Despite being incredibly wealthy, I want to be a prosecutor.

At noon, in an inconspicuous alley, a turn revealed a garden-style old villa.

It has now been turned into a private club.

The private room, decorated in a classic style reminiscent of the Republic of China era, features floor-to-ceiling glass doors that can be opened to reveal a lawn and grove of trees outside.

This private club has only four private rooms and no lobby, but it is very famous in the industry and very popular, requiring reservations several days in advance.

There's no ordering from a menu; it's divided into three tiers. The chef will arrange the dishes for you based on the ingredients available and your preferred taste.

Of course, if you have a specific idea of ​​what you want to eat, mainly fresh wild game, just let us know a few days in advance and we will find it for you. Basically, even the hardest-to-find ingredients can be found here, including many nationally protected animals.

Moreover, this private club even has an EDGE base station, which is between 2.5G and 3G. It was the communication technology commonly used by mobile devices before 3G, and the kind of network that displays "E" when there is no 3G signal.

However, this technology is currently being piloted in only a few major cities in the country.

A private club being able to secure an EDGE base station—regardless of connections or anything like that—does demonstrate the owner's foresight. After all, clubs catering specifically to the wealthy are primarily social venues, showcasing the owner's extensive network of connections. They aren't particularly interested in technology.

Taking out his tablet, Zhou Hong thought to himself, "This boss is someone I might want to get to know."

These club owners sometimes also act as middlemen.

In my inbox, there was a project progress email from Tachibana Ayamichi. Her team was processing a massive amount of documents sent by Taishun Group.

The team assembled by Tachibana Ayamichi mainly consists of actuaries from Deloitte and lawyers from Wansheng International Law Firm.

"Workaholic, don't..." With her delicate pink and white manicured nails, she took the PAD from Zhou Hong's hand. A pleasant fragrance wafted from her, and Zhong Tier leaned affectionately on his shoulder.

This little vixen really is just like a girlfriend who's being affectionate and clingy in love.

Zhou Hong felt a sense of satisfaction. Having never been in a real relationship before, he felt as if he were savoring that sweet taste, and the object of his affection was a goddess on the big screen.

Sitting at the lower end of the table, Du Jiacheng didn't dare to breathe. He only recognized the beautiful woman after she took off her sunglasses upon entering the private room. It was Chung Ti-er, the Hong Kong superstar! Was she the boss's mistress? The boss was truly something else…

"It's all arranged, it's all arranged..." A tall, middle-aged man in his forties walked in with a smile. He had thick eyebrows, big eyes, a square face, and a very upright appearance.

It is Vice President Lei of Donghai Haifa Bank.

As one of the first private banks in Donghai and even China, Haifa Bank boasts the largest registered capital and current scale of development.

Du Jiacheng had originally booked this clubhouse, but suddenly received a call from President Lei, who said that he wanted to invite Chairman Hong today and asked Du Jiacheng to pass on a message that it would be too impolite for him to call Chairman Hong, whom he had never met before.

Given President Lei's connections and the fact that Haifa Bank is a major creditor of Taishun Group and is currently aggressively pursuing repayment, it's not surprising that President Lei knew of Chairman Hong's existence.

However, Du Jiacheng faced a dilemma in conveying this message to Director Lei.

When Chairman Hong and his girlfriend finished shopping and called, Du Jiacheng hesitated before finally speaking.

Fortunately, Chairman Hong didn't say much, only replying, "Then let's go together." This put Du Jiacheng's mind at ease.

In fact, Zhou Hong had a general idea of ​​what Vice President Lei wanted to do.

I just want to take out a loan myself.

Over there, Vice President Lei was also sizing up Zhou Hong.

Just recently, the bank was pressuring Manager Du to repay the money; in reality, it was a coercive letter.

However, Taishun Group is currently in negotiations for a change of ownership, and the new investor requires Taishun Company to have a clean net asset balance.

And it's really just a rumor. It's said that Taishun Group's bank loans in Xiangguo are no longer being rushed, which shows that the banks are full of confidence in the new investor and the deal.

The new investor acted swiftly and decisively, with both sides' actuarial and negotiation teams working day and night in East China Sea and Bangkok, Vietnam.

The feasibility report for this transaction has been submitted to the relevant domestic departments.

Chint Group has also issued a letter of opinion agreeing to the change of ownership of Chint Plaza, indicating that the new investor and Chint have already settled the lease issue in advance.

Everything is ready except for the final transaction amount.

Of course, this is also the most difficult part; sometimes, the wrangling and negotiations can take months.

Most importantly, last night there was a major upheaval at Haifa Bank, with hundreds of millions of US dollars arriving in the capital account of the new investor.

The bank was busy from yesterday afternoon until late at night, with countless people working overtime. The bank president personally signed off on the project, and all the funds were deposited into the account.

