Chapter 123
The friend didn't understand Xia Juhua's question and looked at the translator from her country who had come over with doubt. The translator knew the cashews and didn't translate Xia Juhua's question for the friend. He answered, "This is produced locally, it's fragrant and ripe."
Xia Juhua didn't quite believe his answer. In her memory, there was a big difference between the concept of raw and cooked in foreign countries and in the Chinese concept. But the food was good, so Xia Juhua wanted to buy it: "How much is one pound?"
As soon as money was mentioned, even the friend who didn't understand Xia Juhua's first question understood it. He reached out and grabbed a handful of food from the exhibits and stuffed it into Xia Juhua's hand: "I'll give it to you. It's free."
Xia Juhua looked at the translator helplessly. She really wanted to buy some to bring back for her fellow villagers to taste, not just to satisfy her own appetite, right?
The translator saw Xia Juhua's intention and pointed a finger at her: "Ten yuan, one kilogram."
Ten yuan?
Seeing Xia Juhua put down the cashews, the friend became a little anxious and grabbed another handful and stuffed them into Xia Juhua's hand: "Taste it, it's fragrant, really." As if he was afraid that Xia Juhua would not like the taste of cashews.
Xia Juhua was just trying to be polite to him when a reporter from Yangcheng Daily appeared: "Xia Tongji, I just went to the L Province booth to look for Lei, and they said Lei was here to make an introduction. Fortunately, Lei didn't go far."
Xia Juhua turned around to greet the reporter, and her friend took the opportunity to give her another handful of cashews. Others grabbed a handful, but Xia Juhua had to hold them with both hands. She smiled helplessly at the reporter: "International friends are too enthusiastic."
The reporter nodded, looked at what Xia Juhua was holding, and said with a smile, "Cashews are delicious. Lei can buy some to take home."
Xia Juhua shook her head and said, "This stuff is too expensive. One pound costs ten yuan. How much do we peasants earn in a day? Let's just forget it."
"Ten yuan per pound?" The reporter felt something was wrong and turned around to say something unhappily to the other party. Soon the unhappiness on his face disappeared, and he couldn't help laughing: "Xia Tongji, Lei misunderstood. They said one kilogram, not ten yuan per pound."
Kilograms? Xia Juhua had to think about it in her mind before she remembered that she had heard of this unit of measurement in her previous life. She asked the reporter a little embarrassedly, "Is it 10 yuan for 2 kilograms?" That's not cheap at all.
As if knowing what Xia Juhua was thinking, the reporter said, "Yes, it's 10 yuan for 2 jin. They are not talking about RMB, but their country's money."
That was even more unacceptable. In Xia Juhua's impression, foreign money seemed to be more valuable than the RMB. She didn't think that anything over five yuan per pound could be considered cheap. Unexpectedly, the reporter gave her a surprise: "The exchange rate of the currency of Country G to the RMB is three to one, which means that with one yuan of ours, we can buy something worth three yuan of theirs."
There is such a good thing? Xia Juhua never expected it. She had forgotten that the economies of the countries friendly to China were also very tense. Their specialties were almost all related to raw materials, and they were naturally worthless without deep processing.
All Xia Juhua could do was to quickly calculate in her mind that if what the reporter said was true, then these cashews were only a little over one dollar per pound, which was still within her affordability.
However, bargaining is ingrained in her nature, so Xia Juhua immediately asked her friend, "Can it be cheaper?"
Before I knew it, some people had stopped in front of my friend's booth to watch, and at least heard half of the conversation between Xia Juhua and the others. Now Xia Juhua was even trying to haggle over the price with them. Someone among the listeners chuckled: This lesbian is so funny, she thinks she is buying vegetables and is bargaining with others?
The friend also found it a little unbelievable, so he picked up a bag and started filling it with cashew nuts. While filling the bag, he asked the reporter to tell Xia Juhua that he was giving the cashew nuts to her to eat, free of charge.
Xia Juhua quickly asked the reporter to tell her friend that if the cashews could be sold to her at a lower price, she would buy some, but if they were given as gifts, she would not look at this booth anymore, as the next booth might also have cashews.
The man who had just laughed stopped laughing, and the look he gave Xia Juhua also changed. Even though the people around him urged him to leave, he did not leave. He just stood there to see who between Xia Juhua and her friend could hold on to the end.
Xia Juhua was determined and could be very stubborn. She wanted to leave the G country booth several times, but was stopped by her friends. Finally, through the unremitting efforts of the reporter, the cashew nuts were sold at a price of one yuan per pound.
