Chapter 1780 I Want to Hear Your Opinion
Xiao Peng finally stopped laughing. He picked up his glass and took a sip before saying, "Nouf, even though you've done a lot for this place, I don't think you're a very respectable person. On the contrary, I think you're stupid. But considering your ages, I think it's understandable."
"What do you mean? Are you saying we are old?" Novu said unhappily.
Xiao Peng shook his head. "No, no, no, you misunderstood me. Since you know my identity, you must have investigated me. You'll find that many of my friends are old men, such as King William, Vincent McMahon, Heinche Hahn and Nemanja Stromann from Delft University of Technology, Albrecht Heidegger from Germany, Stephen Weil, the governor of Lower Saxony, and so on and so forth... Let's put it this way, there are probably not many friends of mine who are younger than me, so what I said just now was not to disdain you for being old. You just made a mistake that all older Russians make."
After hearing Xiao Peng's words, Novov and Usmanov looked at each other and tried to control their anger. Listening to his circle of friends, if he really offended them, the consequences would be very serious.
Xiao Peng said to the two, "You're reading these books to learn how to alleviate poverty? After World War II, one billion people in the world were lifted out of poverty, 700 million of whom were in our country alone. Why don't you learn how to alleviate poverty from us by reading these crappy books? What about the Nobel Prize in Economics? Did he mention my country in his book? Are you following them to learn how to alleviate poverty? Are you crazy?"
"Why do I think your age makes sense? The reason is simple. Based on my observations during my time in Russia, I've found that many older Russians are extremely dismissive of my country. I understand this. After all, in your eyes, our country is just that weak country that only knows how to ask for aid and help. During the Russian period, we were also deceived by counterfeit goods for a while..." Xiao Peng took out a cigarette: "Do you mind?"
"Of course not." Novuf took out an ashtray and placed it in front of Xiao Peng.
Xiao Peng handed them the cigarettes: "Do you smoke?"
They both shook their heads: "We've all quit."
Xiao Peng lit a cigarette and looked at the two of them, not knowing what to say. He still had a lot of emotions after arriving in Russia.
Older Russians who lived through the Soviet era have reason to look down on Daxia: the Soviet Union assisted 156 projects back then, laying the foundation for the country's current industrial base. And when Russia was first established after the Soviet Union's collapse, a flood of Daxia's inferior light industrial products entered the country, like slippers that fell apart after just a few days and clothes that shredded at the slightest tug. Russians were deeply ripped off by counterfeit goods during that time. Even now, more than two decades later, many Russians still think of Daxia products as "poor quality."
This is also like being bitten by a snake once and being afraid of ropes for ten years.
Xiao Peng said, "You just mentioned Abhijit Bhanjina's The Nature of Poverty. I've read this book myself, and my first reaction was: How could this thing win the Nobel Prize in Economics? The entire book seems to use many examples from third world countries, and all the theories seem to be well-reasoned, but it doesn't mention Daxia. How can we say poverty alleviation without mentioning Daxia? 70% of the world's people who have escaped poverty have been lifted out of poverty by our country! If Abhijit Bhanjina's theory could really contribute to poverty alleviation, would India be in the situation it is today?"
"If you look solely at India's economy, it's certainly grown rapidly in recent years, but their economic growth hasn't translated into improved lives for their people. Roughly one-third of the world's newborn deaths occur in India, and the malnutrition rate in India is higher than in sub-Saharan Africa! You see their writings, and they want scholars to work on poverty alleviation? Do you think that's possible? The only country in the world with annual economic growth and nationwide poverty alleviation for over thirty years, you don't learn from them, but instead, you learn from them? These countries haven't done a good job of poverty alleviation themselves, so aren't you learning from them? You think your country's poverty alleviation efforts are bad? Then you should go out and take a look! At least you don't have so many homeless people wandering the streets—well, that's right, if there were, they'd probably just freeze to death. Anyway, let me put it this way: when it comes to 'poverty alleviation,' we in Daxia aren't targeting anyone—it's that every country on this planet is garbage! We're such a big country, and we've done a good job of poverty alleviation, but you've only learned the basics, and you can't even run a city?"
Seeing the two men looking at him with eyes that were filled with disbelief, Xiao Peng said, "You have no idea how great it is for our country to have lifted its entire population out of poverty. Let me tell you this: over a hundred years ago during the Republic of China, do you know what the average age of our population was? Thirty-five! We've experienced all the horrific human tragedies you imagine! Drugs everywhere, women forced into prostitution, children being sold, warlords fighting, bandits rampant, the land devastated and devastated, the people living in dire straits, starvation everywhere! Look, don't those things look very similar to your current situation? Our country was founded on such a poor and destitute mess."
After hearing this, Novov and Usmanov nodded together and suddenly asked, "How did you solve this problem?"
Usmanov then added, "When I first arrived here eight years ago, things were exactly like this, even worse than you describe. Novov approached me and we had a long talk. We decided to develop the area under the Ministry of Internal Affairs, skirting the law. We'll assume responsibility if problems arise. As for how we've handled this, we'll leave it to history to judge."
Xiao Peng was completely helpless. "You still act so righteous? You still want to leave it to history to judge? I can already imagine how history will judge you: two fools who tried to quench their thirst with poison! As the saying goes, 'the wrong approach means all your efforts are in vain.' Your current approach may seem to have improved the economy, increased the population, and improved people's livelihoods, but don't you think about the consequences of your actions? As soon as your affairs here are exposed, the result will be that you will be quickly reduced to your original state! All your efforts will be in vain!"
"But we can't do anything!" Usmanov said, raising his voice. "You didn't see what it was like when I first arrived. People here suffered terribly! Compared to that time, Vorkuta is like heaven now! You're just talking nonsense!"
Novuf stopped Usmanov and looked at Xiao Peng: "Mr. Xiao, our method is indeed problematic. Didn't you say that your Daxia's poverty alleviation work is the best in the world? I want to hear your opinion now!"
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