Sail across the sea

Chapter 542 Why haven't I heard you mention this before?

After leaving the police station, Bob said to Gao Fan with an apologetic look:
"I'm sorry, Gao Fan, you must have seen this funny. I assure you, scum like Sivard is just an isolated case, and the vast majority of Americans are honest."

Gao Fan sighed and said, "I'm the one who made you laugh. In this whole thing, we're the ones who are most embarrassed."

Bob said, "I don't want Ms. Shaw to have a bad impression of Americans. If she still wants an American boyfriend, I can..."

"Shut the hell up!" Gao Fan interrupted Bob angrily, and after a short pause, he said, "Anyway, I still have to thank you for what happened today."

"It's just a little effort."

“I mean, you pull me away and deal with Sivard yourself. I understand your intentions.”

“I just don’t want you to get into trouble for assaulting a foreigner. I can handle him; it’s just an internal affair of the United States. In the United States, I could shoot a fraudster and counterfeiter in the head without facing any legal consequences.”

"I owe you a favor for this."

“Then I’ve hit the jackpot,” Bob laughed, then pointed to Xu Dan and Xiao Pei standing not far away and said in a low voice, “Go and comfort Ms. Xiao first, and apologize to her for me.”

After saying that, he patted Gao Fan on the shoulder and left. Gao Fan watched him walk away before walking over to Xu Dan and Xiao Pei and smiling at them.

"Gao Fan, thank you."

Xiao Pei lowered her head and spoke to Gao Fan. Her eyes were red, but she had recovered from the initial fear, sadness, and shame, and her face showed a somber expression.

"It's nothing, we're old classmates, it's only right," Gao Fan said.

Xiao Pei said softly, "I've embarrassed Class Seven."

Xu Dan gently pushed her and said, "What are you saying? Didn't you hear what the police said? This Sivard has cheated a lot of people, and several organizations have been cheated out of money by him."

Xiao Pei remained silent; clearly, Xu Dan's words of comfort had no persuasive power. Saying that Sivard had deceived many people was tantamount to saying that Xiao Pei was just as foolish as the other victims, which did little to alleviate her distress.

Gao Fan smiled and said, "What's so shameful about it? It's just because of cultural differences that I was fooled for a moment. I was almost fooled by a Japanese scoundrel when I was young. Luckily, Director Gu from the Provincial Science and Technology Commission reminded me in time, otherwise I don't know how badly I would have been scammed."

"Is that so? I've never heard you mention this before?" Xu Dan looked at Gao Fan in surprise, and Xiao Pei also looked up at Gao Fan, wanting to see if he was talking nonsense.

Gao Fan said, "That Japanese man is Masanobu Kitajima, Dandan. You know him. Back when I had just taken over the labor service company, Kitajima said he was a business representative of a large Japanese company and wanted to cooperate with us. I was so excited at the time, I almost signed the cooperation agreement."

"and after?"

"Later it was General Manager Gu. At that time, he was still the deputy director of the Provincial Science and Technology Commission. He told me not to rush. He asked Masanobu Kitajima several questions and finally found the flaws and saw through the fact that the company Kitajima was talking about was actually a shell company."

"Ha, so you almost fell for it too."

Xu Dan laughed. Gao Fan's story was quite detailed and convincing. Gu Kunquan and Kitajima Masanobu were both people Xu Dan knew, so she didn't think Gao Fan was making it up. Kitajima Masanobu was still Canghai Chemical's top sales representative in Japan. His cooperation with the previous Canghua Trade Company was ten years ago. At that time, some people in the factory wondered how Gao Fan knew a Japanese person. It turned out there was such an inside story.

A smile finally appeared on Xiao Pei's face. Gao Fan's public exposure of his family's shame lessened her sense of guilt somewhat.

Previously, she knew that Sivard had deceived many girls in China, but she didn't want to compare herself to those naive girls; she felt it was shameful. Now, hearing that even Gao Fan almost fell for a foreigner's tricks, it seems she really did suffer from a lack of understanding of foreign cultures, and it doesn't seem so shameful after all.

Of course, she also knew that the two things were completely different in nature. Gao Fan had simply trusted a foreigner in a business deal, while she had almost been deceived emotionally. If this were to be told, it would damage her reputation.

"Alright, let's leave it at that. Let's all pretend it never happened." Seeing that his fabricated story had worked, Gao Fan said to Xiao Pei, "You probably won't get your money back, but luckily the amount wasn't too large. Dan Dan and I will keep this a secret, so you can rest assured. As for your workplace, if you don't say anything, I doubt anyone will ask."

Xiao Pei shook her head and suddenly asked, "Gao Fan, does your company need any more staff?"

Gao Fan was taken aback: "What?"

Xiao Pei said, "I want to work at your company, just as Dandan's subordinate."

Gao Fan hesitated and said, "Of course I would welcome you to our company with open arms. However, you don't need to do this. This matter will not affect you. If any colleagues from the Foreign Trade Department ask, you can just make up an excuse. The police will definitely not publicize the Sivard incident, so no one will know."

Xiao Pei gave a bitter smile and said, "Whether I make a fuss or not doesn't really matter. I just suddenly feel that working at the Foreign Trade Department is meaningless, and I want to change my environment. Quite a few people from our Foreign Trade Department have resigned to start their own businesses. I want to start my own business, but I'm afraid of getting into trouble. Going to your company, my old classmate, would eliminate that risk."

"You're not serious, are you?"

"I'm serious, of course. Just tell me, do you want me or not!"

Xiao Pei glared, revealing a hint of arrogance.

Gao Fan looked at Xu Dan and found that Xu Dan also looked completely bewildered, clearly unprepared for this turn of events.

Gao Fan thought for a moment and said, "Xiao Pei, is this a good idea? Today's events were too sudden. Making a hasty decision at this time is not good for you, nor is it good for the company."

"Let's make a deal, one month. If you cancel this plan after one month, then it's as if you said nothing today. If you still want to resign by then, then I welcome you to join me anytime. As for your work arrangements..."

“You can be the office manager, and I’ll be your subordinate,” Xu Dan blurted out.

Gao Fan waved his hand: "Section Chief Xiao is in foreign trade, so he's not suitable to be the office director. There's still a month left, so you can fully consider your choice. I'll give you a promise: apart from the chairman, I can agree to any position you want."

“Alright, it’s a deal!” Xiao Pei looked at Gao Fan and said seriously.

"It's a word."

(End of this chapter)