Back to the teenage years

Chapter 618 Tears of the Old Man
In June 1996, the A-share market was in turmoil after a major editorial was published in the People's Daily.

The frenzy of wealth and the lamentation of despair are constantly playing out in the trading hall. Hundreds of millions of dollars are churning and surging between the flashing red and green screens, while in the intensive care unit of the Second People's Hospital of Hunan Province, the price of life and death has been calculated down to two decimal places.

Every breath you take here has a price tag!
Wang Xiufen was paying her bill at the inpatient department's payment counter. She didn't understand the big principles behind this, but these past few days, every cell in her body had been drained by this cold price.

Since Ma Rulong was admitted to the ICU, this middle-aged woman, who had an ordinary but stable life, completely collapsed. Her once black hair turned white overnight, perhaps from shedding too many tears. Her eye sockets became sunken and her eyeballs bulged out. She couldn't sleep for nights on end for a long time, and her skin became sallow and loose, like an old cloth hanging on her bones. In just a few days, she aged ten years.

She stood on the cold tile floor, clutching the newly printed bill, her fingers repeatedly tracing the line indicating the amount owed.

32760.28 yuan.

The staff member at the window glanced at her and knocked on the glass: "Are you going to pay or not?"

As if startled awake, Wang Xiufen hurriedly pulled a wad of money from her cloth bag: "Pay, pay now!"

This was 50,000 yuan in cash that Zhang Yunqi had Xiao Wu deliver. The bills were brand new 100-yuan notes, sealed with a bank seal, fifty in total. She counted out four stacks with utmost care, then pulled out twenty-seven from another stack and handed them through the window.

The whirring sound of the money counting machine lasted for more than ten seconds.

The staff member deftly tore off the receipt and handed it out the window: "Remember to pay earlier next time! If you don't pay today, your treatment will be stopped tomorrow."

The payment window was a bit low, so Wang Xiufen bent over and thanked them repeatedly before clutching the receipt and the remaining seven thousand yuan and retreating to a corner of the payment hall.

The payment hall was bustling with people, but devoid of any warmth. She leaned back in her chair, as if that was the only thing keeping her from collapsing.

She suddenly remembered what Zhang Yunqi had said when the driver brought the money that morning: "Consider this a loan. Mr. Zhang will also support the medical expenses later. Ma Rulong can pay it back slowly by working after graduation."

She and her husband didn't even have the courage to refuse.

They already knew that their son Ma Rulong's classmate was starting a business outside, and that his business was very successful and he was very wealthy, which brought a glimmer of hope to their son's treatment.

Like her husband, Wang Xiufen was filled with mixed feelings—gratitude, relief, and an indescribable burden. She hadn't received much formal education and didn't understand many profound principles, but having lived most of her life, she always felt that one should know one's place, understand when to advance and retreat, and not take others' kindness for granted.

The problem is, how long can this 50,000 yuan last? The intensive care unit costs 3,000 yuan a day, a single plasma exchange costs 8,000 yuan, and there are various medication and examination fees. There's no telling when she'll recover. Her son's illness has become a never-ending money-shredding machine.

Thinking this, Wang Xiufen's mind started wandering back to the 70,000 yuan she had invested in the financial product! She felt an indescribable sense of regret. No matter what, she had to get that 70,000 yuan back. Recent events had made her increasingly aware that something was wrong, and she was even a little worried about whether she could redeem it in January next year.

That day, after Zhang Yunqi told the couple that the money could be transferred for the benefit of the investment, she immediately contacted her distant cousin Li Juan, who worked at a bank, and proposed to transfer her investment product to someone else. Li Juan agreed and said she would look among the internal clients.

She searched for three days, and although she called Li Juan several times, Li Juan always said she was busy and hadn't found her.

Thinking about all this, Wang Xiufen felt she had to go to the bank to find Li Juan and get the money back.

She first went to the intensive care unit. Through the thick glass, she saw her son's face swollen and deformed, his body covered with tubes, and purplish bruises and bee stings mixed together, making him unrecognizable. She clenched the faded cloth bag strap in her hand, her heart breaking, and tears streamed down her face.

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Lijin Rural Commercial Bank Huangtuling Branch.

