Chapter 210 Why Can't I Be an Agent?: It's All Double Standards
So what was everyone's reaction?
Should the ambassador step forward and righteously refute the young Russian man?
Wang Xiao chimed in from the side, but with a mouth that could poison itself with a lick of its lips, why was she joining in?
In fact, Wang Xiao had already prepared his speech in his mind and launched his mental attack immediately.
But in reality, they did nothing. The ambassador didn't even change his expression before moving on to the next booth.
The young Russian man felt like he'd punched a pillow; he wanted to chase after the man and argue his point, but the bodyguard stopped him without hesitation: "Sir, the principle of the Chinese is to never interfere in the internal affairs of other countries."
He still wouldn't give up, shouting at the departing figure, "Hey! Wasn't I right?"
Wang Xiao turned around, her eyes filled with helplessness as she looked at him: "This is your family matter. You two should argue it out first before talking about it."
As the exhibition hall was about to close in the evening, Wang Xiao gathered the exhibitors together and repeatedly emphasized: "Here, please do not discuss politics. No matter what the Russians say, please emphasize one point: we do not interfere in Russia's internal affairs. We hope that Russia will stabilize as soon as possible, and we believe in the wisdom and choices of the Russian people."
Someone frowned: "What if someone keeps asking us all sorts of questions?"
“Probably not,” Wang Xiao sighed. “Most Russians don’t talk about politics these days. They argue when they do, which makes things awkward. They’re more concerned about tomorrow’s bread and milk than politics.”
This is utterly ridiculous. It's as if the former subjects of Big Brother no longer care about national affairs.
Just as Wang Xiao predicted, during the subsequent trade fair, more and more trading companies came to negotiate and more and more Moscow residents came to shop, but no one discussed the struggle between the president and parliament.
The translators listened intently for a long time and found that the Russian was talking about prices, wages, and weekend getaways to suburban villas.
If it weren't for the daily television and newspaper reports, and the tense atmosphere surrounding the White House with military and police, who would have guessed that unrest was taking place in Moscow?
The world is truly vast and full of wonders.
Starting from the third day of the trade fair, the exhibition hall was filled with many more resellers.
Many exhibitors concluded that these people were simply there to steal their techniques. A ragtag group like this, when faced with a well-organized army, naturally became apprehensive.
As a result, the person read it from beginning to end, got straight to the point, and contacted the manufacturer to request to become their agent.
"What?" Secretary Sun couldn't believe his ears. "I'll give you the goods to sell, and you'll give the money to our factory after you sell them? No, comrade, you... can you do foreign trade?"
“Why can’t I do this?” the woman said matter-of-factly. “I’ve been doing business in Moscow for over half a year, and I’ve always been fast at shipping.”
Secretary Sun wanted to curse: "Do I know you? Who do you think you are? You're just trying to get something for nothing!"
It's true what they say: in a big forest, you'll find all kinds of birds.
The Russians took advantage of their unfamiliarity with the area, trying to steal their goods, which was one thing, but why did they treat any random Chinese merchant like they were complete idiots?
Dao Niang felt she couldn't reason with the old man, so she went directly to Wang Xiao: "Mr. Wang, Mr. Wang, come here, can you vouch for me? Do you know me? Am I a liar?"
Forced to stand before Secretary Sun, Wang Xiao had no choice but to bite the bullet and introduce her: "This is Ms. Zheng Xiufang. She and her late husband ran a leather clothing factory in China. After her husband passed away, she sold the factory to my Russian friend. Then they started a partnership. My Russian friend manages the factory in China and is responsible for shipping, while she handles sales in Moscow."
Zheng Xiufang became happy: "Right? I told you I'm not a liar. When you ship the goods to me later, you need to change the pattern. These are the kinds of patterns that the Russians like."
Secretary Sun felt he couldn't keep up with their pace; he hadn't even agreed yet, and they were already placing orders.
Zheng Xiufang was puzzled: "Didn't President Wang give me a guarantee? Why can't you let me be your agent for the porcelain?"
Wang Xiao immediately denied it: "I can only verify your identity, but I don't vouch for anyone; that's my basic principle. Your business is yours to discuss. So, Mr. Zheng, if you're not making leather jackets anymore, are you going to make porcelain?"
