Chapter 19
Ye Fan was addressing Wang Kai-Wen, the bank employee nearest to him.
Wang Kai-Wen took one look at Ye Fan’s unfashionable appearance and was immediately filled with disdain for him. She thought
he had the air of a country bumpkin and was probably a peasant-worker who had come to the city to work.
“Queue number? Go outside and turn left. Keep walking for two hundred meters. There’s a rural commercial bank there. Why
don’t you get a queue number there?”
“Our Hongqi Bank is an international bank. We only deal with the upper crust of society, and country bumpkins are not
welcomed.”
Wang Kai-Wen’s eyes were filled with contempt and she did not even look at Ye Fan. If it were not for her professionalism, she
would completely ignore a country bumpkin like him and let the security guards chase him out.
Withdraw money?
Was he not embarrassed to come here and withdraw a pittance amount of just one or two hundred?
Was Hongqi Bank the sort of place a country bumpkin could patronize?
The smile faded away from Ye Fan’s face and was replaced with a frown.
“Mister, do you have a transaction to handle? Let us go get a queue number?” At this moment, Li Xiao-Hong approached Ye Fan
genially, with a bright smile on her face. Her high heels clacked lightly on the floor as she walked toward him.
“Hmph, acting so friendly toward a poor person. Birds of a feather really do flock together.” Wang Kai-Wen truly despised poor
people like Ye Fan and Li Xiao-Hong. She felt so insulted, having to work with a country bumpkin at the bank.
Halfway through her sneer, a couple walked in from the entrance. When Wang Kai-Wen saw them, the look of disdain vanished
from her face and she started fawning over the newcomers.
“Manager Wang, you have come?”
Wang Yu nodded and gave an affirmative grunt. He had a phone in one hand and the other was busy hugging the slim waist of
his female companion. “I am withdrawing some money. Be quick about it. I am in a hurry. I have to attend a high class auction
later.”
“Haha, relax, Manager Wong. You are our VIP customer, so we will prioritize your transactions.” Wang Kai-Wen smiled fawningly.
The servile demeanor she had on now stood in stark contrast to the look of contempt she had shown Ye Fan earlier.
And then, she took Wang Yu’s identification card to the queue number dispenser. Ye Fan was still standing in front of the
machine and trying to get his card out, when Wang Kai-Wen pushed him aside without a word.
“Kai-Wen, what are you doing? Mr. Ye has not received his queue number yet?” Li Xiao-Hong said as she stood up for Ye Fan.
Wang Kai-Wen said disdainfully: “He’s just a country bumpkin. Tell him to stand aside and wait. Manager Wang is our VIP
customer and the general manager of a listed company. Can an intern like you afford to offend him?”
Of course, Wang Kai-Wen ignored their complaints.
Ye Fan’s frown got deeper and he said unhappily, “I was here first. Why do I have to wait?”
When Wang Kai-Wen heard this, she burst into laughter.
“Heh, for a useless guy, you are pretty cocky?”
“You are just a poor country bumpkin. Don’t you feel embarrassed when you compare yourself to Manager Wang?”
“Manager Wang’s transactions at our bank can reach ten million per annum. What about you? I bet you won’t be able to see that
much money in your whole life. So how can you compare yourself to Manager Wang?”
“Just leave obediently and turn left at the entrance. Go to that rural commercial bank. That’s where peasant-workers like yourself
belong.”
Wang Kai-Wen’s eyes were filled with scorn. And as she snorted in laughter, she walked toward Wang Yu.
“Wen, what’s going on? Isn’t the Hongqi Bank a high class establishment? Why did you let in the riff-raffs?” Wang Yu frowned
when he caught sight of Ye Fan.
As if he was being insulted just by standing next to someone like Ye Fan.
Wang Yu had already gotten used to feeling superior to others. So eventually, he came to believe that he was truly superior to
other people.
Wang Kai-Wen explained hurriedly, “Manager Wang, don’t worry. I will go get the security guards to chase him out. This sort of
thing won’t happen ever again.”
