Chapter 124

If it weren't for the good impression of Xia Juhua's knitwear, the friend would have really kicked Xia Juhua out of his booth. But he had just invited Xia Juhua to visit his booth a few minutes ago, and now he couldn't say goodbye.

Besides, his friend knew that Country G did have some rubber stocks, but it was less than a quarter of the amount he had. Yang Detian, who had failed in negotiations with him, also had no contact with the people of Country G for the time being due to considerations of transportation costs and uncertainties.

That's right, up to now the friend's ultimate target is still Yang Detian, and he quoted a price to Xia Juhua just to stimulate Yang Detian's desire to buy.

Observing Yang Detian's reaction out of the corner of his eye, he found that he seemed to be watching a play indifferently, as if he was sure that his negotiation with Xia Juhua would not succeed. This realization made the friend more alert - there are many friendly countries in Africa, and the products produced are similar. If Yang Detian can't reach an agreement with him, it would be a waste of time and effort and take more risks, and it would not be a waste of time and effort to get the rubber he needs.

Yang Detian looked like he was enjoying the show. Has the rubber been smoothed out?

"Yang," the friend decided not to pay any more attention to Xia Juhua, but squeezed a smile towards Yang Detian: "Xia, she doesn't know how to negotiate, she has no money, why don't we talk about it again."

Yang Detian smiled and said, "We Chinese have an old saying that in business, first come, first served is the order of the day. Comrade Xia Juhua is talking to you right now, and it would be rude of me to talk to her now."

Xia Juhua, who was concentrating on eating cashews, wanted to say: I don't need your politeness, you should talk to him, what else can I say next?

Those who had the same idea must include his friends who were forced to constantly reflect. He waved his hands to Xia Juhua and said, "Xia, I think our conversation can end now."

Xia Juhua had to pretend to be confused: "Why? I thought we were having a very pleasant conversation. How much are you prepared to sell the rubber to me?"

Even though he knew his behavior would be considered impolite, the friend could not suppress his anger and wanted to make things difficult for Xia Juhua: "If you can pay me a 10% deposit now, I can sell you 50,000 tons of rubber at a price of 290 yuan per ton. Of course, it's in RMB. What do you think?" At 290 yuan per ton, he still has nearly one-third of the profit.

Very good.

Xia Juhua glanced at Yang Detian out of the corner of her eye and saw him nod slightly at her. She said to her friend confidently, "Two hundred and eighty yuan per ton. I'll pay the deposit right away if it's possible." There was no other way. Bargaining was engraved in her bones, and Xia Juhua started to bargain almost instinctively.

The friend, who was already feeling embarrassed, thought that Xia Juhua was lowering the price because she couldn't afford the deposit, and looked at her with contempt: "Okay, but I require you to pay the deposit within ten minutes. Otherwise, you will have to compensate me double the loss."

After saying that, he actually muttered a few words to his companion, took out a few pages of paper covered with words, wrote a few strings of numbers on the empty spaces, and handed them to Xia Juhua.

Xia Juhua calmly asked Yang Detian to read the contents of the translator to her. The quantity, price, and delivery date were all very clear and detailed. The translator whispered to Xia Juhua that there was no problem with the content, and the time limit and compensation for non-delivery were also reasonable.

This was the translation brought by Yang Detian. Xia Juhua naturally believed what he said. She glanced at her friend and calmly signed her name where it should be signed under the guidance of the translator.

After signing, Xia Juhua nodded to her friend in a friendly manner, but extended her hand to Yang Detian: "Can I give him a check?" She remembered that this was how it was played on TV all her life: if the transaction required a lot of money, the protagonist would just take out a check.

Since Yang Detian asked her to negotiate the price with his friends, she should carry a check with her like the protagonist in the TV show.

The entourage that followed Yang Detian were all stunned by the price quoted by his friend. Two hundred and eighty yuan per ton was a price they dared not even think about. Even Yang Detian, who was used to the ups and downs, did not expect Xia Juhua to be able to offer such a price. No, it was his friend who could offer such a price. He did not notice Xia Juhua's outstretched hand.

The friend was completely stunned by Xia Juhua's disregard for him - didn't you just tell me that you and Yang Detian were together? Why are you asking him for a check now?!

"Comrade Yang."

Xia Juhua's face suddenly lost all color. She couldn't calculate the exact amount for a moment, but she knew that the orders for textile products she had received in recent days would definitely not be enough to compensate her.

Thinking of this consequence, Xia Juhua was so angry when she looked at Yang Detian: Shouldn't Yang Detian just throw a check in his friend's face like they did on TV? Why didn't he move even after she called him?

Xia Juhua's gaze on Yang Detian was so heavy that he couldn't help but feel it. After a closer look, he saw flames burning in Xia Juhua's eyes. Yang Detian finally came to his senses and realized that if he didn't take any action, Xia Juhua would dare to scold him in front of his entourage and friends.

