dognovel Chapter 1487 Nakamura, You Don't Want This Either
Chapter 1487 Nakamura, You Don't Want This Either
Chapter 1487 Nakamura, you didn't want this either...
"Why did you suddenly decide to get involved in the power system?" Catherine handed him the gloves and asked, "You only have one small thermal power plant in Steel City."
"That's all, right?"
Li Xuewu casually put on his leather gloves, tightened his leather jacket, and strode onto the plane.
Catherine was incredibly audacious; she had only been learning to fly for less than three months, yet she dared to ride along.
“I don’t mean to look down on the Steel City Power Plant, but it’s a fact, you know that.”
She was afraid that Li Xuewu would misunderstand, so she took off her sunglasses from her chest and gently put them on him.
"Yeah, that's even cooler—"
“I didn’t say you look down on Steel City Power Generation.”
Li Xuewu glanced at the control panel and executed the boot-up procedure in the order he had practiced beforehand.
Catherine's initial worry instantly subsided; it seemed this guy wasn't just bragging.
He can actually fly a plane!
Men are most attractive when they are focused on doing something, including flying a plane.
"But you've underestimated Steel City Power."
Li Xuewu put on his headphones, pointed to the passenger-side headset on the control panel, and reminded her to communicate through the headset.
After Catherine finished putting it on, he continued, "At least you underestimated the ambition of the general manager of United Energy Corporation."
"That new female boss?"
Catherine smiled and raised her eyebrows, saying, "She's very interesting. We met in the capital and had a pleasant conversation."
"She should perfectly fit your image of a strong woman."
Li Xuewu smiled and pulled the control stick, giving a hand signal to the commanders below, and then slowly pulled the plane up.
This wasn't the first time he had sat in the pilot's seat and piloted the plane; in the past, his instructor, Wang Xiaonan, had always accompanied him.
It was the weekend, and Catherine's sudden arrival in Steel City caught him somewhat off guard.
Not wanting her to disrupt his plans, he brought her to the testing ground.
"I don't admire strong women."
Catherine smiled sweetly, looked ahead meaningfully, and said, "I only admire and respect the strong."
"You're like a little rooster."
Li Xuewu didn't pay attention to the deeper meaning in her words and said with a smile, "Look down below, maybe your heart will feel more at ease."
As the helicopter climbed higher, the buildings on the ground gradually shrank and receded from their sight. Catherine suddenly fell silent, staring intently at what lay below.
She didn't know how to describe her feelings at that moment. This helicopter ride was different from taking a passenger plane. The changes in scenery during a passenger plane takeoff were never as dramatic as those before her eyes.
Some people say that a noble lady born with a silver spoon in her mouth has seen everything.
Given Catherine's family's financial situation, let alone riding in a helicopter, they could easily afford to buy two and place them at their door as guardian spirits.
Of course, Italians don't have the custom of placing guardian beasts on either side of the doorposts, nor would they place two helicopters at the entrance.
But to be honest, this was the first time she had ever ridden in a helicopter in all her life.
It wasn't that they didn't have the money to buy it, but rather that family rules forbade them from taking such risks.
Although they don't have the custom of using guardian beasts to protect their homes, they understand the principle that a wise person avoids dangerous situations, and helicopters are very dangerous.
Even though helicopters were already widely used as early as World War II, and helicopter manufacturing technology has advanced by leaps and bounds in recent years, it is still difficult to change the fact that a crash will result in death or injury.
So Catherine gave her first time to this plane, and also to Li Xuewu.
Wow—it really is—
She was a little dazed and it took her a while to recover. She turned to look at Li Xuewu with wide eyes, as if she were very surprised.
"Hehe—" Li Xuewu chuckled lightly, offering no comment.
When he first sat in the passenger seat, he felt the same way after he went into space. However, when Wang Xiaonan was in the driver's seat, he was able to control his emotions.
"This little plane only costs 5 yuan?"
Catherine said incredulously, "I've never paid attention to it, not even to its price, really—"
"Do you want to buy one?" Li Xuewu raised his eyebrows and said to her, "It's actually very easy to learn; you can learn it in no time."
