That year the flowers bloomed 1981

Chapter 1338 To be a boss, you have to be tough.
The Spring Festival is the most important festival for Chinese people, and for those who live abroad, its importance is several times greater.

People who miss their hometown will stubbornly insist on any customs that can strengthen their memories, lest they forget what their roots are like after spending a long time overseas.

The delegation also attached great importance to this festival, and stopped its external inspection work a few days in advance to begin various preparations for celebrating the Spring Festival.

"There are three kinds of dumplings: cabbage, chives, and shrimp. Hey, you wouldn't believe it, would you? You can actually find chives here! I thought people in Suzhou didn't eat chives! But I heard they're not cheap, almost as expensive as caviar."

"That's definitely not cheap! If you ask me, we should just do as the Romans do. Caviar, beef, mutton, and that fish—it's about half a person tall! It'll definitely be a blast."

"Tch, does it even count as Chinese New Year if you don't eat dumplings? You can eat caviar then, give me your dumplings."

"Fine, after I finish eating, I'll go complain to Liang Si and say you stole my dumplings. You'll have to get punished."

"Screw you! Go chop the filling already!"

When it comes to food, the Chinese dare to claim first place; otherwise, the saying "it's impossible to please everyone" wouldn't exist.

If, like in some countries, there are only two or three flavors, and they serve them in three large bowls, how could it be difficult to please everyone?

In Moscow, it's not easy to gather all the dumpling fillings that everyone likes.

Moreover, the delegation was not entirely made up of northerners who were used to eating dumplings; there were also southerners who were used to eating glutinous rice balls and rice cakes.

Sister Yan, the head of the finance team who had just arrived in Moscow, approached Li Ye with a smile and said, "Li Ye, we'd like to steam rice cakes. Could you and Sun Xianjin get some sesame seeds?"

"Sesame? I'll give it a try!"

Li Ye grinned, somewhat unsure, since sesame is a tropical and temperate plant, and definitely a rare commodity in the harsh Su'e region.

"It's okay if we don't have it. We already have the main ingredients, rock sugar and ham. We're just missing sesame seeds, but the taste won't be much different."

Seeing Li Ye's predicament, Sister Yan also felt a little embarrassed. She had been urgently transferred to Moscow to oversee and verify the "barter" model used by the inspection team.
So these past few days, Sister Yan and others have also come into contact with Bian Jingjing and Jin Peng, and know that they are definitely top-notch foreign trade merchants in Moscow, with a wealth of goods in their hands that surpasses that of most government departments in Su'e. So she really didn't expect that Li Ye would have a headache over such a trivial matter.

Seeing that Sister Yan was embarrassed, Li Ye and Sun Xianjin felt bad instead. Sun Xianjin quickly said with a smile, "Don't worry, if one ingredient is missing, it will lack three-tenths of the flavor. We'll search high and low for it."

"Go to heaven and earth? Hahahaha, no, no, Li Ye, please don't misunderstand. It would be best if we could find it, but it's okay if we can't."

"Okay, okay, I'll go out and look for it."

Li Ye smiled, reported to the group, and then went out with Sun Xianjin to look for sesame seeds.

If you can't find it, you should at least go out and look around before saying you can't find it. If you say you can't find it without even looking, wouldn't that be disrespectful to others?

In a group, the most difficult thing to balance is one's own face and the face of others.

Given Sister Yan's position, if she were truly fair, that would be one thing, but if she had even a hint of petty, womanly malice, she could easily skew the price of a "barter" transaction by a factor of thirty.
What costs one dollar in China can be exchanged for three or even five dollars in Moscow. Who can you reason with?
Li Ye didn't care about his large family business; he considered it a contribution to the revival of China. But if Bian Jingjing earned three percentage points less in profit, she would complain to Sun Xianjin to death.

The two left the hotel and headed straight for Jin Peng and Bian Jingjing's residence. However, when they mentioned they were looking for Sesame, even these two wealthy men were scratching their heads.

They picked up a sesame seed but lost a watermelon; it sounds like a trivial little thing!

"Let's go! Let's ask Old Cat! That guy's picky, maybe he has some left."

Jin Peng led Li Ye and Sun Xianjin to the first floor to find Lao Mao, but after knocking on the door, Li Ye and Sun Xianjin hesitated and did not go in.

