Fifty small-factory owners stood in the center of the grand marble executive hall of the Jiangcheng Commercial Bank Headquarters, clutching crumpled invoices, ledger books, and loan call notices.
These men and women operated the small packaging plants, glass bottle works, cotton bandage mills, and herb drying kilns that kept Taichu Hospital and Grandma Chen’s canteens running. Their Goodness Scores hovered in clean, hardworking greens between 82/100 and 90/100.
On the raised marble dais at the front of the hall, Vice President Liu stood behind a polished oak counter.
He was a stout man with oily slicked-back hair and gold-rimmed glasses. His Goodness Score hovered in a dark, corrupt crimson: 11/100. In his inner jacket pocket rested an offshore bank transfer slip for five million yuan, wired at two o’clock in the morning from Chairman Zhao Kun’s private Cayman shell account.
Beside Liu stood two corrupt credit managers, holding thick stacks of blue foreclosure orders with red judicial seals.
“Plead all you want!” Vice President Liu sneered, tapping the microphone on the counter. “The risk algorithms of this bank do not care about your sob stories! Your loans were issued on thirty-day revocable terms! Under emergency risk clauses, Jiangcheng Commercial Bank demands the immediate repayment of two hundred million yuan in aggregate principal!”
Factory Director Song stepped forward, his eyes bloodshot with exhaustion.
“Vice President Liu!” Director Song shouted, his voice cracking. “Our loan terms were for three years! We have never missed a single interest payment in five years! You called this loan at midnight and gave us until noon! Where can fifty small factories find two hundred million yuan in cash in four hours?!”
“That is your problem, Director Song,” Liu said, curling his upper lip in a smug grin. “If the full two hundred million is not cleared into our escrow account by twelve o’clock sharp, court bailiffs will padlock your factory gates at twelve-fifteen. Your machinery and inventory will be auctioned to satisfy the debt. I hear Zhao Real Estate is already prepared to purchase your equipment for ten cents on the dollar.”
Several elderly factory owners sank into the waiting chairs, covering their faces in sheer despair.
“Thirty years of hard work... gone in one morning...”
“How can the bank destroy fifty honest businesses for the Zhao clan?”
Liu checked his gold wristwatch, laughing with greasy satisfaction.
“It is eleven-thirty,” Liu announced. “You have thirty minutes left. If anyone has two hundred million in cash, bring it forward. Otherwise, start packing your desks.”
BAM.
The heavy revolving glass doors of the bank lobby were pushed open with a sharp, echoing snap.
Lin Mo strode into the hall.
He wore his simple white linen shirt and dark trousers, his hands resting comfortably in his pockets. To his left walked Su Wan, holding an executive briefcase, and to his right walked Shen Qiaoqiao, holding a crimson regulatory binder.
Behind them walked a tall, dignified man in his late fifties, dressed in a tailored navy suit with a gold lapel pin.
The banking staff behind the counters instantly froze. Several tellers dropped their rubber stamps.
It was Provincial Bank Governor He Zheng. His Goodness Score glowed in a solid, honest green: 88/100. He was the highest financial regulatory authority in the entire Jiangnan region.
When Vice President Liu saw Governor He Zheng, his smug grin vanished. A bead of cold sweat formed on his oily forehead.
“G-Governor He?” Liu stammered, hurrying down the marble steps with an awkward bow. “What brings your Excellency to our branch today? We are simply conducting a routine risk mitigation audit on fifty high-risk industrial borrowers—”
“Routine audit?” Governor He Zheng said, his voice cold as arctic ice. “Calling in two hundred million yuan in performing commercial credit lines in the middle of the night without regulatory filing? Who gave you the authority to bypass provincial banking procedures, Vice President Liu?”
Liu swallowed hard, his tongue feeling dry like sandpaper.
“Governor, the Zhao Consortium presented confidential market data indicating these fifty suppliers faced imminent bankruptcy,” Liu stammered. “We were merely protecting the bank’s liquidity—”
Lin Mo stepped forward, standing between Governor He and Vice President Liu.
He looked at Liu’s trembling hands and greasy collar.
Zhao Kun really thought five million in bribes could shut down fifty factories, Lin Mo thought, amused by the smallness of their vision. They measure the world in small envelopes, completely blind to the tidal wave standing right in front of them.
“Vice President Liu,” Lin Mo said, his voice calm, clear, and quiet. “You claimed these fifty factory owners lack liquidity?”
