Chapter 1289: Buying a Club

"I really have heard of a breakfast meeting for the first time."

Zhang Songyi stood at the entrance of the International Hotel, welcoming Li Xuewu, the factory secretary-general, who had just stepped out of his car.

Li Xuewu waved his hand, declining the security personnel who had come over holding an umbrella, and stepped up the stairs into the light drizzle.

"To put it in our own words, a year's plan starts with spring, and a day's plan starts with the morning."

He didn't mind Andrew's sudden breakfast invitation. After walking into the lobby, he patted the raindrops off his body and explained with a smile: "To explain it with a Western proverb, it's the early bird that catches the worm."

"If explained from a scientific perspective, waking up in the morning is when a person's mind is clearest, their reactions are most agile, and their thinking is most active."

Li Xuewu glanced at Zhang Songyi beside him and said: "Using breakfast time to discuss work, one hopes for twice the result with half the effort."

"Mr. Andrew is an important commercial partner of our factory; even if he invited me to eat sunflower seeds, I would still have to come."

"You are indeed the learned one; I never knew there was such a grand principle behind discussing important work over breakfast."

Zhang Songyi took the towel handed over by the waiter, tested the temperature with his hand, and only then handed it to Li Xuewu.

"One must know the 'what,' but also the 'why'."

Li Xuewu used the towel to simply wipe his face, leaving the rainwater in his hair alone, as it would easily mess up the hairstyle he had combed in the morning.

"Knowing grand principles is useless. In the future, this International Hotel should also organize a few breakfast meetings; it would be best if they could 'taste' of development."

"I have noted your request. At the next administrative meeting, I will certainly convey your suggestion to the International Hotel's management team."

Zhang Songyi took the towel from his hand, wiped away the last drop of water on his administrative jacket, and then accompanied him toward the restaurant.

"Good morning, Mr. Li—"

Andrew spoke with a thick Northeastern accent. This greeting after meeting made today's otherwise high-end breakfast meeting feel a bit off.

Li Xuewu shook hands with him with a smile and said: "Good morning, Mr. Andrew, thank you for your invitation."

"I must mention that your Chinese is getting better and better," he said, taking off his jacket and sitting opposite Andrew in his white shirt, gesturing with a thumbs-up: "Your accent is even more authentic than mine, even more standard."

"Hahaha—eat something, my treat, please don't be polite—"

Andrew was showered with praise by Li Xuewu, and the smile on his face truly became radiant; he started showing off his Chinese again.

Zhang Songyi, who was behind the dining table helping Li Xuewu with his clothes, almost laughed out loud. Which wicked person taught a foreigner to speak Northeastern dialect?

Northeastern dialect itself carries a sense of humor; coming from the mouth of a foreigner, it had even more of a comedic effect.

Li Xuewu wasn't exactly a saint either; praising the other party's Chinese while bringing up "standard" and "authentic"—how would Andrew know whether he had learned standard Chinese or a Northeastern dialect?

Seeing the Italian old man being fooled by him, truly believing himself to be Marco Polo who had learned the authentic Chinese of the ancient Eastern kingdom, he felt quite smug.

From the Chinese Andrew spoke, it wasn't hard to see that those who taught him Chinese were also foodies.

Teaching foreigners to treat others is no easy task; in the International Hotel's restaurant, one could often see people paying their own bills.

Clearly good friends eating at the same table, yet paying separately when settling the bill, and still able to laugh and leave together after the meal.

The waiters didn't understand this social behavior at first. Later, after training from the Foreign Affairs Department cadres, they learned this was called "AA system." Foreigners are least willing to accept human sentiment debts; they are not very willing to treat others, nor are they willing to be treated, except for commercial entertainment.

Just hearing Andrew say "my treat" so smoothly, one knew he had been tricked into paying the bill many times. Anyway, he had money.

"I rarely eat Western-style breakfast," Li Xuewu said, setting the table in front of him with the waiter's help, smiling at Andrew opposite him: "Have you tried Chinese breakfast? Douzhi, soy milk, fried dough sticks, stir-fried liver, stewed offal, ring-shaped fritters, steamed buns, wontons, sesame cakes, and cold side dishes."

