Chapter 5: Grand Ceremony (5)

  "How to perform bathing, scrubbing and foot massage on the street?" The manager of the bath center, Qi Shengping, and the room department manager, Hao Meiyun, are both worried about the whole text.

  "It's a new century now, what we need is new thinking and new perspectives. Go take a look at the online downloaded movie 'Lust, Caution' overseas edition, your mind will be liberated. Even toe sucking and bed scenes can be performed. Wu Bu Neng not only has many ideas but also has broad vision and strong debating skills. The current problem is how to dress to highlight the industry's characteristics of leisure and fitness, using the industry's bright spots to eliminate the feudal shadows left in people's minds."

  Everyone's discussion focused on the topic, and soon unified their thoughts. Including the mixed-blood service teams recruited by the entertainment centers in Northeast China, Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang, Yunnan, Guangxi, and Guizhou, a total of six teams can be formed. The team size is large enough, and the urgent need now is to solve the problem of formation exercises.

  "Wu Bu said: 'This is even easier, each person wears a green military uniform, and receives 100 yuan in nutrition subsidies per day. I will go to the troops to invite a class of instructors, according to the rules of student military training, at most one week, and march in formation according to the requirements of the parade, no problem at all.'"

  "Alright." Gai Sanxian finally said, "If the uniforms are not enough, we'll work overnight to find a manufacturer to design and make them. We must highlight the characteristics of our Dongfang Group industry, bright and eye-catching. Let's improve the living treatment of the invited instructors a bit, and after the training is over, the main leaders of the group will review and inspect."

  Kowloon-Canton Railway

  It was twenty minutes before the end of work on Friday, and Gai Sansheng had already arrived at the mayor's office in advance. She knew that meeting with the mayor alone was only suitable at this time. After finishing what she wanted to say in a few words, the stream of requests for instructions, reports or meeting notifications came, and she took the opportunity to bid farewell, which looked dignified and face-saving, showing that both sides valued work efficiency and cherished time like gold.

  Gai San County thoroughly reported the implementation of the new celebration activity plan of the Dongfang Group to Mayor Lu. Mayor Lu listened and nodded repeatedly, praising it even more. "Good, good! Extremely good! Very creative, will definitely be an eye-opener. I didn't expect that the Dongfang Group had such talented people. Boss Gai is wise and brave, a perfect combination of civil and military skills! If my term as mayor ends, I will definitely recommend you as a candidate."

  "Mayor, don't tease me." Gai Sansheng hastily stopped the digression. "I have booked an afternoon flight from Beijing to Hong Kong. Mr. Li from the Hong Kong side meant for me to ask the mayor in person, the opening ceremony has been upgraded, and the souvenirs for the provincial and municipal leaders as well as relevant department heads also need to be upgraded. What specific grade should we aim for? Especially for the main provincial and municipal leaders, what do they like? Are there any special hobbies?"

  "This is it?" Lu, the mayor who usually responded quickly, thought for a moment. "I only know that the vice governor likes rare stones and antiques. This is the top priority, the highest leader of this celebration. Public security and law enforcement are departments with strong restrictive power, if they are happy, the business environment will be relaxed. As for others, you can just watch and go about it, Hong Kong people are very particular, can be said to be both generous and petty. The documents for the celebratory activities have been sent out according to the hierarchical relationship. The invitations for the leaders at all levels will be handled by the office of the general affairs department. As for the leaders in the province, Secretary Ke and I will personally deliver them. As for other matters, let's just try to add a touch of elegance and make everyone happy."

  The secretary came in with a stack of files. Gai Sanxian took the opportunity to bid farewell and leave.

  Upon arriving at the airport, just before boarding the plane, Gai Sanxian suddenly remembered something he had forgotten to arrange and immediately dialed General Manager Wu Bunan's mobile phone.

  "Is it Old Gao boss? Hello, have you arrived at the airport?"

  "I'm in the waiting room, are the five major teams' street training going normally?"

  "Normal, everything looks good."

  "I'm always worried that those young girls and boys we just hired won't follow the rules and can't take hardship."

  "Don't worry at all, boss. A girl who is trained with a rough broom will become a filial daughter, and a boy who is trained with hard fists and kicks will become a good man. There's no suffering that can't be endured, only blessings that can't be enjoyed."

