Chapter 572: Fooled Again?

The motorcade drove out of the building's backyard, with one Iveco leading the way and one Iveco bringing up the rear.

The car Lin Sicheng sat in was a Red Flag, specially arranged for him by General Captain Li Daoheng from the Municipal Bureau.

He could also be considered to have experienced the treatment of a leader in advance.

The meeting was set at the Beijing Hotel, which was not far away; it would take only two streets to get there.

But it was the morning rush hour, and they would drive a few steps and stop for a while, then drive a few more steps and stop again. The time spent stopped was several times longer than the time spent moving. Wang Qi Zhi had a sudden thought: would a car suddenly crash into them, or would a few burly men rush out from the cars next to them, bang-bang-bang-bang? It seemed unlikely; didn't they see they were only a few dozen meters from Tiananmen?

As these thoughts turned, he looked at Lin Sicheng beside him: although his eyes were open, he was motionless, clearly lost in thought.

"What are you thinking about?"

Lin Sicheng came back to his senses: "Thinking about General Manager Liu!"

Entrusted by others, one must be loyal to their affairs. Since he had promised Director Su, he had to find a way to get through to Liu Anhua.

To tell the truth, the difficulty was not small. It wasn't that he was afraid Liu Anhua wouldn't agree, but that he would definitely open his mouth like a lion.

There was no need to guess; Lin Sicheng could think of what conditions Liu Anhua would propose even with his eyes closed: a new identity, a new face, and lifelong safety... wanting the horse to run while not wanting to give it grass—there was no such good thing in the world. From Liu Anhua's perspective, it was reasonable and fair. But putting himself in his shoes: the high risk was one thing, and it was also not very easy to handle.

To put it bluntly: if the loss this time was too great, the big sharks behind those companies would never let General Manager Liu go, no matter what.

Even if he were sentenced to ten years, they would inevitably wait until he was released from prison to settle the score with him properly.

Therefore, Lin Sicheng had to consider how to grasp the balance in the middle.

He could neither let himself suffer a loss, nor ask for too much, and even less could he let these companies become suspicious...

Just as he was secretly pondering, the motorcade started moving and did not stop again, driving all the way to East Chang'an Street.

Then it made a turn and drove into the parking lot.

Tall pillars, bright red lanterns, and four large red characters on the canopy: Beijing Hotel.

The venue was arranged by the relevant departments; here, at least, there was no need to worry about safety issues.

The car stopped at the entrance, and Lin Sicheng got out and deliberately waited for a moment.

The bodyguard in the car behind opened the door, and the first to step out was Tan Zheng, followed by a man and a woman.

These two were introduced by General Captain Li, who said they were lawyers from an elite law firm in Beijing. But Tan Zheng had never heard of the law firm's name, nor the names of these two, and even Wang Qi Zhi hadn't been able to find anything.

From this, one could imagine the identities of these two. Lin Sicheng even suspected that they hadn't even known General Captain Li before this.

With these two as a foundation, Tan Zheng's status seemed very awkward and somewhat redundant.

Afraid that Lin Sicheng would be put in a difficult position, she took the initiative to propose withdrawing.

But things weren't done that way: from beginning to end, Tan Zheng had been following Lin Sicheng as his fully authorized lawyer, which was like mud falling into one's crotch—even if it wasn't her doing, it was still her doing.

One couldn't have her there when it was time to be the scapegoat, only to kill the donkey once the harvest was in.

Thinking that these two probably wouldn't care about such things as empty fame, Lin Sicheng emphasized: no matter how many times they talked, or who led the negotiations, Tan Zheng's name must be in the first position in the legal aid column for all external documents and materials.

The two didn't hesitate at all.

So, Lawyer Tan's mood was very complicated now. If she were to speak her true feelings, although she had helped a little, it didn't count for much.

It was only when Lin Sicheng climbed the wall to send the threatening email that she had offered some ideas.

As for this time, all the details and all the response plans had been comprehensively planned by the two people beside her. Not only comprehensive, but also professional. It wouldn't be wrong to say she was just for show.

