Chapter 394 The crucial step that determines life and death
May 13, 1980, the night when the three-day advertising festival ended.
Across the street from Chinatown in New York, there is a community with a European style - Little Italy.
As the name suggests, the people who live here are immigrants from Italy.
In a 7-11 convenience store opened at the corner of "Little Italy", 50-year-old Ying Ruocheng and Cao Yu were standing in front of the wine rack with frowns on their faces.
"That's what American imperialism is like,"
Cao Yu looked at a row of pure wine bottles on the shelf: "Don't think it's fruit wine, it's not cheap at all."
"This is too expensive,"
For Ying Ruocheng, who is going abroad for the first time, it is really better to hear it than to see it: "How about we go back to Chinatown and have a look?"
"Forget it," Cao Yu's eyes retreated again and again: "Let's have a bottle of beer to quench our thirst."
In the honeymoon period between China and the United States, the bilateral relationship that can be described in these two words is amazing.
Although it still does not recognize China as its ally, the United States officially adjusted its export level to China from the "Y" category to the "P" category (friendly non-ally) in early 1980.
Restrictions on more than 400 non-lethal military technologies including air defense radars, transport helicopters, communication equipment, radar jamming... have been opened.
Three years later, the United States will continue to increase its exports to China from "P" to "V" on par with Western European countries.
Restrictions on anti-tank, anti-submarine, anti-aircraft and other lethal military technologies will also be lifted.
Therefore, in the first few years of reform and opening up, the exchange activities between Chinese and foreign technology, Chinese and foreign culture... were so intensive that they became invisible.
This month, in addition to General Liu who was invited to visit the United States in two days to visit the "Kitty Hawk" and "Raider" aircraft carriers.
There was also a visiting group of Chinese dramatists who came to New York at the invitation of Columbia University in the United States.
At this moment, Cao Yu, the leader of the visiting delegation, led his translator Ying Ruocheng to take advantage of the night to visit Chinatown for the tooth beating ceremony.
Unexpectedly, the Chinese restaurant was so packed that they were forced out of the alley.
There was no other way, so the two wine lovers had no choice but to walk into this convenience store at the corner of the street.
In the 1980s, 7-Eleven, which had not yet been acquired by Japan, was a popular convenience chain store that could be seen everywhere in New York.
Coincidentally, this 7-11 located at the corner of Chinatown is also a small store that Huang Yongyu and Wang Shixiang often visit.
Facing such a store where all the goods are at their fingertips, the two old comrades were both new and happy.
"Hey, what would you two like to eat today?"
The uncle standing at the checkout counter looked like he was one of his own: "Hot dog or hamburger?"
"Give me a few,"
Huang Yongyu, who is in a foreign country, likes this kind of barrier-free communication: "Just take your time and let me go see what the old man is interested in."
"Don't worry," the cashier uncle said, "You can take a look at it as you like."
Huang Yongyu, who had his head turned backward, waved his hands, raised his feet and headed towards the freezer.
He didn't realize at this time that the two conversations between him and the clerk had caused Cao Yu and Ying Ruocheng to open their eyes wide at the same time.
"I knew you must be here, remember to get a strawberry ice cream for Sisi." Huang Yongyu looked at Wang Shixiang standing in front of the freezer.
"Just holding it,"
For Wang Shixiang, who can eat 5 or 6 KFC sundaes in one meal, supermarkets in New York are simply a little paradise:
At the end of the shelf nearby, Cao Yu and Ying Ruocheng, who received only one dollar per person per day, looked stupidly at their old friend in front of them.
"My chocolate, my strawberries,"
There are more and more ice creams in Wang Shixiang's basket: "And my creamy flavor..."
"Okay, okay," Huang Yongyu reached for a few packs of beef jerky: "You can pick a few, there is no ice in the house we live in now... huh?"
A casual glance shocked Huang Yongyu: "Captain Cao?"
Cao Yu: "Huang Yongyu!"
"Why are you here?"
"I still want to ask you."
"I'm going to New York to play!"
"You..." Cao Yu's expression still looked like he was dreaming: "Come here to play?"
At this time, Huang Yongyu, who got back to business, smiled and pointed at Wang Shixiang: "Let me introduce, Comrade Wang Shixiang, like me, is a consultant for the New York Advertising Festival competition team."
"Hello," Cao Yu and Ying Ruocheng both walked over:
"At the beginning of the year, the Ministry of Culture organized a delegation of Chinese theater representatives, with me as the leader and Comrade Ying Ruocheng as the translator."
Compared to the previous life, I only met Shen Congwen a few times at his house.
In this life, Huang Yongyu and Cao Yu traveled to Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes together because of Jiang Shan's interference.