After spending so much time haggling over the price, Xia Juhua felt that she should buy a little more, otherwise she would be unworthy of her friend's friendly price, so she asked for 20 kilograms. When she weighed it in her hand, she felt something was wrong and said to the reporter, "Did he weigh it by kilograms again?" This was too much.
The reporter nodded and said, "The scales in Country G are all in kilograms. Lei said 20 kilograms, but they often weighed 20 kilograms, which is 40 kilograms." Worried that Xia Juhua didn't have enough money, the reporter kindly added, "If Lei doesn't have enough money, I can lend it to Lei."
The money was enough, but why was he a little unhappy? Xia Juhua took out 40 yuan and handed it to her friend. Because they had agreed on the price before, her friend didn't refuse and took it directly. He quickly wrote a few lines on a piece of paper and handed it to Xia Juhua.
Xia Juhua looked at the big black hand stretched out in front of her and wanted to tell the other party that even if she wrote a letter, the other party would not be able to understand it. However, she just thought about it in her mind and took it with a bright smile on her face. At the urging of the reporter, she wrote down her address as a reward.
Forty kilograms of cashews was a lot, so Xia Juhua suggested to her friend that she leave them with him first and pick them up when she returned. The friend naturally agreed, and Xia Juhua was able to continue visiting other booths with ease.
However, before going shopping, Xia Juhua still asked the reporter what he wanted to talk to her about - it was not an important matter, and he could have waited until she returned to the booth to tell her, so there was no need to look for him all over the expo.
The reporter then told Xia Juhua that due to his negligence at work, the Yangcheng Daily had clearly reported Xia Juhua's outstanding deeds but did not deliver the newspaper to her. Today he came specifically to deliver the newspaper to Xia Juhua.
Xia Juhua suddenly understood why the reporter made this trip - it was obvious that someone had known about her meeting with the leader, and the reporter was just trying to make up for the loss.
Xia Juhua was not disgusted by the reporter's hindsight - although she couldn't say she liked it either - instead she wanted to thank the reporter for showing up in time today, otherwise she would not have dared to buy the cashews after hearing the price.
So Xia Juhua sincerely thanked the reporter. When she heard that he had left the newspaper at the L Province booth, she praised the reporter for his adaptability, then said goodbye to the reporter and continued her shopping.
After visiting two more shops, she ran into international friends who had been to the L Province booth to see Xia Juhua's weaving products. Xia Juhua no longer had the mood to shop around: the products from friendly countries were all pretty much the same, and the only things Xia Juhua was interested in were the food.
She bought a few bags of cocoa powder and a few kilograms of tobacco leaves for Master Wu. During the purchase process, Xia Juhua first asked whether the goods were sold by kilogram or by catty, and then asked whether they were calculated in the currency of her friend's country or in RMB, and then she bargained with them...
Xia Juhua felt that if the friend who sold her tobacco leaves had not seen her weaving things and placed an order, he would have chased her out of the booth long ago - she didn't buy much and the price was too low, and no one liked such a buyer.
In order to avoid being chased out of the booth and being embarrassed, Xia Juhua, who felt that she had nothing to buy, turned around and wanted to go back to the booth of Country G to get the cashews, and then go back to the booth of Province L to rest.
Unexpectedly, someone stopped her and said, "Hello, Comrade Xia, we are from the XX department. We would like to ask you for a favor. Do you have time?"
The man who stopped Xia Juhua was probably in his early forties. His hair had a little gray tint, but his eyes on his square face were still dark and bright, forming a sharp contrast with his hair which had turned half white.
Xia Juhua was certain that she had never seen this person before, and he had not appeared at the L Province booth in the past few days. Moreover, he always mentioned that he was from the XX Department. Xia Juhua was not worried that he was deceiving her, but she felt that for someone from such a big government, why would she need help?
Perhaps seeing Xia Juhua's doubts, he directly stated his purpose: "I just followed you to visit the booths of two countries, and I found that you are very good at bargaining. It just so happens that we want to purchase a batch of rubber from Country A, and we would like to ask Comrade Xia to help negotiate the price with the people from Country A."
The way Xia Juhua looked at the other person was no longer as if she were looking at a stranger she had never seen before, but as if she were looking at a madman: "Comrade, do you really want me to negotiate the price for you? I'm just a rural woman, counting the money in my pocket. It's ok for me to negotiate the price for some food, but the rubber you mentioned..." Xia Juhua had only seen the finished product, so she didn't even know what the raw material looked like, right?
The person who stopped Xia Juhua smiled and said, "Buying rubber is similar to buying food. You are counting the small money in your pocket, and I am counting the big money of the country. We both want to spend less money and do more things. It's the same."
