The Grandmother in the Siheyuan

Chapter 376 Laying the Dragon Bone
Liu Hua was looking at things from God's perspective. Who in the world could have imagined that America's so-called glory would only last for two or three decades before it took a sharp turn for the worse?

The American came with his head held high and left dejected. He did not achieve his expected goal. Although he was ultimately successful, he did not have much credit to claim in front of his master behind the scenes.

It's unclear whether Leon had someone monitoring this guy, but after the American left, Leon immediately flew over from Hans.

“That intimidating American just left here,” Liu Hua said to Leon with a smile. “If you had come a day earlier, you could have met him.”

"Why did he come to see you? Is he trying to buy you out?"

"It is indeed an acquisition, but not of my company. They want to acquire my production capacity. They want to swallow up all the production capacity you have vacated, and then sell it back to you at a higher price. It's a sure-fire way to make money."

Leon smiled and said, "I'm here to sign a domestic procurement contract with you. We'll pay in your own currency, which will save us a lot of money. We'll negotiate the procurement contract with the Americans later, and we'll be able to get a smaller amount. We're determined not to let the Americans take advantage of us."

“If you don’t let him take advantage, there are plenty of people who will.” Liu Hua said with a smile, “I raised the price by twenty dollars and sold it to him. I think it won’t be long before the international price of carbon fiber rises.”

"Well done," Leon said with a smile. "It's only because they're so capable that I'd love to see what it would be like if they had this batch of goods stuck with them."

Accompanying Leon was the CEO of Wuling Company. The Leon family has decided to invest in a carbon fiber composite material production line for Wuling, and Wuling Company will sign the carbon fiber monofilament procurement contract this time.

The representative from Wuling Company was a deputy general manager who was very enthusiastic towards Liu Hua.

"Mr. Liu, thank you so much. Thank you for recommending us to Volkswagen in Hansukia, and thank you for coming up with the solution. It is a great step forward for Wuling to have another composite material production line."

"We're all family, so we don't need to speak like outsiders."

This is a matter of internal affairs; the research and technology of carbon fiber composite materials in China is not yet advanced. With the technological investment from Volkswagen in Germany, it is believed that significant progress will be made in a short period of time.

Leon got what he wanted and left satisfied. Back home, he planned to leverage his family's influence and engage in a power struggle with the United States. Even if he couldn't confront them directly, he was confident he could at least feign compliance.

Liu Hua actually looks down on the West's zero-sum game mentality. To put it bluntly, they are only playing the game for short-term interests.

In his view, the West is no longer what it was forty or fifty years ago; it lacks strategists with a long-term vision and is instead a group of opportunistic individuals.

However, it is precisely because we have such people that our development has been smooth sailing; this is what is meant by national destiny.

Jiangnan Shipyard has begun laying the keel for its first LNG carrier, and as the deputy chief engineer, it was impossible for him to be absent from such an important event.

When he arrived at Jiangnan Shipyard, the person in charge of Jiangnan Shipyard said happily, "I heard that the leaders above specially sent an invitation to Mr. Bao in Hong Kong, and Mr. Bao has also replied that he will definitely attend."

"This is good news. Maybe the first LNG carrier will find a buyer."

The keel-laying ceremony was a very grand affair at Jiangnan Shipyard.

We now have modular shipbuilding, so the traditional keel-laying ceremony is no longer necessary. Keels are now longitudinal structural components, but the keel-laying ceremony has still been preserved. This symbolic significance is especially important for the first LNG carrier. Mr. Bao sat on the platform, chatting and laughing with Mr. Ma and leaders from the Ministry of Industry.

“You have a very good deputy chief engineer for this project. Before the ship even appeared, he was already promoting it to me in Hong Kong.” Mr. Bao said with a smile, “You know my consistent stance. Since this is the first ship of our country, I, Mr. Bao, will definitely lend a hand. I’ve already reserved this ship.”

Mr. Bao's shipping business is now entirely managed by his eldest son-in-law. When Su Haiwen heard that his father-in-law was about to order the first ship, he immediately tried to dissuade him.

“Father, I think we should be more cautious,” Su Haiwen advised. “They have adopted a completely new process and a completely new propulsion system. We don’t know how effective it will be yet, so I think we should wait until after the sea trials before making a decision.”

"Mr. Su Haiwen truly deserves to be called a successful businessman, capable of leading the Bao family's shipping business," Liu Hua complimented. "A cautious attitude is the key to success, and being neither radical nor impulsive is a virtue."

Mr. Bao smiled with satisfaction. He highly approved of his eldest son-in-law. Perhaps his only regret was that he wasn't from China.

“But as a son-in-law of the Chinese nation, Mr. Su Haiwen still doesn’t know enough about our Chinese nation.” Liu Hua shook his head: “When we are determined to do something, we will definitely succeed.”

Su Haiwen truly lived up to his reputation as a son-in-law of China; he used our own words to retort to Liu Hua.

"But human strength has its limits."

The leaders all laughed, and Liu Hua nodded: "That's right, people do have their times of poverty, but man can conquer nature. If we are powerless, then we will surely overcome nature after we have overcome it."

The leader then spoke up, "This is the first experimental ship. We will only sell it after it passes the sea trials. Mr. Bao, I'm sorry to disappoint you. We can only sell you a second-hand one."

Indeed, if the sea trials take so long and the ship is sold after it passes the tests, it's practically a second-hand ship.

After the ceremony, the people from Jiangnan Shipyard gave Mr. Bao a detailed explanation of the ship's various advantages and disadvantages in the conference room.

We are not conservative, nor are we like capitalists who only say good things and never bad things; we say what we mean.

After listening to the explanation, Mr. Bao nodded in satisfaction: "With such great advantages, the disadvantages can only be described as minor flaws. Moreover, the cost of purchasing the boat is already very low, and the operating costs are also low, so we can accept these disadvantages."

Even his eldest son-in-law, Su Haiwen, nodded in satisfaction. If it really turned out as expected, he planned to buy ten or eight of these ships.

Mr. Bao's daily life is very busy. Even though he has retired, Liu Hua and a deputy director of Jiangnan Shipyard took Mr. Bao to the airport as his representatives.

After Liu Hua saw Mr. Bao off, he saw an unexpected person in the airport hall.

He was dressed in casual clothes, which Liu Hua found a little unusual. Even in casual clothes, Ma Shan's outstanding temperament was undeniable. He stood out from the crowd with his upright posture, like a crane among chickens.

(End of this chapter)