Chapter 497: 493. Not Just Huamei Group (Please subscribe, monthly tickets!)

After Zhang Ran came back to his senses, he laughed and said, "Aren't you afraid, Manager Liu, that I won't be able to pay it back?"

"Our Rural Commercial Bank trusts Mr. Zhang. Although this is a large sum of money, with Mr. Zhang's ability, it will absolutely not be a problem." Manager Liu seemed to believe in Zhang Ran even more than Zhang Ran believed in himself.

In reality, Manager Liu had other thoughts in mind; he was actually hoping Zhang Ran wouldn't be able to pay it back, because that way he could seize those high-quality assets as collateral.

Zhang Ran began to calculate. He hadn't actually planned on borrowing money this time; according to his budget, the money he currently had should be just about enough.

Even if it wasn't enough, borrowing a little bit when the time came should suffice. After all, he wasn't just counting his own existing funds, but also the money from companies like Kangshilan and Maikai Supermarket.

However, nothing is absolute, and he had another idea in mind. Perhaps this money wouldn't need to be spent at the critical moment; it would only need to...

"Manager Liu, if I really were to borrow money, what is the longest it would take for you to release the funds?" Zhang Ran asked seriously.

Seeing that Zhang Ran seemed to have a genuine intention, Manager Liu was overjoyed and hurriedly said, "As long as Mr. Zhang gives the word, the money will be in place within a month."

Zhang Ran shook his head upon hearing this. Seeing the situation, Manager Liu hurriedly added, "Mr. Zhang, one month is already very fast."

"I know. What if I wanted it in place within a week?" Zhang Ran asked.

Manager Liu took a deep breath and said, "I will discuss this with my superiors, but if Mr. Zhang is truly in such a rush, we can certainly shorten the time."

He didn't commit himself completely, as he couldn't make the decision on his own; a major meeting would have to be held to discuss it.

Zhang Ran smiled and said, "Never mind, I was just speaking hypothetically. Manager Liu, don't take it to heart."

Upon hearing this, Manager Liu became somewhat anxious. "Mr. Zhang, our sincerity is absolute. If it's possible, we here..."

Zhang Ran waved his hand and said, "Manager Liu, no need to be anxious. I really was just asking. After all, I'm not particularly short on money right now. But if I do run short, I will let Sister Pei know, and I hope for your continued support then, Manager Liu."

Pei Mingmei became even more excited upon hearing this. Although it was just a single sentence from Zhang Ran, it was possible that because of these words, she would gain the favor of her upper management in the future.

At this point, it was no longer a question of ability. If you could bring in such a major client, even if you were a complete fool, they would arrange everything perfectly for you here.

Not to mention that Pei Mingmei's ability was actually quite good.

Pei Mingmei was a strong-willed woman by nature; otherwise, she wouldn't have wanted her daughter to marry someone she had hand-picked, and not just for the sake of her daughter's future living standards.

Now, with this one sentence from Zhang Ran, plus a little extra effort on her part, the second spring of her career might be about to arrive.

Hearing Zhang Ran say this, Manager Liu indeed held Pei Mingmei in higher regard once more, and immediately said earnestly, "Mr. Zhang, if you are short on money, we will certainly provide full support."

He repeated this sentence again, just to ensure that when Zhang Ran was short on money, he would think of their bank first.

There were quite a few banks eyeing Zhang Ran right now. He had already gotten a step ahead of the others, and he couldn't afford to fall behind, or his superiors might think his ability was lacking.

His contact with Zhang Ran this time hadn't been smooth sailing either; he had gone through a fair amount of competition to get here.

At Zhang Ran's level, whoever approached him would be carefully considered by others, and such an opportunity was one that many people were desperate to get their hands on.

This is what wealth and status bring!

"Certainly," Zhang Ran said with a smile.

Manager Liu stopped talking at this point; he had said everything he needed to say. After President Zhao chatted with Zhang Ran for a few more sentences, the three of them left so as not to disturb Zhang Ran.

They could also see that there were still matters to attend to here; otherwise, they wouldn't have remained while they were discussing these things.

"Mr. Zhang has such great boldness. One hundred billion—you borrow it just like that. If that much money were placed in front of me, I reckon my legs would be trembling," Director Gu said with a smile.

Zhang Ran said, "It was just talk. Even I would tremble looking at that much money."

"Haha." Director Gu just laughed twice. Based on his current understanding of Zhang Ran, while this money was a lot, it wasn't *that* much.

They chatted for a few more moments before getting to the main point, as both knew Zhang Ran didn't have much time.

"Mr. Zhang, have you ever thought about coming to invest in our region?" Director Gu asked.

Zhang Ran smiled and said, "Director Gu, could you introduce some good projects?"

Zhang Ran's meaning was: Do you have anything here worth investing in?

Director Gu smiled somewhat awkwardly; they really didn't have anything worth investing in here.

But he had made some preparations for this visit. "Mr. Zhang, although we don't have any large companies here, there are quite a few small companies and small products. Many of these companies are actually worth investing in. Here is the information; if Mr. Zhang has time, you can take a look."

Zhang Ran took the information, glanced at it briefly, and then said, "It's not impossible to cooperate, though."

"Oh? Please go on, Mr. Zhang," Director Gu said, his eyes lighting up.

Zhang Ran said, "I believe Director Gu is aware of our upcoming moves. If your city can provide some subsidies, Fengli Group can launch a joint operation with your city to boost the transaction volume of these small products."

Director Gu thought for a moment and said, "Would the transaction volume from doing this be large?"

"It should be quite good. And if it's done well, I will have Dahe Express and Fengli Group establish branches in your city respectively. This should be of some benefit to your city," Zhang Ran said.

These were all things Zhang Ran had thought of before coming. Since there was interest here, Zhang Ran wouldn't be stingy.

Furthermore, this wasn't for Liu Kai's sake, but for Fengli Group.

On the surface, this was just to target Huamei Group, but Zhang Ran's ambitions were not so small.

Since he had already decided to do something big and had prepared the funds and everything else, the things involved would not just be home appliances.

Director Gu's eyes lit up immediately upon hearing this. Both groups would open branches, and the number of jobs these two groups could drive would be significant.

Although Dahe and Fengli had merged, in reality, everyone still counted them as two groups, and it was estimated that this situation would need to continue for three to five years.

"We can discuss this in detail. When will Mr. Zhang have time?" Director Gu asked hurriedly.

"Tomorrow, perhaps," Zhang Ran said after thinking for a moment.

"That's good. I will discuss it with everyone this evening." Director Gu was somewhat excited; if this succeeded, it would be a major achievement for him.

PS: Only four chapters today. I'm not in the best state, apologies!