Capital Was the Most Fantastic Thing of All!!

On television, Ferral stood in the City Hall, under the Federal National flag, with a Bible and the Federal Code beside him. Facing a large group of reporters and cameras, he solemnly swore an oath to the various symbols representing the Federal, vowing to be an incorruptible mayor who would dedicate all his efforts to the development of the city.

They say they will not be corrupt and will benefit mankind, as if it were the truth.

Okay, what he said is true. Most people probably feel a very special sense of mission at this time, a sense of mission that makes them really believe that they will become the person they want to be.

History is full of such upright and incorruptible people, but they are usually not recorded in history books because they lived relatively short lives and did not have many deeds to record for future generations. All they can leave behind is their spirit.

In another room, a time-lapse video of the scene was playing on a television. Under the television, Lin Qi signed a contract, exchanged contracts with the man next to him, and shook hands with him with a smile.

This is the conference room of the city branch of Jinhui Bank, where some business owners who are willing to sell their businesses to Lin Qi for almost nothing to offset their bank loan debts have gathered.

Mr. Jonathan was the first. His expression was quite peculiar. He had just given up his career, which he had worked hard for for half his life, and all he got in return was a sense of relief.

He left nothing behind; his house, car, savings—all gone, including his wife who was much younger than him.

He didn't know if he had just experienced something like what people often say, where he could instantly review everything from the first half of his life, with scenes flashing before his eyes, finally settling on this very moment.

It all felt like a dream, but dreams must eventually end. He handed the contract with his signature to Lin Qi and shook hands with him.

All his efforts in the first half of his life were like a dream, a dream that left him with only a startup grant from Mr. Lin Qi and a ticket to Nagaril.

Jonathan was quite emotional. He knew to some extent that this was Lin Qi's tactic, but there was nothing he could do to criticize him.

Lin Qi did not break the law to harm or threaten him, nor did he force him to sell his company at a low price.

Secondly, he did not resort to malicious business competition to bankrupt Mr. Jonathan's company; Lin Qi did not do that.

He was simply letting the bank selectively collect the outstanding payments—a flawless tactic. He had figured it out in the past few days; if he hadn't, he could never have been wealthy.

He couldn't bring himself to hate Lin Qi. Lin Qi had taken everything from the first half of his life, yet he had given him hope for the second half. It could only be said that his feelings at this moment were complex and contradictory.

"Mr. Lin Qi, congratulations, you've got what you wanted!" Jonathan's attitude was very humble, and he even used honorifics because he knew very well that Nagaril was also Lin Qi's territory, and if he didn't want to be too unlucky, he had better show respect to Lin Qi.

Of course, his subtle jab at Lin Qi to express his dissatisfaction wouldn't have any negative consequences, because victors are always generous; they've already won, and they don't mind showing off their generosity! Lin Qi smiled and shook his arm. "I'm just helping you break out of this predicament. Only eggs that can hatch have value, and these..." He shook the contract in his hand, "... will consume all the little energy you have left, without giving you any feedback. You'll understand when you get to Nagaril."

Jonathan sighed heavily, as if trying to expel all his frustrations with that sigh. He forced a smile and said, "I'll be going to Nagaril soon, and I hope Mr. Lin Qi can give me some guidance and help then, as I'm not very familiar with that place!"

Lin Qi patted Jonathan's arm, comforting him, "Of course, you'll soon find out how smart you were. This will be a major turning point in your life, and the most important decision you'll ever make!"

Jonathan voluntarily stepped aside, as other gentlemen were about to sell their properties to Lin Qi at extremely low prices.

If they don't do that, the banks will "Foreclosure Auction" their assets. It's well known that Federal courts, to prevent conflicts of interest in Foreclosure Auction, will commission third-party auction houses, such as banks, to conduct the auctions.

Similarly, when banks need to dispose of some assets, they also need a third-party institution to conduct the auction in order to avoid any appearance of impropriety. However, these institutions are sometimes not well-known, and many people do not even know that such an auction is taking place, or even if they do know, they cannot find the auction site.

Rather than cheaply mortgaging their assets to the bank and incurring a large debt, it was better to sell to Lin Qi and settle the matter directly, while also receiving a grant, some of the money Lin Qi used to acquire businesses, and an important opportunity.

The people who came here weren't fools. Like Jonathan, they might have been confused at first, but after calming down these past few days, they all realized that this was a setup, and they had no choice but to accept it.

