Chapter 2424: The Facade on the International Stage

Qiao Mingkang, President of the China Enterprise Confederation, sat upright in his spacious and bright office. On the desk in front of him lay a document. It was the list of participants for the upcoming symposium, and Qiao Mingkang was carefully reviewing it.

The first page listed the leaders and famous Chinese and foreign economic scholars attending the meeting, totaling forty-four people. Twenty-one of them were economic scholars, including famous economists from the China Economic Research Institute and economics professors from Tsinghua and Peking University, as well as the famous American economist Milton Friedman, Professor Murakami Tetsuji of the Faculty of Economics at Ryukoku University in Japan, and Professor Yoon Chun-suk of the Department of Economics at Seoul National University in South Korea.

Qiao Mingkang looked very carefully. There were less than twenty days left until the meeting. Although he knew that there would be no problem with the invitation list, he still had to check it personally to ensure that there were no omissions in the invitation list, otherwise, he wouldn't be at ease.

There was no problem with the list on the first page. Qiao Mingkang turned to the second page, which was the list of participating enterprises. Ranked first was Zhou Andong, Chairman of the Yugong Group and Factory Director of the Beijing Woolen Mill.

Qiao Mingkang's gaze stayed on Zhou Andong's name for a full ten seconds or so, and a look of worry appeared on his face, but it quickly disappeared. His gaze fell on the second name, which was the Liu brothers of the Hope Group.

At this time, the Hope Group had a very large influence in the fields of agriculture and food, and the Liu brothers became the richest people in China last year. The third was Boss Wang of Haier. Last year, Haier went public in China, and its brand awareness and market share were remarkable.

The fourth was Lianxiang Zhi, an old acquaintance of Zhou Andong. And ranked fifth was Boss Shi of Giant. At this time, Boss Shi was in high spirits.

Last year, Giant launched the M-6405, Chinese notebook computers, Chinese handwriting computers, etc. Among them, the annual sales of Chinese handwriting computers and software alone reached 360 million yuan, and Giant became the second-largest private high-tech enterprise in China.

At the beginning of this year, the Giant Building started construction, and Boss Shi was elected as one of China's top ten reform figures. It could be said that at this time, Boss Shi was absolutely in full swing in the domestic high-tech field.

"Pa, pa, pa..."

Just as Qiao Mingkang continued to flip through the list, the office door was knocked gently. The sound was not loud, but it had rhythm.

Qiao Mingkang looked up and shouted casually: "Come in!"

The door was slowly pushed open, and secretary Kong Limin walked in, then stood in front of Qiao Mingkang's desk and said softly: "President, the Woolen Mill has replied, Zhou Andong will attend the symposium on time."

Qiao Mingkang let out a long breath as if relieved. The worry in his heart was finally released, because he was truly worried that Zhou Andong would not accept the invitation; that would be a huge problem.

Because Zhou Andong was now absolutely the most outstanding entrepreneur in China, without one. Especially in the Japanese economic crisis, he acquired Sony's shares and jumped to become Sony's fourth-largest shareholder, which not only caused a huge shock in China but also had a certain influence internationally. It was no exaggeration to say that Zhou Andong had already become a bright business card for Chinese entrepreneurs on the international stage.

Therefore, Qiao Mingkang was so worried that Zhou Andong would not accept the invitation. After all, the symposium had representatives from many multinational enterprises attending. If even Zhou Andong, this business card, didn't attend, what would those multinational enterprise representatives think? By then, it would definitely bring huge negative influence to the Confederation, and even the country's image would be damaged.

Therefore, Qiao Mingkang had already thought it through: if Zhou Andong refused to attend, he would find a way to persuade him no matter what. Even if it meant going to see Elder Jian, even if it meant losing his old face, coming to a crying, making a scene, and hanging himself would not be a problem.

In short, he must let Zhou Andong attend the symposium. If it really didn't work, he would let Zhou Andong attend the symposium as an economic scholar. After all, whether it was the development of the Yugong Group, the killing in the sugar futures market last year, or the successful acquisition of Sony shares in the Japanese economic crisis not long ago, Zhou Andong's achievements in the economic field were obvious to all. With his qualifications and strength, attending the symposium as an economic scholar, he reckoned that no one would dare to raise any objections.

"Notify Zhou Andong of the theme of this meeting and let him prepare for a speech. In addition, you must maintain communication with Comrade Zhou Andong at any time. No matter what requirements he puts forward, we must try our best to solve them."

Kong Limin nodded hurriedly in response, then stood in place for a few seconds, seeing that the leader didn't seem to have other matters to explain, and then turned and walked away slowly.

At the same time, Zhou Andong left the factory office, got into the car, and then the car drove slowly toward the factory gate.

Shao Yan stood by the window and happened to see Zhou Andong's car drive out of the factory gate and disappear from sight. This made his brow furrow tightly, and he couldn't help but mutter in his heart.

