Chapter 1033: Scared Me to Death!

"Mr. Pike, your point of view is really... shocking to me."

Li Xuewu said he was shocked, but the expression on his face was one of complete satisfaction and a smile.

He gestured for Peng Xiaoli to come over, then asked Pike, "Is this your first time in Beijing?"

"Of course, the first time, one of the many wonderful firsts in life."

Pike's mental state appeared very relaxed, without any tension from participating in foreign affairs activities.

Even though the person sitting opposite him was his cooperation negotiation partner, it could indeed be seen that old-school capital had such a foundation.

He looked at Li Xuewu, spread his hands, gestured to the scene flying past the window, and said earnestly, "Your country is too big and possesses absolute development depth."

"I have no doubt about the future here, and even less doubt that a country with thousands of years of brilliant civilization will be backward forever."

"Thank you, thank you for your sincere opinion."

Li Xuewu nodded with a smile, took an album from Peng Xiaoli's hand, and placed it on the small table between the two parties.

"As a private invitation, to express our welcome to you, I have a gift to give you."

"Oh? This is really a surprise."

Pike's gaze had long been on the album; he raised his head to look at Li Xuewu and Xue Zhifu, and nodded in confirmation, "Can I look at it now?"

"Of course, it's yours."

Li Xuewu pushed the album forward politely and gestured for him to feel free.

Pike first smiled and signaled to the two, then opened the album.

"Whoa—!"

Just after opening the first page, he was shocked by the exquisite design inside the album.

A factory building prototype suddenly stood up on the spread page, and scenes of some buildings and workers laboring jumped onto the paper.

Three-dimensional paper model, an extension of traditional paper-cutting technology, with a unique and exquisite shape.

"This is the early stage of the Red Star Rolling Mill."

Li Xuewu leaned forward to introduce, "At that time, we had just welcomed the new social transformation, and everything started from zero."

"I have understood your history; it was very difficult, and I have deep feelings."

Pike nodded and said, "The UK also encountered German bombing, and even our King had to hide in an air-raid shelter."

"War is cruel, and also cold-blooded; it left deep wounds on every nation."

Li Xuewu said with a serious face, "So we must be independent, work hard, and innovate scientifically."

Under his gesture, Pike turned to the second page, where a steel-making blast furnace rose from the ground, and several representative steel-making workers stood in the workshop holding tools.

"Steel City Steel-making Factory, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Red Star Rolling Mill, with an annual production capacity of 450,000 tons."

Li Xuewu introduced, "Now it has six blast furnaces, including two special steel smelting blast furnaces."

"Raw materials are purchased locally, and the produced steel is mainly supplied to projects such as the Rolling Mill, Shipyard, Hardware Factory, and Automobile Industry."

"Over here."

He gestured for Pike to continue turning the page and introduced, "Yingcheng Shipyard, located in an excellent port in Bohaiwan, is a downstream project acquired by the Rolling Mill last year."

"The shipyard has the manufacturing capacity for ten-thousand-ton freighters, and orders mainly include cargo ships, fishing boats, speedboats, and luxury yachts."

"Andrew's project?"

Pike interrupted Li Xuewu's introduction, nodded, and said, "I have heard Andrew introduce this place; it is very beautiful."

"That's right, we have developed a luxury yacht project with Geely Star Shipping, and what Mr. Andrew saw was probably just the tip of the iceberg."

Li Xuewu tapped the location of Yingcheng Port on the drawing page and emphasized, "The shipyard's project far exceeds his expectations."

After saying that, he opened the document handed over by Peng Xiaoli and placed a plan in front of the other party.

All in English, no reading barrier; Pike just lowered his head and knew what Li Xuewu wanted to say.

"Large cargo ship development project?"

He looked at Li Xuewu in surprise and asked, "Does Yingcheng Shipyard already have the manufacturing capacity for large cargo ships?"

It's no wonder he doubted; the data originally provided by the Rolling Mill to Andrew showed that Yingcheng Shipyard would only complete all construction projects in June of this year.

A shipyard that hasn't been built yet, and it wants to rush ten-thousand-ton giants?

"You might have heard of the Bincheng Shipyard."

