I just saw the CEO mention the topic of borrowing money, which reminded me of an old story. Back when I started a small company in Zhongguancun, the landlord's brother would come to collect the rent every quarter. Sometimes he would give me a check, and other times cash. At first, he would give me a receipt issued by the landlord's company. Years went by, and I gradually became familiar with the landlord's brother, so he often forgot to bring the receipt, which I didn't mind. One year before the Spring Festival, the brother came to collect the rent again, saying he came by chance and didn't bring the receipt. Just so happened I had money in the bank, so the accountant wrote him a check. Since a check needs to be recorded, I asked him to sign the stub. Then, he didn't rush to leave and continued chatting with me. Suddenly, he said that his mother was sick and hospitalized and urgently needed money, asking if I could lend him 100,000 yuan. I felt that we weren't that close; we only saw each other every quarter. Besides, his landlord brother's family is quite wealthy, so why would he come to borrow money from me? It felt off, so I politely declined, saying I was also tight on cash. Unexpectedly, he was still persistent, asking how much I could lend, saying he wouldn't mind any amount and even offered me high interest. At that moment, I felt even more uneasy and firmly refused. Seeing that it was hopeless, he awkwardly left. A month later, the landlord's accountant came to ask me if I had paid the rent. I said I had, and she wanted to see the proof. I took out the check stub signed by the brother, and she then said that this brother was not the landlord's real brother. The rent check was never returned, and he had already run away after borrowing from people around him. Luckily, I had given a check with a signed stub; otherwise, it would have been hard to explain. Also, I was fortunate that I didn't feel embarrassed to lend him money; otherwise, it would have been a wasted effort. A few months later, my company started receiving calls from various banks about credit card debts. It turned out that the house and phone were used by the landlord's previous company, and this "brother" had left the company phone number when he applied for credit cards here. Before he ran away, he maxed out all the credit cards. The lesson I learned from this is that finance is no small matter; verbal agreements are not reliable, and you must have documentation. Also, when someone you don't know well suddenly asks to borrow money, you must think twice; it could very well be a trap.