Same one... Since coming to Guangzhou, Xia Juhua has tried hard to control her words and deeds, so as not to be accused of damaging the country's image. At this moment, she couldn't help but want to say a swear word in her heart, and then ask this person: Which eye did you see the same thing?
"Comrade, I really can't do it." This was all Xia Juhua could say in the end.
But she didn't want to let her go: "Comrade Xia Juhua, I have just observed that you are very familiar with friends from several friendly countries, and they are willing to listen to your opinions. That's why I want to ask you for help. Comrade Xia Juhua, you know that in recent years, many industrial products in our country have been produced in small quantities and at high prices because of insufficient raw materials and insufficient supply."
"If we can buy rubber at a relatively low price this time, the lives of the people will be greatly improved. As a member of the people, don't you want to see the prices of the rain boots, bicycles, and the liberation shoes worn by our soldiers become cheaper and cheaper?"
It has risen to the level of the masses and warriors, what else can Xia Juhua say? She can only ask: "Leader, how much do you want to buy, how much do they want to sell, what's the difference?"
Hearing that Xia Juhua was about to agree, the other party extended his hand to her: "Comrade Xia, let me formally introduce myself to you. I am Yang Detian from the XX Department, in charge of external procurement."
Xia Juhua shook his hand and waited for him to continue. He didn't wait any longer and said, "Although China has planted rubber trees in Hainan and Xishuangbanna, the output is far from meeting the demand. We really need to buy from abroad."
"This time, Country A has a batch of rubber, and they want 320 yuan per ton, which is twice as high as domestic rubber. We negotiated several times, but they refused to give in. The price we wanted was within 300 yuan, which was too far away. We had no choice but to use your good relationship with friends to negotiate again."
As Yang Detian said, his eyebrows became more and more wrinkled, and finally they were twisted into one. Xia Juhua had reason to believe that his hair turned white early because of the same reason.
This made Xia Juhua feel respectful, and she said without thinking: "Then shall we go to Country A's booth now?"
Yang Detian was now trying his best to save the situation. Even if Xia Juhua tried to negotiate the price, Huaguo had to get the rubber. Thinking about how the extra money was not easy to come by, Yang Detian's brows could not be relaxed: "Let's go and meet those people again."
Xia Juhua followed Yang Detian and found that there were several people following him, which showed that he was of high rank. Even Yang Detian, who was of high rank, couldn't come to an agreement on the price. Was she too hasty in agreeing to it?
In the midst of self-denial, Yang Detian stopped and pointed at the booth in front of him and said to Xia Juhua: "That's the booth of Country A. Look at the people inside. Have they been to the booth of Province L?"
After hearing this, Xia Juhua really took a look inside the booth and shook her head in confusion: "I don't remember." Since the start of the expo, too many friends have come to L Province. To Xia Juhua, they all look the same and she really can't tell which is which.
Yang Detian sighed imperceptibly, but still led Xia Juhua and others into the booth. Someone in the booth had already come to greet them, smiling innocently and speaking stiff Chinese: "Ah, Yang, I told you that you would come after all." It sounded a bit annoying.
Yang Detian nodded to the person. The person who greeted him had already let go of his hand and looked behind him with surprise: "Oh, Xia, amazing Xia, you actually came with Yang."
Then he extended his hand to Xia Juhua. Xia Juhua smiled at him, but didn't mean to shake hands. There were many friends who came to the L Province booth in the past few days, and almost everyone wanted to shake hands with Xia Juhua or take a photo with her. Xia Juhua had no objection to taking photos, but she would avoid shaking hands if possible.
Moreover, Xia Juhua told her friends with an obviously resistant expression that she and Yang Detian only walked together occasionally.
The friend had probably seen Xia Juhua reject others before, so he didn't mind not being able to shake hands, and didn't take Xia Juhua's solemn statement that she was not with Yang Detian seriously. Instead, he asked Xia Juhua in stiff Chinese if she had anything she liked when she came to their booth, and also took out cashews for Xia Juhua to taste.
Xia Juhua picked up a rubber and put it in her mouth. She looked around the booth of Country A but couldn't tell what kind of rubber it was. So she asked her friend, "I heard you have rubber. Where is it?"
The friend burst into laughter, while Yang Detian smiled bitterly: This Xia Juhua really doesn't understand. Who would put rubber raw materials on the booth? Besides, why did she emphasize that it was not with me? Just when she thought of this, the friend pointed to a tire and told Xia Juhua that it was made of their rubber and was very strong and durable.
Xia Juhua pretended to go forward and touch it, but the only feeling she had was that she couldn't press it, so she had to ask: "How much is this?"
