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

Chapter 775 Cash on Delivery

Fang Qingye went over and opened the door. Lin Wei was standing at the door with a smile on her face, holding a cup of coffee as usual.

He stepped aside to let her in, and then he heard Lin Wei say, "President Fang, I didn't expect that you also saw through the other party's intentions."

"Thinking of this isn't too difficult, is it?" Fang Qingye said calmly. "The difficulty lies in obtaining conclusive evidence to convince the Ningbo authorities."

As he spoke, he looked at Lin Wei and asked, "Ms. Lin, does Goldman Sachs have any solutions?"

"No, that's not true. If Hengtai Securities really wants to push forward with the ABS project, it must be a company secret, known only to them and related parties," Lin Wei said frankly. "I don't know the inside story either."

Fang Qingye observed her expression; it didn't seem like she was lying.

If she had real evidence, she would have presented it long ago—driving away Hengtai Securities, which had interfered, and letting Jinghai Bank retake the project would also benefit Goldman Sachs.

Lin Wei looked at him and suddenly asked, "President Fang, I remember you also serve as a director of Baoshang Bank?"

"Yes, what's wrong?"

"Then you'll have the opportunity to see ABS content, won't you?"

"President Lin, what do you mean by that? I don't quite understand." Fang Qingye pretended not to understand.

"Alright, President Fang, stop pretending," Lin Wei chuckled. "You've been investigating for two days, haven't you found out that the actual controlling shareholder of Hengtai Securities and Baoshang Bank is Mintian Group? In other words, they both belong to the 'Mintian Group.' I don't believe you if you say you didn't find out."

Fang Qingye smiled, picked up her teacup, and took a sip.

“That’s right, they do belong to the Mintian Group. Baoshang Bank is very likely the custodian bank for this ABS project… The problem is, I’m still the president of Jinghai Bank. Do you think they would reveal the truth to me?”

Lin Wei frowned slightly and nodded: "That's true... You already asked?"

"I asked. They sent me all the important transaction records from the past six months for which they provided custody, underwriting, or fund supervision services, but there was no ABS project from Hengtai Securities in them... If you don't believe me, I can forward you the reply from the secretary of the board of directors of Baoshang Bank."

"No need, I trust you."

Silence fell in the room.

Lin Wei suddenly looked at him: "President Fang, I have a feeling that you... have a backup plan."

"Hahaha..." Fang Qingye laughed, shrugging, "President Lin, you overestimate me. What can I do?"

Lin Wei paused for a moment, then said, "Mayor Wang took some of what was said at the dinner today to heart. That means their negotiations with Hengtai Securities won't be too quick, which buys us some time... Let's all think of another way, shall we?"

"Okay," Fang Qingye agreed readily.

"Then I won't disturb your rest any longer. Good night."

"Good night."

The next day, there were still no formal negotiations between the two sides. They only had informal contact on some technical details. However, news from Yongjiang indicated that the progress of negotiations with Hengtai Securities had slowed down significantly, and some of Hengtai Securities' related companies had begun to be investigated by the Yongjiang negotiation team.

The situation has reached a stalemate.

Chen Danlu and Qian Huan were both getting anxious—they couldn't just stay here doing nothing, could they? There was still a lot of work to be done at the bank. In the end, Chen Danlu decided to return to Shanghai, leaving Qian Duo in charge—after all, their boss, Fang Qingye, was there to oversee things in Yongjiang.

Fang Qingye, however, remained unhurried and drove to Tengling Reservoir in the suburbs to fish. The reservoir was exceptionally quiet. He sat on a small stool, cast his fishing rod, brewed a pot of tea, and squinted at the float on the water, staying there for most of the day.

She also wrote a short message about her feelings on her WeChat Moments:
"Searching for brocade fish all day long"
If the heart is calm, the water will naturally be still.

He is waiting.

Finally, on the morning of the fourth day after making that phone call, Fang Qingye, as usual, took Yue Kai fishing at Tengling Reservoir, where they received Tong Ming's call. "President Fang, I've found what you wanted. Where should we meet?"

Actually, there was no need to meet in person; an electronic version or a photo would have sufficed. But Tong Ming's meaning was clear: money for goods.

Qingye glanced at her watch: "I'm in Yongjiang now, it's nine in the morning. How about we meet at Yinxi Teahouse on the Bund at two o'clock this afternoon?"

"Okay, I'll be there on time."

After hanging up the phone, Fang Qingye immediately got up to pack up her fishing rod and called out to Yue Kai, who was not far away, "Let's go, back to Shanghai right away!"

Three hours later, Fang Qingye rushed back to Shanghai. His wife, Bai Ou, was on duty at noon and wouldn't be home. His mother-in-law and the nanny were taking care of their son.

He called ahead, had lunch at home, played with his son for a while, and when it was almost time, he drove to Yinxi Teahouse in the Magnolia Plaza on the Bund.

In the private room, he met Tong Ming.

Upon meeting, Tong Ming quickly took out a photocopy from his briefcase and handed it over: "This is it, the 'Hengtai Securities - Yongjiang Urban Construction Phase I Asset-Backed Special Plan Prospectus (Draft)'. I went through a lot of trouble to get it."