Li Xuewu introduced very frankly, "At the Yangcheng Foreign Trade Fair last year, both sides reached a consensus cooperation agreement."

"Bincheng..."

Pike nodded clearly, temporarily dispelling his doubts, and looked at the document in his hand.

Li Xuewu continued to introduce while he was halfway through reading: "The advantages of container transport in long-distance shipping and railway transport have already been revealed."

"So the ten-thousand-ton giant project that Yingcheng Shipyard is going to build next will be a container transport ship."

"Oh, I've already seen it."

Pike pointed to the annotation on the document and nodded in confirmation, "Whoever says the mainland's thinking is backward is talking nonsense."

He raised his head to look at Li Xuewu, smiling with emotion, "Enterprises that start container cargo ship layout now are rare."

"No, it has already started in the advanced transport fields of Europe and America; we are not ahead of the times."

Li Xuewu wouldn't be dazzled by his two sentences; he pointed to the market situation investigation report behind the document and said, "It's not too late to catch up now."

Pike looked at this investigation report earnestly, his eyebrows frowned slightly, and he asked, "Where did this data come from?"

"Newspaper."

If Li Xuewu wanted to say it, he would naturally say it; if he didn't want to say it, he could lie without stuttering.

Just this sentence left Pike speechless; he didn't know which newspaper was so boring and bold as to dare to publish the overall data of the world's large shipping and transport situation.

In this day and age, information exchange is not as smooth and transparent as in later generations, and many key data are kept as secrets.

He could only say that the Rolling Mill had a deep foundation and Li Xuewu was supernatural.

Putting down the document in his hand, Pike nodded with a smile and said, "Very thoughtful; I think this project has infinite prospects."

"Thank you."

Li Xuewu seemed to see his thoughts and didn't entangle with this project, continuing to introduce the album.

After looking at the Rolling Mill, the Steel-making Factory, and the Shipyard, Li Xuewu showed him the Third Industry Factory, the Tianjin Trade Management Center, and the Joint Enterprise Introduction.

The last page spread out was a national map, with small red flags erected in cities where the Rolling Mill had already established cooperative relationships and set up offices.

"Ooh——"

Pike looked at the cities marked on the paper model and the associated enterprises and office markers, and said in surprise, "You have already established your own sales network?"

"Integration, opening up upstream and downstream industrial chains, a deep-type enterprise integrating humanities, travel and residence, scientific research, teaching, production, and sales."

Li Xuewu gestured to several key cities and introduced, "This, this, this, this, and this are the office selection cities to be developed this year."

Combined with the previous introduction to the joint enterprise and trade, Pike knew that the offices Li Xuewu mentioned were actually the prototypes of sales subsidiaries.

Possessing an integrated management structure of sales, procurement, finance, maintenance, after-sales, etc., they are called branches.

But when the overall structure is continuously improved, these branch structures can independently complete incubation and extension, forming subsidiaries and tertiary branches.

The creation of an office in every large city or key city represents that the province has a development anchor point.

Next, create provincial sales companies upward, extend city-level branches downward, and incubate independent projects during the period.

By then, the Rolling Mill will take Beijing as the main control brain, Tianjin as the core eye, and Steel City as the blood-making heart, with tentacles reaching all over the country, and the domestic sales situation will be completely opened.

And with Tianjin as the key node and Yingcheng as the transport springboard, commodities will jump out of the country and move toward the world; this giant beast that is both internal and external will smash all trade barriers with low prices, high quality, and high efficiency.

Even if facing encirclement and suppression, it won't affect its rapid development; instead, it will give it stronger power, making the products produced more and more refined and cheap.

By that time, similar factories and enterprises can only be passively involuted; compared with it, they have to compare labor, technology, equipment, materials, and even culture.

Beads of sweat had already appeared on Pike's forehead; he knew too well the cultural foundation of this nation and this country.

When it really comes to comparing culture, who can compare to them.

What he fears is not that the Red Star Rolling Mill giant ship will break the pattern of world trade; what he fears is that there is not only one Red Star Rolling Mill giant ship here.

