My absurd experiences in North America over the years

In September, the sky in Toledo is an unbelievably blue.

Li Fu asked Morris to park the car next to an abandoned gas station on I-75, and then got out of the car.

Beneath his feet was an asphalt road that was surprisingly smooth, with six lanes in both directions, and was better maintained than most municipal roads in Los Angeles.

Interstates I-75 and I-80/90 intersect in Toledo, a crossroads that runs east-west and north-south. Back then, heavy trucks loaded with steel parts ran day and night, carrying the lifeblood of the Great Lakes industrial region.

The traffic is now sparse and the glory days are over, but the road surface is still very solid. The reduction in heavy trucks has actually made the maintenance cost of this transportation line extremely low.

"It's less than an hour to Detroit to the north, two hours to Columbus to the south, and four hours to Chicago to the west," Thompson said, walking up to him and giving a brief introduction. "The Norfolk Southern and CSX railway lines also intersect here."

"Does the current state of the port match the survey report?" Li Fu asked casually.

It's not that he doesn't trust Maurice; after visiting him in person, he felt even more confident.

After all, building a complete warehousing and logistics system, even a regional one, would require at least a billion US dollars, so it must be approached with caution.

"This year, it can probably still handle around nine million tons," Thompson said after conducting an on-site inspection. "The water depth and infrastructure are fine, and it can be navigable year-round. In addition, it has a major advantage: it is the closest of all the Great Lakes ports to Northern Europe."

This means that in the future, goods may even be able to be shipped to Northern Europe.

Li Fu stood by the roadside, gazing absently at the gray-blue water in the distance.

Highways, railways, and waterways converge perfectly at this point. These facilities were built for heavy industries like steel, and the road surface thickness and load-bearing standards are based on the heavy industrial era, far exceeding modern commercial standards.

The routes that were once used to transport steel and automobiles are now more than sufficient for transporting express delivery.

In theory, e-commerce is all about speed, and the essence of speed is being able to reach anywhere in the country. Toledo's location advantage is quite obvious.

Li Fu instructed Thompson to continue driving north of the city, briefly pausing when passing through a residential area.

Most of the detached houses along the street are still there, but if you look closely, you can see that many windows have been boarded up and the lawns are neglected. The days when one person could support a family of five by working are now just empty shells.

A gray-haired man sat on his porch by the roadside, with a box of unsold homegrown apples in front of him.

Not far away, an old-fashioned lawnmower with a flat tire was sitting in the yard, rusted into a pile of scrap metal.

"This used to be a workers' community at the Ford parts factory," Thompson said in a low voice. "The parts factory moved to Mexico a few years ago, and 1,200 people lost their jobs. Very few young people stayed; everyone who could leave left."

Li Fu probably had a misconception about America, thinking that it was highly urbanized, with very few rural residents, and that the limited rural population consisted mainly of wealthy farmers.

But the reality is quite different. The tragedy of rural people lies in the fact that a significant portion of them are not only not rich, but also very miserable.

However, what these people need is not sympathy, but real work.

The logistics hub we plan to invest in will provide these jobs. No higher education or learning a new skill is required; as long as you are willing to work, you will have a livelihood.

Li Fu returned to the car and glanced at the lawnmower again. It was an abandoned lawnmower and a semi-abandoned yard. He remembered that major American cities seemed to have requirements for lawns, and you would be fined if you didn't maintain them regularly.

This abandoned industrial zone, this impoverished "countryside," is now completely neglected.

I don't know if this is lucky or unlucky.

……

While Li Fu was conducting his on-site investigation, hundreds of miles away in Cincinnati, another storm was brewing.

CP's second book signing event was held at a conference center on the banks of the Ohio River, and the number of attendees was almost double that of the Dayton event.

After the last news broke, the people of Rust Belt began to believe that this real estate developer from New York, a new member of the Republican Party, genuinely cared about their livelihoods and was willing to speak up for them.

CP's promise to use all book royalties for the Great Lakes community rebuilding and to bring Forrest Capital to invest in the Rust Belt has gone viral on social networks and local media.

Many of these people weren't buying the book, but rather to support the CCP.

At this moment, CP stood on the stage, his hands supporting the edge of the podium, still wearing his signature suit and red tie, looking energetic.

His gaze swept over the eager faces below the stage, and his opening remarks were even more confident than before, "Do you know? My friend, Mr. Li Fu of Forrest Capital, has arrived in Ohio. He came here at my invitation for you all..."

A burst of enthusiastic cheers and applause immediately erupted from the audience.

"He is inspecting the transportation and infrastructure around the Great Lakes, including highways, ports, and railways. He told me that the area has a much better foundation than many people imagine, and the investment environment is quite good..."

The audience erupted in enthusiastic applause and cheers.

CP was thoroughly enjoying himself. He held up a finger and pointed it in the air. "Guess what I said to him? I said, 'Li, go and see those abandoned factories, go and see those empty docks, and then tell me, do the people here need our help?'"

He paused, his gaze becoming focused and heavy. "He told me, yes, we need to invest here, we need to help the people who have made enormous contributions to this country. The government has forgotten them, but we cannot..."

These words are actually somewhat high-sounding.

However, given the collective withdrawal of capital, the prolonged delays in federal funding approvals, and even when approvals are granted, the "Smith" commissioners' layers of deductions, resulting in little practical benefit being realized locally, this gesture appears to be very sincere.

The scene was almost frozen for a second or two, then the applause came in waves, lasting for a long time.

CP once again smiled and basked in the cheers of the crowd. After a while, he raised his hands to signal everyone to be quiet. "I have more good news for you..."

He paused for a second or two, then raised his voice, "Forrest Capital is not just here for show, building one or two factories and leaving. Li told me he wants to build a large logistics network covering the entire region here..."

"Not one or two, not three or four, but covering the entire area," CP mimicked a joke from James' press conference.

The scene immediately filled with laughter and cheers.

"No, no, I'm not joking," CP shook his head with a smile. After a brief silence, he became serious and emphasized, "What we really need to do is to put the lights back on in those abandoned warehouses, to have ships docking at those empty docks again, and to bring back those young people who left..."

CP raised his arms and shouted at the end, proving that no one is better at stirring up the emotions and atmosphere of the audience than him.

The square was surrounded by two or three layers of people, and four or five thousand people cheered together under his guidance, some even shedding tears of excitement.

This place hasn't had this kind of fighting spirit and passion for a long time.