  "That's what I'm saying, but we also need to consider the psychological and physical endurance of young people nowadays." Ge Sanxian reminded, "Oh, there's something I forgot to mention to you. This Sunday, let's see when it's convenient for you in the afternoon or evening, would you please invite Director Fan from the newspaper office, Liu Wenying from the TV station's news and special topics department, as well as other big shots from the relevant news media, such as deputy directors, directors, chief reporters, and the vice minister of propaganda, to dinner? Just buy some practical gifts for each of them first. Let's take care of these 'red crows' and 'black magpies'. As for how our celebration activities will appear in the media, let's leave it to their expertise."

  Actually, Wu Bu had already thought of these things. With the boss's oral instruction, it was even more natural and logical. But he said: "I'm so busy that I forgot the usual thing that the army hasn't moved yet, but the grain and grass have gone first. Luckily, the boss is thoughtful and thorough. I'll definitely accompany them to eat well, sing well, play well, and let them dream of speaking good words for our Dongfang Group. Don't worry about going to Hong Kong, boss, wish you a smooth journey."

  The plane descended to Hong Kong in the late afternoon. The mid-autumn Hong Kong was even more crystal clear, with a blue sky that was brighter than the photos on the computer. The sunset, which was about to set on the mountain top, dotted the sea surface with golden light, and the islands rose from the water with green trees and buildings, as if they had been wiped clean with a cotton ball soaked in alcohol. With its prosperous history, Hong Kong, a modern financial center developed from a fishing village in the South China Sea, always gives visitors from the north an impression of elegance and prosperity. However, prosperity is one thing, and the city's grandeur and convenience are another. Gai Sansheng had visited Hong Kong more than a year ago to inspect the Maosheng Company for a joint venture, accompanied by Li Boss, who took her to all the tourist attractions. The impression she got from this modern metropolis was not particularly good. Due to the high density of population and buildings, the feeling was always crowded and cramped, thanks to the frequent sea breeze, otherwise even breathing would feel difficult. She thought Hong Kong was like a middle-aged woman with heavy makeup and gold and silver jewelry, while our inland coastal cities - Shanghai Pudong, Shandong Weihai, Liaoning Dalian, etc. were like charming young girls in their prime.

  Mr. Li Maixin personally drove a Mercedes-Benz to pick her up, and when he saw Gai Sanchuan walking out of the airport alone, he was overjoyed. To be honest, this bald old man had been interested in this elegant female boss since the beginning of the negotiations with the Dongfang Group, and had used all sorts of tactics to try to win her over. However, Gai Sanchuan was a beauty who didn't fall for his tricks. Li Maixin's efforts to win her heart were all in vain, as Gai Sanchuan had seen through his intentions from the start. With over 30 years of experience in rejecting suitors, she wasn't afraid of this flirtatious old man's advances. Her principle in dealing with male friends was to be charming but not frivolous, and to be friendly but not intimate. Business partners and romantic partners were two separate things, and she would never mix them up.

  Mr. Li Maixin took over the travel bag of Gai County and put it in the trunk, saying: "Boss Gai, you are a free and easy traveler! The Hilton Hotel has booked a presidential suite for you, other things are busy, it's better to come and pick you up first!"

  It's still early in the evening, so Gai San and the others decided to go to the Milton Road jewelry store first.

  Hong Kong's gold and silver jewelry, jade and precious stones are a hot industry for tourist consumption. People's consumer psychology and beliefs all have regional background contrasts. If you encounter a monk at your doorstep, you might think it's just a Buddhist mendicant, but the same monk holding prayer beads in the Western Heaven would give you a sense of a living Buddha.

  As he walked into the jade store filled with dazzling purple lights, Gai Sancun felt like Liu Lao Lao entering the Grand View Garden, his eyes were not enough to take it all in. The sparkling jewelry in the display case looked great at first glance, but when he saw the price tag, it was definitely an astronomical figure. Mr. Li repeatedly reminded him: "You just look at the quality, don't mention the price, I and their boss are good friends on the road, everything is smooth sailing."

  Gai San county doesn't like things that are too flashy, maybe it's because she herself is naturally beautiful and eye-catching. Adding too many external things will cause visual fatigue. Li Maoxin, who is already over 50 years old, has a dazzling brain, and his eyes are excited when looking at all women. On the one hand, he was flirting with the salesgirl, on the other hand, he asked for a delicate gift box with a white gold necklace. Boss Li didn't bargain, didn't swipe his card, and didn't pay in cash, but instead touched his shiny brain and said to the salesgirl: "Tell your boss that I'm good friends with Li Tanzhao's new chain, and we'll settle the bill later!"

  The shop assistant and Mr. Li seemed to be extremely familiar with each other, not bothering about anything, just making a note in the inventory account column, then smiling brightly at Li Maoxin: "Mr. Li, have a good trip, welcome next time. Please take care!"

