The Grandmother in the Siheyuan

Chapter 377 Symposium

"Old Ma, where are you going? And you're wearing a suit."

I was about to see Liu Hua, so I walked over to him and asked, "What are you doing at the Shanghai airport?"

"Is this keel for laying oilers at Jiangnan Shipyard?" Liu Hua explained, "We invited Mr. Bao from Hong Kong to attend the ceremony, and we just saw him off."

"I'm going to the Middle East."

With just those six words, Liu Hua already knew what was going on.

So he smiled and said, "So in the end, I decided to sell it to him anyway."

"Why not make money if we can't? We even sold Dongfeng to Camel before." Ma Shan said with a smile, "Anyway, it's going to be outdated equipment soon, so we might as well make the most of it, earn some extra money, and provide funds to upgrade our equipment."

Liu Hua made a knife gesture: "Take the price up, even ten times the original price is fine. He desperately needs these things right now, and no one will sell them to him. You'd feel guilty if you didn't make this money."

“You’re more ruthless than me when it comes to business,” Ma Shan joked. “Why don’t I just write a report to the higher-ups and apply to have you transferred over here too? We desperately need someone as shameless and ruthless as you right now.”

"Get lost, I'm giving you guys advice and you still insult me ​​like this." Liu Hua patted Ma Shan on the shoulder: "When you go to the Middle East, be careful. Your future client is preparing for war and is about to launch a major offensive."

“If he doesn’t fight, I won’t go either. Once the cannons roar, gold will flow in.” Ma Shan said cheerfully, “I’m just waiting to explain the pros and cons to him. If he doesn’t move, the Americans won’t move either. If neither of them moves, where will my clients come from?”

So Liu Hua then put Ma Shan on the plane again. The world is truly unpredictable, especially in the last two years, which have seen tremendous changes.

Liu Hua rushed back to Beijing. His company's employees called to tell him that the Ministry of Commerce had organized a symposium to gather prominent private entrepreneurs in Beijing, with the theme of the symposium being the development of the private economy.

Liu Hua felt this was a very good sign, indicating that the higher authorities were beginning to formally value the private economy. He thought that this symposium might be prepared to loosen the reins on the private economy.

Liu Hua originally wanted to wear the Zhongshan suit, but after thinking about it, he changed into his boss's suit instead. If he wore something too old-fashioned, it would give people a conservative impression, so he changed into a trendy suit.

During the meeting that day, Liu Hua noticed that some people were wearing very old-fashioned Zhongshan suits, and others were wearing crooked and haphazardly dressed Western suits.

Those who run large businesses are mostly wearing Zhongshan suits. As for some people who don't quite understand formalities, they wear crooked suits because they do business with a lot of drive and feel that they should dress more formally for such an important meeting.

Actually, they look better when they don't dress up; the more they dress up, the more undignified they become.

"Engineer Liu, isn't it a bit inappropriate for you to wear this kind of clothes today?"

The person you're talking to is in the import/export trade business. You've had some business dealings with him, which are small deals for Liu Hua, but big deals for this boss.

Liu Hua laughed and said, "What are you afraid of? Maybe it's a good thing."

"Oh, Engineer Liu, do you have inside information? That makes sense. You're in a higher social circle, so you might know things that we don't."

Liu Hua waved his hand: "There's no such rumor. It's not a bad thing in itself. If it were bad, we wouldn't have invited you to the symposium; we would have held the meeting at your place instead." "That's true. It's just that doing business these days is a bit nerve-wracking."

Liu Hua said cheerfully, "Don't worry, things will get better and better. Haven't you noticed that my development speed has increased this year?"

The boss was taken aback, then suddenly realized: "I see, you really didn't have any inside information, this is a direct notification from above."

"So, look on the bright side. You have to be sure of one thing: what we're doing is beneficial to the country and its people. Since it benefits the country and its people, what's there to be afraid of?"

A short while later, the leaders came in, and everyone was delighted to find that they were also wearing suits, which was definitely good news.

"The main reason for calling everyone here today is to discuss the future development of the private economy."

The leader's opening remarks gave many big bosses a boost of spirits. If their companies were all listed on the stock market, then the leader's words could cause the stock price to soar by at least five percentage points.

"I hope everyone will speak freely today," the leader said with a smile. "Please don't hold back; the better you speak, the more it will help your future development."

Everyone was initially uneasy, but perhaps because the leader was so frank and enthusiastic.

The attitude was clear, and it was obviously a good thing. So everyone started to speak freely, sharing their thoughts on the difficulties private enterprises encountered in their operations.

The leader nodded from time to time, jotting down what he considered useful in his notebook.

Liu Hua remained silent, as did several other people, including the big bosses from Zhongguancun.

After everyone else had finished speaking, the leader smiled and said, "Everyone's opinions are very valuable. I have written them down. We will take them into consideration and issue relevant regulations as soon as possible to relieve everyone's concerns."

Another leader asked, "Professor Liu, why didn't we see you speak today? You usually raise a lot of issues, but why didn't you say anything when it was time to formally raise the issues today?"

"I'll wait until they've finished speaking before I say anything," Liu Hua said with a smile. "They're talking back and forth, it's a bit disorganized."

The leader smiled and said, "Oh? Is Engineer Liu trying to offer a high-level perspective?"

Not all of those private business owners knew Liu Hua. The two leaders that day addressed him as Professor Liu and Engineer Liu, respectively, and immediately knew that this man was no ordinary person.

So they inquired among themselves, and someone began to explain it to them.

"He's a real genius. He used to be an engineer at a steel rolling mill, and later went to teach at Tsinghua University. He researched key national projects. In 1985, he went into business, and now his business is bigger than all of ours combined. His business can export and earn foreign exchange. He's truly high-tech."

Of course, not everyone believes this claim. The chief engineer of the steel rolling mill and a professor at Tsinghua University have truly secure jobs; it's no exaggeration to say they are among the elite.

A large portion of these private business owners started their businesses because they couldn't survive, which led them to this desperate measure.

For someone with a stable job to suddenly switch careers and start their own business—isn't that a joke?
(End of this chapter)