Chapter 269 No, it's the Emperor Flower: Factory Construction Expert

Although when people talk about the Chinese New Year, they always mention Lunar New Year's Eve.

But in 1994, there was no Lunar New Year's Eve; the 29th day of the twelfth lunar month was Lunar New Year's Eve.

Therefore, Wang Xiao really did return to Jinning City right at the time of the Chinese New Year.

With some time left before lunch, the Zhimen Commercial City was bustling like nothing at all, unlike New Year's Eve. Normally, by this time, the people of Jinning would have already rushed home to prepare for the New Year's Eve dinner. Apart from the unruly little kids, who would be wandering around outside?

But today was strange. Besides the Russians and Africans who don't have Spring Festival customs, a large number of locals from Jinning were also squeezing through the commercial city, cursing as they said, "My God! It's so crowded today, we can't get through."

Wang Xiao's car couldn't get through either, and was blocked by the crowd halfway through the road.

Last year, the trade city stayed open on New Year's Eve, and the stalls were still occupied by the shops inside the trade city.

This year is even better; the stalls outside show no signs of closing up. All sorts of food vendors and trinkets line up from one end of the intersection all the way to the other.

They sell quite a few novelties, even including large cherries, a fruit only available in the Southern Hemisphere during winter. They sell them individually, weighing them on an electronic scale so curious customers can try them.

The old Russian man's leather boots crunched over the red firecracker paper scattered on the ground. He sniffed hard, enjoying the rich aroma of freshly grilled lamb skewers dripping with oil.

The four-speaker tape recorder made in Taiwan vibrated so loudly that the glass counter shook. Teresa Teng's "Where Have I Seen You in My Dreams" and Fei Xiang's "A Fire in Winter" clashed amidst the smells of gunpowder and barbecue.

But even the two singers combined couldn't drown out the loudspeaker's blare: "50 each, 50 each, fixed price, no bargaining!"

As the horn sounded, Wang Xiao looked over and his gaze fell on the cardboard sign that read "Imported Specialty New Year Goods" through the car window.

The red paper with black writing was clearly newly written; even in the dead of winter, the ink hadn't completely dried.

The protea, priced at 50 yuan a stem, stood proudly inside cellophane. The snow on the roof had melted in the warm sun, and the water droplets fell on the petals, refracting a rainbow of red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, and violet, adding a halo to the precious flower.

Someone was probably haggling, when the man with the megaphone glared and said, "No haggling! The King Protea, the national flower of South Africa, is genuinely air-freighted here. It's usually only supplied to high-end hotels in Beijing that cater to foreign guests; it's a state gift! In Jinning City, apart from the Jinning Grand Hotel, which has a long-standing relationship with our boss and receives an extra supply, if you see this King Protea anywhere else, I'll twist your head off."

"It's expensive! You can only afford to buy it in the next couple of days. If you come back after these two days with 100 yuan to buy it, sorry, it's not available! It's already been transported to the State Guesthouse. You won't even be able to get in to take a look."

One customer yelled, "Why is it available today? Don't try to fool me during the New Year!"

The man with the megaphone laughed, a hint of smugness in his voice: "It's because of the Chinese New Year. All the overseas Chinese and guests from Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan have gone home for the holidays. The State Guesthouse doesn't have that many people, so we can't spend that much money. That's why we made room for it. After the New Year, don't even think about it. Even if you ask me for more money, I can't conjure it up."

Don't be fooled by the large number of Russians and Africans in Jinning these past two years. It's not unusual to see people with blue eyes, green eyes, blond hair, red hair, white skin, and black skin on the streets.

However, the capital still holds a very high position in the hearts of the people of Jinning, and the words "state guest ceremony" carry even greater weight.

Moreover, food coupons were only abolished in 1993. People who grew up with the era of ration coupons generally do not think that selling them flowers that the state guesthouse does not need is like giving alms to beggars. Instead, they think they have gotten a bargain.

Well, if you replace the flowers with Moutai liquor, you'll understand. But you can't just buy Moutai with any amount of money.

This time, some people were actually tempted and started taking out their wallets to count the money, cursing as they did so: "Damn it, one flower costs 50 yuan, which is equivalent to 10 jin of pork! Money is really worthless now."

People around him laughed and teased him, "Oh my, a protea! If you buy it, you'll become an emperor, won't you? Hmm, Emperor Qianlong, with three thousand concubines in his harem."

Last year, the TV series "The Emperor Qianlong's Adventures" was incredibly popular in mainland China. Who doesn't sing the line, "The mountains and rivers cannot bear too much sorrow..."

