Chapter 136: The Devil Salesman (Part 2)

The Queen's Bar at night was the real nightclub, but it didn't have the hustle and bustle of other bars, and it was still very quiet. Under the blue lights, coupled with the melodious blues melody of the resident singer, it could give people a very peaceful feeling, as if the suffering slaves had received God's forgiveness, allowing them to be relieved from the oppression of the day.

James walked into the bar. As he had been getting drunk here every day for the past few days, the bartender already knew him, but today he wasn't here to get drunk, so after asking the bartender, he was led to an inner booth. When he opened the door to the booth, two Chinese people were waiting there: Zhou Ming and his bodyguard Zhang Lin.

When he saw James enter, Zhou Ming gestured for him to sit down, then pushed a glass of wine in front of him. James looked at the dark glass of wine with bubbles on top and was a little dazed. Fiction

'This was specially ordered for you. I think you need this glass of wine,' Zhou Ming said indifferently.

Hearing Zhou Ming say this, James no longer hesitated and lifted the glass to his lips and drank, but just one sip. James put down the glass and said with his tongue sticking out, 'What the hell kind of wine is this? It's really strong.'

'Devil's Graveyard,' Zhou Ming calmly said the name of the cocktail.

James heard this and laughed out loud, 'This is really an exciting name, to bury all the demons? It's just that I hope it's not just a name, that it can become a reality.'

'Whether it can become a reality is not something that is decided by words, but by actions,"

Zhou Ming said calmly. However, Zhou Ming did not mean to lecture James here, so he just touched on the topic. Then, as if performing a magic trick, he took out a document and handed it to James, saying, 'This is the account I have prepared for you. All your transactions can be completed through this account, including the funds from Brook Investment and the funds of your other clients. I can guarantee the absolute safety of this account.'

James was stunned and took the account document in his hands. He looked up in disbelief and said, 'Mr. Zhou Ming, you just handed me this document like this, aren't you afraid that I will go back and hand it in to the company? You know that company, he must really want to get this news.'

Zhou Ming smiled slightly: 'Of course I'm afraid, because this is the only secret account I have, and if you expose it, it will be very troublesome.'

Zhou Ming said this and immediately changed the subject, adding: 'But I trust you more, James. From what you told me this afternoon, it's clear that you're also a poor person being used by others. What you need is trust and help, not suspicion and caution.'

"It's trust and help, not suspicion and caution...'

James repeated these words to himself, and his eyes welled up with tears. He sobbed and said to Zhou Ming, 'Mr. Zhou Ming, thank you very much for your trust and help. Obviously, I am such an asshole, and I am sorry for what I have done to you, but your tolerance has made me feel the warmth of a kind father.'

James became more and more emotional as he spoke, and in the end he burst into tears: 'Mr. Zhou Ming, you may not know, the reason why I was able to get a $150,000 bonus from the company before was because I betrayed you and Cindy's information. I was the one who told the company that you wanted them to file for personal bankruptcy. I'm really a super jerk, I'm sorry to you, Mr. Zhou Ming!'

Zhou Ming suddenly realized, 'So it was you, James, who told them this news. I wondered why Cindy and the others received a letter from the lawyer of Brook Investment.'

'Yes, that was the company's response. It was all my stupid fault. I really should die!' James said while desperately scratching his hair, looking very remorseful.

Zhou Ming saw this and said to him, 'In fact, I don't think you need to blame yourself, James, because you haven't changed anything. Now those cheated poor people have still applied for personal bankruptcy, and Brook Investment Company has fallen into trouble because of this, hasn't it? So I don't blame you for this, and neither will the ethnic minorities in the Vidda community."

James looked up at Ming blankly. At that moment, Ming seemed to have suddenly turned into a tall and great man in James's eyes, like a merciful god who could forgive every grudge.

'Mr. Zhou Ming, you are truly great. I will definitely complete your task, even if I have to go to the electric chair for it!' James said.

James's words took Zhou Ming by surprise, because Zhou Ming had only said something about the actual situation, without trying to be pretentious, and yet he was able to move James to such an extent.

However, since this forced pretension had gotten off to a good start, Zhou Ming could not give up halfway through, and had to continue, 'Perhaps if you, James, follow my methods exactly, you may not be charged with anything.'

James was a little surprised by this, and his face was full of doubt.

...

At 9am the next morning, James arrived at Brook Investment, punctual for the first time since he failed to prevent the bankruptcy trend, which could not fail to surprise the others in the company.

James's team members curiously came up to ask what had happened, but Brook did not answer. He walked directly past the large office outside and finally arrived inside, knocking on the door of the manager's office.

The manager was certainly more surprised by James' arrival than the people outside: "Huh? James, you're actually here on time today and you've even come to see me. So let me guess, you're not here with a bomb strapped to your body, are you?"

