In the afternoon, President Mabao Guo of Yongjia County Nonghang Head Office drove with a female assistant to find Fang Bai, wanting to discuss cooperation.
He observed the business of Xinghai Shopping Mall from the car for a while, seeing people coming and going outside the mall, busy staff inside, and many customers looking for cars on the roadside to go home after purchasing home appliances.
There were five or six cars specifically waiting for customers on the roadside, and many more human-powered tricycles, dozens of them in a row, with security guards directing vehicles to park according to regulations.
"Leader, this Xinghai Shopping Mall's business is really good, the mall is almost full," the female assistant said with a smile, "A few days ago, I came here for a lottery, and at that time, this place was even more crowded, the road was full of people, and cars could only detour."
Mabao Guo pondered, "The business is indeed very good. If you pay attention to the service attitude of the staff in the store, they are enthusiastic and polite to customers. The Boss manages well and also knows how to market. It would be strange if the business wasn't good."
"Yes, now everyone in Wen City knows that a large plaza is going to be built here, with an investment of 200 million yuan. Is this Boss that rich?"
"200 million yuan is for show; he certainly doesn't have that much money right now, but he does have 10 to 20 million yuan, and he just made it recently," Mabao Guo said with a smile, "Go and inquire, ask if their Boss Fang is in. Be polite, his relationship with the county is very strong."
"Okay, please rest assured, I know what's important."
The young female assistant got out of the car and walked into the mall.
According to the leader, the actual controller of the mall is a young man named Fang Bai.
Before they came, she had already investigated the site with her colleagues.
A few minutes later, the female assistant returned to report, "Boss Fang is in, saying that Boss Fang will be here shortly."
Mabao Guo nodded, got out of the car, closed the door, and entered the mall with the female assistant to find Boss Fang.
Boss Fang invited them into the office for tea, and after a few minutes, Fang Bai arrived.
After some pleasantries, President Ma explained his purpose.
Fang Bai smiled and said to President Ma, who was about fifty years old, "This morning, President Ye of the G Bank branch on Nanxi Road just came to me for a loan, and President Ma came over right after. Your information is quite well-informed."
President Ma said with a smile, "Boss Fang, County Chief Chen Tao strongly recommended you, saying that your company might need a super large loan, and asked me to come and inquire. I also hope to have in-depth cooperation with Xinghai Company."
Some time ago, Xinghai Company held a lottery event, attracting large deposits, and also engaged in large-scale development. Several major banks in the county were paying attention to this matter.
President Ma carefully investigated and then, through County Chief Chen, finally understood the situation of Xinghai Company.
The controller was Fang Bai, who was still studying, which was somewhat shocking, but County Chief Chen told him not to underestimate this young man.
He could organize a large event, help the county collect over three million in taxes, had excellent credit, and accumulated tens of millions of assets in less than a year.
Moreover, Xinghai Shopping Mall was well-managed, profitable, had sufficient cash flow, enough ability to pay loan interest, and no non-performing assets.
In addition, he had a strong relationship with the county, with multiple factors, it would be difficult not to get rich.
There were very few such excellent loan applicants in Wen City. If they waited any longer, other bank presidents would probably come to find Fang Bai.
If it were an ordinary company, President Ma would not need to visit in person; only others would seek them out, at most a branch manager's visit would be good enough.
But for a strongly developing enterprise, and one that is very likely to need a super large loan of tens of millions or even over a hundred million yuan in the future, it is important to build a good relationship early. Securing one enterprise would definitely improve the head office's performance.
Fang Bai spread his hands and said regretfully, "Thank you, President Ma. I originally intended to apply for a loan from N Bank, but unfortunately, your branch couldn't provide the loan, leaving me with a very poor impression."
President Ma was puzzled, "No way? Has Boss Fang been to our bank to apply for a loan?"
Fang Bai pursed his lips and smiled, "In early February, I went to your N Bank branch on Changxin Road for a loan, and I offered them a 2-point rebate.
However, President He of your branch asked me, 'Rock-paper-scissors, if the other person plays scissors, what do you think I should play?'
President Ma, what do you think he should play?
In the end, I couldn't be bothered, so I had to go to ICBC."
Mabao Guo frowned upon hearing this. He knew that the branch leaders below were taking kickbacks, but he didn't know the specifics.
But listening to Fang Bai, a 2-point rebate was not small, but the way they took it was too ugly.
Five points?
Or ten points?
Damn it, what a scammer, such people must be severely punished!
Thinking of this, Mabao Guo was extremely angry, and looking at Fang Bai again, he was still holding a grudge.
"Boss Fang, please rest assured, there are no rebates for loans at our bank, and loan interest rates are preferential.
Regarding the issue you mentioned about He Jian, I will severely punish him."