Surrounding Beijing, it can incubate intelligent and research-oriented enterprises; surrounding Steel City, it can incubate production and manufacturing enterprises; surrounding Tianjin, it can incubate trade and exchange enterprises.

The three points structure each other, rely on each other; this game of chess can only incubate more and more integrated enterprises, finally forming a particularly large trust economic union.

This is only in the north; if this kind of group-type, integrated trust appears in the south where the climate and industrial production environment are better, wouldn't it be another Russia?

Pike slowly raised his stiff neck; he had been too focused just now, even ignoring politeness and courtesy, and he smiled apologetically at Li Xuewu and the two.

"Truly shocking, indeed."

He shook his head and sighed, "I believe there are many projects and contents you haven't introduced, but I can imagine how huge such an enterprise is."

Li Xuewu shrugged his shoulders, giving him an expression that it was indeed so, you guessed it, but there was no reward.

"You should be very clear that the nature of our enterprise is collective, an organizational ownership."

He looked at Pike and explained earnestly, "The creation and development of all factories must meet the needs of the times, the needs of the people, and the needs of the organization."

"At the same time, the third-party industry that applies and serves the joint enterprise is another exploration of economic liberalization compared to the market."

Li Xuewu tapped the document at hand and hinted, "We need foreign trade to maintain the introduction of technology and equipment, thereby rapidly improving the existing production level."

"A very perfect layout and management idea."

Pike nodded in recognition, then leaned back, looked at Li Xuewu and asked, "Is this your work, Mr. Li?"

He suddenly smiled and said meaningfully, "It has your style characteristics, more perspective and foresight."

"It is the collective thinking and labor result."

Li Xuewu explained earnestly, then smiled slightly and said, "It seems Mr. Pike's observation of me is very careful."

"Hahahaha!"

Pike laughed loudly, then extended his hand to shake Li Xuewu's again, and said earnestly, "Thank you for your invitation; I think this journey will be very pleasant."

"Of course!"

Li Xuewu emphasized with a smile.

This freight train itself was going to the Tianjin Aquatic Products Company, so Zhang Changming was already waiting when it arrived at the dispatch freight station.

"Hahahaha!"

Li Xuewu took the lead and stepped out of the carriage, taking the initiative to extend his hand and hug Zhang Changming who came to greet him.

"Oh——"

Zhang Changming originally wanted to shake hands with Li Xuewu, not expecting this bastard to be so enthusiastic.

However, just as he was about to push Li Xuewu away, he heard him whisper a sentence in his ear.

"Is it true?"

"Can't be fake."

Li Xuewu looked at his surprised eyes, smiled and patted him on the shoulder, saying, "Please don't blame me for bringing too many friends."

"How could I! I wouldn't be able to welcome them enough!"

Zhang Changming smiled and glanced at Li Xuewu, then began to greet the people who got off the car under the introduction of the other party.

Li Xuewu introduced everyone to him, including Zhou Xiaobai and Luo Yun who followed out and looked around like two huskies.

"The car is ready, go directly to the pier."

Zhang Changming, as the host, had originally prepared a boat for going out to sea, but hearing Li Xuewu say he had borrowed a yacht, naturally he chose the better one.

As for the fuel cost, this was not in his consideration; things that could be discussed on a yacht wouldn't be cared about in terms of fuel money.

Not just fuel, how much material and manpower were prepared.

Last night he had already arranged for people to contact the yacht side and send a lot of things over, and this morning he arranged for professional service personnel to get on the boat in advance.

The car was a minibus, and the riding experience was definitely not as comfortable as in later generations.

However, everyone could get on the car, and it was a car going directly to the pier, which was convenient for communication.

Tianjin at nine o'clock was very lively; whether it was the aquatic products company or the street, the people in the car were watching the scenery outside the window while restraining their inner excitement.

Li Xuewu and Zhang Changming sat together, with Xue Zhifu and Pike nearby.

The car speed was not fast, and the crowd chatted and arrived at the pier.

"It's really beautiful~"

When Pike saw the Geely Star yacht, he couldn't help but let out an exclamation.

Xue Zhifu and Bao Peigang, who were seeing it for the first time, were also full of emotion; the art of ships broke their stereotypical impression of transport tools for the first time.

