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

Chapter 434, Section 433: "True Feelings Revealed Through Difficult Times: Banks Help Overcome Challenges"

Oh?
Fang Qingye walked out of the office and saw Director Ma from the General Office walking towards her with a group of people. The person in the lead was holding a banner that read:

"True care is shown through helping others overcome difficulties; banks lend a helping hand to weather the storm."

That banner belonged to Lu Yongbing, whom Fang Qingye and her group had met during their last trip to the countryside!

"President Fang, thank you so much." Lu Yongbing was very excited to see Fang Qingye.

After the two shook hands, Fang Qingye invited the group into the reception room and asked Hu Lingling to arrange for tea. Only then did she ask Lu Yongbing, "Has Zhonggu Grain and Oil Group come to buy peanuts?"

"They've arrived! They'll buy it all, not just from Jiangping Town, but also from the neighboring towns," Lu Yongbing said excitedly.

"How much is it?" This was the question Fang Qingye was concerned about.

"Grade 1 is 3.5 yuan, Grade 2 is 3.4 yuan, and Grade 3 is 3.35 yuan. Although it's not as good as last year's price, it's much higher than what the vendors are paying!" Lu Yongbing said.

"Moreover, they signed a five-year contract with us, with a minimum purchase price no lower than this year's price!" a middle-aged man chimed in.

"Then you can plant with confidence," Fang Qingye said with a smile.

"Yes, I plan to lease some more land this year, aiming to reach 300 mu!" Lu Yongbing said.

"Where are you going to rent it? Jiangping and the surrounding towns are all densely populated and have little land, right?" Fang Qingye asked with concern.

“Let’s go to Wuyang County next door!” another middle-aged man said. “We’re planning to set up a peanut production and sales cooperative and work together to negotiate prices with Zhonggu Grain and Oil Group! The county’s agricultural bureau is very supportive and said they’ll try to get some subsidies for us.”

"Then you guys do a good job! Welcome to apply for loans from Jinghai Bank!" Fang Qingye said with a smile.

"Definitely," Lu Yongbing said. "President Fang, you've been so good to us. Of course, we'll pay back the loan first. Today, we're here to express our gratitude with this banner, and also to repay the loan!"

"Hehe, if you borrow and return, it's easy to borrow again."

Just as Fang Qingye was having a lively chat with a group of farmers in the conference room, Guo Yanfei, the head of the risk control department, happened to pass by and saw this scene. He couldn't help but sneak into the room of Bai Haihong, the head of the credit department.

"Hey, what's going on? Why is Director Fang chatting and laughing with a bunch of farmers?"

"You don't know? They came to present a banner, saying that Director Fang helped them solve the problem of peanut sales!" Bai Haihong then briefly explained what had happened.

"Holy crap! I never would have guessed!" Guo Yanfei exclaimed in surprise. "President Fang has this kind of ability? He actually knows the leaders of COFCO Group?!"

"Who knows? Anyway, I heard that despite his young age, President Fang knows a lot of people. Otherwise, how could he have easily brought Jinghai Bank over? Also, I just found out that President Fang is actually a director of Baoshang Bank!"

"Holy crap. Could they be planning to bring Baoshang Bank over?"

"Who knows."

While the two ministers were whispering to each other, Fang Qingye had already finished his conversation and was taking a group photo with a group of farmers.

The banner was naturally hung in the unit's honor room.

"President Fang, I'll arrange for someone to write a publicity report right away. In addition to putting it on our official website, we'll submit it to the county TV station and the Jinghai Daily to try and get it published!" Director Ma was also overjoyed. What great publicity material!

With the successful sale of peanuts, most of the bank's debts have been recovered. Today, he plans to hold a meeting of bank managers to discuss an important matter. After Lu Yongbing and the others left, Fang Qingye returned to his office and said to Hu Lingling, "Go and call the two bank managers. They need to come to my office in ten minutes to discuss something."

"Ok."

Ten minutes later, two vice presidents knocked on the door and entered the office. The three of them sat on the sofa and heard Fang Qingye say, "Today, the three of us are just meeting up. It's not a formal meeting, so there's no need to take notes."

Upon hearing this, Yang Weiyi couldn't help but glance at Zhao Wenjun, who was sitting on the sofa diagonally opposite him.

In his many years of experience, he has learned that the smaller and more casual the meeting appears, the more serious and important matters are being discussed.

Sure enough, Fang Qingye continued, "The main topic is discussing the establishment of the Pingdong branch in Jinghai city."

Originally, the current Jinghai Bank was formerly known as Nanxin Rural Bank, which had one business hall and two branches, namely Changle Road Branch and Liulin Town Branch.

Back when it was the Nanxin Rural Bank, according to the original chairman Zhang Xiaojun's plan, branches were to be established in all 14 towns and townships in the county, and preparations had already been made in Jiangping Town and Xiangyang Town. However, after Fang Qingye took over the bank, he immediately stopped the plan.

In his words, now that our bank has been renamed Jinghai Bank and its operating area has expanded to the entire Jinghai region, we can no longer focus solely on Nanxin. Setting up branches in every township would be a pure waste of manpower and resources.

Let's put this matter aside for now.

The two vice presidents were not surprised when Fang Qingye mentioned setting up a branch in Pingdong District today.

Since it is Jinghai Bank, it must expand into the city. Pingdong District is the most economically developed and prosperous district in Jinghai City, so the first branch should naturally be built there.

But who will organize and establish it?!
Moreover, it is quite obvious that whoever was in charge of the establishment was basically the first branch manager!
The two vice presidents exchanged glances, and then Zhao Wenjun said, "Fang Xing, it is indeed necessary to set up a branch in Pingdong District. This is the first step for Jinghai Bank to expand into Nanxin. However, who should be in charge of this project?"

Fang Qingye did not answer directly but looked at Yang Weiyi: "You are the bank manager in charge of human resources, I would like to hear your opinion."

Yang Weiyi pondered for a moment and said, "The person in charge of setting up the Jiangping Town branch was Song Tonghui. He used to be the deputy branch manager of the Changle branch. He has been in the banking system for more than 20 years and has a lot of work experience. After the establishment work was suspended, no position was assigned to him. He is now working in the headquarters office. I think he can go to Jinghai City."

Fang Qingye didn't answer directly after hearing this, but instead asked, "Song Tonghui? The one who was recruited from the credit union? He's almost 50 this year, right?"

“48 years old,” Yang Weiyi said hastily.

"Oh, continue. Are there any other suitable ones? Tell us all so we can discuss them. What do you say, President Zhao?" Fang Qingye's gaze then turned to Zhao Wenjun sitting opposite her.

"And then there's Liao Wei, who was in charge of setting up the Xiangyang Town branch. He's now the deputy director of the corporate client department, and I heard he's only 35 years old this year," Zhao Wenjun said.

"He seems to have a college diploma? Or maybe it's a correspondence college diploma?!" Fang Qingye asked.

"Yes, he graduated from Jinghai Commercial and Trade Higher Vocational School with a secondary vocational school diploma, and later obtained a junior college diploma through self-study."

Fang Qingye didn't say anything more, but just shook her head slightly.

Zhao Wenjun understood now.

Fang Qingye's hiring criteria: Can't be too old, and can't have a low level of education!
Of course, ordinary employees won't do either. Leaving aside their abilities, they lack authority! Who will respect them?!
As he was pondering this, he heard Fang Qingye say, "Let's leave this issue here for now and move on to the next one."

(End of this chapter)