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

Chapter 778 777 "Phoenix" Cumulative Options Contract: Seemingly Sweet, But Actually Poison Pill

"First, I greatly admire the financial structure you designed for Goldman Sachs—although it was a trap for Jinghai Bank and three manufacturing companies, our bank's PhDs and Masters all praised it as a work of genius when they were researching how to break it. This shows that you have an extraordinary talent for this type of work."

"Secondly, this is purely my personal matter. I don't want to involve Jinghai Bank, nor do I want more people to know the inside story. You are now far removed from the financial industry, making you the ideal candidate."

"Also, you're my classmate, and I trust you. Of course, I'll make sure you're satisfied with the compensation," Fang Qingye said sincerely at the end.

Zhang Dongwen remained silent for a moment before speaking, "Okay, what are your specific requirements?"

"There's only one thing—the Min Tian Clique, especially its actual controller Xiao Jianhua, must be completely unaware that this is bait. He has to swallow it willingly, and detonate it immediately once the conditions are met."

"Okay, I'll give it a try and design it the way you said."

Fang Qingye then shared some of his ideas and exchanged views on several important companies under the Mintian Group. Finally, they agreed to use Hengtai Securities as the main vehicle for financial products.

As the two were chatting, a man's voice suddenly came from behind them, thick with local dialect: "Xiaowen, do you have guests at home?"

Fang Qingye looked up and saw a man and a woman pulling a flatbed cart full of corn into the yard. It seemed to be Zhang Dongwen's parents.

The man was tall and thin, and his face looked more weathered than his actual age. However, if Zhang Dongwen was the eldest daughter in her family, her father, Zhang Dafu, should only be in his early fifties.

Zhang Dongwen immediately stood up and greeted them: "Dad, Mom, this is my college classmate Fang Qingye. He came to Linyi for a meeting and stopped by to see me."

As she spoke, she went out to help, and Fang Qingye politely greeted her as "Uncle and Auntie" before following her into the yard.

"No need, no need," Zhang Dafu quickly stopped her. "Xiaowen, you go chat with your classmates. Your mother and I will cook."

"Uncle, please don't be so polite. I have to go soon," Fang Qingye quickly explained.

Zhang Dafu, a typical hearty Shandong man, was immediately displeased: "How can we not eat now that we're here? Let's have a couple of drinks later!"

I'm #￥%……

Fang Qingye could no longer refuse.

In the rural areas of the Yimeng Mountains, it's common to have "three late meals": people go to work in the fields early in the morning and don't return home for breakfast until nine or ten o'clock. Zhang Dongwen and her mother went into the kitchen to work, while Fang Qingye, having nothing to do, helped move the corn and chatted with Zhang Dafu.

"Uncle, is this year's harvest good? These corn cobs look quite plump."

"Well, the harvest is alright, but the price is low, only nine cents a pound. You can't make much money per acre," Zhang Dafu sighed.

This is true.

Fang Qingye recalled what she and Qiao Yongfeng had learned when they acquired a soybean trading company in Brazil—the local corn price this year was only 75 cents per kilogram, cheaper than in China. But those companies operated on a large scale, with farms ranging from dozens to hundreds of acres.

We, on the other hand, have far too little land per capita.

There was no solution to this problem at the moment, so Fang Qingye couldn't say much. As they chatted, the topic turned to Zhang Dongwen.

"Xiao Fang, you also work in Shanghai? What exactly do you do?"

“I don’t work in Shanghai. I work at a bank in my hometown county, but it’s very close to Shanghai, so I often go there,” Fang Qingye replied.

“You work at a bank too? My daughter Xiaowen used to work at a bank too. She was doing so well, but I don’t know why she suddenly said she wanted to quit and come back to be a teacher.” Zhang Dafu said, then sighed again.

"It's probably due to the pressure. The cost of living in Shanghai is high, and the job market is very competitive," Fang Qingye could only explain.

