Chapter 56: The Present is Different from the Past

  Ding ding ding......

  The phone of the Foreign Affairs Office rang suddenly when it was almost closing time. Yang Jie, who was collecting files and preparing to get off work, picked up the phone casually, "Hello, this is the County Committee Office!"

  "Excuse me, is this the Foreign Affairs Office? I'm looking for Comrade Yang Jie!" Xiao Chaoyang's voice came from the other end of the phone. Yang Jie smiled and replied, "Mayor Xiao, it's me, Yang Jie. What can I do for you?"

  "Xiao Yang! I really don't know how to thank you, the hotel front desk said that Chairman Liu has already checked in this afternoon. Coincidentally, we went to Chengnan Township this afternoon and missed the opportunity to visit Chairman Liu for the first time. So, I have an impolite request, can I trouble Xiao Yang to help us make an appointment with Chairman Liu and have dinner together tonight?"

  Yang Jie had previously promised Wang, the head of the Luosang County Business Bureau, to help contact Liu Daxing. It's likely that Wang Guirong had already reported this situation to Xiao Qingsong, otherwise Xiao Qingsong wouldn't be so happy to make this call himself.

  "County Magistrate Xiao, you're too polite, it's just a small favor, I'll call Director Liu right away." After Yang Jie agreed with a smile, he then remembered to write down the phone number of Xiao Yaosong's room. Only after Xiao Yaosong hung up the phone did he call Liu Daxing.

  Sitting opposite Yang Jie, Liu Fei, who was preparing to get off work, heard that Yang Jie had actually contacted Xiao Xianchang of Luosang County again. She admired Yang Jie's people skills and social tactics in her heart. If she could put aside her pride and tolerate the harassment of that man, I'm afraid her interpersonal relationships wouldn't be worse than Yang Jie's!

  Lost in thought, Liu Fei, who was usually aloof, took the initiative to greet Yang Jie and then left the office with her bag.

  Liu Daxing stayed in the county town just to see Xiao Yuesong. Now that the Luosang County side has taken the initiative to call and make an appointment, Liu Daxing naturally won't put on airs. Since they came from afar as guests, Liu Daxing is now not short of money either, so there's no need for financially strapped Luosang County to foot the bill for entertaining them. He made arrangements with Yang Jie to find a suitable place and planned to host a banquet for the officials from Luosang County.

  Yang Jie listened to Liu Daxing and thought of the Ju Fu Mountain Villa he had visited yesterday, and smiled as he told Liu Daxing about it. Liu Daxing laughed and readily agreed, having not gone fishing for a long time. The chef at Ju Fu Mountain Villa was skilled in cooking fish, which Yang Jie couldn't praise enough. Without much thought, he decided to invite guests to the villa.

  "County head Xiao, Liu Dong just happened to have time off. He heard that County Head Xiao of Luosang wanted to invite him for dinner and was very happy about it. However, he said meeting up for dinner is fine, but he must be the one to host, saying that as guests from afar, having come to Yuhu County, it's only natural for him to be the host. He'll have to trouble County Head Xiao another time when he has a chance to visit Luosang." After hanging up Liu Daxing's phone call, Yang Jie immediately returned a call to Xiao Yuansong.

  "How can this be? We want to invite Liu Dong out, how can we let Liu Dong spend money! Xiao Yang, this is absolutely not okay!"

  Xiao Yongsong flatly refused, as a representative of Luosang County, he led the team to come to Xunhe County to seek opportunities. How could Liu Daxing invite him? As the saying goes, "eating people's mouths is short", Xiao Yongsong was thinking about inviting Liu Daxing to dinner and taking the opportunity to bring up the matter of the pharmaceutical factory acquiring Chinese herbal medicine from Luosang County in the future. If it were Liu Daxing who invited him, he would really be embarrassed to mention this.

  "County Mayor Xiao, you don't know Liu Dong's temper. He is a straightforward person and likes to make friends. If you must offend him, he might think you look down on him, who knows, it might affect your future interactions. Besides, he has already said that next time he goes to Luosang County, he will have to trouble County Mayor Xiao to invite him. In friendships, there should be give-and-take to promote affection, don't you think?"

  Xiao Tuo thought for a moment after hearing Yang Jie's words, then smiled helplessly and said: "Alright! Since President Liu doesn't treat us as outsiders, I won't be polite either."

  "Alright! County Magistrate Xiao, since it's settled, I'll go book a private room. After booking the room, I'll come to the Yuhe Hotel to pick you up." Yang Jie hung up the phone and immediately called Chen Yinglong, who was still in his office at that time.

  Yesterday, I followed Chen Yinglong to Ju Fu Mountain Villa. I know that getting a private room at Ju Fu Mountain Villa is not something that can be done just because you have money. Fortunately, Ju Fu Mountain Villa is located within the jurisdiction of Chengguan Town, so the boss has to give some face to the county government. Leaving a private room is a small matter, and it can be done with just a phone call.

  Chen Yinglong knew Yang Jie's younger brother-in-law, who was going to entertain Xiao Xianchang and his entourage at the Ju Fu Mountain Villa. He readily agreed to call the villa immediately to book a private room, and would definitely reserve one for Yang Jie no matter what.

