Only then did Du Fei fully understand what the old lady meant.
Although he always said that he hoped Du Fei could find a way to help save people, the other party also knew very well that the probability of success was low.
This is not to say that she is hypocritical towards her husband, but that she has put in too much effort on this matter over the years and has made her understand the reality.
As long as Principal Chang is still there, her husband has no hope of being released.
In comparison, the matter of 'money' is more important.
Because in America’s money society, everything is easy to negotiate if you have money, but it’s really difficult to move forward without money.
As for what she mentioned, knowing Chen Fangshi, it was not important to Du Fei.
Even if they are acquainted, they are just acquaintances. If there is really a reliable relationship, the other party will never come to meet him rashly. A safer way is to go to Chen Fangshi directly and let Chen Fangshi introduce him. Not only will it be easier to talk to him, but it will also be easier to do things.
Du Fei thought silently and said: "Ms. Yu, of course I can help you with your idea, but..." At this point, Du Fei said sincerely: "I hope you are mentally prepared. The probability of success is not high."
High, unless..."
The old lady was not too anxious when she heard 'the probability is not high', she was mentally prepared for it. Instead, Du Fei said 'unless' from behind, which cheered her up: "Unless what?"
Du Fei said: "Unless the principal dies, I heard that his health is not very good. It should only be in the past year or two. Maybe you can wait."
Obviously the old lady knew about this situation and was not particularly surprised. Instead, she nodded in agreement.
Regarding this, she had already known this through all these years of contacts and attempts. If that man did not die, her husband would never be able to be free.
The real purpose of her visit to Du Fei this time was to get in touch with Du Fei first. She had never had a chance before, but this time Du Fei came, it was an opportunity.
It will be more convenient to ask Du Fei for help if the situation changes in the future.
At this time, Du Fei remembered that there seemed to be a piece of news before the time travel.
It was about this old lady who left her inheritance worth hundreds of millions of dollars to her ex-husband who was divorced at the time when she was dying more than ten years later.
Du Fei remembered this incident because the newspaper at the time said that the old lady made all the money through stock and real estate investment.
Du Fei was still young at the time and always had a trust in the news without any reason.
I was still feeling very emotional, this old lady is so amazing, she can actually make so much money in America.
Until later, many years later, he had forgotten the reason for mentioning it again.
Only then did Du Fei realize that he was really silly and cute back then.
An old lady from Huaguo, without any professional financial investment training, was able to kill everyone in the American stock market and eventually save hundreds of millions of dollars in wealth? This is even more unbelievable than a fantasy.
Only now do I understand that the money was already there, it just needed a reasonable name.
As for whether the title is lottery or stock market, it actually doesn't matter.
Du Fei didn't know what the old lady did originally, but obviously, this time, she planned to start with Du Fei to see if she could be less exploited.
After thinking about this, Du Fei's heart moved, and he couldn't help but become more interested.
If this is the case, it means that the secret wealth of the Zhang family has not been touched at this time.
Twenty years later, in the 1990s, it was worth hundreds of millions of dollars, which must have been a huge amount of money at this time.
The maneuverable space here is quite large.
With the same amount of wealth, a daughter-in-law of a has-been warlord and an upstart with great power are completely different concepts.
Besides, don't forget that Du Fei has just established a good personal relationship with Nico's daughter and son-in-law.
This time Ni may have been in danger and passed the test, which means he owes Du Fei a huge favor. If we don't use this existing relationship, why don't we just wait for the New Year?
It just so happens that I can take this opportunity to convey some benefits to Nico. When the next step is to cooperate with Northrop, Nico can also raise his hand at the critical moment and say hello to everyone.
Thinking of this, Du Fei suddenly felt that the old lady in front of him was smiling more and more.
…
Meanwhile, Northrop's headquarters is located on the west coast of America.
With a "bang" sound, a very artistic glass table lamp was thrown to the ground, split into pieces, and the lampshade was shattered.
The instigator, the old man with a white beard and breathing heavily, was the boss of Northrop.
"Hey John, please calm down!" the partner on the side warned with a frown.
