"Do you really take me for someone who's short of thirty thousand bucks?!"

In the evening, Fang Qingye met Tian Zhonggu, the owner of Vanguard Stamping Parts Co., Ltd., in a private room on the third floor of the Chundu Hotel.

Tian Zhonggu appeared to be around thirty-five or six years old. Upon seeing Fang Qingye, he was extremely enthusiastic, repeatedly calling him "Assistant Fang" or "President Fang."

Fang Qingye corrected him several times, saying that he was merely an assistant and not the bank president, but since the other man continued to address him that way anyway, he simply let it go.

There were only three of them, and the dishes were few but exquisite.

"Yezi, following your instructions, I didn't let President Tian order any alcohol," Song Dahai said.

"Apologies, President Tian, I've been feeling a bit under the weather lately," Fang Qingye said.

"Why are you being so formal with me, Assistant Fang? Your health comes first! We can drink once you've fully recovered!" Tian Zhonggu laughed.

Since there was business to discuss, after eating for a while, they got straight to the point.

Tian Zhonggu recounted the matter again. It was largely similar to what Song Dahai had mentioned over the phone, though naturally with more details.

"To be honest, I know that recently a tremendous number of enterprises have been applying for loans at your bank. The Credit Department is extremely busy, and I heard they are short-handed, which is why loan-applying companies are required to queue up for review. However, our company urgently needs this loan to purchase a batch of equipment to expand production. Right now, we have an overwhelming number of orders, yet we can't get the work done. You tell me, isn't that frustrating?"

At the end of his remarks, Tian Zhonggu heaved a deep sigh.

Hearing this, Fang Qingye asked, "Didn't you go to Section Chief Zhang of the Credit Department to explain your company's actual situation?"

"Sigh, I mentioned it, but it was useless! If I may say something you might not like to hear, Assistant Fang, this Section Chief Zhang of yours is as stubborn as a mule! She insists on making everyone queue up strictly in the order their loan applications were submitted!" Tian Zhonggu seemed to be brimming with frustration.

"To make matters worse, she's a woman, so dinners, karaoke, and other invitations are completely out of the question, let alone things like sauna treatments... Back when President Su used to be the section chief, were there ever this many headaches?"

"Then why didn't you go to President Su?" Fang Qingye asked again.

"I tried... President Su said that if the matter eventually makes it to the board meeting, he will definitely put in a good word, but right now the application is still stuck in the Credit Department, and his hands are tied. The Credit Department is President Xia's turf, so it's not easy for him to interfere."

Oh...

Fang Qingye nodded and picked up a piece of vegetable with his chopsticks.

To be frank, nowadays Zhang Qunying only took orders from Xia He; Su Ming's words might not carry any weight at all.

It was likely that Su Ming hadn't told Tian Zhonggu this.

"Assistant Fang?" Tian Zhonggu suddenly spoke up again.

"Hmm?" Fang Qingye raised his head and looked at him.

"As long as you can help me secure this loan by the end of August, I'll give you a rebate!" Tian Zhonggu blurted out suddenly.

***

A rebate?

Fang Qingye put down his chopsticks, wiped his mouth with a napkin, and looked at him. "President Tian, according to your industry standards, the loan rebate is usually around 0.8 percent, right?"

"That's right, I can give you a full one percent!" Tian Zhonggu said, gritting his teeth.

"One percent, 1%. Three million would be thirty thousand yuan, correct?" A smile suddenly broke out on Fang Qingye's face as he stared straight at the other man. "President Tian, do I look like someone who is short of thirty thousand yuan?!"

"Ah, this?" Tian Zhonggu was momentarily baffled by Fang Qingye's meaning.

"To be honest, I originally didn't want to come, but Dahai said you two have a decent relationship and asked me to do him this favor... I really am not short of money. President Tian, I'm saying this to you, and through you, to any other corporate friends as well. Other people might like rebates and kickbacks, but I have zero interest in such things."

Tian Zhonggu's expression instantly turned somewhat awkward, unsure of what to say.

At this point, Song Dahai chimed in, "President Tian, Assistant Fang only came to this dinner out of consideration for me. I also know he isn't short on money. He likes playing the stock market; he might not make a fortune, but two or three million is certainly within his reach."

