Chapter 28: Preparing in the dark (Part 2)

In the first-year economics classroom at Harvard University, as the bell rang to signal the end of class, Ming Zhou and his classmates from the finance class walked out of the classroom. Their beautiful teacher, Jie La, was standing at the door. Ming Zhou, of course, understood who she was waiting for, so he volunteered to go up and say hello to her.

'Chinese cutie, shall we have dinner sometime?' Jie La issued her invitation very directly.

In the face of Teacher Jie La's invitation, more or less all the male students around stared straight ahead, because they were dreaming of having the opportunity to have dinner with her, especially since she was also a teacher. If they could go one step further, the forbidden pleasure would be like drug addiction, and they would be unable to extricate themselves. Unfortunately, Jie La invited Zhou Ming instead of them.

Zhou Ming scratched his head embarrassedly and said, 'Teacher Jie La, let me check my schedule first, You know, I've been really busy lately, so I might not have time.'

Zhou Ming's reply made many people beat their chests and curse Zhou Ming in their hearts for wasting the opportunity.

However, Jie La did not give up like this. She then said to Zhou Ming, 'Don't make a decision so quickly, because I might have some news that interests you.'

Jie La took two steps forward, stood on tiptoe, and whispered in Zhou Ming's ear, 'It's about Tangren Bank and the Gulf.'

Zhou Ming immediately frowned: 'What news do you know?'

In response to Zhou Ming's question, Jie La smiled flirtatiously and took two steps back, teasingly saying to Zhou Ming, 'You really are a bad student, and I'm your Jie La class advisor. You won't answer if you ask me like this. If you really want to know, just call me. You know my number, or you can just come to my dormitory and find me. I'll be waiting for you!'

After saying this, Jie La turned around and left. At this time, when looking at the surrounding students, they were all teased by Jie La's flirtatiousness just now, especially the phrase 'bad student', which made people want to do it. They couldn't wait to rush over and throw this ** teacher on the bed and do some hey hey things.

Zhou Ming also looked at Jie La's departing back, but Zhou Ming was not thinking about something dirty, but what Jie La had just said.

She said she wanted to tell me about the Tang Dynasty Bank and the Gulf? Tang Dynasty Bank is easy to understand, it was a bank founded by Chinese people. Due to Mr. Tiger's connections, I received a lot of care from Tang Dynasty Bank in the United States. Even though I later deliberately let Mr. Tiger down, my relationship with Tang Dynasty Bank did not end. I have always had a lot of contact with Hoover, the head of the Brighton branch of Tang Dynasty Bank.

But...what does 'Gulf' mean? Could it be that this woman also knows something? But is it possible for someone who isn't a reincarnated soul like myself to know these things in advance?

Zhou Ming's mind suddenly flooded with many questions. At this time, Zhou Ming suddenly felt his sleeve being pulled twice. Zhou Ming turned around and saw Ye Ning pulling him.

'Teacher, why don't you just ask Teacher Jie La to go out with you? Maybe she really does have some news to tell you. You told us to withdraw the funds, aren't you preparing some kind of investment move? Maybe Teacher Jie La really can help you,' Ye Ning said to Zhou Ming. Although Ye Ning's analysis was sound, her expression was very aggrieved. Zhou Ming could even see glistening tears rolling around in her eyes.

Without thinking, his young female student must be jealous. Even if Zhou Ming doesn't understand women's hearts, he knows what to do at this time.

'Don't worry, I won't ask her out. Let's go back to the dormitory first. I still have something very important to tell you. No matter how important the news about Teacher Jie La is, it's not as important as you guys!' Zhou Ming said.

All the students in the finance class cheered enthusiastically, especially Ye Ning, who was the happiest, because just now Zhou Ming had looked at her when he spoke, and she would have thought that his last sentence was specifically for her. It was only because there were so many people here and Zhou Ming was embarrassed that he added the word 'you' at the end.

Three minutes later, Zhou Ming led the students in the finance class out of the economics department building, and a quarter of an hour later they returned to the dormitory.

Back in the dormitory, they did not prepare for dinner as usual, but all went to the lobby on the first floor. Zhou Ming said to them, 'This morning I thought about it, and I think we should recover as much of the funds as possible. Some losses are acceptable, but I need you to reduce the loss margin to below 12 percentage points.'

After throwing out this figure, Zhou Ming paused for a moment before adding, 'I know this is difficult, but you are not ordinary people. You are all students in the finance class, and you have been selected from across the country as the financial elite. So now is the perfect opportunity for you to show what you can do. Do you have confidence?'

'Yes!' shouted all the finance students in unison.

But Zhou Ming was still not satisfied and raised his voice to ask again, 'I can't hear you!'

'Yes!' shouted all the students in the finance class again. Almost everyone was shouting at the top of their lungs, not just because of the atmosphere created by Zhou Ming, but more importantly because they all understood what Zhou Ming's decision meant.

There is an old Chinese saying: someone will do business that will lose your head, but no one will do business that will lose money.

In that case, is Zhou Ming a fool?

The answer to this question is no. Anyone who is capable of conquering the finance class is definitely a talented person. Since Zhou Ming can accept a loss of 12%, it means that he has found a big business that can earn more than 20%.