  He only took a fancy to the Jade Guanyin and Maitreya Buddha, two pieces of jade. In mainland China's celebratory ceremonies, giving these as gifts to guests is already very meaningful and high-end. Men wear Guanyin and women wear Buddha, which should be said to be a valuable gift for middle-income households, and it's also a convenient item to carry around. Seeing the price tag was over HK$8,000, she followed Li Maoxin's agreement and only counted in her heart without mentioning the price. She knew that Li Maoxin was a shrewd businessman in Hong Kong, and this time they were doing a bulk order, so why wouldn't they discuss prices? It's just not suitable to discuss prices in this setting.

  The jade gifts were relatively easy to deal with, as the Jade Guanyin and Maitreya Buddha could basically satisfy most ordinary guests, and there was a distinction between male and female options. However, it was a headache for Gai Sanxian to figure out how to make the provincial leaders and heads of public security and law enforcement departments happy.

  Li Maixin's bright and shiny bald head was not a warehouse for storing universal keys after all, even he, who always wore a hint of a smile on his face, had times when he was worried.

  "This is too difficult to handle! The gold content is too low and the leader will definitely not be happy, but if it's too high, it's not just a matter of money. This line of work with ancient artifacts is too deep, throwing out a lot of cash, who can tell what's real or fake? If things go wrong, we'll become the ones being cheated... Moreover, if the piece is too small, it won't be enough, but if it's too big, we have no way to deliver it and they won't be willing to accept it either..."

  In the Presidential Suite of Hilton Hotel, after dinner Li Maixin accompanied Ge Sanxian to drink tea, and chatted until half past ten, his butt still stuck in the sofa in the living room, showing no intention of leaving.

  Gai San County had a few divisions of boredom, because business partners are not convenient to drive away guests, so they can only pretend to be enthusiastic. Li Boss's two packs of Hilton cigarettes made her feel dizzy and she often went to the floor-to-ceiling window to get some fresh air, occasionally going to the bathroom to wipe her eyes with cold water, or simply washing her face.

  "Cover the boss, or else it's good like this, we give each of these leaders a set of Hong Kong-made real silk pajamas, high-end pajamas are also valuable, and come with a pack of imported blue pills?"

  Gai San County knew that Boss Li's blue pill was Viagra. He said: "This is not proper, sending these things is too indecent."

  After finishing, she herself couldn't help but burst out laughing. It's really true that "those who stay near ink will be stained black" and "those who stay near red will be stained red". Having been with this boss for so long, I've unconsciously caught the habit of speaking in a nagging tone too!

  Li didn't notice where Gai Sancun's smile came from. He only saw the smile on her face and thought she was interested in the "Wei Ge" thing, so he opened his mouth with a flourish: "Don't underestimate this small box of blue pills, it's a magic medicine in the PR field! I've been doing business on the mainland for almost 30 years, and I've dealt with this kind of thing many times. Those officials are lacking in nothing except sexual ability."

  Here is the translation:

  At this point, Gai Sanxian looked at Li Boss with a very sensitive expression and smiled slightly. This smile caused Li Boss's excitement to surge again. "Gai Boss is also an old hand, you can rest assured that I've been through everything when I was young and vigorous, now I'm useless, not even able to scare away a butterfly, just like Liu Xiahui who couldn't get excited even when sitting on his lap. Twenty years of diabetes, taking Viagra would make my eye pressure high. The doctor said if I take it again, there's a possibility of going blind, so this wonderful medicine can only be given as a gift to others."

  Talking about the youthful and romantic experiences. Mr. Li seemed like a meritorious general recalling his battles. "In my youth, I was great at the 72 professions. When I was young, I would fight for 20 or 30 nights in a row without rest, at 40 I would rush to the market, at 50 I still had to burn incense... now as an old general, I can no longer show off my past bravery, nowadays I can only touch, talk, and bump heads..."

  Just as Boss Li was saying "ah", his mobile phone rang. He quickly got up and walked to the floor-to-ceiling window to answer it: "Alright, alright, not coming home at night is nothing unusual, I'm discussing business with friends and it's a pressing matter..."

  Mr. Li still wanted to scold, but the other end had already hung up the phone, making him feel quite embarrassed, so he self-deprecatingly said: "This yellow-faced woman has good fortune but won't go enjoy it, instead wanting to be a police officer checking household registrations."

  Gai San County took the opportunity to stand up and serve tea to send off the guests, saying: "It's been a hard day, go back and calm your mind for your respected wife. As people get older, their nerves weaken and without an old partner, it's easy to lose sleep."