One gentleman after another sold their businesses to Lin Qi —it's worth noting that these deals were more like free transfers; Lin Qi wouldn't give them much money because their businesses weren't worth much!

In the bank's assessment, even if their businesses were auctioned off, the loan and interest would not be repaid. Therefore, Lin Qi could not give them too much money. Otherwise, Lin Qi might as well wait until they went bankrupt completely and then pick up the scraps from the bank.

They're already shouting "Mr. Lin Qi is so generous and kind" because they don't have to pay Lin Qi extra, so how could they possibly ask for more money from Mr. Lin Qi?

However, this is also Lin Qi's greatest strength. He doesn't give these people too much "acquisition" money, but he gives them another sum of money through "investment" or "funding" so that they can start a business in Nagaril.

They may seem like the same thing, but they are not. In terms of the transfer alone, the issue of corporate assets has been thoroughly clarified.

The money Lin Qi funded for them was an additional investment. They would set up factories or run other businesses in Nagaril, and whatever they did, Lin Qi would have shares in their companies. That was Lin Qi's investment in them, which required a separate contract.

It sounds incredibly despicable and shameless, but who can you blame? This is capitalism, this is the world of capitalism, this is how the game is played in the world of capitalism: the winner takes all, and the loser doesn't even have the right to bargain!

With each contract signed, Lin Qi wrote out checks with few zeros, and assets that were potentially dozens, hundreds, or even more times the amount he had acquired were being swallowed up by him.

This is why it is said that during an economic recession, financial giants expand even faster.

Because they can collude with the City Hall and banks to take over all troubled businesses without any control.

If they don't acquire these businesses, these businesses can't operate and therefore can't provide jobs for society.

The City Hall, the local authorities, certainly don't want to see this happen. They would prefer that the city hall "take on more social responsibility," buy up more troubled businesses, and provide more jobs as soon as possible. For this, there may be some flaws in some issues, but people won't take them to heart.

Special times call for special measures! Uncontrolled capital grows stronger during every financial crisis and economic recession like this, eventually becoming terrifying monsters.

When the last bankrupt person exchanged contracts with Lin Qi and received the check from Lin Qi, everything came to an end. On television, Ferral announced in front of numerous staff members and media reporters that he would become the interim mayor of Sabine City until the next Mayor Election.

To mark the occasion, Lin Qi had a bank employee bring champagne. Standing directly below the television, he raised his glass and said, "To the new life, to the new beginning!"

Lin Qi did not leave the bank; he still had some procedures to complete with the bank.

While enjoying Helen shoulder massage during a break, Helen suddenly asked a question, "Boss, aren't you afraid the banks will come after you for the money after you buy these bankrupt companies?"

Helen's involvement in the process was insufficient; she had no experience with real capital-level games and tactics. She simply naively believed that it was not worthwhile for Lin Qi to buy these companies that were being pursued by banks and were about to be completely liquidated.

They had too much debt with the bank. Lin Qi didn't need to spend much money to buy them, but he also took on that debt, which would be a big problem for Lin Qi.

Lin Qi smiled. He was very satisfied with Helen. What pleased him was that she really knew how to massage, and she even had some strength in her hands. He liked that she could relax anytime, anywhere.

Therefore, he doesn't mind answering some superficial and naive questions like, "Who said I have to pay back the bank?"

Helen paused for a moment, her hands moving slightly. Lin Qi coughed, and she quickly resumed her massage. "But don't these companies owe money to the bank? And the bank has started to collect the debt."

Lin Qi shook his head. "They can't repay the money, so the bank needs to recover as much of the losses as possible before they go completely bankrupt. Therefore, the bank will definitely pursue the debt as soon as possible, even if it means using a legal team."

"They know very well that if they let go of even this last bit of assets, their loans will become bad debts, and the higher-ups will have something to say about them."

"But I'm different. I can pay back the money anytime, anywhere, so the bank won't be in a hurry for me to pay it back. They want to earn more interest!"

"Banks call people who don't need loans every day, trying every means to transfer money into their accounts, but pretend not to see those who really need some working capital."

Lin Qi laughed as he spoke, "This world is very complicated!"

Actually, there was one more thing he didn't say: once the value of these companies has been completely squeezed out, he will break them up and bankrupt them.

He won't have to pay back the money then; he can even make another profit.