Chapter 308: I need a company

After bidding farewell to Cheng Jun, Zhou Ming got into the car and went back to Harvard. However, as soon as he entered the old Harvard campus gate, he saw someone on the roadside waving at the car. Zhou Ming recognised that it was Danny, the president of the Harvard Student Union, so he told the bodyguard to stop the car. Zhou Ming got out of the car and walked towards him and asked, 'Hello, President Danny, what a coincidence, I ran into you on the road. Do you need a ride?'

Danny shook his head and said, 'I wish it was a coincidence, but I'm sorry it's not. I was waiting here for you on purpose because I knew you would definitely pass through this school gate.'

'Waiting for me?' Zhou Ming felt a little surprised. 'Is there something the matter, Chairman Danny? Or is it that Chairman Danny still hasn't given up trying to persuade me to join your boss's consortium?'

'Zhou Ming, please forgive me for speaking bluntly, but your joke is not funny,' Danny said in a serious tone.

Zhou Ming was hit in the nose and had to shrug uselessly and say, 'Okay, then Chairman Danny, did you wait here especially for me, is it also for my dormitory convenience store project?'

Danny nodded and said to Zhou Ming, 'I did come here because of the dormitory convenience store project. To be honest, this project is a bit unexpected.'

Zhou Ming raised an eyebrow, but he didn't rush to say anything. After all, two people, from Hoover to Cheng Jun, had already approached him about this matter, and Zhou Ming still wanted to hear the opinion of the president of the student union. Therefore, Zhou Ming simply reached out to Danny and said, 'I'd like to hear more.'

Danny was a little surprised by Zhou Ming's indifferent attitude, but then he understood. So he said, 'It seems that someone has already approached you before me. I don't know what their attitude was like, but I have a very positive view of you as the manager of the dormitory convenience store. I think you have perfectly demonstrated your genius business acumen through this project, which is amazing!'

'I'm curious, Chairman Danny, why do you think so? I can tell you that the person who approached me before was the one who worked for Mr Tiger, and the purpose was to tell me that I had let Mr Tiger down because I was too petty.' Zhou Ming said.

Danny froze for a moment and then said, 'Maybe Mr Tiger will have other considerations. I can't judge this after all, after all, his height is beyond my imagination now, or maybe he has higher expectations of you, but I know that you have made tens of thousands of dollars through this project, right?'

Zhou Ming nodded without any hesitation and said, 'Yes, from the day of the opening to 8am the next morning, the turnover for the first day of 22 hours was over 50,000 US dollars, with a net profit of over 30,000 US dollars.'

Danny was actually prepared for this, but when he heard the figure, he was still very surprised. He let out a gasp and said, 'My goodness, this is incredible. If I remember correctly, at the time, you told me that your budget was only 10,000 US dollars, right?'

Zhou Ming nodded and said yes. Danny continued, 'An investment of 10,000 net profit of 30,000, which means that Zhou Ming's return on investment for this project reached 200% on the first day of opening. This rate is unattainable even for many professional investors. And you're still on the first day, and your profits have far exceeded your costs. The money your project makes in the future can be said to be pure return.'

Danny laughed a little self-deprecatingly and continued, 'I remember when I was giving you lessons and teaching you how to choose a market. It's really ridiculous when I think about it.'

'That's not entirely true. It was Chairman Danny who told me all that, and it was only then that I thought of doing the dormitory convenience store project. So you have helped me a lot,' Zhou Ming said.

'I know you Chinese are good at talking, but I think I still have a good sense of my own abilities,' Danny waved his hands helplessly, 'never mind that, let's get down to business. I don't know if Ming Zhou still remembers, but I told you at the beginning that as long as you proved yourself, I would come to you to talk about cooperation. I think now is the time for me to keep my promise. I would love to cooperate with Ming Zhou, but I'm not sure what Ming Zhou thinks?'

Zhou Ming thought for a moment and said, 'I am personally very willing, but before I say anything, I want to make sure of one thing, and that is what form of cooperation you are talking about?'

'A form of business alliance. We will verbally agree on it, and there will be no contract documents. But in order to ensure the stability of the alliance, the companies need to mutually hold each other's shares, so that the occurrence of betrayal can be minimized.' Danny added, 'Of course, while the company is in the alliance, my father's company will also provide a certain amount of financial and technical support to your company.'

As soon as Danny finished speaking, Zhou Ming immediately asked, 'What is the shareholding ratio?'

'Fifty-one percent or more,' Danny said.

'Mutual holding?' Zhou Ming asked again.

'How is that possible? Of course I will hold shares in your company, and my father's company is not as small as you think, with your capital...'

Before Danny could finish, Zhou Ming interrupted him, 'I can find the money to buy you out, but I don't think it's a good idea for us to hold more than half of each other's shares. I can accept a maximum of 30% of your company's shares, and vice versa. I will only accept 30% of your father's company's shares. This is good for both of us, and on top of that, I need you to do me a favour.'

