Tian Xiaohui watched her cousin enter and hurriedly walked over with a smile.

"Cousin, who is this? You and Brother-in-law are taking him so seriously."

She had originally come to talk to Shen Jing about Junlong Real Estate, but Xie Zhiyuan had asked her to stay for dinner.

Two weeks ago, Tian Xiaohui had been caught acting as a spy for Shen Jing, and Xie Zhiyuan had used a scheme to force her out of the company.

Now that she had come to handle some business, she had ended up 'running into' her brother-in-law.

Feeling incredibly guilty, she didn't dare disobey when Xie Zhiyuan acted as if nothing had happened and invited her to stay for dinner; she even helped Shen Jing in the kitchen.

Shen Jing glanced at her somewhat 'cute' cousin, and after a moment of thought, she understood why Xie Zhiyuan had asked her to stay for dinner.

He was asking Tian Xiaohui to keep them company.

Isn't that just competing with me for a man?

Shen Jing's face twitched as if she were constipated, but she forced a smile and said casually, "Oh, just the boss of a private equity fund."

"A private equity fund?" Tian Xiaohui's eyes lit up. "No wonder Tao Tao wouldn't tell me who he was."

"Tao Tao? You've met him?" Shen Jing frowned and looked at Tian Xiaohui in confusion.

Tian Xiaohui nodded and briefly explained how she had run into Chen Cheng where Tao Wuji lived.

After explaining, Tian Xiaohui asked curiously, "Cousin, is he very impressive? Brother-in-law takes him so seriously."

"I saw Tao Tao and his colleagues acting very respectful toward him, so I'm curious. Tell me about him."

Tian Xiaohui shook Shen Jing's arm, acting a bit coquettish.

Shen Jing had been behind the scenes for many years, but she thought about the rise of Company Name.

Impressive? No, that word wasn't enough; "heaven-defying" would be more accurate.

Shen Jing didn't answer her directly and shook her head. "It's not important, and it's too far removed from your world."

After that, she continued to PUA Tian Xiaohui, "The most important thing for you right now is to do what I've asked you to do."

Tian Xiaohui's expression stiffened for a moment, but she quickly recovered and gave a bright smile. "Got it, cousin. Don't worry."

In the tearoom, Xie Zhiyuan sat in the main seat, pouring tea for Chen Cheng while laughing and saying:

"Junior brother, you have really surprised me."

Chen Cheng laughed and waved his hand. "Senior brother, please don't flatter me."

Xie Zhiyuan reined in his smile and said seriously, "Junior brother, have you always been working in the secondary market?"

Chen Cheng picked up his teacup, glanced at Xie Zhiyuan, and nodded slightly. "Yeah. I've been doing it for a few years."

How could Chen Cheng not understand that Xie Zhiyuan wanted to cooperate with him?

Xie Zhiyuan had been following the news about Company Name's fundraising, but when he heard that it had been oversubscribed before even halfway to the deadline, his jaw dropped.

That was 10 billion! Chen Cheng's ability to attract capital was truly terrifying.

After the surprise, he naturally started plotting to make use of Chen Cheng.

A hint of humility appeared on Xie Zhiyuan's greasy face as he tentatively asked, "I wonder if there's an opportunity for us to cooperate?"

"Oh?" Chen Cheng raised an eyebrow. "What kind of project do you have, Senior brother?"

Hearing this, Xie Zhiyuan's expression relaxed slightly, and a faint, imperceptible smile appeared at the corner of his mouth. There was a chance.

"Ahem, there is a project. I wonder if you have any thoughts on commercial real estate targets, Junior brother?"

"I happen to have a financing project with Junlong Real Estate. I wonder if you're interested?"

Chen Cheng's mouth twitched. This old Xie was really trying his luck with everything.

He actually had the nerve to bring up that crappy project of Wu Xianlong's.

He was just trying to fool this buddy like a fool. Unfortunately, this buddy knew the plot and knew that Wu Xianlong would eventually end up in prison.

Xie Zhiyuan's own hands weren't clean either; he'd end up in prison too.

Chen Cheng shook his head with a smile. "Senior brother, you might not know Company Name very well."

"On the surface, Company Name is a private equity fund, but in reality, we practice value investing with a conservative style."

"Company Name doesn't have any plans to get involved in real estate financing projects for now."

Xie Zhiyuan was stunned; he hadn't expected Chen Cheng to refuse so directly.

"You don't think highly of this project, Junior brother?"

Chen Cheng shook his head and used an excuse. "You misunderstood, Senior brother. It's not that I don't think highly of it."

"It's just that Company Name's investors are quite concentrated. Many come from heavy-asset industries like real estate, and they wouldn't agree to re-invest their money into heavy-asset projects like real estate."