"How come I heard that you went to England?" Huang Yongyu said, "Now, why are you in the United States again?"
"We have all gone to Switzerland, France, and the United Kingdom," Cao Yu said with a smile: "The United States is the last stop, and it is also the one where we have stayed the longest."
As soon as these words came out, Huang Yongyu and Wang Shixiang were envious.
But what makes Cao Yu and Ying Ruocheng even more envious is the other's consumption level: "What is your subsidy standard for going abroad?"
Huang Yongyu: "One dollar a day."
"It's also one dollar a day?" Cao Yu looked at the other person's shopping basket in disbelief: "Then the two of you are willing to spend it like this?"
"We don't have to spend these things ourselves..."
Huang Yongyu suddenly thought of something and changed the subject in time: "It's not convenient to talk here. Do you want to come over to my place and sit down?"
Cao Yu: "You live near here?"
"Just turn left after exiting the door," Huang Yongyu pointed outward: "Have you been to Little Italy? It's a very stylish place."
…
The "Little Italy" community is not only across the street from Chinatown.
It was the only place in New York in the 1960s and 1970s that was willing to sell properties to Chinese people.
For a long time, the residents of these two areas have been interacting peacefully.
After the tourism bureau's inspection group left, Jiang Shan led the group members to stay in a hotel in "Little Italy".
Compared with the hustle and bustle of New York City, the Italian community with a very European style gave them a wonderful feeling of China.
No, when Cao Yu and Ying Ruocheng followed Huang Yongyu and Wang Shixiang into "Little Italy", they immediately couldn't move:
"It turns out there is such a good place in New York..."
…
In a small hotel in "Little Italy", there were several Chinese people sitting around in the only room that could make international long distance calls.
After receiving the reply from Lu Xuzhang, who nodded in agreement to "pitch the L'Oréal advertisement," Jiang Shan, relieved, picked up the phone again.
"Who should we call next?" He looked at Wang Fulin: "The department head or the TV station?"
"You decide," said old comrade Wang Fulin, who has always been calm: "You have to be notified anyway."
"Okay," Jiang Shan handed over the phone directly: "You come first."
If it were not for waiting for confirmation of the number of bicycles in stock in New York, Jiang Shan and his team would have already spread the news of the award back to China.
But according to Huang Hua's suggestion, they still waited two more days.
Unexpectedly, the good news that "bicycle advertising" has become a case study of the advertising festival has come.
…
At around nine o'clock in the morning, there was a banner hanging in the conference room that read, "No matter how difficult it is, take the first step."
Deputy Bureau Lu of the Light Industry Bureau in charge of the bicycle factory is working with several factory leaders from Phoenix and Forever Bicycle Factory to discuss the next step.
"As far as we know, in addition to the 5,000 bicycles sent to the United States this year,"
Director of the Phoenix Factory: "The sales situation of bicycles in Italy is not optimistic either."
"If I remember correctly," Deputy Director Lu said, "Italy has 10,000 vehicles, right?"
"That's right."
"As of last week," the leader of Forever Bicycle said, "our factory's production tasks for export bicycles have been completed."
"So are we Phoenix."
"I know," Deputy Director Lu sighed.
Recently, the contract plan for exporting 30,000 bicycles has been making him restless.
"No matter how difficult it is, you have to take the first step, ha,"
Deputy Bureau Lu looked at the slogan in the conference room and laughed: "I remember when we had a meeting here last year, this slogan was already hanging here."
"yes,"
The leaders of the two factories looked at the banner with yellow characters on a red background:
"At that time, we had just completed the signing of the contract with the United States."
"Unexpectedly, not long after that, we received a proposal from the United States to postpone the implementation of the second phase of the transaction."
"Originally, I was thinking of doing some publicity to make up for it, and selling a few would make our faces look better," Deputy Director Lu shook his head:
"Now it seems that the bicycles from our Dangdang Bicycle Kingdom... are really going to be shut out."
"Alas," said the director of the permanent factory, "I'm really unwilling to do so!"
"So what if you don't give in," said the leader of Phoenix Factory:
"Now there are only more than two months left before August. No matter how much we spend on publicity, it doesn't make much sense."
"well."
"No matter how difficult it is, we have to take the first step," Deputy Director Lu smiled bitterly: "It's a pity that we haven't even finished the first step, and it's already over."
Thinking about the original ambition of "attacking the European and American markets", all the leaders in the room could only sigh.
At this moment, there was a knock on the door of the conference room.
The next second, before the door lock here was unlocked, the phone on the conference table rang.
Look at the commotion, even the big red slogan "No matter how difficult it is, take the first step" is shaking...
