we talked about today?"

"Of course not." Fang Qingye smiled and said, "Sister Cao, you told me this because you trust me, so I understand."

"That's right."

"Okay, let's not talk about this anymore, let's drink." Cao Ting said, picking up her beer glass.

"Sister Cao, you know I can't hold my liquor," Fang Qingye quickly declined.

"It's just beer, you can't outdrink a little woman like me?"

As a result, Fang Qingye returned home drunk in a taxi.

I lay at home alone for a while, then struggled to get up and take a shower, which cleared my head considerably.

It's only a little past ten o'clock at night, and Fang Qingye can't fall asleep too early, so she simply took off all her clothes except for her underwear and sat in the living room watching TV, since she was all alone at home anyway.

Fang Qingye picked up her phone and saw that it was a message from Xia He. Her WeChat notification sounded again.

How are you now? Can we video chat?

"Can"

Soon, Xia He sent a video request, which Fang Qingye accepted. In the video, Xia He was sitting in a hotel room wearing pajamas.

"You scoundrel!" Xia He scolded Fang Qingye for dressing like that.

"What do you mean, 'hooligan'? Where haven't you seen me?" Fang Qingye said, completely unconcerned.

"You shameless person! Okay, let's not talk about this anymore. How are you now? Are you feeling better?" Xia He asked with concern.

"I lay down for a while and took a shower, and I feel much better now." "Hey, Qingye, what were you and Cao Ting talking about at the KTV? You seemed to be having a great time, and you drank so much." Xia He asked again.

"What? Are you jealous?"

"Oh my, why would I be jealous?" Xia He said with a coquettish smile, "Even if you like your little wife, you wouldn't get involved with Cao Ting. Aren't you just making trouble for yourself?!"

Indeed.

Cao Ting's family background is very powerful in Nanxin, and no one dares to harass her.

Besides, he didn't have that intention at all; it was just a simple friendship.

"Hey, what are you guys talking about?"

Fang Qingye wouldn't tell anyone else what she and Cao Ting talked about, but she could tell Xia He, so she told Xia He what they had said.

"Oh my, I really didn't expect Cao Ting to understand you so well. She's hit the nail on the head. She's a true confidante." Xia He laughed again.

"Go away. Don't joke like that."

Seeing Fang Qingye like this, Xia He stopped teasing him and her tone became serious: "Cao Ting's analysis is indeed reasonable. To completely reverse the current situation of rural banks, Baoshang Bank must be kicked out! However, according to my analysis, neither the county nor the provincial banking regulatory bureau has this idea for the time being."

"It's easy to invite a god, but hard to send him away," Fang Qingye said with a smile.

"Yes! Regarding this investigation, although there are many problems, as long as Baoshang Bank takes the lead in returning the misappropriated funds, the rural banks can operate normally."

"I understand, no rush, things will fall into place naturally," Fang Qingye said with a smile.

The events at Nanxin Rural Bank, particularly the run on the Changle Road branch, have drawn great attention from relevant county government departments and leaders. Before the investigation team left Nanxin, relevant county leaders met with the team to exchange views on the current problems of rural banks. County Party Secretary Hu stated that the county would cooperate with the China Banking Regulatory Commission and other financial regulatory departments to carry out the rectification work of rural banks and ensure their healthy and orderly development.

After the meeting, the investigation team left Nanxin and returned to Huijing, but several key county leaders continued to discuss the matter in the meeting room.

"Qian Weimin, Shi Jingsheng, and their gang are outrageous!" Hu Huaiwen said angrily.
"They all own businesses with assets worth billions, yet they still misappropriated funds deposited in the bank! What problems can a few million solve? Aren't they afraid of ruining their reputation?!"

"If the upper beam is crooked, the lower beam will be crooked too; if the middle beam is crooked, the whole structure will collapse," said County Magistrate Lu.

Everyone understood what he meant: if the major shareholder, Baoshang Bank, acted recklessly, wouldn't the minority shareholders follow suit?
Secretary Hu didn't respond, but looked at Miao Hongbin: "Old Miao, you are the executive deputy county head, and you are also in charge of the financial sector. You should talk to Qian Weimin and the others and tell them to pay back the money they borrowed and misappropriated from the village and township banks as soon as possible. Don't wait for the China Banking Regulatory Commission's rectification notice to come down before you take action!"

“Okay, I’ll take care of it tomorrow,” Miao Hongbin replied. After a moment, he added, “The key point here is Baoshang Bank. They are the major shareholder, and they misappropriated most of the funds. If Baoshang Bank doesn’t return the money in time, Qian Weimin and his associates won’t be able to solve the fundamental problem.”

Hu Huaiwen remained silent.

He was aware of the problem, but as the Party Secretary, he had no authority over Baoshang Bank.

"Sigh, we shouldn't have brought in Baoshang Bank in the first place. Inner Mongolia is so far away, it's beyond our reach. If it were a bank within the province, it would have been much easier," County Chief Lu complained.

The decision to make this was initially made by Secretary Wang, but he has since been transferred.

“County Chief Lu, the problem is that at the time, no bank in the province was willing to invest in the establishment of the bank. Only Baoshang Bank was interested in it! And it was also discussed collectively by the County Standing Committee, right?” Miao Hongbin was the speaker.

He strongly disapproved of this kind of behavior of shifting blame after the fact.

"Alright, let's stop arguing." Secretary Hu stopped the two in time, saying, "Baoshang Bank is under the jurisdiction of the Provincial Banking Regulatory Bureau. We only need to handle the issues of these shareholders in Nanxin County!"

After the meeting ended, everyone left. Miao Hongbin was about to return to his office when Hu Huaiwen stopped him: "Old Miao, come to my office."

(End of this chapter)