Voting, or It Might Be Worth a Try
During his conversation with He Bosi, Lin Qi figured out He Bosi's purpose in bidding: he simply didn't want to miss out on these reasonable profits. He even admitted that he had enough channels to quickly dispose of these things.
Compared to the Federal, which is relatively advanced in technology, many regions are clearly still very backward. Although these machines are not new and the technology is not the latest, they are already very powerful for some backward countries.
After chatting for a while, He Bosi got up to say goodbye. He wanted to go and look around, and eventually choose a suitable location to establish the Bayer Federation.
He told Lin Qi that York State was not a good place, that it lacked the right atmosphere, and that even Bu Peien was not a good fit in his eyes because the political atmosphere there was too intense.
He will go to the south to take a look at the situation there. If the environment and atmosphere are better there, Lin Qi will be able to see him in the south in the future.
After putting this minor incident Lin Qi didn't know whether he had gained or lost. Emotionally, he had spent over a million more, which was hard to accept. However, he had already met an International Banker before even leaving the Bayer Federation, so it didn't seem like a loss.
These International Banker play an extraordinary role in international trade and even Financial War. These are the real "capitalists." They have no concept of nation or bloc; everything they do is for greater profit.
They can lend any country's currency to anyone without any scruples to dismantle a force or even a country. They don't question the purpose; they only focus on the exorbitant lending rates. Some people even want to overthrow a country, and as long as they can afford the interest, these International Banker are willing to lend money to them.
If Lin Qi doesn't leave the Federal, these people will be of no use to him.
These people will be of great use to Lynch if Lin Qi leaves the Federal in the future.
On the third day, Lin Qi and Mark arrived together in a Conference Hall at the City Hall. This date had been set long ago to improve the government's perceived efficiency in the eyes of the public.
To avoid those citizens constantly complaining that the City Hall is using taxpayers' money to support a bunch of lazy people, and they always mock government staff like that, without ever considering how much money they actually pay in taxes...
Okay, they paid a lot of money, much more than the wealthy, but that's no reason for them to belittle the capabilities of political work.
The government will open tender three days after the bank's auction ends.
The bank raised approximately four million dollars through this auction. These funds will be used as compensation to workers who lost their ability to work and live due to chemical damage caused by the Listoan Group.
However, this money is not paid to them all at once. According to some regulations, these people have lost their ability to work and live, and most of them have been abandoned by their families.
Such people, once they acquire large sums of cash, are more likely to turn it into something that takes their lives rather than something that helps improve their lives.
Therefore, a third-party organization is needed to manage these funds. This is also to avoid potential fraud by government agencies such as the City Hall. There is no fairer and more impartial way than third-party management of funds and government supervision of their use.
Therefore, the process involves bidding to the public. They will provide some data, such as how much money was raised in total and how many people this money will be distributed to. Bidders only need to provide their plans on how to use the money.
Ultimately, the bidder that meets the City Hall's requirements will become the manager of these funds. Of course, these funds are subject to the City Hall's supervision and are not used arbitrarily.
At 9:40 a. m., Lin Qi and Mark were sitting in the conference room, dressed very appropriately, and there was even a young secretary beside them, Female Secretary, who was Mark's secretary.
The young girl looked to be only twenty-three or twenty-four years old, with a sweet face, but it was clear that Mark wasn't treating her well, because her clothes were obviously out of shape for her age. She couldn't afford new clothes in her size. Mark was such a stingy person! Lin Qi's gaze shifted from the slightly open buttons of the secretary's dress. She couldn't even afford underwear; what a pitiful girl!
"Do we have a chance of winning the bid?" Mark asked uncertainly. Before this, he had been very sure that he would win the bid, but now he was a little unsure.
Because there were so many people today, he just counted at least twenty or thirty organizations that wanted to bid, which was different from what he had expected.
He felt that this was just a formality, and there might not even be many people present. He would just come to bid, announce that he had won the bid, and then leave. It wasn't like it is now, full of competition!
Actually, this situation is not surprising. There is a cash shortage in society right now, and everyone is short of money. Suddenly, when people hear that there is a special fund of several million yuan that is going to be put out to tender for management, people with a little bit of influence, even those who have never done this before, come to bid.
What if we win? It's just a matter of supporting a few useless people. Aren't there plenty of useless people in family-owned businesses?