Because they're counting money! Not gambling money, but the kind of money deposited into a bank account.

Stacks of banknotes were piled up on the floor, in various colors and denominations, so many that they had to be packed in sacks.

"Oh, Mr. Jin, you're here! Please have a seat."

"Hey, keep counting your money, don't make a mistake and start over."

Upon seeing Jin Peng enter, the middle-aged man with frizzy hair in the middle quickly stood up to greet him, but Jin Peng waved him off, telling him to continue.

Old Cat chuckled, "Looks like I can't clear my name of this accusation of being illiterate. Everyone knows I can't count money properly. Why didn't I learn to do math back then?" "Give me a break!"

Jin Peng laughed and scolded, "You're a shrewd businessman. You never make a mistake when taking money, but you always make a mistake when paying out. If you don't change this habit, who will dare to do business with you?"

Old Cat wasn't embarrassed at all, and even said confidently, "Oh dear, that was before! Now that I have a big family and a big business, how could I be greedy for such a small amount of money? Now everyone knows that I, Old Cat, am a righteous person."

"Alright, alright, I'm not going to argue with you about that. I just wanted to ask you if you have any sesame seeds in your hand?"

"Sesame? The sesame seeds?"

"Isn't that obvious? It's not like the sesame seeds in sesame oil, is it?"

Old Cat paused for a moment, then said, "I have sesame oil, but who bothers with sesame seeds? These days, even people in Suzhou have a hard time eating flour, let alone sesame seeds?"

A woman counting money said, "Perhaps the high-ranking officials and nobles in Suzhou would like to eat it? Why don't we notify the domestic authorities to get a batch? It's a rare commodity, so we can sell it for a high price."

Old Cat turned around and cursed, "Selling a ball at such a high price? Do you think you can do business with high-ranking officials and wealthy people and they'll still pay you? Do you think you're Boss Jin, with connections everywhere?"

"."

After hearing what Lao Mao said, Jin Peng decided not to ask any more questions.

Old Cat is the kind of person whose mind is full of business ideas. He won't mess with things that aren't in high demand, nor will he mess with things that are hard to sell or unsafe.

"Let's go try our luck at the market. There are many of our compatriots there, as well as farmers from Su'e who come to the market."

Jin Peng led Li Ye and Sun Xianjin out of Lao Mao's place, then got into the car and headed straight for the market.

Li Ye thought for a moment and gently asked Jin Peng, "Brother Peng, last time I heard Xiao Qi say that your building doesn't take in dishonest businessmen, but that old cat deliberately miscounted the money to cheat people."
I don't object to you befriending Lao Mao, but be extra careful when you're away from home. Don't let unreliable people drag you down."

"Pfft~"

Jin Peng couldn't help but laugh.

"You actually believe Old Cat's bragging? When this guy first arrived, he kept miscounting money because he was framed by Su Eren."

Sue gave him ninety-eight bills, but insisted he had given him one hundred. He counted them eight times but still couldn't get it right, so he could only admit he had miscounted.

"."

"Hahahaha~"

Li Ye and Sun Xianjin were stunned for a moment, then burst into laughter, laughing at Lao Mao for putting on a brave face.

To be the boss, you have to be tough.

If the eldest brother gets a black eye, he has to stubbornly insist that the other person has lost their manhood, otherwise he'll lose face.

Sun Xianjin laughed and said, "This is truly a case of a lifetime of reputation ruined in an instant. Old Cat just accepted the wrong money once, and now he's been laughed at for the rest of his life."

Jin Peng glanced at Sun Xianjin and said quietly, "He didn't just make a mistake once; before I met him, he basically made a mistake every single day."

"."

Sun Xianjin was stunned for a moment, then fell silent.

Seeing the piles of banknotes on Old Cat's floor today, I always feel that making money is as easy as drinking water for him. But who knows the hardships he endured?
When Su Eren seizes upon him as an easy target and bullies him relentlessly, who will stand up for him in the face of adversity?

Even though he's now working for Jin Peng, there are still some deals he wouldn't dare touch.

Once bitten by a snake, twice shy. Which seemingly glamorous tycoon doesn't have a few unforgettable and humiliating experiences in his heart?
(End of this chapter)