"I've had steamed buns and wontons."

Andrew, holding his knife and fork to cut the breakfast on his plate, raised an eyebrow and said: "Someone told me the others don't taste good."

"That would truly be a pity," Li Xuewu shook his head slightly and said: "The person who told you that was lying to you."

"Is that so—" Andrew looked at Li Xuewu with some hesitation, then shook his head with a smile and said: "Alright."

"Among Beijing's breakfast snacks, the ones you should least miss are Douzhi and stir-fried liver; they are the essence of local characteristics."

Li Xuewu recommended with a sincere face: "Next time there's an opportunity, I'll treat you to these delicious breakfasts."

"I'm starting to look forward to it now."

Andrew put down his knife and fork, picked up his napkin to wipe his hands, and said: "But it might have to be a bit later."

"Inviting you to breakfast today is because I wanted to tell you that I'm afraid I have to return to my country to work for a period of time."

"Back to Italy?" Li Xuewu looked at him with slight surprise and asked: "Then what about your work here?"

"Yes, back to Italy." Andrew nodded and explained: "My father is advanced in age, and the family business is about to face a generational transition. I must return to his side."

"Of course, my returning to my country doesn't mean giving up the business here, and even less will it reduce my attention to Yingcheng Shipping."

He flipped his palms and explained: "After returning, I will use this opportunity to continue contacting and digging deeper into domestic commercial resources; on the other hand, I must also set aside time to handle and reorganize my investments in Hong Kong. This is very important to me."

"I've been in the mainland for too long, so long that some people have forgotten my existence and want to take away my wealth."

"I understand your feelings very well—"

Li Xuewu pursed his lips and said: "As long as it's an enterprise, it will face these problems. I wish you success."

"Thank you, I like this idiom."

Andrew raised his wine glass to clink it lightly with his, smiling as he said: "I heard your factory has its own horse farm?"

"I've loved riding horses since I was a child, and my family has raised quite a few racehorses," he said, putting down his glass: "I miss the days when I was a child, accompanying my father to ride horses with my brothers."

"Did I go off-topic?"

With nostalgia and longing in his eyes, he smiled at Li Xuewu and said: "If you don't mind, when I return, I can give you a fine horse bred by our own family."

"No, you cannot say that—"

Li Xuewu smiled and pressed his palm, joking: "If you say that, I'll start missing you from now on."

"Hahaha—" Andrew's laughter carried heartiness and pleasure; it was the longing and pride of returning home in glory.

Speaking of glory, in the cooperation with Red Star Factory, Andrew completely opened up the Southeast Asian cruise ship market.

In Hong Kong, his sales performance was unrivaled; using price advantages, he beat those cruise ship companies until they were looking for their teeth on the ground.

After occupying the majority of the market share, the added value profit of cruise ships became prominent, especially the "let the middle class also own yachts" plan he had pushed with all his might over the past two years.

Currently, although Hong Kong is still in a state of recovery after the economic crisis, there are still cruise ships going out to sea for fun by the seaside.

Some say the economic crisis is a false proposition because the rich are always rich, while the vast majority of the poor can never cross that chasm, not even knowing how to manage money or spend it.

No matter how severe the economic crisis is, it won't affect the lives of the rich, because their villas are too big, and they can't even manage if they hire one less servant. This is a joke, right?

But the actual situation is exactly like that.

Andrew's Lucky Star Cruise Ship Company made yachts small, exquisite, and luxurious, lowering prices under cost control, touching the desire of Hong Kong people to conquer the sea, allowing middle-class families to have the fun experience of sailing, fishing, and barbecuing on weekends.

Never say these middle-class people are nouveau riche, bumpkins, without style, or without fun.

The middle class is the largest in number, the most sensitive to products and prices, and also the group most valued by commerce.

It is actually very difficult for the poor to cross the class to become middle class; even if your child becomes a lawyer, that is a level of difficulty.

But for the middle class to become rich, with basic knowledge of property management, they only need one opportunity.

So Andrew's keen eyes focused on this point, relying on the cooperation advantage with Yingcheng Shipping, using high-quality and inexpensive products to build the Lucky Star brand, completely detonating the market.