Coincidentally, the tape recorder next to us started playing this song.

The people around him laughed even harder.

The man who took the protea flower from his wallet exclaimed, "What's wrong with that! I'm going to enjoy the treatment of an emperor for once!"

The people around him laughed again: "You're going to die! Go home and kneel on a washboard."

Amidst the laughter of the crowd, he grabbed the flowers and fled in panic.

His wife, who had gone to buy nuts, came back and chased after him, yelling like a lioness, "I bet you can't carry a single penny on you, or I'll burn you to death!"

As a result, despite everyone's laughter, quite a few people actually came to buy flowers one after another.

Even small vendors who would argue with customers until they were red in the face over a mere penny, would come over after selling all their goods and ask for a flower to take home: "Damn it, I want to share in the emperor's good fortune too."

It seems that as long as you pinpoint the key to success, there will always be a market for small-ticket luxury goods.

Chen Yu jogged over to greet the boss.

Noticing the boss's gaze, she quickly explained, "The hotel and restaurant forgot to inform us beforehand. The goods just arrived, so we divided them up ourselves and sold them retail."

Wow, business is really good, unbelievably good.

Chen Yu was tempted: "How about I set up a stall in the trade city and sell these African specialties?"

Wang Xiao knew that she was trying to cover up Zhao Qing's oversight at work.

The hotel and restaurant didn't give prior notice, and Zhao Qing, as the supplier, should have considered the impact of the Spring Festival and repeatedly confirmed and coordinated beforehand. Her negligence resulted in a backlog of expensive protea flowers.

But when people do things, it is impossible for them to make mistakes.

When a problem arises, if you don't just stand there and watch the damage happen, but instead try to remedy the situation immediately, that's good enough. It's also normal for colleagues to cover for each other.

So the boss smiled without saying a word and pointed to the old man with the long neck watching the show.

Chen Yu immediately realized: "That's right, they can bring it if they fly over."

These days, anyone who can be a middleman is only interested in money.

Previously, African traders may not have known that King Protea could be sold at a high price in Jiangzhimen, but now that they know, they will most likely take advantage of the opportunity to purchase King Protea in China empty-handed, and personally bring a small amount of King Protea with them.

Many hands make light work; with so many people together, the amount they spend won't be small.

But Chen Yu didn't give up: "Let them take them, and then the trade city can collect them and sell them. Otherwise, the price of flowers is what it is, and they can't sell them in a short time unless it's a holiday or festival. We can't afford to waste time."

The commercial city is familiar with this matter.

A couple of years ago, almost all the Russian traders brought their own cheap goods to China, exchanged them for money, and then bought Chinese goods to take back and resell.

In recent years, this situation has become less frequent because their industrial system has collapsed quite severely.

Now, even African traders can do this.

Wang Xiao nodded; she wouldn't bother with such a trivial matter.

She simply turned to Yang Tao and asked, "What do you think?"

Yang Tao tensed up instantly: "I think it's great. This way, the supply of King Protea will be full of uncertainty, which is, well, a form of scarcity marketing. People who manage to buy it will think they are very lucky to have caught it."

Wang Xiao declined to comment: "Anything else?"

Yang Tao hesitated for half a second, then noticed Chen Yu secretly winking at her and glancing at the African trader next to her. A sudden inspiration struck her: "Hmm, let the African trader feel he can make some more money, and African specialties can also be sold in China."

Wang Xiao nodded: "Remember, any healthy relationship that can be maintained in the long term must be reciprocal. No normal person likes to be the one who makes money off others without receiving any benefits in return. Balance is essential."

Yang Tao quickly nodded and said "Oh," but in her heart she was thinking of the workers in Beijing and the workers who went to Germany to work as seasonal fruit pickers.

Wouldn't it be a form of balance to let the Romanians take them there and let them be under Romanian administration?

Nowadays, most Chinese people in Romania are business owners, either owning shops or factories. Those who work there are also employed by Chinese business owners.

If it's now Chinese people working for Romanians, wouldn't that be considered a give-and-take?

Countries and regions experiencing economic downturns are particularly prone to extreme nationalist sentiments. Governments also like to incite this at such times to divert attention from domestic conflicts.

As foreign businesses, they must be especially careful to defuse the hostility of their hosts.

Try to tell the other person: We are all the same, we are all people who have left our hometowns and are racking our brains to make money outside.

Seeing her staring blankly, Wang Xiao smiled and asked, "What's wrong?"

