Chapter 5: Who is the Fool?

"Hopeless!"

Zhang Qian disdainfully threw down this comment and turned to leave. Su Han and Zhang Lei came over to ask Zhou Ming what happened. Zhou Ming shook his head and didn't say anything. Instead, he asked them how many treasury bonds they had collected. Su Han and Zhang Lei said they had collected seven or eight hundred bonds. Noting the time, it was now the appointed hour with Sister Wei, so Zhou Ming, Su Han, and Zhang Lei returned to Sister Wei's home.

At this time, there were quite a few people standing at Sister Wei's doorstep. Seeing Zhou Ming and the others arrive, Sister Wei happily introduced them to her neighbors: "Look, that's the young man collecting treasury bonds. I wasn't lying to you, was I?"

Then Sister Wei waved to Zhou Ming and the others, saying, "Young man, you finally arrived. We've been waiting for you for a long time."

Hearing Sister Wei's words, Zhou Ming and Su Han, Zhang Lei quickly approached with their bicycles. Zhou Ming apologized, "Sorry, Sister Wei. I was delayed collecting treasury bonds over there and arrived a bit late. I'm really sorry."

Sister Wei waved her hand and said, "It's fine. As long as you're here, that's good enough. I've already gathered all the neighbors. Please hurry and collect them. But there are quite a few. Will you be able to handle it?"

"Collect as much as I can. If I don't finish today, I'll come back tomorrow, alright?"

Zhou Ming said this and then began collecting the bonds.

At that time, the density of residents in the workers' building was not as terrifying as in modern residential complexes. Although Sister Wei had gathered neighbors from her building and the adjacent one, there were only about thirty households. Even with these bonds, the high-interest loan of ten thousand yuan Zhou Ming borrowed wasn't enough. After collecting all the money, there were still four households' bonds that he couldn't buy due to lack of funds.

The families who sold their bonds were very happy, while those who were at the end of the line and couldn't sell their bonds were disappointed. Seeing the disappointed expressions of those four households, Zhou Ming thought for a moment and said to them, "Sorry, I don't have enough money right now. How about this: you give me the bonds first, and I'll write an IOU. I'll pay you back by tonight at the latest."

Upon hearing this, the four households immediately looked happy: "Little brother, I know you're from our 760 Factory. This Da Zhuang is from the same unit as my nephew, and this girl, I recognize her as the boss of Xiaohan Restaurant. We trust you, so no need for an IOU. Just remember to give us the money tonight."

"Alright, thank you, Uncle."

Zhou Ming said this, then clarified the price of the bonds with the remaining four households, collected them, and put them in Xiaohan's bag.

"Sister Wei, if everything goes as planned, I should come back in two hours, and I'll also bring the money for the uncollected bonds," Zhou Ming said.

"Ah! It's a small matter. We trust you, young man," Sister Wei said.

"Okay, then I'll leave now. Goodbye."

Zhou Ming said this and rode off with Su Han, while the people behind them began discussing.

"Little Wei, I didn't expect there would be such a fool collecting these treasury bonds!"

"Exactly! You can't eat it or use it, it's just something the factory leaders used to cheat our wages, all in the name of supporting national construction."

"That might not be the case. Maybe someone just thinks these colorful bonds look nice."

"What's the use of looking nice? You can't eat it. Collecting stuff like this is only for capitalists and landlords. I think he's just gotten bad habits from living in the big city. Look at how he spent seven or eight thousand yuan collecting these bonds! What a waste. If Old Zhou knew his son was stealing money from home to collect these bonds, he would definitely beat him to death."

"Shh! Be quiet. What if that fool hears us? What if he comes to return the bonds?"

"The money's already been collected. If he wants to return them, he can. It's his own fault for being foolish enough to collect these things. We didn't force him. Even if it goes to the police station, we're not afraid!"

"Do you think he'll really come back in two hours?"

"I think there's an 80% chance he will."

"Well, whether he comes back or not, I'll hurry and notify my brother and sister to get their bonds ready. While this fool's parents are still not home and don't know about this, let's sell the bonds first."

...

While riding his bicycle, Zhou Ming suddenly heard a chuckle from behind. Looking back, he saw Su Han with a pleased expression, saying, "These people are really stupid. They're actually giving us money while laughing at us as fools. They don't realize that they are the real fools. I can't wait to see their expressions when they find out that treasury bonds can be exchanged for money."

Zhou Ming smiled and said, "Well, that's their fault. If they used their brains a bit, they'd know that someone suddenly coming to collect something usually means there's a problem!"