“Chairman Lin,” Liu sneered, trying to recover his footing. “This is a matter of institutional banking law. You may have cash for restaurants, but two hundred million yuan in cleared corporate debt cannot be resolved by handing out lunch boxes.”
Lin Mo smiled faintly. He turned to the fifty factory owners standing behind him.
“Brothers and sisters,” Lin Mo announced, his voice carrying to every corner of the marble hall. “Taichu Group does not abandon its partners. Su Wan, initiate the Taichu Industrial Debt & Modernization Grant.”
Su Wan stepped forward, opening her payment console.
“Twenty million yuan,” Lin Mo commanded. “Transfer four hundred thousand yuan directly into the business accounts of each of these fifty factory owners as an unconditional, zero-interest Taichu Benevolence Equipment Grant. In addition, Taichu Group hereby guarantees their entire two-hundred-million-yuan commercial debt facility with Jiangcheng Commercial Bank.”
Tap.
Su Wan swiped Lin Mo’s Black-Gold Sovereign Benevolence Card across the portable terminal.
BEEP.
A magnificent, resonant system chime rang out deep in Lin Mo’s consciousness:
[Ding! Detected spending of ¥20,000,000.00 RMB on Small Enterprise Modernization & Industrial Protection Grants!]
[Target Beneficiaries: 50 Honest Factory Owners & Core Medical Suppliers (Goodness: 82–90/100)!]
[Purpose: Direct non-repayable grants (¥400,000 each) for automated machinery upgrades and debt clearance!]
[Pure Altruistic Intent Verified: Saving 50 manufacturing enterprises, preserving 3,000 industrial jobs, and protecting municipal medical supply lines!]
[Triggering 100x Pure Benevolence System Refund!]
[Cash Refund Received: +¥2,000,000,000.00 RMB!]
[Funds deposited directly into Host Personal Liquid Vault!]
[Personal Liquid Vault: ¥89,000,000,000.00 RMB!]
[Benevolence Merit Points: +2,000,000 BMP | Total BMP: 181,949,528 BMP!]
[Good People Network Expanded: 9,730 Verified Righteous Allies (+50 industrial manufacturing leaders formally secured)!]
Two billion more in cleared cash, Lin Mo thought, watching his liquid vault surge to eighty-nine billion yuan. Vice President Liu tried to shake down fifty honest families for two hundred million. Instead, he just funded my next expansion.
Ding. Ding. Ding.
Across the bank lobby, fifty mobile phones chimed at the exact same moment.
Notice: Your corporate account has received ¥400,000.00 RMB from Taichu Benevolence Foundation.
Director Song and the other forty-nine factory owners looked at their screens, tears of joy streaming down their faces.
“The grant arrived!” Director Song shouted, holding his phone high in the air. “Four hundred thousand in free equipment funds! And Taichu guaranteed our credit line!”
The fifty factory owners broke into thunderous applause, bowing to Lin Mo with heartfelt gratitude.
Vice President Liu’s face turned white, but he forced a stubborn smirk.
“Even if Taichu guarantees their debt,” Liu scoffed, “Jiangcheng Commercial Bank requires collateral verification! Who knows if your personal account has the capital to back a two-hundred-million guarantee? Our branch cannot accept empty promises!”
Governor He Zheng frowned deeply, his eyes flashing with anger.
“Vice President Liu, you dare question the solvency of Taichu Group?”
“Governor He, banking regulations require proof of liquidity!” Liu insisted, sweating profusely. “Let Chairman Lin place his personal card on our sovereign verification terminal! Let everyone see if he has the cash!”
Lin Mo chuckled softly.
“You want to see my card on your terminal?” Lin Mo asked.
“Yes!” Liu barked. “Place it on the scanner!”
Lin Mo pulled his Black-Gold Sovereign Benevolence Card from his shirt pocket. He walked over to the bank’s central master terminal, laying the card flat against the crystal sensor plate.
BEEP.
A massive, musical tone echoed from the bank’s ceiling sound system.
The giant forty-foot curved digital display wall above the main teller counter—the screen normally used to display provincial interest rates and municipal bond prices—suddenly flashed bright, blinding gold.
Every screen, computer monitor, and teller terminal in the five-story building locked onto a single, verified sovereign banking ledger:
[Central Bank Sovereign Ledger Verification.]
[Client Name: Lin Mo.]