Although he had never seen Xia Juhua get angry, Yang Detian felt that his idea might very well become a reality.

So he cleared his throat to cover up his gaffe and looked at one of the entourage. The man also came to his senses, but still didn't dare to believe what he had just heard, and handed over a check thoughtfully.

Xia Juhua's eyes lit up immediately. This thing seemed to be similar to what was shown on TV, so it should be useful. However, she still looked at the translator beside her and asked for his opinion: "Just fill in the numbers on it?"

The translator must have seen bigger storms before, and he always kept a decent smile. He could still remind Xia Juhua: "You can't just fill it out casually. It has to have uppercase and lowercase letters, as well as the name of the unit and the date. Let Xiao Wang write it?"

Every profession has its own expertise. Xia Juhua certainly did not try to show off at this time. She let Xiao Wang, who took out the check, fill it out before handing it to her friend.

If he did this, even the friend with the best temper would get angry. Moreover, from how he had just embarrassed Xia Juhua, it was clear that he was not a person with a good temper. He shook the check in his hand and said, "Xia, this is not yours."

"Why isn't it mine?" Xia Juhua asked innocently, "Is this check not given to you by me, or is the amount on it wrong? Why can't you withdraw the money with this check?"

"No, no, this is not right." My friend's Chinese vocabulary was poor, so he could only repeat these words over and over again. One of his companions came over, looked at the check carefully, called the Chinese translator over, pointed at the check and said something in a gibberish, and then the three of them gathered together, lowered their voices, but spoke at a fast speed.

Xia Juhua couldn't help but glance at the translator, who whispered to her that the friend who came over was persuading the friend who was negotiating with Xia Juhua. The translator also told the friend that the contract had been signed and Xia Juhua had already paid the money. If the friend regretted it, he would be the one to pay twice the deposit.

These words made Xia Juhua's eyes light up again. She that hoped her friend would go back on his word right away - think about the number she had just filled in on the check, how many years would the women in Ping An Village have to weave textiles to earn that much - she was the one who signed the contract with her friend, so she should be the one to get the compensation, right?

In the world, the greater the hope, the greater the disappointment. The friend who was angry by Xia Juhua signed the contract with Xia Juhua out of anger because he hoped to get compensation. However, Xia Juhua's hope was shattered before it could rise too high.

The friend actually agreed with his companion's opinion and said that he would deliver the rubber to China according to the time limit stipulated in the contract. However, the friend, who had a bad temper, still put forward a condition, that is, the future consignee must be Xia Juhua herself.

Xia Juhua didn't even want to argue with this almost childish embarrassment: the pick-up location was in Yangcheng, and they were already in China, so did it matter whether she showed up or not?

However, Yang Detian immediately agreed on behalf of Xia Juhua, and even made an agreement with his friends that if the friends who delivered the goods in the future could not meet Xia Juhua, they could refuse to deliver the goods to the Chinese side.

As they were coming and going, it was time for the expo to close. Xia Juhua didn't even have time to go to the G country booth to get her cashews before Yang Detian led her out of the venue through another door.

"Comrade Xia Juhua," Yang Detian said outside the meeting, turning back and firmly shaking Xia Juhua's hand, "You have made great contributions to the motherland and the people. The motherland and the people will never forget you."

The words were heavy, and the hand I held was heavy.

Xia Juhua stretched out her hand, rubbed it twice without making a sound, and then said, "Comrade Yang, you are too polite. It's just that my friend couldn't stand the provocation today. Otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to do anything."

"No, no, no, Comrade Xia Juhua, you are too modest. Through your negotiation with your friend today, I found that there are many areas in our working methods that need improvement."

Yang Detian was definitely not trying to flatter Xia Juhua. When they negotiated with friends in the past, they focused most on talking about the friendship between the two countries, hoping to move the other party to lower the price. However, they ignored the fact that businessmen pursue profits, and in the face of interests, friendship between countries is vulnerable.

However, Xia Juhua focused on the fact that her friend held the rubber in his own hands and also hoped to get rid of it as soon as possible. Choosing to cooperate with China was the most secure way for him to make a profit. She bluntly pointed out this to her friend - no matter how much money can be made on paper, it is not as exciting as actually getting the money in your hands.

When Yang Detian first heard Xia Juhua say this, he thought that Xia Juhua was indeed a rural woman who was too insensitive and had damaged the friendship between the two countries.

But after hearing what Xia Juhua said, his friend showed a thoughtful expression, which made Yang Detian instantly understand that as long as there is money to be made, friendship is easier to build than to destroy.

What made Yang Detian think deeply was that Xia Juhua made it clear from the beginning that she was not with Yang Detian, which made his friends think that the negotiation with Xia Juhua had broken down. Yang Detian also offered a minimum price of 300 yuan, which led him to want to get double the compensation when he thought Xia Juhua could not finish the batch of rubber.