Just when they were watching the cruise ship, Zhou Xiaobai and Luo Yun, who had already been here once, had already carried their backpacks and got on the boat early.

The wind in the Haihe river channel was very strong; standing on the pier blowing cold wind was much cooler than walking on the street blowing wind.

It was not a feeling at all; standing here had a freezing, bone-piercing cracking sensation.

Zhang Changming had already seen this boat; it hadn't attracted much attention while parked here.

Many people were inquiring whose boat it was and why it was so high-end.

Of course, not many people knew the owner of the boat, and some people knew that this boat was under the jurisdiction of the Red Star Trade Management Center opposite.

But that side was a proper organizational unit, and those without connections couldn't even enter the gate.

"Get on the boat first, chat slowly on the way out to sea."

Zhang Changming invited the crowd, "Fishing gear is all prepared, and I also prepared a cook who is best at making seafood."

"Thank you, Mr. Zhang."

Pike took the initiative to thank him; although he wasn't the only one invited today, he still felt very honored under the hospitality.

Zhang Changming knew how to speak, gestured to Li Xuewu and said politely, "Li Chu's friends are my friends; you are too polite."

Li Xuewu was standing on the pier dealing with Bao Peigang; this brother was also someone who had seen the world, but he had never seen such a luxurious yacht.

"Yours?"

Bao Peigang gestured to the Geely Star and asked Li Xuewu, "I only heard you mention the shipyard, didn't expect..."

"You thought too much, hahaha."

Li Xuewu didn't feel embarrassed, gestured for him to get on the boat, and said while walking, "We can build it, but we are afraid that after building it, all our factory leaders will be built inside."

"Oh? Oh, hahahaha!"

Bao Peigang also reacted, covering his embarrassment with loud laughter, with quite a bit of apology, "I thought that..."

"I just said that."

Li Xuewu blinked at him with a smile, and they got on the gangway together.

The captain was wearing a white coat, shaking hands and saluting every guest who got on the boat.

Li Xuewu returned a standard salute, then shook hands and thanked him.

Everyone gathered in the living room of the cabin; the warm big coats had been hung in the wardrobe under the reminder of the service personnel. Looking at them now, they weren't bloated, which was much more convenient.

From the seating position, one could see the composition of today's guests.

Liu Shaozong and the three sat together, Bao Peigang and Pike sat with Xue Zhifu, while Zhang Changming sat on a single sofa teasing Zhou Xiaobai and Luo Yun.

Seeing Li Xuewu bringing two little girls out to play, he was also curious.

"What's the arrangement for today?"

Li Xuewu hung up his coat, walked into the living room with a smile, and asked Zhang Changming, "It wouldn't be just eating seafood at sea, right?"

"Of course not, it's agreed to go fishing!"

Zhang Changming turned back and introduced to Li Xuewu, "We expect to reach the core position of Bohaiwan in an hour."

He looked at his watch and said, "The sun is just right; it's not cold now. Let's compare first and see who has a harvest before lunch."

After saying that, he asked the other guests: "Less than an hour, just warming up; you guys don't have any opinions, right?"

"Hahaha, I don't care."

Bao Peigang sat on the sofa, holding a wine glass in his hand, smiled and waved his hand, saying, "I don't have any sea fishing skills; I'm just out for the fun."

"I agree with Director Bao's opinion."

Liu Shaozong crossed his legs and said with a smile, "I don't have any experience in river fishing, purely for this rare opportunity."

He said to Zhang Changming, "But I have to ask one more thing: if there's no harvest in the morning, we won't go hungry, right?"

"Hahahaha!"

Hearing his joke, several people in the room laughed; if they really went out to sea and went hungry, that would be a joke.

Zhang Changming waved his hand, explained with a smile, "Fishing is fishing; other seafood ingredients have long been prepared; we don't lack this."

After saying that, he gestured to the kitchen direction and introduced, "It's already prepared now; we will eat at twelve o'clock sharp, and won't let everyone go hungry."

"Division Chief Liu has been empty-bellied since receiving the news yesterday; he's just waiting for this meal of yours."

Gao Yaqin glanced at Liu Shaozong and teased with a smile.