  "Goodnight, it's rare to accompany Boss Gai for Mid-Autumn moon appreciation."

  Destiny Stone of Ten Complete Characters

  After turning around the market of strange stones and antiques for a long time, I didn't find anything that I really liked. I only bought two fake Yuewang swords and a small portable treasure tripod. As for these fake treasures, Sanxian County doesn't think much of them, but since Boss Li Maixin insisted on buying them, it wouldn't be polite to refuse his intention.

  Mr. Li has his own reasons, according to him, the treasure ding is a special gift for the vice governor, which symbolizes the power of one word deciding everything. The replica sword is given to the head of the public security department and the political and legal committee. These are all symbols of holding power in hand, supporting justice and eliminating evil, auspicious objects of great military power. Of course, the reasons behind it, let Mr. Li go and talk about it himself.

  He Gu San county was admiring a peculiar stone with a panda hugging bamboo, the natural pattern on the marble was so vivid and lifelike that it seemed almost real. Meanwhile, Old Li had set his eyes on a piece of wind-eroded agate. He paid by card and didn't bother to haggle over the price, the shopkeeper gave him a simple wooden box and a magnifying glass, he then treasured it like a precious gem and put it in the car.

  Unexpectedly, Boss Li Maixin has a deep understanding of the market for rare stones in Jiangnan. He mentioned Fujian's dinosaur stone, Kunlun Mountain's wind-polished stone, Qinghai's Hehuang stone, Nanjing Liu'an's yuhua stone, Qilian Mountain's five-color stone, and Taihang Mountain's plum blossom stone... As he drove, he talked about the characteristics and market prices of dozens of rare stones. He seemed to be in a state of inexplicable excitement, as if he had stumbled upon a treasure trove or received a windfall.

  Although Gai Sanxian is not a master of playing with strange stones, relying on intuition can also feel the natural spiritual beauty brought by high-end strange stones. The value of people's collection of strange stones may also lie in this, because high-quality strange stones are all made by heaven, occasionally obtained by humans, and cannot be imitated, so they will not be like celebrity calligraphy and painting, which is difficult to distinguish between true and false.

  When he returned to the presidential suite after lunch, Mr. Li opened the wooden box and showed it to Gai Sancun, revealing his unexpected gain today. He introduced that this was a large desert stone, produced in the Tenggeri Desert in northwest China. Geologically, it belongs to the late-stage "hydrothermal filling type" of volcanic breccia jadeite. Although it is only 18 cm high and its width and thickness are less than 10 cm on average, it has a hard texture, smooth surface, and excellent hand feel. The outer shell is white like human skin, and the front face presents an elliptical pattern, with pink flesh-colored jade surrounding an oval-shaped pocket, inside which is wrapped in a piece of crystal-clear red agate, resembling egg whites or amniotic fluid, with a small jade dragon curled up in the middle, head raised and lying on its back, vividly depicting the spirit of God creating humans.

  After Mr. Li's introduction, Gai Sancun couldn't help but feel a sense of wonder in his heart. Indeed, the world is full of wonders and nothing is impossible. Using the magnifying glass handed over by Mr. Li to take a closer look, the small creature inside the mother's body, although its sex was indistinguishable, was vividly visible and strikingly lifelike.

  This is indeed a rare stone in the mundane world. I don't know what kind of fate brought it to this beautiful and fragrant world of Hong Kong. Li Maixin looks like an ordinary person, but he has some Buddhist affinity and good fortune, and he actually picked out this rare treasure from a pile of agate stones.

  Mr. Li saw Mr. Gai staring at the strange stone, and he started bragging again: "Mr. Gai, this is what you call fate! 'Dream of Red Mansions' didn't start with a piece of stone and become a classic? As soon as I saw this agate, my heart skipped a beat, it's got a special feeling to it, inspiration struck me immediately, giving it the artistic name 'Destiny Stone' is perfect. A good horse needs a good saddle, once I put some effort into packaging it, it'll be even better. Giving it to you as a birthday gift next year will be a match made in heaven!"

  Media Banquet

  General Manager Wu Bunan's understanding of the Xiahe City Media Department is as familiar as the lines on his own palm. On this Sunday, it happened to be the 48th birthday of Fan Dayuan, the chief reporter and director of the editorial department of the Xiahe Daily. He used the excuse of celebrating Director Fan's birthday to invite Niu Qinghai, the deputy minister of the Municipal Propaganda Department, the directors of the two departments of special news and broadcasting and hosting programs of the City TV Station, as well as several camera reporters to the "Dongfang Holiday Hotel".