Why did the friend lower the price to 280 yuan per ton because he was sure that Xia Juhua could not afford the deposit? It was because Xia Juhua repeatedly lowered the price when the other party thought the deal had been reached, which aroused the other party's anger.

Yang Detian felt a little embarrassed when he heard it, but Xia Juhua could say it easily - it seems that face is not that important in future negotiations with friends. As long as it can save foreign exchange for the country, paying a few more times is not as shameful as imagined!

When interests are at stake, friends tend to underestimate their enemies and take things for granted. This is also what Yang Detian warned himself to pay attention to in future foreign negotiations.

Yang Detian has not thought about it any further, and he has no time to think about these things. He wants to report the good news to his leaders: 50,000 tons of rubber will be shipped to Guangzhou in more than three months. With this rubber, the semi-suspended factories can resume production, and some precision machinery and even unspeakable fields will have guaranteed raw materials!

The most important thing is that the appearance of Xia Juhua saved the country nearly two million yuan in funds. As for how to reward her, Yang Detian only had some rough ideas, and he also needed the final approval of the leader before he could implement them.

"What, have you signed the contract?" The leader, who had experienced many ups and downs in life, stood up excitedly after listening to Yang Detian's report and asked in disbelief, "Two hundred and eighty yuan per ton? Didn't you say they wouldn't budge even if it was three hundred yesterday?"

Yang Detian smiled and recounted Xia Juhua's almost childish negotiation method. His tone turned serious at the end: "Leader, I have learned a lot and thought a lot from Comrade Xia Juhua's negotiations with international friends. I think that our future foreign negotiations should be..."

The leader listened very carefully and added his own opinions from time to time when Yang Detian was reflecting. Finally, he instructed Yang Detian to write down his reflections and distribute them to the external system for study in the form of internal materials.

Finally, the leader said with deep emotion: "We judge others by our own standards. Those people only care about their own interests, but we always think about friendship, so we are taken advantage of. We need to change this situation in the future."

"Yes, if it weren't for Comrade Xia Juhua's chaos, the country would have to pay nearly 2 million yuan to get this batch of rubber. Others were still putting on airs, as if they had to sell it to us out of friendship between the two countries and use it as a bargaining chip to extort us in future exchanges. Comrade Xia Juhua taught us a vivid lesson."

Facing Yang Detian's emotional response, the leader did not laugh but asked directly: "You admire Xia Juhua so much, have you thought about how to encourage her behavior?"

Yang Detian took the opportunity to express his thoughts: "We cannot make a big announcement about the purchase of rubber, so Comrade Xia Juhua can only be an unknown hero. But her contribution to the country is real. I think we cannot erase her contribution just because she has a high level of consciousness."

The leader who had just met with Xia Juhua the day before thought of the different distribution system of the Ping'an Village Brigade and decided to maintain his dissent from Xia Juhua and signaled Yang Detian to continue:

"I have learned that Comrade Xia Juhua signed the most orders in L Province during this expo. We cannot commend her at the national level, but we can commend Comrade Xia Juhua through L Province."

It is indeed more legitimate to use the name of L Province to commend Xia Juhua for her outstanding contributions. However, the leader reminded Yang Detian: "Comrade Xia Juhua is also a brigade leader. Under her leadership, the production and living conditions of their brigade have developed well. You should remind L Province that the reward given should not exceed the tolerance of Comrade Xia Juhua, and her life should not be disturbed."

As someone who had also experienced the pain of the past ten years, Yang Detian Zhengzhong understood the meaning of the leader's words. He assured the leader: "Please rest assured, I will talk to Deputy Director Gu immediately and ask him to be careful not to cause jealousy in others while providing Xia Juhua with all possible help at any time."

The leader smiled and said, "Xia Juhua has earned a lot of foreign exchange for L Province this time, but I'm afraid they will be short of raw materials for their orders. Although you are in charge of foreign affairs, you can also pay attention to it."

Yang Detian didn't expect that the leader knew Xia Juhua's situation so well, but he still nodded in agreement. Then he asked the leader that although L Province commended Xia Juhua, could they secretly give her material rewards? For many years, they mainly gave spiritual rewards, and Yang Detian had to have the same concerns.

"You should seek the opinion of Province L." The leader said this and ended the conversation.

Yang Detian understood the leader's intention and quickly found the residence of Deputy Director Gu of L Province. The two discussed how L Province should commend Xia Juhua. Deputy Director Gu thought for a while and said, "The overall power supply in Chengping area is still very weak. The power supply in Pingde County is only available at the commune level. We can consider providing power to Ping'anzhuang Brigade first."

"Send a telegram to their brigade?" Yang Detian couldn't figure out how this could be considered a way to commend Xia Juhua: "In my personal opinion, we should commend Comrade Xia Juhua personally," he emphasized again.

