Chapter 88: What is meant by having a long-term perspective?

When Meta let out that exclamation in his Villa 8, someone in the reception room of the administration office of the Chelf Market also asked Zhou Ming the same question, almost word for word. 

'Mr Zhou Ming, haven't we already sent all the old rubles we collected through the Chelf Market to the securities company at once? Why hasn't the Chelf Market stopped trading in old rubles yet? Are you planning to exchange them for new rubles through the securities company again on the third day? I don't think that's possible.'

Zhou Ming was questioned by Tong Hua, the son of Tong Gang, but from the expressions of Li Cheng and Tong Gang next to them, it was clear that Tong Hua had been influenced by them to ask this question.

But it is reasonable for them to do so. After all, they are all people of status. Although they questioned Zhou Ming's current approach, due to his previous performance, they were afraid that he had a plan. If that was the case, it would be embarrassing for them.

That was why they chose to let Tong Hua come out first to question him and test Zhou Ming's intentions, so that they could have a buffer and adjust their thinking if Zhou Ming really had an idea.

'Not to mention whether the securities company that President Nikolic personally came to shut down can reopen in two days. Even if it does, with such a large sum of money circulating in the capital market, there will definitely be movement. Both the Dota Project and the government of Northern Russia must have already heard the news and will come to continue causing us trouble,' Tong Hua said.

In the face of Tong Hua's questioning, Zhou Ming nodded firmly and said, 'I completely agree with you.'

Zhou Ming's affirmation made Tong Hua's eyes widen: 'Since you, Mr. Zhou Ming, also agree, then why do you insist on doing this? I heard Director Qian say that it was you who requested that the Cherv Market maintain the recognition of the old ruble currency status.'

'It's very simple, because I haven't planned on handing the old rubles I received in the past two days back to the securities company,' Zhou Ming said to Tong Hua, 'Have you forgotten that I asked you yesterday afternoon to contact the black market?'

Tong Hua shook his head and said, 'Of course I haven't forgotten. So, Mr. Zhou Ming, are you planning to go to the black market? But with such a large sum of money, I don't think it will be easy to get rid of it on the black market. After all, our current goal is really too big.'

'I don't believe there is anything we can't do. At most, we just lack sufficient benefits. As long as we can offer enough benefits to make the black market interested, then they will definitely help us get rid of this money. They won't care how big our goal is,' said Zhou Ming.

'That's true, but Mr. Zhou Ming, I don't understand why you are so obsessed with the old ruble?' Tong Hua felt very confused. 'I don't think there is anything wrong with us rejecting the old ruble now. After all, the whole of Northern Russia has abandoned the old ruble, and the President of Northern Russia has signed an order to abolish the old ruble in three days. We also need to keep up with the times and replace it with the new ruble.'

'It is precisely because the whole of Northern Russia has abandoned the old ruble, and because almost all the shops have now abandoned the old ruble, that we should all the more recognise the old ruble,' said Zhou Ming.

Zhou Ming's answer shocked Tong Hua, leaving him at a loss for words. He asked Zhou Ming blankly, 'Mr Zhou Ming, are you really here in Northern Russia to do charity work?'

In Tong Hua's opinion, Zhou Ming could only be doing charity work for the people of Northern Russia, otherwise he simply could not understand why Zhou Ming would recognise the value of the old ruble when the Northern Russians themselves had already given up on it and it was about to become worthless.

However, Tong Hua's father, Tong Gang, realised something at this point and asked Zhou Ming, 'Young friend Zhou Ming, do you want to make a name for this Cherf market?'

Zhou Ming nodded and said yes, and Tong Hua suddenly realised that Zhou Ming's goal was not the old rubles at all. He was thinking of using the old rubles to make the Cherfe Market famous. Because at a time when everyone had given up the old rubles, only the Cherfe Market was still a place that recognised the value of the old rubles and was willing to accept them. The effect of word-of-mouth publicity would surely surpass all advertising.

'That's quite a lot of advertising money!' Tong Gang said to Zhou Ming.

Tong Gang did not say this lightly. Due to the old rubles, the Cherv Market now has a large daily flow of people. All the people of Northern Russia are scrambling to come here to spend the old rubles they have in hand, to prevent them from expiring and becoming invalid, even though the Cherv Market is raising the prices of various goods every day.

As a result, hundreds of millions or even billions of old rubles are flowing into the Cherv Market every day through trading. Not to mention how outrageous the exchange rate of the old ruble has become, just the middleman fees for exchanging them for new rubles on the black market can result in a huge loss, conservatively estimated at hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Zhou Ming shrugged and said, 'Anyway, we have made a lot of money in the capital market, so it doesn't hurt to give some back. Of course, if Chairman Tong thinks it's unreasonable, I can pay for it myself.'

