Chapter 173: First Finance Class: Going to the Farmer's Market

'Zhou Ming, you brat have got some nerve, you've even schemed against Yang Lao.'

On the car, Du Peng exclaimed to Zhou Ming, at this time they had already left Zhongnanhai, regardless of the special status there, or the physical and mental condition of the two elderly people, they were not allowed to stay there for too long, so they left after they finished their business.

Facing Du Peng's exclamation, Zhou Ming expressed his incomprehension. Du Peng then said, 'You, my boy, don't pretend with me. You said just now that you mentioned the sovereign fund on purpose, didn't you? Although I admit that what you said makes a lot of sense, and I can also think of the importance of sovereign funds, I always feel that there is more to your mentioning of this than meets the eye.'

'Okay, as a young proletarian, you are always innately hostile towards us bourgeois.'

Zhou Ming said helplessly, while Du Peng simply ignored this kind of remark. Although Zhou Ming, with his hands on 100 billion US dollars, already had the qualifications of a big capitalist, this remark still didn't make sense.

Du Peng simply didn't buy what he was selling, so Zhou Ming had to put away his teasing and get serious. He said, 'Actually, I did mention sovereign wealth funds because this thing will be of great use in the future, whether in the economy or in other aspects. Of course, I'm not completely unselfish in this. After all, when it comes to some things abroad, it's better to have the backing of the government.

Zhou Ming looked at Du Peng and said, 'You were also in Northern Russia. Don't you think that after the consulate intervened, things went a lot more smoothly for me? At least there was a lot less interference from the authorities.'

'To be honest, you, Du Peng, are obviously a lot more stingy than Yang Lao. What I did was not a scheme at all. At most, I used the money to wage financial warfare abroad, helping the country and myself make money, and then the country provided me with official protection. It's a win-win model, otherwise there wouldn't be so many sovereign funds in the world,' said Zhou Ming.

Du Peng was helpless. He knew that Zhou Ming was telling the truth. As the number one leader of the country, Yang Lao could definitely guess this as well. However, under the precondition of the previous insults from abroad, Yang Ding Guo would automatically take Zhou Ming's words as an assurance and would not care whether it was a scheme or not.

'If this sovereign fund really gets started, will you really be the chairman and CEO? From what I know about Yang Lao and my grandfather, they will definitely get this started within a few years of you mentioning it today,' Du Peng asked again.

Zhou Ming thought for a moment and then replied seriously: 'Maybe at first, but in the future I will definitely have to give up this position. After all, I am not a member of the establishment, and it is not good to keep the country's money with me. Another point is that I have my own company, and it is hard for me to ensure that I don't do something for personal gain. It will be difficult to deal with that at the time.'

Having said that, Zhou Ming glanced at Du Peng and said, 'It's you, Du Peng, who can become the chairman and CEO of this sovereign fund.'

'Forget it, it's more reliable for me to concentrate on my own affairs, so don't make things difficult for me with these state affairs,' Du Peng said, waving his hands. 'Are we going back to the National People's Congress now?'

Zhou Ming nodded and said, 'I promised the students in the finance class that I would give them a lecture tomorrow.'

This made Du Peng a little surprised: 'You really go to class? I admit that you have very good ideas about finance and economics, but most of these ideas are very extreme and not suitable for promotion, especially these students in the finance class. They are the hope of the country's finance in the future. It's a small matter to mislead people, but it will be a real problem in the future if it has an impact on the country.'

Du Peng would say this not without reason, because one of the main reasons why Zhou Ming took this finance class and is going to the United States together is that Zhou Ming believes that his theoretical knowledge of finance is still very poor, and it can even be said that he is not as good as the students in the finance class, and he still needs to continue to study.

So how can such a teacher, who still needs to learn himself, teach these students?

Zhou Ming gave him the answer: 'Don't worry, since I'm going to teach these classes, I still have a good grasp of them. I won't be talking about specific knowledge, I'll only be teaching them ways of thinking. I think that's what's most important.'

Zhou Ming and Du Peng then returned to Renmin University. Due to the relationship between the head teacher of the finance class and the teacher in charge, Zhou Ming was also allocated a set of staff housing. Looking at this house with a single door and courtyard, which looked more like a villa than a dormitory, Zhou Ming could only feel that the capital at that time was not as expensive as it is now, and that it was really amazing that someone who was not much older than his classmates had become their spiritual engineer.

But this is only to be expected. After all, Zhou Ming is a billionaire with a huge fortune of 100 billion yuan in his hands. Shouldn't a character like this get some special treatment just for coming to school to teach?

