As the door to the room opened, a short, urgent bell rang inside. It wasn’t piercing, nor too long, lasting only a second or two.
This bell was specifically designed to alert the people inside the room that someone was entering, providing a few seconds of buffer to avoid any awkward situations.
Jogriman stood up, accompanied by three young people. These individuals, led by Jogriman, greeted Lynch who followed closely behind.
Lynch, with a composed demeanor, extended his hand and shook hands with Jogriman. Jogriman appeared a bit reserved. After exchanging some pleasantries, he introduced the three young people behind him to Lynch.
"These are the outstanding account managers from Golden Exchange Bank..." Ignoring their slightly unimportant names, Lynch already understood Jogriman’s intentions.
He wouldn’t monopolize this business, nor would he involve himself directly. Lynch would come to a loan agreement with these three account managers, and the collateral he held would contribute to their performance.
For Jogriman, it didn’t matter who signed Lynch’s business. At his level, personal performance wasn’t important. Even if he didn’t secure a single deal all year, no one would consider him incompetent.
As the manager of the credit department, his "performance" was the collective success of the entire department. Since it wasn’t important whether he signed them himself, why not use these deals to win hearts?
Wherever there are people, there is conflict. With conflict, people take sides. These three young individuals were staunch supporters of Jogriman. They were younger and had greater potential. If these deals and future ones fell into their hands, it would propel them to higher positions.
Meanwhile, as the manager of the credit department, he too would benefit from it. So why not be a generous superior?
Besides, this served as a preventative measure. If anything went wrong with Lynch’s side that affected the bank’s interests, Jogriman could immediately disengage, and none of it would be related to him.
He merely facilitated the introduction and ensured these loan applications adhered to the bank’s processes. As for any other matters, they were unrelated to him. If there was anything illegal, it naturally wouldn’t concern him.
If the collaboration proceeded without issues, he would also benefit. The loan deals worth millions were signed under his leadership. As the direct person responsible for these performances, he would receive significant evaluation from the division and even the headquarters.
The bank’s upper management, especially in vital departments like the credit one, always prioritized risk assessment and prevention. They could afford not to make much money but absolutely couldn’t suffer significant losses.
Initiated by Jogriman, everyone first engaged in simple small talk, which soon escalated into discussing the current economic trends of the Federation.
Economic development seemed to have suddenly slackened. Various industries experienced minor issues. Comparing the loans disbursed by the six major banks in the first half of the year with previous years’ loan rates and disbursement amounts, it was evident that society was quietly changing.
As the conversation progressed, Jogriman relinquished control of the discussion, allowing the young individuals to express themselves freely while he observed from the sidelines, mainly observing Lynch.
The copy of the new contract from Gaitenau Financial Company had already been delivered to the division. The legal advisers there believed that the additional terms within the contract held significant meaning and value. They were also planning to launch their new contract in the second to third quarter of the following year.
The delay was partly to wait for the current contracts to be exhausted before printing new ones, saving a lot of money. Moreover, it was necessary to conduct research to see if these contents conflicted with the local laws of certain states.
Overall, Jogriman had already made a substantial contribution. He didn’t think this was something conceived by the barely educated owners of financial companies or their legal advisers. Otherwise, they would have already had these insights, and there would’ve been no need to wait for a young man named Lynch to appear.
This indicated that everything was related to Lynch.
At this moment, Lynch’s performance was entirely within Jogriman’s view. What impressed him the most was Lynch’s confidence. His judgment on future financial and economic trends resonated with Jogriman, making him feel that Lynch had a point.
"If the market continues to weaken, it is highly likely to cause overproduction. If the Federation Government cannot effectively resolve these issues, the capitalists will soon start implementing layoffs. A large number of workers will become unemployed, possibly further intensifying and erupting social conflicts and tensions!" Lynch’s eloquence left the other three young individuals with no room to interject, and his words were somewhat alarming as well.
Economists always spoke of a new wave of significant development following a peak rebound, although the end of this rebound was uncertain. However, most people maintained an optimistic attitude.
Lynch’s counter-current viewpoint immediately captured attention. Precisely when one of the young individuals respectfully addressed Lynch as "Mr. Lynch" to seek guidance from someone younger than themselves, Jogriman stood up.
The attention and focus of the four were drawn to him. He smiled apologetically, "I need to take a call..." At the same time, there was an indescribable change in his eyes.
Eye contact is a unique medium. Some describe eyes as windows to the soul, highlighting their uniqueness. Others believe eyes and eye contact cannot convey messages.
Yet, there are moments when people can understand each other through eye contact and the intertwining of glances.
Simple messages like "don’t" or "understood," for example.
Lynch nodded his head slightly and said, "Please go ahead." When Jogriman entered another room, the young individuals aptly paused their previous inquiries and began today’s main discussion.
Today’s meeting was largely a deeper expression of intent. The contract wouldn’t be signed here. If the loan agreement were signed here, Lynch might not encounter issues, but the three young individuals could not only lose their jobs but also face imprisonment.
They began discussing the materials Lynch brought since Jogriman’s supportive attitude—if he didn’t support the deal, he wouldn’t have introduced them to Lynch—had already set the tone. The remaining aspects were just details.
After over forty minutes, Mr. Jogriman finally finished his call and returned from the other room. He wore a slightly apologetic smile as he looked at the four young individuals who had started casual chatter.
"I’m sorry, I received an important call, and I need to return to join a telephone conference and can’t continue to accompany..." He glanced at the jeweled watch on his wrist, pressing down the sleeve cautiously, "It’s almost noon. You can have lunch here or go to your preferred place. In any case, I’ll need to see you at the bank after 2 PM. Is there any problem?"
By this point, the matter was nearly settled. After signing the agreement in the afternoon and once the bank’s approval process was complete, the money would be transferred to the public account of Dyson Asset Management Company.
However, their business wouldn’t end here. Jogriman was well aware that once Lynch secured more funds, Gaitenau Company would have access to more mortgage agreements. This would be a perpetually growing snowball, bringing him considerable profits and prestige.
On the way back, he noticed the worried pedestrians on the streets and was mysteriously reminded of Lynch’s earlier remarks, statements many considered alarming!
This also made him think about the recent internal report from the headquarters on establishing individual credit systems, and the request to lower bank deposit rates...
The wind blowing towards him no longer carried its usual intoxicating fragrance but rather a stench only present on the eve of a storm!