"So you're the smartest, Zhou Ming!" Su Han praised, then added, "But that Sister Wei, she's something. Even after you gave her ten yuan, she still talked about you behind your back. It's really lacking in moral integrity!"

"Just ignore them. Let them say whatever they want. We'll just quietly make our fortune," Zhou Ming said. "Alright, Su Han, don't worry about it. Those treasury bonds on you are worth more than ten thousand yuan. Hold onto them tightly."

Saying this, Zhou Ming pedaled towards the county bank. About ten minutes later, Zhou Ming, Su Han, and Zhang Lei arrived at the county agricultural bank. After parking their bikes, Zhou Ming noticed that Su Han was still tightly clutching the bag with the treasury bonds. Zhou Ming laughed, gently pulling open her tight grip and teasing her, "Alright, Su Han, don't be so nervous. If you hold on too tightly, you might damage the bonds."

Su Han gasped and quickly loosened her grip, but then carefully placed her hand back on the bag, explaining softly, "I... I was afraid it would be blown away by the wind."

Hearing this, Zhou Ming was stunned. He hadn't expected Su Han to take his casual comment so seriously.

"Don't be silly, you silly girl. The wind won't blow it away. Let's go into the bank."

Zhou Ming said gently, then led her into the bank and approached the counter. He said to the bank clerk, "Hello, I'm here to exchange treasury bonds. I have 84-year five-year and three-year bonds, 85-year three-year bonds, and five-year and three-year bonds from before 84."

"You again? How much do you want to exchange this time?" the clerk asked.

Zhou Ming put the bag of bonds from Su Han on the counter and said, "Ten thousand."

The clerk was initially stunned but soon became incredulous. It was clear to her that this amount of bonds, even if all were three-year bonds, would exchange for over thirteen thousand yuan—equivalent to her seven or eight years' salary! To see such a young man casually handling this much money was astonishing.

Su Han was pleased with the clerk's reaction, as it was much better than the mockery she faced at the factory. She felt proud and honored that Zhou Ming had come up with a way to make money from trading treasury bonds.

Zhou Ming wanted to exchange more bonds today and didn't have time to watch the clerk's reactions. He urged, "Excuse me, I need to exchange these now. If this amount is inconvenient for you, you can consult your supervisor. Please help me with this."

Upon hearing this, the clerk, realizing the scale of the transaction, went to consult the bank manager.

Soon, a middle-aged man came out and said to Zhou Ming, "Hello, comrade. I am Dai Zhenjiang, the head of the Nan Hui County Agricultural Bank."

"Hello, Director Dai," Zhou Ming said.

Director Dai nodded, "Because you're exchanging such a large amount of treasury bonds at once, we've never handled such a large transaction before. Please come with me inside."

"Okay, no problem."

Zhou Ming, Su Han, and Zhang Lei followed Director Dai into the bank and went to a reception room. A bank staff member made tea for them.

"First, could you show me the treasury bonds you're exchanging?" Director Dai asked.

"Of course."

Since they were in the county bank, Zhou Ming wasn't worried about any issues and opened the bag of bonds. Director Dai had the bank staff inspect, count, and categorize them.

Then Director Dai asked Zhou Ming, "Comrade, where are you working? The number of bonds you need to exchange is quite large, and we need to contact your workplace for verification."

"Director Dai, is that really necessary?" Zhou Ming asked, puzzled.

"Sorry, it's our procedure. Without contacting your workplace, we have difficulty processing this," Director Dai explained.

Zhou Ming sighed inwardly. He knew Director Dai was likely using the most conservative approach because he had never encountered such a situation before. Even if there were future issues, Director Dai could shift the responsibility to the workplace. This reflected the limited understanding of financial transactions and government bonds in remote areas before the

 development of the market and financial economy.

Not wanting to argue further, Zhou Ming said, "Director Dai, my friend works at the 760 Factory. All these bonds are from there. We are all from the 760 Factory. You can verify this."

Director Dai nodded and had the staff call to verify. Soon, the verification was complete, and the staff had finished counting.

"Your five-year bonds total 7,386 yuan, and the three-year bonds total 2,819 yuan. The total, including principal and interest, is 15,334.58 yuan. Please check," Director Dai said, handing Zhou Ming the bank's statement.

Zhou Ming checked the statement and used a calculator. The total was slightly more than ten thousand yuan because he had undervalued some bonds due to their poor condition when collecting them. After reconciling, Zhou Ming nodded and said, "That's correct. Can we receive the money now?"

"Of course. Would you like to open a savings account with us? This way, the money can be deposited directly," Director Dai offered.

Zhou Ming shook his head, "No, thank you, Director Dai. I still need the money for other purposes."

"Alright," Director Dai said, then had the staff prepare the money.