Chapter 9: First Battle Victory_1

Before long,

Tang Qing saw a waiter leading two people upstairs.

The middle-aged man walking at the front had the appearance of a boss. He was not fat but rather a bit skinny. The man looked quite energetic and competent, carrying a black briefcase.

Following him was..... a hulking figure.

His gaze was a bit fierce.

He did not seem like a pushover at first glance.

However, his upright demeanor did not give off the impression of being a bad individual.

It was not clear whether he was a bodyguard or a driver. Considering that Zhang Dongqing could not even afford three hundred thousand, he probably wasn't at the level of hiring a bodyguard or driver. Perhaps the man was a friend.

Zhang Dongqing arrived on the second floor.

He saw a young fellow standing in front of the door labeled 'Mingyue Hall', who looked even younger than his son.

He immediately realized this was one of the other party's men.

However, he did not think this was Tang Qing.

"Hello, I am Zhang Dongqing." Zhang Dongqing quickly walked up to Tang Qing.

"Tang Qing," Tang Qing replied with a smile.

"You're Tang Qing? Where's your parents?" Zhang Dongqing asked in surprise.

"It's just me. Zhang boss, please, come in." Tang Qing moved aside from the doorway and gestured for Zhang Dongqing to enter. On looking inside, there was no one else indeed.

He couldn't help but feel suspicious.

As the saying goes, 'kids can't run essential tasks.'

He had no doubt about Tang Qing's financial power.

But his motives were uncertain.

"And this is?"

Tang Qing glanced at the big man trailing behind Zhang Dongqing.

"This is a friend of mine named Zheng Xiu. Considering the magnitude of this transaction, I wasn't comfortable coming by myself. I always feel better having someone around to discuss things with. I hope you won't mind." Zhang Dongqing introduced.

"Oh, where are my manners, please, come inside."

After the three of them entered,

Tang Qing closed the door to the box.

Without any unnecessary small talk,

Tang Qing got straight to the point.

"Mr. Zhang, I won't beat around the bush; let's talk business. I have brought the three hundred thousand in cash. The interest rate is one percent per month, and the loan term is a month."

"One month from today, principal and interest combined, you need to repay a total of three hundred and three thousand. No delays allowed. A delay costs an additional five thousand per day. You can also repay early, but the full interest will still apply."

Tang Qing laid out all the terms up front.

Any contract,

will definitely have a penalty clause for breach of contract.

The system did not specify it.

He added that clause himself.

Charging five thousand per day in penalties didn't matter to him; it was only a number. It served to remind Zhang Dongqing not to delay repayment. Otherwise, if there were no penalties at all, that would truly be suspicious.

Zhang Dongqing did not answer directly.

Instead, he considered it carefully.

With no collateral and other conditions,

and such a low-interest rate, unlike other private loans, many of which require guarantors, even using house deeds, cars, and other valuable items as collateral.

Although the penalty terms are somewhat different from standard loan agreements.

Most loans, as far as he knows, charge based on a percentage or compound interest.

But this is no big deal.

He didn't plan on defaulting anyway. Even if it is different, it just is.

On the whole.

The terms Tang Qing offered seemed like a pie falling from the sky.

Only, he could not understand why he would be the recipient of such a stroke of luck, so he asked his question outright.

Tang Qing smiled faintly and said, "Ha, I knew Mr. Zhang would ask. For starters, the money I lend to you will generate profit. It won't be a loss."

"Secondly, Mr. Zhang, your integrity is widely known in the industry. People prefer to help those who keep their promises. I admire your character and wish to befriend you. I do not know, however, if Mr. Zhang is willing to give me this opportunity."

Upon hearing this,

Zhang Dongqing was quite touched.

Only a youth saying this to him felt a bit incongruous, no matter how you looked at it.

Zhang Dongqing looked into Tang Qing's eyes,

trying to gauge something from them.

But Tang Qing stood by what he had just said, he was sincere in both reasons, and was not afraid to meet Zhang Dongqing's gaze.

They stared at each other for nearly ten seconds.

Zhang Dongqing suddenly burst into laughter: "Alright then, I accept you as a friend. You are even younger than my son. If you do not mind, call me Uncle Zhang. 'Mr. Zhang' sounds rather distant."

"Haha, alright, Uncle Zhang, just watch. I will prove my worth as a friend, too. Here's the contract. Please check it, and if there are no issues, please fill in your personal information and sign it."

