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

Chapter 465 "The CEOs of both COFCO and COFCO Reserves are grateful to you."

On Tuesday morning, Fang Qingye went to work, arranged her tasks, and then took a car from Nanxin straight to Huijing.

The senior management of Jinghai Bank has gradually gotten used to Fang Qingye's work style of working only sporadically.

As the bank's various businesses gradually became more standardized, Fang Qingye naturally began to act as a hands-off manager again, handing over the authority to sign financial documents to Executive Vice President Zhao Wenjun.

This saves me from having to sign a mountain of invoices and receipts every time I walk into the office. Of course, I also need to sign off on large expenses such as infrastructure projects and marketing campaign costs.

When he entered Huijing city at 11 a.m., he called Qiao Yongfeng: "Brother Qiao, I've arrived in Huijing."

"Okay, let's have lunch together at the Cloud Restaurant on the 78th floor of Zifeng Tower," Qiao Yongfeng said over the phone.

"Okay," Fang Qingye readily agreed.

Forty minutes later, the car arrived at Zifeng Tower. Fang Qingye said to Yue Kai, "Give me the car keys. Book a room for yourself here. You're free to do as you please for the next couple of days. I'll call you if I need anything."

"Alright then, Mr. Fang, aren't you staying here?" Yue Kai asked.

"Can't stop."

Yue Kai didn't ask any further questions.

Fang Qingye took the elevator alone to the Cloud Restaurant on the 78th floor. Following the text message sent by Qiao Yongfeng, she entered a private room by the window, only to find that Qiao Yongfeng was the only person inside.

The two greeted each other and sat down on either side of the long table.

The dishes were served quickly: black cod fillets, Alaskan king crab appetizer, asparagus and shrimp soup. They were all very beautiful, and there was also a bottle of French red wine.

"Brother Qiao, let's skip the alcohol. You know I'm most afraid of that. Let's just have tea," Fang Qingye said.

"Alright, then we won't open it. Waiter, bring us a pot of the finest Yuhua tea!"

The two of them chatted while eating.

"Brother Qiao, you've gotten a lot darker after your trip to America," Fang Qingye said with a smile.

"How could it not be tanned? It runs around in the soybean fields all day long."

"Has the contract been signed?" Fang Qingye put down her chopsticks and asked with concern.

"It's signed. 1340 cents per bushel. Our company will pre-order 10 tons, and we expect to ship them after September, once the soybeans are ripe," Qiao Yongfeng said.

"That's great! Soybean futures prices have already risen to 1580 cents!"

"Isn't this all thanks to you? You suspected that the data released by the U.S. Department of Agriculture was fake, so I visited several major soybean producing areas to find out the truth, and it turned out to be true."

"It is true that soybeans suffered damage this year due to drought, but the extent of the damage is not as exaggerated as the US government has reported, and it is impossible for production to drop by 30% all at once!"

“We presented the facts, but the Americans still argued and refused to lower the price. Later, I contacted several major domestic grain traders, including COFCO, COFCO Reserves, and Dabeinong, to put pressure on the Americans: You won't sell to us, right? Then we'll go to Brazil to buy!”

"When the other party saw that we were serious, they started to make concessions, and after further bargaining, we signed a contract. In fact, Bangcheng only purchased a small portion; the bulk of the purchases came from COFCO and COFCO Reserves, and everyone signed the same price."

"Qingye, the heads of COFCO and COFCO Reserves are both grateful to you. They said you've saved the country a lot of money. When we go to Beijing sometime, they want to treat you to drinks!"

"Huh? Drinking? Then I'm not going back," Fang Qingye joked.

"Hehe, I told the two bosses that you're not good at drinking but like tea, so we'll go to Minghui Tea House at Dajue Temple for tea!"

“That’s a good idea.” Fang Qingye smiled, picked up her teacup, took a sip, and said, “Speaking of soybeans, I think we should really buy them from Brazil.”

“You’re right, I’m planning to go to Brazil next year,” Qiao Yongfeng said.

"Brother Qiao, I feel like you're scouting ahead?"

"You could say that. Mine is a private company, relatively small in scale, and more flexible in its operations. State-owned enterprises like COFCO and COFCO Storage represent the country, and sometimes they can't be as unreasonable or shameless as we are, right?"

"Haha." Fang Qingye laughed at Qiao Yongfeng's words.

"Regarding soybeans, our country has already made arrangements in Brazil," Qiao Yongfeng said, lowering his voice slightly.

"Oh? Is it convenient to talk about it?" Fang Qingye's curiosity was piqued.