"If I were to act arbitrarily, I might end up having the capital withdrawn."

"Do you understand, Senior brother?"

Xie Zhiyuan smacked his lips. With things put this way, he couldn't find a reason to refute it.

However, he hadn't expected Chen Cheng to take on this kind of non-standard business anyway.

Chen Cheng watched Xie Zhiyuan's serious expression, the corner of his mouth curling up as he turned the tables. "Since you mentioned cooperation, Senior brother..."

Hmm? Xie Zhiyuan looked up at Chen Cheng.

Was there a surprise?

"If Yuanzhou has redundant wealth trusts, Company Name would be a good choice."

In plain English, that meant: if your company has extra money, you can put it with me.

I offer high returns.

Xie Zhiyuan's eyes narrowed. Well, well, his junior brother wasn't easy to fool; he was a real little fox, very slippery.

Xie Zhiyuan gave a sly smile and poured tea for Chen Cheng. "I've heard that Company Name's rate of return is ridiculously high. I wonder if it's true or false."

Doubting this buddy's cheat-code ability?

Chen Cheng chuckled. "Senior brother, you must have seen Likely Chen Chengs company's 13F filing. That can't be faked."

Xie Zhiyuan frowned. He had always suspected that Company Name's 13F filing hid short positions and total return swaps.

(Total return swap: A situation where one does not actually own the stock but pays a fixed interest rate to enjoy the returns brought by the stock. These assets are not reflected in direct holding reports, thereby achieving the purpose of hiding some holding information.)

"You don't use total return swaps?"

Chen Cheng shook his head. "Company Name's investment philosophy is 'less is more'; do less, make fewer mistakes. Grasp the cycle and be a friend of time. Such petty tricks as total return swaps are meaningless to us."

"Oh?" Xie Zhiyuan smiled. "It seems you are a believer in old Mr. Warren, Junior brother?"

Chen Cheng smiled without speaking, and Xie Zhiyuan assumed he had admitted it.

He continued, "What is your take on the current economy, Junior brother?"

Chen Cheng "fell into deep thought," and Xie Zhiyuan, thinking he was pondering, did not disturb him.

After a long while, Chen Cheng finally spoke. "If you are only asking about the economy, Senior brother, then my answer is 'stable and improving'."

He smiled and continued, "If you are asking for investment advice, then I can only say that if you are really uncomfortable being short, you can try buying blue-chip stocks."

"If they fall, you get dividends; if they rise, you get capital gains. As long as there is no systemic risk, I believe that with your ability, Senior brother, it's impossible to lose money."

After that, Chen Cheng looked at Xie Zhiyuan with a smile. "As for anything else, you'll have to forgive me, Senior brother. When it comes to Company Name's investments, I have nothing to say."

Xie Zhiyuan's mouth twitched. Chen Cheng's meaning was very clear: if you don't invest in me, how could I possibly give you real investment advice?

Xie Zhiyuan thought for a moment and then threw out his final objective. "Junior brother, let's speak plainly."

"If Yuanzhou cooperates with Company Name, how much of a quota can you give me?"

Had he not made inquiries from many sources, Xie Zhiyuan would never have believed that Company Name actually had a quota limit for fundraising, with a single client's maximum amount not exceeding 500 million.

And even then, it was oversubscribed.

This showed just how sought-after Company Name was in the market.

Chen Cheng smiled; this was likely the real reason he had been invited.

He wanted to get into the door of Company Name's closed-door meetings, and he also coveted Company Name's return curve.

Chen Cheng held up five fingers. "If Yuanzhou has redundant funds, Senior brother, for the sake of our relationship, I can coordinate 500 million for you."

"Can you guarantee the returns, Junior brother?" Xie Zhiyuan asked suspiciously.

Chen Cheng shook his head. "Senior brother, there is no investment that can guarantee profit without loss."

"Regarding management fees, for the sake of our relationship, I can offer some discounts."

Xie Zhiyuan's expression was serious as he rubbed the ring on his ring finger with his right hand, calculating the returns.

At Company Name, for annualized returns below 20%, they only charged management fees and did not participate in profit sharing; for anything above 20%, they adopted a tiered profit-sharing scheme, with a maximum split of 50% of the returns.

This profit-sharing method only showed that Chen Cheng was very confident and hadn't even considered returns below 20%.

Thinking about Company Name's past return curve again, Xie Zhiyuan pondered for a moment and decided to gamble.

His eyebrows relaxed, and he smiled. "Junior brother, happy to cooperate."

Chen Cheng shook Xie Zhiyuan's hand with a smile. "Don't worry, Senior brother, I will definitely do a good job."