Chapter Seventy-Two: Qilan Yi at the Bank

The next morning, when he woke up, his parents had already left for work. Breakfast had been left on the table, along with a note bearing a smiley face in the lower right corner—clearly his mother’s handiwork.

After finishing his meal, he donned the new “young master” outfit he’d bought the day before, then booked a high-end executive car online and headed straight for the bank.

The private bank where Lu Yingying worked was quite formidable, with enough strength to rent out an entire building downtown as their office. The space was impressive.

As the car turned into the compound, a security guard immediately appeared to direct traffic. Unfortunately, his help was unnecessary this time. Gao Ning stepped out and walked toward the main hall, and the car drove off.

He entered the building, and the lobby manager approached him at once.

“Good morning, sir. How may I assist you today?”

“I have an appointment. My surname is Gao.”

The manager’s eyes brightened. “Mr. Gao Ning, correct? Please follow me to the VIP lounge. Section Chief Lu is already waiting for you there!”

Lu Yingying managed to become a section chief?

This was news to Gao Ning. Puzzled, he followed the manager up to the VIP lounge on the second floor.

The lounge was incredibly spacious—if it were a KTV, it could easily be divided into two large private rooms. There were genuine leather sofas, luxury carpets, a dramatic painting of a tiger descending a mountain on the feature wall, two tall, gleaming vases in the corner, and a display shelf with a pair of ornamental swords.

If someone were to hang a calligraphy scroll inscribed with “Benevolence” and “Righteousness,” it would resemble a yakuza boss’s den.

Gao Ning was a little bewildered by the decor—what kind of style was this, exactly?

Lu Yingying was sitting elegantly on a single sofa, whispering with a long-legged beauty dressed like a secretary. Both were holding either documents or magazines, occasionally covering their mouths to giggle.

Lu Yingying was a world away from the girl he’d seen the night before. Her posture was poised, back straight, accentuating her figure. She spoke softly, exuding an air of gentleness and grace—a proper young lady raised with strict family discipline. Who would guess that, once her shell was removed, she was really just a cheerful, big-hearted girl?

“Gao Ning, you’re here!” Seeing him enter, Lu Yingying’s face lit up with delight. She quickly pulled the beautiful woman beside her over. “Perfect timing! Let me introduce you—this is Miss Qi Lanyi, the president’s chief administrative assistant and also my good friend. Qi is a true beauty! And this is Gao Ning—we were classmates in university.”

What was this girl up to? Why not simply say they were childhood friends?

Gao Ning glanced at her, and Lu Yingying gave him a meaningful look. Not knowing her game, he simply kept silent.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Gao. I apologize—our president, Mr. Liu, is currently attending an important conference in New Guinea and can’t be here today. He’s entrusted me with hosting you personally.”

Qi Lanyi extended her hand. Gao Ning nodded and shook it, replying coolly, “Hello.”

Lu Yingying added, “Don’t be fooled by how young our Miss Qi is—she’s a true power player in our bank, managing foreign exchange and deposits with impressive achievements!”

Qi Lanyi smiled. “As long as you don’t feel neglected, Mr. Gao. Frankly, with your level of cash flow, it’s usually only the president himself who would be qualified to receive you.”

The hospitality seemed a little over the top—was this really a bank?

Gao Ning was surprised, but he understood that banks cared most about clients with substantial cash assets. These days, with financial products everywhere, most people had little interest in keeping their money in the bank. As a result, banks now placed even greater emphasis on attracting deposits.

“I assume Lu Yingying has already explained my situation to you?”

Qi Lanyi nodded without hesitation. “If the figures are accurate, all you need is a special account. If you wish to keep long-term deposits, we have high-yield projects with excellent returns. Of course, if you require frequent cash flow, we can raise your deposit interest rate above 4%, and offer premium collateralized certificate of deposit services.”

Gao Ning was taken aback, but Lu Yingying interjected, “Gao Ning, you’ll have to treat me to a meal. Normally, the ratio only goes up to 96%, but for my sake, Lanyi bumped it up to 100%. That means for corporate accounts, if you deposit one hundred million, they’ll offer you a loan for the full amount.”

Catching her hint, Gao Ning understood. Bankers truly were a crafty bunch. What should have been a simple matter of converting dollars to yuan through a special account had become both a deposit and a loan operation, just by tweaking the interest and loan rates a little.

There was plenty of room for maneuver here. In a typical “rich protagonist” novel, this could easily take several thousand words to elaborate.

But Gao Ning didn’t have the time for such nonsense, especially with Lu Yingying involved—he was certain he wouldn’t be taken advantage of.

He nodded. “Let’s keep it like this for now. Please prepare the account as soon as possible. The first ten million dollars will arrive this afternoon at the latest; within half a month, the full hundred million will be in place. After that, it will depend on our cooperation—if all goes well, several hundred million more can be remitted over the next three to six months.”

Qi Lanyi’s eyes sparkled with delight. “If your company’s capital flow is stable, we can increase your credit line and offer top-tier efficiency for all services, whether credit or bankers’ acceptances.”

Lu Yingying chimed in, “Don’t worry, Gao Ning. With me here, how could you possibly lose out? You’ll receive the highest-level VIP treatment—24/7 concierge service. Whether it’s booking flights, purchasing properties, even mergers and commercial partnerships, everything will be handled flawlessly!”

“Perfect. That’s exactly what I want.”

Gao Ning nodded crisply and handed his identification documents to Lu Yingying.

On the side, staff members served tea as the two parties discussed their cooperation. After more than an hour, all the paperwork was complete: company registration, bank accounts, checkbooks, bank cards—everything was in order.

Gao Ning had officially transformed into a company president.

Qi Lanyi personally called for an executive car and escorted Gao Ning to the door.

“President Gao, I look forward to our partnership!”

“Thank you.”

They shook hands. Gao Ning boarded the car and watched as the Mercedes slowly rolled away.

Qi Lanyi lightly tapped Lu Yingying.

“Ow, what was that for?”

“Stop pretending! Out with it—where did you land such a golden bachelor?”

“I told you, we were just classmates!” Lu Yingying sashayed away, swaying her slender waist. She was planning to tidy up her office before clocking off; later, she had an appointment with an agent to find suitable office space for Gao Ning.

“Don’t try to fool me—I know you all too well! So delicate on the surface, but strong-willed inside. Remember that rich kid who tried to chat you up last time? You didn’t even give him the time of day! This President Gao may be a bit green, but he’s confident—talks about hundreds of millions without batting an eye. Honestly, I’m still a little unsure about him.”

Qi Lanyi put her palms together and made a wish. “Please don’t let him be a fraud!”

“What are you saying? I’m not talking to you anymore!”

Lu Yingying rolled her eyes, then strode off in her high heels.