50s: Starting with a storage ring

Chapter 708 The Cathay Pacific Delegation in Action
For these rural soldiers, enlisting was a chance to change their fate. If they could be promoted to officer in the army, they would truly change their status and be able to support their whole family in the future.

But if they haven't been promoted to officer by the time they retire, they'll be back to square one.

In previous years, many veteran sergeants in the military who delayed their return to work were in this situation; they hoped to delay as long as possible and wait for new policies.

Unfortunately, due to the prevailing trend last year, it was ultimately decided that it would be downsized and sent home.

Once they return to their hometowns, they shouldn't expect to become village officials; those positions are already filled.

They can only go back to farming, hoping to marry a woman from the next village in the future, or simply buy a wife from outside.

In an even worse scenario, there might not be any extra land left for them to cultivate in their hometown village, and their elders might not have the money to buy them wives, leaving them to remain bachelors for life.

But now, they can pull their entire family out of the mountains with just one person's salary.

Xu Yimin helped Sun Zhiwei choose them, giving them a second chance to change their fate.

Therefore, Sun Zhiwei was certain that they would not voluntarily give up this job.

More than an hour later, after finishing all the phone calls, Sun Zhiwei fell into deep thought.

These two phone calls were really difficult to make, as they were transferred through multiple layers of connections before finally reaching the village committee where the two individuals lived.

Only because the Deepwater Bay Hotel is one of the few five-star hotels catering to foreign guests in this area, and its telephone switchboard is of a high enough level, otherwise, it really wouldn't be possible to get through.

According to the information Sun Zhiwei received over the phone, the two soldiers who didn't come had already set off several days ago, and the soldier from Xishuangbanna even brought his wife and children with him.

Logically, if they couldn't buy tickets on the way, they should have called here to let us know. They had all written down the port's phone number when they parted ways before the Lunar New Year.

But Sun Zhiwei had already checked and there had been no calls in the past few days looking for the Hai Sha ship.

Sun Zhiwei's intuition told him that something must have happened to the two of them.

As his employees, and having gone to great lengths to get their employment approved, he couldn't just stand by and watch them disappear.

However, before he could go find the two, he needed to make arrangements for the others first.

The next day at noon, the Hai Sha set off on time.

After watching everyone successfully board the ship and leave the port, Sun Zhiwei took Tong Jiajia and the two children to Luohu Port.

They entered Hong Kong Island smoothly through the border and headed straight to the airport without resting.

Two days ago, Russian Captain Ivan, along with his entire crew, arrived at Kai Tak International Airport on Hong Kong Island in a Gulfstream 3 to await Sun Zhiwei's arrival.

After seeing Tong Jiajia and her two children off on the Gulfstream 3 and watching them take off safely, Sun Zhiwei turned around and rushed back.

He had already spoken with Tong Jiajia; she and the children would return to New York first, while he would stay behind to finish his work and search for the two missing soldiers.

No matter what happened to them, he needed to know the situation. Whether they were dead or alive, he wanted to give their families and the organization an explanation.

Upon returning to Shenhe, he did not set off immediately, but instead contacted the general manager of Cathay Bank's Shenhe branch.

In China today, being a foreign businessman is more advantageous than having any other status.

No matter where they go, as long as they know that foreign businessmen are visiting, they are warmly received, all in an attempt to squeeze some money out of them. In their eyes, all foreign businessmen are rich, and even a hair on their head is thicker than their thighs; a little bit of money from them is enough for their small town to live a life of luxury.

Sun Zhiwei approached Cathay Bank with the aim of obtaining a genuine foreign business identity for himself.

Cathay Pacific is currently extremely popular in Sham Ho, and they are now the preferred bank for local investors.

In recent years, Cathay Pacific has issued over US$100 million in loans, which has effectively promoted the development of Shenzhen River Industry and Commerce.

What no one knew was that, at Sun Zhiwei's behest, Shenzhen Guotai Bank also helped the five major domestic banks coordinate foreign exchange on multiple occasions, which was of great help to the country.

For example, sometimes when there is not enough foreign currency to purchase certain key equipment, Cathay Pacific can make advance payments and wait for the foreign currency to be transferred from its home bank before filling the account.

This is actually the practice of many foreign partner banks transferring funds between each other.

However, none of the five major domestic banks have signed relevant agreements with other foreign banks.

At this point, it would be extremely valuable for Cathay Pacific to be able to allocate funds to them.

Another situation is that many key pieces of equipment cannot be purchased domestically. In such cases, Guotai will act as an intermediary to find shell companies with the relevant qualifications for them.

However, in order to avoid the risk of being targeted, Sun Zhiwei also told them to be especially careful not to directly participate in related transactions.

Therefore, Cathay Pacific is now a special case among foreign-invested enterprises in China, and the resources they can now access have exceeded Sun Zhiwei's expectations.

Shenhe Guotai assembled a 12-person business delegation in just one day. They will follow Sun Zhiwei and cooperate with his actions at any time.

The Shenzhen City Hall quickly issued the relevant certificates to provide background support for their investigation.

According to the city hall, although the delegation was not inspecting the city, as long as the money was spent domestically, it would be beneficial to the local community, which was in line with the current situation, so they would support it.

Therefore, after Sun Zhiwei provided two place names, the notification hotline of the Shenhe Municipal Government was also called in advance to the two cities at the destination.

Three days later, Sun Zhiwei, along with a 13-person inspection team, drove four cars and a minibus, heading straight for Xishuangbanna along the national highway.

As soon as they reached the border of Xishuangbanna City, they saw a group of people waiting at the border.

The roads along the way had been temporarily blocked. The five vehicles of the inspection team drove through an archway made of flower wreaths and entered the territory of Xishuangbanna amidst the welcome of thousands of people lining the streets.

Seeing the bewildered look on the inspection team members' faces, Sun Zhiwei had no choice but to step forward and offer them guidance.

"Actually, it's just a tactic used by the local officials. They warmly welcome you and treat you to good food and drinks. If you need anything, the girls can certainly be arranged."

"In short, we'll take good care of you all. That way, no matter what the final results of your evaluation are, you'll at least leave something behind. You can't just eat and drink for free, right?"

Sun Zhiwei's two sentences succinctly explained the situation, and the inspection team understood the thoughts of these local officials.

"On the surface, you're here to investigate the business environment, but your real purpose is to help me find people."

"So, just go through the motions when you're entertained at these places. As long as you don't do anything out of line, eat and drink as you please."

"It would be even better if I could get them to cooperate with my operations locally."

(End of this chapter)