40: Chapter 40 Is this your car?

The sentence Shen Zhou spoke calmly and in a low voice felt like a ray of sunlight in winter.

It seemed to illuminate Lin Lan's figure in an instant, yet it also felt somewhat lacking in warmth.

"You can help? That's a shortfall of over ten million! How can you help?"

"Shen Zhou, I know you care about me, but there's no need to joke at a time like this."

Lin Lan was stunned by Shen Zhou's words at first, but then, as if she truly understood what he meant, she shook her head with a bitter smile.

"Manager Lin, when have I, Shen Zhou, ever made a joke like this?"

"Are you telling the truth?"

Lin Lan was stunned again, then asked in disbelief.

"Of course it's true. I just met a friend yesterday who specializes in corporate credit business at Longfa Bank."

Shen Zhou said earnestly.

"Longfa Bank? I thought you were talking about something else!"

"Shen Zhou, didn't I tell you about my situation earlier?"

"I've already contacted several banks here in Shanghai, and I simply can't get a loan."

"I've already contacted Longfa Bank a long time ago."

"Without sufficient collateral, it's impossible to get a loan approved."

Hearing that the bank Shen Zhou mentioned was actually Longfa Bank, which she had contacted as soon as her funding problems arose,

the tiny spark of hope that had ignited in Lin Lan's heart was extinguished.

How could she not have friends in the bank credit business? The key issue now wasn't whether she knew someone, but the conditions—she couldn't meet the loan requirements!

A place like Shanghai isn't like other places; it's an international metropolis and the vanguard of the nation's finance.

Banks in such a place rarely see instances where loans are obtained through connections.

Even if they did exist, it wasn't something Lin Lan could manage. She was just an entrepreneur who had come to Shanghai alone; who would help her?

"Then what if there is collateral?"

Facing Lin Lan's dejection, Shen Zhou remained very serious.

"Collateral? Of course a loan would be approved with collateral, but where would I get the collateral? My car and that apartment combined wouldn't be enough to secure tens of millions!"

"My funding gap alone is over ten million right now, and that's not even counting the subsequent expenses!"

Lin Lan shook her head again, saying helplessly.

"Manager Lin, you didn't understand what I meant. I meant that someone is willing to help you provide the collateral. Do you think that would work?"

"The friend I know at Longfa Bank has exactly those kinds of resources!"

"Are you telling the truth?"

Lin Lan's eyes widened in surprise.

"Absolutely true, guaranteed!"

Shen Zhou spread his hands and said calmly.

Yes, Shen Zhou had actually considered helping Lin Lan resolve her funding crisis long ago.

That meant using the cash he currently possessed to directly help the beautiful boss, or using the 51% equity he owned in the Haoqing Grand Hotel as collateral to help Lin Lan.

This wasn't just because the system would provide generous rebates for helping Lin Lan.

More importantly, it was because Lin Lan now shared a relationship with him that was different from that of ordinary people.

He could choose not to help a company boss, but he definitely had to help his own woman.

Back in the day, even though Wei Xiaobao's fourth wife, Fang Yi, hurt him so much, didn't Wei Xiaobao still risk his life to save her?

What he was doing was just a small favor, nothing extravagant.

Soon, Shen Zhou briefly recounted the conversation he had earlier when he met with Mu Shanshan, omitting the blind date scene.

Shen Zhou basically summarized the credit policies of Longfa Bank from Mu Shanshan's side once again.

"You say that friend of yours, Mu Shanshan, can really find someone to help me guarantee the collateral?"

Shen Zhou didn't tell Lin Lan that the collateral was actually coming from him.

It wasn't that Shen Zhou wanted to deliberately hide it; it was mainly because he hadn't intended to tell everyone everything anyway.

Someone who can't keep anything to themselves and blurts everything out is just a blabbermouth.

"Just set a time to ask her yourself, and you'll know!"

"Would I lie to you about something like this?"

Shen Zhou said calmly.

"Alright then, I'm free today. Shen Zhou, can you help me schedule it for today?"

"Come on, Boss, today is the weekend! They aren't at work!"

"Oh, I was too anxious. How about Monday?"

"Fine, seeing as you're in such a rush, let's do it today!"

Shen Zhou hadn't intended to tease Lin Lan, so seeing her so anxious to meet, he didn't refuse again.

Afterwards, he made a quick phone call to Mu Shanshan and hinted to her not to disclose anything about his assets to the public, then Shen Zhou set off with Lin Lan.

As soon as the two arrived at the underground parking garage, Lin Lan caught sight of the bmw 7 series that Shen Zhou had just purchased.

"Whose car is this? Why is it occupying our company's parking space?"

"Shen Zhou, take down the license plate number; I'll call the building management later!"

Before Shen Zhou could respond, Lin Lan started rummaging through her bag.

However, after searching several times, Lin Lan ultimately couldn't find her Mercedes-Benz car keys.

"Oh no, I can't find my car keys. Could I have left them in the office?"

As she said this, Lin Lan wanted to turn back immediately and run toward the elevator.

But at that moment, Shen Zhou quietly grabbed Lin Lan's hand from the side and said with a smile:

"No need to go back up; going back and forth wastes too much time, and Manager Mu is still waiting."

"How about you just ride in my car?"

"Your car? You mean that electric scooter of yours?"

Lin Lan didn't react at first, but suddenly remembered the little electric scooter Shen Zhou used to ride.

That little electric scooter, let me tell you, was a classic example of something that made noise everywhere except for the bell.

What Lin Lan didn't know was that the reason Shen Zhou used to ride a broken electric scooter to work was to save money to live with Lu Qinglian.

And now, what Lin Lan didn't know even more was that in the next scene, Shen Zhou was about to drop her jaw.

"I didn't ride that electric scooter today. How about we take this one today?"

As he spoke, Shen Zhou activated the ignition switch on the BMW 760 car key in his hand.

A luxury car is a luxury car; the effect of a two-million-plus vehicle is essentially different from one worth one or two hundred thousand. Just the moment the car's ambient lights turned on, it embodied the gap between a luxury sedan and an ordinary car.

"This is your car?"

"You only make a few thousand yuan a month, and you bought a bmw 7 series? And it's the top-of-the-line model?"

"This car costs over two million!"

Lin Lan couldn't help but cover her mouth in surprise.

She asked in disbelief.