It is clear that the new investor has abundant funds, and it seems that when the deal is completed, this money will directly pay off the loan from Haifa Bank and retrieve the pledge loan contract for Zhengtai Plaza.

Haifa Bank's senior management held an emergency meeting overnight to analyze the situation. In the early morning, they urgently contacted the representative team of the new investor, hoping that the bank would not be excluded and that they could intervene in the transaction to provide loan support to the new investor and require the new investor to continue pledging Zhengtai Plaza to Haifa Bank.

However, the Japanese female lawyer from the new investor team replied that there was no need to consult the boss, as the boss had no intention of taking out a loan at all.

They were practically swearing: "My boss lacks everything except money, so why should I give you interest for nothing?"

Now that President Lei has urgently arranged a meeting with this new financier, it's easy to guess what he wants to discuss.

They couldn't help but be anxious. Although the transaction negotiations might take a long time, if the other party found another bank to provide loan support, it would be too late.

I really don't believe that such a large transaction could be without financial support from a bank.

At this moment, the private room split into two groups.

Zhou Hong, Zhong Tier, Vice President Lei, and Manager Du sat at one table.

Jin Shazai, Xin Xin, and Vice President Lei's driver were seated at a slightly smaller sofa and dining table set.

The chef's culinary skills were excellent, and he prepared the ingredients in a Western style, just as the guests had requested, treating meat as meat and vegetables as vegetables.

In addition, his skills in Chinese cooking and seasoning were so impressive that even Zhou Hong nodded in admiration.

Everyone enjoyed the delicious food, and they ate in a very refined manner.

Only Jinshazi wolfed down his food, then told the waiter not to serve him any more, as he had already finished eating.

This is a separate dining system. For example, today, Vice President Lei requested the highest level, which is 5,000 RMB per person.

Jinshazai has only eaten the first few dishes so far. Each dish is served in small portions. Even though he mainly filled his stomach with bread, it didn't actually save him any money.

Seeing this, Vice President Lei raised his voice slightly: "Brother Jinzi, the meal has already been ordered. It's a set meal, so it would be a waste not to eat it. Please don't be shy, keep eating!"

Jinsha ignored him and walked straight to the door, silently gazing at the carved beams and painted pillars of the covered walkway and the lawn and rockery.

Zhou Hong smiled and said, "Don't pay any attention to him. You can't understand, Director Lei. He used to live in a very dangerous environment for a period of time, so even when he came to Donghai, he felt like he might encounter armed thugs at any time. That's his lifestyle."

"I see." Vice President Lei smiled.

"The cost of living is really high in Donghai," Zhou Hong said again.

Indeed, the meal expenses for each person were equivalent to almost a year's salary for a government employee in the county.

Vice President Lei laughed and said, "I'm really grateful to you. I usually can't afford to spend money here."

Zhou Hong smiled and said, "It seems that it wasn't President Lei's personal treat after all; the bank is footing the bill for this meal."

Vice President Lei paused for a moment, then laughed: "Young people are really replacing us old folks. You slipped up with a careless remark."

Zhou Hong chuckled inwardly. Was you deliberately giving yourself away? Who knows?

"President Lei, I'm really sorry, but I really don't need a loan. To put it bluntly, I have enough working capital, so why should I pay you interest for nothing? I don't have any investment opportunities that require money right now, and even if I did, I could raise the money elsewhere."

Vice President Lei sighed, "Chairman Hong, we're in a tough spot too. Without the loan from Taishun, our loan growth rate in the first half of the year looks rather bad."

Manager Du curled his lip, "You've really forgotten how you guys pressured me the other day."

But that's how banks are. The richer you are, the more they'll try to lend you money. If you're really short of money, then get as far away from me as possible.

In this situation, although he felt frustrated, Manager Du didn't say much. After all, he was just an employee, and when people pressed him for debts before, they weren't really pressuring him.

"How about this, Mr. Hong, you can pay off the previous loan, but we'll lend you another ten thousand, and we can negotiate the interest rate, which we guarantee will be lower than the previous one."

The ten numbers the bank executive mentioned are not the "ten thousand" units that gamblers use; the ten numbers naturally mean one billion RMB.

Zhou Hong waved his hand: "I really don't need it. I'm perfectly fine with it. I don't want to pledge the newly purchased building as collateral."

When the number "ten" was mentioned, President Lei appeared calm and collected, but in fact, he was observing every reaction of Zhou Hong, including his breathing.

Then, he sighed inwardly, realizing that this kid genuinely wasn't short of money, and wasn't trying to pull any tricks to get bank funds.

Zhou Hong suddenly chuckled, "Look, my deal is still in its infancy. Aren't we heading a bit off-topic?"