Amidst the laughter of the crowd, Zhang Changming waved his hand and said, "We are all comrades and friends; since you've arrived here, I will definitely satisfy everyone."

"Li Chu, shall we go to the front?"

After introducing, he stood up under the gesture of his secretary and greeted Li Xuewu.

Li Xuewu nodded, then gestured to the crowd and said, "You guys chat first; I'll go see the captain with Deputy General Manager Zhang, and we'll set sail immediately."

This was said to the guests, and also asking for instructions from Xue Zhifu.

Xue Zhifu nodded with a smile, and as the host, took over the baton from Li Xuewu and took the initiative to greet the guests.

Although he didn't speak English, the translator was always there, not affecting everyone's chatting.

Seeing Li Xuewu leave the living room, Zhou Xiaobai and Luo Yun also followed.

Li Xuewu asked a question, and the two only said they were going to the bedroom to rest; they got up too early this morning and were still sleepy.

"Be careful not to oversleep; I'll throw you on a deserted island!"

"Hmph!"

"You damn ghost!"

After meeting the captain with Zhang Changming and shaking hands and greeting several ship supervisors, the instruction to set sail was determined.

This was just polite and formal; if you asked Li Xuewu to understand the ship's affairs properly, he wouldn't know.

When the yacht left the pier, the two returned from the cockpit side. Zhang Changming gestured to Li Xuewu, and then went to the restaurant side.

He had a personality similar to Li Xuewu's; he was easygoing and loved to make trouble, but was serious and reliable in doing things.

After being so polite in the living room, he had to ensure that the meals for noon, evening, midnight snack, and tomorrow morning met his standards.

After parting with him, Li Xuewu walked toward the living room, agreeing to take him to meet the British guy in a while.

But just as he walked to a corner of a guest room, he was startled by a figure that suddenly appeared.

"Fuck your grandpa!"

Li Xuewu broke out in a cold sweat, holding the gun in his hand, his finger moved away; he had almost fired just now.

"When did you come back?!"

"What's wrong with you! This is the mainland!"

Ji Wang Weidong was also startled; he just wanted to play a joke on Li Xuewu, and almost sent himself to the King of Hell.

If he really went to the underworld, and the King of Hell asked him how he came, what would he say?

Playing a joke on a friend, and getting shot by a friend?

This is a hell of a joke!

He wiped the cold sweat on his forehead, poked Li Xuewu, and said panting, "How many people want to kill you, you scared me to death!"

"I really should kick you into the sea!"

Li Xuewu looked left and right; fortunately, there was no one in the corridor, otherwise he would have scared someone else.

He put away the gun in his hand and pushed this sudden bastard into the cabin.

"You haven't said yet, when did you come back?"

"Rushed back after receiving your message, fuck! Tired to death!"

Ji Wang Weidong complained with his mouth, then threw himself on the sofa with a bang, looked at Li Xuewu and laughed, "Heard you have a son?"

"None of your business!"

Li Xuewu looked at him and asked, "Why didn't you say hello when you came back, having too much fun?"

"What's my identity? Confidentiality, understand?"

Ji Wang Weidong curled his lips, looked at Li Xuewu and said, "Fewer than a handful of people in the mainland know I'm back; this time it's top secret."

"Roll away, our factory knows more than five people."

Li Xuewu glanced at him, pointed at him and said, "Don't tell me you sneaked back by yourself."

"Fart, what kind of person do you think I am? I also have organizational discipline!"

Ji Wang Weidong stood up, took a cigarette from the tea table and lit it, and gestured to Li Xuewu.

Li Xuewu waved his hand, shook the apple in his hand and said, "Need to quit smoking, not good for the child."

"Fuck?"

Ji Wang Weidong widened his eyes and looked at him, with an expression of not recognizing him, and asked, "Are you for real?"

"What's real and what's fake?"

Li Xuewu walked to the bedside and sat down, saying: "I'm slowly cutting back; I never really had a smoking addiction to begin with."

After finishing, he pointed at him and asked: "Are you going home this time?"

"What do you think? It's like you have a son now!"