"How do you plan to handle and adjust your assets in Hong Kong?" Li Xuewu picked up his coffee cup, took a sip, and looked at Andrew opposite him: "I don't know if asking this would be presumptuous."

Li Xuewu didn't know how Italians eat breakfast, but Andrew's breakfast was very mixed.

Just for drinks, he ordered red wine and coffee. Li Xuewu also followed the host's lead, trying out the foreigner's lifestyle.

"To tell you the truth, Hong Kong is a mine," Andrew didn't mind Li Xuewu's question and said earnestly: "As long as you set your mindset right, you won't lose money investing in anything."

This is the confidence and ability of old-school capital; they firmly believe what they see is the market, not opportunity.

Only those middle-class people eager to cross classes pin their hopes on opportunity, hoping to encounter the myth of getting rich overnight.

This is also the reason why there are many more middle-class people falling into lower classes than rich people falling into the middle class.

Because the rich have capital and the ability to put eggs in different baskets, and have more patience and time to observe the market.

"You should still remember that I said last year I was very optimistic about Hong Kong's shipping market radiating to Southeast Asia."

Andrew drank a sip of coffee and said: "After returning this time, I will sell off some light assets, use the current favorable market form, adjust the capital ratio, and increase investment in shipping business."

"Especially the offshore and short-haul shipping of thousand-ton cargo ships," he pointed to the dining plate and said: "The cake is only this big; how to eat it and how to divide it depends on how the knife and fork fall."

"I believe container shipping of ten thousand tons and above will be the mainstream of future shipping business, but I also firmly believe that the status of thousand-ton cargo ships in the Southeast Asian shipping market will not be easily shaken."

"To meet market needs, I have already arranged for Lucky Star Shipping to discuss and sign an order for sixty thousand-ton cargo ships with Yingcheng Shipping, to lay out the shipping market along the Southeast Asian coast in the future."

"It seems a big crocodile has swum into the Southeast Asian shipping market," Li Xuewu raised his eyebrows and said with a smile: "Although I don't understand the actual situation of the market you mentioned, this doesn't prevent me from admiring your decisiveness and keen judgment."

"Hahaha, what I do is still capital operation," Andrew listened to Li Xuewu's flattery, waved his hand modestly, and said: "I rarely participate in the specific operation work of the company now."

"Lucky Star is an accident," he emphasized: "I attach great importance to the business of cooperating with Yingcheng Shipping, and I also want to personally see the mainland's commercial cooperation environment. This time again proves my choice is correct."

"This is the reason why I admire you," Li Xuewu raised his wine glass to toast him, but before drinking, he still kindly reminded: "Capital games are stimulating, but they bury too many conspiracies and tricks. You had better keep your eyes open."

"We will not interfere with or influence the commercial operations and development of our partners, but Red Star Factory will not hand over ships to enemies."

His expression couldn't be called serious, but it was definitely earnest, and his attitude was clearly reminding Andrew.

"Besides enemies, traitors won't do either. Commercial cooperation has basic principles. Commerce has no borders, but merchants have borders, and enterprises also have borders."

Li Xuewu took a sip of red wine and said lightly: "We very much hope, and sincerely wish, that your investment in Hong Kong goes smoothly, better serving and operating the Southeast Asian shipping market share, letting more Yingcheng ships shine on the world shipping stage."

"But the operators and owners of these ships should be those who maintain an absolute commercial purity of heart, just like you."

"Are you afraid these ships will aid the enemy?"

Andrew shook his head amusedly and asked back: "Then are you afraid that the exported hardware tools, food, and electrical appliances will aid the enemy?"

"You should know these are two different things." Li Xuewu raised an eyebrow: "Even if there are hardware and electrical appliances in our foreign trade list, can the enemy rush over holding axes and radios? Then my only requirement is that they must never surrender."

"I believe all the staff of Red Star Factory are the same as me, very much respecting and recognizing the friendship brought by you and Lucky Star Shipping across the ocean, just like Marco Polo back then."