In the 90s, ordinary people had extremely limited investment options. Besides bank savings and treasury bonds, the stock market was too risky for most ordinary people to enter. Therefore, various wealth management products offered by banks provided them with a third option. In 1996, the one-year deposit rate was around 8%, which wasn't low, but some wealth management products could offer an annualized return of 15%!
Wang Xiufen purchased the wealth management product, "Xinyu·Fumin Wealth Management Plan No. 1," from the Huangtuling branch of Lijin Rural Commercial Bank.

At the beginning of this year, when Wang Xiufen purchased this wealth management product, Li Juan told her that the current fixed deposit interest rates were too low. She said that their bank had a deposit target with a very high return rate, and that the product was managed by experts and would 100% outpace inflation. Wang Xiufen also saw on the promotional leaflet that it stated "Supporting national construction and sharing the dividends of reform" and that it clearly stated that the principal and interest were guaranteed and that the product would be redeemed without any guarantee of interest.

Wang Xiufen believed it and was also very tempted.

Because at the time, she felt that at least she had made a good decision: it was a wealth management product offered by a legitimate state-owned bank, and she wouldn't lose her principal. Moreover, she wasn't the only one who bought it; many state-owned enterprise employees and retired cadres also followed suit.

When Wang Xiufen left the Second People's Hospital of the province and arrived at the Huangtuling branch of the Lijin Rural Commercial Bank, she saw her cousin Li Juan introducing a new wealth management product, "Xinyu·Fumin Wealth Management Plan No. 58," to a group of elderly people in the wealth management area.

Her voice was warm and generous.

It was exactly the same as when I first tried to sell it to her.

Wang Xiufen had also participated in this activity at the beginning of the year. It was a group marketing activity for bank wealth management products organized through internal connections such as the unit's labor union and the bureau of retired cadres. The participants were mostly state-owned enterprise employees, retired teachers, and some junior cadres. Most of them signed up at this activity.

Li Juan was in her early thirties, with a long face, a trendy perm, and bright lipstick. Although she and Wang Xiufen were of the same generation, they were from different eras. They were from the same village, but their blood ties had long since crossed the fifth degree of kinship, and they had no contact before. Wang Xiufen didn't even know when Li Juan had come to work in Lijin. It was only when Li Juan was selling bank financial products and needed to find acquaintances to promote them that she got in touch with her.

Li Juan was in the wealth management section, where she was calculating the rate of return for a group of elderly people with spare cash in a friendly manner. The atmosphere was very lively. When she saw Wang Xiufen walk in, her expression clearly froze for a moment. She immediately asked the colleague who was organizing promotional materials to take her place, and came out of the bank's wealth management section to intercept Wang Xiufen.

Li Juan led Wang Xiufen next door, served her a cup of iced tea, and said, "Cousin, you came here today to find out if your investment products have been transferred, right?" Wang Xiufen nodded. Her voice was hoarse and grating from not being able to sleep for a long time: "Juanzi, you know my situation. I've entrusted you with this for three days now, but there's still no progress. I'm very anxious. I really need this money."

Li Juan sighed, gently patted Wang Xiufen's hand, and said, "Cousin, we're all relatives, family. I would never harm you. I'll definitely help if I can."

After a pause, Li Juan said, "To be honest with you, the new products they're launching now have better terms than what you bought before, with a higher annualized rate of return. These internal clients can see that, and they'll definitely choose to buy the new ones. So, it's really going to be very difficult for you to find a willing buyer in this short period of time. It's not that I'm unwilling to help. Cousin, do you think you can find someone willing to take over? As long as you find one, we'll immediately assist with the paperwork."

Wang Xiufen said in a hoarse voice, "Where am I supposed to find a transferee? Who would take over a wealth management product that might not even be redeemable during the lock-up period? My son is in the intensive care unit, waiting for money to save his life! Can't you really make some adjustments to your regulations?"

Li Juan was cornered by Wang Xiufen. She looked around and said in a low voice, "Then... how about you consider selling it at a discount, like 20% or 30% of the principal? Many people would accept that when they urgently need money."

Wang Xiufen was stunned by this.

She had a principal of 70,000 yuan, which, at a 30% discount, would be 49,000 yuan. After investing for six months, she hadn't received a single penny of return, and was about to lose 21,000 yuan for nothing!

Wang Xiufen's mind was in turmoil and she felt terrible. She couldn't understand the logic behind it all. Every penny in there was her son's life-saving money!