'I think you must have misunderstood, Zhou Ming. That's not what I meant,' said Tong Gang. 'I just don't understand, Zhou Ming, why do you want to make the Chelf market famous?'

'Because I want to make the Chelf market an icon of Krisco!' Zhou Ming said, 'Because I discussed it with Chairman Li before, and he said he hoped to invest in the Chelf market, didn't he? It's always helpful to do a bit of preparation beforehand.'

If Zhou Ming's previous words only made them feel confused, then these words shocked them. Li Cheng in particular looked at Zhou Ming with his eyes wide open, unable to believe that Zhou Ming would say such a thing.

Li Cheng had indeed said before that he wanted to invest in the Chelf market, but at that time, Li Cheng had only thought that it was a joke. Even if Li Cheng really had this idea at that time, he did not make a decision. However, he did not expect that Zhou Ming would actually remember it in his heart, and at this time, he was still thinking about spending such a large price to advertise this market.

Li Cheng was very moved. He had thought that he was flawless in everything he did, but now it seemed that Zhou Ming's thoroughness in his work surpassed his own. More importantly, what was even more important than Zhou Ming's thoroughness was his sincerity.

'Zhou Ming, I don't know what to say. I really didn't expect that you would go to such lengths to do something that I casually mentioned. I'm really touched,' Li Cheng said to Zhou Ming.

Zhou Ming smiled and said, 'I said that I believe in your vision, and I also believe that the Chelf market that you are focusing on will definitely see great development in the future and become a benchmark in Krisko. If possible, I would even like to establish a company in this market in the future and then list it in the domestic market in Northern Russia for development. I wonder what you think?'

'If possible, this would of course be a good thing, but the problem is that I'm afraid it's not going to be easy to do.'

Li Cheng said with some concern, and after thinking about it, he explained to Zhou Ming, 'I'm not saying that your idea is bad, it's just that the time is too short. Even if the word-of-mouth advertising is effective, the result will be the same, and it will be difficult to create a big sensation.'

Zhou Ming nodded in agreement with Li Cheng's words: 'What Li Dong said makes a lot of sense. If it's just these two days, the effect will be just that at most, but if after these two days, the Cherv market still recognises the value of the old ruble?'

This time, not only Tong Gang and Tong Hua were surprised, even Li Cheng was shocked: 'Zhou Ming, are you crazy? Don't you know that the North Russian government is going to abolish the old ruble in two days? At that time, the old ruble will become worthless paper. Even the black market will no longer accept it. No matter how much profit we give them, they will no longer want it. At that time, what do we need this old ruble for?'

'Of course I understand that the old ruble will become worthless at that time, but precisely because of this, I want to do this, because only uniqueness can create value,' Zhou Ming said. 'Chairman Li, you might as well imagine what will happen two days from now, when the entire North Russian Republic no longer recognises the value of the old ruble in all places, and only our Cherv Market still recognises the value of the old ruble.

Zhou Ming asked himself and answered, 'Undoubtedly, everyone who still has old rubles in their hands will come here to spend them. I believe there will still be a large group of people.'

Zhou Ming finally asked, 'At this time, our Cherv Market will be listed as a company. Only those who use new rubles to buy our company's shares will be eligible to trade in the market with the corresponding number of old rubles according to their shareholding. In this way, will the scale of our market company be able to expand rapidly?'

It was nothing but shocking!

After listening to Zhou Ming's analysis, Li Chenghe and Tong Gang could not express their admiration for him.

Zhou Ming's plan may sound simple, but in fact, every step was just right. First of all, when the old rubles were no longer used in the whole country, the Cherv Market could still be used. It was needless to say how many people would be attracted to come here to trade. After all, in just three days, so many people in all of Northern Russia simply could not have exchanged all the old rubles they had.

Only shareholders of the Cherv Market have the right to use old rubles for transactions in the Cherv Market. This sounds reasonable, but anyone with a discerning eye can see the hidden mystery behind it.

Only old rubles can be used here, so in order to spend old rubles, they can only choose to accept this. So as long as everyone buys a share, in fact, in order to spend the old rubles they have, they also have no choice but to do so. Then the Cherv Market can quickly grow through this arrangement.

Thinking about this, Li Cheng couldn't help but give Zhou Ming a thumbs-up: 'Zhou Ming, your vision really makes people feel inferior!'