Deputy Director Gu thought for a moment and said, "If it is a personal recognition, I think a bonus is the most appropriate."

The key is how much bonus is appropriate!

Yang Detian has changed his mind. Since the leader mentioned that Xia Juhua is a team leader, his source of information is most likely Deputy Director Gu. So he might as well agree to Deputy Director Gu's request to call the Ping'anzhuang Brigade, so that Deputy Director Gu can realize his leadership intention of helping Xia Juhua to the best of his ability in the future.

After hearing from Deputy Director Gu that Ping'anzhuang Brigade has basically achieved watering of the land and now basically uses tractors for farming, Yang Detian said that he could coordinate when he returns and allocate two large combined harvesters to Ping'anzhuang Brigade.

This stirred up a hornet's nest. Deputy Director Gu held him and refused to let him go. He forced Yang Detian to agree to allocate 20 large-scale combine harvesters to L Province before he would let him go.

Combined harvesters, this is something that Deputy Director Gu had seen when he visited a large state-owned farm, but unfortunately the production was too small, and the supply and marketing system of Province L could not get one. Now that Yang Detian said he could coordinate it, Deputy Director Gu had already thought about how to report his exhibition results to the provincial leaders when he returned.

"Can you guarantee that two of them can be transferred to the Ping'anzhuang Brigade?" Yang Detian calculated the output of the factory's combined harvesters in his mind and made such a request to Deputy Director Gu.

When Deputy Director Gu heard that twenty harvesters were possible, he naturally had no choice but to agree. The two of them then calmed down and discussed how much personal bonus Xia Juhua should receive.

The final amount agreed upon was two thousand yuan: Yang Detian worked in a ministry at a high level, and his monthly salary was just over three hundred yuan, which left him with less than two thousand yuan left in a year, so both of them thought this was a considerable amount.

In order to avoid arousing other people's jealousy and to better protect Xia Juhua, Yang Detian decided that the money should be paid directly to Xia Juhua by the XX Department - after all, the leaders knew that Xia Juhua would be given a personal material reward, so it would not be a problem to report it.

In the minds of both of them, the highest work point value in Ping'anzhuang Brigade was only 26 cents. When Xia Juhua received the huge sum of 2,000 yuan, she should have been excited and enthusiastic. She should have been grateful for the leaders' decision and praised the organization's care from the bottom of her heart.

Xia Juhua, who did not want to be called to Deputy Director Gu's room, did not get excited when she saw the two thousand yuan. She looked very calm and put the money in her pocket very naturally. Her words of thanks to the leader were very obvious.

Yang Detian and Deputy Director Gu looked at each other, both feeling looked down upon, and did not respond to Xia Juhua's words for a long time.

Xia Juhua didn't know that the leaders were somewhat dissatisfied with her reaction. Seeing that the two leaders didn't want her to leave after finishing the business, she had no choice but to ask: "Director Yang, Deputy Director Gu, is there anything else?"

The two found that they had lost their composure and found it a little funny - after all, they were both experienced people, and when they discussed giving Xia Juhua a personal reward, although they felt that it was a lot, they did not really think two thousand yuan was a big deal.

They could ignore the two thousand yuan, but why should Xia Juhua be required to pay homage to it? After all, it was because Xia Juhua was a rural woman and they took it for granted that she had never had so much money.

Deputy Director Gu smiled first: "Yes, there is another piece of good news to announce to you. Director Yang heard that Ping'anzhuang Brigade has not yet been connected to electricity. After returning to Beijing, he will coordinate and give priority to Ping'anzhuang Brigade to connect to electricity."

Xia Juhua, who had just been nonchalant about the two thousand yuan, suddenly brightened up as they wished: "Really? That's great. Can all the production teams in our Ping'an Village Brigade be connected? We don't have to pay for the electric poles, right?"

Xia Juhua asked this question subconsciously, because she was late in getting electricity in Ping'an Village in her previous life - her two sons built houses and moved out early, and she lived alone. She didn't care whether there was electricity or not, and she still had to pay for the electric poles.

The two leaders looked at each other helplessly, and both felt that their argument about how much reward to give Xia Juhua was unnecessary: ​​​​it was obvious that she did not care about her personal interests, but only focused on the collective interests.

This made the two of them worth Xia Juhua even more and even admire her. Yang Detian, who had originally asked Deputy Director Gu not to mention this to Xia Juhua before the harvesters were deployed, took the initiative to say: "We will also deploy two combined harvesters to Ping'anzhuang Brigade to support the agricultural production of Ping'anzhuang Brigade."

So, shouldn't you be more excited, Comrade Xia Juhua?

Comrade Xia Juhua did not disappoint the two leaders and asked, "Can you help us solve the diesel problem?"