Rhapsody

Inside the restaurant, a few tables of diners sat sparsely, waiting to enjoy their delicious lunch.

The third floor of the headquarters of Jinhui Bank is not open to ordinary employees, but only to middle and senior management. Those who can dine here are basically management. In the absence of Board of Directors members, Ka is already considered to be one of the highest-ranking people here.

To show respect for Carl and to solemnly demonstrate the hierarchical structure of the Enterprise Culture, those of lower status voluntarily sat closer to the exit and further away from Carl.

So much so that even though everyone was sitting in the same space, they didn't know what Carl and Lin Qi were talking about.

What were they saying? Carl coughed lightly, a strange smile playing on his lips, something hard to describe. His voice remained lower than usual. "The Federal will allow approved companies to issue corporate bonds..."

Lin Qi's pupils contracted slightly. Corporate bonds, that's a more formal term. In simpler terms, they allow companies to raise funds from the public.

Bonds do pay interest, but sometimes that interest isn't paid in "currency." It could be a product, a job, or even a house.

Thinking of this, he chuckled. For businesses, for Federal businesses, and for Federal capitalists, this might be the second Golden Age age after their brutal and unbridled growth and development—a Silver Age.

The reason is simple: issue bonds and then go bankrupt. As long as you have enough guts and no shame, a million or ten million is just a matter of a blink of an eye.

Lin Qi was eager to know who the hell was so clever as to come up with this idea. "Did the Hong Kong Financial Supervisory Authority come up with it?"

Carl leaned back, spread out his napkin, and nodded. "They want the banks to pay, but as you can see, we have hundreds of millions in Bad Debt this year, and that's with us relaxing our assessment standards. If we had been stricter, the number would be terrifying."

"The banks are feeling the pinch right now, so naturally they won't be unwilling to pay out their money. Plus..." Carl grinned, "I heard that during a meeting, someone complained that every time a disaster like Galil happens, a large number of investors get trapped."

"So the second Chief of the Financial Supervisory Authority put forward a rough outline, allowing companies to issue bonds to the public, so that at least they would all be in the same pot."

Every time there's a financial crisis, a group of foreigners run off with the money, which is why senior bank officials directly criticized the situation at the meeting.

If the money remained in the country after the financial disaster, that's fine. At least this money is still working in the overall monetary system, and banks, as the most important link, can always reap the benefits.

But these funds were embezzled by foreigners, and the banks are burdened with various Bad Debt. Now, the banks are being asked to step in and pay out the money, which they certainly won't agree to.

So, through a series of coincidences, this plan was launched. To put it simply, it was about raising funds to start construction and giving an opportunity to those who wanted to work hard and dared to strive.

This is no joke.

"I know you also have some companies. You can prepare some materials first, and the first batch of reviews should be easy to pass. Then you can issue bonds to the public." Carl hinted again that the process from the release of this information to its implementation would certainly not be truly fair and just.

Just like now, before the news was even released, Lin Qi and some others had already received the information, prepared their materials, and were waiting or had already submitted them.

Once the policy was announced, the first batch of applicants with the most lenient review process was announced within two days. However, once others considered joining, the review process became stricter.

This embodies a characteristic of Federal society—a messaging society.

"Thank you!" Lin Qi nodded. He was already thinking about how to write an anonymous Thank You Letter to Carl. He was a good person, and good people should be praised.

Carl laughed heartily, his voice returning to normal. "We're friends!"

Before long, a chef in his sixties led a few junior chefs over, pushing food carts and cooking carts. They stood some distance away from Lin Qi and Carl, cooking on site.

It must be said that this chef, Skilled Worker Immigration in his sixties, is indeed quite capable. You can tell from how he made a simple fried fish fillet look so fancy that the meal must be delicious.

Pan-fried fish fillets are available in many places, but the pan-fried fish fillets I'm having today are slightly different from those elsewhere. The fish fillets at Federal Catering are all made from sea fish.

Sea fish have few bones and a lot of meat, which fits the Federal people's preference for ingredients. Different types of fish will behave differently during the frying process, and some will become a little loose.

This is a description of the texture. Fish meat fibers themselves don't have much fat or fascia, so the muscle fibers will separate when fried or dehydrated, like the fish they are eating today.

