Chapter 338: The Harvest Season of March 14

Tuesday, March 14, is the very famous Western White Valentine's Day, which is a continuation of Valentine's Day a month later. However, on this day, Zhou Ming and his classmates in the finance class were too busy to enjoy the Western Valentine's Day atmosphere and got up early to prepare for the promotional activities the next day.

At 7am, when Zhou Ming was getting ready to leave with the students in the finance class, he ran into Danny, the president of the Harvard Student Union. Danny said to Zhou Ming, 'Mr. Zhou Ming, I heard that your new insurance and wealth management products not only protect us against accidental injury and medical insurance, but also provide a steadily growing income after the insurance contract expires? This is a very cool thing, so I think I want to buy one too.'

'Having a customer like President Danny is also something that we at Wharton Insurance Company really hope for, but I just don't know how much you're going to buy, President Danny?' Zhou Ming asked.

'Although my father has given me a lot of money, I don't actually have much at my disposal. There is only 50,000 US dollars, I hope Zhou Ming doesn't think it's too little,' Danny said with five fingers up. "I know that recently your insurance company's profits have not expanded, and there are some things that can't be rushed.'

'Chairman Danny, you really came to our rescue," Zhou Ming smiled helplessly, 'in that case, I can't accept this money from you.'

Danny wanted to say something, but Zhou Ming did not let him, but instead jumped in front of him and said, 'Chairman Danny, I know that our Wharton Insurance Company's sales performance yesterday was not ideal. You want to help me, and I am very touched and grateful for this intention, but I really don't need help, or the current results are not so bad that I have to panic. Chairman Danny, do you know what I said to everyone in the meeting after learning about the day's revenue yesterday?

Danny shook his head and said he didn't know. Zhou Ming told him, 'Nothing else, I just told everyone to keep up the good work.'

This answer left Danny dumbfounded. He muttered, "So you're going to keep doing it today?'

'Of course, why wouldn't I?" Zhou Ming said, surprised. 'You know, a lot of things only pay off if you put in the effort, just like today's White Valentine's Day. If the man hadn't given the woman a gift on Valentine's Day, how would she be able to return the favour today? Although this is not a gift but a token of affection, the principle of giving and receiving is the same.'

'So Zhou Ming, you believe that before, whether it was advertising or other promotional activities, it was all on February 14th, and you were the one giving. Now it's March 14th, and finally it's your season of harvest, right?' Danny asked.

Zhou Ming nodded and said yes. Danny then asked, 'I would love to believe you, Mr. Zhou Ming, but I still have to ask, if your sales are still not good today, what are you going to do?'

Zhou Ming did not hesitate in his answer: 'Of course we will continue to come tomorrow. We are just a new company, and insurance management is a new term. It takes time for the market to accept it, but I believe it will eventually be accepted.'

'Zhou Ming, you are the most resilient person I have ever met,' Danny commented on Zhou Ming.

Zhou Ming smiled at this nonsense and said, 'Thank you Chairman Danny. Today I will not collect Chairman Danny's money yet, I will leave it with you for now. If I really can't sell it, I will definitely come back to you for it, as long as you will still recognise it then.'

Danny laughed heartily at this, "Of course, it's only a $50,000 insurance premium, I don't think I will move it.'

In the car, after the car left the dormitory building, Chen Shu asked Zhou Ming, "Teacher, we will not give up, but what should we do today?'

'Promote it even more than yesterday, and we have to create an even bigger scene,' said Zhou Ming. "Our advertisement has been broadcast on TV for two days now, and I believe that many Brighton people must have already heard of our product. Now all we need to do is to remind them, to give them a deeper understanding of insurance and financial management, until we sell our product.'

At the end, Zhou Ming asked everyone, "Do you all have confidence?'

Everyone answered in unison, 'Yes!' Two hours later, the car dropped off the other students at their respective banks before finally dropping off Zhou Ming and Chen Shuyu at Copeley Square.

Once they arrived at Copeley Square, Zhou Ming got out of the car and immediately someone came up to him and said, 'Mr. Zhou Ming, are you still going to be doing promotional activities here today? Due to the special day, the fee must be increased, otherwise the square management will not provide the opening.'

'No problem,' Zhou Ming nodded without hesitation, patting the man on the shoulder and saying, 'Manager, remember, for me, money is not an issue. I only have one request, and that is that you must do a good job for me. And today must be different from yesterday, you must work harder and with more dedication. I need a bigger scene, understand?'

