Chapter 135: Are You Not Chinese?

Zhou Ming, accompanied by Norderman, got into the car. Wang Jian looked at the van and Polish car that Zhang Heng had prepared for them and expressed his dissatisfaction to Zhou Ming, saying, "What's going on with you people? Not only is there no proper official to greet us, but there's also not even a decent car? Look at these two vehicles, what are they? Are you so poor that you can't even provide a good car?"

The two cars that came to pick up Norderman were indeed unimpressive in appearance. It's not that the Nanjing city government didn't have good cars, but those were reserved for the leaders. Zhang Heng's securities market construction team was a temporary setup with no real authority, and even these two cars were 'borrowed' through Zhang Heng's connections.

Of course, Zhou Ming had considered using his own Audi, but that would violate official protocol. After all, his team belonged to the municipal government, and if city leaders couldn't even ride in an Audi, how could he justify using one to pick up a foreigner?

To avoid unnecessary trouble, Zhou Ming decided to have Zhang Heng borrow these two cars to pick up Norderman.

Zhou Ming explained to Norderman, "I'm sorry, Mr. Norderman. We do respect you, but you might not fully understand our situation here. Using these two cars to pick you up is not meant to show any disrespect."

Norderman waved it off, saying, "It's fine. A car is just a means of transportation. As long as it gets me to my destination, it doesn't matter what kind of car it is."

Zhou Ming thanked Norderman and invited him and his student, Wang Jian, into the car. Norderman and Wang Jian sat in the Polish car, while the others crowded into the van.

Zhou Ming learned from Wang Jian that the people accompanying Norderman were all reporters. Some were documenting Norderman's journey from the United States, and two were journalists from Hong Kong Island Finance.

Hearing about Hong Kong Island Finance, Zhou Ming was momentarily stunned because he immediately thought of the beautiful journalist, Shen Xin.

Wang Jian caught Zhou Ming's expression and smugly said, "It seems you've heard of Hong Kong Island Finance? Let me tell you, it's the most authoritative and widely circulated financial media in Hong Kong. Their financial reports are considered exemplary worldwide. They sent reporters this time to document my teacher's entire journey in the mainland."

"Of course, Mr. Norderman is a respected figure," Zhou Ming replied. "By the way, is the journalist Shen Xin from Hong Kong Island Finance not with you?"

"Wow, I didn't expect you to even know about Shen Xin. Seems like you're quite informed!" Wang Jian mockingly said to Zhou Ming. "Shen Xin is the chief reporter for Hong Kong Island Finance. Not only is she beautiful, but she's also intelligent and graceful. She personally requested an exclusive interview with my teacher on the day he arrived in Hong Kong. But someone as busy as Shen Xin wouldn't waste her time in the mainland."

Zhou Ming didn't bother arguing with Wang Jian. From Wang Jian's expression, it was clear he admired Shen Xin. However, if he knew that Zhou Ming had once had a close and personal interaction with this graceful journalist, he might be furious enough to kill Zhou Ming to protect Shen Xin's honor.

The first stop Zhou Ming arranged for them was Nanjing Development Bank. As the country's first truly operational stock market, Zhou Ming believed it best reflected the domestic securities market. Additionally, the bank's first vice president, Luo Han, who had been responsible for the initial market survey in Hong Kong, was now also involved in the securities market construction. There was no better place to observe the securities market in Nanjing.

It took nearly an hour to get from Nanhu Port to Nanjing Development Bank. Along the way, Norderman looked out the window and marveled, "The development here is unbelievable!"

Hearing Norderman's amazement, Zhou Ming turned around and asked what was on his mind. Norderman replied, "Mr. Zhou, you might not know, but I was here seven years ago. Back then, your reform and opening up had just begun. Everything was still theoretical, and your economy was quite underdeveloped. Nanjing was almost like a small town then. But now, it's starting to resemble old Chicago. It's hard to believe that in just a few years, this place has grown from a small town into such a fantastic city."

"Is that so? Thank you for your praise. Maybe in another ten years, you'll be astonished by the development of our entire country," Zhou Ming said. He wasn't sure if Norderman had actually been here seven years ago, but Nanjing in the 1980s was just transitioning from a county to a city and only became a special economic zone in August. In the eyes of foreigners like Norderman, it was indeed like an ordinary small town.

"Really? I'm looking forward to it," Norderman replied.

After another twenty minutes, they arrived at Nanjing Development Bank.

Zhou Ming invited Norderman to get out of the car, but as they approached the bank entrance, they saw a group of people angrily leaving the bank. Inside, papers were scattered everywhere, mainly discarded stock certificates. The bank's first vice president was organizing the staff to clean up. Upon seeing Zhou Ming, he hurried over to greet Norderman.

