The system was set three years in advance, but the universal deities still hadn't arrived.

Chapter 34: Are there still places I haven't explored?
Upon hearing President Li's words, Zeng Shen was immediately delighted.

The end of the world is just a year away.

He immediately asked again to confirm, "Are you sure you can repay the principal and interest after one year?"

"Correct."

A smile appeared on Zeng Shen's lips. "Then, President Li, I'd like to do you a favor and lend you a few hundred million."

"How many billions is a loan?"

"Seven hundred million, I guess."

"What! Seven hundred million!" President Li exclaimed in disbelief.

"What's wrong? Is it not allowed?"

"Hmm, no, this risk agreement only allows for a maximum loan of 90% of the amount, which is..." The bank manager picked up the risk agreement, opened the detailed asset information inside, and was about to do a thorough calculation.

"No need to calculate, I can borrow 500 million, right?" Zeng Shen said.
President Li hesitated for a moment before saying, "Five hundred million should be no problem for Shi Mingqiang, considering all his assets."

“Okay, I’ll take all the principal and interest of 500 million, and then transfer 100 million of it to her account, is that alright?” Zeng Shen said.

"what!"

Liu Miao was taken aback when Zeng Shen offered to lend her 700 million yuan. Now that she had recovered, she was stunned to hear that he wanted to lend her 100 million yuan interest-free.

“Zeng Shen, no way. You lending me money is already the biggest help you can give me. How can you charge me interest?”

"Enough with the chit-chat, I don't need that little bit of interest," Zeng Shen waved his hand, while secretly calculating in his mind.

A year later, the money won't be money anymore, so why would you still pay interest?

It would be more worthwhile to make you owe me more favors while you're still a future third-tier water deity.

Just as Zeng Shen had predicted.

Hearing this, Liu Miao was deeply moved and silently remembered this kindness, while also planning to pay interest in another form.

She gently placed her hands on her closed legs and touched the smooth black stockings.

After the formalities were completed, Zeng Shen and Liu Miao were warmly seen off by President Li at the bank gate.

Liu Miao followed Zeng Shen to his RV, bowed slightly, and said thank you, "Zeng Shen, thank you so much. I don't know how to repay you."

"If you don't know, then you can owe me for now, and I'll tell you when I need it later," Zeng Shen said with a smile.

"Alright, the Jinhai Wharf ahead is my property. Where are you going to be busy? Or would you like to visit my place?"

"So, is that Jinhai Wharf yours?"

"Ah."

Zeng Shen was somewhat surprised.

When the Golden Sea Wharf was triggered the day before yesterday, the prompt indicated that a third-tier water deity had established a territory here with several second-tier water deities.

Could it be that the third-tier water-elemental deity refers to Liu Miao?

That would be great.

Zeng Shen wanted to go in and see if he could encounter those second-tier water deities and trigger more first-time reward points, but the dock area was off-limits to outsiders.

Thinking of this, Zeng Shen nodded to Liu Miao, whose eyes were full of expectation, and said, "Okay, I passed by the day before yesterday and wanted to go in and have a look around, but the security guard wouldn't let outsiders in. Since that area belongs to your company, you can show me around."

"sure."

As Zeng Shen opened the car door, he asked curiously, "By the way, Sister Liu, such a large dock, how come it seems like you're the only one running it? Is there no one to help you manage it?"

"Sigh." Liu Miao sat in the passenger seat, sighed softly, and murmured as if recalling a bad memory:
"No one can help me now. My parents divorced and went abroad when I was young. I was raised by my grandfather, who helped run this dock."

"Two years ago, my grandfather was in poor health, so he arranged for me to meet the second son of the Ye family in Yinhai. If we liked each other, we would get married and he would let my husband and me run this wharf together."

"The blind date went smoothly. I didn't feel any particular liking or dislike for the guy. I was just thinking that I was already 25 and hadn't met my Mr. Right, so I convinced myself to just find any guy and start a family."

"We got our marriage certificate that very day, and started planning the wedding the next day. On our wedding night, I wanted to give myself to him, but it turned out he was a virgin and had already exhausted himself. He was completely impotent. That night, he took a lot of medication, but it didn't work. Instead, he poisoned himself to death."

"Then things started to get out of hand. Ye Li, the eldest son of the Ye family, went even further, constantly targeting my grandfather's company's docks and farms, trying to seize our family's business."

"Because of this, the shareholders started pressuring my grandfather to hand over the company to someone they chose. As a result, my grandfather was so angry that he had to stay in the hospital to recuperate, and now I am all alone."

As Zeng Shen drove, he listened quietly to the woman's story and gradually sensed the resilience in her heart. He wondered how she could survive for three years during the catastrophe and become a third-tier water deity.

Soon, the car was stopped by the security guard at the entrance of Jinhai Wharf.

"Why are you here again? This is a cargo port terminal. Only authorized personnel are allowed here." As soon as the gatekeeper saw the familiar RV, he walked out of the security booth and yelled at Zeng Shen inside the vehicle.

But the next second, when he saw that Liu Miao was sitting in the passenger seat, his voice suddenly stopped.

"Miss."

"Qin Wei is our company's benefactor. He can enter our dock at will from now on."

"I know, Miss."

As the gatekeeper spoke, he immediately signaled to the guards in the security booth to quickly raise the iron bars and let them through.

[Warning! The host has intruded into the territory established by a third-tier water-elemental deity and several second-tier water-elemental deities. Given the host's combat strength, once discovered, escape will be difficult. The host must leave immediately.]

Hearing the notification sound in his ear, Zeng Shen frowned slightly.

He felt something was off about the notification sound. Why was the system using the word 'break in' instead of 'grab in'?
Although I had some doubts.

However, he didn't think much of it and was immediately drawn to everything at Jinhai Wharf.

Jinhai Wharf is the largest cargo port in the city. It is very large, filled with containers and forklifts coming and going.

"The types of goods transported within the port are also closely related to the surrounding industries, mainly including the import and export of rubber, logs, hardware products, and electrical accessories."

After the RV drove into the dock, Liu Miao began to introduce the situation of Jinhai Dock to Zeng Shen.

"With such a large dock, why are banks unwilling to lend you money?"

"Well, it's because Ye Li, the eldest son of the Ye family in the neighboring Yinhai City, expanded a small, previously barely operating wharf on the outskirts of Jinhai City into a second-class port with a capacity of 1500 tons last year. Then, he used low prices to lure away most of the companies that used to cooperate with our port."

"I know this dock looks big, but it's probably already operating at a loss because of the Ye family's meddling."

Liu Miao shook her head. "The one that actually suffered losses was not the dock, but the clam and mussel farm that my grandfather invested heavily in three years ago."

Zeng Shen drove his RV around the dock with Liu Miao while chatting. They didn't receive any notifications about encountering a second-tier water deity, so they went to Liu Miao's office building for a walk.

However, the same applies.

He still didn't trigger any warnings or notifications.

This left Zeng Shen somewhat puzzled.

Could it be that those second-tier water deities aren't here?

Are there still places I haven't turned around to?

Many thanks to readers ck星火燎原, 书友尾号1215, 炫海, and others for their monthly tickets, and a big thank you to 阿马粽 for the 100-coin reward.

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(End of this chapter)