Chapter 46: It's generally agreed that it's over

'Today, although we have completed the asset inventory of Wharton Insurance Company and all of Wharton Insurance Company's related accounts have been frozen, we will still closely monitor the flow of all Wharton Insurance Company assets. You may now return to your offices.'

These were the final words of Lincoln, the legal officer of the Financial Regulatory Division of the Massachusetts Department of Justice, before he left.

Zhou Ming took Julie back to the office, which was in a state of chaos, as if it had been ransacked. Julie and the others shed tears of sadness, while Zhou Ming sighed helplessly: 'These bastards actually made a mess of the place. Regarding this matter, I will definitely sue them directly in the Massachusetts court and won't let them off easily!'

While speaking, Zhou Ming picked up the documents one by one from the floor and put them in order on the table.

Julie and the others were stunned, completely unable to understand what Zhou Ming was doing. At this time, Zhou Ming turned back and asked them, 'I don't have much time at the company, so I don't know how these documents were originally arranged. I think you work here every day and definitely know better than I do, right?'

After hearing this, Julie reacted: 'Mr. Zhou Ming, please be assured, of course we know, so just leave it to us.'

Zhu Li said, taking the documents from Zhou Ming's hands, and then picking up a folder from the floor and putting it away.

With Zhou Ming and Zhu Li taking the lead, the others, who had been confused, also reacted one after the other, and they came over to help pick up the documents on the floor. At this time, Zhou Ming said to them, 'I'm very sorry, I should have asked someone to do this kind of thing for me, but after all, these are not rubbish, so I'm going to have to trouble you to pick them up one by one and put them in the right place.'

As soon as Zhou Ming finished speaking, Julie picked up where he left off and said, 'Mr. Zhou Ming, I hope your next words are not about giving us a pay rise. I don't know what they think, but I'm definitely not happy about it, because I've said that I love this company very much, and I don't want to add any burden to the company at its most difficult time.'

Julie set a good example, and the other administrative staff also expressed their views one after the other, saying, 'Mr. Chairman, we also love this company very much, and we are willing to share both the good times and the bad times with the company!'

Facing their declaration, Zhou Ming could only say, 'Since you have all said so, I can only say thank you to you. But don't worry, as long as the company can get through this, this year's bonuses will definitely be particularly generous!'

Hearing Zhou Ming say this, Zhu Li and the others still erupted into the warmest cheers. Then they cleaned up the company together, a task that lasted directly from day to night, and it wasn't until 7:30 in the evening that the entire company was restored to its original state.

Everyone was tired and sat in their chairs. Zhou Ming asked Zhang Lin to go downstairs and buy some bottles of water to share with everyone. After a short break, Zhou Ming glanced at the time and said to everyone, 'Thank you very much for working so late today. To express my own gratitude to everyone, if you don't mind, I would like to treat you all to dinner. You can choose any place you like and order whatever you want to eat.'

Before anyone could respond to Zhou Ming's gratitude, they heard their mobile phones ringing at their waists. Zhou Ming picked it up and answered it. It was Hoover, the head of the Brighton branch of Tangren Bank, calling.

'Mr. Zhou Ming, I just heard some very unfortunate news. The Justice Department has frozen all of your company's assets, and today there was a mass food poisoning at Brock's company, which will require your insurance company to make a claim. I think these two pieces of news will be a very serious blow to you. I think I can help.' Hoover said to Zhou Ming. Obviously, he and Zhou Ming were familiar with each other, and they didn't beat around the bush, but went straight to the point.

However, Zhou Ming was curious: 'First of all, I would like to thank Mr. Hoover for his kindness, but I am very curious, has the funding problem of the Tang Dynasty Bank been solved?'

'Not yet,' Hoover said, 'but there is no conflict between this and providing assistance to you, Mr. Zhou Ming, because the one who can really help you is Mr. Tiger.'

Zhou Ming raised an eyebrow and said, 'I see, but I am still curious, what are Mr. Tiger's conditions?'

'He needs to buy into Wharton Insurance, and he needs to own at least 51% of the company. Of course, Mr. Tiger will be willing to pay you more than the value of the equity he wants to buy,' Hoover said.

'But I'm sorry, I currently have no intention of selling any of my shares, and even if I want to sell in the future, I won't sell more than half of my shares,' Zhou Ming said.

'I can understand how you feel, after all, Wharton Insurance was built by you, and suddenly you have to sell it to someone else, it is indeed difficult to accept. However, Mr. Zhou Ming, in fact, from another perspective, this is a very good opportunity for Wharton Insurance and its own development, it can be greatly improved, and this is a very normal financing channel abroad, it is worth trying,' Hoover continued to persuade.

Zhou Ming laughed: 'If I can, I would like to purchase more than half of the equity of Tangren Bank. President Hu, don't be surprised. Please believe that I have the ability to do so. If you can't convince your boss, I don't think you should persuade me anymore.'

After saying this, Zhou Ming hung up the phone. Seeing that Julie and the others were staring at him intently, he knew that they had heard what he had just said to Hoover, so he said to them, 'Someone wanted to pay to buy a stake in our company, but I refused because I can get the company out of its predicament.'

