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

Chapter 546 A Million-Dollar Salary for a House in Shanghai!
"Hello, Mr. Chen."

Fang Qingye sat opposite him and introduced herself: "My name is Fang Qingye, president of Jinghai Bank in Jiangsu Province."

"Hello, President Fang."

Chen Danlu looked at the young man in front of him with some surprise.

She looks to be around 26 or 27 years old.

He became a bank president at such a young age.

“Mr. Chen, I am very interested in your speech this afternoon. I think some of the insights you made are very unique and also practical.”

"Really?" Chen Danlu felt a little happy.

To be honest, I felt a bit frustrated after the afternoon's speech.

Invited by the forum organizers, he made thorough preparations, but to his surprise, he found that the bank managers below did not seem to be paying much attention when he spoke.

The response to his own speech was far less enthusiastic than that to the speeches of previous scholars such as Wu Xiaoqiu and Lang Xianping.

They weren't interested in what I was saying?

Or is it because I'm not famous enough?
Hearing a young bank manager say that he strongly agreed with my speech made me a little happy.

Of course, she didn't show it on her face, but just smiled faintly: "Is that so?"

"Yes, I also believe that small and medium-sized banks have two paths to take. The first is to penetrate the market, go to counties, rural areas and communities, and take root among the customer base of non-bank institutions. This is the weak link of large banks and also the survival environment of small and medium-sized banks. They can then provide a way to survive through refined management, risk control and technology."

“The other one is what you mentioned, embracing the internet economy,” Fang Qingye said.

“President Fang, you’re absolutely right!” Chen Danlu’s tone became excited: “I used to work at Southern Bank in the United States, the North Carolina-based Southern Bancshares, which was also a small bank with assets of $53 billion.”

"Rooted in small towns in eastern North Carolina, they have built long-term partnerships with generations of families, small business owners, and farmers, which reduces their cost of capital because they don't have to compete with the most expensive markets offered by big banks. Last year, their return on tangible common equity reached 26%, and their return on assets was 2.2%, both among the best in the industry!"

Chen Danlu spoke at length about the situation at his company, Southern Bank in the United States, while Fang Qingye listened attentively.

After Chen Danlu finished speaking, Fang Qingye said, "If I may ask, from what you just said, I feel that you highly regard Southern Bank, so why did you resign?"

Chen Danlu smiled.

"This is my personal privacy, and I have no comment, but I think you're quite interesting, Fang Xing, so I can tell you."

"While Southern Bank has done a good job in penetrating lower-tier communities, its CEO, Drew Kowalt, is too conservative and uninterested in the internet and mobile finance, which clashes with my philosophy. Perhaps it's because their business is doing well and they don't want to change; people always like to live in their comfort zone, don't they?"

"Also, I want to go back to China to start a business. I've been in the United States for almost ten years and I want to come back."

"Oh, may I ask where you're from, Mr. Chen? Your accent sounds a bit like Wu dialect?" Fang Qingye asked.

"I am from Tongxiang County, Jiaxing."

“That’s not far from our Nanxin,” Fang Qingye said with a smile.

Generally, if someone claims to be from the same hometown, it's almost certain they'll ask for a favor later.

Sure enough, Fang Qingye said, "Mr. Chen, I am very interested in your business philosophy. Our Jinghai Bank is currently setting up a branch in Pudong, and I would like to hire you as the branch manager. No, the vice president of Jinghai Bank will concurrently serve as the Pudong branch manager. You can implement your business philosophy there."

Chen Danlu laughed when he heard this: "President Fang, you haven't introduced your Jinghai Bank to me yet."

"Oh, I almost forgot."

Fang Qingye then introduced Chen Danlu to the development history, current situation, and shareholding structure of Jinghai Bank.

“I own a company called Tuofang Technology, which owns 80% of the shares of Jinghai Bank. In addition to Jinghai Bank, I also own Tomorrow Cube and Zhiyun Technology, and I also hold controlling stakes in Ele.me, ByteDance, Huacheng Development and other companies.”

Hearing Fang Qingye's detailed introduction, Chen Danlu was even more shocked. He never expected that a financial tycoon was hidden among these people!
"There's another piece of news: Jinghai Bank is about to obtain the qualification of a pilot bank for internet finance in China. The government will provide a series of policies and preferential conditions, so you can go for it boldly," Fang Qingye said at the end.