Since Zhou Andong took office, he had been getting off work on time every day and had never left early, but today he left work more than half an hour early, which made Shao Yan couldn't help but feel suspicious.

If it were before yesterday, Zhou Andong leaving early every day, Shao Yan wouldn't care. But it just so happened that today they were digging a hole for Gu Bing, and Zhou Andong left early at this critical juncture, which couldn't help but make him think more.

"Ding-a-ling..."

A crisp phone bell suddenly rang in the quiet office. Shao Yan slowly turned around, walked to the desk, and reached out to grab the phone. Before he could speak, Tan Sheng's voice came from the receiver.

"Factory Director, Zhou Andong just left. I always feel that something is not quite right, should we..."

"Hmph!" Shao Yan snorted coldly, interrupting Tan Sheng's words: "Zhou Andong didn't just leave work

Although Shao Yan also had misgivings in his heart, by this point, the arrow was already on the string and had to be fired. No matter what conspiracy Zhou Andong had, he had to bite the bullet and go through with it.

Tan Sheng was startled by Shao Yan's reprimand and hurriedly said, "Factory Director, I understand. I will go see Gu Bing right now. Is there anything you need prepared on your end?"

Shao Yan looked up at the wall clock; it was already getting late. "Just make sure everything is arranged on your side and don't let any slip-ups occur. Today, we must make sure our Gu Shuji eats well, drinks well, and has a good time."

"Don't worry, I will definitely make Gu Shuji satisfied." Tan Sheng replied hurriedly. After he hung up the phone, a strange smile suddenly appeared on his originally serious face. Then he slowly stood up, straightened his clothes, and walked out of the office.

Zhou Andong's car slowly turned into Chenggen Road. He was resting with his eyes closed when he suddenly felt the car stop, and then he opened his eyes.

"What's wrong?"

Wang Wentian said with a smile, "Ningning and Su Su are blocking the road ahead."

Zhou Andong pushed open the car door and got out, only to see Old Four carrying a large bag of ice cream in one hand, holding Su Su with the other, and walking forward while skipping and jumping.

"Ningning, Su Su!" Zhou Andong called out.

The two little girls turned their heads, and upon seeing it was Zhou Andong, their faces immediately broke into brilliant smiles.

"Big Brother!"

"Daddy!"

Two crisp voices rang out simultaneously. Immediately after, Su Su opened her little arms and excitedly rushed over, shouting "Daddy" as she ran.

Zhou Andong hurriedly squatted down and opened his arms. Su Su's little body slammed into his embrace. Because the little girl was running so fast, she almost knocked Zhou Andong over.

"Did you miss Daddy?" Zhou Andong held Su Su in his arms, feeling his daughter's soft body and warm breath, his eyes full of doting affection.

Su Su hugged Zhou Andong's neck tightly, and then, like a cute little kitten, gave a "smack" and kissed her daddy on the cheek.

"I missed Daddy so much!"

"Daddy missed you so much too." Zhou Andong also gently kissed Su Su on her little cheek, then held the little girl, slowly stood up, and walked toward home.

"Old Four, why did you buy so much ice cream?" Looking at the large bag of ice cream in Old Four's hand, he asked casually.

"To eat, obviously!" Old Four rolled her eyes at her big brother and said irritably, "What else would I do? Wait for it to melt and raise fish? What kind of question is that?"

"..."

Zhou Andong looked at Old Four speechlessly, muttering to himself, what is going on with this girl? In his previous life, she didn't start acting rebellious until middle school; could it have started early in this life?

Old Four suddenly looked up, her eyes meeting Zhou Andong's, and she immediately became alert, saying loudly, "What are you looking at? If you dare to hit me, don't count on me helping you watch the kid anymore. When Su Su gets snatched by human traffickers, let's see what you do then."

"..."

Zhou Andong was so angry he raised his foot, making a gesture to kick her. Old Four reacted quickly, dodging to the side, then pointed at Zhou Andong quite triumphantly and provoked him.

"Hey? You actually dare to kick me? Do you not want to live anymore? Just wait, I'm going to tell my sister-in-law right now and have her come deal with you!"

After saying this, the girl ran off without looking back, not knowing if she was really going to tell on him or if she was just afraid of getting a beating.

"What am I supposed to do!" Watching Old Four's back as she turned into the alley, Zhou Andong sighed, his face full of worry.

Old Four is only in second grade, and she's already starting to be rebellious at such a young age. I'm going to have a headache in the future. I hope this girl can cause less trouble so I can live a few more years.

Zhou Andong walked into the courtyard and saw that it was piled full of air conditioners, with many installation technicians busy at work. When he reached the second courtyard, he saw Wang Hui standing under a tree, talking to two renovation workers.