Ji Wang Weidong curled his lip, sat down opposite Li Xuewu, sighed, and said: "I don't even know how to say it now that the child is born."

"Say what?"

Li Xuewu looked him over and said: "Talk about your romantic affairs and your nights of debauchery?"

"I didn't! Those were all just for show!"

Ji Wang Weidong defended himself: "Besides, it was all for work. I wasn't moved in the slightest; those were all paper tigers."

"Hmm, that realization of yours is enough to get you executed, and you're still calling them paper tigers."

Li Xuewu glanced at him and laughed: "We don't talk like that here anymore; we talk about being progressive."

"What a coincidence, I'm damn well progressive!"

Ji Wang Weidong flicked his cigarette ash, smoked, and emphasized: "I've made myself damn well progressive, isn't that progressive enough?"

"Oh, right!"

He suddenly remembered something, stuck his butt out, ran to the suitcase at the end of the bed, and started rummaging through it.

It was just like a damn mouse digging a hole; he searched for quite a while before finally pinching a box and walking over to Li Xuewu to show it to him.

"What the hell is this?"

Li Xuewu looked at the purple packaging box; it was actually damn good-looking.

The key was that it even had a bow on it—the "comrade" element was a bit much!

He looked at Ji Wang Weidong with some suspicion and asked: "For me?"

"Bullshit! For my godson!"

Ji Wang Weidong shoved the box into Li Xuewu's hands, walked back to his seat, and explained: "No other gesture; I don't know what to buy, so I just had a set of gold locks made."

"Really?"

Li Xuewu looked like he was blinded by greed; he actually opened the box to take a look.

Inside the box, lined with soft cloth, was a gold lock the size of a child's fist, styled quite exquisitely, and it even rattled.

That was the little dangling bell; in the north, they call it a 'rattle.' Families with status would hang a horse-neck harness on their front gate when a son was born.

And when crafting a longevity lock for a boy, they usually choose ornaments that have bells.

If you want to get into the details, it might be a pursuit and allegory for martial arts in ancient times.

A yearning for a man to look forward to his ambitions and ride across the world.

Li Xuewu looked at it carefully but didn't dare to bite it; it wasn't solid, and it would be easy to damage if he used too much force.

"It's not gold-plated sand, is it?"

He said nonchalantly and critically: "I've heard there's a kind of fake gold in the south that's made to look just like the real thing."

"... You damn..."

Ji Wang Weidong's face darkened, and he gritted his teeth, saying: "Still so shameless! Give me back that coat!"

"Oh—you still remember that!"

Li Xuewu glanced at him, put away the gold lock in his hand, shook it, and said: "You've got heart, thanks."

After saying thanks, he muttered: "Too bad it's not solid."

"There's also this!"

Ji Wang Weidong couldn't be bothered to waste his breath on him and threw another document over.

Li Xuewu took it and, while looking at it, said: "Why go through all this trouble? I was just teasing you. A gold lock would have been enough; why send a house too?"

"I'll send you..."

Ji Wang Weidong's words rolled around in his mouth a few times, but he held back and didn't curse. This bastard's shamelessness was too damn similar to his own.

"A car? You bought it so fast?"

Li Xuewu knew this couldn't be the deed to a house; he was deliberately teasing Ji Wang Weidong.

Only after reading the document did he realize it was the passenger bus he had asked Ji Wang Weidong to purchase from Hong Kong a few days ago.

"I said what I said, and politeness is politeness."

Li Xuewu ignored Ji Wang Weidong's expression and said with a smile: "You're really not sending a house?"

"I already sent you one, and you want another?"

Ji Wang Weidong waved his hand, turned his head away because he didn't want to look at him, and hummed: "The leaders of your factory really know how to enjoy themselves, wanting such a good car."

"How can you say that!"

Li Xuewu put the document away and explained: "This car isn't prepared specifically for the leaders; it's for welcoming inspections and entertaining clients."

"That's still luxurious enough. An imported passenger bus, and with a super-luxury chassis."

Ji Wang Weidong stubbed out his cigarette, turned back to look at Li Xuewu, and asked: "Did your factory really strike it rich?"

"Strike it rich, my ass. We're having to borrow money just to get by right now."