But her credit was not generally large: if this could be negotiated, the five characters "Lawyer Tan Zheng" would inevitably resound throughout the industry.

Even bigger than she had previously thought: not just Shanghai, but the whole country. Even, becoming famous abroad...

Tan Zheng didn't know how she should thank Lin Sicheng.

The group gathered together, and Lin Sicheng smiled: "Lawyer Tan, don't be nervous!"

If it were before, Tan Zheng would indeed have been very nervous: if the other party had made a dark move against Lin Sicheng, dealing with her along the way would have been like child's play.

But now, Tan Zheng wasn't worried at all: look at the big Red Flag behind them, look at the new bodyguards Lin Sicheng had changed into, and look at the two "peers" beside her.

Really, having grown up this big, there had never been a time safer than now.

She returned a smile: "Teacher Lin, I won't!"

No longer "Little Lin," but Teacher. It was extremely natural and came from the bottom of her heart.

Lin Sicheng nodded: "Good, let's go in!"

The group went up the steps, the doorman bowed to greet them, and the receptionist asked for the reservation information.

The venue was set by the relevant department; the receptionist pressed the elevator and took them to the sixteenth floor.

The place was not large, a small VIP hall, with a layout exactly the same as the one that appeared in the News Broadcast:

A carpet printed with peonies, a circle of sofas around the perimeter, and a giant colored landscape painting hanging on the wall, "Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains."

Lin Sicheng glanced at it: the inscription was by Guan Shanyue.

There were quite a few people, more than a dozen men and women, all standing up in unison.

Most were new faces; the only ones he recognized were a few: the Commercial Office official from the Consulate, Division Chief Li Xian from the Ministry of Commerce, and President Li Zhengwu.

The four hands shook together, and Lin Sicheng had a familiar air: "President Li, we meet again!"

The corners of Li Zhengwu's mouth twitched: to tell the truth, he had fantasized countless times that when he saw Lin Sicheng, he would definitely spit in his face and then properly greet Lin Sicheng's family.

Then, he would also have to ask Lin Sicheng: Do you know how I spent this past week?

Flying from China to the United States, and from the United States to China, he had flown back and forth four times.

Explaining to the board of directors, explaining to the shareholders, explaining to the family, explaining to the business partners... Li Zhenghao felt that he might have finished bowing for the rest of his life, and had lost all the face he would have in this lifetime.

He wanted even more to ask Lin Sicheng: Have you ever seen an American bow?

It wasn't that they couldn't bow, or that they didn't have a similar culture; on the contrary, the cultural gene was quite deep: only when one was extremely humble, equivalent to apologizing, would they bow.

It was equivalent to a kowtow in China.

Oh right... he also had to ask Lin Sicheng: Have you ever tried the feeling of your facial muscles being frozen from smiling?

But when he actually saw him, he had to suppress his anger and squeeze out a smile.

Lin Sicheng didn't know that Li Zhenghao had so much inner drama. But he could tell: Li Zhenghao was very unhappy.

This shows that their internal negotiations are not going very smoothly. At the very least, they haven't yet managed to pull together as one.

This is a good thing: the main purpose of this meeting is to stall, and the negotiation itself is only secondary.

The less united the opponents are, the lower the probability of reaching a consensus...

In a flash, Li Zhengwu introduced them to him: first was the official from the Commercial Office, a pure Anglo-Saxon, yet he had a very traditional Chinese name: Su Bingnan.

"Book of Changes, Hexagram of Revolution": The great man changes like a tiger, his patterns are brilliant.

The "Great Mystery" written by the Western Han Dynasty Great Confucian Yang Xiong: Like a leopard above, the celestial patterns are brilliant.

The character "Bing" (brilliant), combined with the character "Nan" (south), refers to the Southern Dipper.

Lawyer Feng, who was the man among the two lawyers by his side, had specifically reminded him: this person is a true China hand.