Yang Tao shared her thoughts.

Several people in the car burst into laughter.

Wang Xiao pointed at Chen Yu, indicating to Yang Tao, "Let your CEO Chen tell you."

Chen Yu waved his hand with a smile: "I was just talking nonsense. Maybe in the future, when Chinese people go to Romania, they will just be working for the locals."

Why?

She gave an example: "It's like in the areas of Liangjiang Province where township enterprises are developed. Many rural people have gone to work in factories to earn wages and no longer farm. But it's not good to leave the land lying fallow, so they rent it out to people from other places to farm. The same goes for building houses and repairing roads in rural areas. Local people are busy working and earning money and don't have time to do these things, so rural people from other places do them."

Yang Tao realized, "Yes, working as a seasonal fruit picker in Germany pays well, so more and more Romanians will do it."

This does earn the country foreign exchange, but at the same time, it leads to a large outflow of Romania's young and middle-aged workforce.

Romania's development requires more than just money to buy equipment and raw materials; it also needs manpower. Road construction and building all require people.

Then the Chinese people can step up.

Yes, everyone knows that seasonal workers in Germany can earn more money, but given the language barrier and cultural differences, German farmers would definitely prefer to hire Romanians.

Moreover, Romania is now actively applying to join NATO, so Germany will certainly impose fewer restrictions on Romanian workers entering the country.

The more Yang Tao thought about it, the more interesting it seemed.

During the Chinese New Year, the boss was in a good mood and even gave her a few words of encouragement: "In the future, you should think more about things when you encounter problems. Don't think that something has nothing to do with you, that you don't need to look at it or think about it."

"The human brain becomes sharper the more you use it. If you don't use it, even your native language will become rusty. Besides, there's nothing new under the sun. What you've experienced and what you're about to experience has already happened to others."

"If you read and think about it, and analyze the pros and cons, then you will naturally be able to handle it more appropriately."

Ivanov smiled at her and said, "Tao, good luck."

As he spoke, he unconsciously blinked his peach blossom eyes.

Yang Tao immediately turned her head away, feeling like she couldn't bear to look.

The male boss felt hurt. Good heavens, are Slavs really so quick to age? Could it be that his charm has declined to the point where young girls don't even want to look at him?

Wang Xiao was practically laughing herself silly: "She's allergic to men's flirtatious glances now."

Lyuba, at least, remembered to respect her boss and told him with a smile about how Alas, the doorman at Changgong Hotel, had been presumptuous and flirted with Yang Tao.

Ivanov exclaimed in exasperation, "This good-for-nothing! Is his eye twitching?"

God, you idiot, does he realize he's missed a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity?

Wang Xiao was overjoyed: "Didn't you say that a man's ultimate dream is to be kept? Maybe he's already on the road to success."

Ivanov sighed, only able to mutter, "Oh, God!"

Chen Yu tried her best to suppress a laugh and changed the subject: "Mr. Wang, are you going straight to the villa first?"

When the commercial city built villas for the traders who frequently came here, it naturally didn't forget about the boss's share.

Even though the two bosses are usually busy with work and rarely come here, the commercial city still takes good care of the villa.

When the weather is nice, we open the windows and doors to ventilate and let the sun shine; when the weather is bad, we close them quickly, and we also take out the bedding to air it out every few days.

With such meticulous care, we finally welcomed the boss's arrival.

That's right, Wang Xiao spent the Chinese New Year at the villa this year.

Theoretically speaking, since his uncle's family rarely returns to China, Wang Xiao should visit his uncle's family in Zhouzhen for the Chinese New Year.

This perfectly echoes her origin story—in the autumn of 1990, she had just transmigrated into this world and earned her first pot of gold selling braised food in Zhouzhen.

Now that she's quite wealthy, going back to Zhou Town to return in glory and see how things have changed would be just like something out of a novel.

But Wang Xiao, as a transmigrator, never cared about the author's life or death.

Why would she have to go all the way to Zhouzhen for the New Year? Even if she were as strong as a man and could walk freely, she wouldn't make that trip, let alone be disabled and confined to a wheelchair.

She never looks back; she only strives forward.

The villa's design is much more reasonable than the cadre housing in the steel factory's residential area; at least the boss doesn't have to be carried up the stairs by bodyguards.

As soon as Wang Xiao entered the house, she felt the warmth; the staff in charge of the villa area had already turned on the air conditioning for their boss. The flowers on the table were also vibrant and in full bloom.

