Chapter 28 If you don't manage your finances, your finances won't manage you
Lu Yiming shook his head slightly, not at all moved by the "lively scene" before him.
From the perspective of twenty years later, this scene is no different from a wealthy second-tier city, mediocre and nothing to see. Lu Yiming really can't muster up the slightest interest in it.
"It's just a tall building, nothing to see. Let's go, it's more important to get down to business."
Lu Yiming couldn't help but urge him. Time is money. The prelude to a great era is about to begin. If he wants to get an admission ticket, he must start making money and accumulating capital now.
Seeing Lu Yiming looking straight ahead and looking indifferent, Li Yiwen couldn't help but marvel at it.
He recalled the first time he came to Hong Kong. It was just like Granny Liu entering the Grand View Garden in the Dream of the Red Chamber. He was extremely curious about everything around him, and two eyes were not enough. How could he be as calm and composed as Lu Yiming now?
The two took a taxi and came to Standard Chartered Bank's Hong Kong headquarters.
When they pushed open the three-meter-high glass door, a sweet-looking lobby staff member wearing a blue miniskirt and a striped bow tie appeared in front of them. She greeted them warmly and spoke standard American English.
Seeing her yellow skin and black eyes, Lu Yiming directly said in Mandarin: "I am from the mainland."
When he heard that they were from the mainland, a trace of contempt flashed in the staff member's eyes. He looked at Lu Yiming and Li Yiwen, who were dressed quite ordinary, with the look he gave them as if a native were looking at a country bumpkin.
Li Yiwen said: "We have made an appointment with your Manager Zheng. Please inform him and tell him that we have arrived."
When the lobby staff heard this, he was shocked.
Because the manager is the general manager of Standard Chartered Bank's Hong Kong branch, whose rank is second only to the branch president and vice president, equivalent to the third in command. It is not something that ordinary people can make an appointment with.
The staff member's expression immediately changed. He no longer dared to look down on the two people. Instead, he took them to the VIP lounge and said in somewhat broken Mandarin: "Then you wait here for a while. I will ask Manager Zheng to come over."
Zheng Zhiguang looks to be in his thirties. In order to make himself look more mature and stable, he put on mousse and combed his hair back.
Under the bright light, the hair on his forehead was shiny and glossy, as if it had been polished.
He was wearing a suit with a slight blue tint, looking serious yet friendly, and it was obvious that he had received professional training.
His black leather shoes were polished to spotless perfection, and his overall temperament and image were very consistent with his persona as a workplace elite.
This outfit is obviously much higher in level than those nouveau riche who only wear gold and silver at this time.
Faced with Lu Yiming's slightly student-like attire, Zheng Zhiguang did not dare to neglect him at all - after all, a deposit of three hundred thousand US dollars was still very attractive.
Converted into mainland currency, it would be more than two million.
This is cash assets!
Zheng Zhiguang was born into a wealthy family, but he doesn’t have that much money!
Zheng Zhiguang walked out of the elevator with confident steps. The bank staff greeted him respectfully and bowed 90 degrees.
"Hello, Manager Zheng."
"Hello, Manager Zheng."
Zheng Zhiguang just nodded slightly to them, then quickly walked to the VIP lounge, bent down slightly, looked at Lu Yiming and Li Yiwen cautiously, and said politely: "Excuse me, are you Mr. Lu who made an appointment before..."
"I'm here."
Lu Yiming suddenly interrupted.
Zheng Zhiguang was not embarrassed. He quickly walked to the sofa next to Lu Yiming and sat down. He quickly adjusted his mood and smiled like a chrysanthemum: "Hello, Mr. Lu. If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I really couldn't imagine that you are so young and promising, and you are so handsome."
Lu Yiming was not at all modest about Zheng Zhiguang's flattery and readily accepted it: "I don't deny that you are handsome. But how do you know that I am young and promising?"
Zheng Zhiguang is indeed a man in the social circle. As long as there is money to be made, he will not blink an eye even if his face is thrown to the ground and he immediately continued to flatter Lu Yiming : "I don't know about other places, but in Hong Kong, this is a world of money. If you have money, you are successful. Mr. Lu has 300,000 US dollars in his hands. It is not an exaggeration to say that he is a rare talent."
Lu Yiming remained calm and unaffected by Zheng Zhiguang's flattery. He calmly made a request: "Please open an account for me first, and stop talking nonsense."
"Okay, I'll do it for you personally!"
After saying this, Zheng Zhiguang took the documents and quickly walked into the work area. He also asked someone to bring some refreshments and entertained everyone.
Ten minutes later, he came back with a golden card.
"Mr. Lu, this is your Supreme Gold Card, which belongs to our Standard Chartered senior VIP user. Show this card and the lobby manager or higher-level staff will personally handle all your business for you."
Li Yiwen looked at the golden bank card and drooled with envy.
This is a symbol of identity and status. Only users with a deposit of more than 2 million are eligible to own it. Cardholders can use this gold card to ask Standard Chartered Bank to help them solve some problems. There are many hidden benefits.
Li Yiwen doesn’t know whether rich people are happy, but as long as you have money, there are people who want to make you happy.
Watching Lu Yiming casually put the card into his trouser pocket, Li Yiwen felt a little heartbroken and envious for some reason.
Compared to the various emotions and fantasies in Li Yiwen's heart, Lu Yiming always maintained a calm and composed attitude. To him, opening this account was just to facilitate investment. He didn't care about hidden benefits at all.
If you are successful, banks will come to kowtow to you. Even if you dress like a beggar, they will treat you like an emperor and think you are very individual and different from others.
If you fail, even if you have the imperial seal, it must have been stolen.
This world is so realistic.
So Lu Yiming made up his mind from the beginning to make money and not think about those messy things.
After the card was issued, Lu Yiming planned to leave. Zheng Zhiguang would never let such a fat sheep get away so easily. He immediately stood up and said, "Mr. Lu, are you going to keep the $300,000 like this?"
"if not?"
Lu Yiming raised his eyebrows, waiting to see his performance with a smile.
Zheng Zhiguang smiled, showing his enthusiasm: "As we all know, currency will depreciate. Bank deposit interest rates can't keep up with inflation. So, although the amount of money in the bank is increasing, the actual purchasing power is shrinking. We have a saying in the banking industry: If you don't manage your finances, your finances won't manage you."
"Interesting, please continue."
Lu Yiming began to become interested.