"Hey, I also rented a stall at that container market. I can't just sell leather jackets, and leather jackets aren't suitable for selling all year round. I think porcelain looks good."
In fact, Zheng Xiufang wanted to leave herself a way out.
For the past six months or so, she has indeed worked quite well with that old Russian, Ovechkin.
But she has already sold the domestic factories to the Russians. Who knows if the Russians will find someone else to sell to in Moscow?
It just so happens that she rented a container stall, originally thinking about whether she could become a sub-landlord later; now that she has ready-made goods, she plans to expand her business herself.
As for why I chose to sell porcelain? Firstly, because there is indeed a demand for porcelain in the Russian market. Secondly, porcelain is something that can be displayed and sold all year round. If you don't sell it all this year, you can preserve it well and sell it next year.
Wang Xiao smiled and nodded: "Then I wish you good luck and a prosperous opening."
She didn't want to interrupt their business conversation, so she went around to the side.
As it turns out, Zheng Xiufang wasn't the only one with the same idea as the resellers.
Old He, who had previously approached Wang Xiao at the wholesale market, wanted to rent a container space for his younger brother back home. He had also taken a liking to a sock factory's products and wanted to become an agent for them.
This left the sock factory somewhat bewildered.
Their trip to the exhibition was very unsuccessful because they didn't realize that the size difference between Chinese and Russians also affects foot size, so the socks were too small for the Russians.
However, Lao Feng didn't take it seriously: "When you declare it, fill in 'children's socks.' To tell you the truth, Russia doesn't charge any tax on imported children's clothing, which can save you a lot of money."
Therefore, many clothing resellers will declare a portion of their goods as children's clothing, especially women's clothing, when declaring them to customs.
You might say, "Hey, those clothes are so big, how could they be for a child?" Well, Russian kids are tall and big too, so what if the size is a little big?
In short, when doing business on Russian soil, everyone is trying to find ways to avoid taxes.
Otherwise, no one could handle it.
Take leather jackets and fur products as an example. Last year, the tariff was 30%; this year it has risen to 70%. And this is just the tariff.
With these two people leading the way, exhibitors immediately became interested as well.
Those shady dealers can run their businesses very successfully, with people coming and going in the wholesale market; why can't the legitimate businesses do the same?
Their product quality is much more reliable than that of no-name brands.
Wang Xiao was surprised.
When you try to plant flowers with care, they may not bloom; when you plant willows without intention, they may thrive.
She admitted that she had taken the exhibitors to the wholesale market before, deliberately waiting for middlemen to approach her to rent container spaces, so that the exhibitors would also be tempted.
As a result, the state-owned enterprise cadres did not follow her way of thinking, and no one brought it up.
She was still figuring out how to entice people to join in, but unexpectedly, the overly ambitious and enterprising nature of the black marketeers actually stirred everyone's hearts.
Wang Xiao cleared his throat, quite readily agreeing: "Alright, you can check out the locations and register yourselves later. Let me make this clear from the start: once you've chosen, you'll need to pay six months' rent upfront. That way, you won't disappear after you return to your home countries, and I won't be left with the location empty, or I'll rent it to someone else. Let's not put each other in a difficult position."
The sock factory that had almost reached an agreement with Lao Feng changed its mind and decided to start its own direct sales business in Moscow.
Zheng Xiufang and Lao Feng were practically from the same hometown and neighbors. Seeing this, she was quite worried for him: "Why don't you try a different business? I think the towels over there are pretty good. The patterns are a bit ugly, but the quality is alright."
Old Feng, however, showed no fear: "It's alright, I'll just have my brother go to their manager in Moscow to get the goods."
Zheng Xiufang exclaimed in surprise: "If it goes through another middleman, the price will definitely go up again. How will you make any profit then?"
Old Feng smiled and said, "That's not necessarily true."
But when Zheng Xiufang asked again, he refused to say anything more.
After all, no one is going to casually tell others how they make money.
Xiao Gao and Xiao Zhao, acting as bodyguards, have been accompanying their boss around the trade fair these past few days.
Seeing this, Xiao Gao couldn't help but ask the boss, "Boss Wang, why did Lao Feng say that's not necessarily true? Their state-owned factory is a regular operation. When they come to Moscow, their products will only be more expensive. They definitely won't be as cheap as when Lao Feng finds factories in China to wholesale."