Upon seeing this, the employee who came to open the door with the key quickly introduced it: "This is a Queen Flower."

“No.” Wang Xiao smiled, pulled a flower from the bottle, and played with it in his hand. “It’s a protea, because there are no empresses here, only emperors.”

The employee, who appeared to be around 30 years old, looked bewildered and stood with his arms crossed, unsure of what to do.

Xiao Gao quickly handed her a red envelope, gesturing, "Happy New Year, thank you, you can go back to your work."

Wang Xiao nodded to her, then turned and pointed to the window, smiling at Ivanov: "Once we make ECM available for civilian use, we can save on air conditioning costs."

Before Ivanov could respond, Wang Tiejun's voice of objection rang out from outside: "Why save that money? It's freezing cold, just turn on the air conditioning."

These days, there's no Lunar New Year's Eve among the statutory holidays.

Therefore, as leaders, the couple had to at least visit the factory in the morning. Then everyone would tacitly agree to leave half a day early and go home for the New Year.

Chen Yanqiu echoed her husband's words: "That's right, I'm telling you, don't listen to those foreigners. It really does cause coldness, and once it gets into your bones, your legs will hurt if they get even a little cold later on. You'll suffer the consequences later. Oh, are you alright—"

She cleared her throat halfway through her sentence and kindly instructed the union officer, "Xiao Zhou, thank you for your trouble, making this trip."

Xiao Zhou helped carry the things out of the car and into the house: "It's no trouble at all. Director Wang, Chairman Chen, General Manager Wang, Mr. Ivanov, and all the brothers and sisters, I wish you all a Happy Chinese New Year in advance!"

Wang Xiao smiled and nodded at him. Xiao Gao quickly handed over the prepared gift, saying, "Happy New Year to you too!"

Ivanov nodded and greeted everyone, saying "Happy Chinese New Year!" in Russian, before running excitedly to ask Chairman Chen, "Mom, what are we eating today?"

Chen Yanqiu was already used to the old Russian's unreliable behavior. While checking her daughter's leg and taking his pulse, she instructed her husband to heat up the food they had packed from the steel factory canteen. At the same time, she replied to Ivanov, "Your godmother got you some food from the factory. I'll make you some candied sweet potatoes later."

She frowned at her daughter again, "I didn't know how to say it in front of Xiao Zhou just now. How old are you? How can you break your leg while walking? Oh, Lao Wang, bring me my medicine box. I'll give you a couple of acupuncture points and cupping. The cold air has gotten in, and you still don't know any better. You don't take it seriously when you're young, but you'll regret it when you get older."

Wang Tiejun had no choice but to hand over the work to Xiao Gao and Xiao Zhao, and rummage through the first-aid kit for his wife.

Even after wiping herself with alcohol swabs, Wang Xiao still resolutely denied it: "Mom, don't talk nonsense. I just happened to be in a plane crash, not tripped and fell while walking. It would sound terrible if word got out! Be careful about the impact, please don't spread rumors."

Like the Siberian tiger hearing the little potato from the south call it "Mimi," Chen Yanqiu snorted with her eyebrows, adopting an attitude of "I can't be bothered with you," and said dismissively: "Yes, yes, the plane crashed, and you survived by sheer luck. Don't move around, I'll stick it in the wrong spot, and you'll be the one suffering."

Those in the room who knew the inside story were truly speechless.

Wang's actions have made it impossible for her parents to believe that she actually survived a plane crash.

I need to learn this better in the future, so that even when I'm caught lying, I can stand up for myself and say: "What did I lie about? You just don't believe me. I'm the one who's wronged!"

As it turns out, harmless lies can indeed contribute to a stable and harmonious atmosphere.

At least Wang Tiejun and Chen Yanqiu, the elderly couple, were not frightened, and even talked about their unfortunate experiences when they were young.

He was playing basketball properly, and then he jumped and landed on someone else's feet. The other person just let out a "whoop," and his foot twisted and broke.

Wang Tiejun was filled with emotion: "If it weren't for your mother's good treatment, my ankle would be ruined. So, it's true, you still need someone who cares about you."

Sigh, their daughter had a mental breakdown years ago and wanted to become a stepmother, which worried them. Now that their daughter isn't looking for a partner, they're worried too.

But to Wang Xiao, these words sounded like an old couple showing off their affection, and she wasn't interested, so she just kept eating her food in silence.

Ivanov asked her curiously, "What is this, Your Majesty?"

