TYRPSM Chapter7

Nie Yunshen curled his lips, turned on his heel, and left.

At 8:50, he walked into his office to change into a spare suit, tied his necktie, and adjusted his appearance in the mirror. After ensuring that everything was impeccable, he sat behind his desk and turned on his computer.

After processing several urgent emails and approval comments for the annual review and finishing a cup of coffee, he got up at 9:20 and took his laptop to the meeting room.

Strictly speaking, the “big boss” Du Cheng referred to was not the head of the entire F Bank but the head of the Risk Management Department, Jerome Chan, the Chief Risk Officer for F Bank China and Nie Yunshen’s direct superior.

Because F Bank was a foreign bank, the leadership was largely parachuted in from abroad. The risk management methods they employed were a poor fit for China’s local characteristics; they relied too heavily on big-bank audits while ignoring the actual operating conditions of enterprises, leaving many areas of risk control at odds with Nie Yunshen’s own philosophy. Fortunately, Jerome Chan was an adept manager who held Nie Yunshen in high regard and trusted him deeply. Unless there were exceptional circumstances, he never interfered with the Corporate Lending Department’s risk control opinions, sparing Nie Yunshen a great deal of professional frustration.

The agenda for today’s meeting included the second-quarter performance report, revenue analysis for the Corporate Lending Department, and a progress summary from the Asset Preservation side. In addition to relevant personnel from Risk Management and Business Operations, several key members of the Asset Preservation Department were in attendance. Finally, as per custom, the Business Operations Department would present several representative, difficult cases encountered recently for group discussion.

The earlier sections were just procedural; this last part was the true problem that had to be addressed in the meeting. Du Cheng had already briefed Nie Yunshen on most of these cases. Because they involved industries of a unique nature or peculiar profit models, they fell outside F Bank’s standard entry criteria. However, as the companies were indeed in good standing, the Business Department was loath to give them up. Therefore, they needed to be brought up during the meeting to determine whether a reasonable, compliant credit proposal could be worked out for special approval from the CRO.

Meetings like this generally lasted the entire morning. The Risk Management and Business Departments were perpetually at odds. While Nie Yunshen and Du Cheng were friendly in private, everyone at F Bank knew that at every meeting, the two would dig in their heels and argue their positions until they were flushed with frustration. Sometimes, it would even escalate to banging on tables and rolling up sleeves; they once genuinely terrified a newly hired RM to the point of tears. Yet as soon as the meeting adjourned, they would immediately revert to being close buddies with their arms around each other’s shoulders, leaving everyone else speechless.

Of course, such behavior only occurred during the Corporate Lending Department’s weekly routine credit review meetings. In front of Jerome Chan, both men acted perfectly respectable and polite. Even if Nie Yunshen rejected an application because the “political risk was too high,” prompting Du Cheng to give Director Nie a vicious kick under the table, Du Cheng would still maintain a calm exterior and remark, “Director Nie has a point.”

The meeting concluded at 11:45. Jerome Chan was the first to depart, accompanied by his assistant, while Nie Yunshen remained seated without moving.

Once everyone else had left, Du Cheng closed his laptop and stood up.

“Is your ass glued to that chair?”

Nie Yunshen leisurely closed the internal email interface on his computer and shot him a nonchalant look.

“I recall your Business Department has four extension applications and three annual reviews due today.”

“Holy crap!” Du Cheng reacted instantly. Casting all dignity aside, he kicked his chair away and crouched down before grabbing a tissue to wipe Nie Yunshen’s shoes. “My bad, my bad! I must have accidentally stepped on you just now. Director Nie, please be the bigger man and show some mercy!”

Nie Yunshen gave two cold, mocking chuckles, stood up, and walked away.

Du Cheng scrambled to catch up, shouting as he ran, “Shen Ge, I was wrong, don’t be mad! How about you step on me back? I just bought these Ferragamos yesterday, you can stomp on them as much as you want!”

Meeting Room 3 was close to the Business Department, and all of Du Cheng’s subordinates heard the sound of their boss’s integrity shattering into fragments.

New RMs stood there with their mouths agape in shock only for the senior colleagues beside them to nonchalantly tilt their heads back into place and say, “You’ll get used to it.”

Du Cheng chased him all the way to the Risk Management Director’s office door before Nie Yunshen finally turned around and said, “Submit the Lans Group’s extension application in the system and I’ll look at the others later. Also, regarding those three overdue reviews, I already approved extensions for two of them last month. Don’t push your luck.”

