192: Chapter 192 Plotting Treachery

"Alright, alright, I get it. You people can't approve it, right? Fine, then I'll leave. I'll go somewhere else, and I refuse to believe I won't get the loan!"

Seeing that Chen Ling was about to storm out of the office in frustration.

The Business Manager paused to think, then called out to her.

"Wait! Actually, if you really want to secure a high-value loan, there is a way."

Seeing a potential turning point, Chen Ling immediately stopped. She turned around and asked the Business Manager with a face full of suspicion, "Didn't you just say we couldn't get a high-value loan?"

The Business Manager nodded while picking up the documents from the desk and walking over to place them in Chen Ling's hands.

"I just said you couldn't get a high-value business loan. I didn't say you couldn't get other types of loans."

"As I mentioned, besides the business loan, we have two other types of corporate loans: one is a mortgage loan, and the other is a guarantee loan."

Chen Ling flipped through the documents in her hand and asked with a frown, "What's the difference between these two?"

The Business Manager began to explain them one by one.

A guarantee loan means a third party assesses the company's value, and the company acts as the guarantor, after which the Bank provides a loan roughly equivalent to the company's value.

Once the loan funds arrive, the company must repay the loan according to the agreed schedule. If they fail to repay for three consecutive months, the company will automatically be flagged as untrustworthy and its assets will be forcibly seized.

For a mortgage loan, the initial procedure is quite similar to the guarantee loan; both involve a third party assessing the company's value to allow the Bank to provide a loan close to that value.

The difference is that the company is directly mortgaged to the Bank. If the company fails to make a single monthly loan payment, the company will be repossessed and subsequently sold.

After clearly explaining these two loan types and their execution models, the Business Manager eagerly asked Chen Ling, "So? Have you decided? Do you want to take the loan?"

Chen Ling did not answer immediately; she was hesitating.

If she didn't take the loan, the matter concerning the Research Team would be completely without hope.

But what if she did take it... what if the company couldn't repay the loan before securing any projects?

After agonizing for a long time, Chen Ling turned to the secretary and asked, "What do you think?"

Hearing the question, the secretary was overwhelmed with flattered surprise.

He never expected that one day he would be asked for his opinion by Chen Ling.

After a moment of astonishment, he solemnly shared his thoughts with Chen Ling.

"CEO Chen, I think the risks associated with both these loans are too high, and we can't control them. Moreover, I suspect the interest rates for these loans must be very high."

As soon as he finished speaking, the Business Manager interjected with a frown, "I advise you not to overthink things right now. Doesn't your CEO Chen desperately need money? Just get through this immediate difficulty first!"

Having navigated the professional world for many years, the secretary immediately realized the Business Manager was trying to snag a huge commission from this single deal.

He was just about to remind Chen Ling to think thrice before acting when he heard Chen Ling tell the Business Manager, "I've decided. We'll proceed with the guarantee loan as you suggested. You're right, we need to get through this immediate difficulty first!"

The secretary's vision briefly darkened, and he complained frantically in his mind:

If she never intended to listen to him in the first place, why bother asking for his opinion!

Chen Ling was unaware that the secretary had started mentally complaining about her again.

Once she made her decision, she immediately went to discuss the interest rates with the Business Manager.

Because the matter was quite complicated, they didn't leave the Bank until evening.

Just as Chen Ling finished handling the loan matters here.

On the other side, Cheng He and Yu Miaomiao received the latest quotation—two hundred million.

"CEO Chen, are you joking with me? Are you sure you are offering us two hundred million?"

Chen Ling leaned against the window, watching the pedestrians outside, and said lightly, "Do I look like I'm joking with you?"

Cheng He quickly replied, "No, no, no, CEO Chen, you definitely aren't joking with us. So, when do we sign the contract?"

Hearing this, the corner of Chen Ling's mouth curved slightly, showing a half-smile as she sarcastically remarked, "Oh? You don't want to negotiate with another company now?"

Cheng He replied with a tone of appeasement, "Well... since you've shown such sincerity by directly offering two hundred million, we certainly won't go ask the other company anymore..."

Before he could finish, Chen Ling directly interrupted him.

"No, I want you to ask. Help me ask them if they can offer a higher price than this."

Upon hearing this, Cheng He's face was full of question marks.

He didn't understand why Chen Ling still wanted him to inquire about the other company's quote even after he had agreed.

However, regardless of the reason, this matter brought him no harm.

Thinking this, he readily agreed to Chen Ling's request.

"Okay, I'll call them right now to ask."

With that, he hung up the phone and dialed Chen Guangke's mobile number.

At that moment, Chen Guangke was in Shen Yan's office calculating severance pay.

Their company had laid off too many people at once.

To ensure the severance pay matched the contract stipulations, he and Wu Ya were working overtime in Shen Yan's office.

"Jingle, jingle! Jingle, jingle!"

"Slap!"

"Ah!"

A loud slap echoed.

Chen Guangke cried out in pain, clutching his shoulder.

"Why did you hit me? I wasn't doing anything!"

Hearing this, Wu Ya rolled her eyes.

"Your phone has been ringing for ages, why didn't you answer it? It's so annoying!"

As soon as she finished speaking, Chen Guangke realized his phone had been ringing continuously. Feeling guilty, he took out his phone and answered Cheng He's call.

"Hello? What's the matter this late at night?"

Cheng He replied, unable to hide his excitement, "It's about CEO Chen. The other company has increased their offer again. This time they raised it to two hundred million. What about your side...?"

"Two hundred million?!" Chen Guangke exclaimed in shock, "Are you trying to fool me?!"

Cheng He replied, "CEO Chen, don't worry, we wouldn't play such a cheap trick on you. The other party really did offer us two hundred million."

"Do you have any intention of raising your offer? If not, I will finalize this deal immediately."

Chen Guangke was stunned.

He had expected Chen Ling to raise her offer.

But he never imagined Chen Ling would be this ruthless!

She had increased the budget by fifty million in one go, directly offering the Research Team an annual salary of two hundred million.

Just as he stood there dumbfounded, Shen Yan walked in from outside the office.

"What's wrong? Why do you look so dazed?"

Hearing Shen Yan's question, Chen Guangke swallowed hard, covered the phone's earpiece, and lowered his voice, "The Research Team is calling."