Fang Bai heard that President Ma had taken it to heart, and after probing the other party's information, he also knew that the other party genuinely had this idea in their anger, so he asked, "Oh, tell me about it."
Now, Fang Bai could probe information for five people a day, which made business negotiations very successful, and he could also probe his subordinates to assess their loyalty.
President Ma said, "If the loan amount reaches five million, the two-year interest rate is 14.5%."
Fang Bai shook his head and smiled, "The G Bank branch offered a better deal than yours, a two-year interest rate of 14.3%, and the amount also reached twenty million yuan. If you have any doubts, just inquire and you'll know."
Mabao Guo had a headache. Their head office's business capabilities were not as good as ICBC's. If this cooperation failed, it would be difficult in the future. After a brief thought, he finally made a decision and said, "Boss Fang, the interest rate you mentioned is not an issue.
But there is one problem: if you take a loan of twenty million yuan from G Bank, having multiple bank loans increases the risk significantly, and we can only approve a maximum of ten million yuan.
If our bank is the primary lender, and the total from other banks does not exceed ten million yuan, we can also lend twenty million yuan.
Every now and then, we will re-evaluate Xinghai Company's debt repayment ability. If your company develops well, we can also increase the loan amount. We hope Boss Fang understands our difficulties, otherwise, we won't be able to explain it to our superiors."
Fang Bai understood the situation of multi-bank loans upon hearing this.
In the future, it would only take a few seconds to check a loan applicant's credit situation, including which banks they borrowed from, how many loans, and how many loans they had on a certain treasure. For banks, it would be transparent.
Currently, banks are not interconnected, and there are no strict internal audit systems, leading to rough management and large amounts of bad debts.
However, it was still possible to investigate Fang Bai's loan situation at other banks, though it would be a bit troublesome. Therefore, Fang Bai did not hide his loan intentions.
"Alright, then let's take ten million. For the specific procedures, just find my father," Fang Bai said.
President Ma was very pleased to hear this. He stood up and shook hands with Fang Bai and his father, "Happy cooperation! The procedures will be quick, and the loan can be disbursed in a few days."
After chatting for a while, President Ma left with the female assistant.
The next day, Fang Bai called Ye Fan to apply for a loan of twenty million yuan.
Fang Bai's father handled the loan procedures; Fang Bai was only the lead.
At two o'clock in the afternoon, he called County Chief Gu to ask if he was free to discuss new investments.
Fang Bai could now directly call County Chief Gu's office phone; Gu Wen had told him to call him directly if anything came up.
"Yes, come over," Gu Wen was a little curious, what new investment was it this time?
He was going to the countryside for an inspection tomorrow, so if Fang Bai looked for him, he really wouldn't be in the county compound.
At 2:30 PM,
Fang Bai sat in Gu Wen's office, facing him, with a map made by Fang Bai on the tea table.
"East of Xinghai Shopping Mall, north of the cars, there's an empty plot of land, about 85 mu; north of that, there's another 70 mu of empty land backed by a mountain;
South of Xinghai Shopping Mall is tidal flat, which can be used for parks and large parking lots;
West of Xinghai Shopping Mall, there are several empty plots, with a total area of no less than five hundred mu. The four to five kilometers along the river can be developed into office buildings, or high-end residential areas..." Fang Bai drew circles on the map for Gu Wen, "These four to five square kilometers can be a mix of residential and commercial. If done well, this area's development won't be worse than the city center."
"Boss Fang, your idea is very good, but this requires a lot of capital. For developers, they would rather develop in the city center, where houses sell better."
"Leader, my idea might be different from yours. The opposite side of the river is certainly good, but the problem is there are too many old houses, making demolition difficult. Just negotiating one piece of land can take two or three years, the time cost is too high. If I were a developer, I wouldn't want to spend time on it; the risk is too great.
It's better to draw on a blank slate. I plan to invest in the development of that 85 mu of land east of Xinghai Plaza and several plots along the river. I am willing to be the pioneer to explore the way. I wonder how the county plans this."
Gu Wen listened to Fang Bai's words, pondered them carefully, and couldn't help but smile, "Boss Fang, your plan is quite ambitious. To set up such a large project, how do you plan for this Xinghai Plaza?"
"I plan to first develop the first phase, covering 5,000 square meters, with one underground floor and five above-ground floors. The initial investment is thirty million yuan, and the loan funds are already in place. Exploration and design will begin soon. Since I've decided to do it, I won't drag it out. I plan for it to be operational within a year and a half," Fang Bai said.
Gu Wen nodded. His actions were quite fast. He had thought he might just enclose the land and delay development, which certainly wouldn't work.
Since the first phase of Xinghai Plaza was ready to start construction, and the land indicated by Fang Bai conformed to the original urban and rural planning, there were no major issues. The discussion would be easier now.
"Tell me the specific investment amount."