After asking his question, Mark looked at Lin Qi, Lin Qi smile gradually calmed him down. "We can win, right?"
Lin Qi shook his head, a gesture that made Mark tense up again. "No, you're wrong. It's not 'us,' it's you. I just came with you!"
That's right, Lin Qi is not among the shareholders of this private equity fund, nor is there any company directly related to him. The main shareholder of this private equity fund is an asset management company, and Lin Qi is not among the shareholders of this asset management company either.
Lin Qi indirectly controlled the company through cross-shareholding in multiple shell companies. Even if some people thought it was a bit strange that he spent a lot of money to buy some things at the auction and then took over the funds at the same time, they could not find any evidence of illegality.
As Ferral and the mayor's secretary walked in, all the noise in the room disappeared.
The mayor's secretary announced the purpose, method, and evaluation criteria of the bidding process. After rambling on for a while that made Mark yawn, he answered some questions and then began collecting proposals.
Some organizations will modify parts of the plan on-site to better fit the detailed requirements provided by the City Hall. Such modifications are quite common in many bidding processes. As long as they submit the plan when they leave, it will be fine.
The formalities were quickly completed, and when Lin Qi and Mark walked out of the conference room, Ferral followed them out.
Whether it was Lin Qi's imagination or not, Mark seemed to dislike Ferral, but he didn't dare to show it. He quickly left with a random excuse.
Watching Mark's retreating figure, Ferral shook his head. "I've always told the mayor that some things can be left to professionals, but he only trusts Mark."
Ferral had mentioned this to the mayor more than once, saying that Mark was not a good asset manager and that he might cause the mayor some unforeseen trouble.
However, the mayor had a different idea. On the one hand, Mark was his nephew, and in the large family or clan headed by him, he had a terrifying control over these families. He was like King in this family, and his nephew dared not disobey him. But those professional managers were different.
Sometimes they have other ideas, and even more actively interfere with the mayor's actual work, such as using the mayor to influence certain policies and regulations to make these assets appreciate faster.
Emotionally, everyone wants to have more money, but these professional managers are dangerous; they can make things better or worse, and the latter is more likely.
Secondly, the mayor does not intend to disclose these assets to the public. They will be held in Mark's name in a relatively discreet manner. Even though Mark owns many of the properties, the money belonging to the mayor is still the mayor's money. The mayor will not lose control over these assets simply because the legal owner is not Mr. Mayor.
This is something professional managers cannot do. If the mayor dares to put these things in their name, they will dare to run to the mayor to show them.
In summary, when Ferral sometimes mentioned some of Mark's shortcomings, the mayor would only give a perfunctory response.
Sometimes he would give Mark a nudge and scold him, and sometimes he would just pretend nothing had happened. Ferral felt this was not a good thing, but he couldn't persuade the mayor, which was also why Mark disliked Ferral.
As for why Mark didn't retaliate?
Because the mayor doesn't like others interfering with his decisions, and he especially dislikes Mark interfering with his work.
After a brief moment of reflection, Ferral and Lin Qi headed out of the City Hall. As they walked, he said, "Many of the things you said in Bu Peien have already spread. Some say you're Radical Faction at heart, but others speak well of you. How did you convince those people?"
Lin Qi's words to Bu Peien were indeed radical in the context of the current situation in the country, but there were always people who spoke well of him and even found reasons for him—he was too young. If young people are not radical and are instead dull and lifeless, are they still young?
People seem to accept this viewpoint very well, turning radicalism into youthful courage, which actually adds a lot of positive points to Lin Qi's image.
Lin Qi smiled and shook his head, without explaining the reason. In fact, this was based on a comment by Wo Delike, which became the final verdict on some of Lin Qi's words.
Wo Delike wasn't trying to protect Lin Qi; he was trying to protect himself, at least in the short term, so that these things wouldn't affect him. After all, Lin Qi was at the event with his daughter, and if he let some things get out of control, his rivals or potential enemies might find an opportunity to interpret Lin Qi's words and attitude as Wo Delike's own thoughts and attitudes, which would be dangerous!
In response to Ferral's curiosity, Lin Qi smiled slightly, "Maybe I'm just more likable. You know, being handsome always has its advantages!"
Ferral looked helpless. "You know, sometimes what you say gets someone to do it for you!"
"I know you're jealous of me!"