Wang Xiao smiled and said, "Do you know what a tax refund is? Some regular employees don't care about profits; they only care about meeting their foreign exchange earnings targets. Once they get the tax refund, they consider their mission accomplished. Moreover, the problems of state-owned enterprises will only become more serious abroad. How did people in state-owned enterprises resell permits and planned material quotas back then? Now that they're in Moscow, they'll just do the same thing."
She sighed, quite emotionally, "In the end, the economic benefits of their own sales might not even be as good as those from finding middlemen to resell their products."
Yes, yes, state-owned enterprises have all sorts of advantages, while private enterprises today don't even have independent import and export rights. Theoretically speaking, state-owned enterprises are far ahead in every aspect.
But as the saying goes, there are many illustrious ancestors everywhere. Each illustrious ancestor enjoys almost all the resources of the family, but how many of them actually bring glory to their ancestors in the end?
Sometimes, the more you try to help someone up, the less likely they are to succeed.
The state-owned enterprise leaders themselves are even more aware of the situations that outsiders can imagine.
During dinner that evening, Manager Hu privately approached Wang Xiao and said, "Mr. Wang, this old man would like to ask you for some advice."
Wang Xiao quickly emphasized, "No, no, no, Manager Hu, you're fifty years old, the prime of your life, how can you call yourself an old man?"
Manager Hu laughed at her, waving his hands repeatedly, "Oh, oh, getting old is nothing to worry about. I just wanted to ask you, how does your company, which is so big, manage its staff, especially in foreign offices?"
Fearing that Wang Xiao might not want to offend anyone and was just giving him the runaround, he quickly said, "I've also learned about some of the situations. Some large organizations in our country have people in Moscow who specialize in sales. They live in diplomatic apartments, each with a two-bedroom unit and enjoy the standards of a star-rated hotel. They have refrigerators, color TVs, tape recorders, and video recorders, and they even sing karaoke."
As he spoke, Manager Hu couldn't help but feel envious. "They're chauffeured around in imported cars, their offices are so spacious, and they even hired Russians to drive and clean for them. Okay, fine, they live comfortably while they're away, but the revenue they generate for the company is extremely low. How do you handle this situation?"
Wang Xiao almost laughed out loud.
You think you can solve problems you can't solve in China, but you can solve them abroad? What are you thinking?
Wang Xiao was also very straightforward and didn't try to evade the issue: "I don't care what they eat, live, or drink outside, as long as it's not illegal, the company won't interfere. The only requirement is profitability; as long as the profit targets are met, that's fine."
How could a boss possibly manage such details?
When Tang Yicheng led his team to Hong Kong to acquire land, what standard of hotel did he stay in and what kind of restaurant did he eat at? How much free time must she and Ivanov have to care about that?
Manager Hu pressed further: "But the problem is he doesn't generate any revenue. Every time I ask, he comes up with a bunch of excuses."
"Fire him," Wang Xiao said casually. "If necessary, launch an audit to investigate whether he embezzled. Fire those who should be fired, and send those who should be sent to jail."
If he can earn 10 million for the company, then he can spend 1 million and take milk baths every day, and no one will care.
When you're a boss, what you care about most is always the result.
Manager Hu was taken aback: "This... they're going to send him to jail?"
Wang Xiao nodded: "Of course. The company's money doesn't grow on trees; it's earned through the hard work of every employee. If he embezzles the company's money, he's embezzling every employee's money. The company has no right to forgive him on behalf of the employees or prevent him from bearing legal responsibility."
Manager Hu said instinctively, "Oh dear, things are getting complicated."
Wang Xiao smiled and said, "Then we don't have any good ideas either."
Manager Hu started to worry again, thinking he could tackle the issue one by one: "Let me ask you another question: how do you handle the phone bill problem? You see, international long distance calls cost several dollars per minute these days. They're out in the world using public phones to make personal calls—how do you manage that?"
Wang Xiao countered with a question: "Does anyone in your factory use the factory phone to make personal calls? If so, how does the factory manage this, and how does it manage the outside world?"
Manager Hu got stuck again.
There's simply no way to control it.