"How could that be—"
Catherine shook her head slightly, looking at the scenery rushing past below, her heart filled with excitement. It wasn't that she hadn't thought about buying one.
But what happens after you buy it?
She wouldn't be allowed to fly in Yingcheng, and it's even more sensitive in Gangcheng; her father would definitely not allow her to do it if he found out.
So this big toy is exciting enough, but she can't play with it.
Once she realized she couldn't play it, she looked at Li Xuewu next to her and felt envious.
He's a man, after all. He can do whatever he wants, and even if he takes a risk, he'll be called brave. It's the woman who can't do that.
Sensing the silence around him, Li Xuewu lowered the plane's altitude and began flying from the steel frame towards the fields.
The endless black soil beneath their feet deeply impressed the two, making them feel the awe-inspiring contrast between black and white.
The black soil contrasts with the white snow on the ground, and the white snow on the ground highlights the black soil.
Just like the two people on the plane now, although they have some interactions, they will never be in the same circle.
You could even say they're from completely different worlds.
Li Xuewu is only here for flight practice; he won't be flying all day long.
As the helicopter landed smoothly on the training ground, Catherine cheerfully took off her headset and leaned over to kiss him, which made Wang Xiaonan, who was about to come over to help her open the cabin door, stop in his tracks and turn his head away stiffly.
Don't look at what you shouldn't look at, or you'll get a sty. And the boss is really something, what's so great about that blonde woman that he let her take advantage of him.
Li Xuewu thought the same thing, glared at Catherine, and emphasized, "I'm a respectable person!"
"Tch—" Catherine chuckled as she pushed open the cabin door and turned to him, saying, "Do you think I don't know whether you're serious or not?"
The two spoke in a flirtatious tone, but no one could understand them.
At least Wang Xiaonan, who was standing not far away, couldn't understand; the two people were speaking a foreign language.
"The wind is quite strong today, which creates some resistance."
Li Xuewu jumped off the plane and said to Wang Xiaonan, who was coming to greet him, "Let's try again when it snows, and try to fly in as many different climates as possible."
"You're so busy with work and still working so hard, I feel the pressure!"
Wang Xiaonan smiled as he accepted the gloves tossed to him by his superior, and said with a compliment, "In less than six months, there's really nothing I can do to help you anymore."
He was very eloquent; Li Xuewu invited him to be his coach, but he didn't acknowledge the relationship.
The word "teach" is hard to say; say "help".
Sigh! Just changing one word has leveled, or even lowered, the relationship between the two.
Li Xuewu glanced at him with amusement, then patted his arm and said, "Don't learn these things from them. Don't put the cart before the horse."
Wang Xiaonan didn't realize what was happening, and by the time he tried to catch up with his superior, it was too late.
Zhang Enyuan, who had come with Li Xuewu, raised an eyebrow at his reaction and waited a few steps behind before speaking to him, saying, "The leader really appreciates your decisive and efficient personality."
Wang Xiaonan was slightly taken aback. By the time he realized what was happening, Director Zhang had already walked away.
Is this the difference between those below and those in higher-level organizations?
***
"Shall we discuss foreign vessel agency now?"
Li Xuewu looked at her with surprise and said, "Isn't it a bit early?"
Catherine, however, emphasized with concern, "It's not early at all, it's actually late."
She stared into Li Xuewu's eyes and said, "I'm afraid if I come late, there won't be anything left."
"What a mess."
Li Xuewu smiled, sat down in his chair, and looked at her, saying, "There will be a bidding and selection process for the foreign vessel agency business. Don't worry, I will definitely notify you in advance."
"How far in advance?" Catherine persisted, "Will you wait until you've already decided before contacting me to participate in the bidding?"
Damn, she even knows the word "pre-arranged"? This girl's Chinese skills are definitely not wasted.
"There's no such thing as a pre-arranged deal—"
Li Xuewu picked up his teacup, took a sip, and said, "This isn't your average business."
“I don’t believe it.” Catherine shook her head slightly and said firmly, “You Chinese are smarter than us. I can’t outsmart you.”
