Chapter 22: 021: Treat a Dead Horse as a Living One

After Xia He and the others left, Song Qingdong and Luo Yan got into a Mercedes-Benz.

"Old Wang, take Director Luo home first," Song Qingdong said to the driver.

"Got it, boss."

The car headed west.

On the way, Luo Yan said, "Boss, today Director Xia had Fang Qingye come along—I feel like she brought a human shield."

"I had the same feeling. Xiao Ye is my junior, and with him right there, there are things I can't say." Song Qingdong smiled.

"But it's obvious Zhang Qunying doesn't know the relationship between Fang Qingye and you. How would Xia He know? That Fang Qingye and Dahai are very close? Would Fang Qingye actually tell Xia He that? Too unbelievable." Luo Yan said.

"None of that matters. Xia He got what she wanted." Song Qingdong half-closed his eyes against the seatback, looking a bit weary.

Luo Yan said nothing.

There were things Song Qingdong hadn't said out loud, and she naturally knew what they were.

For instance, a 24-million-yuan loan exceeded the branch manager's approval authority, so they could break it into pieces—find three account managers at the branch and, through unrelated channels, have each disburse 8 million, thereby sidestepping regulation.

This kind of thing had been done plenty before.

And loan kickbacks.

There were plenty of kickback methods too—for instance, using part of the loan funds as deposits, buying wealth-management products, buying insurance products, and so on. The bank got its performance numbers, and the handlers could pocket a good chunk of commission.

Of course there were also "on-the-books explicit" kickbacks and off-the-books hidden ones. For example, agreeing to approve a loan but demanding a higher interest rate—the portion above the bank's charge goes straight into one's own pocket. There were plenty of tricks, anyway.

No matter how it changed, it was all irregular operation, some of it even breaking the law.

These practices skirting the gray edges—Song Qingdong didn't want Fang Qingye to know about them, or at least not from his own mouth.

Luo Yan was silent for a moment, then suddenly said: "Today Director Xia bringing Fang Qingye to the dinner isn't entirely a bad thing. At least from another angle, it shows Fang Qingye and Director Xia are very close—or rather, Director Xia deeply trusts and appreciates Fang Qingye."

"From what I know, the reason the Tenglong Industrial deposit-loss case got cleared up so quickly is that Fang Qingye played a decisive role. He tipped Xia He from the side that this was actually a trap set for her by Tenglong's President Qian and Zhao Wenjun. That's the main reason Xia He is so grateful to Fang Qingye, and why the two are so close."

"Oh... you mean we work some angle through Xiao Ye? Have him advise Xia He again, find a way to push this thing through?" Song Qingdong opened his eyes and turned his head to look at Luo Yan.

"Yes, that's exactly what I mean."

Song Qingdong closed his eyes and thought for a moment, then shook his head slightly: "I'm afraid it's not that simple. Xia He may not listen to Xiao Ye. You helped me, I'm grateful, I appreciate you—but that doesn't mean I'll let you sway my decisions. After all, Xiao Ye is a young man who hasn't even been working a year."

"But I always feel Xia He treats Fang Qingye a bit specially—it's not just appreciation, not just the usual superior-subordinate feeling." Luo Yan smiled.

"I can't say exactly why—maybe it's a woman's... sixth sense?"

Song Qingdong listened, looking slightly surprised, and opened his eyes to glance at Luo Yan again. After a moment he said: "Alright, I'll talk to Xiao Ye. Treat a dead horse as if it were alive."

"Alright, boss. One more thing," Luo Yan said.

"What is it?"

"Yesterday I went to see Director Wu at the Development and Reform Bureau. He said the Several Measures for Promoting the Healthy Development of Real Estate in Nanxin County, drafted under their lead, has been handed to the county leadership, and once the meeting gives final approval it can be released."

"The contents include preferential policies on land-transfer fees and taxes, and among them, actively resolving real-estate companies' funding difficulties and pushing banks to lend is also one of the measures."

"That's great news!" Song Qingdong's spirits lifted.

"Although the big banks don't listen to the local government, as the saying goes: a strong dragon can't suppress a local serpent! With this document in hand, every bank will definitely feel pressure from the county... So, after the holiday, I want to pay a visit to Secretary Zhang and County Head Li to discuss our ideas, and push for the document to come out as soon as possible. Luo Yan... you contact the two leaders' secretaries first and set up a time."

"Got it, I'll take care of it tomorrow."

Meanwhile, after Fang Qingye left Xia He, he took a taxi home, showered, then opened his computer to get down to real work—finishing the math-modeling program the Dongguan girl had assigned, after all, there were 300,000 yuan riding on it.

Of course, there was no need to pull an all-nighter. He worked until around eleven, then stopped, played a round of World of Warcraft, and went to sleep comfortably.