However, domestic calls are cheaper than international long-distance calls, so the factory turned a blind eye and let it go.
Wang Xiao smiled and didn't say anything more.
Manager Hu was troubled: "Does this mean that our government-affiliated unit can't make sales successful overseas?"
Wang Xiao was afraid that he would back down and affect the morale of others, thus delaying her own container rental business, so she quickly changed the subject: "It's not that it can't be done. There are companies that have done it well. The key is to motivate and encourage employees. If they can legally earn high incomes, at least half of them won't be willing to take risks to make money. Because the costs are too high."
“If your sales manager performs well here, generates high efficiency, and earns high commissions, then he or she will be motivated to work even harder.”
"I'm afraid you'll promise bonuses and commissions for good sales, but then you only give out 100 yuan bonuses after making a million. It wouldn't be surprising if they sold the business to someone else for 10,000 yuan."
Manager Hu pressed her further, "So tell me, if we earn 1 million, how much commission should we give them?"
Wang Xiao shook his head: "I don't know, because I'm not familiar with your company's profit situation. You'll have to figure that out yourselves. Anyway, you can't let the sales staff feel that making more or less money is no different from what they make of it. Don't treat going abroad for on-site work as some kind of exotic experience."
No sooner had she finished speaking than someone exclaimed, "Another person has died!"
It turns out that at 7 p.m. tonight, a clash broke out between congressional supporters and police in front of the White House, resulting in the death of a traffic police officer and injuries to a foreign journalist.
The difficult part of this news is that today, the authorities (i.e., the president's side) have stopped allowing journalists, including those from the state news agency TASS, to enter the White House. Furthermore, military and police forcibly confiscated the credentials of Supreme Soviet guards who attempted to enter the White House.
Currently, the White House remains without water, electricity, and telephone service.
Two days earlier, on September 26th, the acting president appointed by Congress, surrounded by a large crowd, left the White House, walked along New Albat Street and past the U.S. Embassy, and then returned.
Well, there's just one news story after another.
A peaceful solution proposed by a group of Russian politicians and activists was to hold simultaneous early elections for the president and parliament on December 12, but the president firmly disagreed.
Everyone watching TV, whether they understood Russian or not, felt their heads were about to explode.
Manager Hu was already preoccupied, and upon hearing the translator's words, his brows furrowed even more: "When will this ever end!"
Wang Xiao also looked serious and once again warned the exhibitors: "Don't go out tonight. If there's any emergency, you can call the number we provided, and we'll figure something out."
Someone tensed up, their voice trembling: "Um, Mr. Wang, are the Russians going to start a war?"
Wang Xiao glanced at him and said seriously, "Didn't we already say that Moscow is not safe? Everyone is trying to stay home at night if they can avoid it?"
Secretary Sun sighed, "Oh dear, when are they going to stop making a scene?"
There is no solution to this problem, and Wang Xiao doesn't know either.
She was a science student; she studied modern Chinese history in high school but didn't study world history.
Moreover, to put it bluntly, given the rapid decline of Russia's international standing after the collapse of the Soviet Union, this little incident probably wouldn't even make it into the world history section of a Chinese high school textbook.
Wang Xiao could only emphasize once again: "Don't watch the excitement, and absolutely don't join in. Bullets don't have eyes; if one flies back and hits you, not even a god can save you."
If this still can't quell the restless hearts of the street thugs, the only explanation is that good advice is useless against a damned devil.
Just one day later, the situation escalated again, with the Russian Federation and Moscow authorities stating their intention to liberate the White House by October 4th.
What exactly is this liberation? Think about it carefully.
On this very day, a person of considerable influence finally stepped forward to mediate.
Who is it? Patriarch Alexei II of All Russia.
Don't think it's ridiculous.
To put it simply, although Communist Party members are explicitly prohibited from practicing religion, even during the Soviet era, many Soviet citizens, especially Russian Communist Party members, secretly continued to practice Orthodox Christianity.
That evening, the National People's Congress expressed its agreement to hold peace talks under the mediation of Alexei II.
When Wang Xiao saw this news on TV, she couldn't help but sigh.
When Ivanov went to pick her up from the restaurant, he saw the news and didn't even want to sigh anymore. He said weakly, "It's ridiculous, isn't it?"