"It's not exactly a secret," Qiao Yongfeng said. "Our country signed a memorandum of understanding on soybean trade with Brazil in 04, but at that time Brazil's soybean production was not good enough to compete with the United States. Do you know what our country did?"

"any solution?"

“We’ll help them grow soybeans. We’ll send a team of experts from the Academy of Agricultural Sciences to conduct long-term research and cooperation with local research institutions to cultivate rust-resistant varieties and increase soybean yield! I heard this work is basically complete, and soybean production has already increased,” Qiao Yongfeng said. “So you’re planning to go to Brazil next year?”

“Yes, but soybean transportation is still a problem. Currently, our country’s infrastructure company is working on opening up a dedicated soybean transportation line from Mato Grosso, Brazil to Chancay, Peru. When that happens, we won’t need to transport the soybeans to Santos and then detour through the Panama Canal, which will save a lot of time and costs,” Qiao Yongfeng said.

"Hehe, it seems the country is making a big move." Fang Qingye laughed.

"Yes, it's a very big move."

“Brother Qiao, after you’ve said so much, I don’t think your company is a purely private company,” Fang Qingye said again.

"You're wrong. Looking at the company's shareholding structure, I'm a purely private company. There are no official shares at all," Qiao Yongfeng said with a hint of slyness.

"Okay, I won't ask anymore."

"Actually, it's nothing. You've probably heard Xia He and Shi Guangrong talk about my family. My parents were all revolutionaries. Although I'm no longer in the system, some ministries or leaders often ask me to do things for them," Qiao Yongfeng explained.

"For example, soybeans?"

"Hmm." Qiao Yongfeng nodded: "In your words, I was the one scouting the way. Of course, the authorities also provided me with many conveniences and inside information, so it can be considered a win-win situation."

"Good."

“Actually, Qingye, you’re doing the same thing.” Qiao Yongfeng’s tone was slightly mysterious.

Fang Qingye was surprised to hear this. "Me? No department has ever asked me to do anything."

"Have you forgotten about Bitcoin, the invention of yours?"

"Huh? How did you know?!" Fang Qingye was taken aback.

Aside from Dongguan Girl (Huang Tao), Bai Ou, and Cheng Zhenzhen from the Jiangsu branch of Dongfangxing, Fang Qingye didn't even tell Xia He about this. How could he know?

"You knew about this from Huang Tao?" Fang Qingye suddenly remembered that Qiao Yongfeng seemed to know Huang Tao!

"I suppose so, but you don't need to worry about the secret being leaked; only a very small number of people know about it. Right now, not only Huang Tao, but relevant government departments are also very interested in your Bitcoin,"

"What are you going to do? Reverse-harvest the Americans?" Fang Qingye asked.

"I don't understand that, and I'm not sure about the specifics. I just mentioned it casually when the topic came up today, so let's stop here."

Since Qiao Yongfeng was unwilling to talk about it, Fang Qingye did not press him for details.

It's okay, just ask the girl from Dongguan when you have time, and the truth will come out.

"There's one more thing, Aoba. I see you're quite interested in agricultural products. Would you like to invest with me in Brazil? We'd like to invest in a soybean production company!"

what?
Fang Qingye had never thought of this!

He answered after a while:

"Brother Qiao, I only know about financial investments, such as banking, futures, and the internet. I don't know anything about actual agricultural production."

“That’s alright, we’re just investing, not operating,” Qiao Yongfeng explained. “I’ve talked to the CEOs of COFCO and COFCO Storage, and they all have the same idea. I also want a piece of the pie, but my company’s resources are limited, so I’d like to bring you along. You have the ability and a unique vision.”

"Then why don't you cooperate with COFCO or COFCO Storage?" Fang Qingye countered.

“Aren’t we already cooperating?” Qiao Yongfeng laughed. “However, cooperation is fine, but as for joint ventures, I don’t want to get involved with state-owned enterprises. They have too many rules, and I don’t like them.”

"Okay!" Fang Qingye agreed.

The international environment will gradually deteriorate in the future, and investing or doing business with the United States and other developed countries in Europe will be very risky.

Compared to Brazil, it's a pretty good choice.

"Alright, let's leave it at that. I plan to go to Brazil early next year to do some research. If there are any suitable options, we can discuss them in more detail."

"it is good!

After the two finished their meal, Qiao Yongfeng went to work, and Fang Qingye naturally didn't go to find Yue Kai. She drove alone straight to the Golden Finished Products Community. However, Xia He was at work and didn't return until after get off work in the afternoon.

The two spent the night together, which goes without saying.

After the storm subsided, Xia He lay in Fang Qingye's arms and suddenly said, "Qingye, the bank wants to transfer me to the Queens branch in New York to work as the vice president."

(End of this chapter)