"Hi—" Li Xuewu smiled, put the teacup down beside him, and looked at her, saying, "Only a few of you can act as agents for foreign ships."
"What's the point of doing anything underhanded in this business? Nobody's any different from anyone else."
He stood up, walked to the tea cabinet, selected a box of tea, brewed it again, and continued, "Are you interested in the shipping business? In Northeast Asia."
In fact, the Catherine family is involved in the shipping business; her father, Andrew, has shares and investments in several shipping companies in the port city.
By the time it came to Catherine's generation, although she hadn't yet been involved in this business, she was still clear about where her family made their fortune.
At first, she was vague when Li Xuewu asked her questions, until she heard Li Xuewu's additional information.
Northeast Asia?
Catherine looked at him with surprise, then glanced at the doorway before asking softly, "Isn't someone handling shipping in this area?"
Who says foreigners don't understand social etiquette? Look at this little foreigner, he's quite shrewd.
"Who's doing it? I don't know."
Li Xuewu walked back with a teacup in his hand and said casually, "I'm asking if you're willing to do it. If you are, we can cooperate."
"How to cooperate?"
Catherine was interested in all of Li Xuewu's suggestions, and she was willing to do them even if it meant losing money.
why?
There's no particular reason; if you lose money here, you can make money elsewhere—that's the principle.
Since it was Li Xuewu who proposed the cooperation, there must be a huge profit hidden inside.
"Why don't you tell me what you want to transport first?" Catherine asked curiously. "Your relations with the Northeast Asian countries don't seem to be very harmonious, do they?"
“Yes, but that doesn’t stop us from doing business.” Li Xuewu said frankly, “Since our boat can’t go anywhere, let’s change direction. If you can do it, then you can go.”
“Can we do it?” Catherine thought for a moment and said, “I’ll have to go back and ask.”
Don't look at me like that—
Catherine playfully kicked him with her toe, saying coquettishly, "I wasn't asking my dad."
"Whatever you want, it's fine with you."
Li Xuewu reached out and slapped her feet away, saying seriously, "We can't discuss agency business now, and no one will talk to you about it."
"However, the group is planning to release production capacity in Northeast Asia. If you make a decision sooner, you can still catch this trend."
He said casually, "The premise is that the ship has to be ready, at least a 10,000-ton cargo ship."
"Tens of thousands of tons?" Catherine tiptoed toward him and asked in surprise, "Is this a project of the Santayar Group?"
It's no wonder she asked that question. In Northeast Asia, the only company that owns a 10,000-ton cargo ship and has business dealings with the Red Star Steel Group is the Santay Group.
Moreover, all of Santa Ya Group's cargo ships are built by Yingcheng Shipyard. Given this relationship, Santa Ya Group should be given priority in this project.
Li Xuewu did not answer her question, but continued to emphasize: "If you want to participate in this project, you should have a complete transportation support system. Yingcheng Port can only provide basic support services."
"When will this project start?" Catherine seized on the key point and asked him, "After Yingcheng Port is fully completed?"
"No, it will start at the beginning of next year."
Li Xuewu earnestly stated, "The Tianjin Trade Management Center will use the group's industrial capacity as a basis to raise and allocate excess capacity from other joint ventures to achieve this goal."
"Who are they targeting?" Catherine had already grasped the deeper meaning behind those words. Was this an economic war?
Li Xuewu pursed his lips and looked at her, saying, "The semiconductor industries of Japan and South Korea are rising, and they have also made breakthroughs in the fields of automobile and shipbuilding."
“Dumping isn’t something that can be done so easily.” Catherine looked at him and shook her head slightly, emphasizing, “It’s a thankless and exhausting activity that severely damages the economic environment.”
"The economic environment has never been better than it is today, I mean for us."
Li Xuewu said earnestly, "But we can also clearly recognize that danger is approaching, and the future market will be tested."
"You're looking too far ahead—"
Catherine shook her head slightly and said, "How do you know that the electronics industries of Japan and South Korea will rise in the future? They are now..."
