Understanding that Bob was just pretending to be stupid, Gao Fan knew what he should do. He took Zhu Nian and took two steps to the side. He lowered his voice and said, "Director Zhu, isn't this arrangement from the province a little bit...
Is there too much movement?"
"How can this be considered a big move?" Zhu Nian said with some dissatisfaction.
Thinking that Bob was a foreign businessman introduced by Gao Fan, although Zhu Nian was reluctant, he had to endure it and explain to him in a low voice:
"Xiao Gao, you may not know that Hatch Group is not a small business that can be treated casually. The Department of Foreign Trade specially arranged for people to check the information. Good guy, do you know how much assets this group has?
?”
"It seems to be less than 20 billion US dollars." Gao Fan replied lightly.
Bob told him this data. Many of them are calculated based on the market value of the stocks of other companies held by the Hatch Group. In the event of a stock market crash, it is possible for assets to shrink by half.
In this era, an investment company with assets of US$20 billion is ranked very high even in the United States. However, Gao Fan's way of thinking is greatly affected by the experience of later generations, and he always feels that a mere US$20 billion is nothing more than that.
That’s it. Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and the like in later generations seem to have assets in the trillions of dollars.
Zhu Nian was choked by Gao Fan's tone. After a long while, he said in an indifferent voice: "Xiao Gao, Xiao Gao, you asked me to tell you what you are good at. 20 billion US dollars, why does it sound like 20 yuan in your mouth?"
of.
"Think about it, how much is the total industrial and agricultural output value of our province in one year? If converted into U.S. dollars, it's less than 20 billion, right? The assets of a company are higher than our total industrial and agricultural output value in one year, and you still have
Don’t you think you need to pay attention to it?”
"No, no." Gao Fan also reacted. Today's China cannot be compared with that of later generations. A company with assets of US$20 billion would be considered a Big Mac in China.
What's more, the U.S. dollar in 1983 is far more valuable than the U.S. dollar in 2023. Taking into account inflation, the 20 billion U.S. dollars in 1983 can be equivalent to hundreds of billions in later generations.
"Director Zhu, what I mean is that although Hatch Group is a big company, we don't need to be so grand. Bob is just a kid sent by the Hatch family to China to train. We are here
With you here..., uh, I mean, it's enough for us to send a division chief here to greet you, so why do we need to work for you department leaders?"
Gao Fan murmured and almost said that it was enough to be accompanied by a small deputy director like Zhu Nian. When the words came to his lips, he changed his words tactfully.
The last thing an official likes to hear is that his position is belittled. Gao Fan understands this truth at least.
Zhu Nian said: "Diplomacy is no small matter. Although Mr. Hatch is young, he may have just been sent to China to train as you said. But after all, he represents the Hatch Group, and we should be more enthusiastic.
The provincial leaders have formal instructions on this, and we cannot let the Hatch Group feel that we do not take them seriously."
"Director Zhu, you don't understand international rules." Gao Fan said, "Foreigners have different rules than we do. We pay attention to feeling at home, and we always feel that when guests come, we must treat them better.
.Foreigners don’t talk about this. What they pay attention to is business and business.
"Doing business means that both parties pursue their own interests. What people care about is whether they can make money, not whether we are well received. We are so enthusiastic, and people think we have other agendas."
Gao Fan is trying to make a big deal out of a tiger's skin. He believes that whether he is celebrating the New Year or other officials of the Provincial Economic Commission and the Department of Foreign Trade, they must not understand what the real international rules are. As long as he dares to deceive
, officials will be convinced.
In the minds of the current Chinese people, foreign countries are very advanced, so the rules for foreigners must be more advanced than those in China. When something happens, you just need to say, "How are foreigners doing?" and the Chinese people will quickly reflect on themselves and review themselves.
Don't understand international rules.
Sure enough, as soon as Gao Fan said this, Zhu Nian's face froze. He nuzzled his lips slightly in the direction of Bob and asked in a low voice: "You mean, Mr. Hatch has an opinion on the welcome ceremony we held?
"
Gao Fan nodded slightly and said: "He didn't say it clearly, but I think so. Mr. Hatch told me that the purpose of his visit to Maolin this time was to inspect the customs and customs of Maolin and evaluate it.
Investment Environment.
"If our arrangements here are too diligent, he will not be able to get in touch with the real situation, which will have a great impact on his inspection work."
Zhu Nian hesitated and said: "But, Xiao Gao, you know the economic situation of our province. If Mr. Hatch is exposed to the lowest conditions, will it damage the image of our country?"
Gao Fan said: "Director Zhu, you are overthinking. In the past, our country liked to pretend to be fat, for fear that people would lose face if they saw poor places. Now many economically developed provinces do the opposite, and specially bring foreign guests to see those places.
The poorest place, do you know why?"
"I've heard of this, mainly because I want to get low-interest loans and donations from others," Zhu Nian said.
"Yes, that's right." Gao Fan said, "We are a developing country. Isn't it normal to be poor? Think back to when Snow went to Yan'an, and the leader was wearing coarse clothes and chatting and laughing with him. Do you feel embarrassed?"
"This..." Zhu Nian was speechless. He always felt that Gao Fan was secretly changing his concept, but there was no evidence. He was not the one to have the final say on how to receive foreign guests, and now was not the time to discuss this issue with Gao Fan.
So, he simply dropped the topic and said:
"Xiao Gao, what you said may have some truth, but now that Director Wang and Director Liu have arrived, the welcome ceremony and dinner at the Foreign Trade Department have also been arranged, so it is not appropriate to cancel it temporarily.
"Can you please explain to Mr. Hatch that we are just holding a ceremony to express our feelings. As for Mr. Hatch's future arrangements during his inspection in Maolin, it is not too late to discuss it after the dinner. What do you think?
?”
When the New Year's greetings reached this level, Gao Fan naturally couldn't chirp any more. He knew that what Bob wanted was to have less restrictions on his subsequent activities in Maolin, and he would not refuse some entertainment at the moment. So, he
Then he went back and whispered a few words to Bob.
Bob is a person with a delicate heart. After listening to Gao Fan's introduction, he knew that his goal had been achieved, and there was no need to deny Zhu Nian and the others face. He pretended to be reserved and nodded, and then joined Zhu Nian.