When Nie Yunshen drove his domineering Grand Cherokee into the B1 parking lot of the residential complex, the phone in his pocket gave a short chime.
He deftly reversed into his designated parking spot, turned off the engine, and only then pulled out his phone to check the message.
“I accept your proposal.”
The sender was an unknown number, but Nie Yunshen knew who it was.
It was concise and straightforward, devoid of any superfluous words, very much in that person’s style.
Nie Yunshen’s lips curved into a smug, satisfied smile; his fingers danced swiftly across the screen to send a reply, and he then headed for the elevator while humming a light, cheerful tune. Even when the elevator doors opened and a Golden Retriever bolted out and lunged at him, covering his crisp, dark suit in dog hair, it did nothing to diminish his excellent mood at all.
The Golden Retriever’s owner apologized profusely, and despite being allergic to dog hair, he actually managed a beaming “it’s no problem,” only to start sneezing uncontrollably the moment he stepped into the elevator.
Nie Yunshen, who was twenty-eight years old, was the Risk Management Director of the Corporate Lending Department at Bank F and a Master of Financial Management from H University in the United States. He was handsome, dashing, young and successful. Most importantly, he has a seven-figure annual salary, owns his own car and home, and comes from a good family background. He is a golden… pfft, diamond bachelor that many eligible young women both inside and outside the bank flock to.
However, the seemingly flawless Director Nie has absolutely no interest in the fair-skinned, beautiful young women who throw themselves at him both openly and secretly. This is because he likes men with broad shoulders, narrow waists, long legs, and firm glutes.
That’s right, men.
However, even though Nie Yunshen liked men, he had never imagined he could actually get Shu An into bed, especially not through such underhanded, less-than-honorable means.
Just one day ago, Director Nie had received several extension applications submitted by the Business Department. One of them belonged to the Lans Group, a prominent real estate developer in the city.
The Lans Group had been in operation for more than three decades and stood as a leading company in the real estate sector of Z City. Its iconic logo and property descriptions were frequently seen in various newspapers, magazines, and mainstream media; even the apartment Nie Yunshen had bought in the city center two years ago was developed by the Lans Group.
The Lans Group’s brand and reputation are obvious to all; its property management and supporting facilities are at the forefront of the industry. Even at this point, when the real estate industry as a whole has run into a bottleneck, properties developed by the Lans Group still sell without any difficulty.
Although Bank F has long enjoyed a prestigious international reputation, it has only been in China for about a decade. With the nation’s “Big Four” banks solidly entrenched and financial policies shifting at a moment’s notice, major domestic enterprises had long since been divided up among those four giants. Snatching a piece of the action from the tiger’s mouth was no easy feat.
It is said that back when Director Du of the Business Department was just a junior account manager at Bank F, he spent a full six months using his relentless persistence and sincerity to move Huo Qizheng, the chairman of Lans Group, into agreeing to move a small portion of their business over. Over the past six or seven years, the cooperation between the two parties has been very pleasant, and the volume of business has grown steadily. In the last few years alone, the total amount of approved project loans has reached as high as several billion.
Five years ago, the Lans Group began expanding toward the mainland. Due to the rising land prices in first-tier cities and the fact that large plots within urban centers were nearly impossible to acquire outside of urban renewal projects, Lans Group shifted its focus toward second- and third-tier cities with relatively larger growth potential. The series of new residential developments they launched sold incredibly well; logically, there shouldn’t have been any issues with capital recovery.
Nie Yunshen was quite surprised when he received the extension application. He checked the list submitted by the Business Department several times just to confirm there wasn’t a mistake.
The loan the Lans Group wanted to extend was for a project on H Island applied for three years ago. That project wasn’t a typical commercial-residential development but a tourism resort developed in cooperation with the local government. In addition to amusement facilities and leisure villas, it also included supporting mid-to-high-rise residential units for sale.
Three years ago, Nie Yunshen had just been promoted to Risk Management Director of the Corporate Lending Department, and this was the first case he had approved. Before granting approval, he had personally taken his risk management team to H Island twice for field research and had been in contact with relevant local government personnel. Combining this with Lans Group’s past performance, he deemed the risk rating low before authorizing the funds.
The operating cycle of real estate projects is typically lengthy; the loan they had originally secured carried a three-year term, and next Monday marked the repayment deadline. The latest five-category loan classification showed that the project was operating well, the residential units and villas were completely sold out, and the capital invested in the project had long since been recovered. Logically, it should have been impossible for them to be unable to repay the loan upon maturity.
Yet, that was exactly what happened. The extension application explicitly stated, “Due to obstacles in the later stages of project construction and delayed capital recovery, we apply for a one-week extension.”
Because the loan amount was enormous and the current status of the project was seriously inconsistent with the five-category classification submitted by the Business Department last month, Nie Yunshen decided to personally visit the Lans Group to investigate the situation.
However, he never expected that the person receiving him would not be the Chairman of Lans Group, Huo Qizheng, but rather Huo Qizheng’s son, Shu An.
Loan extensions are a situation every bank offers and every enterprise inevitably runs into. In essence, when a loan cannot be repaid normally upon maturity, the borrower submits an application for delayed repayment to the bank in advance. This falls within the scope of normal business; it is not considered overdue, nor does it affect the enterprise’s credit report with the People’s Bank of China.
Once the Business Department receives a written application from a client, it is immediately forwarded to the Risk Management Department. Risk management personnel then provide a response on whether to grant the extension based on the client’s past records and current operating conditions. The duration of the extension is determined by the client’s actual needs and the bank’s risk rating for that specific loan.
