Chapter 331: Our journey is the vast ocean of stars

Zhou Ming and Danny followed a secretary to the lounge of the Namu Advertising Company and sat down. The secretary made them coffee.

While it was brewing, the secretary said to them, 'These are coffee beans from the Brasilia Farm. Their coffee beans are fermented using a special method, so the aroma of their coffee beans is more mellow and rich. Only VIPs of the company are entitled to enjoy it.'

Danny said in response, 'I don't know if it's true, but at least what you said sounds very comforting.'

After about ten minutes, the coffee was ready, and the secretary brought it to each of them and then left the room: 'I'll be in the office outside. If you need anything, you can call me at any time on the phone on the table in front of you. Please rest here for a while. As soon as the chairman's meeting ends, I will let you know immediately.'

Danny nodded and said yes to the secretary, and after the secretary closed the door, he said to Zhou Ming, 'To be honest, what you're doing is really risky. Your insurance company has only been in operation for less than a week, and you only have less than 1.1 million in the account. You're opening up a 900,000 budget for this ad, which is simply a madman's move.'

Zhou Ming smiled and asked Danny, 'So what are you trying to say? Am I taking a chance?'

'You're gambling, a reckless gamble!' Danny said.

'I've never denied that this is a reckless gamble, but I have no choice.'

Zhou Ming took a sip of coffee and continued, 'I know what you're trying to say, Danny. I'm currently dealing with two insurance policies: a multimillion-dollar ocean-going cargo ship and a medical insurance policy worth tens of millions of dollars. Either one of them could kill Wharton, both now and in the future. Of course, Harbour City Shipping Group can rest assured, after all, they're a time-honoured company, but there's definitely something up with Old Brook.'

'Old Brook may have asked me to sign this insurance policy in order to send me hundreds of sick people. Even if they are healthy, he can poison them in the cafeteria. He doesn't care about the lives of these hundreds of employees, he only cares about me,' Zhou Ming said. 'But no matter what he wants to do, it's impossible at least for now, because my insurance policy only takes effect from May. It's only March now, and if he really wants to get me a few hundred sick people, he will have to wait until two months later.'

'So you want to make as much money as possible in these two months? Use this only $1.1 million?' Danny asked.

'Yes, I don't think I have the fortitude to sit here and do nothing when I know someone is out to get me. If I only have $1.1 million in May, then no matter if Old Brooker gives me some patients or he simply sinks the Harbor City Shipping Group ship with a missile, I'm finished!' Zhou Ming said, 'I have to be flexible. First, I'll sharpen the knife and turn $1.1 million into $11 million, so that I can say to Old Brooker, "Fuck you, come and get me.

Zhou Ming added at the end, "Of course, the most important thing is that I'm sure my insurance financial products will bring me $11 million, as long as the advertising agency really comes up with good ideas for me.'

'Of course, this is the best advertising agency. My father's company often hires them to create advertisements, and there are many bigger companies besides!' Danny said.

At this time, the door to the lounge opened and the advertising agency's director, Hussein, walked in. He first greeted Danny Zhou Ming and then sat down and said to Zhou Ming, 'Mr. Zhou Ming, please forgive me for being direct. I have just spoken to my creative director and we have initially come up with some very good ideas, so I need to ask you first, Mr. Zhou Ming, what is the budget for this advertising production?'

'Mr. Hussein is indeed a bit too direct to talk about money before talking about anything else,' said Zhou Ming. "But I have decided to listen to your ideas first, and then I will decide on the price.'

Hussein leaned back on the sofa and said, "Mr. Zhou Ming, our advertising agency sells not tomatoes but ideas, so there is no point in seeing it first and then buying it.'

'Mr. Hussein is worried that I am cheating you out of your advertising ideas and then just find a cheap advertising agency to produce the ad?' Zhou Ming asked.

'In fact, I don't want to think like this, but it's better to be safe than sorry. I personally don't have a grudge against Mr. Zhou Ming, but it's better to avoid certain things if you can. You don't know, the reputation of your Chinese people in Brighton has never been very good.' Hussein said casually, with an attitude that didn't take Zhou Ming seriously at all.

Hou Saiyin's behaviour made Chen Shuhe and Ye Ning very angry. Who is this guy? Why is he acting so cocky? They came to talk business with him, not to beg him. They really wanted to stand up and scold him, but since Zhou Ming was not saying anything, they didn't want to start.

Zhou Ming just smiled slightly. 'I see. In that case, I don't think there's anything to talk about between us. Goodbye.'