Julie and the others cheered again. Then Ming got up to show them the way out, but just then he noticed someone approaching the company – two familiar faces: Danny, the president of the Harvard University Student Council, and his father, Paul.

Ming was confused, so he told Julie and the others to go ahead and order food, and he would join them later. After they had gone, Ming led Danny and his father back to the company and sat down.

Like Hoover, Danny and his father were also very straightforward. As soon as they sat down, Danny said, 'Zhou Ming, we already know about the trouble Wharton Insurance is facing, the freezing of assets by the Department of Justice, and then the claims settlement on the part of Old Brook. Wharton Insurance is now unable to settle the claims. I think you need to introduce new capital, and my father's investment company is willing to invest this capital for you.'

'Do you also want to acquire a stake in Wharton Insurance as a result?' Zhou Ming asked.

At Zhou Ming's words, Danny and his father first froze for a moment, and then Danny and his father glanced at each other before saying, 'It seems that someone has already approached Zhou Ming before us, but please rest assured that we are not going to ask for any equity in Wharton Insurance. What we need is your candidate, Omar.'

Zhou Ming shook his head to indicate that he did not understand what Danny and his father meant. Danny had to go on to explain to Zhou Ming: 'I am not hiding anything. It was my father's candidate who lost, but he saw that Omar's campaign was successful, and he believes that Omar is the one he deserves to invest in. So if you are willing to let Omar join my father's campaign organisation, then he will be willing to provide you with a loan to settle this claim.'

At the end, Danny emphasised the interest-free loan again, and Zhou Ming was delighted: 'Chairman Danny is really generous. A claim settlement of 9 million is not a small sum. Investing this amount in any field is believed to bring considerable returns, but you have invested in Omar. It seems that to you, Omar's investment potential must be greater than that of Wharton Insurance, right?'

Danny frowned and replied, 'I think this question can be answered differently from various perspectives, but for the time being, we need Omar more.'

'I'm sorry, I don't accept these conditions. If you are here to offer a loan, then I am grateful, but if you have any conditions, then it's a no-deal.'

Zhou Ming finished and got up to see the guests off. Only then did Poldeny not help himself but say to Zhou Ming, 'I know this is hard for you to accept, but these are really very favourable terms for you. Otherwise, given the situation you are facing now, I am afraid the company will find it difficult to continue. Not only that, if you continue to resist, you will even face very serious legal problems yourself.'

Danny also said to Zhou Ming, 'That's right, we have consulted a lawyer for you. If you maliciously refuse to settle the claim, you will face more than ten years in prison. I think that must be what Old Brook would most like to see. Zhou Ming, you wouldn't want that, would you?'

Zhou Ming laughed, 'I think you have misunderstood the most serious issue. It's just 9 million US dollars, and it won't be difficult for me.'

Zhou Ming left after saying this. Paul Daniels thought that Zhou Ming was being pretentious, but Daniels thought that Zhou Ming might really have another trick up his sleeve.

Zhou Ming quickly went to the restaurant that Julie and the others had booked and accompanied them for dinner before going back to the dormitory.

Although Zhou Ming had spoken to the students in the finance class beforehand, when Zhou Ming returned to the dormitory, he still saw the students in the finance class sitting in the lobby, waiting for Zhou Ming to return.

Zhou Ming sighed inwardly, but he had long expected this. That was why Zhou Ming had returned with his lawyer Alan. Zhou Ming immediately called a meeting upon returning to the dormitory, and at the meeting, Zhou Ming directly and openly told all the students in the finance class about what had happened at the company today, including the phone call from Hoover and the visit from Danny and his father.

'Classmates, all of Wharton Insurance's assets have been frozen. This is what Brooke is doing to us, with the aim of driving us into a state of complete ruin. Both Hoover from Tang Dynasty Bank and Danny and his father think that I'm finished. Because we are an insurance company, although insurance companies are not allowed to go out of business, if they maliciously refuse to pay claims, they will be severely punished by law!'

Zhou Ming paused here, silently looking around before asking, 'So what about you? Do you also think we're finished?'

This question left everyone stunned. After a while, Ye Ning was the first to say, 'Of course not. As long as you are here, we will not fail, and we will not accept failure!'

With Ye Ning taking the lead, the other students in the finance class also shouted in unison, which made Zhou Ming very gratified.

'Very good, you are worthy of being my finance class students, but having a passion is not enough. We also need some knowledge, and we can't believe everything they say.'

Zhou Ming then turned his attention to Alan, who replied knowingly, 'According to Massachusetts law, insurance companies do bear legal responsibility for refusing to pay out claims, but at the same time the law also protects the interests of insurance companies. Any time a claim arises, the insurance company has the right to investigate. If things get too complicated, the insurance company can also choose to file an application with the court to request an extension of the investigation period.'

Alan continued, 'In the case of Wharton Insurance, I think it is entirely possible to apply to the court for an extension of the time limit. If problems are found, the insurance company can even claim compensation from Old Brook.'

Zhou Ming spread his hands and said in conclusion, 'So you all heard it? We are not completely passive, at least I think we still have a chance to fight back.'