He earnestly emphasized: "This friendship is the foundation of our cooperation, and it is precisely by upholding the concepts of mutual understanding, mutual tolerance, mutual support, mutual benefit, and win-win cooperation that Yingcheng Shipping and Lucky Star Shipping have achieved today's brilliance."

The firm attitude expressed by Li Xuewu in the conversation made Andrew silent for a long while.

Europeans are like this; even if he hadn't cooperated with the so-called enemies or traitors in Li Xuewu's mouth, this kind of obvious commercial intervention behavior had already made him unhappy.

Of course, this is the mainland, and a large part of his investment in the new cruise ship market is in Yingcheng Shipping.

And as a factory leader of Red Star Factory, the parent company of Yingcheng Shipping, Li Xuewu's right to speak in this enterprise is quite important.

This is also the main reason why Andrew suppressed his unhappiness and listened earnestly to these words of Li Xuewu.

When under the eaves, one has to bow one's head.

Although Li Xuewu couldn't deny and cancel his cooperation project in Yingcheng Shipping, he had sufficient reasons and ability to intervene, letting his new market die in the cradle and fail.

More seriously, Red Star Factory also has the ability to snipe his layout in the Southeast Asian shipping market, because he knows Red Star Factory cooperates with a shipping company in Steel City, indirectly having a cooperative relationship with Prince Port and Shunfeng Ocean, which are currently the most popular in Hong Kong.

If they really wanted to make him unable to survive and roll back to Italy, relying on Red Star Factory's energy, it would take at most three years.

He had been squatting in Yingcheng Shipping intermittently for a year and a half; he knew too well the production capacity advantage and market attack power of Yingcheng Shipping at the current stage and after future development.

Possessing more human cost advantages, possessing absolute material industry advantages, and now not lacking technical sources, Yingcheng Shipping would absolutely become the most indispensable protagonist on the world shipping stage in the future. He was now standing beside the protagonist.

If he risked death to make trouble, then in the future he absolutely wouldn't be able to play a supporting role, a villain would be more like it.

Li Xuewu also saw the unhappiness in the bottom of his eyes, and also knew the principle of giving a sweet date after a slap.

So after a dozen seconds of silence at the dining table, he took the initiative to say: "I don't know how you arrange commercial tour groups? I mean after you leave the mainland and Hong Kong to return to Italy."

"You mean..." Andrew looked at Li Xuewu in surprise and asked: "Need me to also consider the restrictive factors you just mentioned in the process of forming a tour group?"

"No, I think you misunderstood. I have never set restrictive factors for your commercial behavior and yourself."

Li Xuewu earnestly emphasized: "I just gave you a reminder; these are all my personal opinions."

"Of course, what I want to say next is also my personal opinion. You can choose to listen or not."

Seeing Andrew didn't continue to refute or raise new questions, Li Xuewu then continued to speak.

"Red Star Factory is very grateful for your behavior of organizing commercial tour groups to visit Red Star Factory. We also sincerely hope that commercial tour groups can become a bridge and link for communication and cooperation between international trade and Red Star Factory. I believe this is also your original intention."

"In order to better continue this kind of commercial cooperation, standardize and improve service quality, we have specially established a foreign cooperation branch, which is the International Business Department that coordinated this year's negotiation work."

"In the future, the International Business Department will represent Red Star Factory to walk out of the mainland, go to Hong Kong, go to France, go to Italy, and even go to any country and region in the world that likes our products and has goodwill toward us, bringing our products and intentions."

Li Xuewu flipped his palms and said: "So, if you are willing to continue to serve and organize the international trade organization of annual commercial tour groups, making it professional and systematic, I believe Red Star Factory will become your most loyal and important partner."

"For example?" Andrew was not defeated by the flowers and flattery in Li Xuewu's words, but instead looked at him calmly and asked: "What do I need to pay? Or what to do for you?"

"No, it's not what to do for us."

Li Xuewu earnestly emphasized a sentence, and then said: "I personally suggest that you can form a club in Hong Kong, specifically to serve and guide international traders to come to the mainland for cooperation."

"Merchants also need entertainment activities, and also need commercial activities, right? Play with yachts, play with helicopters."

