Reborn Industrial Tycoon

The newly built textile wholesale mall is a three-story building. From the current perspective, this wholesale mall is ordinary in construction, but from the perspective of the 1990s, it is definitely high-end and classy.

The bus stopped in front of the wholesale mall, and a dozen foreigners got off the bus.

"Mr. Ford, this is our new textile wholesale mall in Qinghe City." The translator quickly introduced.

This foreigner named Fu De is the leader of the economic and trade inspection team.

At this time, Li Weidong also came forward, and the translator introduced Li Weidong to the American economic and trade delegation.

After Li Weidong exchanged a few pleasantries with Ford, he began to introduce the wholesale mall.

"Our wholesale mall currently has a planned land area of ​​500 acres, which is almost 82 acres. The building you see now is the first phase of the project. The construction area inside is 37,000 square meters, which is equivalent to 40,000 square feet. There are a total of

3,500 business spaces..." Li Weidong introduced eloquently.

As Li Weidong introduced, the foreigners in the inspection group nodded. After Li Weidong finished the introduction, he was about to lead everyone inside to visit, when a voice suddenly sounded.

"Mr. Li, is your textile wholesale mall too remote? The surrounding area looks a bit desolate, and it doesn't look like anyone will come."

Li Weidong followed the voice and saw that the person speaking was a slightly thin middle-aged man. He looked like he was in his forties, wore gold-rimmed glasses, had black hair and yellow skin. At first glance, he turned out to be of yellow race.

But if you look closely, you can clearly see that his facial features still have some European and American characteristics. It is obvious that he is a mixed-race person with Asian ancestry.

"Is it the translator provided by the economic and trade inspection team? But he speaks standard American English! He should be an American mixed-race Chinese." Li Weidong thought to himself.

Then Li Weidong replied: "This is indeed not a prosperous urban area, but with China's development speed, it will be as prosperous as the urban area in a few years."

"Mr. Li, I think you are too optimistic. Urbanization requires a process. It only takes a few years to save time, but the city will not be able to expand here." Mixed Blood said again.

Li Weidong was too lazy to argue with the other party about the development speed of Chinese cities. He said, "We will not discuss the future. Just talking about the present, I don't think there is anything wrong with building wholesale malls here. Many supermarkets in the United States are not the same."

Is it to be built in the suburbs rather than in the city center?”

The mixed-race man retorted: "Many supermarkets in the United States are indeed built in suburbs, but not in remote rural areas. I just looked around and there are many crops!"

Li Weidong frowned slightly, and secretly wondered in his heart, did this mixed-race person come here to make trouble on purpose?

Next to him, the city's translator whispered to Li Weidong: "Chairman Li, this is Mr. Chang, a lawyer."

"Lawyer, no wonder you are arguing with me here!" Li Weidong thought to himself.

At the same time, the Ford leader of the business inspection team opened his mouth to smooth things over and said to the half-blood: "Gordon, let's go in and take a look first!"

When Captain Ford spoke, the mixed-race lawyer Chang said nothing more, but smiled and nodded, making a "please" gesture.

So everyone walked into the door of the wholesale mall.

At this time, the interior of the wholesale mall has been renovated, and the cubicles are neatly arranged and cleaned very cleanly. However, there are no traders settled in yet.

However, in order to welcome the business delegation, some decorations were made in the hall after entering, such as hanging a welcome banner, placing several flower baskets, and turning on the loudspeaker in the mall, playing elegant music.

Seeing these furnishings, Zhang Jiagang, who accompanied the inspection team, nodded with satisfaction. He knew that Li Weidong had carefully arranged the decorations.

"It's very clean here!" Captain Ford said.

"But it's also empty!" Another somewhat discordant voice sounded.

The person speaking was none other than Gordon Chang, the mixed-race Chinese lawyer.

Li Weidong once thought, why are American lawyers so annoying?

Gordon Chang then asked: "Mr. Li, your textile wholesale mall is very beautifully decorated, but there are not only no customers, but also no vendors! I really can't find a single product related to textiles.

!”

Gordon Chang's words were full of irony, as if he was telling everyone that his judgment was correct and the wholesale market should not be built here.

Li Weidong said: "Currently, this place is still in the investment stage, so there are no vendors yet, let alone customers. After the investment is over, the vendors will all move in, and you will see people everywhere."

