Chapter 158: A Little Difficulty
Hearing the anxiety and excitement in the man's tone, Lin Siqiao did not dare to delay.
After packing up briefly, she followed him to the meeting room.
"This meeting was initiated by Mr Johnson."
"Minister Wu asked me to tell you that the topic we're going to discuss may be... sensitive."
"He must be careful when he asks you to translate."
"You can't be too soft, but you can't be too strong either."
"Okay, I understand."
Lin Siqiao nodded, then looked around, "Where's Minister Wu?"
"Minister Wu will immediately..."
However, before he could finish his words, the door of the meeting room suddenly opened with a click.
Lin Siqiao looked over and saw Minister Wu had just changed into a neat Zhongshan suit.
You know what, he is both handsome and elegant.
Minister Wu waved his hand, "Xiao Lin, come here."
Lin Siqiao calmed himself down and hurried over to meet him.
"Xiao Lin, this is Vice Minister Zhang, and this is Director Li."
Minister Wu introduced them one by one.
"This is the young comrade who is responsible for Mr. Johnson's translation this time."
Everyone smiled in a very easygoing manner, "Little comrade, you will have to work hard later."
Lin Siqiao waved his hands quickly when he heard it, "It's not hard, it's not hard."
“It is my honor to contribute to the country.”
"Let's all sit down and talk."
As soon as the group sat down, Mr. Johnson, who had received the news, went downstairs accompanied by his entourage.
"Long time no see, my old friend."
"haven't seen you for a long time."
The two sides shook hands politely, and then Mr. Johnson signaled the staff to present the gift he brought this time.
"It took me a lot of effort to bring it to China intact."
"I hope you like it."
When the box was opened, everyone gasped. Lin Siqiao also lowered his eyes to take a look. It was a colorful glass-glazed pottery jar.
As we all know, the country is not good at making pottery.
Mr. Johnson also generously admitted this point. This colored glass glaze pottery jar was indeed originally from China, but later flowed to Western countries due to war.
He couldn't bear to see Chinese cultural relics lost abroad, so he spent a lot of money to buy them and brought them to China.
It sounds fine, but it's not the case if you think about it carefully.
Taking something that has been stolen from someone else and giving it back as a state gift is not only impolite but also rude.
Judging from the country's usual diplomatic thinking, this state gift is undoubtedly a typical American "carrot and stick".
In other words, on the surface the country is indeed showing goodwill, but in reality, this is a disguised threat.
Everyone present had a gloomy expression on their faces, but Minister Wu, after seeing this, smiled nonchalantly.
"Mr. Johnson has a heart."
Since the other party has given such a big gift, Minister Wu will naturally not let him go back empty-handed.
Soon, at the signal of Minister Wu, the accompanying personnel presented our state gift.
Lin Siqiao was a little surprised. In fact, she had already looked at the list of state gifts last night.
Because there are so many types of items inside, some of the craftsmanship and production processes will also need to be introduced later.
She has to prepare all these in advance, otherwise she will stumble when translating.
Lin Siqiao made sufficient preparations for this, but what she didn't expect was.
The cloisonné landscape porcelain plates, the carved lacquer and jade cloud fans, the double-sided embroidery with different colors from Suzhou, the ivory carved balls...all of these are gone.
The staff only brought a box of beautifully packaged tea, weighing 200 grams, or four taels.
Mr. Johnson also frowned after reading it.
This was not his first visit to China, and he had more or less understood the Chinese people's hospitality.
But even if you want to send tea.
Is this portion too small?
Is this what the Chinese often say, a gift of goose feathers from a thousand miles away is more valuable than money?
Seeing Mr. Johnson's puzzled look, Minister Wu smiled calmly.
"Xiao Lin, just tell him that it's already a lot. It accounts for half of China's tea production."
Lin Siqiao nodded and explained in a gentle voice, "Dr. Johnson, this is not ordinary tea."
Although it is not the tea mentioned in Wang Wei's poem, its properties are similar.
Lin Siqiao said, "These teas come from the mother trees of 'Da Hong Pao' in Wuyi Mountain, Fujian Province."
"There are only three trees left in the world. Not only are they rare, but they are also extremely difficult to harvest."
"Because of its mellow taste and unique 'rock-bone floral fragrance', it is a well-deserved treasure in my country's tea industry."
"Its annual output is less than 500 grams, and the amount here is equivalent to half of China's top-grade tea."
Lin Siqiao's introduction was very detailed, and the officials, including Mr. Johnson, basically understood it.
This tea is very good and precious.
But the problem is that China has always been generous with state gifts, so why was it so stingy this time and only gave half a bag of tea?
Is there any other deeper meaning?
Regarding this, Lin Siqiao also did his homework in advance last night.
Yes, there are so many varieties of tea in China, why choose Wuyi black tea?
Speaking of this, we have to mention the famous "Tea Party" incident.
Every Chinese citizen present was well aware of this, as this was the fuse of their country's war of independence.
But what they didn’t know was that the protagonist of the tea dumping incident was Wuyishan black tea!
After explaining the whole story, Lin Siqiao took a deep breath.
“Two hundred years ago, Wuyi Mountain black tea had already successfully crossed the ocean and reached countries around the world.”
"It is not only a bridge for trade between our two countries, but also a witness to your resistance to the country and the establishment of an independent nation."
"I don't think there could be a more suitable gift than this."
"What do you think, Dr. Johnson?"
Mr. Johnson was silent for a long time after hearing this. Who would have thought that a small bag of tea could have such a profound meaning.
Such a comparison makes them seem to have lost their perspective.
He lost the battle, but he accepted the defeat wholeheartedly. Mr. Johnson bowed to Minister Wu.
"I am narrow-minded, my old friend."
"You are right. There is no better gift than this."
Upon hearing this, all the Chinese present were excited.
This trick of using little force to achieve great results is really amazing!
Not only did they get a slap in the face, but they were also blocked from saying anything.
It feels so good!
Many people also noticed Lin Siqiao. This child was calm and composed, neither humble nor arrogant, and he spoke English fluently.
No wonder Minister Wu looks so proud recently. It turns out that he has recruited a powerful general.
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