To put it bluntly, whether to “approve” or “deny” rests entirely on the risk officer’s word. If he considers the risk manageable, he gives approval; if he considers it unmanageable, he rejects it. In determining risk, aside from on-site inspections and the evidence found in documents and financial data, the risk officer’s personal judgment and experience play a vital role. Every risk officer sees different risk points, and the conclusions they draw will differ accordingly.
The reason Nie Yunshen could sit securely in the position of Risk Management Director for Bank F’s Corporate Lending Department at such a young age was not just due to his impressive academic credentials and prestigious background. More importantly, it was his sharp insight and unique perspective regarding risk analysis and control. This trait often led Director Du of the Business Department to slam the table in frustration during committee meetings, yet he was forced to admit defeat and back down, thoroughly convinced every time.
Nie Yunshen had always kept a close eye on the Lans Group. When he got the extension request, he happened to be reviewing their mid-year financial report that had been released just a few days earlier. Revenue had grown 45% year-on-year, profits were up 32%, and their expansion in second- and third-tier cities on the mainland remained steady and robust. With thirteen new property openings in the first half of the year and 2.327 million square meters of new land reserves, they had jumped to twelfth place among the top 20 benchmark real estate enterprises in the country. Their stock price was also steadily rising, so how could a capital crisis occur at a time like this?
Because of the years of cooperation with Bank F, Nie Yunshen was a regular at the Lans Group. Coupled with his handsome and dashing looks, the receptionist girls were exceptionally enthusiastic every time they saw him.
Nie Yunshen greeted one and, out of habit, moved toward the chairman’s office, but the girl quickly called him back and guided him toward the reception area instead.
“Director Nie, our CEO Shu is currently in a meeting with various departments. Let me take you to the reception room to wait for a moment.”
“Sure.” Nie Yunshen nodded, then immediately frowned. “Which CEO Shu?”
The girl smiled and winked. “Our chairman’s son, of course.”
Nie Yunshen didn’t say anything, but he felt a bit puzzled. Why would Huo Qizheng’s son have the surname Shu?
Half an hour later, Nie Yunshen finally learned who the “CEO Shu” the girl mentioned was.
In fact, the moment he pushed open the door to the CEO’s office and saw the man sitting behind the massive desk, Nie Yunshen did not recognize Shu An immediately.
After all, it had been ten years.
Shu An, however, recognized him, as the form of address he used was not “Director Nie,” but “Nie Yunshen.”
It was only after Shu An called out his name that Nie Yunshen recalled that this person seemed to be a high school classmate of his. He raised an eyebrow in considerable surprise. “Shu An?”
Shu An allowed a faint smile to play on his lips as he rose from behind the desk. Reaching out his hand, he said, “Long time no see.”
Only then did Nie Yunshen notice that after ten years, Shu An had grown even more handsome than he was in high school. In particular, those long, straight legs wrapped in suit trousers nearly caused the dignified Director Nie to lose his composure.
Well, not only did he like men, but he also had a particular obsession with their legs. Especially a pair of long, beautiful, and fit legs like Shu An’s, he could play with those for a whole year.
Fortunately, his self-control was decent; in the face of such beauty, he still remembered that he was here today on official business.
The two didn’t spend much time reminiscing—their relationship back in school hadn’t been harmonious; in fact, it could even be described as downright hostile. There really wasn’t much “old times” worth talking about.
Shu An knew he had come for the loan extension and dialed the internal line to call the company’s CFO and the head of the Project Department to the office. The group provided an explanation regarding the company’s current financial status and the progress of the project development. Nie Yunshen quickly cleared up the real reason why this loan could not be repaid on schedule—it wasn’t that the funds hadn’t been recovered, but rather that the funds had been misappropriated.
If the person misappropriating the funds had been an ordinary employee, the matter would likely have gone straight through judicial proceedings. However, the one who moved the money was Shu An’s cousin, Fu Wenli, the director in charge of the H Island project. Forget about taking him to court; the moment Huo Qizheng even mentioned suspending him for investigation, Shu An’s aunt would rush to the Huo residence wailing and causing a scene.
Huo Qizheng was so enraged he nearly suffered a stroke, and in the end, it was Shu An who stepped in to handle the matter.
Fu Wenli had misappropriated the funds to purchase several non-performing asset packages in J Province, originally intending to flip them for a quick profit and recover the capital within a few months. Unexpectedly, he was swindled by partners; the asset packages were now stuck in his hands with no buyers, and there was no way the money would be returning anytime soon. Shu An could only urgently mobilize funds from other projects, but over six hundred million was no small sum, and those other projects needed to remain operational. Furthermore, since the group had just spent over a billion on land acquisition in the first half of the year, they were indeed spread thin at the moment. That was why they had applied to Bank F for an extension by promising to repay the loan in full within one week at the most.
Having grasped the full story, Nie Yunshen glanced at Shu An, who was sitting across from him.
Even in this moment, when he was the one asking for a favor, CEO Shu remained as confident, elegant, and composed as ever, without a trace of embarrassment or panic at all. Nie Yunshen felt that this expression was no different from ten years ago, when the man was certain he would take first place in every exam.
This suddenly made Director Nie, who had spent his school years as the perennial second-place finisher, very disgruntled. It was one thing for his grades to be suppressed by this man for years back then, but now that the “power of life and death” over Lans Group was in his own hands, there was no reason to let this guy keep acting all high and mighty in front of him.
And so, acting on a personal whim under the guise of official business, Director Nie intentionally knitted his brows in a contemplative look. Only after a long silence did he slowly draw out a few words.
“This… is going to be a bit tricky to handle.”
