Chapter 299: Volunteering One’s Services
Su He thought for a long while before her eyes suddenly lit up. “Principal, I’ve thought of a reason, but it’s not a foolproof guarantee. Whether you can secure it depends entirely on your performance.”
Principal Chen instantly perked up!
“Little Su, tell me quick! As long as the reason holds water, I’ll go weep right in front of the top leader. If worse comes to worst, I’ll even tear out a few handfuls of my own hair!”
Su He: “…”
Principal, you’ve changed!
You are no longer that elegant, dignified Principal Chen from before!
“Principal, the foreign businessmen at the Guangzhou Fair aren’t all foreigners; there are also quite a few overseas Chinese.
“These overseas Chinese tend to be quite interested in our traditional culture. In this area, Principal, you are naturally the most qualified!
“Perhaps you can rely on this point to win the favor of the overseas Chinese and strive for more orders.
“In addition, many patriotic overseas Chinese are keen on donating to education. You are an educator, so perhaps you can secure some donations for An County’s primary and secondary schools.”
Director Tian’s eyes nearly popped out of his head. She can actually come up with a reason like that?!
While others had a single mind for strategy, this Little Su was practically a sieve spirit with endless ideas!
Setting the orders aside, the prospect of donations alone was enough to move the top leader!
After all, bringing a secretary along wasn’t of much use anyway; it was just for running errands.
Anyone could handle that chore!
Principal Chen was instantly overjoyed, yet along with his happiness, he felt a slight pang of regret. “Little Su, your not going to university is not just a personal loss, but a loss for the nation as well. No matter what anyone says, you must attend university next year!”
Su He gave a vague murmur of agreement. She definitely wouldn’t go next year! Because the National College Entrance Examination wouldn’t be reinstated until the year after next!
After a brief exchange of words, Principal Chen hurriedly rushed off to find the top leader, Lu Qifeng!
After he left, Su He and Director Tian went to find Master Jin, finally finalizing the sauce packets for the tomato egg noodles and the braised beef noodles.
“Director, there’s no need to produce too much of these two flavors for now. Just enough for samples at the Guangzhou Fair will do. In addition, when Principal Chen returns, please gather Director Hu and Director Feng so we can hold a mobilization meeting.”
Director Tian agreed swiftly and decisively.
He didn’t feel the slightest bit displeased about being directed by Su He. On the contrary, he felt that Su He asking him to notify Director Feng and Director Hu proved she viewed him as one of her own.
As for when this state of mind had shifted, he didn’t even know himself.
It seemed to have happened completely unconsciously.
About an hour or so passed, and Principal Chen returned, practically beaming with joy.
His elder dignity had returned to his frame as he carried his hands behind his back with a solemn expression.
Director Tian curled his lip. “From the looks of it, the top leader agreed?”
Principal Chen nodded with studied restraint. “I barely had to say much before County Chief Lu agreed. He even said that for a major affair of this nature, we need an old comrade like me to hold down the fort…”
Director Tian thought to himself: If your head weren’t missing two tufts of hair, I might actually manage to believe you a little.
No matter what, Principal Chen had successfully secured the final slot.
Director Tian immediately placed phone calls to Director Hu and Director Feng.
“Old Hu (Old Feng), make a trip over to my place. We’re going to hold a mobilization meeting for the Guangzhou Fair!”
The three factories weren’t very far apart, so Director Hu and Director Feng arrived very quickly.
Seeing Principal Chen present as well left both of them quite bewildered. Director Feng asked directly, “Old Chen, why are you here too?”
Principal Chen maintained a completely calm, cloud-like expression. “County Chief Lu gave the final slot to me, so I must attend the meeting as well.”
Director Feng: “…”
What on earth was the top leader thinking?
Bringing the principal of a night school to the Guangzhou Fair?
Could it be that he has to hold classes for everyone in the evenings?
Director Hu was also quite surprised, but he was vastly more adept at handling social situations than Director Feng.
He said with a smile, “Well, that’s excellent then. It’ll be lively having us old brothers together.”
Director Tian let out a cough. “Alright, everyone take a seat quickly. Little Su is about to start the meeting!”
Once the four old men sat down, they inexplicably felt that this scene was remarkably familiar.
Right—during the prior rumor storm, they had also sat submissively just like this, listening to Little Su chatter away.
Director Feng looked left and right, wanting to say something, but swallowed it back down.
Su He said with a smile, “Through our hard work, and with the assistance of Old Master Gu, we have finally secured our booths for the Guangzhou Fair. This not only sets a precedent for An County’s enterprises to earn foreign exchange, but it also opens a glorious new chapter for our An County’s enterprises!”
Having finished speaking, Su He looked toward Director Tian.
Director Tian: “…”
He extended his hands and began to applaud.
Pity me, a grand emperor of a generation, reduced to serving as a hype man for the crown prince!
With Director Tian taking the lead, Principal Chen and the others had no choice but to follow suit and applaud.
Once the applause died down, only then did Su He continue, “To be able to obtain a slot at the Guangzhou Fair this time is entirely thanks to Old Master Gu. Without his help, no matter how much effort we put in, it would all be empty talk.
“Speaking of Old Master Gu, this tracks back to when Principal Chen and I went to Shanghai…”
Director Tian and the others: “…”
Aren’t you just trying to say that you deserve the absolute top credit for securing the Guangzhou Fair slots?!
Did you really need to beat around the bush like this?!
Su He shifted the conversation. “We are different from the other exhibiting manufacturers; we are participating under the name of An County.
“Although we don’t know which product category’s exhibition area we will be assigned to yet, there will bound to be two products that don’t align with the positioning of that exhibition area.
“Therefore, the difficulties in locating target clients and securing orders will be immense.
“Furthermore, this is our very first time participating, and we completely lack experience. You could say we are entirely in the dark. If we fight individual battles, we will bound to emerge completely empty-handed!
“Therefore, we must unify our thoughts, unify our actions, and unify under a single command!
“On the macro direction, we must obey County Chief Lu’s command. But on the minor details that County Chief Lu might not have the spare time to attend to, we must also elect a decision-maker. I would like to volunteer my humble services. Do the four of you harbor any objections?”
Director Tian and the others: “…”
Even if we have objections, we wouldn’t dare voice them!
If we get singled out and treated differently by you when the time comes, what then?!
“Since everyone holds no objections, I will now arrange our upcoming tasks.
“The most critical matter at present is gathering information.
“The four of you must mobilize every single connection you can possibly leverage to inquire about the Guangzhou Fair, particularly the preliminary preparations…”
Director Feng interjected, “Little Su, I heard that prior to the exhibition, the provincial foreign trade department conducts unified training and guidance for the exhibiting enterprises. Do we really need to go to such grand lengths to gather information ourselves?”
Su He smiled. “Director Feng, you’ve raised an excellent question, and I estimate everyone harbors this exact doubt in their hearts.
“Since there is a ready-made option, why should we expend this effort?
“The reason is simple: a child who only knows to open their mouth and wait for food will never grow plump!
“The information commanded by the provincial foreign trade department is limited, consisting merely of superficial rules and boundaries.
“Besides, in their eyes, our An County is merely a tag-along accompanying the crown prince to study. They fundamentally won’t be very dedicated to us and will highly likely just go through the motions.
“Therefore, we must fully exert our subjective initiative and keep the command firmly in our own hands.
“In addition, Director Feng, please be mindful of meeting discipline and refrain from interrupting my speech.”
Director Feng: “…”
You aren’t just setting up your own faction now; you’re actively asserting absolute dominance over the entire territory!