However, this chef ingeniously solved these problems by using egg whites, maintaining a firm texture while also possessing the characteristics of pan-fried ribs.

A satisfying lunch.

On the way back, Lin Qi kept thinking about the issue of corporate fundraising... no, corporate bond issuance, although they can be considered the same thing.

Lin Qi's thoughts were scattered, and the things that came to mind were not very continuous. They seemed to have no connection, but in fact there was a clear line connecting these things.

For example, his first thought was the president, and pushing for an economic stimulus plan at this time also means that the president is almost certain to win the election.

Otherwise, it would be very unsafe to start this plan now. If it fails, it would be like giving others a warm-up. The victor could then boast that these things happened during his term—he wasn't lying, he was just expressing it in a different way, and if someone misunderstood, it wouldn't be his fault.

The reason we dare to bring it up now is partly because we are confident of winning the election, and partly because we want to win over more voters.

Therefore, this stimulus plan, which should have been announced after the president's election victory, was brought forward far earlier than expected.

Secondly, Lin Qi thought of Mr. Truman's attitude towards capitalists. It's not hard to tell from Carl's words that he may have had a contest with those big capitalists, with each side winning and losing.

It could actually be said that Mr. Truman was victorious in driving out those greedy capitalist conglomerates from small and medium-sized projects.

Then Lin Qi thought of his factories. Could he... also get the workers to subscribe to bonds? Thinking of this, he couldn't help but laugh, like watching the Federal's best comedians perform a slapstick comedy, laughing heartily.

Think about it: when capitalists need to raise funds to make money for themselves, who are their first targets? Other capitalists who also have no money?

A cunning speculator? Bu Peien's financial vulture?

Or... those workers waiting for jobs? It's definitely the latter. Whether the workers can find suitable jobs will depend on how much money they can contribute to the factory.

"I spend money to help capitalists oppress and exploit me" is no longer a drunken fantasy of capitalists, because this scene is about to become a reality! After wandering around outside for a while, Lin Qi took a car back home. He is no longer the same as before, and every time he goes out, many people follow him.

Some people might think this is very impressive, and some people will gather a group of people around them in order to make themselves appear powerful.

Lin Qi had already passed that stage. After wandering around for a while and feeling the avoidant gazes of people, Lin Qi still took the initiative to get into the car and go home.

Just outside the villa area, as the convoy was about to enter the community, the security guard proactively walked to the window.

"Mr. Lin Qi, there's a gentleman who says he knows you, but I see him..." The guard pursed his lips. Lin Qi roughly understood what he meant and then looked towards the guard post.

Beside the guard post stood a middle-aged man, disheveled and uneasy. When Lin Qi looked at him, the man suddenly strode towards Lin Qi's car.

The bodyguard sitting next to him immediately grabbed him by the neck, forced him under the seat, and pulled out a pistol from his holster...

Two minutes later, Lin Qi rubbed his neck and praised the bodyguard for doing a good job. He also comforted her, telling her not to take it to heart, and even gave her a reward.

Even though he knew these were the right things to do, he was still a little frustrated.

He recognized the guy striding toward the car; a year ago he had invested ten thousand dollars in this guy at that expo, in that Radio Reconnaissance Array.

This world is a very strange world, which may be related to the lack of some important scientists here.

So sometimes Lin Qi doesn't mind investing in small things, because he might just reap the rewards of investing in scientists someday.

At Lin Qi's invitation, the radio scientist came to Lin Qi's villa; let's call him that for now.

He sat on the sofa, somewhat emotional. Indeed, for a self-taught scientist, he might be much "more capable" than Lin Qi in his own world and understanding, but Lin Qi was richer than him.

People often say that knowledge is priceless, and it truly is—most of the time it's worthless, and only a few things are valuable.

"Mr. Lin Qi, we're running out of money." The radio scientist said, putting down his coffee cup, taking a notebook out of his pocket, opening it to the first page, and handing it over.

"This book details the specific uses of the money you invested; I've recorded every single transaction..."

Lin Qi picked up the notebook and glanced at it casually. From an aluminum tube to a piece of copper wire, and the frequently mentioned coffee beans, there were too many things. He just flipped through a few pages and tossed it back onto the table.

"How far have you progressed in your research?"

"In other words, has my investment in you already shown any value?"