Chapter 321: Everyone is Drunk, I Alone am Sober
On the Beiliao Province side, Principal Chen and the others were worried sick!
To be exact, it was Principal Chen, Director Hu, and Director Feng who were worried sick.
Director Tian, however, was shelling sunflower seeds as he spoke. “You guys are just meddling blindly and worrying over nothing. Little Su entering that soft-sleeper carriage is exactly like a wolf entering a flock of sheep—she’s bound to fleece them one by one. What on earth is there to worry about?!”
Director Feng said with a furrowed brow, “Do you honestly think foreigners are all that easy to hoodwink?! Perhaps she ran into a hard stub this time, or met with some sort of trouble.”
Principal Chen and Director Hu held the exact same thoughts. A person couldn’t always have smooth sailing; there would bound to be times when one encountered setbacks.
Little Su was only human; she was no exception.
Even if she had entered the soft-sleeper carriage to discuss business, it was impossible to talk for an entire morning. Something must have happened.
Seeing that he couldn’t convince them, Director Tian curled his lip and stopped trying.
He thought to himself: Never mind the others, but you, Bald Chen, are just a stubborn old mule!
Even if Little Su genuinely courted trouble in there, she still has Old Master Gu as a colossal backer!
How could anything possibly happen to her?!
At this moment, he held quite a sense of superiority, feeling like “everyone is drunk, I alone am sober.” It was the same old sentiment—had he been born in the Three Kingdoms period, there wouldn’t be anything for Zhuge Liang to do!
Luo Dongchuan was also feeling a bit unable to sit still.
If Su He genuinely caused some major chaos, he would have to share the blame as well.
Just as he was feeling vexed, Tong Zhen strolled over.
“Old Luo, I heard that Su He from your delegation has been staying in the soft-sleeper carriage for the whole morning. Could something have happened? How about I accompany you over to inquire about it?”
Luo Dongchuan naturally knew that Tong Zhen wasn’t being well-intentioned at all. Spouting those words aloud, who knew how much schadenfreude he was harboring in his heart!
However, he did want to go over and ask. Bringing Tong Zhen along added a bit more weight, so perhaps they could fish out some information.
Therefore, he nodded. “Alright, Old Tong, come with me to take a look.”
As they walked toward the soft-sleeper carriage, Tong Zhen spoke up, “Old Luo, in reality, when Su He settled that order yesterday, I felt it wasn’t quite proper.
“Those foreign guest delegations have their own regulations. Even if the foreign guests want to discuss orders, they can very well wait until the Canton Fair opens to do so!
“Furthermore, this young girl Su He lacks a sense of boundaries. Getting a bargain yesterday should have been enough, but look at her—getting a taste of sweetness sent her completely out of her mind!
“She went hanging around the soft-sleeper carriage again. Now look at what happened—bad luck struck, right?!
“You are to blame too, Old Luo. Su He is young and lacks understanding of the world, but you’ve been working for so many years, why didn’t you advise her a bit?
“In my view, you must have been blinded by yesterday’s order!
“Old Luo, we who do foreign trade work must maintain a clear head at all times…”
Luo Dongchuan was already vexed to begin with, and hearing Tong Zhen’s words made him even more irritated!
However, he wasn’t in the mood to bicker with Tong Zhen right now; he only wanted to get news of Su He as quickly as possible.
Just as he was burning with anxiety, a voice traveled from behind them: “Uncle Luo, I feel Deputy Director Tong is absolutely correct. I truly am far too lacking in understanding—hanging around the soft-sleeper carriage whenever there’s nothing happening, causing you to worry.”
Luo Dongchuan almost thought he was hallucinating. Otherwise, how could he hear Su He speaking?
Yet when he turned his head around, the person speaking truly was Su He.
Su He was standing inside a compartment. He and Tong Zhen had been so focused on walking forward that they had failed to notice her.
Luo Dongchuan was overjoyed. “Little Su, why are you here?”
Earlier, when Su He emerged from the soft-sleeper carriage, a passenger introducing himself as the procurement section chief of the Luancheng Department Store approached her to inquire about the instant noodles.
