Sail across the sea

Chapter 467 You are truly a genius

"Hello, Yuan."

"Hello, Mr. Gao."

The meeting between Gao Fan and Yuan Xiaoyan began with exchanging warm greetings.

Unable to find a suitable meeting place, Yang Kai gave up space in the Chemistry Department's archives so that the two could have a private conversation.

There's no way around it; these two are both figures who naturally generate buzz. If they were to meet by Weiming Lake, the entire Yenching campus would be filled with all sorts of gossip the next day.

"My sister told me that you have very strong public relations planning skills."

"That's Minmin praising me. Compared to President Gao, my planning ability is like a firefly trying to compete with the bright moon. It's not worth mentioning at all."

“You’re too modest, Yuan. I’m a chemistry major, and my writing skills are nowhere near those of you Chinese literature majors.”

"Writing skills are just a minor skill; what's truly impressive is General Manager Gao's plan to clean up the monument, something we can only dream of."

"I was only forced to do that."

"This is called learning through practice."

"What you're saying, Yuan, is that you don't want to help me? Maybe I should ask someone else."

"Since we're already here, what if I can actually lend a hand?"

After a round of pointless pleasantries, Gao Fan gained a preliminary understanding of Yuan Xiaoyan. She was a talented woman accustomed to being pampered, and her attitude towards him was somewhat complex, roughly four parts admiration, three parts jealousy, two parts resentment, and the remaining part was probably just her trying to be cute and coaxed.

This is because he's a boy, and they're not on the same competitive level. If he were a girl, given Yuan Xiaoyan's arrogance, she would probably be nine parts resentful and one part jealous.

"There's something I need to discuss. Could you give me some advice?"

Gao Fan paid no attention to Yuan Xiaoyan's inner thoughts. He believed that with his domineering presence, subduing a girl who hadn't even graduated from school yet would be no problem at all. The reason Yuan Xiaoyan was unconvinced was that she had no idea how vast the difference in their levels of understanding was.

Simply put, you should never try to appease someone like Yuan Xiaoyan; a firm stance is the right approach.

"...That's the situation. We hope to gradually reduce China's rare earth exports until eventually all rare earth ore remains in China, and we only export the final high-value rare earth oxides and rare earth metals."

"To achieve this, we first need to persuade the relevant national departments. What I want to do is create momentum and use the power of the people to urge the government to introduce policies to protect rare earth resources."

Gao Fan gave Yuan Xiaoyan a comprehensive introduction to the situation regarding rare earth elements, and finally stated his requirements.

"So it was Hui..."

Before she could finish the second "慧" (hui), Yuan Xiaoyan shut her mouth, unable to continue.

She originally wanted to say that the things Xia Shihui and Gao Fan were talking about were so high-level, directly reaching the national strategic level, that she couldn't help but look up to them.

But before she could say it, she swallowed it back; she felt that these words were really hard to say.

She didn't want to appear ignorant in front of Gao Fan. In the class of '82, everyone knew Yuan Xiaoyan was a talented woman; she had already published poems and essays in several national literary journals during her sophomore year. Now, as a senior, she had already received invitations from several national media outlets.

However, compared to what Xia Shihui and Gao Fan did, her own literary works seemed completely pretentious, with a vulgar feel of "singing the same old tune across the river." She was unwilling to admit this to Gao Fan's face, because it would make her feel very embarrassed.

In addition, there was a little girl's thought: she didn't want to mention other girls in front of Gao Fan, especially when that girl had some scandalous rumors with Gao Fan.

"What effect do you ultimately want to achieve by creating this momentum?"

Yuan Xiaoyan cleared her mind of selfish thoughts and asked Gao Fan earnestly. She now longed to participate in Gao Fan's planning, a grand narrative she had never encountered before.

"The relevant national departments also understand the importance of controlling rare earth resources and hope to reduce rare earth exports, turning rare earths into a trump card for us. However, international economic and trade cooperation is based on mutual benefit. Without sufficient reasons, China cannot arbitrarily restrict the export of important materials. Otherwise, other countries could also take trade sanctions to restrict the export of key technologies and equipment to China, which is something we cannot afford."

"My idea is to create some topics of discussion among the public and use public opinion to put some pressure on the government. This way, the government will have a reason to intervene in the rare earth export issue and ultimately achieve the goal of strictly restricting rare earth exports."

Gao Fan explained.

"You mean, the government welcomes this kind of pressure?"

"Yes."

"Can I understand that what you're doing is essentially putting on a show between the public and the government?"

"At least we can't let outsiders see it directly."

"What do you want to do?"

"I'm asking you, I want to hear your thoughts."

"Me..."

Yuan Xiaoyan fell silent, her mind racing as she considered various possible methods. She knew this was a challenge Gao Fan had given her, and her answer would determine whether she would have the opportunity to participate in Gao Fan's grand plan in the future.

She might not care whether she was involved or not, but at least she didn't want to be looked down upon by Gao Fan.

"Rare earth mining must pollute the environment, right? If we approach it from the perspective of environmental protection, is it acceptable?"

After thinking for a while, Yuan Xiaoyan tentatively asked.

Gao Fan nodded: "That's one angle, but it's not strong enough. The main reason is that our country doesn't pay much attention to environmental protection right now. Many industries pollute much more than rare earth mining. If we don't touch those industries and only target rare earth, it's too obvious that we're just making excuses."

"What if prices rise? If prices rise to a certain level, and foreign buyers feel there's no profit to be made, won't they stop buying?"

“Price increases need to be justified. Raising prices without any reason is also against the rules of free trade.”

“You can find reasons. For example, we believe that the price of rare earth is too low, so that foreign countries waste it at will, and rare earth resources are not being fully utilized.”

How can you prove that there is waste of rare earth elements abroad?

"For example, foreign countries use purchased rare earth elements to pave roads and reclaim land from the sea... Hmm, can we make up a story that says because our rare earth elements are particularly cheap and are a scarce resource, some countries buy large quantities of our rare earth elements, put them in iron drums, and sink them to the bottom of the sea for storage... Why are you looking at me like that? Am I wrong?"

"Yuan, I believe you now, you really are a genius!"

(End of this chapter)