Jiang Ning tried hard to recall, because she hadn't suspected anything at the time, so she hadn't paid attention.

"Let's confirm it again next time we meet," she said.

Lin Chen was worried. "It's best to avoid seeing him in the future. He's full of bad intentions and has a low moral standard. Who knows what he might do next?"

Luo Guangming nodded.

"If we're going to fight back, we should fight back squarely. We can't get our hands dirty. After the demolition of the Jixiang residential area is completed, we'll need to find a construction company to develop it. We'll participate in the bidding and disrupt the market."

Gao Baoliang agreed, saying, "Now everyone knows that our Fuqiang Group is very powerful and can achieve the same results as the client at the lowest cost. As long as we participate in the bidding, other companies that want to bid will inevitably have to push their costs down to the lowest possible level."

After winning the bid, seeing no profit to be made, they had only two options: either accept a loss and guarantee the project, or cut corners and reduce the quality of the work.

"In short, their hotel project will face the risk of not being completed on time."

After several years of hard work in Beijing, Fuqiang Group has grown from a small construction company into a group company with several subsidiaries in construction, decoration, and building materials. They have a pretty thorough understanding of the Beijing market.

Jiang Ning then expressed her desire to buy land, which was unanimously affirmed by everyone.

“If we don’t have the funds, we can find a few business owners to raise money, and we can still build the hotel first.”

Luo Guangming shared his opinion.

He had been keeping an eye on land prices in the Wangfujing area and had even considered buying land, but he lacked the funds.

Since Jiang Ning is willing to buy it, let's just cooperate on its development.

Jiang Ning also thought it was feasible.

She injected 60 million yuan into Fuqiang Group in one go, becoming the largest shareholder of Fuqiang Group.

She adopted a board-of-board management model, becoming the company's chairman but not participating in the company's day-to-day operations, which were handled by Luo Guangming, the general manager.

However, major decisions like land purchases are made collectively by the board of directors, and Jiang Ning has veto power.

Since being saved by Wu Hao last time, Jiang Ning was filled with gratitude towards him, so she made him a lawyer, whose main business was legal work for Fuqiang Group and Xinchen Trading.

Of course, if he can grow and expand, he can take on legal work for other companies.

Jiang Ning invested 200,000 yuan in this law firm, acquiring a 5% stake.

That day, when Wu Hao was helping Fuqiang Group contact the Land Bureau to buy the 20-acre plot of land, he received news that the land would be sold through auction.

Jiang Ning was caught off guard and immediately convened a meeting of the board of directors of Fuqiang.

She originally joined the project specifically for this piece of land. If things change and she can't secure the land, she'll be in a passive position and won't be able to fully utilize her funds.

Luo Guangming suggested pursuing financing to attract more partners to invest.

Gao Baoliang felt that it wasn't time to go that far yet, and that he could use his existing assets as collateral to borrow money from the bank.

To date, Fuqiang Group pays taxes to the government every day, but has never borrowed a single penny from a bank.

This is very rare in businesses.

“Our company has a good reputation and has always been a major taxpayer. By using our existing assets as collateral, we can get at least 20 million in loans.”

Lin Chen also agreed with Gao Baoliang's opinion.

Given this, everyone agreed on a basic strategy: on the one hand, to find out the starting price of the land and the strength of the competitors; on the other hand, to quickly gather the necessary materials to apply for a bank loan.

To secure the loan, Yang Lu even went home and begged Yang Ziqiang to arrange a meeting with Song Jian, the president of the People's Bank.

Having connections in high places makes things easier. Yang Ziqiang outwardly maintained a strictly official attitude, but he was actually giving Song Jian a subtle hint, suggesting that he should appropriately encourage companies that do practical things for the people.

Soon, Jiang Ning invited Song Jian to a restaurant in a four-star hotel.

The restaurant has a very high-class atmosphere and is decorated in a magnificent style.

Jiang Ning, accompanied by several senior executives from her company, arrived in formal attire and waited at the hotel ahead of them.

As soon as Song Jian's car stopped in front of the hotel, someone immediately welcomed him inside.

Someone of his status can't be too low-key when he goes out, but he also can't be too high-profile.

Upon arriving at the private room, Jiang Ning and a group of senior executives greeted him at the door and escorted him to sit down in the main seat.

Jiang Ning sat to his right, and Luo Guangming sat to his left, and they started chatting.

These seasoned socialites are usually very approachable and always have a smile on their face when they talk to anyone.

Once everyone was seated, the food and drinks were served one after another.

The waiters started pouring drinks for each person.

Half-pound glasses and stemmed glasses, half a glass of Moutai for each person, Jiang Ning was no exception.

After the waiter announced that all the dishes were ready, Jiang Ning picked up her wine glass and gave her opening remarks.

"We are very honored to have President Song here today. Let us first toast President Song. If there is anything our company has done poorly in the future, please do not hesitate to give us your guidance."

As she spoke, she clinked glasses with Song Jian.

The others also clinked glasses, and after watching Song Jian take a sip of his drink, they drank the same amount as him.

After finishing their drinks, the most eye-catching dish on the table was turned to Song Jian.

At the dinner table, everyone chatted as they ate.

After several rounds of drinks, everyone had already downed half a glass of wine, and half a glass was added to their glasses.

At this point, everyone was a little tipsy, and Jiang Ning brought up the topic of loans.

Song Jian's cheeks flushed slightly as he held up his glass and smiled faintly.

"Come on, Mr. Jiang, let's have another sip."

The two clinked glasses and took a sip before he slowly said:

“I’ve reviewed your materials, and they’re very comprehensive. However, a Hong Kong company is also vying for this loan, so I’m having a hard time making a decision!”

Upon hearing this, Jiang Ning immediately knew who he was referring to and said:

"R&F Group is indeed a powerful Hong Kong business, but they just acquired the land in Jixiang Community, so they don't have the energy to do other businesses."

I think they just want to disrupt the mainland market. People don't earn money easily these days; we can't let them muddy the waters!

Luo Guangming took the opportunity to toast him and talked about his company's advantages. He said that banks don't have to worry about not being able to recover loans when they lend to Fuqiang Group, but it's not so certain for Hong Kong businessmen. If a bad debt occurs, there is no way to recover it.

Perhaps it was because they had drunk enough alcohol, or perhaps it was because Jiang Ning and the others' words had an effect, but Song Jian smiled and reassured them that the bank also hoped to lend money to reputable companies.

After the banquet, Jiang Ning personally saw Song Jian off to his car and watched him leave.

A few days later, the 20 million yuan loan to Fuqiang Group was approved.

Upon hearing this news, Chen Hao threw a pen holder he was holding at Duo Mei, the finance manager in charge of loan operations.

"Useless! I told you to do your data properly, and now look what happened, that Jiang Ning stole the loan."