Two to three million!

For a corporate entity, that indeed wasn't much.

Yet this was someone's personal wealth, especially given how young he was!

"I'm sorry, Assistant Fang, I take back what I just said," Tian Zhonggu hurriedly apologized.

"Alright, let's drop the subject." Fang Qingye leaned back, making himself more comfortable. "Since you truly have your own difficulties, President Tian..."

"How about this: I'll see if I can arrange an early on-site inspection of your enterprise, and I'll do my best to nudge them to speed up your review process. However, whether the review passes and the final approval goes through—that I won't guarantee."

"Then I am deeply grateful to Assistant Fang! Rest assured, if you conduct an on-site inspection, we will pass with flying colors. All our documentation is authentic, with no fabrication whatsoever."

"That's good. Eat your food..." Fang Qingye picked up his chopsticks again. "With so many dishes, let's not let them go to waste."

After the meal, Tian Zhonggu suggested going for karaoke and saunas, but Fang Qingye turned him down flat.

Dinner was just dinner; nothing else was required.

The three of them had each driven their own cars. Just before getting into his vehicle, Song Dahai said to Fang Qingye once more, "Yezi, I'll repeat what I said earlier: help out if you can, but don't put yourself in a difficult position."

"I know, I have a sense of proportion."

"Alright then, I'm off!"

When Fang Qingye went to work the next day, after brewing himself a cup of tea, he began to ponder Tian Zhonggu's situation.

For him, this matter was not difficult to handle at all. If he went directly to Xia He to explain the situation, Xia He would undoubtedly instruct Zhang Qunying to dispatch personnel for an early on-site inspection of Tian Zhonggu's company.

***

Or he could go straight to Zhang Qunying. Given her dogmatic personality, she would probably report it to Xia He, but ultimately it would still get done.

However, he had no intention of doing it that way.

Because if he did, Xia He would surely know that Tian Zhonggu had sought him out for help.

Perhaps Xia He wouldn't say anything, but in the long run, it wouldn't be a good thing.

A more subtle approach was required.

When noon arrived, Fang Qingye went to the cafeteria for lunch and noticed that Chen Meimei had packed two portions of food without eating them, carrying them away as she prepared to leave. He decided to tease her.

"Chen Meimei, are you delivering food to Dahai?"

"I couldn't care less about him," Chen Meimei replied. "I'm delivering lunch to our Section Chief Zhang. She's so busy she doesn't even have time to come down for meals."

"Really that busy?"

"Fang Qingye, you have no idea. Our department has been worked to death lately, constantly putting in overtime, yet there are still so many files waiting to be reviewed. A lot of company bosses have huge complaints against us... sigh..." Chen Meimei said.

That was entirely self-inflicted by Zhang Qunying!

On one hand, there were indeed many enterprises applying for loans; on the other hand, Zhang Qunying's review criteria were exceptionally strict. Back when Su Ming was section chief, some documents were cleared after a single glance, but under Zhang Qunying, different people had to cross-check everything two or three times, and on-site corporate inspections were conducted multiple times, which invisibly multiplied the workload.

Of course, the upside was that with rigorous document reviews, the error rate dropped, reducing the probability of issuing bad loans—a point that left Xia He very satisfied.

An idea suddenly struck Fang Qingye, and he said to Chen Meimei, "Why don't you suggest to Section Chief Zhang that she ask President Xia to temporarily transfer some staff to help out your department?"

"We thought of that and suggested it to Section Chief Zhang, but she's worried that temporarily transferred personnel might lack the necessary expertise and make mistakes, so she's unwilling to report it to President Xia." Chen Meimei looked somewhat disheartened, then suddenly recalled something.

"Hey, Fang Qingye, aren't you the assistant to the bank president now? You could report our department's situation directly to President Xia!"

"Alright, I'll mention it to President Xia once I'm back at the office!" Fang Qingye readily agreed.

"Really? Thank you so much!" Chen Meimei smiled happily.

"Why are you being so polite? This is simply part of my duties."

"I'm off to deliver the food then, bye-bye."

Watching the young woman leave, a smile appeared on Fang Qingye's face.