He said with a smile: "Who would refuse an invitation letter from a club located in Hong Kong, the economic gateway and commercial capital guarding the mainland, with full cooperation experience with the mainland? I believe even you wouldn't refuse it, right?"

Seeing the suspicion and hesitation in Andrew's eyes, he picked up his coffee and took a sip, continuing: "Red Star Factory will not sit and wait for pie to fall from the sky. This year, it is possible to establish an office agency in Hong Kong, and in the future, it will establish an overseas branch of the International Business Department, pushing Red Star Factory's foreign trade position forward."

"By then, everyone doesn't need to come to the mainland, and can develop commercial cooperation and negotiations with Red Star Factory. This way, it's convenient for everyone."

He looked at Andrew and said in a tone of fame and profit temptation: "I personally admire your commercial mind very much, and even more admire your reputation and circle of friends in the international trade market."

"If you come forward to host and form this club, Red Star Factory will certainly be very willing to cooperate with you, making this club bigger and stronger, developing and expanding, and creating brilliance."

"Is this your meaning, or the meaning of the organization behind you?" Andrew was cautious enough, looking at Li Xuewu and saying: "I will not do things for anyone or any organization."

"You are overthinking. This is just a suggestion," Li Xuewu smiled and said indifferently: "I believe with your commercial vision and judgment, you must know that the mainland will sooner or later break free from commercial shackles and walk out of the country. You wouldn't think the mainland market is much worse than other cross-border trade markets, right?"

"I know our industrial and commercial foundation is weak, but precisely because of this, there will be broad room for improvement."

"Club, what name should it be called?" Andrew asked in a joking tone: "Red Star Steel International Club?"

"What it's called doesn't matter; what matters is what it does." Li Xuewu could hear the counterattack in the other party's words, but still said calmly: "Eastern Era Bank intends to form an Era Buyer Club, but I think Andrew Buyer Club sounds better."

He looked at Andrew, whose face changed slightly, and asked with a smile: "What do you think?"

"Hehe—" Andrew noncommittally raised his wine glass to signal to Li Xuewu, changed the subject and said: "During the time I'm away, my daughter Catherine will come to take over my work. She has only been to Hong Kong and has never been to the mainland. I hope she can get your help and care during her work in the mainland."

"You can rest assured and boldly tell her that if she has any problems, she can come to find me," Li Xuewu raised his wine glass to clink with him, saying: "For a friend, I will not shirk."

Ding—

The wine glasses clinked lightly, and the breakfast meeting of the two also reached the time to end. It seemed nothing was negotiated, but it also seemed a lot was negotiated.

At least Li Xuewu, who walked out of the International Hotel, said this when answering Zhang Songyi's question about his feelings regarding this breakfast meeting.

Zhang Songyi laughed at him for spending an hour on a meal; if all breakfast meetings had this work efficiency, then everyone should just stop working.

Before getting into the car, Li Xuewu looked at this young woman wearing a short-sleeved shirt and a white skirt, smiled, and got into the car.

"To talk or not to talk, how to talk?"

Kenichi Nishida, standing in front of the glass window on the 6th floor of the International Hotel, fell into a dead loop in the questions of his two partners.

He really wanted to negotiate with Red Star Factory, but Red Star Factory kept dragging it out and not talking. By now, he was also confused.

The more anxious party is, the weaker they are at the negotiation table. It had been dragged from February until the end of April.

Nearly two months passed; the members of the commercial tour group had long since dispersed, and a package of agreements such as orders and cooperation had all been signed.

Even those who hadn't signed the final cooperation agreement were projects too large, and the main responsible persons had left, but the negotiation teams were still there.

Among Red Star Factory's three major foreign trade merchants, only their Sanhe Stock Company was blocked outside the door.

Kenichi Nishida had every reason to believe that this was Red Star Factory targeting them; this was a negotiation trap.

In fact, the three of Kenichi Nishida hadn't stayed in the mainland the whole time; during the period, only one person was hosting work here.

They also had trade work to do domestically and internationally. Now it was the end of April; what should have been negotiated had been negotiated, and those who should have left had left.