"Okay, okay, let's not talk about that. It's fate that we met Chairman Hong today. We're friends now, and we should get together more often!" Vice President Lei said with a smile, raising his glass.

Next came a lot of casual conversation. When asked where Zhou Hong was from, he didn't shy away from admitting that he was from Dongning in Jiangbei and had some overseas connections. So, in his spare time, he would buy some land and other investments, and he wasn't a real businessman.

When they returned to China, they used their own Chinese passports, and the investors in this huge transaction also held their own Chinese identities.

There's no need to hide it; if someone wants to investigate, they can easily find out by using their ID number.

Moreover, it seems that someone has already found out about his past life trajectory: a local high school senior with relatives in Elephant Country, who has been frequently visiting Elephant Country recently.

In a sense, Xiangguo is a virtual identity. People outside the Fifth Madam's circle find it difficult to connect their Huaguo identity with that virtual identity.

Of course, these things are no secret to those in the upper echelons who are interested.

Chung Ti-er stood up: "I'm going out for a walk."

"Ha, Miss Zhong isn't interested in the things we common folk talk about, is she?" Director Lei said with a smile.

He wasn't interested in Hong Kong films and television, but the driver reminded him that the woman was a big Hong Kong star. Although he felt a little strange, he acted naturally, since, in his experience, celebrities weren't anything special.

However, this big star is really beautiful and has a great temperament, making her too easy to distinguish from ordinary pretty girls.

"The environment here is lovely, I'm going to take some photos." Zhong Tier leaned down and kissed Zhou Hong on the cheek, asking softly, "Is that alright?"

"Go ahead, go ahead!" Zhou Hong smiled slightly.

After Zhong Tier left, Zhou Hong looked at Manager Du thoughtfully, "Strictly speaking, you and I were originally on opposite sides of the transaction, it's just that our roles were a bit different."

Manager Du was stunned, a chill running down his spine, but what his little darling said made perfect sense.

Zhou Hong added, "But Xin and I are good friends and brothers. You should know that I'm just helping him out with this deal. It was originally a mess that no one was willing to take on."

Manager Du quickly smiled apologetically, "Yes, that's why I say you're so loyal and righteous."

"The reason why Chint Group did not deliberately sabotage this transaction is because I promised them a 5-year lease worth 5 million, and we also had a very powerful figure in Xiangguo acting as a mediator. If I went back on my word, I definitely wouldn't be able to stay in Xiangguo."

Manager Du was stunned. "Huh?" This rent, thankfully without bank interest, would be barely enough to cover the interest, let alone depreciation. Profit? That's a pipe dream.

Zhou Hong smiled and said, "Money is no object; I'm just helping out."

Manager Du stared at him blankly, and had to admit he was completely impressed.

This little rascal, why can I understand every single word you say, but when put together, I just don't know what you're trying to do?

President Lei also looked stunned, but quickly recovered.

Is this young man stupid? Absolutely not. Therefore, there must be a deeper meaning behind his actions, which he just can't guess.

Despite being thirty years older and earning a million-dollar annual salary, in terms of the level of social interaction, this young man, who might be accompanied by an assassin, is likely far more experienced than I am.

As they were chatting, Zhong Tier suddenly returned and sat down next to Zhou Hong.

Chung Ti-er seemed a little unhappy.

"What's wrong?" Zhou Hong asked her.

Chung Ti-er shook her head.

Xin Xin, who had just gone out with Zhong Tier, came to Zhou Hong's side and whispered, "Miss Zhong just saw someone carrying a monkey across the corridor. It's my fault for saying something out of turn, like someone might want to eat monkey brains." She felt a little guilty. She majored in Chinese history and culture and knew a bit about these things. She had only mentioned it to Zhong Tier as a joke, but thankfully she hadn't mentioned how to eat monkey brains.

Zhou Hong frowned slightly and looked at the silent Zhong Tier.

"Go ahead," Zhou Hong gestured to Xin Xin.

He then took Chung Ti-er's hand and smiled at Vice President Lei: "I'll take her out for a walk to clear her head."

"Oh? How about we call it a day?" Vice President Lei said hastily.

"No, I'm still waiting to eat our grand finale dish. I'll be back in a bit."

Vice President Lei was relieved and quickly said, "Okay, okay."

Zhou Hong pulled Zhong Tier out of the private room. As they walked out, Zhou Hong made a gesture, and Xin Xin, who had stood up, had to sit back down. Only Jin Shazi followed them out.

"I'm sorry, I was being a bit sentimental, but when I was little, there was a monkey in the back mountain that often came to play with me..." Chung Ti-er said softly as she walked out into the corridor.

"No, if you're unhappy, then I'm unhappy too." Zhou Hong lovingly put her sunglasses on.