James clenched his fists and gritted his teeth, but then thought of something and let go of his fists. 'I'd love to, but I'm not going to today. I'm here to talk about work, even if you are a piece of shit.'

'Although I don't know what's going on, this is a good idea.' The manager leaned back in his chair and made a gesture of invitation to James.

James gathered his thoughts and said, 'I know that due to the impact of so many previous borrowers filing for personal bankruptcy, the company has received a lot of mortgaged assets. Although these mortgaged assets have a certain value, they are not cash after all, so I think I can participate in the sale of the company's mortgaged assets, which is what the company needs right now.'

The manager looked James up and down several times before saying, 'It seems you've really thought it through. I told you that you black people will always be black people, haha!'

The manager's laughter cut like a knife into James' face, but he just clenched his fists and pretended not to be bothered.

'Okay, it seems that for your sake, I will agree to let you do some of it,' the manager continued, 'but every single deal you go through must be approved by me, understand?'

James nodded and said that was fine, and then the manager threw a document at James and said, 'Okay, let's start with these properties. These are a few properties in the Ansonburg neighborhood. You try to get rid of them. The price cannot be lower than 230,000...'

Upon hearing the amount of 230,000, James' eyes widened. 'Are you kidding me? I know that Ansonburg neighbourhood well, it's a very bad neighbourhood. Even before the subprime mortgage crisis, houses there couldn't sell for $230,000. Now that the subprime mortgage crisis has erupted, many subprime properties have become collateral assets, so why can they sell for $230,000?'

'You're saying that if you can't sell for $230,000, you just can't? But I'm saying that you can sell for that price, and the problem is just how you're handling it.'

The manager said to James in a tone of utter contempt. Seeing that James was about to lose his temper again, he continued, 'Fine, I know that niggers generally don't have much ability. I'll lower my expectations for you. If you can sell it for $210,000, that's fine. You can just use your bonus to cover the $20,000. This is the lowest standard I'll give you. If you can't do it, you might as well go back to the bar and be a drunk!'

James took a deep breath and said, 'Okay, I understand. I will sell it for $210,000.'

After saying that, James took the property materials on the table and returned to his office. James slammed his desk hard and muttered to himself, 'It seems that Mr. Zhou Ming is still the most trustworthy and great person, while everyone here is scum!'

Then James picked up his phone and dialed Zhou Ming's number. He told Zhou Ming that he had already obtained the real estate materials and also told Zhou Ming the requirements given to him by the manager.

Zhou Ming said after listening, 'It's okay, it's only 1.05 million for five houses, just give it to him. However, James, you also need to transfer other funds as soon as possible, or deal with the real estate, because I won't have too much capital to reserve for you either.'

'Thank you, Mr. Zhou Ming, for your reminder, I will do as you say,' James said.

After hanging up on Zhou Ming, James took another look at the real estate materials in his hands. He then sat down immediately, rummaged through the drawers for the client information distributed by the company, and this time picked up the phone on the desk. 'Hello, is this Mr. Michael? This is Brook Investment Company. I believe you are already aware of the current subprime mortgage crisis, so the company now has a lot of real estate that needs to be disposed of, all at extremely low prices. I think you can consider it.'

'The properties I'm handling are in the Ansonburg neighbourhood, and the price is 230,000 US dollars each.' James immediately continued, 'I know this price is definitely not acceptable to you, but that's okay, this is just the beginning. If I can sell the properties in my hands, then I can receive more properties and offer the best prices, don't you agree?'

James thought for a moment and then said, 'Okay, if you still can't accept it, or we can work together in another way. You can first transfer $100,000 to my account and tell me what properties you want. I will help you record it. If there is a suitable property for you, I will notify you as soon as possible. Is that okay?'

'Thank you very much. I believe that $50,000 will become a mutual trust between us.'

James hung up the phone and then dialed another number: 'Hello, is this Dr. Lawder? This is Brook Investments. I have a lot of properties here that need to be disposed of, all at rock-bottom prices. Please believe me, this is a sure-fire investment...

While James was frantically making phone calls in his office, in the general manager's room, the general manager of Brook Investments and James's manager were sitting around the phone.

The general manager put down the phone and said, 'Old friend, you heard it too, James is working very hard, he is not trying to be clever.'

The manager was puzzled and said, 'This is impossible. Could it be that the black guy really has a way with people?'

'That's the way it is. If you don't believe him, don't you believe what you heard? This phone is a secret product that can be used to monitor calls perfectly,' the general manager said again. 'I know you have some racial discrimination, but now is not the time for discrimination. We need James to help the company deal with these properties. As long as we regularly check the accounts, I believe that no matter how capable he is, he won't be able to pull any tricks.'

The manager then nodded and said, 'It seems that this is the only way.'

However, the general manager and manager, who had just put down the phone, had no idea what James was thinking at that moment: I am the devil, and I will help the great Chinese Mr. Zhou Ming destroy this damned company!