"Chicken feet, boneless chicken feet with lemon." Wang Xiao looked at the chicken feet soaking in red oil, took a bite, and laughed, "This is still my old braised dish recipe."

Ivanov exclaimed in surprise: "You can cook?"

He didn't recall ever seeing Wang Xiao enter the kitchen; he assumed she was practicing the ancient Chinese proverb: "A gentleman stays away from the kitchen."

Although he couldn't understand why the ancient Chinese people considered cooks to be villains.

Wang Xiao raised his eyebrows: "Of course, my first pot of gold was earned by selling braised food in my uncle's town. Later, I also sold recipes to Jinning Restaurant and the non-staple food company. I was really happy to earn that money."

Ahem, because she basically got something for free.

Wang Tiejun and Chen Yanqiu were talking back and forth, trying to awaken their daughter's desire to start her own family by presenting her with a model of a perfect life partner.

They talked on and on for a long time, but received absolutely no response.

Wang Xiao had already gotten really into chatting with Ivanov, who talked about how he brought back gifts from his family trip abroad during his student days and discovered they could be sold for money, which instantly opened up a whole new world for him.

Then the two started praising each other: "Wow, you really are a genius, no wonder you make money!"

Wang Tiejun and Chen Yanqiu exchanged a glance. What the hell are they talking about? They're eating, their mouths are practically full of food!

The meal dragged on and on until it was almost dark.

Thankfully, some clever manufacturers have already made heated table mats; otherwise, everyone would have gotten an upset stomach after drinking the chicken soup.

Wang Xiao touched her belly, leaned back on the sofa, and let out a long, satisfied sigh.

Ivanov leaned against her, utterly blissful. If only time could stand still at this moment, so carefree and without a worry in the world.

Oh no, they haven't even started working on the ECM yet, not to mention their chips and LCD screens. And by the way, the Sakhalin oil and gas fields are burning through US dollars.

Time really never stops.

Wang Xiao didn't dare to stop either. She shook her neck and first called Minister Cao to wish him a Happy New Year in advance, claiming that she was afraid she wouldn't be able to make a long-distance call tomorrow, so she was sending her best wishes in advance.

After making the New Year's greeting call to Minister Cao, she thought for a moment and then called Secretary Fang, otherwise it would be inappropriate to show favoritism.

After exchanging pleasantries, Secretary Fang showed particular concern for her leg, scolding her, "Why did you have to rush like that? It was so dangerous. You must never do something like that again. Hmm, Xiaoyu has returned to China too. Do you want to say a few words to Xiaoyu?"

Wang Xiao was very polite and did not refuse.

But in front of his parents, Wu Haoyu could only offer simple greetings, no matter how much he wanted to say.

After hanging up the phone, Secretary Fang looked at his son and calmly asked, "Did President Wang tell you about the plane crash?"

Seeing her son instinctively avoid her gaze, Secretary Fang felt a surge of helplessness, like an elderly mother. "Think about it carefully yourself."

Sigh, one has to think more positively about life.

Neither Qin Shi Huang nor Wu Zetian raised their sons to be outstanding individuals, nor did it hinder them from accomplishing their own careers.

Children and grandchildren have their own destinies; she can't control that.

After hanging up the phone, Wang Xiao remained completely calm. While watching the traditional Chinese ink painting animation on TV to prepare for the Spring Festival Gala, he argued with Ivanov: "We still need to get the LCD screen up and running as soon as possible. Look how big the TV back is now, but the screen is still only so big, and the clarity isn't good enough."

Ivanov was clumsily peeling an orange, getting juice all over his hands: "That depends on when Manager Toda Ichiro can poach our Fred Koch."

Speak of the devil, and he appears. Just as he was taking the wet wipe from Nikolai to dry his hands, the telephone rang first.

No one knows how many turns Toda Ichiro went through before finally getting through on the phone, but he had some important news that he had to tell his biggest client right now.

The factory construction expert, whom he had previously mentioned might be interested in, has finally agreed. Moreover, the expert will fly to China tomorrow to meet with the employer in person.

Wang Xiao and Ivanov were both taken aback. What a joke! Tomorrow is the first day of the Lunar New Year.

Whether Japanese people celebrate the Lunar New Year or not is irrelevant, but this factory construction expert is a mixed-race person of Chinese and Japanese descent who grew up in Taiwan.

Hmm, is there some story behind this?

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Weekends are always too short. Also, the King Protea is dioecious; female varieties generally include Queen, Princess, and Sovereign, while male varieties include Emperor, Prince, and Duke, etc. They can all be called King Protea.