At 9 o'clock the next morning, Zhou Ming arrived at the finance class. His classmates had already been waiting there for a long time. They cheered when they saw Zhou Ming enter, although some of them complained, 'Teacher, you're so punctual! We've been waiting here for a long time!'

Zhou Ming smiled apologetically, but before he could say anything, Ye Ning, the class secretary, was unhappy: 'What do you mean? Did you sleepwalk yesterday? Don't you know that the teacher was invited to the Central Committee by Chairman Yang and Chairman Du? There must be something very important, and now he's still on time to give us a lesson. What are you complaining about?'

Ye Ning's words were echoed by the other students: 'That's right, Teacher Zhou Ming is our country's most powerful expert on financial warfare. The financial warfare with the United States is still ongoing, and the Central Committee invited Teacher to Zhongnanhai, so there must be important national affairs. Under the circumstances, it is normal for today's class to be cancelled. Now that Teacher is still able to come and give us a lesson on time, aren't we being inconsiderate if we complain?'

As he listened to the students' comments, one after the other, Zhou Ming felt very gratified standing on the podium. These students are really cute. He had only just shown off a little in front of them, setting them on the right path, and they had already made him their most important spiritual idol and teacher.

With such a class of cute students, he hadn't failed as a teacher after all.

Zhou Ming raised his hand to silence everyone, then he said, 'First of all, I am very grateful that my students can understand me so well. However, unless there is some force majeure today, I will definitely come to give you a lesson, because I promised you all, and I must keep my promise. This is what trust means.'

'You must remember that perhaps in the future our country will enter an era of impetuous money, and many Chinese people will lose the most basic morality of being a person. It will become a commonly accepted truth that it is better to be poor and not ashamed than to be rich and shameless. Some people will even take pride in it.'

Zhou Ming emphasised as he spoke: 'But I want you to remember, who are you? You are the cornerstone of this country, and you are also my students. So I ask you to do your best to hold onto the most basic morals of being a person. Because only if you do this can you set an example from the top down, change this society, and live up to your status as the elite of your country. You heard me, can you do it?'

'Yes! We can do it!'

In response to Zhou Ming's question, all the students in the finance class below answered in unison, and after Zhou Ming's gaze swept over them, each one straightened their backs as best as they could and gave Zhou Ming a firm response.

Zhou Ming nodded in satisfaction and said, 'Very good, you are worthy of being my students, I am proud of you, we can prepare for class.'

Get ready for class?

Li Yang, the vice monitor, heard the difference in the sentence and asked curiously, 'Teacher, it should already be time for class now. Do you still need preparation time? Or are you going to take us somewhere else to have class?'

'You are indeed the best debater in our finance class, and your mind is really active,'

Zhou Ming praised Li Yang and then said, 'You are all elite students selected from across the country to study finance, while I am only a student who has just graduated a few years ago. And when I was at school, I was not exactly a top student, so when it comes to financial expertise, I may not necessarily know any more than you. So if I were to hold a textbook and lecture you on the basics, it would be like a fish out of water.'

After hearing Zhou Ming say this, Ye Ning immediately stood up and said, 'Teacher, you are being modest. The fact that you have achieved so much in the world and lectured that idiot yesterday shows that you are very capable. We believe that you have special accomplishments in the field of finance.'

Following Ye Ning's words, the others also agreed, saying, "Yes, teacher, you are the best. We all believe in you, so don't be modest!'

Zhou Ming signalled for everyone to be quiet and continued, "This is not modesty on my part. I am telling the truth.'

Zhou Ming saw that the students were about to say something again, so he quickly continued, 'So what I want to teach you is not just basic knowledge. I would rather teach you how to think, to teach you how to think, to inspire your own wisdom, rather than blindly following the book. So just now, Li Yang guessed correctly, I am going to take you to a place where you can learn about finance today.'

This remark caused a huge uproar. Everyone was surprised, but more than anything, they were happy.

'That's great! We're going to class!' Everyone cheered happily. Of course, some people asked Zhou Ming, "Teacher, where are we going to class? Are we going to a bank or some kind of financial company? I know that Yanjing has just set up several financial companies.'

Zhou Ming shook his head, however, and said, "We're not going to a bank or a financial company.'

'Then it must be the financial newspaper office, because that has the latest and most comprehensive financial advice. Teacher, you can use that as an example and give us an analysis of it!' Someone else guessed.

But Zhou Ming still shook his head: 'It's not the financial newspaper office either.'

This surprised the students: "If it's not a bank, financial company, or financial newspaper office, then what place could it be?'

Facing everyone's confusion, Zhou Ming gave the answer: "It's the farmers' market.'

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