Chapter 497: Determined to Jump into the Fire Pit

The reason Jiang Ming refused Zhao Zhuoyue was actually a game of "playing hard to get" that he was intentionally playing.

He himself was a sales director for a fraudulent fund; just like those P2P platforms that went bust, the work he did was to use every possible means to swindle those who didn't understand into investing in their so-called funds.

But in reality, not a single one of these funds made money, and once you invested, you were destined to lose your shirt—you couldn't expect to get back even a single cent.

Back when Ye Chen's mother-in-law, Ma Lan, got scammed in an investment, it was by this kind of fund company. Once the money entered their company's account, it was impossible to get it back.

However, what he wanted to do today wasn't to have them invest in his own fund, but to trick them into handing their money over to him, so he could pretend to invest it for them. That way, he could take their money first to save his own skin!

As soon as Zhao Zhuoyue heard this, he became so anxious he was almost in tears. He had long been driven crazy by poverty and was equally desperate to make money. He had originally thought Jiang Ming could lead him to riches, but he never expected that Jiang Ming would actually complain that his capital was too small.

So, he could only plead, "Brother Ming, please, help your brother out. Otherwise, I really don't know what to do; my life is already such a failure. You can't let my girlfriend leave me, no matter what."

Seeing that the fish had taken the bait, Jiang Ming continued his act: "Brother, it's not that I don't want to help you, the key is that your capital is simply too small; it's hard to operate!"

As he spoke, he seemed to remember something, his eyes lighting up: "Right, I do have a way to help you out."

Zhao Zhuoyue hurriedly pressed, "What way? Brother Ming, tell me quickly!"

Jiang Ming hurriedly said, "It's like this: I know some friends who do online lending. As long as you provide an ID card, they can lend you a sum of money. Each loan isn't much, but if you borrow from enough platforms, you can still scrape together a batch. I reckon you could borrow at least four or five hundred thousand. Add that to your hundred-plus thousand, and you'll have at least 600,000. If this 600,000 is put into the fund, doubling it in a week is no problem."

Upon hearing this, Zhao Zhuoyue was so excited he choked up: "Brother Ming, then let's do as you say. Please, introduce me to the online lending channels!"

Jiang Ming laughed: "In a moment, I'll push a few loan platform apps to you."

Zhao Zhuoyue said excitedly: "Brother Ming, I really don't know how to thank you. You are my benefactor, my second parent!"

He was an orphan himself and had never been to school; he was illiterate. He had finally found a "second-hand" girlfriend, and just as they were about to talk marriage, his future mother-in-law wouldn't budge on the bride price. His life was already nearing despair.

Therefore, he truly had no other choice but to pin all his hopes on Jiang Ming.

Jiang Ming had accurately gauged this mindset of his and was preparing to fleece him for a big one. He would first make him borrow money everywhere, get a few hundred thousand out, and then scrape together his own hundred-plus thousand in savings. That way, he alone could solve Jiang Ming's 600,000 funding gap.

If he could fleece two people like this, he could basically solve the problem.

As for whether this Zhao Zhuoyue would be hounded to death by major online lending platforms in the future, that had nothing to do with him. Who told this idiot to have no brains? If he got scammed, he deserved it.

At this time, a few other friends from the orphanage, hearing that 600,000 could double in a week, also had their interests piqued.

Someone spoke up: "Brother Lin, can you include me in this kind of thing?"

Jiang Ming said seriously: "As long as you can come up with the chips, I can take you along to make money. If you can't come up with the chips, then learn from Zhao Zhuoyue: borrow a batch of loans from some online lending platforms first, make a big profit, and then pay the money back. This is called borrowing a chicken to lay eggs!"

When that person heard this, he blurted out: "Brother Ming, count me in, count me in!"

Auntie Li had been silent, but hearing this, she couldn't help but say with some worry: "Jiang Ming, the TV stations have exposed quite a few high-interest online lending platforms. The interest that rolls over is really terrifying. I think it's best not to touch them unless absolutely necessary."

Jiang Ming didn't expect Auntie Li to come out and ruin his good deed, so he immediately said: "Auntie Li, the platforms you're talking about do have very high interest, but the platforms my friends operate are very legitimate. The interest isn't that high, and compared to the returns of the fund I have here, that little bit of interest is almost negligible."

After a pause, Jiang Ming added: "Actually, under normal circumstances, I wouldn't want to do this kind of thing. It's thankless and not very interesting, but seeing as we are all friends who grew up together in the orphanage, I really can't bear to see them continue to be poor, so I'll help where I can."

Zhao Zhuoyue hurriedly blurted out: "Brother Ming, you don't need to worry about the rest. Just push those loan apps to me. I'll go borrow money immediately, and then I'll consolidate it all and give it to you!"

Ye Chen, who had been silent the whole time, looked at Jiang Ming at this moment and asked with great interest: "Jiang Ming, you just said you work at a company under the Wang family, but as far as I know, the Wang family doesn't seem to have done any fund business, right?"

Jiang Ming's expression shifted slightly, and he blurted out: "Ye Chen, it's not that I look down on you, but the Wang family is big and powerful, and their business interests are vast. There is no money they don't turn. What the hell would a loser like you know?"

Ye Chen wasn't angry and asked with a smile: "Then tell me, what is your company called?"

Jiang Ming blurted out: "My company is called Huaxin Insurance Fund Investment and Wealth Management Company."

As he spoke, Jiang Ming immediately took out his business card. Besides the company name, it also had Jiang Ming's title: "Investment Director."

Ye Chen felt that this Huaxin Insurance Fund Investment and Wealth Management Company sounded somewhat familiar.

Thinking carefully, he remembered: wasn't this the same company that scammed his mother-in-law? The boss of this company was called Zhou Huaxin, and the backer behind him was Master Hong Wu.

Zhou Huaxin specialized in swindling and cheating. Any money invested in his company was lost without a trace. Investors who suffered huge losses would come to make trouble, but it was useless because with Master Hong Wu backing him, no one could do anything to Zhou Huaxin.

He never expected that this Jiang Ming would actually be from Zhou Huaxin's company!

When he went to help his mother-in-law collect the debt last time, he hadn't seen him. If he had seen him back then, surely when he saw him today, he would be groveling.

Thinking of this, he looked at Jiang Ming with great interest and asked curiously: "Your company's boss is called Zhou Huaxin, right? He doesn't seem to be a Wang family person! Are you just spouting nonsense?"

Jiang Ming didn't expect Ye Chen to know his company, and even know his boss's name. He immediately became nervous.

If Ye Chen knew his company, it proved he knew what kind of business his company was in, and also knew that what he was saying to Zhao Zhuoyue now was all a lie.

Just as Jiang Ming was nervous inside, not knowing how to explain, Zhao Zhuoyue, who was on the side, looked at Ye Chen angrily and scolded: "Ye Chen, what do you mean by this? Brother Ming is acting out of kindness, wanting to take us to make some money. What are you questioning here? Is it because you're unhappy that Brother Ming isn't taking you to make money?"

Ye Chen looked at Zhao Zhuoyue in surprise and couldn't help but sneer in his heart. This kind of stinking loser was truly hopeless. He had no education and not a shred of ability to distinguish right from wrong. He, Ye Chen, was kindly trying to pull him back from the edge of the fire pit, yet he was actually shaking off his hand and desperately trying to jump down.

Since that was the case, then suit yourself.

So he immediately said to Jiang Ming: "Maybe I remembered wrong, sorry." ===== CHAPTER 498 =====