"There are people everywhere? Mr. Li, I think you are too optimistic. It is not easy to fill such a large shopping mall." Gordon Chang said with a look of disdain.

"Mr. Chang, China has a population of more than one billion, 70% of which live in the east. Our province is a populous province, and our Qinghe City is also a populous city, so we have huge business potential here. Fill this wholesale mall and

It's not a problem. I even think that this place will soon be out of use, and we need to build the second and third phases of the project!" Li Weidong said.

Gordon Chang immediately retorted: "But this place is too remote and too far from the residential areas."

"Is it far?" Li Weidong smiled slightly and asked, "Mr. Chang, how long did it take you to get here from the city just now?"

"I didn't calculate." Gordon Chang seemed to have guessed what Li Weidong was going to say.

"If you drive, it only takes half an hour to get here from the city. In the United States, it is just from one community to another community. I think most Americans should spend longer than this on their way to work.

The distance should be further than this." Li Weidong said, deliberately staring at Gordon Chang with a questioning look, as if asking, are you really an American?

"Our American families all have cars, and most families have more than one car, so a distance of dozens of kilometers is nothing to us! But the Chinese are still riding bicycles! If you want to come here by bicycle, you have to participate

Tour de France!" Gordon Chang retorted again.

"We not only have bicycles, but also public transportation. Our city has planned bus routes here. In the future, a passenger transfer center will be built here to facilitate people's transportation." Li Weidong said, looking towards

to Zhang Jiagang.

"Yes, we have planned public transportation here." Zhang Jiagang replied immediately, but secretly wondered in his heart, a passenger transfer center appeared out of nowhere, why didn't I know about it?

Gordon Chang's eyes once again showed a sarcastic tone, and he said: "If you plan public transportation specifically for a shopping mall, don't you realize that you are losing money?"

Li Weidong pretended to be surprised and asked: "Why should public transportation pursue profits? Public facilities are built with taxpayers' money, and they are originally intended to provide services to the general public. Do you think the U.S. government will still use taxpayers' money?"

Can you make more money?"

"Uh..." This was a question. Even Gordon Chang, a barrister, was speechless when he mentioned this issue.

In the United States, the Democratic Party is more supportive of building public facilities, while the Republican Party is not very interested in building public facilities.

But one thing is certain, no matter who is in power, the taxes paid by taxpayers will definitely not be used to make profits, at least not on the surface. If anyone dares to use taxpayers' money to make money, this person's political career will be ruined.

It's over.

…

After finally getting the American economic and trade delegation into the car, Li Weidong breathed a sigh of relief.

"Chairman Li, thank you for your hard work!" the translator said.

"I have completed the task, but you still have to deal with them. That's hard work!" Li Weidong paused and then said: "Especially that banana man, he looks very difficult to deal with."

"Banana man?" The translator was slightly stunned, not understanding anything about Li Weidong.

"Banana, with yellow skin and white heart, is that Gordon Chang. I always feel that this guy is just looking for trouble." Li Weidong explained.

"This description is quite appropriate." The translator nodded and continued, "Chairman Li, don't take it to heart. This Gordon Chang is like this all the way. Even when visiting scenic spots, he has to pick out some points.

.I originally thought he would be easier to get along with since he is of Chinese descent, but I didn’t expect him to be more difficult to deal with than those white foreigners.”

"Otherwise, he is a banana man!" Li Weidong curled his lips disdainfully.

…

Fukang Engineering Company, Chen Yonghua is introducing the latest research and development progress to Li Weidong.

At this moment, Li Weidong's cell phone rang.

"I'll take a call." Li Weidong walked aside holding the phone, and then said: "Hello, I'm Li Weidong."

"Chairman Li, I am Lao Zhao from the Propaganda Department of the Municipal Party Committee!" the other party said.

"It's Minister Zhao, what do you want from me?" Li Weidong asked immediately.

"Something happened to your textile wholesale mall." Minister Zhao replied.

Li Weidong was slightly stunned, thinking that this wholesale mall is not yet in operation, what could happen? Besides, even if something happens, it has nothing to do with the publicity department!

Minister Zhao said: "Do you remember that a few days ago, a U.S. economic and trade delegation came? At that time, they even visited your wholesale mall!"

"Remember, what happened to the economic and trade inspection team?" Li Weidong asked immediately.

"Yes, after the person from the economic and trade inspection team returned, he wrote an article. The main content was that China's economic prosperity in recent years is just a facade, and the data are all fake. In fact, it is all a face-saving project."

