Sail across the sea

Chapter 357 My sincerity moved him
Gao Fan certainly doesn't have any superpowers; all he possesses is the power of money. He believes in a dogma: if a problem can be solved with money, there's no need to waste favors.

In the 80s, provincial newspapers were not large, and the internal hierarchy was not as strong. Sun Shanshan gave a report to the editor-in-chief, Zhai Weilin, who then asked Sun Shanshan to bring Gao Fan to his office.

Gao Fan's meeting with Zhai Weilin went smoothly. He had learned from Sun Shanshan beforehand that the Maolin Daily planned to import a batch of small recorders and cameras for interviews from abroad, but the foreign exchange problem had prevented the plan from being resolved, causing it to be shelved. So, after meeting Zhai Weilin, he offered to help the Maolin Daily solve the relevant foreign exchange issue, which immediately impressed Zhai Weilin.

Issuing articles based on personal connections is perfectly normal for newspapers. Reporters receive travel expenses and are expected to publish the article. Some people with connections who want to boost their own achievements will also contact the newspaper for help. As for powerful departments making requests to publish articles, that's even more commonplace.

With Gao Fan holding the letter of request from the Chemical Industry Bureau and promising to help the newspaper solve the foreign exchange problem for importing tape recorders and cameras, what reason did Zhai Weilin have not to agree to cooperate with Gao Fan in publicity?

Aside from the financial factors, Zhai Weilin was also a journalist with some ambition. He was very interested in Gao Fan's techniques for using the media to create momentum, and immediately instructed Sun Shanshan to follow up on the whole process. As long as the articles did not violate news policies and would not cause any trouble, they could be submitted.

"I've never seen Editor-in-Chief Zhai be so enthusiastic towards anyone before; it was practically like he was giving us the green light all the way."

As Sun Shanshan saw Gao Fan and Xu Dan off at the newspaper office, she said with a hint of envy.

"Perhaps it was my sincerity that moved him," Gao Fan said.

Sun Shanshan smiled and said, "That's right. I hope you can continue to be this sincere. Maybe the officials in those cities will be moved by you too."

Gao Fan was full of confidence: "That's for sure. As long as Sister Shanshan publishes my sincerity in the newspaper, within two months, they will be begging the Chemical Industry Bureau to renovate their fertilizer plant."

"I'll wait and see," Sun Shanshan said.

After saying goodbye to Sun Shanshan, as they walked towards the bus stop, Xu Dan tilted the parasol in her hand towards Gao Fan's head and whispered, "Xiao Fan, I only knew you were good in class, but I didn't expect you to be this good outside too."

Gao Fan said, "This is nothing. Reporter Sun is actually not that old. When I met her, she had just graduated from university. She is our peer."

Xu Dan said, "She has such a strong presence that I'm a little scared in front of her."

Gao Fan said, "That's not surprising. She's one of the most popular reporters at Maolin Daily now, and she's often sent to interview provincial leaders. Someone who can talk and laugh with provincial leaders naturally seems impressive."

“My dad told me that you were quite witty and easygoing in front of Minister Zheng,” Xu Dan said with a smile.

"Did I?" Gao Fan thought about it carefully. Of course, he wasn't thinking about whether he had been chatting and laughing in front of Zheng Linong, but rather whether Xu Zhenxin had seen such a scene.

In fact, his behavior in front of Zheng Linong was the same as Sun Shanshan's when she interviewed the leader—both were just playing the innocent and childish card. If he joked with Zheng Linong, Zheng Linong would only think it was childish silliness. But if Gao Yiping had said something like that, Zheng Linong would have thought he was disrespectful to his superior. Youth has its advantages.

Gao Fan couldn't tell Xu Dan these things. Some ways of dealing with people should be tailored to the individual. If Xu Dan tried to imitate him and make jokes in front of ministerial-level leaders, she would truly be trying to draw a tiger but ending up with a dog instead.

"Dandan, you'll stay in Ruizhang for the time being and be responsible for contacting Sun Shanshan. I'm going to take Fatty down there to run errands. Sun Shanshan might need to contact me, and we can't do without someone in Ruizhang to keep in touch," Gao Fan instructed.

"Why don't you take me down there and let Fatty stay in Ruizhang?" Xu Dan asked, somewhat displeased. In her mind, "going down there" was a much more fun thing to do than staying in the Ruizhang office and answering the phone.

Gao Fan laughed and said, "Fatty's IQ is lacking. If you ask him to contact Sun Shanshan, he probably wouldn't even understand what she's saying. Besides, I took Fatty out so he could carry my bag and act as a bodyguard if necessary. If I took you out, wouldn't I have to carry my own bag?"

Xu Dan glanced at the briefcase Gao Fan was carrying and said somewhat awkwardly, "I just said I would help you carry your bag, but you refused."

"Alright, alright, we've successfully completed today's mission. I'll treat you to dinner. You tell me what you want to eat," Gao Fan changed the subject.

Upon hearing this, Xu Dan completely forgot her earlier displeasure and cheerfully said, "Let's go eat at Toad Street. I've heard there are lots of snacks there. I've been to Ruizhang for two years and haven't been there even once."

The next day, the second page of the Maolin Daily published a long feature article, signed by "Our reporter Sun Shanshan and our correspondent Xu Dan," with a sensational and vulgar title: "Supporting the Bountiful Rice Ears - A Record of the Encouraging Achievements of the 'Ammonium to Urine' Project at Canghai Fertilizer Plant."

The press release began by listing a series of data, claiming that the counties under Luping City had achieved an unprecedented bumper harvest of early rice this year, with the highest yield per mu growth rate in the province.

Next, the reporter posed a crucial question: What has enabled Luping City to achieve such great success in agricultural production?

Then, "With these questions in mind, the reporter arrived at Canghai Fertilizer Plant in Cangtang County, Luping City, and saw a steel maze-like production facility for 2 tons of synthetic ammonia and 4 tons of urea..."

In the subsequent article, the reporter introduced the origins of the ammonium-to-urea conversion project, discussed the benefits of urea for agricultural production, and devoted considerable space to comparing urea with the differences between urea and ammonium bicarbonate produced by other small nitrogen fertilizer plants. The writing was extremely sarcastic and ironic, almost to the point of directly stating that ammonium bicarbonate is garbage and that those companies still clinging to ammonium bicarbonate production should shut themselves off from the people. Such bias is enough to warrant those small nitrogen fertilizer plant managers chasing them to the newspaper office with knives.

The article concludes with an interview with Xu Ying, Deputy Director of the Provincial Department of Chemical Industry. The reporter pointed out that Maolin Province, a major agricultural province, previously only had two medium-sized nitrogen fertilizer plants capable of producing urea, resulting in a far from sufficient supply. Now, Canghai Fertilizer Plant has adopted an ammonium-to-urea conversion method, exploring a new path for urea production relying on small-scale nitrogen fertilizer plants, which has proven highly effective. The reporter then inquired whether the Department of Chemical Industry had considered selecting more small nitrogen fertilizer plants within the province for this ammonium-to-urea conversion, to benefit farmers throughout the province.

Xu Ying claimed that the Chemical Industry Department had already made such arrangements. The current plan is to select a small nitrogen fertilizer plant with a relatively good foundation in several cities such as Yuxi, Lingchuan, Yihu, and Tanbei to carry out ammonium-to-urea conversion work, so as to increase the annual output of small urea in the province to 20 tons within two years.

(End of this chapter)