"Xiaowen didn't elaborate, but I guessed it was true... Let her come back. Being a teacher is good too. People should be content with what they have. It's just that she's studied so much, I'm afraid she won't be able to use it... Sigh."

It was indeed a bit of a pity. Fang Qingye didn't know how to respond. The two chatted idly until Zhang Dafu was called by his wife to fetch water, at which point he picked up the buckets and walked out of the courtyard.

At this moment, Zhang Dongwen came out of the kitchen and asked in a low voice, "What did my dad just say to you?"

"We didn't say much, just talked about how farming isn't profitable these days, and how it's a bit of a shame that you've learned so much but can't use it," Fang Qingye said honestly.

"Oh...that's good, as long as they didn't mention that I can't get married." Zhang Dongwen muttered softly.

this……

Zhang Dongwen and Fang Qingye are the same age, both turning thirty this year. This might not seem like much in a metropolis like Shanghai, but in this small village, it could be a real problem.

Fang Qingye couldn't help but think of Li Ye, who was far away in Bazhou, western Sichuan.

What a trick.

Perhaps because of Fang Qingye's arrival, Zhang Dongwen's parents deliberately delayed breakfast, not eating until after 11 a.m.

On the table were Yimeng fried chicken, pan-fried pork belly, and braised pork with winter melon... The liquor was homemade corn liquor, not too strong. Unfortunately, Fang Qingye's alcohol tolerance was average, and Yue Kai couldn't drink because he was driving, so in the end Zhang Dongwen drank a few cups with her father—not in small wine cups, but in enamel mugs.

After the meal, Fang Qingye said goodbye and left, and Zhang Dongwen escorted them all the way to the village entrance.

"Aoba, I'll send the design to your email once it's finished."

"Okay, come visit Shanghai sometime. Goodbye."

"Goodbye."

After leaving Shiwogou Village, the two drove to Feixian County and headed directly to Linyi City without stopping. After resting for half a day, they set off back to Shanghai early the next morning.

That evening at home, Fang Qingye and Bai Ou chatted about their trip to Linyi, recounting their experience of going to find Zhang Dongwen.

Bai Ou sighed softly after hearing this: "Although I've never met Zhang Dongwen, from what you've said, she seems to be a very outstanding person. Rather than this, it would have been better if she had stayed in Aba Prefecture with Li Ye. At least she would have been a teacher and had someone who genuinely liked her."

“That’s not how it works,” Fang Qingye retorted. “How many people like Li Ye can stay in impoverished mountain areas their whole lives? His family owns a mine, so he doesn’t have to worry about making a living or taking care of his parents. But Zhang Dongwen is different. I’ve been to her home, and she still lives in an old tile-roofed house from the 80s or 90s. She doesn’t earn much money from farming… Even if she had married Li Ye and lived comfortably, what about her parents? I bet her family spent a lot of money supporting her through university and graduate school.”

Bai Ou sighed softly after hearing this.

"What's there to sigh about? Everyone has their own path, and as long as you feel it's worthwhile, that's all that matters. Maybe Zhang Dongwen will find true love and live a happy and carefree life when she returns to her hometown," Fang Qingye said.

"I hope so."

Fang Qingye only stayed in Shanghai for one night before returning to Nanxin by car the next day. He had been away for more than a week, and his work had piled up with tasks waiting for him to handle.

Of course, he was also waiting for news from Zhang Dongwen.

With National Day approaching, Bai Ou took her child back to Nanxin for a holiday. That evening, Fang Qingye finally received a WeChat message from Zhang Dongwen, saying that the financial product design was complete and had been sent to his email, and that he could contact her again if he had any questions.

Fang Qingye immediately went into the study, turned on her computer, logged into her email, downloaded the attached Word document, and a financial product design proposal appeared on the screen—

The name is: Phoenix Accumulator.

Fang Qingye used the mouse to scroll down the scroll bar.

Goodness, it's a whopping 42 pages!
(End of this chapter)