"Thank you for your hard work." Fang Qingye poured herself a cup of tea at a leisurely pace before picking up the documents to review.

Sure enough, it was exactly as he had guessed.

It is indeed planned to use 10 billion yuan of bonds to make ABS, with Xinhua Trust as the underwriter and Baoshang Bank as the custodian bank! All the seals of the relevant parties are present.

But there were also differences. Fang Qingye carefully examined the "matryoshka doll"-like ABS structure and made a rough estimate in his mind. It wasn't the 20 times he had originally guessed, but 30 times!
Good guy...

It seems I'm not ruthless enough.

Seeing that he was looking at it intently, Tong Ming, who was sitting opposite him, said, "President Fang, the content is absolutely true, you can rest assured about that."

"I believe it won't do you any good to lie to me." Fang Qingye smiled, put the photocopy into her briefcase, and took out her phone.

"Give me your bank account number so I can transfer the money."

"OK!" Tong Ming quickly pulled a piece of paper from his pocket, on which the account number and account name were clearly written—it was naturally a personal account.

Two minutes later, the transfer was completed.

Tong Ming immediately picked up his briefcase and left. Fang Qingye finished her tea before slowly walking out of the tea room and saying to Yue Kai, who was waiting outside:

"Go back to Yongjiang!"

……

Behind the city government compound is a three-story white building that serves as the offices of the mayors, and it is jokingly referred to as the "Little White Building".

In an office on the second floor, Lu Guoxiong, general manager of Yongjiang City Investment Company, was reporting to Wang Zheng on the progress of negotiations with Hengtai Securities.

Although Wang Zheng was the head of the negotiation team, he was usually busy with official duties, so Lu Guoxiong presided over the daily negotiations and reported back to him afterward.

"Mayor Wang, the details of the negotiations with Hengtai Securities have been basically finalized. This is the draft contract." Lu Guoxiong said, taking out a thick stack of documents from his briefcase and handing it over.

Wang Zheng put on his glasses, looked at the documents carefully for a while, then put them down and looked at Lu Guoxiong: "Old Lu, I'm still worried about the issue that President Fang raised earlier."

"That's pure nonsense!" Lu Guoxiong said with certainty. "Mr. Niu from Hengtai Securities made a solemn statement to me, and they even issued a written commitment letter for this purpose."

"Oh? Let me take a look."

Lu Guoxiong immediately took out another document from his bag and handed it over.

Wang Zheng read it carefully, his brows gradually relaxing: "With this, I can report to Secretary Liu and Mayor Zhang, and it can be discussed at the executive meeting!" He chuckled.

Just then, Secretary Liu walked in and whispered a few words in Wang Zheng's ear.

"President Fang is here? Please invite him in."

Less than two minutes later, Fang Qingye walked into the office with her briefcase and greeted Lu Guoxiong with a smile when she saw him sitting on the sofa.

Lu Guoxiong nodded, his expression somewhat perfunctory.

"President Fang, you've come at the perfect time." Wang Zheng looked at him. "Let me tell you clearly, your worries are unnecessary!"

Fang Qingye was taken aback and then asked, "Mayor Wang, are you referring to Hengtai Securities' ABS project?"

"Yes."

Redundant?

I have solid evidence in my hand and am about to report it to you, but you say my worries are unnecessary?
Fang Qingye was still feeling confused when Wang Zheng said, "Hengtai Securities has issued a letter of commitment specifically for this. With that, what is there to worry about?"

That's it!

"Mayor Wang, may I take a look at this letter of commitment?" Fang Qingye asked.

"can."

Lu Guoxiong immediately handed over the letter of commitment on his desk, a hint of smugness on his face.

Fang Qingye sat down on the sofa and began to read carefully.

Letter of Commitment Regarding the Issuance of the First Tranche of 2016 Yongjiang Urban Construction Investment Group Co., Ltd. Corporate Bonds (Bond Abbreviation: 16 Yongcheng 01, Code: 181695.SH) and Maintaining Market Stability

To: Yongjiang Municipal People's Government, Yongjiang Urban Construction Investment Group Co., Ltd.

In light of the "2016 First Tranche of Yongjiang Urban Construction Investment Group Co., Ltd. Corporate Bonds" (hereinafter referred to as "the Bonds") issued by your city, our company (Hengtai Securities Co., Ltd.), having successfully subscribed to the bonds, solemnly promises as follows to eliminate market misunderstandings and demonstrate our long-term investment commitment:
Throughout the entire period during which our company is a registered direct holder of the bond, we guarantee that we will not use the bond as the sole or primary underlying asset to apply for the issuance of any form of asset-backed securities (ABS) in public markets such as the Shanghai Stock Exchange or the Shenzhen Stock Exchange.

Our company deeply understands that integrity is fundamental and will certainly abide by this commitment.

Undertaking Party: Hengtai Securities Co., Ltd. (Official Seal)
Signature of legal representative (or authorized representative): Niu Zhuang

2016 January 9

Fang Qingye quickly scanned the entire text, smiled, but her tone was somewhat cold: "Mayor Wang, I'll be blunt—this letter of commitment is a piece of waste paper in law, and morally it's a provocation!"

(End of this chapter)