'What favour?' Danny asked.

'I need a new company with all the proper paperwork, a new company that belongs to me. The larger the scope of business, the better, and I need to get it as soon as possible,' said Zhou Ming.

...

While Zhou Ming and Danny were talking in front of Harvard University, in the Sui'an room in Yanjing, China, the second generation of national leaders, Chairman Yang Dingguo and Du Zhongyuan, were playing chess here. Suddenly, Du Zhongyuan's secretary rushed in, and with him he brought in a mobile phone.

This mobile phone was also related to Zhou Ming, because originally there were no mobile phones in Zhongnanhai, and the national leaders communicated via landline phones. However, since Zhou Ming brought mobile phones into Zhongnanhai, these national leaders also followed the trend and equipped themselves with mobile phones.

'Two heads, Consul General Cheng Jun in New York called to report something important about Zhou Ming,'

The secretary reported to the two men and held out her mobile phone. Du Zhongyuan glanced at Yang Dingguo, who waved his hand and said, 'Comrade Zhongyuan, you know that I have always had poor hearing, and now I'm getting old, so you should take the call.'

Hearing Yang Dingguo say this, Du Zhongyuan took the phone from his secretary's hand. After just a few moments of chatting, Du Zhongyuan handed the phone back to his secretary and then said to Yang Dingguo, 'Our young comrade Zhou Ming hasn't stopped at Harvard either. He came up with a project for a dormitory convenience store and brought in all the finance classes together, making a net profit of thirty thousand dollars in one day.'

'Compared to his past achievements, thirty thousand dollars is too little. I think there must be other reasons for him doing this,' Yang Dingguo speculated.

Du Zhongyuan nodded and said, 'You are right, Comrade Cheng Jun asked Zhou Ming out for a chat today, and that's what Zhou Ming said too. Comrade Cheng Jun said that what Zhou Ming did was actually a form of self-discreditation, that is, deliberately acting like he was limited in his abilities, so that the American side would lose interest in him.'

'It's really hard for us Chinese to do anything abroad! Back in the day, so many scientists had such a hard time returning to China. Now Zhou Ming is taking an entire finance class to study in the US, and if we don't do something, I'm afraid the Americans won't let them get away with it. It's hard on him.' Yang Dingguo sighed, and then asked Du Zhongyuan, 'So did this little comrade make any demands?'

'Yes, he wants us to help him transfer some money overseas in a way that will avoid the attention of the US government and other organisations,' said Du Zhongyuan.

'How much?' asked Yang Dingguo.

'If possible, he wants us to help him transfer 100 million US dollars,' replied Du Zhongyuan.

Du Zhongyuan's expression was one of helplessness, and Yang Dingguo of course understood the meaning of his expression. He thought back ten years ago, when the world's shipping magnate and Chinese pride Zheng Haolong wanted to donate ten million US dollars to the country, everyone in the country was stunned and dared not accept it. But now, this young man of only 25 years old, Zhou Ming, was actually asking the country to help him transfer one hundred million US dollars.

Yang Dingguo shook his head slightly and then asked, 'Comrade Zhongyuan, are there any problems in this regard?'

'There are no problems, really. Both the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation and the comrades in the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation have a lot of channels and experience in this regard,' Du Zhongyuan said, hesitating for a moment, but then added, 'But we are currently in a critical period of development domestically, and we are actually transferring 100 million to the United States. I'm worried that the comrades below will have some bad feelings.'

Yang Dingguo did not speak at first, but after a long pause, he said, 'The sun, the moon, the stars, and the planets revolve and shift. The world is changing so fast that we can't keep up. Although we understand that the $100 million is going to the United States, it certainly isn't what we think it is. If he can do what North Russia did, it wouldn't be a bad way to mess with the enemy.'

'But the United States is not North Russia. North Russia itself has major economic deficiencies. Its heavy industry is very strong, but its light industry is very backward. Even many daily necessities have to be imported from our side. And there were already Americans stirring things up in North Russia. But the United States is a country known for its economic strength, so I'm afraid things won't be that simple,' said Du Zhongyuan.

Yang Dingguo waved at Du Zhongyuan and said, 'There is no need to discuss this. I think, Comrade Zhongyuan, although there is still a Pacific Ocean between us and Comrade Zhou Ming, if we can help, we should try to help him.'

'Have you made a decision, Mr. Yang?' Du Zhongyuan asked.

Yang Dingguo nodded and said resolutely, 'It's decided. I'll take responsibility for anything!'

Du Zhongyuan said, "Good, I'll contact the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation immediately and send the money in batches directly to the United States in the name of economic and trade cooperation. That way, it won't be as conspicuous."