The three of Kenichi Nishida gathered in Beijing's Red Star International Hotel again, wanting to see what else Red Star Factory was busy with.

The previous few times were all negotiation meeting applications actively proposed by Sanhe Stock Company. This time, they wanted to wait.

But the news of them coming to Beijing had been released for a week, and there was still no movement from Red Star Factory.

Kazunari Ninomiya's temper and patience had reached the end. On one hand, he questioned Gu Cangping Er, the director of Sanhe Stock Company's Beijing office, whether he had really revealed the news of their arrival in Beijing to Red Star Factory.

On the other hand, he urged Shuji Nakamura and Kenichi Nishida to quickly discuss an idea.

Although Sanhe Stock Company had sufficient deep cooperation with Red Star Factory in electronic industry, comprehensive trade, and other aspects.

However, as foreign merchants who signed cooperation agreements in the same period, the cooperation scope and scale of the Santa Ya Group with Red Star Factory were getting more and more, bigger and bigger, completely exceeding them.

If it were just the Santa Ya Group, that would be fine. Lucky Star Shipping suddenly deepened its cooperation foundation with Yingcheng Shipping.

There had been more breakthroughs in shipbuilding technology, port operation, shipping foreign trade, and other aspects.

Only they were stagnant.

Commerce is also like sailing against the current; if you don't advance, you retreat. In Red Star Factory's trade partner list, once Sanhe Stock Company's importance was lowered in the comprehensive assessment, it would directly affect the cooperation between the two sides, thereby affecting their commercial layout.

That is to say, once you get on a pirate ship, it's hard to get off.

Now they wanted to stretch it out, but they couldn't stretch it anymore. If they stretched it any longer, they could only wait for next year's commercial tour group.

But if they had to wait until next year, they themselves felt that their cooperation with Red Star Factory was not just one level distant.

So, even if they had to beg, they had to negotiate further commercial cooperation with Red Star Factory at the end of April.

The three of them knew very well why Red Star Factory had delayed starting negotiation work after the initial short contact.

Very simple, the technical cooperation plan given by Sanhe Stock Company didn't meet Red Star Factory's psychological expectations.

Under the premise that the update rate of color television sets in the Japanese market continued to rise, Red Star Factory had long been unable to get larger-sized and more advanced black-and-white television production technology.

A 12-inch black-and-white television was absolutely the top-tier existence in the mainland, but in the foreign trade market, Red Star Factory's electronic industry products absolutely couldn't get trade advantages; almost no one placed orders.

On the contrary, household appliances with relatively weak technical requirements, such as washing machines, electric fans, etc., received some fewer orders.

Red Star Factory also knew very well that Sanhe Stock Company's purpose was to pinch Red Star Factory's neck, giving them sufficient time to lay out the market share of the "Yazhi" brand in the low-end market.

Once a brand spreading trend was formed, regions with relatively backward economies such as Southeast Asia and Northeast Asia would trust the Yazhi brand more in the process of economic development, thereby mining Red Star Factory's electronic industry at the speed of mining gold.

This way, Red Star Factory would be firmly grasped in their hands, and they would never think of completing compensation trade, forever working for them with low-cost human resources.

As for how to do domestic appliance competition?

Very simple, ignore appliances with high technical requirements, and beat the high-quality and inexpensive to the extreme.

Squeeze the appliance market, urging appliance manufacturers to enrich toward appliance categories with high profits and low competitive pressure.

That is, television sets and refrigerators. By then, these manufacturers would fight each other, and Sanhe Stock Company would slightly relax the technical restrictions on Red Star Factory, and there would be a trend of harvesting the television and refrigerator market, gradually eating away domestic appliance manufacturers.

This process might be very slow, ten or eight years is possible, but this kind of layout is a dead-end game.

Losing Red Star Factory's development opportunities and interests is nothing; Sanhe Stock Company's comprehensive control of the Southeast Asian and Northeast Asian appliance market is their core goal.

It's just that Red Star Factory doesn't want this goal. Ten or eight years is too long for Red Star Factory; at least Old Li can't wait.

Since Sanhe Stock Company guards those electronic industry technologies as treasures, Red Star Factory simply stopped talking.

