Siheyuan: Taking over the steel mill

As soon as he finished speaking, the Ethiopian Prime Minister, who was already in an excited state, agreed to pay the extra money without hesitation.

If we don't fight for such professional skills now, how can we allow soldiers to tinker with guns when we return to our country?

“No problem, I’ll pay another $10,000 and have these workers teach us how to assemble it.” The Ethiopian government has decided that the expense was worth it.

The value of knowledge is immeasurable. Even if these people cannot master this skill right away, the maintenance knowledge they learn today will be very useful when they can obtain more weapons in the future. Once they train all the people who went with them this time into skilled workers, Ethiopia's armed strength will be significantly improved.

Ethiopian ** felt that the money was well spent this time, so he readily nodded and agreed.

"In addition to paying the fees, these workers will be taught skills here and will not go to Ethiopia. At the same time, I will not give you drawings. After all, what I sell is mainly civilian pipeline equipment, not ** factories."

Although the conditions proposed by Su Chen seemed harsh, the Ethiopian government did not have much choice.

In their view, any knowledge is extremely valuable. In order to conceal his tracks and avoid attracting attention, Su Chen chose a roundabout strategy and did not want people to know that he was actually making military supplies.

Although Su Chen was interested in being involved in military trade, he did not want to attract attention from all parties.

Even though military equipment and civilian products are equally controlled, it is not appropriate to carry out public operations in the country. Su Chen used the steel mill as a cover and had to keep a low profile.

On the surface, he was producing civilian plumbing equipment, but in reality, producing gun barrels and other equipment was just a matter of words.

Even if they appear to be things that can be used as weapons, as long as Su Chen insists that they are civilian products, neither domestic regulators nor overseas forces will be able to find his flaws.

Su Chen's shrewd plan was obviously understood, and the Ethiopian government did not question why he insisted on saying that they were water pipes when he was clearly producing gun barrels, and simply accepted it.

"I understand, I understand. Can I pay now? I can't wait for our citizens to have safe and reliable running water."

The Ethiopian official grinned, revealing a row of snow-white teeth.

If it were night time, Su Chen would definitely only be able to see his teeth and the whites of his eyes, because the Ethiopian official's skin was so dark.

Seeing that the other party was so straightforward, Su Chen nodded and said with great satisfaction.

"You pay first and I'll have the workers teach you how to install and use it."

Upon hearing this, the Ethiopian officials readily took out the money.

When these foreigners purchase things in the country, they do not directly use their own currency, but instead convert it all into US dollars.

The official waved his hand, and an attendant behind him immediately came to Su Chen with a suitcase. The suitcase looked very much like the briefcases that often appear on TV.

The attendant placed the box on the table of the booth, and the heavy box made a dull sound: "Please check it."

Because it was the first transaction, Ethiopia did not purchase a large amount, but instead bought a small portion first, so it could pay in one lump sum.

As soon as the attendant opened the box, a bank full of US dollars appeared before everyone.

It was also the first time that Su Chen saw so many US dollars in front of him, just like what was often shown in movies.

"Take inventory."

Su Chen turned around and gave orders to the staff.

He couldn't tell how much money was in the banknotes just by looking at them. The official stood quietly by, waiting for Su Chen to count the money.

At this military exhibition in Yangcheng, no manufacturer had completed sales before Su Chen.

While Su Chen was counting the money, the exhibition had already entered its final stage.

When other manufacturers saw Su Chen's deal and the box full of US dollars, they were very envious and began to promote their products vigorously.

Everyone was very jealous and was eager to sell the goods in their hands quickly.

But no matter how they promoted it, after seeing Su Chen's pipes, other buyers didn't seem to have much interest in other equipment.

Because in their opinion, the goods at these exhibitions cannot meet the demand.

The military exhibition was about to end, but no one was interested in the products of other merchants except Su Chen.

Seeing that closing time was approaching, some merchants could no longer hold back and began to slash prices.

After seeing a few merchants lower their prices first, others followed suit.

After all, their goods were not hard necessities like water pipes, so other buyers finally began to take notice of them.

Before the Military Expo closed, one or two merchants finally succeeded in selling some items.

But the price they sold it at was really not high.

Not to mention that it can be compared with Su Chen's huge income.

It was not until the exhibition was completely over that Su Chen checked all the amounts.

His workers counted the money until their hands cramped. For the first time, they realized that counting money was such a painful thing. When they saw the US dollars in front of them, they no longer had the initial excitement, but only numbness.

Fortunately, all the payments were correct, just as stipulated in the contract. Su Chen nodded and asked the workers to collect the money.