Unsurprisingly, in two or three terms, even if this person isn't an Ambassador, they will be a Consul.

Lin Sicheng didn't pay much attention to this, so he didn't have much of an impression. But he could understand Lawyer Feng's implication: this person is very formidable and also very difficult to deal with... After introducing Su Bingnan, Li Zhengwu then introduced Division Chief Li Xian: but this time, he wasn't invited by the Consulate, but was attending as an observer on behalf of the Ministry of Commerce, with a neutral stance.

But for some reason, Lin Sicheng always felt that Division Chief Li's smile was somewhat forced.

Logically speaking, such an expression shouldn't appear on the face of someone with his status...

Then there were the representatives of the various companies: Saishi Technology, Bruker, Keyence, Rigaku, Agilent, Elmer...

Whether male or female, thin or fat, but when they shook hands with Lin Sicheng, their expressions were as if they had been cast from the same mold: resentment, anger, and disdain.

But it wasn't strange; if it were Lin Sicheng, it would be the same: a troublemaker suddenly pops up who might make him lose half his net worth, and Lin Sicheng's attitude would definitely be even worse than these people's.

So he didn't care at all, with a smile on his face, enthusiastic to the end.

After the introductions, both sides sat down, and Lin Sicheng got straight to the point: "General Manager Li, who is presiding over this meeting?"

This question had a reason: within this week, the Consulate had taken the initiative to communicate with the Foreign Affairs Department, requesting that both sides send representatives to attend and preside over the negotiations between Saishi and Lin Sicheng, and they had arranged it about three times.

But every time, the Foreign Affairs Department refused on the grounds of it being an "ordinary commercial dispute."

Out of respect, the Foreign Affairs Department notified the Ministry of Commerce to send a representative to observe. The Consulate could only follow suit: likewise sending a representative to observe.

It was called observing, but who could guarantee that when the negotiations reached a deadlock, Division Chief Su wouldn't intervene?

So it had to be made clear who was in charge today. If it were like last time, where a perfectly good commercial negotiation had to be mixed with political factors, Lin Sicheng would turn around and leave.

Having already suffered twice, how could he not know what he was thinking? Li Zhengwu squeezed out a smile: "General Manager Lin, there is no third-party presiding today, both sides will negotiate in a friendly manner!"

Lin Sicheng smiled: "That's good, please, Lawyer Feng, distribute the Agreement Blueprint to all the representatives!"

As he spoke, the two lawyers and Tan Zheng stood up and distributed the documents to everyone present.

The binding was extremely sloppy, with a plastic cover and a white paper front page, printed with a title in both Chinese and English: Compensation Agreement for the Commercial Fraud Case of Saishi, Keyence, and Four Other Companies.

Li Zhengwu's eyelids couldn't stop twitching: this bastard, doing this again?

Not to mention the content inside, just this title alone, it was absolutely impossible for anyone to agree to it.

Flipping through it, Li Zhengwu gasped: as expected?

First look at the first item: Settlement and Compensation Agreement regarding contract fraud, theft of academic achievements, patent infringement, and other disputes by instrument companies such as Saishi Technology, Bruker Instruments, Agilent Technologies, Elmer, Keyence, and Rigaku.

Time: 2000-2009.

Involved enterprises: XX Biotechnology, XX Pharmaceutical, XX Hospital, XX Research Institute...

Instrument losses: 1,070,000,000 Yuan (RMB), equivalent to 1,568,914,900 USD at the real-time exchange rate. Demand: compensate three times the value, the six companies must pay a total of 4.7 billion USD.

Direct or indirect losses: 7.8 billion USD.

Total compensation: 12.5 billion USD.

Li Zhengwu laughed at the sight: claiming over 10 billion USD... Lin, why don't you just go rob someone?

Do you know what the market value of these six companies is?

Saishi is the highest, Keyence and Rigaku are a little less, these three are all over 100 billion.

But the remaining three are only in the 10 billion level. Especially Elmer and Bruker, which are only about 10 billion USD, their market value is not much higher than Lin Sicheng's claim amount.

