Chapter 144: Final preparations

After leaving Brighton Bank, Zhou Ming, Lin Muqing, Tong Gang, Li Cheng, Yildiev, and his lawyer Alan went directly to Brook Investment Company.

As the saviour, Zhou Ming had been to Brook Investment Company before, and almost all the employees knew him, so when he entered the company, he was taken directly to the general manager's office. This was because Brook would not come to the company except for major matters, and there was no chairman's office prepared here. Generally, after Brook came to the company, he would go directly to the general manager's office. This was the habit of this company.

When he arrived at the general manager's office, Brook was indeed there, or perhaps the current situation of Brook Investment Company left him with no other place to go.

When he saw Zhou Ming enter, Brook's heart was filled with little novel disgust, but he also understood that Zhou Ming was now the only savior of his company. The idea of clearly hating the other person so much that you can't help but kill them with a single sword, but then having to carefully ingratiate yourself with them, made Brook feel so sick that he almost collapsed.

'Mr. Zhou Ming, although I am very grateful that you were able to lend a helping hand to Brook Investment Company in its time of need, I still hope to hear good news about the funds as soon as possible, rather than seeing the performance of a fool who cannot keep his promises. You know that I am a senator in the state legislature, and I have had enough of these hypocritical villains in politics.' Brook said mockingly to Zhou Ming.

How could Zhou Ming not hear Brook's innuendo? Zhou Ming retorted, 'Indeed, I believe that you, Senator Brook, must also have a deep understanding of hypocrisy!'

Zhou Ming did not come here today to pick on Brook, so he just retorted to Brook and changed the subject, saying, 'But I did not come here today to discuss political performances with you, Senator Brook. I came here to honour my contract.'

Then he took out his cheque book and wrote a cheque to Brooke, saying, 'Here is a cheque for 600 million US dollars, which means that from now on, the management of Brooke Investments will officially be transferred to me.'

Brooke took the cheque and glanced at it. He was immediately stunned: 'Brighton Bank?'

Brook felt very unbelievable, because if it were Ming Zhou who could come up with this kind of money, or if Ming Zhou could write a cheque from any bank, he would not be surprised, but he would never have imagined that it would be Brighton Bank.

You have to know that the largest shareholder of Brighton Bank is the Adams family, and the patriarch, Cristo, also serves as the chairman of Brighton Bank. So now Ming Zhou can write a cheque from Brighton Bank, which means that Ming Zhou's actions have the tacit approval of the Adams family. For him, this is a reality that he simply cannot accept.

'It seems that Congressman Brook is still very careful in his observations, but I don't think you have a rule here that doesn't accept checks from a particular bank, do you?' Zhou Ming said with a smile.

As a lawyer, Alan added after Zhou Ming, 'Congressman Brook, you can verify the authenticity of this check and delay it for a short period of time, but no longer than today. According to the previous contract, the primary management rights of Brook Investment must be transferred to my client within today, otherwise you will be considered in breach of contract.'

At this point, Brook was already desperate, so he just waved his hand angrily at Zhou Ming's words and said with a broken heart, 'Whatever, from now on, the management rights of Brook Investment Company will be yours!'

'Thank you very much, Congressman Brook, for your promptness,' Zhou Ming said with a smile, 'Since Congressman Brook has agreed, then I won't be rude. I really came here today to take over the management rights of Brook Investment Company. I know that the company still has thousands of mortgaged properties, right?'

Upon hearing Zhou Ming say this, Brucker almost jumped up at once. He questioned Zhou Ming, 'What do you Chinese want? To sell all the remaining mortgaged assets of my company at a low price? You are not saving, but destroying Brucker Investment Company. I have long known that you are an evil demon! I tell you, even if we have a contract, you only have management rights, and you are not qualified to sell the company's mortgaged assets. Do you know?'

"I will just quietly watch you here like a mad dog,' Zhou Ming said indifferently in response to Brooke's mad barking, 'But it seems your mad dog has mistaken the target.'

Zhou Ming said this and turned his head to look at his lawyer Alan. Alan understood and stepped forward and said, 'I think I need to remind Mr. Brooke that the contract signed between my client and you is to take over the assets and debts of Brooke Investments. Therefore, in order to help the company repay its debts and redevelop, my client can use all means, including selling the company's assets, which is within the scope of my client's management rights.'

'Okay, I understand. You Chinese can do whatever you want,"

said Brook, very disheartened. He knew that these lawyers were just litigators. Since they could say that it was legal, they would do everything they could to prove it, and even if it went to court, they might not necessarily get any advantage.