This situation left both Norderman and Wang Jian stunned. Norderman asked Luo Han, "Mr. Luo, what happened at the bank today?"

"Nothing much, just some people coming to return their stocks," Luo Han explained to Norderman.

This surprised Norderman even more. "Returning stocks? What do you mean? Are they returning this bank's stocks? Mr. Zhou just told me that your bank is newly opened and has great potential. How could this happen?"

Zhou Ming had no way to explain this, as many things in this era defied conventional logic. For instance, the stocks of Nanjing Development Bank: Nanjing, as the forefront of the reform and opening-up policy and being close to Hong Kong, wasn't completely unfamiliar with stocks. But the knowledgeable people just wouldn't buy them, while only some uneducated farmers were willing to purchase stocks.

It was almost laughable. Because no one wanted to buy, the bank had to encourage its employees to purchase stocks and even allocate stocks to depositors. As a result, these allocated depositors came to the bank daily to cause trouble.

The situation had improved somewhat after Zhou Ming and Du Peng bought six million shares, but today they encountered the same issue again.

As Zhou Ming was thinking about how to explain the situation to Norderman, Wang Jian spoke up first, "Teacher, don't you understand? This is typical of Chinese people. They are ignorant and stubborn. They don't understand what stocks are and don't want to learn. They foolishly think they've been cheated and believe the bank has embezzled their money, so they all come to the bank to cause trouble."

After hearing Wang Jian's explanation, Norderman nodded and said to Zhou Ming, "It seems that the road to building your securities market won't be easy!"

Zhou Ming replied, "Right now, people just haven't realized the value of stocks. Once the securities market develops and everyone becomes aware of its importance, this kind of situation won't happen anymore."

"Then you still have a long way to go," said Norderman.

At this point, Wang Jian chimed in, "Teacher, you might not fully understand the situation here. The Chinese are, by nature, a group of profit-driven opportunists. They are greedy and selfish. As long as they can make money, they'll flock like vultures to carrion. And whether they can make money or not is entirely up to the whims of the ruling class in this slave state."

Zhou Ming glanced at Wang Jian without saying a word, then asked Norderman, "Would you like to go inside to check the stock situation? Also, the bank's first vice president, Luo Han, is one of the leaders of our securities market construction in Nanjing. You can ask him anything you'd like."

Norderman agreed, and Luo Han led him into the bank, where he introduced the current development of Nanjing Development Bank and the preparations for the securities market.

After listening to Luo Han, Norderman immediately asked, "Vice President Luo, from what you said, it seems you're an official and a party member. I'm curious, aren't party members supposed to be staunch socialists? How is it that you're supporting capitalist privatization?"

Norderman's first question made Luo Han break into a cold sweat. As a party member, he was terrified of answering such a class-related question, especially with accompanying journalists present. A wrong answer could ruin him.

Luo Han instinctively looked at Zhou Ming, who understood his concern and stepped in to answer, "It's like this, Mr. Norderman. I don't think your question is really a problem. We believe that whatever system allows the people to live a happy life is a good one. Even your capitalist America, the elder brother of capitalism, established diplomatic relations with us, which contradicts your initial principles, doesn't it?"

Norderman laughed and said, "That's true. As long as it leads to development, it's useful. You seem to be quite pragmatic!"

At this point, Norderman shifted the topic and said, "But that's not what I'm really asking about. I want to know how you plan to develop a stock market without any capitalist laws and regulations. For example, do you have a company law, securities law, and accounting law? Do you have the necessary regulatory bodies? How can

 your institutions ensure fair, just, and open trading?"

Zhou Ming replied, "Mr. Norderman, the issues you've raised are indeed our biggest headaches, but we're working to address them. Just before you arrived, we conducted a study tour in Hong Kong, and our securities market construction is based on the experience we gained there."

As soon as Zhou Ming finished speaking, Wang Jian scoffed dismissively. Zhou Ming frowned and asked, "Mr. Wang Jian, do you have any questions?"

"Questions? No, I just think you're very naive!" Wang Jian said disdainfully. "You think that just because you took a short tour of Hong Kong, you can build a securities market? How long were you there? Where did you go? Do you really think you've grasped the essence of the securities market? Do you even understand the laws my teacher mentioned, and can you implement them? You actually understand nothing, yet you want to do this and that. Don't you think you're being naive?"

Wang Jian concluded by smirking and saying, "You Chinese people are so arrogant. You think that just because you've seen a little bit, you know everything. Truly ignorant and foolish!"

Zhou Ming was furious and shouted, "Damn it, what's your problem, you piece of trash? What do you mean by 'you Chinese people,' as if you're not Chinese yourself!"