Does that mean you have to compensate the company to you?

He thought Lin Sicheng would open his mouth like a lion, but he didn't expect it to be this big?

Setting this aside, just looking at this title and the definition of the agreement, no company could possibly agree.

If Li Zhengwu were to say something neutral: these companies were just poorly managed and lax in their precautions, and Liu Anhua took advantage of them. Even if you stretched it to the ends of the earth, it wouldn't have half a cent to do with contract fraud, theft of information, or patent infringement.

Especially the latter two points, they simply didn't happen. Even if someone stole data, it was definitely you, Lin Sicheng, who stole it; there would never be a second person.

Even a clay figure has three parts of Fire Qi; no matter how good Li Zhengwu's self-restraint was, there were times when he couldn't hold back his anger.

He closed the document and said with a straight face: "General Manager Lin, no one will agree to this agreement. If you want to talk, please show your sincerity!"

Lin Sicheng was calm and unhurried: "General Manager Li, what counts as sincerity?"

"Void it all and draft it again!"

"When, now?" Lin Sicheng looked around, "Here, with the representatives of all the companies?"

Li Zhengwu really wanted to say: of course, it's for you to go back and discuss it again, and come up with an Agreement Blueprint that all parties can accept. The reason is simple: whether it's the Saishi headquarters, the five allies, or even the Ministry of State Security, their attitude is surprisingly consistent: stall.

It's best to stall until all the backup systems are updated.

But Li Zhenghao had suffered a great loss, which had already given him psychological trauma. He always felt that the current Lin Sicheng was no different from that time in Shanghai: bringing out an agreement that was impossible to agree to, deliberately causing the negotiations to collapse.

Last time, Lin Sicheng almost forced him to jump off a building, so what about this time?

Seeing Lin Sicheng's calm and composed appearance, Li Zhengwu became increasingly suspicious.

He looked at the "translator" beside him, and the translator understood, leaning over to whisper a few words in his ear.

Li Zhengwu nodded and looked at Lin Sicheng again: "General Manager Lin, let's talk right here, let's start talking today. With representatives from all sides here, it's convenient to communicate..."

After a slight pause, Li Zhengwu looked at the two people behind Lin Sicheng: "Do you need to ask for instructions?"

This was a jab at him: can you make the decisions?

Lin Sicheng let out a laugh: "Of course!"

Even the outline of the agreement was provided by me; you're saying I can't make the decisions?

When these two first arrived, they made their stance clear: they would only provide supplements and would not offer any suggestions regarding the direction of the negotiations.

Even if Lin Sicheng said they didn't need to pay a single cent, they wouldn't say a word of objection.

Li Zhenghao was half-doubting: "Then let's begin?"

"Fine, let's begin!"

Lin Sicheng nodded, and the three Lawyers distributed the documents one by one.

They still had plastic covers, but no titles.

They were still one copy per person; everyone present had one.

After opening it, Li Zhenghao read it word for word.

This document was the Loss Inventory for various damaged companies, enterprises, and institutions in China.

Which company brought in what equipment, which company's machine it was, who signed the Contract, and who purchased it on their behalf.

As well as which components used second-hand parts, which systems used outdated versions of the Software, and what the loss amounts were—it was all listed clearly. Halfway through reading, a bad premonition surfaced in Li Zhengwu's heart: was Lin Sicheng clearly prepared for this?

It was as if he had long anticipated that he would not agree to his initial Technology Authorization Agreement and would demand to renegotiate here.

Why did it feel like he had been tricked again?

Secretly suspicious, he patiently finished reading the inventory.

It was a full thirty-plus pages, with nearly one thousand items.

It was specific down to the detailed instruments and equipment, over two thousand in total, large and small.

Li Zhengwu looked stunned: in the previous Technology Authorization Agreement, the 10.7 billion that Lin Sicheng claimed was actually an accurate figure?

He had thought it was something Lin Sicheng had fabricated out of thin air...