Wang Xiao shook his head: "It's nothing. I just suddenly seem to understand why the Soviets were able to accept Western civilization, or rather, the current capitalist civilization, so quickly."
"Huh?" Ivanov was a little confused, not quite understanding why the topic had suddenly jumped to this direction.
Wang Xiao continued thoughtfully, "Because the root of Western civilization—monotheism—determines that it must be hypocritical. According to monotheistic theory, no matter how good a person is, if they don't believe in the one true God, which you call God, then they are a heretic. Heretics who don't believe in God are not good people, and are not even worthy of being called human. Right?"
Ivanov was a little embarrassed, even a little at a loss.
He was a mild-mannered man who knew his friend was a staunch pagan and was very annoyed by some local Chinese missionaries trying to convert her to God.
He could only touch his nose and mumble, "No, please believe me, my friend. In my heart, you've always been a good person. You're the person I trust most, you know that."
My God, love is where money is. When he wrote his will, the first thing he thought of was leaving his estate to her.
His heart is as clear as the sun and moon!
Wang Xiao waved his hand: "We are now discussing the double standards of Western civilization. Because heretics are not human, the Crusades are just, and eliminating heretics is also just. Western civilization's slave society relied on this theory to carry out social distribution. Slave owners did not feel guilty, which is based on this."
"Then came a crucial turning point in Western civilization: the Renaissance. During the Renaissance, religious power began to decline, a new aristocracy emerged, and then the new bourgeoisie. Am I right about this chronological order?"
Ivanov nodded firmly.
He was indeed a poor student, but the Soviet education system was truly solid, especially the basic education. It would have been difficult for him not to know that.
"These people have become the new beneficiaries of society. All beneficiaries will try to establish a discourse system to cover their dishonorable, even dirty, bloody, and sinful means of seizing benefits with a beautiful wrapping paper to make it look reasonable."
"The double standards between believers and non-believers have evolved into civilization and uncivilization."
"According to this theory, it is justifiable for civilized countries to do anything to uncivilized countries and peoples, because they are eliminating uncivilization."
"They killed 20 million Native Americans in North America, 30 million in South America, and tens of millions more in Africa."
"They traded so many black slaves, and they also 'sold piglets' in China."
"No matter what kind of evil it is, they will not feel guilty, but instead believe that they are righteous. Because their double standard is that civilized people can do anything to uncivilized people. I kill you, steal your property, and seize your land; but you cannot hate me, but should be grateful, because I brought civilization."
“The renowned former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill strongly supported the use of poison gas against uncivilized tribes during the Mesopotamian uprising, in order to spread fear. In Afghanistan, he said that the Pashtuns should realize that the British were superior to them and that opponents should be killed immediately. This is a typical example of such double standards.”
"After World War II, the world order changed again, and civilization and non-civilization evolved, becoming free democracy and non-free democracy. Under the new double standards, financial means became their new means of plunder. Your territory is still your territory, but the property on your territory has become mine."
"If you want democracy and freedom, then you must open up the financial system. How did Japan fall into a financial crisis? How was the Soviet Union's wealth plundered? The ruble's collapse was a result of these financial measures."
Towards the end, Wang Xiao actually went off-topic.
But because the ruble and property are so closely related to people's lives, no one pointed out her problem.
On the contrary, some people flattered her: "President Wang, as expected of a big boss, you are cultured and thoughtful. No wonder people say that those who can truly succeed in business are all about philosophy."
Wang Xiao laughed and revealed his true colors: "What kind of education do I have? The fact that I'm like this only shows that I love to talk about what I lack most."
Otherwise, why do officials always like to call themselves Confucian officials, and why do businessmen like to pat themselves on the back as Confucian merchants? And why are there so many people who fantasize about being spiritual mentors for young people?
To put it bluntly, it's about insisting on having something when you don't actually have it. It's about emphasizing what you lack most.
————————
Note: In 1998, to further alleviate oversupply, the government gradually opened up foreign trade rights and encouraged private enterprises to explore markets. In 1999, the first batch of 20 private enterprises in China obtained private import and export rights. Before that, how did private enterprises engage in exports? One was through a gray area, typically involving middlemen. Another was through shell companies, operating through third-party trading companies.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