The next morning, past eight, Fang Qingye got up, ate breakfast at a small eatery outside, and mulled over his plans for the day.

Since he wasn't going out sightseeing, he'd find a place to go fishing.

In his previous life, in Shen City, he had also loved fishing, but work was too busy and he never had time—occasionally he'd go to Daqian Ecological Manor to get his fix.

In this life, he had plenty of free time—he could enjoy it properly.

He didn't have a car now, so he couldn't go too far. Fang Qingye decided to go fishing at the Daming Longyou River.

Go buy fishing gear now?

No time like the present.

Fang Qingye went home, hopped on his little step-through scooter, and rode to a fishing-gear shop on Youyi Road to get his tools. There were hand poles, sea rods, lure rods, stream rods, plus fish hooks, lines, bait, and a great many brands.

Having fished in his previous life, Fang Qingye was no rookie. He picked a TAIGEK lure rod and a Guangwei hand pole, both carbon-fiber.

Once everything was ready, Fang Qingye went to a supermarket and bought some bread and water—to serve as his midday rations—then rode his little scooter out of the county, straight for the Daming Longyou River.

The Daming Longyou River was just south of the city. In his later life, an ecological park had been built here, but the park hadn't been built yet now—it was a paradise for fishing fanatics.

Fang Qingye arrived at the riverbank. There were already quite a few anglers. He found a back-eddy, set down his rod, sat on his little folding stool, and started fishing.

It was overcast today—perfect for fishing. Before long Fang Qingye had hooked a crucian carp about half a chi long.

Mm, not bad...

A great start.

This place was pretty good for fishing, just a bit crowded—anglers lined both banks. He'd heard that near Wujiazhuang, on the main channel of Jiaogang, there were more fish, and some people had even caught softshell turtles.

But Wujiazhuang was a bit far from the county—nearly 50 li. Riding the little scooter there wasn't realistic.

Looks like he'd have to buy a car...

He'd wait until he made his first pot of gold in the stock market.

That morning Fang Qingye caught four fish—not a bad haul. At noon he walked along the riverbank, ate bread and drank water to get by, and kept fishing.

But in the afternoon his luck wasn't so good. Nearly an hour passed without a single bite.

No rush—fishing is all about patience.

Fang Qingye stared at the water, watching the float suddenly dip down a little.

A fish was on the hook!

Fang Qingye immediately perked up, but just then his phone suddenly rang in his pocket, giving him quite a scare.

Damn!

The fish got away too!

Who's the blind one calling at a time like this?!

Fang Qingye took out his phone and saw it was Song Dahai calling. He pressed answer, and the other's voice came through: "Ye Zi, what are you up to?"

"Fishing!"

"Since when did you get into fishing? How come I didn't know?" Song Dahai's voice sounded a bit surprised.

"There's plenty you don't know. What's up, spit it out!"

"Holy crap! You're in a bad mood, what happened? Can't catch anything? The fish teasing you?"

"Nonsense... the fish was just about to take the bait, then your one phone call scared it off — how could my mood be good? What's up, spit it out!" Fang Qingye replied irritably.

"Here's the thing, my dad wants to invite you over to my place for tea this afternoon."

"Your dad is inviting me for tea?" Fang Qingye was a little surprised to hear it: "That's never happened before. What's it about this time?"

"I don't know either. Just now he told me to call you and ask you to come to my place for tea this afternoon. When I asked him what it was about, he wouldn't say." Song Dahai reported honestly over the phone.

Oh.....

Fang Qingye suddenly understood why Song Qingdong was inviting him for tea at this moment — it must be related to last night's dinner.

He wants to use me to influence Xia He's decision?

Fang Qingye decided to do this favor, both for the sake of his relationship with Song Dahai and because the man had lent him 200,000.

But he didn't want to leave right now — he was in the middle of enjoying his fishing.

"Dahai, but I'm in the middle of fishing right now. How about we move it to tomorrow afternoon?" Fang Qingye asked.

"Uh?....." On the other end, Song Dahai sounded a bit troubled.

"Dahai, tell your old man that honestly, whether he treats me to tea or not doesn't matter — whatever he wants me to help with, I'll do my best." Fang Qingye added another explanation.

"Huh? You already know what's going on?"

"Yeah."

"Then hold on, I'll go tell my old man."

On the other end, Song Dahai replied, then turned to Song Qingdong and said: "Dad, Ye Zi is fishing right now, he probably won't have time today. If you want tea, move it to tomorrow afternoon. He also said whatever you want him to help with, he'll do his best — whether there's tea or not doesn't matter."

"This kid's pretty sharp, knows what I'm looking for him for." Song Qingdong praised: "But since we're asking him for a favor, the proper sincerity still has to be there. Tell him, we'll go by what he wants — tomorrow afternoon at three."

"Okay......"