After finishing, Tang Qing took out the contract provided by the system.

Two copies.

In the contract, Tang Qing was the creditor; the system had nothing to do with this — all that he was to fill in was already filled in. Zhang Dongqing was to fill in his name, ID card number, home address, and purpose for the loan.

Because it was a cash transaction,

there was no need for bank transfer evidence.

Even the receipt was encompassed within the contract by the system, which saved quite a bit of trouble.

Zhang Dongqing looked at the contract in his hand.

He was also surprised.

A product of the system, how could it be anything less than excellent?

The whole contract managed to capture the loan relationship between the two parties in the most straightforward, undisputed manner. With his years of contract reading experience, he couldn't pinpoint a single controversial or tricky spot.

Simply brilliant.

After examining every clause of the contract.

He found no issues whatsoever.

Zhang Dongqing immediately began to fill out the necessary information and sign.

A few minutes later.

The loan contract was finally signed.

Tang Qing reached over to the chair next to him and retrieved the money he had just withdrawn, handing it over to Zhang Dongqing. The money was inside a black leather bag he had brought from home. Thirty thousand wasn't a large sum, and it was nothing Zhang Dongqing hadn't seen before.

After confirming its accuracy.

Zhang Dongqing signed his full name in the receipt section of the contract.

A smile spread across Tang Qing's face.

The whole process was now complete.

There was only the small matter of a report he had yet to write. The report mainly investigated the specific use of the money and conducted a risk analysis, which would be the subject of their upcoming conversation.

He called for the waiter to serve the food.

A few minutes later, all the dishes arrived.

"By the way, Uncle Zhang, what's the money for?" Tang Qing casually brought up.

Although the contract spelled out its use.

It was not comprehensive enough.

He needed to understand the whole story.

"It's like this, I have a fellow veteran..."

"So Uncle Zhang is a retired soldier. How did you save him initially?"

"..."

"How's the payment ability of that car factory order?"

"..."

"How's your factory doing this year, Uncle Zhang?"

"..."

Just like that.

Tang Qing was able to gradually pull out the specific usage of the money and most of the risks that this amount of money could potentially face. All these queries were subtly hidden within their casual conversation.

It seemed so natural and casual.

In his previous life, he had completed many similar reports.

As long as the information was comprehensive.

It was quite easy to write.

Once the main risk factors were identified and controlled, the basic issues were not significant.

His clients were also recommended by the system.

Otherwise, there would be much more to consider.

For clients that he found himself, he had to thoroughly investigate various factors including their family situation, job, industry status, industry prospects, personal or business financial status, etc.

That would be truly troublesome.

The workload enormous.

Even after a thorough investigation, the other party may not tell the truth and there could be all sorts of falsifications. Tang Qing had seen too much of this.

It was incredibly hard to be vigilant.

...

An hour later.

They had finished eating.

Both host and guest were satisfied.

One had his funding problem resolved, the other had essentially completed his task.

Sine they both had things to do in the afternoon.

Therefore.

Each only drank two bottles of beer.

During this time, Tang Qing found out that Zheng Xiu was also Zhang Dongqing's fellow veteran. Zheng Xiu, who was a few years younger than Zhang Dongqing, retired a few years later and is now the current Deputy Director of the Public Security Bureau in a county below. He was on par with his uncle.

He had been studying at the Party School in the city these past few days.

He might have a chance for promotion soon.

As for the position, even Zheng Xiu himself wasn't sure.

The moment Tang Qing realized that Zheng Xiu had police connections, he instinctively felt a bit scared. However, he immediately suppressed his fear. He wasn't doing anything illegal, he wasn't involved in usury. What was there to be scared of?

He was just worried that Zheng Xiu might investigate him.

Many things simply couldn't be explained.

He didn't even dare to talk about his uncle's situation in case they knew each other. If they made a phone call, he would be so screwed. But having come this far, what else could he do?

He had to grit his teeth and keep going.

After lunch.

After exchanging cell phone numbers.

Zhang Dongqing left in a hurry with Zheng Xiu.

He was planning to make the payment in the afternoon to avoid any potential issues. As for repayment? He wasn't worried in the least.

Leaving the profit from this deal aside.

The payments coming in from other deals this month alone were more than this amount.

Even after deducting wages, there would still be more than four hundred thousand left. So he was not worried at all about not being able to repay. This was why he agreed to the five thousand per day penalty clause without any bargain.