The disdain in her eyes was unmistakable; the tiny size of the country was no joke.
“I didn’t say definitely, but it’s necessary to eliminate this possibility.”
Li Xuewu stood up and emphasized firmly, "This global economic crisis started in Britain and cannot end in Hong Kong. I think it is necessary to share this global pie with Japan and South Korea."
"I don't think it's of any use."
Catherine still disagreed with his ideas and views, emphasizing, "What you're doing will only damage trade relations between the two sides."
"We don't even have formal diplomatic relations, so how could we have trade relations?"
Li Xuewu chuckled and said, "Let's cripple their electronics industry first. We're prepared to suffer heavy losses ourselves."
"Is it worth it?" Catherine asked speechlessly. "Price wars never end well."
“No, our goal is not to sell the goods.” Li Xuewu looked into her eyes and said seriously, “Our goal is to sell the group’s goods in the long run.”
"If we don't take advantage of their current strength and eliminate them before they become powerful, are we going to wait until they turn around and threaten us?"
"But—I know!"
Catherine wanted to say more, but then she understood Li Xuewu's look and asked in surprise, "You had this planned all along, right? A mole?"
***
"By the end of this year, Ya Electric Appliances will achieve absolute market share in Southeast Asia."
Nakamura Hideji poured Li Xuewu a glass of baijiu and said with a smile, "Even in Japan, Ya Electric appliances are known for their high quality and low price."
"While we can't say we've taken over half of the electronics market, we're certainly second to none."
What is the market like for mid-to-high-end appliances?
Li Xuewu picked up a piece of food, looked at him and asked, "Is it mainly foreign brands, or are domestic brands doing very well?"
“You’re aware of the economic situation these past two years,” Nakamura Hideji sighed slightly. “Although it’s recovering, our market is still not what it used to be.”
Is it because the market is saturated?
Li Xuewu looked at him and asked, "After all, if you use appliances sparingly, you won't replace them for three to five years."
"No matter how saturated the market is, there will still be a replacement cycle."
Hideji Nakamura looked at Li Xuewu and explained, "We've done our research, and it's related to technological development."
"Our domestic companies are developing new technological products. You may not know that technology is developing rapidly across the ocean. If we fall behind, we will never have a chance to stand up again."
"You're nothing—"
Li Xuewu picked up his wine glass, took a sip, and said, "Your economy and various aspects of your country are closely connected with the other side of the ocean."
"Even if you don't get back up this time, you'll have another chance to get back up in the future."
Hideji Nakamura glanced at him, but didn't pursue the topic any further, as there was no need to.
He just wanted to tell Li Xuewu about the market share of Ya Telephone in the distribution area.
This certainly has the intention of showing off one's achievements, but it also serves as a reminder to Hongxing Steel Group to cherish the current market situation.
Starting in the second half of last year, Ya-telephones flooded the Japanese private market, and it's unclear where they came from.
Without a doubt, the leak must have originated from the source: the Elegant brand electrical appliances produced by the electronics factory of Hongxing Steel Group in the steel city are only for export and have no internal supply demand.
Starting from the end of last year, Hongxing Steel Group created the sub-brands Jiayue and Jiamei Electric Appliances.
The same parts and manufacturing process, only the surgical design was differentiated, and the brand was changed to the Jia series.
The Jia series is not exported, which naturally separates export and domestic sales, making the channel characteristics more obvious.
All the electrical appliances produced this year are export products of Hongxing Steel Group, but how many have they actually distributed through official channels?
So the situation is both very good and very dangerous.
Hideji Nakamura, representing Sanwa Co., Ltd., came to Gangcheng to talk to Li Xuewu.
He just wasn't mentally prepared, and he would inevitably feel pressure when facing Li Xuewu.
Where does the pressure come from?
Since the second half of this year, many foreign businessmen have been coming to the coastal resort area in Tianjin.
Hongxing Steel Group has never concealed these facts; it knows everything it needs to know.
Responding to these activities that allowed for close observation of the company's production also brought the group a large number of friendships and orders.
