I feel right at home in the world of the courtyard house.

"As for the issue of manpower, you are concerned with efficiency and the company's interests, but we are different. Our primary goal is not to make a profit, but to shoulder social responsibility and mission! If you lay off one person, a family will lose their job. If you do this, how will you solve the employment problem for so many families who lose so many people? You capitalist countries just can't put people first, you don't understand what it feels like to 'serve the people' and keep the people in your heart."

Li Jing'an looked at Nozawa with a pained expression, then glanced at President Furukawa and the other executives opposite him.

He shook his head with a sigh, then pointed to the large document on the table: "In the plan I'm talking about, you see, some machines are still redundant. What's the use of this kind? Remove it too."

Nozawa leaned forward, following the machine Li Jing'an pointed to, and his expression stiffened: "Minister, isn't this a bit inappropriate? This is the most basic safety feature. Removing it will pose a significant risk to the workers' safety."

"Why can't I reason with you? Huh?" Li Jing'an frowned. "This machine isn't very effective. Just a few words of advice during the pre-shift meeting and the workers will pay attention. The more safety features you add, the less the workers take it seriously, and the more accidents happen. Let me tell you something: if an intersection doesn't have traffic lights, it's definitely safer than one with traffic lights—because drivers will be more careful! The more safety features you add, the more careless the workers become. Remove this too!" Li Jing'an tapped the table with his fingers, lecturing.

Nozawa dared not speak now, and could only nod and bow in agreement.

"By the way, as I told you, your Japanese government has also agreed to allow us to use mineral and petroleum products as advance payments in order to conduct business exchanges with our University of Tokyo. Because of this condition, our original order of $1500 million has now doubled to $3000 million."

As soon as Li Jing'an spoke, the entire room erupted in whispers. President Guhe and the other executives looked excited, some discussing in hushed tones. Li Jing'an casually gestured downwards with his hand—these bumpkins, so spineless. He inwardly scoffed, then said:

"This is only the equipment needed in our Dongda Lu province. Later, as long as these production lines can quickly become operational after arriving at the mine, there will be mining companies in other provinces that need to upgrade and expand their production lines, and orders will keep coming in. Your most important task is to produce the equipment as quickly as possible, ship it to China, assemble it, and put it into production. Only with output can the mine operate, and then we can use the mineral output to buy your equipment, right?"

Li Jing'an spoke eloquently, while Gu He, his face flushed as if he had drunk fake alcohol, stood up and bowed deeply to Li Jing'an.

"Your Excellency, please rest assured! As long as you place an order, all our factory's existing orders—even those placed through us—will be prioritized for you, provided they are produced and meet your needs! We fully support the national development of the University of Tokyo and Your Excellency's work!"

President Furukawa was already dizzy from Li Jing'an's "big promise." He had already imagined: once these production lines were in operation, they would continuously produce gold, which would then be used to buy his equipment. After several such transactions, even if he couldn't eliminate Komatsu and Sumitomo, he would become a top-tier conglomerate tycoon like them. What kind of social status would he have in the future? Just thinking about it made him feel breathless.

"Okay, as long as you're willing to do it. I also believe that after these two days of contact, you are all honest people, and I trust you," Li Jing'an said. "The most important thing now is to confirm and set a price so that we can complete this transaction as soon as possible."

Upon hearing Li Jing'an's words, President Furukawa, the executives, and Nozawa and the others immediately huddled together to discuss the matter. Finally, Nozawa approached Li Jing'an with his opinion and said:

"Minister, after discussion, we've decided to offer you an additional percentage on top of the original price. Please don't misunderstand; our company's previous promise to give you the discount—to forgo all profits—remains valid. This extra percentage is paid for by our company itself as a token of our appreciation for your trust in us."

"How can that be? Wouldn't your company be losing money while gaining publicity?" Li Jing'an declined. But after being persuaded by Gu He and the others, Li Jing'an finally reluctantly agreed.

President Furukawa and the others exchanged glances, then smiled. Giving up this one percentage point was indeed a significant loss, but it was worth it—they finally understood why the concept of "aid construction" existed in the past. It was essentially about cultivating the market: only when the other party has money can they buy your products and contribute to you; the more money the other party has, the more you earn. This time, they wanted to use these few percentage points of profit to completely secure Li Jing'an's support, paving the way for winning all orders from the Dongda Metallurgical System in the future. The company was willing to lose this one percentage point to pave the way for the long term.

"Hey, give me a final quote so I can report it as soon as possible. That way, the audit in China can be completed quickly, and the deal can be finalized before we leave," Li Jing'an said.

"Hi!" Nozawa said excitedly, bowing deeply. Several staff members then entered and began revising, deleting, and removing documents from the files.

Just as he was filling in the numbers on the form, Li Jing'an waved his hand to stop him again: "This is wrong, this price is wrong." He pointed to the price list and frowned.

"Huh? Your Excellency, something's not right. This is our discounted price, and we've deducted all our profits. It's definitely correct," Nozawa said with certainty.

"This price won't do. Fill in the price for your latest and most advanced model."

As soon as Li Jing'an said this, everyone in the room stopped and turned to look at him.

"Why are you looking at me? Just fill it in according to that." Li Jing'an said calmly.

Everyone realized—this Minister Li's appetite was far too great; he was planning to submit false accounts and pocket the entire difference. It seemed the few percentage points of profit they had conceded wouldn't even be enough to satisfy Minister Li's cravings.

"Furthermore, you need to change the model number when you ship this product to differentiate it from your previous models. Don't let people immediately tell it's an older model. Change the name as well, adding words like 'latest,' 'strongest,' or 'leading' to make it seem like a high-tech product. Make it sound as impressive as possible to differentiate it from previous products. Also, your company needs to create custom product detail pages and promotional materials for this batch of products. You must position it as a competitor to Komatsu and Sumitomo's latest and most advanced products, at least at the same level, or even higher. Of course, the specifications still need to be accurate, since there will be an audit, which is the most important thing, and the audit must be passed."

Find its advantages, amplify them, highlight them, and downplay its disadvantages. For example, if the equipment is bulky, advertise its robust construction; if it's complex to operate, emphasize its high safety and safety margin. In short, praise it from every angle, making people overlook the specifications and steer the conversation to what you want them to see. Understand?

"Hi—!" Nozawa was confused, but when Li Jing'an asked him, he immediately stood up and bowed.

"Let me tell you, the few points you gave me are nothing. You couldn't buy this kind of thing for ten points. You guys made a killing," Li Jing'an said leisurely, lighting a cigarette.

"Oh, by the way, I'll give you my Swiss anonymous account in a bit."