John Northrop gritted his teeth and said: "These damn bastards! They are all bastards! They have obviously decided to give this project to General Motors, but they still let us continue to invest in it..."
Although the partners on the side were also angry, they were more helpless.
They can't afford to mess with those Air Force officers. If something like this happens to them, they will have to swallow it in their stomachs even if their teeth are knocked out.
"John, listen to me, it's useless to get angry now." The partner said as calmly as possible: "We have to find a way to see if there is still a chance to reverse the situation. It has not been announced yet, but maybe there is still a chance."
John Northrop shook his head in frustration: "There's no chance. Although it hasn't been announced yet, things have reached this point and there is no chance. This time we are out, Joey has completely failed!"
To put it bluntly, he was even more depressed. Faced with this result, he was more unwilling to accept it than anyone else.
But the result is what it is, and you have to accept it even if you don’t accept it.
No matter how much they invested in the project in advance and how much money they spent on public relations, all the money was wasted.
They can only grit their teeth and accept these shortcomings.
But after all, that's tens of millions of dollars, which is real money. It's a loss. Who can bear it?
This was discovered early. His friends in the House of Commons Procurement Committee secretly gave him the message, telling him to cut his losses immediately and not invest any more.
Otherwise, they would still be kept in the dark and continue to throw money into it foolishly.
After some venting, John Northrop finally calmed down, took a deep breath and sat back on the chair behind his desk.
"what to do?"
John Northrop kept asking himself.
Originally, he was very confident in this bidding with GM, and had made full preparations in advance, not only in terms of plan design, but also in all kinds of contacts.
In the end, I dare not say that I am sure of it, but I think I am 70-80% sure.
Unexpectedly, until now, we are still fetching water from bamboo baskets.
So much money has been invested, how to remedy it?
How will we explain to the company's shareholders then? What will happen to the stock price when the year-end financial report comes out...
John Northrop took a deep breath and made up his mind that he must save himself no matter what.
And now the only hope is the navy.
The previous Navy F-14 was America's earliest third-generation fighter. It used the most advanced technology and could even directly throw mushroom bombs.
If there is any disadvantage to this kind of aircraft, it is that it is too expensive and very troublesome to maintain.
Even America, who is rich and wealthy, cannot use all such aircraft on the aircraft carrier.
According to the principle of high-low matching, there must be an aircraft with a lower price and cost to match it in the future.
Currently, the Navy is trying its best to develop a simplified version of the F-14 fighter jet, but the progress is not optimistic.
According to John Northrop's friends in the Navy, they no longer have much patience for the simplified version of the F14.
Technically, a design with a complex structure like the F-14 does not have much simplification value.
No matter where it is simplified, it will greatly weaken the combat performance of the aircraft.
Next, the Navy's low-profile fighter jets will definitely need to be re-tendered.
It's just that Grumman, which produces the F14, is still making its final struggle, hoping to preserve the simplified F-14 project and then eat up the entire Navy's orders.
John Northrop decided to think of a solution in this regard, but he also knew very well that this matter would not be easy, especially since Grumman had very strong connections within the naval system.
In fact, in the world before Du Fei traveled through time, Northrop's YF-17 was able to win orders from the Navy to a large extent because after Commander Nico was deposed by bombs and nuclear weapons, a series of personnel changes were brought about
Shuffle.
Otherwise, Northrop would never have the chance to suddenly emerge, bypass the Navy version of the F-16 and simplify the F-14, and let the F-18 have the last laugh.
Now, because of Du Fei's intervention, Nico passed the test without any danger, and it is not certain whether he will be able to get an F-18 in the future.
His partner was not very optimistic about John Northrop's idea, and frowned: "John, the navy is certainly a direction, but... I think we need a more certain direction, rather than placing hope on small things.
Probability, all-or-nothing. Besides...you know how big an appetite those guys in the Navy have. I'm afraid we can't feed those guys in our current situation."
John Northrop frowned in silence.
Of course he knows, but what can he do?
"Joy, of course I know, but... we have to find a way." His expression was serious: "Grumman has been coveting us."