Director Du hadn’t expected him to slam on the brakes so suddenly; he couldn’t stop his momentum in time and nearly slammed headfirst into him.

“Big Brother, the extension you approved last month required changing the risk control standards and we have to renegotiate with the clients. One of them went abroad for an exhibition and hasn’t returned yet, and the other couple is in the middle of a divorce. What am I supposed to do?”

Nie Yunshen turned the door handle and walked into the office. “For the one at the exhibition, send me the specific dates and the new products they’re launching so I can take a look. As for the one getting a divorce, forget the extension; it’s a question of whether we can even continue cooperating this year. A couple divorcing inevitably leads to a division of assets; there’s a high probability of changes in the company’s equity.”

Du Cheng followed him in closely, determined to use his silver tongue to persuade Director Nie, who had already raised the executioner’s blade over the client, to show some mercy.

“That’s exactly why we’re applying for the extension. You can’t just kill off this client’s chances just because the couple is getting a divorce. His wife is a full-time housewife and doesn’t hold much of a stake in the company. In my personal opinion, even if they divorce, it’ll mostly be a division of real estate; the equity shouldn’t be significantly affected.”

Nie Yunshen rolled his eyes before tossing his laptop onto the desk, and reached up to tug at the tie that had been strangling him all morning. “His wife isn’t an idiot. She went through the hardships of starting the business with him back when they were young, and now that the company has finally reached this scale, she’s facing a divorce. If you were his wife, would you willingly give up your equity in the company?”

Du Cheng spread his hands. “That’s why we need to wait until this matter is settled to see how things stand…”

“A divorce like this could drag on for three to five years. —Ugh, Laozi is freaking suffocating.” Director Nie threw his discarded tie aside as he spoke, unfastening the top two tightly done buttons of his collar without the slightest concern for his professional image. Only after exhaling a breath of relief did he pick up where he left off. “I think you guys should just do the review for this case first, but with an added condition: if the company’s equity changes by more than 20%, we reserve the right to terminate the partnership early and recall all loans.”

Director Du was dumbstruck. “That’s way too harsh. There’s no way the client will agree to that.”

“Why wouldn’t they?” Nie Yunshen shot him a sidelong glance as he picked up the mug from his desk to take a sip of water, and continued, “Weren’t you the one saying that their divorce would have a minimal impact on equity? If that’s really the case, this clause won’t have any binding effect on him. If it isn’t, then I believe the future operating risks for the company will increase significantly. His wife is just a full-time housewife and doesn’t know how to run a company. If she holds a large proportion of equity and the two are on such bad terms, there will definitely be disagreements on business decisions. For any company, that is a dangerous situation.”

Although Du Cheng, as the head of the Business Department, was obligated to do his best to retain clients, he knew Nie Yunshen’s concerns weren’t entirely baseless. In the end, the two reached a compromise: Nie Yunshen approved a further half-month extension as a buffer. In return, the Business Department had to submit all review documents and risk analysis reports to the Risk Management Department within those two weeks and agree to the additional clause Nie Yunshen had proposed.

As for negotiating with the client, that was Director Du’s responsibility to handle.

Once they finished discussing the matter, Du Cheng invited him to lunch, but Nie Yunshen flatly refused.

Du Cheng raised an eyebrow. “Really not going?”

“Really not going.” Thinking of his still-aching backside, Nie Yunshen’s refusal was incredibly firm. “Just grab me something simple when you come back up.”

“Are you feeling unwell?”

“My stomach hasn’t been great the last couple of days.”

Director Nie’s skill at talking absolute nonsense with a straight face was top-tier; his expression didn’t flicker, and his heart didn’t skip a beat at all.

Du Cheng said, “Then I’ll go with you to have some hot porridge to warm your stomach.”

Nie Yunshen replied, “I twisted my waist working out over the weekend; I don’t want to move.”

“……” Du Cheng stared at him speechlessly for a long while before saying, “Fine then.” He turned to leave, but upon reaching the door, something suddenly came to mind, prompting him to turn back. “By the way, there’s no need to approve the Lans Group’s extension anymore.”

Nie Yunshen looked up at him. “Why?”

“They transferred the money first thing this morning.”

Nie Yunshen froze for a moment. “What?”

Du Cheng added, “I only got the news right before the meeting myself.”

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