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

Chapter 654 The Exchange of Interests

It's still raining in Hangzhou today.

This was Fang Qingye's second visit to Taiji Zen Garden.

They first stayed at the Four Seasons Hotel by West Lake, had lunch with Yue Kai at the hotel, and then at 2 p.m., Fang Qingye took a car to Taiji Zen Garden.

Upon arriving at the teahouse in the Wenyuan District, Fang Qingye pushed open the bamboo door, and the aroma of tea wafted out. He found three people already sitting around the tea table inside.

Jack Ma sat upright in a white Tai Chi uniform, next to Jing Xiandong, president of Ant Financial. In front of him was not only a teacup but also an Apple laptop.

Across from her sat a middle-aged man, dressed in a suit and tie. When Fang Qingye saw his face clearly, she was somewhat taken aback.

I've actually seen him at the Lujiazui Forum and even heard him speak.

Li Ming, Director of the Financial Research Institute of the People's Bank of China!
"President Fang, we meet again." Li Ming said with a smile.

"Hello, Director Li." Fang Qingye quickly came to her senses and shook hands with the other party.

I never expected to see him at this Tai Chi Zen Garden Tea Party Private Sharing Session. It seems we have a deep relationship.

Fang Qingye thought to himself.

"Hehe, everyone's here, Mr. Fang, please have a seat." Jack Ma greeted him warmly, "Today, instead of trying our hometown tea, try this Phoenix Dancong, it's one of my favorites."

"Thank you." Fang Qingye sat down in the empty seat. Sure enough, there were only four armchairs around the square table.

This private gathering was quite private; they only invited two outsiders!

It's not just about drinking tea, is it?

Fang Qingye thought to himself.

As they drank tea and chatted for a while, Fang Qingye heard Ma Yun say:
"Mr. Fang, I invited you here today to show you something new that we've been developing." Ma Yun finished speaking and nodded to Jing Xiandong.

Jing Xiandong immediately took out a filter paper from under the tea tray and said to Fang Qingye with a smile, "President Fang, this is not an ordinary filter paper. It has micro-circuits printed on it—this is the 'tea chain' that Ant Group is testing—using blockchain technology to trace the origin of West Lake Longjing tea."

As he spoke, Jing Xiandong asked the waiter to bring a teacup, poured tea into it, carefully dipped a filter paper into it, and then tapped a few times on the laptop keyboard. The projection screen temporarily hanging on the left wall immediately displayed the entire process data of tea picking to brewing.

"I never expected that Mr. Ma would apply your blockchain technology to this place," Fang Qingye exclaimed in admiration.

“Actually, we initially wanted to use it for cross-border payments and develop a payment system similar to your Zhiyun Technology SCP,” Jing Xiandong explained.

“But I rejected it.” Ma Yun continued, “Since Zhiyun Technology’s SCP is good, we can just use it without having to put in any more effort.”

"Hehe, thank you. Zhiyun Technology has one less competitor," Fang Qingye said with a smile.

He knew in his heart that Ma Yun's sudden mention of this was definitely not without reason.

Sure enough, Ma Yun continued, "I want to solve the problem of tea farmers' loans first. We'll use planting data for credit rating so that finance can truly reach the grassroots level."

"Tea farmer loans?!" Fang Qingye suddenly understood why Ma Yun had invited him for tea today!
At this moment, Li Ming, who had been silent until now, looked at Fang Qingye and said, "Just now, I was discussing the draft of the People's Bank of China's 'Guiding Opinions on Promoting the Healthy Development of Internet Finance' with President Ma and President Jing. We specifically talked about the digital infrastructure for inclusive finance. President Ma said they want to conduct a pilot project in agriculture."

“I plan to focus on Guizhou, not just tea plantations but also other local farmers. The biggest problem here is how to solve the risk control issue of rural credit, and Mr. Fang, the ‘Great Tit Plan’ you proposed at the forum the day before yesterday is very constructive and feasible.” Ma Yun looked at Fang Qingye and smiled.

"So, you want to use it?" Fang Qingye asked. "Yes, I wonder if you, Mr. Fang, can bear the pain of using it?"

"Hehe, of course you can." Fang Qingye laughed. "I'm just proposing it now. Jinghai Bank doesn't have the capacity to implement it yet. I won't have any objections if you want to use it. After all, it's a very good policy to benefit farmers. The sooner it's implemented, the sooner the farmers will benefit."

“See that, Director Liu?” Ma Yun looked at Liu Ming again: “I’ve said it before, President Fang is not a petty person, he has a broad mind.”

"So it's settled then? I'll report today's discussion to the central bank leadership," Li Ming said.

Ma Yun nodded.

After finishing their business, the group started drinking tea and chatting, discussing tea ceremony, culture, and even martial arts, but never mentioning the internet or finance.

The next day, Ma Yun invited Fang Qingye to go fishing together.

There's a small river flowing behind Taiji Zen Garden, and it's rarely visited, making it perfect for wild fishing. It's almost June now, and the weather is getting warmer, but Xixi Wetland is still quite cool in the mornings.

The two men, wearing straw hats, sat on small stools, fishing with lines in the water—the fishing gear was brought by Fang Qingye himself, and he had a set in the trunk of his car. Their bodyguards were not far away.

Fang Qingye glanced at Ma Yun, who was focused on fishing, and recalled what Director Luo had said in Shanghai. She said, "President Ma, at the Lujiazui Forum, President Jing's demonstration of the new finance advocated by Ant Financial was an eye-opener for me, and Director Luo also praised it highly."

"Director Luo? Director Luo from the central bank?" Ma Yun asked.

“Yes, Director Luo highly appreciates Ant Group’s core financial business model and its deep integration with the internet,” Fang Qingye continued.

"Did Director Luo really say that?"

Fang Qingye nodded, then suddenly changed the subject: "Mr. Ma, I studied finance, and I have a question about the core business operation model of Ant Financial."

"please say."

“Ant Financial’s core financial business consists of two points: joint lending and ABS financing model. Let’s not talk about the former for now. ABS is also a commonly used financing model internationally. This involves a leverage ratio. Mr. Ma, what leverage ratio do you think is appropriate?” Fang Qingye asked humbly.

“Mr. Fang, you studied finance, while I studied English. I should ask you about this. What do you think is a suitable ratio?” Ma Yun said, a sly smile on her face.

"I'm not sure, so Jinghai Bank doesn't plan to do ABS." The two seemed to be playing a game of cat and mouse.

"Oh?"

“Some of the branch managers under me have suggested it, but I rejected it. I told them I wasn’t sure, and if their ambitions swell, they might ruin me,” Fang Qingye said with a smile.

Ma Yun remained silent, lost in thought as she gazed at the gently flowing river.

"Mr. Ma, the fish has taken the bait!" Fang Qingye glanced at the slightly swaying fishing line and reminded him softly.

As if waking from a dream, Ma Yun suddenly lifted her fishing rod and pulled up a lively crucian carp about half a foot long.

Ma Yun immediately beamed with joy, quickly put the crucian carp into the plastic bucket, and turned to look at Fang Qingye: "I will seriously consider the leverage issue you just mentioned."

Having achieved his goal, Fang Qingye stopped bringing up the issue and focused on fishing. Unfortunately, the phone rang suddenly. Fang Qingye took it out and saw that it was Zhu Yun, the general manager of CICC, calling.

(End of this chapter)