But the partner said: "John, I think we have other options, such as..."
John Northrop was shocked.
As partners, they are not only companions, but they may also become enemies in times of adversity.
So the more difficult the situation, the more vigilant he becomes: "What do you mean?"
Joey smiled and said: "Hey~ don't be nervous, my friend, I hate GM or Grumman as much as you do."
John Northrop pursed his lips.
Joey continued: "Remember I once told you that I have a classmate~"
John Northrop then asked, "The one at McDonnell Douglas?"
Joey nodded: "That's it, his name is McCain."
John Northrop said: "What happened to him?"
Joey said: "He went to Huaguo for a project before..."
John Northrop frowned and finished speaking, he finally understood what the other party meant: "You mean... we find the Huaguo people to cooperate?"
Joey spread his hands and said lightly: "What's wrong? The Huaguo people are very easy to make money, and they are very generous. They cooperated with McDonnell Douglas to improve a fighter jet they called the J-8. The entire project was as high as three
One hundred million U.S. dollars."
Hearing this number, John Northrop also took a breath of air.
He knew about this project, but he had previously focused all his energy on the YF-17 and did not understand the details.
But he is still a little worried: "Cooperating with Huaguo people...can the superiors agree?"
Joey disagreed: "Have we not had many cooperation projects with Huaguo in recent years? Others can make money, so why can't we? Besides, what is the situation of the company now? Moreover, if they feel that they cannot cooperate with Huaguo people, then we will take advantage of it...
…”
He said with a 'you know' expression.
The beard on John Northrop's upper lip twitched: "Do you want that fruit man to be used as a bargaining chip?"
Joey said: "It doesn't have to be a bargaining chip. It will depend on who can offer the higher price. John, don't forget that we are businessmen."
John Northrop remained silent, frowning as he considered the feasibility of this matter.
…
the next day.
The meeting with Ms. Yu was just a brief interlude. Neither party made any further strong demands. The main thing was to get familiar with each other first.
Whether it's rescuing people or using Du Fei's connections in America to unfreeze the Zhang family's secret property, it can't be negotiated in one meeting.
There are huge interests involved here, and both parties need to constantly test and establish mutual trust.
As for the 30 million yuan that Ms. Yu proposed to give Du Fei as a reward, to put it bluntly, it was just a big pie to gain some initiative in subsequent negotiations.
After all, facing Du Fei, she had too few cards to play.
He raised his hand and looked at his watch. Du Fei was fully dressed and ready to go to the appointment.
Yesterday, Du Fei returned to the hotel after the meeting and received a phone call.
The caller was none other than Trish, the daughter of Commander Nico.
Judging from the results, Du Fei's previous reminder was simply too important, and of course they had to show something when Du Fei came over this time.
It was almost time, and Du Fei left the hotel by car and headed to the manor on the outskirts of the city.
This place nominally belongs to a wealthy businessman who twists his waist, but in fact it has been used by the Nico family over the years.
The manor covers a large area, and the main building is a huge American-style wooden house.
It is the kind of giant wood that is made up of two people and stacked together like building blocks. It looks very rough.
Duffy's car was parked in front of the cabin, and as the host and hostess, Edward and Tracy were waiting at the door.
Du Fei got out of the car and hugged the two of them warmly. Du Fei came to the door and brought a bottle of Maotai liquor with a very floral and fruity flavor.
Edward and Tracy praised him as usual before the three of them walked into the room.
Inside is a high-ceiling living room. America likes this spacious, high, church-like feeling.
Du Fei didn't like it. He always felt that raising the house so high would make it feel empty and insecure. Moreover, in winter, the heat would flow to the roof. Although it looked bright and bright, it was uncomfortable to live in.
Arriving at the house, Du Fei praised him again. This is also the principle of visiting the house. When he enters the house, he praises the house, then the children, and if there are no children, he praises the cats and dogs, and then the decoration is tasteful... In short, everything is good.
Until Du Fei found an excuse and asked: "Edward, I have a job here, are you interested?"