[Card Tier: Black-Gold Sovereign Supreme Core (Level 9).]
[Account Status: Clear, Unrestricted Liquid Cash.]
[Verified Liquid Balance: ¥89,363,180,000.50 RMB!]
The entire grand banking hall went so quiet that the drop of a paperclip would have sounded like a gunshot.
Vice President Liu stared up at the giant screen. His eyes bulged behind his gold-rimmed glasses until the veins turned bright red.
“E-Eighty... eighty-nine billion... liquid cash?!” Liu stammered, his knees buckling under him.
The two corrupt credit managers beside him dropped their leather folders, papers scattering across the marble floor like white leaves.
Every teller, security guard, and client in the hall stood frozen in stunned silence.
Eighty-nine billion yuan. Not in corporate valuation. Not in promised stock pledges. Not in future accounts receivable.
It was eighty-nine billion yuan of cleared, liquid, sovereign cash sitting in a single personal checking account.
Lin Mo looked at Governor He Zheng, his voice completely calm.
“Governor He,” Lin Mo said, pointing to Vice President Liu. “Your Vice President Liu says Jiangcheng Commercial Bank has a severe liquidity shortage. He claims your branch cannot support fifty honest local factories. If your bank is so fragile that two hundred million in performing loans causes an institutional panic, I would hate to place a burden on your reserves.”
Lin Mo leaned against the mahogany counter, looking down at Vice President Liu with a deadpan expression.
“Governor He, please transfer all eighty-nine billion yuan of my personal funds out of Jiangcheng Commercial Bank right now. Wire sixty billion to the Bank of China, and the remaining twenty-nine billion to the Industrial & Commercial Bank. Let us see if this branch survives until two o’clock.”
THUD.
Vice President Liu fell to his knees on the marble floor.
His gold-rimmed glasses slipped off his nose, clattering against the stone. Cold sweat drenched his silk shirt, sticking to his back like wet paper.
If eighty-nine billion yuan was pulled from Jiangcheng Commercial Bank in a single afternoon, the entire provincial branch network would collapse. The interbank lending rates would spike, the reserve ratio would detonate, and the bank would be placed into emergency state receivership before sunset!
“Chairman Lin! No! Please!” Liu screamed, crawling across the floor toward Lin Mo’s shoes, his hands clasped in frantic prayer. “I was wrong! I was blind! I was bribed by Chairman Zhao Kun! He gave me five million yuan to ruin those fifty factories! Do not pull your funds! I will approve ten-year credit lines for all fifty factories at zero interest! Have mercy on me!”
Governor He Zheng stepped forward, his face dark with fury.
He pulled a thick audit dossier from Shen Qiaoqiao’s binder and slammed it onto the counter before Liu’s face.
“Five million in offshore bribes from Zhao Kun,” Governor He Zheng thundered. “Shen Qiaoqiao provided the complete wire traces thirty minutes ago! You sold out fifty honest manufacturing families and nearly brought down this institution for five million yuan!”
Governor He turned to the armed municipal security officers standing by the entrance.
“Arrest him!” Governor He ordered. “Strip Liu of all banking credentials, freeze all his personal and family assets, and hand him over to the Anti-Corruption Bureau immediately! The two credit managers beside him are dismissed and placed under criminal investigation!”
Four uniformed officers marched forward, dragging the sobbing, pleading Vice President Liu away in heavy steel handcuffs.
The fifty factory owners erupted into wild cheering, lifting Director Song onto their shoulders and shouting Lin Mo’s name at the top of their lungs.
While the hall echoed with celebrations, a sharp, piercing alarm chimed on Lin Mo’s phone and Su Wan’s tablet simultaneously.
WEE-WOO! WEE-WOO!
A bold red satellite priority alert flashed across the screen:
[Emergency Dispatch: Taichu Sanctuary Hospital Fleet Unit #07.]
[Cargo: Pediatric Cardiac Spirit-Herbs & Rare Cordyceps.]
[Status: Ambushed on Suburban West Ring Road.]
[Incident: Three Unmarked Heavy Vans Rammed Transport Off Highway.]
[Medical Escorts Under Fire.]
Lin Mo’s eyes narrowed, a cold, golden gleam flashing deep within his gaze.
“Zhao Kun’s final death-struggle,” Lin Mo said, his voice dropping into pure ice. “He could not stop the factories, so now he wants to kill sick children by stealing their heart medicine.”