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

Chapter 549 Nanxin's Celebrity—The P2P Lending Company Boss Has Arrived
"Sure, take my car, I'll drive you there."

Hu Lingling got her driver's license last month and immediately bought a new electric car, the "Qin," produced by BYD at the Nanxin New Energy Vehicle Base. She's still showing it off, driving it to and from work, and also using it to run errands.

It's less than a ten-minute drive from Chundu Hotel to the Four Seasons Nursery. Hu Lingling parked her car at the entrance of the nursery and accompanied Chen Danlu inside.

She saw a man in work clothes and a mask working in the field not far away, and immediately called out:
"Fang Xing, President Chen is here."

The man straightened up, took off his mask, and it was indeed Fang Qingye.

He greeted Chen Danlu with a smile, "President Chen, why don't you rest at the hotel for a while?"

"There's nothing wrong with staying in the hotel, so I had Secretary Hu bring me here. President Fang, are you going to go down to the ground yourself?" Chen Danlu asked.

“Sometimes when there’s a lot of work and the workers can’t keep up, I come and help out. Anyway, I have nothing else to do,” Fang Qingye explained.

"Are you applying fertilizer? Potassium sulfate?"

Chen Danlu watched as Fang Qingye placed a small pinch of fertilizer in a small hole next to the roots of the seedling and asked.

"Huh? You know about this too? Does your family have a nursery?" Fang Qingye asked, somewhat surprised.

“No, my parents are farmers. They work in the fields in the countryside. When I was in middle school, I even went to the fields with them during holidays, so I know a little about agriculture,” Chen Danlu replied.

Hearing this, Hu Lingling, who was standing next to him, was surprised and couldn't help but ask, "Chen Xing, your family lives in the countryside and you have to do farm work, how did you manage to get into Tsinghua University?!"

“Who says rural kids can’t get into university? Of course, it’s more difficult compared to urban kids,” Chen Danlu explained. “In my class at Tsinghua University, there were 29 students, and I think only two of them came from rural areas.”

"So how many points did you get? Are you the top scorer in Zhejiang Province's college entrance examination?" Hu Lingling asked curiously.

"I was admitted to university through a special admission program because I won an award in the International Mathematical Olympiad; I didn't take the college entrance examination," Chen Danlu said with a smile.

我的天啦
He's an absolute academic genius!
"Alright, Hu Lingling, stop asking. Those who get into Tsinghua and Yenching Universities have more talent than hard work. Go back to your unit and head straight to the hotel at six o'clock. Don't drive," Fang Qingye said.

"Ok."

Hu Lingling knew that Fang Qingye wanted her to drink in her place, so she agreed and turned to walk outside.

"Chen Xing, go to my nursery office first, I'll change my clothes and come over."

Without Fang Qingye needing to say anything, Zhang Xiaorui, the office director of Siji Nursery Company, hurriedly came over and beckoned Chen Danlu to the office building.

Fang Qingye went back to the small building to wash her hands and changed into a T-shirt and casual pants. When she arrived at the office building and entered her office, she saw Chen Danlu sitting alone in the sofa area drinking tea.

Fang Qingye sat on the sofa next to her.

After a few casual words, the two naturally started talking about work, focusing on the development of the Pudong branch.

"When I returned to the mainland, I found that P2P lending and its so-called variants, such as P2N, P2E, and P2F, are very popular online lending models. Fang Xing, what is your opinion on this? Will the Pudong branch launch this business in the future?" Chen Danlu asked.

Instead of answering directly, Fang Qingye asked in return, "You've worked in the US for many years. What are the views on P2P lending in the US?"

“P2P lending is legal in the United States, but compared to China, the US has a well-developed credit reporting mechanism and credit system. In the entire transaction process, US P2P lending platforms only act as information intermediaries, and investors mainly rely on the borrower's FICO credit rating for credit assessment. But in China, this aspect is almost non-existent.”

"Furthermore, the P2P lending industry in the United States is subject to strict regulation by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and the registration requirements have set very high market entry barriers. Therefore, there are very few platforms engaged in P2P transactions now, but there are many in China, almost everywhere."

"I worked in the financial industry abroad for ten years, and now that I'm back in China, I don't quite understand. How is it possible to achieve an annualized return of 20% to 30%?" "Heh, anything that violates the principles of investment has something fishy going on."

As the two were chatting, Zhang Xiaorui suddenly knocked on the door and came in: "President Fang, someone outside is looking for you. He claims to be Zhou Shipei, Chairman and CEO of Hongling Venture Capital E-commerce Co., Ltd." She then handed over a business card.

The girl paused for a moment and then continued, "He said he was from Nanxin, and that he was from our hometown."

Hongling Venture Capital?!
Zhou Shipei?!

Wow, they're very famous.

He is indeed from Nanxin, a fellow townsman, and quite well-known in Nanxin County.

They're involved in online lending!

Hongling Venture Capital E-commerce Co., Ltd. is an online lending platform.

It's like speaking of the devil and he appears! We were discussing online loans on Chen Dan Road when he showed up at our door!

We need to discuss this.
As Fang Qingye was pondering this, she heard Chen Danlu say, "Fang Xing, you have a friend visiting, so I'll go back to the hotel first."

“No need, I’ve only heard of him but never met him. You can listen to what he wants from me.” Fang Qingye replied, then said to Zhang Xiaorui, “Let him in.”

"Ok."

Seeing Fang Qingye say this, Chen Danlu didn't insist anymore; he was also a little curious.

What does Hongling Venture Capital do?

The name sounds like an investment company or angel investor?
Less than two minutes later, a man in his forties entered the office carrying a briefcase and wearing a Lacoste polo shirt.

Upon seeing Fang Qingye, he immediately smiled and said, "Hello, President Fang, I've heard so much about you. I just returned from Shenzhen and heard that you were in Nanxin, so I rushed over to pay you a visit."

"You're too kind, Mr. Zhou." Fang Qingye shook hands, and the two sat down.

"And who is this?" Zhou Shipei asked, looking at Chen Danlu beside him.

"Let me introduce you. This is Chen Danlu, the newly appointed vice president of Jinghai Bank. He used to work at banks such as Citibank in the United States and has just returned to China."

"Oh my? A returnee from overseas, an elite! I've heard so much about you." Zhou Shipei was very respectful and quickly shook hands.

The three chatted casually, and Zhou Shipei introduced himself again: "President Fang is from Nanxin and knows me quite well. President Chen just returned to China, so I'll just give a brief introduction to Hongling Venture Capital."

"Hongling Venture Capital is an online lending platform that I founded in 2009. After several years of development, it has become one of the larger and more influential online lending companies in China. In April 2013, Hongling Venture Capital was recommended by the Pengcheng Market Supervision Bureau as an 'Innovative Financial Network Company of High Quality,' and I was also interviewed by CCTV Finance Channel."

Zhou Shipei wore a humble expression.

"Congratulations, Mr. Zhou, you've brought honor to Nanxin!" Fang Qingye said with a smile. "You're a celebrity in Nanxin now."

"My business is just small-scale; how can it compare to yours, President Fang? You own banks, real estate companies, and several financial investment companies."

After a brief exchange of pleasantries, Zhou Shipei finally got to the point: "President Fang, I've returned to Nanxin this time to discuss cooperation with you."

(End of this chapter)