When Assistant Zhang stood up, he felt sore all over. He never expected that one day he would have a headache because of counting money.

As the exhibition came to an end, Su Chen watched other manufacturers packing up the goods in their booths and turned to face the crowd.

"I have just told the representatives that you guys will have to teach them how to assemble the machine guns."

The Ethiopian delegation waited for a long time and saw that Suchen's team had not yet completed the account check, so they left first and only set a time to meet. Even if they were sure to buy Suchen's products at this exhibition, there were still other matters waiting for them to deal with.

Since they had signed a formal contract, they were not worried that Su Chen would lose contact, so the Ethiopian delegation returned to handle their military affairs.

Hearing this, the workers seemed a little uneasy.

These workers were selected by Su Chen after checking the factory's employee list. They had not previously worked in steel mill-related jobs for a long time.

They are old skilled workers with solid ** factory technical background, not ordinary workers in other steel mills or cotton mills. They have received professional training in weapons manufacturing.

Even in the previous ** factory, these people's skills were equally outstanding.

Now it is a piece of cake for them to teach Ethiopian soldiers how to assemble machine guns. But now they seem a little confused and helpless.

"Manager, we just can't understand what they are saying."

"Besides, these locals all have murderous intent on their faces. Will they execute us?"

"Indeed, it seems that they are not easy to mess with. Director, isn't this a bit too risky?"

At this time, several workers were worried and showed some hesitation and uneasiness. Their worries were not due to disobeying Su Chen's instructions, but simple fear.

In the past, they just worked in the factory and were still factory workers. They had never seen the battlefield. Now they were facing the regular army and felt a sense of oppression.

Su Chen understood their uneasiness and comforted them: "Don't worry, there will be translators to help you communicate this time. You just need to teach them the skills."

"And these locals wouldn't dare to do anything excessive to you unless they wanted to cut off their own water pipes."

The next morning, Su Chen called Assistant Zhang. "You will take my place in the meeting for the remaining few days. I have to return to the factory first." Then Su Chen handed him the backup contract and gave detailed instructions.

"If anyone wants to buy our steel pipes, just follow this contract. If there is anything unclear, just call me directly."

Holding the backup contract in his hand, Assistant Zhang felt as if he was carrying a heavy burden in his hands; he did not expect that Su Chen would actually entrust such an important matter to him.

"Director, I really don't understand these things."

"It's okay, you don't need to figure it out, just stay in the booth and don't run around." Su Chen was still worried that these ** people would not follow the rules.

Fortunately, the security force on site was not weak. Su Chen observed the situation inside the exhibition last night and felt a little more at ease.

“What you need to do is stay here until the show is over, then return to the factory, and remember to call me if you encounter a problem that you can’t handle.”

After explaining it in detail again, Su Chen took the signed contract and began to pack his luggage. "So, what about the other workers?"

"You don't need to worry about this. Let them continue the handover with the Ethiopian personnel, and once the exhibition is over, you will lead them back to the factory."

Hearing this reply, Zhang Aimin had no choice but to nod and agree: "I understand, Director, I will ensure that I complete the task."

After Su Chen packed his luggage, he took the contract and walked towards the station.

He kept the contracts close to him because they represented a large order opportunity that could not be missed.

He originally planned to buy a ticket and go back to the factory immediately, but changed his mind when he was leaving - he thought he should buy some Guangzhou specialties to bring back and share.

Su Chen first stored his luggage at the station, and then went to find a place to buy local specialties. Fortunately, he did some research before leaving, and asked the local residents to find out which local specialties were there.

He first went to a shop selling local specialties to browse around, but the prices there seemed a bit hard to accept, so he changed direction and headed for the local open-air market to shop.

Guangzhou's famous local sausages became his first item to buy. The ten-pound weight was enough to share with colleagues and also to meet the needs of his own dining table.

Then he tried and bought a batch of local desserts and pastries. He was full of praise for the just right, sweet and non-greasy taste. Because of the authenticity of the ingredients and the careful workmanship, Su Chen thought it tasted better than the ones on the market later, so he bought a few pounds.

Afterwards, he went into a souvenir shop and made some purchases. Although most of the goods were for viewing and collection rather than practicality, it was also a way to sustenance his memories of this trip to Guangzhou.

After everything was ready, Su Chen boarded the northbound train carrying a load of packages of all sizes.

In order to have a comfortable rest, he also booked a bed ticket for himself, so he didn't have to be too hard on himself when on business trips.

I gradually fell asleep accompanied by the noise of the turning wheels.