Su He naturally wouldn’t miss such an opportunity and had struck up a conversation with him.
As luck would have it, she overheard Tong Zhen’s words.
She thought to himself: No wonder that Wu Li from the Chucheng Food Factory doesn’t speak human words. It turns out that if the upper beam is crooked, the lower beam will bound to be askew.
Hearing Luo Dongchuan’s question, Su He explained, “This comrade was negotiating with me regarding the consignment of instant noodles, so we chatted for a while.”
Luo Dongchuan asked further, “Why did you stay in the soft-sleeper carriage for so long? Nothing bad happened, right?”
Su He let out a sigh.
Luo Dongchuan’s heart instantly leapt into his throat.
Tong Zhen, standing to the side, revealed an expression that said just as I thought. He took off his glasses, pulled a lens cloth from his briefcase, and began wiping them at a leisurely pace.
“Uncle Luo, something did indeed happen.
“Under my efforts, the foreign guests inside the soft-sleeper carriage have agreed to negotiate business with our Beiliao Province delegation. If it’s suitable, we will sign pre-order contracts first, and then sign formal contracts after the Canton Fair begins.
“Sigh, a perfectly good journey has been transformed into discussing business. I feel terribly sorry toward you and the other comrades for causing you extra hardship!”
Luo Dongchuan’s mouth went so wide it could have stuffed an entire duck egg inside!
Su He settling a single order yesterday had been shocking enough for him!
Yet today, the entire foreign guest delegation had been taken down?
How—how on earth did she pull it off?
Right then, a sharp clatter sounded. It turned out the glasses in Tong Zhen’s hand had dropped to the floor, the lenses cracking open.
He hurriedly bent down to retrieve them, but the train happened to jolt violently right at that moment, causing him to fall flat on his face in a complete dog-bite-dirt posture.
His current state of mind was barely any different from being struck by lightning!
When a man meets with bad luck, even a sip of cold water jams his teeth!
He scrambled up and put on his glasses—well, look at that. Everything before him was covered in a layer of spiderwebs.
However, he couldn’t spare any thoughts for that now, asking in a rather shrill voice, “What did you say? The foreign guest delegation wants to discuss business with your Beiliao Province delegation?”
Su He nodded. “Yes, those foreign guests refused at the very beginning. But after my unremitting efforts, they finally agreed. Although there are only thirty-some people in the delegation and their business scope is limited, a mosquito’s leg is still meat!”
Tong Zhen’s voice grew so shrill it almost warped as he questioned, “The team leader of the foreign guest delegation agreed? The Canton Fair hasn’t even opened yet, and you’re already negotiating—this doesn’t conform to the regulations!”
Su He’s expression turned solemn. “Deputy Director Tong, please be prudent with your words!
“The comrades of the Ministry of Foreign Trade possess a vastly stronger grasp and understanding of policy than we do. How could they possibly violate the regulations?!
“As you said yourself, this is a foreign guest tourism group. Since it’s a tourism group, what does it have to do with the Canton Fair?!
“If you harbor a differing opinion, I can immediately convey it to the comrades of the Ministry of Foreign Trade and have them talk with you personally!”
Tong Zhen: “…”
Talk, my foot!
They rank vastly higher than me!
If they pin a label of slander on me when the time comes, my post as deputy director will be thoroughly at an end.
“Li—Little Su, I didn’t mean it that way. I was merely asking casually.”
Su He’s face turned even more stern!
“Deputy Director Tong, you are the deputy director of the Jingbei Provincial Foreign Trade Department, and the deputy team leader of the Jingbei Province delegation for the Canton Fair. How can the word ‘casual’ emerge from your mouth?
“You must know that in many instances, disaster rides upon spoken words. If you arrive at the Canton Fair and casually spout some preposterous remark, it is highly likely to bring monumental losses to our country!
“On this point, Uncle Luo does exceptionally well. He has always been prudent in speech and actions, never spouting any sarcastic remarks or absolute nonsense. You still need to learn from Uncle Luo a bit more!”
