Chapter 119: Lobbying Weida (Part 1)

An ordinary Buick sedan drove into the Weida community and drove all the way to the community office. Since the United States does not have settings such as street offices and community management committees, it is generally up to the community-elected council members to organise an autonomous group as the lowest-level management body.

Omar was waiting at the entrance to the office. When he saw two Chinese faces get out of the car, his eyes immediately lit up. He then walked over in two or three steps: 'Mr. Zhou Ming, you've finally arrived. I was worried about you.'

The two men were Zhou Ming and his bodyguard Zhang Lin. Faced with Omar's concern, Zhou Ming smiled and said, 'I appreciate your concern for me, but I don't think anyone else expected me to come back, so overall I'm still quite safe.'

Zhou Ming saw that Omar still wanted to say something, so he said first, 'I think that, compared to all this, we'd better go into your office and talk about business. Besides, I think it's more dangerous here than in your office, because I remember that at the beginning, Senator Brook had someone follow me.'

When Omar heard Zhou Ming say this, he immediately became nervous. 'Is there still such a thing? Senator Brook is behaving like a great dictator. Mr Zhou Ming, please come into the office.'

Saying this, Omar led Zhou Ming into his office. The office still had Senator Portwood's nameplate hanging above it, but Portwood had long been sent home by Omar to rest. Now, inside and outside the office, apart from the nameplate and photos that should be there, everything else was Omar's personal space. Omar led Zhou Ming to sit on the sofa in his office.

'Mr. Zhou Ming, please forgive my directness. I know you have very important things to do, but you could have informed me and let me do it for you. You didn't need to come here yourself and take this risk. 'Omar looked at Zhou Ming sincerely and said, 'You know that the Adams family is not a family that thinks twice about anything. It seems that they have lost their minds. If anything happens to you in the Vidda community, I will be miserable for the rest of my life.'

Zhou Ming smiled and patted Omar on the shoulder, saying, 'I accept your concern. The reason I had to come in person is not because I don't trust you, Omar, but because I need to see the information I need at the front line. You have to know that if you don't see something with your own eyes, and just listen to someone else's account, you can never fully grasp it.'

Zhou Ming paused at the end and then added, 'And there's another thing. I have a feeling that if I come in person, I might have some unexpected gains.'

At this time, Zhou Ming said this sentence as a joke, but in the end it surprised even himself.

'Okay Omar, I think we can stop talking about other topics for now. I need to know about the Veda community,' said Zhou Ming.

Although Omar was still very worried about Zhou Ming's safety, he understood Zhou Ming's purpose for taking the risk of coming here even more, so he quickly made a decision. He then introduced Zhou Ming to the Veda community.

In fact, Zhou Ming also knew a little about the Veda community. After all, he had also organised a campaign in the past. Although it ended in failure, the information he learned at that time had not been forgotten.

The Vida Community is in the northwest corner of Fenway, a middle-class neighbourhood backed by the Charles River. However, despite being a middle-class neighbourhood, there are indeed detached villas and exquisite floors, etc. However, due to publicity and location, many minorities such as Chinese, Latin Americans, African Americans, and Native Americans have moved in. In Brighton, a city with a population dominated by British and French immigrants, coupled with the innate superiority of white people, it is only natural that such a community has become the lowest-class neighbourhood in the hearts of mainstream Brightonites.

This so-called class is only seen in the eyes of traditional Brightonites, but in fact, the Vida community has a good location and relatively high housing prices. It is very difficult for the average person to become an owner here without a mortgage, especially for these people from discriminated minorities.

'After receiving your call, Mr. Zhou Ming, I have investigated the information on the residents of the community over the past two days. At least among the people I have looked at, no one has not taken out a loan,' said Omar.

Zhou Ming nodded silently and then asked, "So did they all find a loan company to apply for a subprime loan?'

'Ethnic minorities are discriminated against here, and even the banks are the same. Their credit ratings are very low, so they are unable to get normal preferential loans. They can only fall back on subprime loans," said Omar.

Zhou Ming could hear the anger in Omar's tone, so he reached out and patted Omar on the shoulder to show his sympathy. Omar responded, smiling apologetically at Zhou Ming, who then asked, 'So Omar, have you investigated their main lending company?'

Omar nodded and said, 'Yes, because they need to take real estate as collateral to process loans, so it is recorded in the information I have. According to my statistics, the investment company called Brook that processes the most subprime loans for the residents of the Vida community.'

'Brook Investment Company?' Zhou Ming said in surprise.

Omar said, 'I think you haven't guessed wrong, Mr. Zhou Ming. This Brook Investment Company is the property of that senior Massachusetts congressman.'

Zhou Ming couldn't help but laugh, because this situation was something he never would have guessed. Although he knew that Congressman Brook had an investment company, the entire city of Brighton was so big, with so many investment companies and banks, and the Vida community was also a gathering place for ethnic minorities, considered a piece of fat meat for subprime loans.