"real or fake?"

"I have no reason to lie to you. The central bank is actively conducting research, and the list will be announced as early as the end of this year or at the latest next spring. If I lied to you, you can resign then."

"Huh? President Fang, I haven't agreed to your request yet," Chen Dan chuckled.

"Oh, I forgot to mention your salary and benefits. It's a million-dollar annual salary, plus bonuses. I'll also give you a 100-square-meter apartment in Pudong. How about that?" A million-dollar annual salary and an apartment in Shanghai!

This greatly appealed to Chen Danlu.

"Alright, I promise you!"

"Okay, when can you start work?" Fa Qingye asked immediately.

"President Fang, you can't wait any longer?"

“Indeed, the Pudong branch is under preparation, and I would like to hear your suggestions.”

Chen Danlu pondered for a moment and said, "After the forum ends, I still need to take care of some personal matters in Yanjing. How about I go and report in a week?"

“Okay, you can go to Shanghai first. I will have Tuofang Technology employees take you to Nanxin. I will hold a grand onboarding ceremony for you there.”

"Thanks."

"Come on, let's drink soup instead of wine to celebrate our successful cooperation."

Fang Qingye humorously raised the soup bowl.

This meeting was definitely worthwhile.

Surprisingly, he managed to recruit a branch manager to solve his problem.

The two then chatted about internet finance and the operating methods of the Pudong branch after its establishment, and they got along very well.

The award ceremony was held the following afternoon, and Fang Qingye received her "Most Promising Small and Medium-sized Bank" medal.

The next morning, Fang Qingye and his group took a plane and led the two back to Jinghai.

Chen Danlu returned to his rented apartment in Yanjing, packed his bags, and prepared to leave. Of course, before officially starting work at Jinghai Bank, he wanted to go back to his hometown to visit his parents and stay for a few days.

He knew he would be very busy at work and wouldn't have much time.

Before leaving, Chen Danlu called her old college friend. Half-reclining on the sofa, she picked up her phone.

"Liu Hai, I'm preparing to leave Yanjing and return to Shanghai."

"You're not planning to go to the East anymore?"

“State-owned banks are too restrictive and not very interesting,” Chen Danlu said with a smile.

"You little rascal, which bank in Shanghai are you going to? Citibank, Morgan Stanley?"

"Hehe, why go to a foreign investment bank? I might as well stay on Wall Street. I'm going to a small bank called Jinghai Bank, where I'll serve as the vice president and also as the president of their Pudong branch, which they're currently setting up. My future work will be focused on Shanghai."

"Jinghai Bank? I know it. It just got a nationwide operating license. It opened a branch in Shanghai so quickly? You know what, this inconspicuous little bank has received special attention from our Chairman Shang."

"Really? That's great! But Chairman Shang is a big leader I can't meet, but you're the director of the Second Supervision Department of the China Banking Regulatory Commission. I can meet you, so don't refuse to help when you need it."

"Don't worry, we're classmates, how could I not be busy? You can look for Mu Xiaoyan in Shanghai. She's the director of the Second Supervision Department of the Shanghai branch of the People's Bank of China. She's more capable than me in Shanghai."

"Don't worry, I'll call you all one by one, my old classmates. Haha."

After chatting with Liu Hai for a few minutes and hanging up, he dialed the number again to call Mu Xiaoyan: "Xiaoyan, I'm coming to Shanghai right away."

"Weren't you going to the headquarters of the Eastern Enterprise? Aren't you going?"

"Forget it, that's too high-class, I'm not used to it. It's better to go to a small bank. I've applied for the position of vice president of Jinghai Bank and concurrently the president of the Pudong branch. My main work location will be in Shanghai, and I'll be under your leadership," Chen Danlu said with a smile.

"Look at what you're saying, what kind of leader am I? Since you're in Shanghai, how about a get-together for some of our close classmates? Yu Zhengfei works at the Municipal Financial Office, and Yang Hong works at China Merchants Bank."

“Sure, I’ll go when I get to Shanghai. Isn’t Yu Hao with Pacific Insurance Company? Let’s bring him along too.”

"it is good"

Chen Danlu made six or seven phone calls in succession. These were all classmates from Tsinghua University's School of Economics and Management, with whom he had a good relationship. They were now located in the two major cities of Beijing and Shanghai, and had basically become the backbone of their respective units.

This is a fortune!
(End of this chapter)