After saying this, Zhou Ming got up and walked towards the door with Chen Shu and Ye Ning. This sudden change in events left Hussein at a loss for words. He had expected Zhou Ming to argue and say something, but he never expected him to just turn his head and walk away.

After all, Hussein was the director of the advertising company. Even though his mind was blank at this moment, he still got up as soon as he could react and went over to stop Zhou Ming. 'I'm sorry, Mr. Zhou Ming, I think the wording I used just now may have been inappropriate. I can apologise for that...'

Before Hussein could finish, Zhou Ming interrupted him, 'It's not a matter of your wording, but your attitude. I came here to talk to you about business cooperation, not to beg you to advertise. You can keep your creativity with you to the grave, but please don't doubt other people's character with your own. I dare not say that the Chinese are good, but at least they are much better than you think.'

Hou Saijin nodded and said yes, not daring to look up at Zhou Ming's gaze, as if Zhou Ming's words weighed heavily on his head.

'So can we talk about your ideas now?' Zhou Ming asked.

In the face of this question from Zhou Ming, it can be seen that Hussein struggled for a while before finally nodding, which made Chen Shu and Ye Ning, who were following Zhou Ming, almost laugh out loud. Because Zhou Ming had taught them before, this is generally how bargaining is done in department stores. You quote a price that is more or less reasonable, and if the boss doesn't agree, you just turn around and leave. The boss will definitely call out to you to sell. Now Hussein obviously did just that.

Zhou Ming, Hussein and the others returned to the sofa and sat down. Hussein asked Zhou Ming, 'I actually really want to ask Mr. Zhou Ming a question. If I didn't stop you just now, would you really have just walked out?'

'But in fact, I knew that you would definitely stop me, Chairman Hussein, because you are not the type of person who gives up easily and you understand what you really need,'

Zhou Ming replied to Hussein, saying that he knew very well that since he had asked this question, he had obviously reacted to being fooled, so Zhou Ming gave him a light but not insignificant praise.

'Mr. Zhou Ming's words are like magic and impossible to refute,'

Hussein shook his head helplessly and said that in fact he also understood that since he had already called Zhou Ming back, there was no point in dwelling on the issue any further.

'Now, let's talk about the advertisement you want, Mr Zhou Ming. I remember you saying that the main purpose of this insurance and wealth management product is to get a much higher return than from a bank while also buying an insurance policy.

Then I think the advertisement should start from there.' Hussein continued, 'Very well then, our advertisement could be a young married couple at home complaining about the rising prices, the need to buy new clothes for the children, the mortgage and car loan payments, and the damn tax bill that has arrived; but they still have to find some money to pay for insurance, because it's a must, otherwise when they die, their families won't have any medical insurance; at the same time, they have to find some money to invest in stocks and funds, because it's a must, otherwise they won't be able to make enough money from the stock market to pay for their children's milk powder next month.'

'At this time, if you can buy an insurance wealth management product, then you can combine insurance and investment. You can get both insurance and investment, which is a good thing that kills two birds with one stone. As long as you buy an insurance wealth management product, you no longer have to keep an eye on the fucking stocks every day. You just have to sit at home and wait for the insurance contract to expire, and you will get the premiums you paid before as well as the returns you deserve.'

Hussein added, 'Of course, to show the effect, we can also invite the more approachable Harry and his wife to act, and find a cute baby. This will make everyone think, think about whether they are also worried about buying a burger for three or four dollars, and whether they are also worried about the various loans, credit cards and tax bills that arrive at the door every month. As long as they think about it, they will think of the benefits of this insurance financial product, and they will want to buy it.'

Hussein paused here, looked at Zhou Ming, gritted his teeth and said, 'Finally, if Mr. Zhou Ming still thinks this is not shocking enough, we can even let the Harrises say that this is a subversion and challenge to the securities companies. We no longer have to listen to those securities brokers nagging in our ears about which stocks to buy and whether they will fall after buying, because we can just give all our money to the insurance company!'

After listening to Hussein, Zhou Ming shook his head slightly and said, 'This is not good.'

'Of course it's not good. After all, securities companies are very large. They have huge amounts of money, billions and billions of dollars. But they won't care about us because no one can challenge them. So even if you say this, Mr. Zhou Ming, there won't be any problems. No one will sue you, and no consumers will go to the TV station to accuse you of cheating,' Hussein explained.

Zhou Ming laughed when he heard Husain's explanation. He told Husain, 'You seem to have misunderstood. I'm not saying it's a bad idea to challenge the securities company, but I'm saying that the challenge is whether the securities company is too small. Our journey is to the stars, so what we need to challenge is the entire financial system.'