But when he thought about it carefully, it didn't seem strange at all. As an important member of the Adams family, Brook might just be receiving a benefit.

'I never thought that we would really be brought together by fate!' Zhou Ming sighed, and then asked, "What about the proposal to let these minorities go bankrupt and default?'

For this question, for the first time, Omar's face showed some difficulty: "Mr. Zhou Ming, I think this is a bit of a problem, because the Vidda community is not a new one. Many people have lived here for more than a year, and some even for three years. It is not easy to make them give up their properties without any reason.'

Zhou Ming nodded: 'This is within my expectations. I came here today just for this matter. Omar, you have everything ready for me, haven't you?'

Omar also nodded and said, "If Mr. Zhou Ming insists, I will take you there right away.'

Zhou Ming put his hands together: "Of course, I am always ready.'

After getting Zhou Ming's answer, Omar immediately picked up the phone and made a page. After about a quarter of an hour, someone knocked on the office door, and then a fat black man walked in.

'Johnny was a member of the school team, and he can really run fast, even though you've put on a bit of weight,'

said Omar, rising to greet the black man. Then he introduced Zhou Ming, saying, 'This is Johnny, the manager of the African community group at Vida. You can get the most accurate answers to any questions you have about my African compatriots from him. In a sense, he represents the other 350 of us.'

'Hey, Omar, although I know you're very eloquent, you can't say that about me. I'm not that powerful. I've just lived here for a long time, and I've been in contact with them for even longer, so I understand their way of thinking better, that's all.'

After saying this, Johnny turned to Zhou Ming and said, 'This is Mr. Zhou Ming, right? What would you like to know?'

Zhou Ming said to Johnny, 'I'm very happy to meet you, Johnny. Perhaps you don't know what I do, so let me introduce myself. I work for an insurance company, and my company always has billions of dollars in assets.'

Hearing about billions of dollars, Johnny's eyes widened. Omar explained, 'That's right, Johnny. You always wonder where I get my money from, don't you? I can tell you, it's all because of this Mr. Zhou Ming who has helped me.'

Omar's words made Johnny gasp, and he then said to Zhou Ming, 'Mr. Zhou Ming, I hope I can help you.'

This time, Johnny's tone was obviously much more sincere than before. It seems that prejudice is really everywhere!

Zhou Ming felt a little helpless in his heart, and then he said, 'Because of the industry I am in, I have learned some news about subprime loans. I know that many people in the Veda community have taken out subprime loans, right? That is, borrowing from a loan company, such as Brook Investment.'

Hearing something related to himself, Johnny nodded, and his expression became serious.

This made Zhou Ming feel slightly relieved. He had deliberately mentioned Brook Investment Company in order to make him pay more attention, and it seemed to have had a good effect.

Zhou Ming continued, but his continuation was a rhetorical question: 'Is that so, Johnny, do you know where the loans from Brook Investment Company come from?'

'Isn't it from the bank?' Johnny said uncertainly.

'That's right, Brook Investment did borrow the money from the bank,' said Ming, changing the subject. "But do you know how he borrowed the money?'

Johnny shook his head. Ming told him, "He used your property as collateral to borrow the money from the bank.'

'But isn't that normal? Because we ourselves cannot get a loan from the bank at a sufficiently favourable rate,' said Johnny, puzzled.

'If that's all, then there's nothing wrong with it. Even if he charges you high interest rates, that's just business as usual. But do you know how much money he borrowed?' Zhou Ming paused for a moment before gesturing, "One billion US dollars.'

Johnny was astonished: "Why is it so much? Isn't that more than the value of our entire community?'

'This is where something called financial leverage comes into play. It's a bit complicated to explain, but in short, he can rely on your mortgage to make an excessive loan,' said Zhou Ming.

'But with so much money, if something unexpected happens to Brook Investment Company and the bank wants to collect the loan, even if we sell all the mortgaged properties in our community, we still won't be able to make up for the loss!' said Johnny.

'So in order to avoid his own risks, he sold all the mortgage contracts to someone else,' said Ming.

This made Johnny even more surprised: 'Can these contracts be sold to someone else again? But these contracts were originally inflated, so how can they make money? Whoever buys them can't be a fool, can they?'

'Johnny, you can rest assured, because those people are not stupid, on the contrary, they are very clever,' said Ming. "It's still that thing called financial leverage. Other people also make a profit through this and sell it to other people again, just like this, it goes back and forth before many companies. Johnny, you are so smart, I believe you can guess the final result.'

'No matter what leverage it is, the value remains the same, and in the end, someone will not be able to bear it," guessed Johnny.

Zhou Ming nodded and said, 'That's right. At that time, your property will be repossessed by the bank and then auctioned off, and you will become homeless.'

'How can this happen? But this is our home, what are we going to do?' Johnny asked in panic.

Zhou Ming had been waiting for Johnny to say this. He told Johnny, 'It's very simple, file for personal bankruptcy and don't pay these loans back!'