Chapter 333: Broken Funding

On the 9th of March, the third day after Zhou Ming signed the contract with the Nam Advertising Company, he drove to an upscale coffee shop in the city. The chairman of the advertising company, Hussein, was already waiting there. When he saw Zhou Ming coming, he stood up and waved at him.

'I'm sorry I'm a little late, but you know I went to school at Harvard, so what did Chairman Hussein want to talk to me about today?' Zhou Ming asked first.

Houssein nodded and said, "I have two pieces of good news for Mr. Zhou Ming today. The first is about your advertisement. Since the Harrys" recent schedule just happened to be suitable, all the filming was completed yesterday, and all that's left is the post-production editing and other special effects production. We've already gotten this done in Hollywood, and it will be completed in no more than three days.'

Zhou Ming said, 'Very soon, just as the chairman promised, we will be able to get the advertisement before White Valentine's Day.'

'Keeping our word is our motto!' Hussein said, 'But this is also related to the fact that the advertisement filming was relatively easy. After all, it is about family matters, and the Harrys are experts in this area, so it was perfectly wrapped up in a few hours. If it weren't for the full schedule for the day, I would have made an appointment with Mr. Zhou Ming to go play ping pong yesterday.'

'No, thanks. I'm a complete beginner at table tennis, but I'm okay at ping pong.' Zhou Ming laughed, then asked, "The chairman said there were two pieces of good news. I wonder what the other one is?'

'It's about today's lunch. Mr. Zhou, you should remember that I once said I could help you arrange a meeting with the person in charge of the advertising department at the TV station.'

Facing Hussein's words, Zhou Ming nodded to indicate that he remembered. He then continued, "It's today at noon. He'll be here soon, and you can talk about the TV station's advertising rates.'

Zhou Ming nodded and thanked Hussein, and then waited for a while. A white man about sixty years old walked in. Hussein waved at him, and Zhou Ming knew that this was the person he was talking about, the head of the advertising centre, Mr Wilson.

Wilson came over, and Hussein and Zhou Ming got up to greet him. Hussein also introduced him to Zhou Ming.

After they had introduced themselves, Hussein led the way to a seat and said, 'Mr Wilson, as I told you before, this Mr Zhou Ming needs to broadcast a few advertisements on Brighton City TV during prime time.'

'This is a difficult matter,' Wilson said to Zhou Ming, 'After all, our advertising time is now full, congested like the streets of downtown New York. It is difficult to insert advertising. If Mr. Zhou Ming really wants to, he can participate in our second half of June advertising tender, when we will replace a batch of advertisements, and there may be room.'

'But Mr Wilson, I don't want to wait until then. I wonder if there's any way to get my ad inserted now? You know sometimes people are in a hurry,' said Zhou Ming.

'Then there's only the garbage time,' said Wilson. 'From 1am to 5am, I can give you the time slot you want, even if you want to broadcast a five-minute or ten-minute ad. And the price is greatly discounted, the longer the time, the greater the discount. Mr Zhou Ming, would you like to consider it?'

Hussein looked at Zhou Ming with some embarrassment, as if he hadn't expected this situation. Zhou Ming thought for a moment and said, 'Mr Wilson is indeed as generous and willing to think of others as Chairman Hussein introduced him to be.'

After praising him, Zhou Ming immediately changed the subject and continued, 'But I don't think the discount time is suitable for me, or my product. In comparison, I prefer prime time, because I want more people to see it. I know that Mr Wilson is the supreme commander of the advertising centre of the TV station, and a very capable and talented person. I believe you can definitely think of a way for me.'

Wilson smiled and said to Hussein, 'Did you bring this friend here? I can't help but say that he really knows how to talk. At least I've been convinced by him.'

Wilson then said to Zhou Ming, 'I can help you check if there are any advertising contracts that have recently expired, or if there are any that need to be temporarily withdrawn because some companies can't afford the advertising fees. But I'll be upfront, even if there are, these temporary insert ads will require a lot more money, and they are not necessarily permanent agreements that can be withdrawn at any time.'

'No problem, as long as I don't pay for it and it doesn't get played,' Zhou Ming said.

Wilson nodded and took out his mobile phone to make a call in front of Zhou Ming and Hussein. After the call, he said to Zhou Ming, 'You're in luck. There's just such an ad during prime time right now. For some reason, we need to temporarily take it off and can add your ad instead. The total time is 20 seconds, and the bidding price is 300,000 USD per second. However, considering the temporary factor, we can give you 2,000 USD per second per day, but you need to pay an admission fee of 30,000 USD and also pay in full for at least 10 days of advertising. What do you think?' Zhou Ming nodded and extended his hand to Wilson, 'No problem at all, deal.' 'Deal,' Wilson shook Zhou Ming's hand. After finishing the meal, Wilson had to leave first due to something at the TV station. What do you think?'

