Chapter 341: Old Brock's Conspiracy

An ordinary Ford sedan pulled up to the Skywalk Building in Fenway. It was already the fifth day after the insurance wealth management products officially went on sale. Barrister Alan got out of the car, carrying a large document bag. He went upstairs to the chairman's office of Wharton Company. Zhou Ming got up to greet him warmly and invited him to sit down on the sofa in the reception area.

Alan handed Zhou Ming the document bag he had brought, saying, 'Here are some legal materials you asked me to find. I have them all ready. Take a look.'

Zhou Ming took the file bag and put it aside, then thanked Alan. 'Leave it here for now, I'll take a look at it later. By the way, Alan, what's the latest on the patent situation regarding insurance financial products?'

'I came here today to talk to you about that,' Alan said to Zhou Ming. 'Regarding the patents you mentioned for insurance financial products, I've looked up the relevant legal documents and asked friends in the field. They all gave me the same answer: they don't fall into the category of patented inventions, in short, they're not eligible for patent protection. Of course, if you insist, I can help you apply to the patent office, but I don't think they will accept it. After all, there is nothing substantial about it, and it is difficult to define it in a realistic way.'

Zhou Ming nodded and said, 'Then I'll leave it to you, Lawyer Allen. I think we can try to apply for it. For us Chinese, it's better to be safe than sorry.'

'This is understandable, after all, this is a great invention. Before you, I have never seen such an amazing ability to make money!' Alan said, "In just three days, I'm afraid your insurance policy sales have already reached more than 20 million, right?'

Zhou Ming was a little surprised: "You know about that? As far as I know, you are a lawyer, not a fortune teller.'

'I don't think it requires magical fortune-telling abilities, because all the financial programs on TV are now broadcasting the magic of Wharton's insurance financial products,'

Alan smiled and looked up at the wall clock. He then got up and turned on the TV in Zhou Ming's office, tuned to the Northeast Finance Channel, and introduced it to Zhou Ming, saying, 'It's just the right time now. This is the Economic Watch program on the Northeast Finance Channel, one of the most popular economic programs in Brighton. I'm afraid it has a million viewers in Brighton alone. Many traders from securities companies and fund companies like to watch it.'

Zhou Ming shifted his gaze to the TV, where the female host was asking the guests, 'A new insurance company, Wharton Insurance, has suddenly appeared in Brighton. Their newly launched insurance and wealth management products have made the whole of Brighton go crazy in just three days, with sales even exceeding 20 million. I wonder what the two guests think about this situation?'

One guest said: 'Bundling insurance and wealth management products for sale is a very innovative financial approach. Since the economic crisis two years ago, people's investment philosophy has become more and more conservative. Their investment approach happens to cater to the safety concept of all investors. Insurance is necessary for everyone, so now I can earn a profit for myself while insuring, so why not?'

Alan changed the channel again and introduced it to Zhou Ming: 'This is my favourite Brighton financial channel. Their reviews are very sharp and often lead the trend.'

'Wharton Insurance Financial Products is simply a masterpiece of God, and it is also the craziest financial product I have ever seen. They use the guise of insurance to do the business of funds, and they can take all the money of fools who dream of making money out of their pockets at once. They are also not subject to the supervision of any department. It is like a hungry wolf wandering outside the herd, ready to pounce and kill at any time!' The commentator on TV said excitedly.

'This is New York finance. It seems that Mr Zhou Ming's insurance wealth management products have grown so large that they have gone to New York, and the relevant information may already be on the desks of the bigwigs on Wall Street.' Alan said to Zhou Ming, while changing the channel for him.

'Wharton's insurance wealth management products have now become popular throughout Brighton, and all Brighton people are proud to be able to buy this product. Perhaps you haven't been able to buy it yet due to time constraints, but if you haven't heard of it, then you will definitely become the laughing stock of others!'

On TV, a young financial analyst spoke eloquently into the camera, but next to him, another older analyst took over and said, 'But I'm curious about one thing, what exactly is this so-called insurance wealth management product, and what makes him think he can do this?'

The analyst answered his own question: 'We know that insurance companies can make claims because they collect premiums from other people and invest the money themselves. This is a sum of assets that they can control. But why is it the case with Wharton Insurance Financial Management? Are they so confident in their own investments? Or is it just a new type of Ponzi scheme where they use the money from one part of the business to pay for losses in another? Especially since I heard that Wharton Insurance is owned by a group of Chinese people, I'm even more sceptical about their financial products.'

As Alan changed channel after channel, listening to the comments on insurance and wealth management products on the TV, Zhou Ming smiled and asked Alan, 'What do you think of my insurance and wealth management products, Lawyer Alan?'