(Wang Hui, former Deputy General Manager of the Purchasing Department of Jinghua Self-Selection Mall, jumped ship to Grand-Mart to serve as Sales Department Manager, later responsible for the Jinghua acquisition negotiations, and is now the General Manager of Jinghua Appliances.)

"General Manager Wang, why did you come yourself?" Zhou Andong greeted her with a smile, walking over while holding Su Su.

Wang Hui turned her head at the sound, and seeing Zhou Andong, a smile appeared on her face: "The Chairman's home is having air conditioners installed; I have to keep an eye on it myself. If something goes wrong, what will I do if you deduct my salary?"

Zhou Andong laughed and asked, "How is the situation at Jinghua Appliances? When will it open?"

Wang Hui replied, "On April 12th, we completed the acquisition of Jinghua, and on April 20th, we registered Jinghua Appliances. By May 10th, the locations for all fifteen Jinghua Appliances stores had been selected.

On June 1st, the 365 home renovation design was completed, and on June 5th, we officially entered the site for renovation. The renovation was completed on August 9th, and we signed contracts with 141 appliance manufacturers, covering over two thousand types of appliances.

Among them, there are over twenty air conditioner brands, sixteen television brands, and quite a few refrigerator and washing machine brands. In addition, twelve internationally renowned brands such as Siemens, Hitachi, Samsung, and Sony have moved in.

Now, the manufacturers are moving in, and we are scheduled to officially open on August 20th. That day is a Sunday."

Zhou Andong asked, "The publicity needs to keep up, otherwise it will be a bit difficult to get off to a flying start."

Wang Hui said, "I had Diya print 1.5 million flyers, and they were all delivered yesterday. Starting tomorrow, all 1,100 employees from the fifteen stores will be sent out to distribute flyers at the entrances of various enterprises and institutions, in residential areas, and on buses and subways."

Zhou Andong pondered for a moment and said, "By the end of the year, we need to reach twenty-five stores in the capital. Also, we need to accelerate the layout in the Jin-Ji region. By the end of the year, seven stores must open in Jinmen, and in the eleven prefecture-level cities in Hebei Province, at least two must open in each city."

Wang Hui nodded: "Gome is also accelerating its layout, but Gome has limited funds and is seeking cooperation with major state-owned shopping malls. As far as I know, two state-owned shopping malls have already signed contracts with Gome."

Zhou Andong narrowed his eyes. If he remembered correctly, Gome only started seeking cooperation with state-owned shopping malls in 1996, embarking on a path of rapid expansion, which also buried huge hidden dangers for Gome. But it is only 1994 now, and Gome has already started its path of expansion; it must be that Jinghua has put pressure on that Boss Huang.

Zhou Andong looked at Wang Hui and asked, "Are our negotiations with the appliance manufacturers going smoothly?"

"Very smoothly!" Wang Hui said with a smile: "Behind Jinghua is Grand-Mart, and behind Grand-Mart is the Yugong Group and Qiu Dongfang. Whether it's domestic manufacturers or foreign brands, the negotiations have gone very smoothly, and all of them provide goods first and settle payments later. Gome's settlement cycle is fifteen days, while ours is thirty days."

"Not bad!" Zhou Andong nodded very satisfactorily: "I'm going to eat with Anqin and her classmates in a while, you come along too. I'll make another call to General Manager Tang."

"Okay!" Wang Hui agreed: "The air conditioners won't be finished installing today; it will take another day tomorrow."

"It's not a matter of one night!" Zhou Andong waved his hand: "I'm going to the back to take a look."

Zhou Andong held Su Su and went to the third courtyard, then pushed open the door to Zhou Anqin's study. A blast of cold air rushed toward his face, and the heat on his body instantly disappeared, his skin immediately breaking out in goosebumps.

"So cool!" Su Su's little face was full of surprise, because in her little head, even with the electric fan on, it wasn't this cool.

"Su Su is here!" Mu Yun put down the paintbrush in her hand, ran over in a few steps, reached out and snatched Su Su away, then kissed the little girl on the face: "Let Big Sister give you a kiss."

"Big Brother!"

"Big Brother!"

"..."

Zheng Weihong and the others greeted him one after another.

Zhou Andong asked, "How is it? It's much more comfortable with the air conditioner installed, right?"

"Too comfortable!" Mu Yun chattered: "My brain feels much clearer, and I'm working faster."

Zhou Andong saw a large bag of ice cream on the coffee table: "Did Old Four buy this ice cream for you?"

"I asked her to buy it." Zhou Anqin said with a smile: "She put the ice cream down and ran away, saying you hit her and she was going to tell her sister-in-law to deal with you."

Zhou Andong shook his head helplessly: "Are the finished drawings for the mandarin-collar shirt ready?"

"They're ready!" Zheng Weihong picked up a stack of design drawings from the side and walked over: "There are eighteen styles in total, all here."