Zhou Ming nodded and extended his hand to Wilson: 'No problem at all, deal.'

'Deal,' Wilson shook Zhou Ming's hand.

After finishing the meal, Wilson had to leave due to something at the TV station, leaving only Zhou Ming and Hussein. Zhou Ming asked Hussein, 'Director, how is it going with the outdoor advertising?'

'The sketches for the billboards and bus and subway advertisements have already been produced, and I can have them ready in a day or two at most. In addition, I have also contacted the outdoor advertising company for you. They have agreed to place your advertisements in the most eye-catching locations at all the stations with the highest passenger flow, but you will need to pay them 60,000 US dollars per week.'

'No problem, but I need you to come up with the advertisements as soon as possible, and then I will go sign the contract with them,' said Zhou Ming.

'Don't worry, Mr. Zhou Ming, our company, Nam Advertising, has never let our clients lose any money,' said Hussein.

At this time, Zhou Ming's phone suddenly rang. Hussein left without disturbing Zhou Ming. Zhou Ming answered the phone and was stunned.

...

Meanwhile, not far from Ming Zhou, Wharton was sitting in his car, observing Ming Zhou. His phone rang too, and he answered it immediately. It was an excited Brooke telling him that the Tang Dynasty Bank had suspended lending to Wharton.

At this moment, Wharton was so happy that he almost flew into the sky: 'Haha, this is great! Mr. Brook, you are really the best!'

After praising old Brook, he then reported the situation to him: 'Mr. Brook, I am following him in a restaurant in the city centre right now. I saw him meet with Mr. Wilson from the advertising department of the city TV station. I think they must be discussing the broadcast of advertisements. From their expressions and the fact that Wilson made a few phone calls on the spur of the moment, I think they must have reached an agreement.'

After a moment's thought, Walden continued, 'I think that given the Chinese man's character, he will definitely demand prime time broadcasting. The price for prime time advertising on City TV is 300,000 US dollars per second. I don't know how they negotiated, but I think it will definitely be more than 300,000 US dollars. Now, Mr. Brook, if you cut off his loan, he'll be finished!'

On the other end of the line, Brooke just laughed softly and said, 'None of this matters, because this still does not put him in a hopeless situation. So you continue to observe him carefully, and if you have any new information, feel free to contact me at any time.'

'Mr. Brooke, please rest assured, my hatred for that Chinese is incredibly strong, and I want to take revenge on him every second of every day! I will definitely make it happen,' said Walden.

...

On the other side, Zhou Ming rushed to the Charles branch of the Tangren Bank as soon as he received the call. At this time, Hoover was here checking the loan materials.

As soon as Zhou Ming arrived, he was taken to the VIP room. Chen Shu and Ye Ning were also promoting insurance and wealth management products at the branch, so they followed him in.

Hoover was sitting on the sofa in the VIP room. As soon as Zhou Ming entered, he asked, 'Mr. Hoover, what exactly happened? I was told that my loan had been approved by the head office. Why has it suddenly been suspended?'

'Mr. Zhou Ming, don't worry, just sit down first,'

Hoover said, waving Zhou Ming to sit down before continuing, 'You should really ask them, not me, because I received a call from the National Credit Administration and the Massachusetts Banking Regulatory Office saying that someone had reported that Tangren Bank was suspected of lending money illegally, and that this loan was the main target. That's why I had to stop the loan.'

This news came as a great surprise to Zhou Ming and Chen Shuyu, so much so that they were at a loss for words. Chen Shuyu immediately asked, 'Someone reported us? This is impossible, what could they have reported about us? Mr. Hoover, can you help us find out who exactly is reporting?'

Hoover shook his head and said, 'I'm sorry, there is no way to find out. First of all, these institutions have an obligation to keep the informant confidential, and secondly, I think that if someone dares to report, he will definitely remain anonymous.

'But is there really no way to get our loan? We really need the money now,' Ye Ning said.

Hoover still shook his head: "No, really. You just came to the United States, and there are many things you don't know yet. Don't look at the United States as a country that advocates freedom, but here the most annoying thing is being targeted by these government agencies, because they are all full of doing nothing with taxpayers" money all day long; once they are targeted by the government, they will never let go until they have stripped a layer of skin off you!'

'So...' Hoover finally said, 'if I were to lend you the money out of my own pocket, I would not hesitate, but the point is that I don't have that kind of money, and this is a loan from the bank. The government departments are already on the case, and there is really nothing I can do. Even I am in trouble now. Haven't you seen me come out to various branches to check the loan account?

'Okay, I still have a lot of accounts to check, so please excuse me. Goodbye.'

After saying this, Hoover got up and left. Chen Shuhe and Ye Ning wanted to say something, but they were stopped by Zhou Ming, who said to them, 'Okay, there's nothing more to say. Since we've heard everything, let's go out too.'