The translator following behind Yang Detian translated the meaning of "么" for Xia Juhua, which made his friends laugh twice, and then told Xia Juhua that he not only sold tires, but also sold rubber raw materials by tons.
Xia Juhua asked him how much he wanted to sell it for, and his friend's eyes turned to Yang Detian. Yang Detian glanced back at him casually, with no intention of joining in their conversation.
This reminded the friend of what Xia Juhua had said earlier, that she and Yang Detian were not together, so he was a little undecided and still quoted the price of 320 yuan per ton. Xia Juhua's eyes suddenly widened: "So expensive? Can you sell it? How much do you have? If you can't sell it and it's stuck in your hands, won't it go bad?"
This series of questions was beyond the friend's ability to understand with his simple Chinese language skills, so the translator that Yang Detian brought with him kindly appeared again and translated Xia Juhua's words verbatim.
My friend said with a smug look on his face: "The global demand for rubber is huge, so I am not afraid of not being able to sell it. The price I mentioned is not expensive, and it is based on the international price."
Xia Juhua immediately expressed her disagreement with his words: "Even if you can sell it, can you guarantee that the buyers will not find fault with you and then lower the price for you? What if they receive the goods and don't pay you?"
This question stunned both the friend and Yang Detian, because they both knew that the problem Xia Juhua mentioned did exist: friendly countries were not strong, and their ability to protect their own businessmen was even weaker. As a result, when their products were sold to developed countries, they were often found to have problems that were not real, and then their prices were maliciously lowered, or they even refused to pay.
Because of this, my friends wanted to find a buyer for the rubber at the China Expo with a bit of luck. After all, with the China intermediary platform, they don't have to worry about losing all their money.
However, the amount of rubber in the hands of my friends was a bit large. If we sold it separately, the cost would increase, and the uncertainty factors would also increase. This led to several rounds of negotiations with Yang Detian.
Originally, one wanted to buy and the other wanted to sell, so the negotiation should not be difficult. The difficulty was that the price offered by the buyer did not meet the seller's psychological expectations, and they could not reach an agreement. Now Xia Juhua, who only knew how to edit things, could see the problems of the seller, forcing his friend to think seriously: if he did not sell rubber to China, would anyone else be able to buy so much rubber at once, or would anyone be willing to buy it at his psychological price.
Xia Juhua, who raised the question, relied on her experience of watching television in her previous life. In the 1990s, television programs often reported on developed countries plundering energy from African countries. She heard a lot of this while watching TV series.
Yang Detian glanced at his friend, and wanted to say something but stopped, wanting to hear how his friend would answer Xia Juhua's question. Unexpectedly, his friend asked directly: "So, Xia, do you want to buy the rubber in my hand? I can sell it to you at a lower price."
After several failed attempts at negotiation, his friend actually wanted to sell the rubber to Xia Juhua at a low price? Did she look like someone who could afford so much rubber? Yang Detian's eyes flashed with mockery. In his friend's eyes, he and Xia Juhua were in competition.
The friend didn't care why there was a competition between the two. On the contrary, he was happy to see this competition exist. Before coming to China, the friend also understood the situation in China and knew that there were some clashes of ideas. If there was a competition between Yang Detian and Xia Juhua, maybe he could use this competition to sell the rubber at a better price.
Xia Juhua also felt that her friend was joking with her, so she said without hesitation: "Sure, how much do you want to sell it to me? I don't have much money. If you sell it too expensive, I won't buy it."
"Three hundred yuan." The friend wanted to test whether there was really competition between Yang Detian and Xia Juhua, so he gritted his teeth and made a price that made Yang Detian want to vomit blood - this was the final price Yang Detian quoted last time, but the friend just didn't agree, and today he actually gave it directly to Xia Juhua.
What made Yang Detian want to vomit blood was what Xia Juhua said: "Is this the currency of your country A?"
"No, no, no." The friend waved his hands firmly. The exchange rate of Country A's currency to the RMB is not as good as that of Country G, which is nearly five to one. If he sells it at this price, he will not even be able to pay for his return trip.
Xia Juhua was still puzzled: "Aren't they all quoted in your own currency? I just bought cashews and they quoted the price in their own currency."
Yang Detian really wanted to remind Xia Juhua: Comrade, you are negotiating international trade, please don’t be so casual, okay?
The friend had begun to doubt whether Xia Juhua really wanted to buy rubber, but he was the one who invited her in and he was the one who just said that, so he had no choice but to explain to Xia Juhua the difference between the large amount of rubber in his hands and the cashews that Xia Juhua bought by pound at the Country G booth.
Xia Juhua suddenly had an idea: "Why don't I go back and ask my friends in Country G if they have any rubber? If they do, they might be able to give me a price I can accept."
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