Chapter 497: Determined to Jump into the Fire Pit

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

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

In reality, not a single one of these funds made money; once you invested, you were destined to lose everything, and you could forget about ever getting a single cent back.

When Ye Chen's mother-in-law, Ma Lan, was swindled 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 get them to invest in his 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 use their money to save his own skin first!

When Zhao Zhuoyue heard this, he was so anxious he almost cried. He had long been driven mad by poverty and was desperate to make money. He had originally thought Jiang Ming could lead him to riches, but he never expected that Jiang Ming would look down on his small capital.

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, but 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."

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 decent amount. I reckon you could borrow at least 400,000 or 500,000. Add that to your 100,000-plus, and you'll have at least 600,000. If you put this 600,000 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 those online lending channels!"

Jiang Ming smiled: "I'll push a few loan platform apps to you in a moment."

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

He was an orphan himself and had never gone to school; he was illiterate. He had finally found a girlfriend, and just as they were about to talk marriage, his future mother-in-law wouldn't budge. He was already feeling desperate.

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

Jiang Ming saw through this mindset and prepared to fleece him for a big one. He would first get him to take out loans everywhere, borrow a few hundred thousand, and then scrape together his own 100,000-plus in savings. That way, he alone could solve Jiang Ming's 600,000 funding gap.

If he could fleece two such people, he could basically solve his problem.

As for whether this Zhao Zhuoyue would be hounded to death by various online lending platforms in the future, that had nothing to do with him. Who told this idiot to be brainless? Being swindled was what he deserved.

At this moment, a few other friends from the orphanage, hearing that 600,000 could double in a week, also became interested.

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

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, then learn from Zhao Zhuoyue: borrow a batch of loans from some online platforms first, make a big profit, and then pay the money back. This is called 'borrowing a chicken to lay eggs'!"

Hearing that, the person blurted out, "Brother Ming, count me in, count me in!"

Aunt Li had been silent, but hearing this, she couldn't help but say with concern, "Jiang Ming, the television stations have exposed quite a few high-interest online lending platforms. The interest that rolls over is truly terrifying. I think it's better not to touch them unless it's a last resort."

Jiang Ming didn't expect Aunt Li to ruin his good deed, so he immediately said, "Aunt Li, the platforms you're talking about do have high interest, but the platforms my friends operate are very legitimate. The interest isn't that high, and compared to the returns of my fund, that little bit of interest is 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 all 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, don't worry about the rest. Just push those loan apps to me, and I'll go take out the loans immediately, then pool them all together for you!"

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

Jiang Ming's expression changed slightly, and he blurted out, "Ye Chen, it's not that I look down on you, but the Wang family is huge and their business is extensive. There isn't any money they don't make. 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 company that had swindled his mother-in-law? The boss of this company was Zhou Huaxin, and his backer was Lord Hong Wu.

Zhou Huaxin specialized in swindling and cheating. Any money invested in his company was lost completely. Investors who suffered huge losses and came to make trouble were useless because with Lord Hong Wu backing him, no one could do anything to Zhou Huaxin.

He didn't expect this Jiang Ming to be from Zhou Huaxin's company!

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

Thinking of this, he looked at Jiang Ming with interest and asked curiously, "Your boss is called Zhou Huaxin, right? He doesn't seem to be a member of the Wang family! 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 they were in, and that what he was telling 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 to lead us to make some money. Why are you questioning him here? Is it because you're unhappy that Brother Ming isn't taking you along 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 no ability to judge right from wrong. He, Laozi, was kindly trying to pull him back from the edge of the fire pit, and he was actually pushing his hand away, 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."