  Yang Jie told Chen Yinglong his pager number, asking him to book a private room and send him a page when it was ready. By the time Yang Jie left the office, almost everyone from the county committee's various departments had already left.

  As he walked out of the county committee compound, Yang Jie was about to hail a motorcycle taxi when he saw Xiao Lai's car speeding over from a distance and stopping steadily beside him. "Xiao Jie, Liu has asked me to come pick you up, hurry up and get in!"

  "Hey! Little rascal, can't tell at all! Just one afternoon without seeing you, and even Liu Zong has been called up!" Yang Jie sat in the car, looking at the little rascal beside him, and started to joke.

  Xiao Lai Zi smiled and said, "Isn't this going to meet the leaders of Luo Sang County? Calling Liu Zong sounds more formal, can't let Liu Zong lose face in front of outsiders, right? Besides, Liu Zong bought this car from me and asked me to be his full-time driver, so this title can't be used so casually from now on."

  "This is a good thing! Little brother-in-law is now such a big boss, usually going out without a car, not only inconvenient, but also looks like no status. In this day and age, people who look down on others are everywhere, when doing business with others, if you don't have a good car, they won't even bother to talk to you." Yang Jie said, looking at Little Lai's Jetta car, although the car was only bought for less than two years, but Jetta and Santana are synonymous with taxis, with Liu Daxing's personality, he must change to a better car.

  "Yes! Mr. Liu also said that, he's planning to give this car to your dad, he said your dad doesn't like going out, and there are few opportunities to use the car on a daily basis, so let's use this car as a substitute for now, and when conditions require it, we'll change to a better car." Xiaolai had very deep feelings for this car, and now that it was about to be given to someone else, his face revealed a hint of reluctance.

  "What kind of car does Xiao Shu want to change to?" Yang Jie knew that since Liu Daxing had decided to give the car to his father, he must have already set his sights on a replacement ride.

  "He mentioned that the imported Mercedes-Benz S320, he said that joint ventures have some special policies and treatment, can be brought into the country through foreign merchants, and the price is particularly cheap." Little Rascal's face showed a hint of excitement when talking about the Mercedes-Benz S320.

  Yang Jie studied economics and management, so he naturally knew that the government encouraged foreign investors, including those from Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau, to invest in the mainland. According to the preferential policies for investment on the mainland, foreign businessmen were allowed to bring cars and other vehicles into the country duty-free.

  Liu Daxing wanted to take advantage of this policy, play a trick, and use Jimmy's hands to get the Mercedes-Benz S320 back, which can save a lot of tariff money. "The younger brother-in-law's abacus is indeed very clever, but the exempted tariffs are enough to buy another Mercedes-Benz S320."

  Xiao Lai Zi didn't know the twists and turns, he only knew that soon after, he would be driving a Mercedes-Benz. The extremely excited Xiao Lai Zi drove back to the Huohe Hotel, where Yang Jie had just gotten out of the car when he received Chen Ying Long's message: "The private room has been booked."

  "Yang, I'm really troubling you! Thanks for your hard work!" Wang Guirong, the director of Luosan County Business Bureau, personally stood in front of the Yuehe Hotel and waited for Yang Jie. When he saw Yang Jie get out of the Jetta car, his face was filled with a smile, and he went forward to express his heartfelt gratitude.

  "Brother Wang, you're being too polite, are you treating me like an outsider? If this continues, don't blame me for not helping out in the future!" Yang Jie smiled and shook hands with Wang Guirong, then gestured to Xiao Lai to go upstairs and invite Liu Daxing. After that, he followed Wang Guirong into the hotel lobby and sat down on a sofa in the rest area.

  "County Chief Xiao will come down immediately, tonight is a private gathering, so there's no need for others to follow, just me and County Chief Xiao, plus you and Liu Dong, is that okay?" Wang Gui Rong took out a pack of White Sand cigarettes, pulled one out to offer to Yang Jie, but seeing Yang Jie indicate he didn't smoke, only then did he put it in his own mouth.

  "Let's meet and get to know each other, lay the foundation for the next step of formal negotiations. As for the Rosan County side of things, we can discuss that in a formal setting later! Besides, our company is a joint venture, although Mr. Liu has controlling shares, we also need to respect the opinions of the foreign investors. So, the best outcome for this trip is to first confirm the preliminary intention to cooperate and get a letter of intent." Yang Jie had an agreement with Jimmy that Five Oceans Liquor and Xingwang Pharmaceutical could give up their controlling shares, but the management of the enterprise must be handled by professional managers appointed by him.

  That is to say, the specific management, operation and sales of the company should be handled by Jimmy's side, which was also agreed upon by Yang Jie before. Therefore, even if Losan County has rich Chinese herbal medicine resources, it can only reach a cooperative intention first, and the specific negotiation can only proceed after the manager invited by Jimmy arrives.

  PS: Thank you 'Ant CEO' and '_Vivian' for your reward support! Shamelessly asking for collection! Asking for subscription, friends who like this book, please recommend it to SuSu. If there are no collections from big brothers, please also lend a hand and collect it, thank you everyone!