Chapter 1: The Bank on the Brink of Bankruptcy

Southern United States, Georgia.

A Ford Mustang GT roared down the narrow country roads, drawing the attention of surrounding vehicles. Especially the car full of children in the back seat, whose windows were almost universally rolled down as they excitedly watched the azure muscle car, their eyes full of envy.

With the hit movie "Iron King of the Police Net" airing, the Mustang GT, which contributed the most thrilling car chase scenes in the film, became the undisputed "Dreamcar" in people's hearts during those years. Boys' rooms were adorned with posters of this car.

Without exaggeration, driving this car on the road, you would definitely be the most eye-catching guy around!

Meanwhile, our handsome protagonist, Heng, showed no signs of enjoying the thrill of being a trendsetter in rural America. Instead, he gripped the steering wheel with a troubled expression, driving the muscle beast ahead somewhat numbly.

"Ha...haha...hahaha."

Heng tilted his head, exhaling a puff of smoke. Looking at the reflection of his face with sharp, chiseled features in the rearview mirror, along with those sparkling eyes like sapphires, he laughed foolishly.

Why couldn't the reincarnation just go smoothly? Why end up in the body of an American?!

Originally, being an American wasn't a big deal. Even when he heard that the poor kid he possessed had a sudden heart attack, leaving behind only a blonde wife and three children, Heng was somewhat pleased.

But fate had other plans. Before the tragicomedy could even unfold, an inheritance fell into his lap.

A completely unknown rural bank in America, on the brink of bankruptcy. This was a hot potato. Without hesitation, the women in the family looked at each other, promptly lifted the then bedridden Heng, and pressed his hand onto a crimson seal.

And just like that, in a daze, Heng became a member of the prestigious American banking family. What a joke!

"Carter... I mean, Mr. Blake, have you decided how to deal with these people?"

Pushing through the crowded throngs outside the Blake Bank, Heng, or rather, Carter Blake, hurried up the wooden staircase to the second floor, followed by a meticulously dressed man in a suit and tie.

Entering his office, which had only been his for two days, Carter sank into his boss's chair with a sigh of frustration. Meanwhile, he spoke:

"Uncle Goodman, are all those people outside here to withdraw their money?"

"Yes. As you should know, the economy has been tough lately. After Mr. Blake's passing, they no longer trust keeping their money in the bank. Especially now, with prices skyrocketing, even the morning bakery has increased its prices by three cents."

"I don't care about your bread prices. I just need to know how many of them have fixed-term deposits and how many are on-demand! For those on-demand, let them withdraw. But for the fixed-term ones, let them roll back and wait!"

Carter furrowed his brow. Things seemed worse than he had anticipated.

Yesterday, he had only heard a report from Uncle Goodman, knowing that dear old dad's bank was in a bad shape, but who could have expected people would show up at their door today?!

"Although you put it that way, Carter, you should know we are just a small bank. Most of our clients have on-demand deposits. Moreover, the bad debt rate is increasing. We still have at least $170,000 in overdue loans, and once these are fully called, we might declare bankruptcy immediately."

Bad debts, bad debts.

Carter stared at the calendar on the wall, silently mouthing.

Facing this situation, Carter wanted to curse out loud!

It had been almost a decade of stagflation, yet the damn Fed kept increasing the money supply. This kind of operation was as idiotic as the "stagflation" currently prevailing in the market!

Slow economic growth, persistent inflation. Could it really be solved just by increasing the money supply? Stimulating economic development like this was insane!

With the money supply exceeding market demand, any high schooler could tell you that besides further driving up inflation, it was utterly useless. What disgusted Carter even more was that the stupid maneuvers of the U.S. government were being paid for by the people themselves!

"How many fixed-term deposits do we have? Especially the long-term ones."

Suppressing his emotions, Carter continued to inquire. Complaints aside, problems had to be solved. Carter didn't want to become a homeless bum on the streets of America right after his reincarnation.

"We have a total of 329 fixed-term deposits, but only 78 of them are long-term, and the nearest maturity is three years away. There's a total of $120,000, and the rest are mostly due within one to two years, totaling $670,000. Ten of them are due next month, requiring a total payment of $96,200 in principal and interest to the clients."

The bank's accounting data, handled by professional managers like Goodman, was very reliable. Upon Carter's inquiry, he promptly reported.

"How much money do we have now? How much have we lent out, and how much can we recover?"

Jotting down the data in front of him, Carter continued to press for answers.

"We have $1,284,200 in cash reserves in the bank, to be precise. Currently, we have lent out a total of 133 loans, totaling $1.82 million, but ten of them are basically confirmed as bad debts, involving $220,000 in principal. If we open up all the on-demand deposits for full withdrawal, we need to... to issue $2.1 million, and we don't have enough money in our accounts."

Goodman, like an unfeeling counting machine as always. But even an unfeeling counting machine, after spitting out this string of less than optimistic data, finally couldn't hold back, saying with a face full of sorrow.

A total of $3.1 million, lent out $1.82 million, bad debts $220,000, leaving only $2.88 million, minus the $2.1 million for on-demand deposits, leaving only $780,000 to pay the future long-term deposits of $790,000.

From an optimized, idealistic point of view, it was a liability, not to mention in reality. Regardless of the fact that the current cash reserves were not enough to cover all the on-demand accounts, just looking at the expenses such as food, electricity, insurance, etc., it was like struggling on the brink of bankruptcy.

Carter seemed to understand why dear old dad had a heart attack.

"Why would you, knowing the economy is bad, lend out so much?! How could you have let this happen?"

It's not that Carter didn't understand financial leverage, nor did he not know that banks should find ways to lend out money for profit. But when the economy was obviously in bad shape, and you didn't gather your funds, as a precaution, at a time when peers were reluctant to lend money, using more than half of your capital to lend out loans...

This was such a stupid and idiotic operation!