Sail across the sea

Chapter 423 This is almost a given.

On the other end, Gao Fan put down the phone, stepped back onto the sofa, and smiled at Zheng Linong, who was sitting behind his desk.

That's right, just now, Gao Fan made the phone call to Yun Zhongming from Zheng Linong's office.

He wasn't usually such a reckless person. His original plan was to meet with Zheng Linong first, then go out and find a post office to call Yun Zhongming. However, Zheng Linong, knowing his intentions, simply pointed to the telephone on his desk and told Gao Fan to use it freely.

In Zheng Linong's words, Gao Fan's work for the Fenglin Research Institute was official business, and using the Ministry of Chemical Industry's phone was perfectly acceptable. Besides, he also wanted to understand the details of the matter, as many of the Fenglin Research Institute's operations were closely related to the Ministry of Chemical Industry.

"I get the feeling that you have a deep-seated prejudice against Japanese companies?"

After inquiring about the situation at Fenglin Institute from Gao Fan, Zheng Linong commented.

“This isn’t just my prejudice,” Gao Fan said with a smile.

Zheng Linong asked curiously, "Oh, who else is there?"

Gao Fan spread his hands: "This is the consensus of the international community. In Europe and America, people generally refer to Japan as an economic animal. I'm just aligning myself with international standards."

Zheng Linong laughed heartily. He knew the "economic animal" meme, but few people in China used it; only Gao Fan, an outlier, could use it to mock the Japanese.

"I heard a scholar analyze that the term 'economic animal' is actually neutral; it's neither a compliment nor a derogatory term. The Japanese are meticulous in their work, abide by contracts, and are not influenced by personal emotions in economic cooperation, which is why they have earned the reputation of being 'economic animals.' If we want to develop a commodity economy, we should learn from the Japanese's meticulous attitude."

After laughing, Zheng Linong said to Gao Fan.

Zheng Linong somewhat agreed with the scholar's viewpoint, and he spoke up at this time to educate Gao Fan.

Gao Fan curled his lip in disdain and said, "I've heard of scholars like you. Their so-called academic views boil down to one thing: foreign things are always right, and the moon is always brighter in foreign countries. With that premise, isn't it easy to come up with a few reasons?"

“Xiao Gao, aren’t you being a bit extreme? I think there’s some truth to what they’re saying,” Zheng Linong said.

Gao Fan said, “Minister Zheng, let me give you an example. A scholar met a group of Japanese elementary school students at the airport. These students were wearing uniforms and were very quiet, following their teachers obediently. No one ran around. He was very impressed and said that Japanese education is very successful, cultivating students’ self-discipline and collectivism, which is worth learning from in China.”

Zheng Linong nodded and said, "That's right. I've heard that said too. Our children are indeed not as disciplined as Japanese children." Gao Fan said, "Then, a group of American elementary school students got off the plane. They were dressed in brightly colored clothes, chatting and laughing. They would run up to observe anything new and boldly express their opinions, without any worry about being laughed at for saying the wrong thing. So the scholar sighed and said that American education is very successful, focusing on cultivating students' individuality and creativity, while Chinese education is too rigid, and students are too rule-abiding and lack vitality. We need to learn from the United States."

“That’s not wrong either, the United States is indeed…” Zheng Linong said halfway, then suddenly realized what he meant. He thought about the two examples Gao Fan had given for a while, and couldn’t help but chuckle, saying, “Now that you mention it, there really is a problem. Japanese and American education are completely opposite, so how come you make both sides seem correct?”

“This is the current state of academia,” Gao Fan said. “As long as you believe that the moon is always round in foreign countries, then whether it’s a waxing crescent or a waning crescent, scholars will explain it as round, saying that’s how round things are in foreign countries, and that the round things in China are wrong.”

Zheng Linong chuckled and then said, "Then tell me, is Japan, this economic animal, a waxing crescent moon or a waning crescent moon?"

Gao Fan said, "When Western countries say that Japan is an economic animal, they are actually referring to the fact that Japan is only interested in profit and has no morals at all in its business dealings. Take our experience of importing Japanese technology over the years, for example. In which technology import did we not fall for the Japanese's tricks? Afterwards, when we went to the Japanese to reason with them, they said that's how the contract was written, leaving us with no one to reason with after we suffered losses."

Zheng Linong's expression was somewhat solemn. He thought for a moment, then nodded and said, "That's true. Although we can't say that we always suffer losses when cooperating with Japanese companies, I've heard reports from the comrades who participated in the negotiations that if we're even slightly careless, the Japanese will set traps for us in the contract. This is almost a routine practice."

"The Japanese national character is characterized by bullying the weak and fearing the strong. Their technology is more advanced than ours, and they have more funds than us. We need Japan's help, so they unscrupulously exploit us and completely disregard our feelings," Gao Fan said.

“If you’re not as skilled as others, you can only be bullied,” Zheng Linong sighed.

Gao Fan said, "That's why I'm trying my best to persuade Fenglin Research Institute to install a 200-ton photoresist device, so that production can promote scientific research and we can strive to surpass Sengu in technology within 20 years. It's like our Canghua Science and Trade's Vitamin C. Our technology is more advanced than Lowe's Pharmaceuticals, so they have no choice but to beg us."

"The Vitamin C achievement is indeed a great boost to our morale," Zheng Linong praised, then added, "So, do you think the photoresist from the Fenglin Institute can achieve similar results?"

"It's all up to human effort," Gao Fan said. "As long as there's a 50% chance of success, it's worth a try. Even if this project fails, the loss will only be tens of millions of yuan in investment, and it won't be a complete waste of money, since the domestic demand for photoresist is quite substantial."

"If we can launch 10 or 20 such projects, and half of them are successful, it means we have a place in the international market."

"We will use the profits from these successful projects to cultivate more projects. In time, we will eventually be able to compete with Western countries on equal footing, or even surpass them in every way."

"I can tell, you're talking about the rare earth refining project at the Zeyan Institute, right?" Zheng Linong laughed. "You've gone through all this trouble just so I can contact the Ministry of Geology and Mineral Resources and the Ministry of Metallurgy to get their support for the Zeyan Institute's rare earth refining project, is that right?"

(End of this chapter)