Li Xuewu pointed toward the living room and introduced: "We have to entertain a god of wealth today, from the Dongcheng Credit Union—a real stingy old miser."

"Heh heh, that's interesting."

Ji Wang Weidong looked at Li Xuewu with an evil smile and said: "You made a fortune in Guangzhou last year, and now you're turning around and saying you don't have money to get by!"

He squinted his eyes and asked: "Tell me, how much did your factory leaders give you?"

"Hmm, if everyone in the organization were a petty person like you, then there would be no need to do any work."

Li Xuewu glanced at him and emphasized: "The rolling mill is going to invest in over a dozen projects simultaneously this year, not including scientific research."

"Just think about it, how much money is ever enough?"

He stood up and asked Ji Wang Weidong: "How many days are you staying? If it's a long time, I won't entertain you."

"Hey, hey! Where are you going!"

Ji Wang Weidong raised his hand to stop him and said: "Tell me about that fat sheep from Kuwait; I specifically came back to slaughter him."

"Fat sheep? Who told you that?"

Li Xuewu sat back down on the bed, looked at him, and said: "If you go into contact with him with that mindset, I advise you to pack up and go back to Hong Kong early."

After finishing, he threw away the apple core in his hand, washed his hands with the tea in his cup, and introduced: "It's a ten-million-dollar order; I'd feel more at ease finding someone reliable to handle it."

"I'm the most reliable!"

Ji Wang Weidong spat out a sentence, then looked sideways and asked: "Tell me, what's the situation? My leader called me to follow up and told me that if this order is settled, we can at least take on a few more big projects."

"You don't need to tell me that."

Li Xuewu looked at him and reminded him: "The only reason I thought of you all is that our businesses don't match, so I can only entrust it to you to handle."

"Easy, easy."

Ji Wang Weidong smiled and said shamelessly: "We're willing to do this kind of business with no capital; the money comes fast, and it's exciting."

"An international trade merchant from Kuwait, mainly dealing in hardware and farm tools, and moonlighting in a bit of arms trading."

Li Xuewu began to introduce the situation, telling Ji Wang Weidong about the parts of the ten-million-dollar order related to weapons, as well as the trade-related demands.

Finally, he reminded Ji Wang Weidong not to treat the other party like a fool, otherwise, he would be the big fool.

Ji Wang Weidong pondered for a moment, squinted his left eye slightly, and asked: "Have you ever thought that there might be other problems in this?"

His fingers moved, and he said: "What if he's not from Kuwait, or even if he is from Kuwait, what if the goods aren't being sold to Africa?"

"None of my damn business!"

Li Xuewu rolled his eyes and said: "He could be an alien for all I care. As long as he pays the money, I'll do this business. If there's money to be made and I don't make it, am I the fool or are you?"

"You're not the fool! But using us as a shield means you don't care about anything else!"

Ji Wang Weidong stood up and spat: "And you're still talking about experimental cooperation and follow-up investigations, bullshit!"

He spread his hands and cursed: "Once this batch of weapons flows out, where am I supposed to follow them to? Go to the natives' homes for a follow-up visit?"

"Sir, I am a representative of the arms manufacturer, here specifically to visit you."

Ji Wang Weidong performed vividly: "I've come this time specifically to ask you: do these Type 56 and Type 66-6 models hit hard, and are they satisfying?"

"And how should the sir answer that?"

Ji Wang Weidong stared at Li Xuewu and asked: "Should he say it's satisfying to death?!"

"Damn! You really have a talent for acting."

Li Xuewu looked at him amusedly, shook his head slightly, and said: "If I had known you a few years earlier, I would have definitely suggested you apply to the Film Academy."

"Get lost! I'm performing for you here!"

Ji Wang Weidong curled his lip, gestured wildly, and said: "I'll make it clear to you: our leader said that this time we want a twenty percent profit, no room for negotiation."

"Twenty percent? Why don't you guys just choke to death!"

Li Xuewu heard him talking big, the smile on his face vanished, and he stared and cursed: "You're only sending one person back, and you want to take twenty percent?"

"Hey! Do you have any conscience left!"