Minister Zhao said.

"Foreign prosperous forces have been smearing our economic development for more than a day or two. It's their usual routine to smear our economic data. Isn't it strange?" Li Weidong paused and then asked: "Moreover,

Speaking of which, what does this have to do with my wholesale mall?"

"The article took your wholesale mall as an example. It said it was built in a desolate and uninhabited land with no vendors or customers. It was built purely to support the appearance. It also said that the wholesale mall is a building.

Ghost Castle'!" Minister Zhao said.

"Treasure?" Li Weidong said half-jokingly.

"What a treasure! It's a ghost castle! A ghost, a ghost of ghosts and demons! A castle, a castle of castles." Minister Zhao explained.

"Why are foreigners so superstitious? There are no ghosts in my wholesale market! I don't believe in this theory of strange powers and gods." Li Weidong said with a smile.

"Chairman Li, foreigners are not superstitious. They mean that there are no people in the wholesale market and it is a place for ghosts!" Minister Zhao continued to explain: "Now this article has been published in several foreign media.

It has been reprinted, which has had a very negative impact on our Qinghe City. The superior leaders also attach great importance to this and have already personally called to inquire about the matter."

"I understand that it is indeed quite unpleasant for a small place like Qinghe to finally show its face in foreign media and be said to have built a face-saving project." Li Weidong said.

Minister Zhao said: "Chairman Li, you have to come to the city for a meeting later, and let's discuss how to deal with it. Let me fax you the report first, and you can take a look."

"Okay, I'm here at Fukang Engineering now. I'll ask the secretary to give you the fax number right away." Li Weidong said.

…

After a while, the secretary came over with the faxed article.

This is an article in English, apparently published in English media.

Li Weidong's spoken English is okay, but his reading level is a little behind. After all, when he became a boss in later generations, there were special lawyers in charge of document matters, so he didn't have to read the English words himself.

He read it over hastily. The previous paragraph roughly stated that China's economy was going to be finished. The economic growth in the past few years was all fake and made-up numbers. The entire economy was about to hit a hard landing, etc.

There is nothing new in these descriptions. Similar remarks have been made frequently in foreign media since the late 1980s.

Several examples are given later, including Li Weidong's wholesale mall. It is said that Li Weidong's wholesale mall is just a face-saving project. There are no vendors at all, and it is completely a ghost castle.

"Who wrote this article? It's quite creative to use the name Ghost Castle."

Li Weidong looked at the signature of the article and found that it was an author named Gordon Chang.

"Isn't this the Gordon Chang who always finds fault?" Li Weidong suddenly thought of the mixed-race banana man.

At this time, Chen Yonghua also walked over and subconsciously glanced at the fax in Li Weidong's hand.

Li Weidong took the initiative to introduce: "This is the foreign media's introduction to my wholesale mall, saying that I built a ghost castle."

Li Weidong said and handed the fax to Chen Yonghua.

Chen Yonghua's English reading ability is obviously a higher level than Li Weidong's, and he quickly read the above content.

"Which media has such no credibility and is completely making up news!" Chen Yonghua said.

Li Weidong said: "I don't know when I offended this Gordon Chang. I have to use my wholesale mall as an example. I can't stand it."

"Gordon Chang?" Chen Yonghua looked at the author's signature, and then said: "Mr. Li, I'm sorry, I need to correct it. The Chinese translation of this surname should not be Chang."

"Isn't it Chang?" Li Weidong looked at it again and said, "Chi... Ang... Chang, that's right!"

"If you follow the Chinese pinyin of the mainland, it seems to be translated like this, but in our Hong Kong Island, the correct translation should be Zhang!" Chen Yonghua answered.

Li Weidong instantly understood that the English translation of names in mainland China is different from that in other Chinese-speaking regions.

So Li Weidong asked: "Is the bow Zhang Zhang?"

"It can also be a morning chapter!" Chen Yonghua replied.

"So this man's name is Gordon Zhang!" Li Weidong replied.

"There is also a corresponding Chinese translation for this Gordon." Chen Yonghua continued.

"How did Gordon translate?" Li Weidong asked immediately.

"Shaoshu? Or Jiadun! That's about it." Chen Yonghua replied.

Upon hearing this translation, Li Weidong's expression changed instantly.

"How did you provoke this guy?"