At the beginning of this year, Sanhe Co., Ltd. exported a large number of advanced electrical manufacturing technologies to Hongxing Steel Group.
Don't say this is a well-intentioned effort to help the group improve its technological level; this is also the result of Li Xuewu's threats.
If Sanhe Co., Ltd. cannot provide advanced production technology, then in order to meet the requirements and needs of the international market, Hongxing Steel Group will naturally choose other partners.
Nakamura and others could not accept this reality. Sanhe Co., Ltd., relying on the production capacity of Hongxing Steel Group, was dominating the domestic and Southeast Asian electrical appliance markets. How could they possibly give up this territory?
He respectfully placed the wine pot down and looked earnestly at Li Xuewu, saying, "Please don't blame me for my rudeness. I sincerely hope that Sanhe and Hongxing can walk together into the future."
Li Xuewu picked up his wine glass and looked at him, not rushing to refute, but waiting for him to continue.
He wanted to see just how rude the brat was going to be.
It has been proven that a nation that prioritizes minor courtesies over major virtues will forever carry the flaw of pursuing self-interest—a flaw that is incurable.
That's why MacArthur said they were beyond redemption.
Do you think all the Ya-style telephones in the Japanese market are transported by speedboat?
How could that be? The real mastermind was actually sitting right in front of Li Xuewu.
Sanhe also operates its own electrical appliance brand. It was by using the Yazhi brand of electrical appliances to disrupt the Japanese electrical appliance market and break the old, rigid structure that they were able to become one of the top distributors.
What does it mean to turn the tables? They took advantage of Ya Telephone's dumping campaign and then came back to settle scores with Li Xuewu.
Nakamura Hideji wanted to say that, but seeing Li Xuewu's unfriendly gaze, he swallowed his words.
He knew, of course, that Li Xuewu hated him, hated them, and hated all the people of the region.
If Li Xuewu is angered at this point, and someone really beats him up, no one will come to his aid.
Moreover, given Li Xuewu's strength, if they were to actually fight, he would lose consciousness in the first blow.
"Cough cough—" Nakamura picked up his glass and took a big gulp, then, emboldened by the alcohol, said, "I truly regret having to face this situation today..."
"You could put it more bluntly."
Li Xuewu put down his wine glass, raised his eyebrows, and said, "I completely understand how you feel right now."
what?
Do you understand how I feel right now?
Stop fooling around—
Nakamura Hideji looked at him speechlessly. When did this guy become so understanding of them? He was truly flattered.
"Actually, there's no need to worry too much. Santayar Group is interested in getting involved in the sales of electrical appliances in Southeast Asia."
Li Xuewu stated bluntly, "As long as Sanhe sends us a letter, we will immediately organize a liquidation team to enter the site."
"Don't worry, we will definitely not let you down."
He generously stated, "The liquidation team will also invite your staff to participate."
No—that's not what I meant—
When Nakamura Hideji saw that he was bringing up the topic of breaking up, he quickly waved his hand and corrected him, "That's not what you meant."
"What do you mean?"
Li Xuewu solemnly emphasized: "We Chinese believe that even if a deal is not made, we should still maintain good relations. We cannot do without courtesy."
He had already put down his chopsticks, and now he glared at me and said, "If you say the cooperation can't continue, then we'll cooperate in settling accounts. If you say the project can't continue, then we'll cooperate in making corrections."
He spread his hands and asked, "Just say what you want to say. There's no need to hide anything. Speak frankly."
What the hell can I say?
Nakamura Hideji glanced at Li Xuewu, his lips trembling. "Would he hit me?"
"You won't tell me? Fine, I'll tell you then."
Li Xuewu narrowed his eyes slightly and said, "Breaking the monopoly in the steel market is a good thing for both Sanhe and Hongxing."
He moved his glass away, looked into Nakamura Hideji's eyes, and said, "Nakamura, you don't want to see Japanese companies monopolize Australian iron ore either, do you?"
-
P.S.: I'll stop here for today. I'm so sleepy that I've fallen asleep several times in the middle of this. I even fell asleep sitting up, and I could hear myself snoring.