The man was the deputy general manager of an advertising company that specialised in outdoor promotional activities. He looked at Zhou Ming as he finished speaking and then turned and left. He muttered to Zhou Ming's back, 'Son of a bitch, these Chinese people are ridiculous. Obviously their products are shitty, but they still want a bigger scene? Can you really increase sales by making the scene bigger? This is just stupid. If you guys aren't paying, I'm not doing it!'

Zhou Ming didn't hear him mutter behind his back, but even if he had, he would have just laughed it off. After all, what do sparrows and swallows know about the ambitions of the swans?

But just because Zhou Ming didn't care didn't mean that other people didn't. Chen Shu and Ye Ning were furious when they heard it, and Ye Ning said to Chen Shu, 'Class leader, this American really looks down on people. No matter what, we must help the teacher win today, and we must sell at least 15 copies!'

Chen Shu also said, 'Fifteen copies? We have been through so much since the dormitory convenience store project, and I think we should at least sell twenty copies to live up to the teaching and help we have received from our teachers!'

'Let's see who can sell more,' Ye Ning said.

Today's promotional event was still the same as yesterday's. On stage, there was first a performance by the singer Philip, followed by dancing and the host promoting the product. Everything seemed to be the same as yesterday's rehearsal, even the pitch and dance steps of the singer were the same. This made Chen Shu and Ye Ning feel very indignant, but amidst the familiarity, there were some different voices.

'Oh my, is this the promotion site for that Wharton insurance and wealth management product? Is this where they had the Harrys tell us on TV that their insurance not only protects our lives, property and medical care, but also brings us more income after the policy expires?' Someone in the crowd asked loudly after hearing the host's introduction.

Ye Ning happened to be here when someone spoke, and she immediately squeezed over to him and introduced him, 'Hello, sir, as the name suggests, our product is a new type of product that combines insurance and wealth management, so that insurance can also generate income. And our income has its own investment channels, so our rate of return will be higher than that of ordinary funds. The general annual income can reach at least seven to eight percentage points.'

As Ye Ning said this, there was an uproar in the crowd. Everyone questioned Ye Ning, 'Are you saying that after the policy expires, in addition to refunding us all the insurance fees, you will also give us at least 7 to 8 percentage points of income for one year? How is this possible? Even many large fund companies cannot guarantee income, so how can you guarantee income? This is unbelievable!'

After this question, others also chimed in: 'So, you Chinese people all like to cheat!'

Ye Ning explained in response: 'I don't know if you have heard of something called a capital preservation fund. Our insurance company operates in the same way as a capital preservation fund, creating income while ensuring that the principal is not lost. That is why our rate of return is not high. What we can guarantee is to provide everyone who buys our products with the insurance product they need.'

Hearing Ye Ning's explanation, the onlookers let out a gasp, but they still looked at each other, not sure whether to believe her.

Seeing this, Ye Ning held up a document and said, 'I know you don't believe me, so I also have a copy of the insurance company's contract in my hand. If anyone needs it, they can try it.'

At this point, someone stepped forward and said, 'I'll give it a try. My accident insurance contract has expired anyway, so I'll try your Chinese insurance company.'

'You are very welcome,' Ye Ning said, handing the man a contract. 'This is the accident insurance contract. If you have no problem with it, you can just sign your name and go to the service desk next to pay the premium to get this insurance. By the way, I need to remind you that our Wharton Insurance Company is a bona fide American company, not a Chinese company.'

'I don't care if you are a Chinese company or an American company, as long as it can bring me benefits, it is a good company,'

The man said, and followed Ye Ning to pay the money. The others also went over. After the payment was completed, the man looked at the contract in his hand in disbelief and said, 'That's it? This is amazing. I'm Alan, the lawyer. I've read the text of this contract, and it is legally binding. In other words, after the policy expires, they must give me the principal and earnings, and also insure me. This is nothing short of a miracle!'

This person is Alan, the lawyer. He was specially invited by Zhou Ming, because in the United States, where the law is supreme, people have great faith in lawyers.

At this moment, as Alan finished speaking, the scene immediately erupted, and everyone scrambled to the company's service desk, shouting, 'I want an insurance policy, and I'll pay $1,000!'

Immediately, someone else would shout, 'What's your $1,000? I want a $5,000 or $10,000 policy!'

Ye Ning tried hard to maintain order: 'Please everyone keep in line, everyone will get their own insurance policy, we will not refuse any suitable customer!'

But no one listened to her at all, everyone just looked at each contract that was taken out, shouting loudly, 'We want insurance policies, we want to eat a $4 burger, we want to go on holiday to the Maldives, our journey is the biggest sea of stars in the financial world!'