Starting out as a drug dealer in 1988

"Mr. Zhao, this business trip takes quite a long time. I thought you would need to wait a while before coming back."

"Boss Yuan, is there anything wrong with the company?"

"Nothing, everything is normal. But Mayor Fei called and looked for you. He knew you were on a business trip, but he didn't discuss anything specific. You have to go over when you're free."

"Okay, I get it. I've been pretty exhausted lately, so I'll come over tomorrow and we'll talk."

"Also, Citibank (Asia) contacted us two days ago. One of their vice presidents wants to meet you."

Zhao Wenhao couldn't help but frown, as he was not familiar with Citibank.

However, the accounts of the companies in Hong Kong were all kept at Citibank, and he only knew one vice president there.

Even so, the two sides were not very familiar with each other, so how could a vice president for Asia suddenly appear? This left him puzzled.

"What specific things did they talk about?" Zhao Wenhao asked immediately.

Yuan Bin thought about it and shook his head: "No, I only told them you were on a business trip, but didn't tell them where you were going. They just asked when you would be back and wanted to visit."

Since he couldn't figure it out, Zhao Wenhao didn't bother to think about it.

"Next week, I guess they won't have time these two days. Tell them to come over next Tuesday morning."

"Okay, I'll call them later."

Seeing that there was nothing else important, Zhao Wenhao left the company.

After being away from home for nearly a month, he really missed Yang Yue!

Of course, there will be some trouble at night to make up for what was missed during this period.

It was not until Yang Yue became too lazy to move that Zhao Wenhao finally let her go.

The week passed quickly.

After dealing with most of the company's affairs during this period, Zhao Wenhao finally took a break.

"Mr. Zhao, Mr. Smith is here." Yuan Bin came over to report.

"Oh? Please!"

Zhao Wenhao immediately stood up, walked out of the office area, and came to the office door.

"Hello, Mr. Zhao, it's an honor to meet you."

At the office door stood two middle-aged foreigners and a young translator.

The translator spoke Chinese and introduced two people to Zhao Wenhao. One of them was Smith, the vice president of Citibank (Asia), and the other was Cole, the general manager of the Shanghai branch.

"Please come in!" Zhao Wenhao greeted them warmly with a smile on his face. He politely led the three people into the office and guided them to sit on the comfortable sofa.

Then he stood up and carefully made a cup of fragrant hot tea for everyone.

After everyone was seated, Zhao Wenhao suddenly realized a problem: he had not yet hired a secretary.

Whenever guests came to visit, he would always make tea himself, and even do many trivial things himself.

Although there was nothing wrong with this in the past, as the business expanded and became busier, he began to feel a little stretched.

Especially those trivial matters, which take up a lot of time and energy, and could have been handled by secretaries.

At this moment, Zhao Wenhao decided to hire a secretary as soon as possible to share some of the work pressure and filter out unnecessary chores.

"Gentlemen, I wonder what advice you would like to receive from us today?"

When facing unfamiliar visitors, Zhao Wenhao went straight to the point and asked them directly about their purpose of visit.

After all, the two parties are not familiar with each other, and too much greetings and courtesies will only waste time. It is better to get straight to the point.

Smith and Cole exchanged a glance, and then Cole took the initiative to explain the situation: "Mr. Zhao, Citibank has actually been interested in your company for some time. As far as I know, Mr. Zhao also chose Citibank to open an account in Hong Kong Island."

Zhao Wenhao frowned, a little displeased.

He didn't want too many people to know about the affairs of the Hong Kong Island Company.

He didn't expect that the other party would reveal the matter directly as soon as he opened his mouth, which made him very unhappy.

Zhao Wenhao, who had originally seemed polite, couldn't help but change his expression and stared at the other party silently.

Perhaps sensing that his opening remarks had somewhat irritated Zhao Wenhao, Cole quickly explained, "Mr. Zhao, please rest assured. We have always maintained confidentiality regarding our client information. I only mentioned this to you today because I hope to maintain long-term cooperation with you in the future."

"I hope this is the first and last time. Otherwise, I don't mind changing my account." Zhao Wenhao's face was solemn and his tone was no longer polite.

Cole's face changed. He didn't expect a Chinese to speak to him in such a tone.

You know, wherever he went, as the general manager of a Citibank branch, he was received politely and even flattered.

However, thinking about what would happen next, he finally held back and didn't lose his temper.

Smith, who was standing by, saw that things were getting worse and quickly signaled to Cole, who then took over the conversation.

"Mr. Zhao, I'm sorry. Let me reiterate that our bank keeps customer information very confidential. There's no one else here, so Cole specifically mentioned this."

Zhao Wenhao nodded. Although he didn't say anything, he also let the matter go.

"Mr. Zhao, we understand that your company's revenue this year may exceed 37 billion, which is quite good among private enterprises in your country. I wonder if you have ever considered expanding your company further?"

Smith had obviously made some preparations and even had a rough idea of ​​Hengyuan Electronics' revenue.

After hearing what Smith said, Zhao Wenhao had roughly guessed the other party's intention.

But he still pretended not to know, a little speechless: "Mr. Smith, expanding the company is naturally our goal. But how to expand it, of course, we have our own plans."

Smith chuckled, "Mr. Zhao, have you ever thought about taking your company public in the future? Perhaps our bank could provide a lot of help in that regard."

Sure enough, Zhao Wenhao knew that the other party would make such a suggestion.

In fact, he had such an idea and even made a three-year plan, which he had revealed to Yuan Bin.

But now that Citibank has come forward, he certainly can't express his thoughts as he wished.

"We are not considering it for now. If we have such plans later, we will contact you."

Zhao Wenhao deliberately looked at his watch and pretended to be busy.

Smith was obviously stunned. It was the first time he met such a person in China. He had no interest in going public at all. This made him not know how to start what he wanted to say.

You have to know that China's securities market has only been established for a few years, and most listed companies are state-owned enterprises. It is simply impossible for many private enterprises to enter such a circle.

As for listing in the United States or Hong Kong, it is out of reach for most companies.

"Mr. Zhao, your company's development..."

Smith was about to say something when Zhao Wenhao raised his hand to interrupt him: "Mr. Smith, I have a meeting later, so I won't be with you two!"