Alan folded his arms and said, 'I know if I say I'm just a lawyer you won't be satisfied with the answer, but I want to say that I haven't seen any illegal practices on your part, and they saying you're a Ponzi scheme is just a guess. If that were enough to convict someone, I think all insurance companies would have to close down, because basically everyone is playing this game.'

Alan continued, 'And furthermore, Zhou Ming, this Wharton company of yours, with its 26 employees from Harvard Business School, is capable of getting the most out of all this money.'

'So you are very optimistic about our business model?' Zhou Ming asked.

'I don't know anything about business and management, but I trust my own feelings,' Alan said. 'I think that if the current trend continues, the money you have in your hands, Zhou Ming, will only continue to grow.'

Zhou Ming, however, shook his head: 'Actually, it won't, because I'm going to limit the number of policies I sell.'

'Limit?' Alan was very surprised.

Zhou Ming nodded: 'That's right. I'm going to limit the number of policies I sell to a certain number each day, on a first-come-first-served basis.'

Alan looked at Zhou Ming in surprise and said, "Mr Zhou Ming, are you doing this to use the method of "hunger marketing', or are you worried that you'll get into trouble if you share the cake with the bank and other insurance companies and even fund companies?'

'Both, after all, we Chinese are concerned about the golden mean,' said Ming Zhou.

At this time, Allen's pager suddenly rang. Allen picked it up and glanced at it before saying to Ming Zhou, "I think you'll want to know this news, Mr. Zhou Ming. The son and butler of Old Brock were finally released on bail today.'

'Really?" Ming Zhou said very calmly, 'Actually, I'm not surprised at all. Money and power can get you anywhere.'

...

While Ming Zhou and Alan were chatting in the office of the Sky Ladder Building, an extended Cadillac limousine pulled up to the Lexington villa, parked, and Old Brook walked into the villa with his son and butler.

As soon as he returned home, Junior Brooker shouted, 'Old Brooker, this time we have really lost face. We were sent to the detention centre by a Chinaman, and we may even go to prison. I can't swallow this humiliation in any way, and you must help me get rid of him!'

Hearing young Brook's yelling, old Brook frowned in displeasure and said to him, 'What are you yelling for? Hurry up and go take a bath. If you make the room smell like the detention centre, I'll stuff you in the cesspit, I promise.'

Only then did young Brooke reluctantly go to take a bath. This is when the old butler walked up to old Brooke and said, 'Sir, even though Brooke is young and impetuous, he is right about something. We can't let that Chinese person get away with it so easily, or people will look down on the Brooke family. I watched TV in the detention centre before, and I know they've recently been promoting some kind of insurance and wealth management product, and it's very popular right now.'

Old Brook looked at his old butler before saying, 'I know about this. It's only natural that Mr. Zhou, a Chinese, would have such a great result after putting in so much effort in advertising and promotion.'

'Sir, then are we just going to watch him make money? That's not your usual style,' the old butler said.

'I did put a lot of pressure on him, from the time Wharton Insurance was founded until the time he advertised, but unfortunately, that Wharton guy was incompetent and got caught.'

Old Brook then told the butler about how he deliberately gave Zhou Ming the insurance policy, sought cooperation with Wharton to follow up on Zhou Ming, and finally cut off Zhou Ming's loan until the end. When he heard that Zhou Ming had deceived Wharton into negotiating an advertisement deal, the butler became very annoyed: 'This is a pity, but it is also Wharton's stupidity. He knew that the other party had such a formidable bodyguard, but he still appeared in front of the other party so blatantly. Even if the other party was a pig, they would have noticed!'

'But I think that no matter if he appeared in front of Zhou Ming that day, he would definitely have been discovered,' said Old Brook.

'So what are you going to do in the future, sir? Give up that idiot Wharton?' the butler asked.

Old Brook thought about it for a while and shook his head. He said, 'I don't plan to. Although this guy Wharton is a bit stupid, he is still very useful.'

The old butler looked at Old Brook blankly, as if he didn't understand his thoughts. Old Brook asked him, 'Do you think that the Chinese man has amassed so many dollars for himself using insurance and financial management, is he really planning to run a Ponzi scheme? If not, what does he plan to do with this money? You know that every one of his insurance policies promises a return.'

'Sir, you mean he's going to invest the money!' the old butler suddenly realised.

Old Brook nodded: 'That's right. Of course, most capital preservation funds would choose bonds and deposits as stable investments, but I believe he will choose stocks and futures as a breakthrough, because these are the only ways to maximise his returns! Of course, if he doesn't invest this way, I'll find a way to make sure he does.'

'Then it shows that you can snipe him here, and you can take over his methods. He definitely hasn't patented them, so we can compete with him; we can also contact other banks and securities fund companies to deal with him together, because what he's doing is causing public anger,' the old butler said.

Laughing, the old Brook said, 'That's it. I can even continue to let Mr. Wharton move around a bit and confuse our Mr. China.'