This calculation seems to have a problem, but in fact there is no problem. After all, for businessmen, making money is not simply about exceeding the original principal. You have to know that the original principal can also generate income, as well as the costs of its operation and possible taxes and fees, etc., all of which have to be included in the calculation. If you can still make money after excluding all of this, then that is truly making money. Obviously, Zhou Ming has this confidence.

Everyone also understands that the accumulation of capital is in a decreasing trend, which means that the larger the amount of capital, the lower the proportion of money earned.

Put simply, it is easy to make five or ten dollars with one dollar; there are also many ways to make twenty or thirty dollars with ten thousand dollars; but if you want to turn ten million into twenty million, or one hundred million into two hundred million, it is not that simple. This is because with a small amount of capital, there will be a lot of room for manoeuvre, and there will also be a gambling mentality of betting on small bets to win big. On the contrary, if the amount of capital is larger, the room for manoeuvre will be smaller, and he will also be more cautious.

So now that Zhou Ming has withdrawn so much capital all of a sudden, and is still so confident in the returns, what project could it be?

All the students in the finance class stared at Zhou Ming, their eyes full of curiosity.

Facing the gaze of all his classmates, Zhou Ming's answer was on the tip of his tongue, but in the end, after looking Ye Ning in the eye, he decided to swallow the answer back into his stomach.

'Let's keep it a secret for now. I hope everyone can first focus their attention on how to reduce the loss of capital. Everyone should quietly prepare in the dark, and keep the noise down,' Zhou Ming teased, and finally said, 'As for my method, I will explain it to everyone after this.'

Zhou Ming's response made all the students in the finance class a little disappointed, but they were still able to accept it. After all, if Zhou Ming really told them the next project, according to Zhou Ming's past magic, they might get distracted and think about the next project, which could lead to problems with the return of funds. This would be a bit of a loss, and it would be better to concentrate on doing one thing.

Only Ye Ning looked at Zhou Ming blankly, as if she had thought of something...

In the afternoon, Zhou Ming and the others still had classes. When they returned to the dormitory after class ended at 4:30, Omar was already back and waiting. Seeing Zhou Ming and the others return, Omar took the initiative to come forward and say, 'Mr. Zhou Ming, I have completed the task very well. I have already thought of the best slogan!'

With Omar's words, all the students in the finance class cheered. This made Omar a little surprised. After all, it was just a slogan, so there was no need to get so excited. But Omar didn't know that these students in the finance class weren't just cheering for him. They were cheering for Zhou Ming even more, because Zhou Ming had already brought them an incredibly exciting piece of news today. Now Omar had just added icing to the cake.

Only Zhou Ming remained calm. After all, he had great confidence in the future President of the United States.

Zhou Ming patted Omar on the shoulder and said, 'Well done. Let's go into the room and talk.'

'Omar makes it easier to see a doctor! This is the slogan I have in mind for the Vidda community.'

As soon as they entered the dormitory lobby and sat down, Omar couldn't wait to take credit and tell Zhou Ming about it. Zhou Ming was a little surprised when he heard the slogan: 'The slogan is simple and easy to remember, but why is it about seeing a doctor? As far as I know, there should be quite a few hospitals near the Vinda community, shouldn't there?'

Omar nodded and said, 'Mr. Zhou Ming, you are right. There are indeed quite a few hospitals near the Vinda community, but these are all private hospitals with high fees. The Vinda community is home to wealthy people living in villas, but there are more ordinary people living in apartment buildings. Even if they have medical insurance, they cannot afford the thousands or tens of thousands of medical fees. Therefore, the people in the Vinda community would rather go to the district hospital, which is five kilometers away, because the medical fees there are cheaper.'

'Seeing a doctor is like running a marathon. That's the most common thing I hear from the people in the Weida community,' Omar added, "which is why I'm focusing on healthcare, so that I can get more support.'

'Well done!" Zhou Ming applauded Omar, and then asked, 'What about raising funds? You know that due to the existence of the Basic Law of Elections, I can't provide you with much support.'

When he heard Zhou Ming's question, the smile on Omar's face disappeared. He sighed and then replied, 'Mr. Zhou Ming, to be honest, this aspect is very problematic. I followed Mr. Yan Shi's instructions and found several relatively wealthy families in the community, but they were generally unwilling to give money. Only a few fellow African Americans put together a thousand dollars for me. In addition, on my way back, I called Mr. Rogers, and he promised to invest a thousand dollars for me.'

'Only two thousand dollars?' Zhou Ming frowned.

'Actually, two thousand dollars is quite a lot,' Omar said with a relaxed air. 'After all, this is only a community councilor's campaign, and a few thousand dollars is enough. Even in congressional elections, many people are only willing to invest a thousand dollars.'

Zhou Ming nodded silently: 'If you say it's no problem, then I'll choose to believe you, Mr. Omar. Then you go back and get ready as soon as possible, but quietly, so that Congressman Brook doesn't find out, especially about our relationship. When you're ready, give me a plan, and I'll help you with the rest, within the limits of the law.'

'Thank you very much, Mr. Zhou Ming. I'll go back and get ready,' Omar said after a moment's thought. 'I'll prepare quietly in the dark, by myself, so that no one will find out.'