Here, Old Li still wants to emphasize Li Xuewu's foresight and deep planning.

Compensation trade, technology for products, is absolutely a method with quite high clamping force. Red Star Factory has the ability and confidence to start a new stove, introduce electronic industry technology from other channels, and then carry out production and manufacturing.

Yazhi brand can't be used, is Red Star okay? Is Five Star okay? Is Samsung okay?

Completely abandon the existing production brand, deliver 100 appliances to Sanhe Stock Company every year to cope with compensation trade, drag it for three or five hundred years, and see who can drag it.

Besides, the relevant production lines are Red Star Factory's assets. Turning on the horsepower for foreign trade to domestic trade, wouldn't that piss Sanhe off?

Compensation trade, technology for products, was originally a situation where one prospers, one prospers, one loses, one loses. Now it depends on whose loss is greater, who wants to give in first, then take the initiative to negotiate.

Watching Li Xuewu's car leave the International Hotel, turn out of the gate, and go toward the distance, Kenichi Nishida turned around, looked at the crowd in the room looking at him and said: "Still have to talk."

That's right, eventually have to talk.

Gu Cangping Er, this punching bag, squatted by the tea table to refill tea for the three big bosses, his heart felt relieved.

Sanhe Stock Company is a cooperative enterprise; its existence is for the sake of cooperating with Red Star Factory.

If Sanhe Stock Company was revoked, then his position as a resident manager would also be gone.

How much the enterprise earns has nothing to do with him; the boss wouldn't give him extra bonuses.

On the contrary, the salary and welfare treatment of being stationed abroad far exceed domestic ones, and life here is more simple and natural.

He really likes his current life, especially having three beauties accompany him every day, living in a hotel, eating Western food.

Gu Cangping Er only hopes the big bosses are harmonious, carrying out commercial cooperation. In five or eight years, when he goes back, he will inevitably become a department manager, or even a vice president.

Sometimes the principle of a fortress being broken from the inside is like this. How much salary do you get in a month, daring to work so hard.

"Haven't you heard?" Huang Gan picked up a piece of smashed cucumber, looked at Li Xuewu opposite him and said: "Your explosion case, where you were calm in the face of danger and showed your skills, has been solved. The identity of the murderer has been found."

"Heard it, it's all written in the newspaper, could I have not seen it?" Li Xuewu glanced at him, raised his wine glass to clink with him, and asked: "How did your business go?"

The shopping mall bombing case was indeed solved; he didn't see the news in the newspaper, but rather received a call from the local branch.

After all, he was a person involved in the case, had made a huge contribution to the rescue efforts on the scene, and was also one of their own from the past.

Therefore, Li Xuewu had always been very clear about the investigation progress of this case, he just hadn't paid much attention to it.

Initially, with his help, the man's general identity information was quickly locked down. After narrowing the scope, the investigation team intensified the investigation direction in Liaodong Province, requesting active cooperation from every county, township, and production team. Finally, after more than half a month, they received definitive information.

Staff from a remote commune in a county under Liaodong Province reported that a young man from their village named Zhang Shihou had left home on April 2nd and never returned.

Zhang Shihou's hometown was extremely impoverished; the farmers there could barely manage to fill their stomachs. In their daily lives, every household was busy struggling for a livelihood, pondering every day where to find tomorrow's meal.

Therefore, even though the village had posted notices looking for the person, no one cared or paid attention.

Later, it was Zhang Shihou's father who, seeing that his son hadn't returned home for a long time, reported it to the brigade.

Zhang's father claimed that his son had been missing for a month. When he left, he was carrying a black leather bag and only said he was going to handle some business. He said a hurried goodbye to his family and never returned.

After waiting and waiting for more than half a month without seeing his son, Zhang's father finally became anxious.

For the sake of caution, the investigation team brought Zhang's father to the capital to identify the body, and finally confirmed that the unidentified corpse was indeed Zhang Shihou.

Zhang's father said his son had once participated in a local reservoir construction project, responsible for setting explosives to mine stone. The village management was lax, and Zhang Shihou often stole explosives, detonators, and fuses to take home.

