Chapter 480: God‑Level Misunderstanding

Lu Qingshan said it was two billion Huaxia currency.

But Saleman, when he saw those two fingers, had his mind instantly filled with his pre‑set "astronomical number"! His sharp eagle eyes on either side of his large hooked nose stared fixedly at Lu Qingshan's two casually lifted fingers, his heart pounding!

Two hundred million US Dollars?

No, impossible!

This is an insult to this great cooperation that could change a nation's destiny! It insults Saleman's outlook! This mysterious Eastern friend must be testing my Sincerity in the uniquely Huaxian way!

He recalled on the Great Wall Lu Qingshan saying, "The human heart is the true defense"; and in the Forbidden City Lu Qingshan saying, "Governing a nation is just an account"!

Yes! He understood everything!

Those two fingers are not a price, but a threshold! A test!

He immediately thought of a larger unit! Two billion US Dollars? No! For the Dongfeng Missile that can let Saudi Arabia sleep soundly, that's still too cheap! It must be… two hundred billion!

Heavens! Two hundred billion US Dollars to buy a country's future! To buy an indestructible ally! It's like a gift from the gods!

I cannot take such a huge advantage from a friend! I must show the Saudi Royal Family's spirit and our appreciation for this friendship!

Saleman, excited, sprang up from his seat; his handsome face flushed bright red from blood rush, he even felt his blood burning, and blurted out, his voice trembling with excitement: "Mr. Lu! My friend! You are too generous! But I cannot let you be at a loss! I know a strategic‑level cooperation like this must be pricey! Two hundred billion US Dollars! Is that enough? If not, we can add more!"

Pff—

Lin Yueqiang, who had been trailing behind Lu Qingshan, trying hard to be a decent backdrop, just lifted his teacup to moisten his throat dried by shock, heard that earth‑shattering figure, and the scalding Longjing tea could no longer be contained; it shot out in a perfect parabola, arcing over half the conference table, and precisely drenched the immaculate white robe of a senior Saudi official opposite.

The conference room fell into a death‑like silence.

The air solidified, and time seemed to halt its flow at that moment.

The Saudi official, drenched in tea, remained leaning forward; he slowly lowered his head, his face stunned as he stared at the yellow‑brown tea stain spreading across his chest, exuding a fresh tea aroma, his mind blank, even forgetting how to be angry.

Saleman and his attendants behind him were all petrified; they couldn't understand why the young man who had been trailing behind Mr. Lu would make such a rude move at this critical moment.

Two hundred billion... US Dollars?

Lu Qingshan's hand holding the teacup froze in the air for a hundredth of a second, so briefly that almost no one noticed.

His brain, in that instant, raced at a speed surpassing supercomputers. Two billion Huaxia currency, at the current official exchange rate, is less than three hundred million US Dollars. Yet the other side shouted two hundred billion US Dollars! That's a gap of nearly seventy times!

He looked at Saleman's eyes, which seemed to read "I am very sincere", "you quickly praise me", "if it's not enough I can add more", then glanced at the Saudi official opposite, whose chest was soaked and who now doubted everything, and at his own brother‑in‑law who had caused a calamity and was so frightened his very soul seemed to leave his body, and suddenly everything became clear.

This desert Prince genuinely feels that the future he has purchased, the friendship he has purchased, is worth that price, perhaps even more. He regards his humility as a uniquely Eastern subtlety and test.

A sacred, grand, absurdly extreme misunderstanding was born.

Lu Qingshan's inscrutable smile remained unchanged, even gaining a hint of approval. He slowly set down his teacup; the bone china struck the rosewood table with a crisp, light clang, a sound like thunder that shattered the suffocating silence.

He didn't even glance at the trouble‑making Lin Yueqiang, as if he were just an ignorant fly passing by, inconsequential. His gaze fell on Saleman, and he slowly, gently shook his head.

The gesture, like a ruthless hammer, struck Saleman's heart hard.

Saleman's heart lurched, his face went white in an instant; he thought Lu Qingshan's head shake meant rejection of his quote, a doubt of his Sincerity! He even saw the rude tea‑spraying act as a hint!

He blurted out, his voice tinged with pleading: "No… not enough? Mr. Lu! My friend! Rest assured, money is no issue! As long as you nod, three hundred billion! Three hundred billion US Dollars!"

"No, Prince, you misunderstand," Lu Qingshan finally spoke, his voice carrying a perfectly timed sigh and a sense of relief and emotion as if deeply understood by a confidant, "I just didn't expect your valuation of our friendship to be so high, so high that it even makes me feel a bit ashamed."

He rose calmly, walked to the trembling Saleman, and solemnly extended his hand, his gaze so sincere it seemed it could drip water.

"I originally thought that help between friends shouldn't be measured with money. But since you, Prince, insist on proving your Sincerity this way, if I refuse again it would seem I don't cherish our friendship enough."

He paused, speaking word for word in a tone tinged with a bit of resignation and reluctant generosity.

"Since that's the case, then two hundred billion US Dollars. That's your price for this friendship, I accept."

When Saleman, on the arms‑sale contract worth two hundred billion US Dollars and the comprehensive strategic cooperation framework covering countless futures, signed his name with a pure‑gold Parker fountain pen, he felt immensely fortunate and thrilled.

He grasped Lu Qingshan's hand tightly, feeling he was holding not a merchant but a prophet who could guide Saudi Arabia to brilliance. He knew that with money he had bought Saudi a future that could develop steadily for at least thirty years.

Yet Lu Qingshan, looking at the contract's still‑wet Arabic signature and the glaring "200" billion figure, thought of the nation's foreign‑exchange gaps for the next five, even ten years— not only filled, but more than covered.

That sum is enough to turn Huaxia's aircraft engine projects from blueprints into roaring reality; enough to let countless starving chip factories complete the most advanced tech upgrades; enough for this nation, still in a difficult start, to stand tall and move faster and steadier when facing any blockade.

The desert's oil gold is already in hand.

Now is the time to seize the brightest diamond on the continent of Africa.