Ji Wang Weidong said fiercely: "How can you say it's just me? Do you know how much risk we have to take and how many procedures we have to facilitate?"

"Fine! You want twenty percent, right!"

Li Xuewu stood up, nodded, and said: "So I won't use you guys, is that fine!"

"Hey! What are you doing!"

Ji Wang Weidong grabbed Li Xuewu, who was about to leave, and questioned him with a glare: "Is your factory full of damn iron roosters!"

"Ten percent, take it or leave it."

Li Xuewu stiffened his neck and looked at him: "Even this ten percent is something I fought for on your behalf. After all, you're just hanging your name on it and making things convenient."

He patted Ji Wang Weidong on the chest and reminded him: "Don't be so greedy; it won't do you any good."

"Don't worry, I won't choke!"

Ji Wang Weidong rolled his eyes, let go of Li Xuewu's arm, scratched his head, and said: "How am I supposed to report back with ten percent? Our leader also said we should get some benefits."

"That's easy to handle."

Li Xuewu stomped his foot on the yacht, raised his eyebrows, and suggested: "Do you want speedboats? Equip them with four or five high-speed engines; they can fly, and the Hong Kong water police will never catch them."

"I damn well... that's actually true!"

Ji Wang Weidong was just about to curse, but then his eyebrows twitched, and he said meaningfully: "How did you think of this path to wealth?"

"Oh—I get it!"

He pointed at Li Xuewu and smiled wickedly: "You're damn well going to stir up trouble again, aren't you?"

After finishing, he squinted his eyes and said: "Same as Dongfeng Shipping, twenty-five percent. We'll help you handle the procedures. Do we have a deal?"

"Deal, my ass!"

Li Xuewu squinted and said: "Wait until you've figured out how to play Hong Kong before talking."

"Oh, right, that At."

As he got up to leave, Li Xuewu reminded him: "Don't make things too stiff; this isn't a one-off deal. It might be good for your future development."

"If you want me to have benefits, you might as well introduce me to that Englishman."

Ji Wang Weidong saw him to the door and said: "I've met that Smith Parker; he's been active in the Hong Kong business world for years and is a big shot at Watson's."

"I'll meet him first; he's got some tricks up his sleeve."

Li Xuewu squinted and said as if reminding him: "I suspect he has ulterior motives. Help me check his background."

"Leave it to me."

Ji Wang Weidong waved his hand and said: "You go entertain first; I'll come out to find you in a while."

"You're going fishing in a while, and you don't even like it."

Li Xuewu walked out while saying: "Just stay here and ponder your At."

"What At, damn it!"

Ji Wang Weidong cursed and slammed the cabin door shut; it echoed in the corridor.

The living room was lively; people from several systems were sitting together, with less restraint and more casualness.

However, because the Englishman was here, everyone was still relatively serious and didn't make any random jokes.

Parker seemed to enjoy contact with people from the mainland and listened with a smile as the interpreter relayed the content of everyone's conversation.

The interpreter had a delay limit and couldn't keep up with the rhythm of the conversation; only when asked would he say a few more words.

"Come, Director Li."

Bao Peigang waved at Li Xuewu and said with a smile: "We were just talking about this boat; hurry up and introduce it."

"The boat isn't ours."

Li Xuewu looked at the group with a smile and said: "The Yingcheng Shipyard is cooperating with Geely Star on a yacht project; this boat belongs to Mr. Andrew, the boss of Geely Star."

"Andrew, you've met him."

He said a sentence in English to Parker, then took a glass of wine from the bar and walked toward the sofa area.

"If Director Bao really likes it, why not operate it? Our shipyard can actually build it."

"Forget it! Are you trying to humiliate me!"

Bao Peigang glanced at Li Xuewu, squinted slightly, and said: "Your Director Li is afraid of making mistakes, and you think I'm not?"

"Actually, it depends on how you put it."

Li Xuewu sat on the sofa, raised his hand to indicate the cabin, and said: "This thing is a luxury item, but if it's used in the right position, isn't it a necessity?"

"Don't get me in trouble!"

Bao Peigang smiled bitterly: "If I really had this 'necessity,' you guys would make money, and I'd be worked to death!"