In addition, Zhang's father also confessed, "Before he left, he seemed to be saying goodbye to us, saying he would never come back. He even specifically cleaned the house thoroughly and disposed of the things he used often."

At this point, the investigation team could almost confirm that the person who manufactured the bombing was Zhang Shihou. But why would he disregard his own life to manufacture an explosion?

Because he couldn't get a wife.

That's right, the investigation team had been searching for his motive. After some analysis, they determined that Zhang Shihou's motive was actually "couldn't get a wife."

Zhang Shihou's family background was poor, and wanting to marry a wife was as difficult as ascending to heaven.

From the villagers' mouths, the investigation team learned what kind of person Zhang Shihou was.

"Old Dong's family is almost thirty and still doesn't have a wife; this is going to end the family line."

"I often heard him muttering to himself that he didn't want to live anymore, or else they should all die together."

"He looked down on our small place and often boasted about going to a big city to make a big career."

Ultimately, the investigation team determined that Zhang Shihou lived an unfortunate life and was cynical, which led to the idea of retaliating against society.

It is only a pity for the pedestrians who went to the Xidan shopping mall that day; because of his momentary lapse in judgment, they lost their lives.

Even if they were lucky enough to survive, such a massive bombing case is enough to leave an indelible shadow in their hearts.

However, this case also had suspicious points, such as why Zhang Shihou had to cause destruction in a crowded shopping mall in the city.

During this period, ordinary people needed an introduction letter just to leave their county, let alone travel from a Liaodong village to the capital. How many checkpoints had to be passed during this time?

Introduction letters at this time could not be issued casually; farmers wanting to enter the city needed even stronger connections.

Even if he couldn't get a wife and hated this society, how would a rural person in an era with underdeveloped information think of Xidan being crowded, and why did he choose a shopping mall?

He was carrying five or six kilograms of explosives in a black handbag; did no one check him along the way? He ignited the explosives and there were 10 minutes left before it would explode; why didn't he run away during this time?

In other words, if he had run away after lighting the explosives, the investigation team would not have been able to find his body and would have been unable to lock down the culprit or confirm who exactly did it.

Li Xuewu only knew this after receiving a call from the branch. Later, he also thought about it and felt there was no need to delve deeper.

Looking for a partner is indeed a social problem, but not being able to find one is no reason to be in such a rush to make mistakes.

Just look at how many people have struggled to find a partner through an intermediary only to be scammed by a honey trap and end up in jail.

Even a virgin can claim you used force; when marriage problems are pushed to the extreme, it really will cause a crisis of trust and lose its original meaning.

Huang Gan works in the judicial system and is relatively concerned about this case in which Li Xuewu indirectly participated.

Actually, many people are paying attention to this case, and there has been no shortage of private speculation about what exactly that person's identity was.

People are drawing far-fetched analogies, discussing it endlessly, and rumors are flying everywhere, assigning all sorts of identities to this person.

"I just came to find you for a meal and a chat because I was bored during training," Huang Gan picked up his wine glass, downed a mouthful, and hissed: "I have to say, the cook at your factory's guesthouse really has great skills."

"Do you even need to say that?"

Li Xuewu certainly wouldn't drink at noon, especially at the guesthouse, with so many pairs of eyes watching.

He is also not a person addicted to alcohol; he avoids it whenever possible during work hours. He can't be compared to this kid Huang Gan, who snuck out of class.

Regarding the cook at the guesthouse, Li Xuewu prefers to evaluate him as "Huai De's Strict Selection." If he can pass Old Li's taste test, the cook definitely can't be bad.

Of course, he's not saying Director Li is a foodie.

"How is it? Is there any news about your position?"

Li Xuewu looked at him and asked: "Are you going to the municipal judicial bureau or the ministry? You've reached the sky in one step, haven't you?"

"Bullshit, that's exactly why I came to find you."

Huang Gan rolled his eyes, lowered his voice, and said: "The leadership wants me to be in charge of the labor farm's economic operations."

"Isn't that a good thing—"

Li Xuewu laughed and said: "From now on, I'll have to follow you to eat well and drink well."

(End of chapter)