She opened her mouth, but after a long pause, she spoke, her voice seemingly filled with confusion and struggle: "Juanzi, this isn't what you said when you asked me to buy it. You said it was an internal task for your bank, guaranteed principal and interest, and even mentioned a rigid redemption guarantee. Now that I urgently need the money, how can you ask me to transfer it at a discount? Does this mean my investment product is less valuable than it was at the beginning of the year? Even if it doesn't offer the same returns as the new products now, the 15% annualized rate is a real thing, isn't it?"

Li Juan looked up at Wang Xiufen and, upon hearing her words, couldn't help but say, "Cousin, that's not how it works. You signed the contract yourself, and the closed period is clearly stated in black and white! I was just making a recommendation; the decision was yours."

Wang Xiufen froze for a moment, staring at Li Juan as if seeing this person clearly for the first time. This cousin had been incredibly friendly when she came to sell to them, calling her "sister" and saying it was an internal benefit that ordinary depositors couldn't even get.

These days, people change their minds faster than turning the pages of a book!

Seeing that Wang Xiufen remained silent for a long time, staring intently at her, Li Juan realized that she had been harsh in her words when she thought about Wang Xiufen's family situation. She called out, "Cousin, I was too harsh just now. To be honest, there's no other way but to sell it off at a discount."

"I...I'll think about it some more, I'll think about it some more..." Wang Xiufen said in a hoarse voice, as if talking to herself. Her chaotic mind involuntarily conjured up her son's swollen face lying in the ICU, and the chaos intensified. Her eyes reddened uncontrollably, and the voice that came out was almost a desperate plea: "Then, Juanzi, could you...could you help me apply to your supervisor for a special case? Right now, every penny is for my son's life, his life-saving money..."

Li Juan sighed, looking troubled. "It's no use. It's not that I don't want to help you, but I've already explained the situation to you several times. The leaders only care about the data; they don't care about anyone else's life or death. Why don't you wait a little longer? I'll try my best to find something for you. Maybe things will turn around in a while."

As she spoke, Li Juan suddenly took out her wallet from her handbag, pulled out a few bills, including a large five-hundred-yuan note, and handed it to Wang Xiufen, saying, "Sister, I'm also saddened by what happened. Please take this money; it's just a small token of my appreciation."

Just then, a colleague called out "Manager Li" from outside.

There was a group of customers waiting for her over there. Seeing that Wang Xiufen didn't react, Li Juan stuffed the money into Wang Xiufen's hand and quickly said, "I'll go see my nephew when I'm free this weekend."

Wang Xiufen looked at the five hundred yuan in her hand, smiled with her head down, and said, "Thank you, you're so thoughtful."

Li Juan had already turned and left.

The sound of high heels clicking on the ground is crisp and clear.

Wang Xiufen sat alone in the same spot.

Outside in the wealth management section, Li Juan's voice soon rang out again, full of enthusiasm: "Support national development and share the benefits of reform. This wealth management product guarantees principal and interest, with rigid redemption! Although there is a one-year lock-up period, if you urgently need money, we can also help you transfer it among our vast number of internal clients!"

She didn't know how much time had passed when Wang Xiufen looked up at the sign in the stairwell.

She got up without a word, walked into the fire escape, and went up the dimly lit stairs to the seventh-floor rooftop door, where she pushed open the heavy iron door.

The blinding midday sun instantly engulfed her.

Soon, passersby downstairs noticed a middle-aged woman sitting on the concrete railing of the seventh-floor rooftop. Her body was leaning slightly outward, one hand gripping the edge of the rusty railing tightly, and one foot already dangling in mid-air, teetering on the verge of falling.

Several sharp-eyed people immediately pointed to the roof and shouted, "Someone is going to jump!"

Suddenly, a large crowd gathered downstairs, pointing and exclaiming in surprise. Bank security guards rushed up the stairs, and bank leaders and account managers all ran out, their faces pale.

A large crowd gathered at the entrance to the rooftop, too afraid to approach.

Li Juan pushed through the crowd and rushed to the front, her face pale. She stamped her feet anxiously, "Sister! Come down, come down! Let's talk this out!"

Wang Xiufen sat on the concrete railing at the edge of the rooftop, turned around, the wind blowing through her gray hair, her voice hoarse but carrying far: "My son is in the intensive care unit! He's waiting for money to save his life! Juanzi, tell your boss, if you don't give me the money today, I'll jump off this building!"

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(End of this chapter)