Zhou Ming laughed and came over to Brooke and said to him, 'Congressman Brooke, don't be so downhearted. I did this to enable Brook Investment to get rid of all its debts as soon as possible and start afresh with a light load. But although I now have control of Brook Investment, you are still the chairman, and the final decision should be made by you.'

Brooke was very unimpressed by Zhou Ming's words. He didn't believe that he would really do what was best for Brook Investment, but he didn't want to give up his position as chairman, so he could only agree: 'Chinese, I can work for you, but before that I want to know who these assets are going to be sold to. I believe this is not a difficult question to answer, is it?'

Zhou Ming nodded and said, 'Of course, I can tell you that these mortgaged assets will all be sold to Wharton Insurance.'

Faced with Zhou Ming's answer, Brooke was petrified. Although he never believed that Zhou Ming would really care about the future of Brooke Investments, he never imagined that Zhou Ming would be so direct.

"Chinese man, so you really want to swallow my Brooke Investments whole? Or do you think I don't know that Wharton Insurance is your company? You bastard, I won't let you get away with it. I will protect my company, even if I have to go to court with you, even if it goes to the Supreme Court, I will definitely fight this lawsuit!' Brooke yelled at Zhou Ming.

Facing the angry Brooke, Zhou Ming was very calm: 'I think Congressman Brooke, you are a little overreacting. I admit that Wharton Insurance Company is my company, but what I am doing does not involve any improper transactions. I am willing to pay the price of 300 million US dollars to purchase these remaining mortgaged properties.'

Zhou Ming continued, 'Congressman Brook, I think you also understand that with the outbreak of the subprime mortgage crisis, many mortgaged properties have been pushed back onto the market. It is now very difficult for you to realise these mortgaged properties. Only I will help you because I have already invested 600 million US dollars. So why don't I invest another 300 million US dollars to completely pull Brook Investment Company out of bankruptcy?'

Brook was confused by Zhou Ming's reply. He looked at Zhou Ming blankly, not knowing whether or not he should believe him.

Zhou Ming smiled and said in the end, 'I know that you, Senator Brook, don't believe me, but I think that these colourful dollars won't lie, don't you think so?'

'I know that you are a devil, and as a believer in God, I shouldn't make any deals with the devil, but if you can really come up with the entire $900 million to invest in Brook Investment Company, then even betraying your soul once is acceptable,' Brook said.

"It seems that Senator Brook is worthy of being a senior senator and is still very experienced in judging the situation,' Zhou Ming shook hands with Brooke and said, 'Since Senator Brooke has agreed, I hope that the contract can be signed as soon as possible.'

This time, Brooke's answer was very decisive: 'As long as your funds are in place, I will be ready at any time.'

Zhou Ming got the answer he wanted, and he was content to leave. Back in his car, Zhou Ming saw that Tong Gang, Li Cheng, and Irbeldov had some worried expressions on their faces, and Zhou Ming couldn't help but ask, 'Are you worried that I will suffer a great loss?'

The three of them looked at each other, and in the end Li Cheng said, 'Zhou Ming, I know you are a very loyal person. You will do your best to keep your promises. But it was already very difficult for you to get back 3,000 properties from Brook Investment. This time, I don't think it is necessary to spend another 300 million US dollars to buy back the remaining properties. To be honest, this deal is a loss.'

Zhou Ming was very calm in the face of Li Cheng's opposition. He just said, 'Then I hope to hear a reason why it is a loss.'

Il'bedov then said, 'Perhaps from the initial house price point of view, the $300 million deal is a profit, but the problem is that at present, due to the impact of the subprime mortgage crisis, a large number of mortgaged properties have been sold off, and prices will fall further. It is not a good time to sell.'

'I see, but what I want to say is that I don't intend to pay for it myself,' Zhou Ming asked.

Tong Gang Li Cheng and Il'bedov were all stunned. They never expected Zhou Ming to ask such a question in return.

It was obvious that just now, at Brook Investment and Brook, they had agreed on a deal, but now Zhou Ming said he didn't plan to pay for it. Could it be that he was planning to use James again? But once something like this happened for the first time, it would be extremely difficult to exploit the loophole again!

Zhou Ming could see what they were thinking, so he replied, 'Of course I'm not trying to exploit any loopholes in the system. I want to buy the remaining property for 300 million, but I don't plan to pay for it myself, because I still have a loan.'

The mention of a loan suddenly reminded the three men. This time, Tong Gang said, 'I see. Little brother Zhou Ming, are you planning to take the $300 million from your previous loan, or take out another loan with the properties you have in your hands?'

Zhou Ming nodded and said, 'I am going to use the previous loan, but in fact, it was not one loan, but two. Besides, I am not doing this to deliberately make things difficult for Brooke, but to prepare for the final confrontation with the Adams family.'