Wang Yu gave an affirmative grunt and nodded his head. “Okay, help me withdraw my money now. Let’s withdraw half a million.
Don’t worry about your performance. I will be getting a million from my project funds in a few days time and I will deposit it all into
your bank.”
The bank employees had to meet monthly deposit targets, and their bonuses were tied to those targets. So when Wang Kai-Wen
heard Manager Wang’s promise, she was overjoyed and hurried to process his withdrawal. But she stopped to ridicule Ye Fan
once more before departing.
“Now, can you see the difference? He can withdraw half a million just like that. What about you? Are you going to withdraw fifty
or a hundred?”
“Haha~”
More than a few people in the vicinity went along with Wang Kai-Wen and laughed at Ye Fan.
Wang Yu lifted his chin proudly as he basked in the admiring gazes of the onlookers. And his sense of superiority became even
more bloated.
“Mr. Ye, pay them no mind. The rich have their own way of living and we poor people have ours. How much do you want to
withdraw? I will help you. Don’t worry. Even if it’s just one or two hundred, the bank will still allow that.” Li Xiao-Hong did not join
in the mocking of Ye Fan, and continued to deal with him patiently.
Ye Fan was expressionless as he asked lightly, “How much money do you have in your bank?”
Li Xiao-Hong spaced out for a while. She could not understand why Ye Fan had asked that question.
Out of curiosity, maybe?
Li Xiao-Hong chose to be upfront. “Mister, the vault of a small bank would hold hundreds of thousands per day. A bigger bank
would have around a million. But Hongqi Bank is a high end establishment so, on a business day, we keep around twenty million
in our vault.”
“Okay, I want to withdraw all of it.”
“Eh, what?” Li Xiao-Hong thought she had misheard, so she repeated her question.
“I said. All the cash in your bank. I am withdrawing everything!”
As he was speaking, Ye Fan slammed a bank card onto the counter. The card was black and fringed with a golden pattern that
reflected a dazzling light. When the card appeared, the onlookers could feel a noble and mysterious aura radiating from it.
“This... This is?”
“Black with a golden fringe?”
“Could this be Hongqi Bank’s top-level black card?” In the bank, an experienced employee screamed in shock.
What?
Top-level credit?
Black card?
All at once, the atmosphere got heavy and everyone in the bank went dead quiet.
“This...this...this can’t be true?”
How can a poor person like him have the black card? Wang Yu was stunned.
He had been associating with Hongqi Bank for many years, so he knew exactly what the card represented. As far as he knew,
only two persons in the whole of Great China possessed the black card. And one of them was the former top tycoon of Hong
Kong, Li Jia-Cheng.
This card was not just a symbol of wealth, but an acknowledgement of one’s power and status.
Even he did not meet the criteria for application. So it was impossible for a poor young man to have one.
“A fake. It must be a fake!”
“Haha~”
“I think you have been thinking too much about money and gone crazy. How dare you forge our bank’s black card?”
“You just wait. I am going to call the police. You are going to prison.” Wang Kai-Wen did not believe that a poor person would
possess a status symbol like the black card, so she immediately jumped to the conclusion that Ye Fan had forged the one in his
possession.
Wang Yu felt relieved when he heard this. He had been thinking along the same lines too.
This poverty-striken person had probably been angered by the humiliation, so he took out the fake card to show off.
But, I am curious to see how you are going to get away with this?
“Wen, let’s not call the police. Maybe this fellow’s secret identity is a super tycoon? Swipe his card for him. Give him a chance to
show off.” Wang Yu said mockingly. And it was obvious from his tone that he was definitely not on Ye Fan’s side.
Wang Kai-Wen was not going to go against Wang Yu’s wishes, so she followed his lead and smiled. “Manager Wang, you are
right. Whether this fellow is a fake tycoon or a real idiot, we can find out just by swiping his card.”
“You poor bastard, how about it? Do you have the guts to try?”
“Why wouldn’t I dare?” After enduring several rounds of humiliation, Ye Fan was furious. Without another word, he took his card
to the counter. If they wanted to examine his card, he was going to let them do so.
Just wait. The truth will hit you hard in the face!