Go back in time and be a chaebol

Chapter 1609: Changes in Old Friends (Second update, please subscribe)

When you meet an old friend in a foreign land, you always have endless things to talk about. However, as you talk, there will always be some differences due to your standpoints.

“But the world has never changed.”

In a nearby teahouse, an old man wearing gold-rimmed glasses said as he drank his tea:
"Many people feel that the establishment of the United Nations after World War II has made the world more rule-oriented, the dignity of small countries has been protected, and the rights of weak countries have been taken seriously."

As he said this, the corners of his lips raised with a slightly sarcastic smile.

"Isn't it? In the United Nations, big countries and small countries are the same. Everyone has the same voting group. Even for the permanent members, their greatest privilege is the veto power."

Sun Qiyun, who was sitting in front of him, said:
"From ancient times to the present, there has never been an era in which the voices of weak and small countries can be heard so fairly, and there has never been an era in which their dignity can be protected so well as it is now."

Sun Qiyun thought for a moment and added.

"Of course, except at certain times, there are certain countries that will not hesitate to trample on the norms of the international community and bully the weak."

Sun Qiyun did not mention anyone by name, but the old man sitting in front of him knew exactly where he was referring to.

"You are right. To a certain extent, as many people have said, he is still living in the past to a certain extent. He is like an ancient fossil. Not only does he have strong characteristics of the 19th century colonial era, but even his code of conduct has a strong flavor of the old times.

Some people say this is the stronghold of the extreme conservative right wing.”

What are the so-called ancient fossils?
This is where the colonial company originated. Whether it is the North Borneo State Company or the Sarawak Kingdom, they all originated in the colonial era.

So in the international community, or more precisely, in the international left, what they like to say most is to accuse this country of still being immersed in the beautiful dream of the colonial era.

They thought that saying this would break the defense of the people here. However, they did not expect that when faced with such accusations, the people here faced it all with a calm attitude, and even told them directly.

Do you know how people handled international affairs during the colonial era?

do not know?
Watch carefully, I will show you.

Then there's hegemony and bullying the weak.

In short, we have never backed down in the face of accusations of bad mouth.

"According to your words, this place is extremely reactionary and is the most stubborn stronghold of imperialist reactionaries."

When Sun Qiyun heard his old friend use "you" to describe himself, he knew that this old friend was no longer the friend he was familiar with in the past.

Sun Qiyun felt a little sad when he thought of this. After all, the old man in front of him was his old friend. When he was in the newspaper office, he had helped and protected him more than once.

The old man, who had already poured the tea, placed the cup in front of his friend and said:
"But from a personal point of view, it does feel good to bully others in this hegemonic way."

The old man's words made Sun Qiyun in front of him silent for a moment. He looked at his old friend in amazement and couldn't believe that these words came out of his mouth.

He looked at his old friend for a long time before speaking.

"You've completely changed. I remember that you were very disgusted with this kind of bullying back then, which is why we became friends."

"It's not that I've changed. It's that the environment I'm in has changed."

The old man took a sip of tea, then looked at his friend in front of him and said with a proud tone:

“Over the past decade or so, I have witnessed the changes that have taken place here.

Where is this change?"

The old man pointed out the window and said:

"look……"

"What are you looking at?"

Sun Qiyun looked out the window and all he saw were tall buildings and bustling crowds of people and cars.

“See these tall buildings?”

"No,"

The old man shook his head, adjusted his glasses, and said:
"Look at the people here. Look at them..."

Pointing out the window, the old man said:

"What do you think are the differences between them?"

After thinking for a while, he said:
"What's the difference between them and the people over there?"

"Over here..."

After observing carefully for a while, Sun Qiyun thought for a moment and said:

"Well, the people here always have smiles on their faces, and they seem to be very content..."

Having said that, he couldn't help but criticize.

"But there is no vitality. The vitality I'm talking about is spiritual. You may have abundant material things, but you are spiritually empty. Your young people pursue fashion, enjoyment, and material things, but their spirits are empty..."

Listening to his old friend's critical words, the old man smiled and said:

"You still haven't changed."

"But you've changed,"

Sun Qiyun looked at his old friend and said:
"I remember a time when you spoke for the people and pointed out the injustices in the world with impassioned speeches."

Listening to his old friend's words, the old man smiled. He was about to refute, but when he saw the newspaper on the table, he pointed to a piece of news and said:

“Have you heard of the South A Petroleum Company?”

"Nan'a Oil? Is it the oil company that destroyed a country in exchange for oil from the American oil company?"

The reason why he was so familiar with it was because the reputation of South A oil had long been notorious, and it was not only reported in the newspapers, but also criticized. Of course, this was also one of the evidences that SEA was a running dog of the US empire and colluded with the US empire to invade other countries.

"It seems that you have heard of it. Perhaps, in your opinion, South A oil is a symbol of imperialism oppressing backward countries and extracting wealth. However, for us, South A oil is closely related to the interests of all of us."

The old man took a sip of tea and said slowly:
“Every one of us has benefited from the South A Petroleum Company. It can be said that everything he did there was for our benefit!”

"For your own benefit?"

Sun Qiyun said:
"What does it mean?"

Looking at his puzzled old friend, the old man explained:
"In terms of equity, the largest shareholder of South A Petroleum Corporation is the National Pension Fund, which holds 51% of the equity. Qiyun, you should know that the National Pension Fund is not just a pension for all of us. When you founded it, it was a social insurance system to ensure that all SEA citizens can maintain their basic living in the event of retirement, unemployment, work-related injuries, illness, etc.

Your Excellency established this system to ensure that all SEA citizens can enjoy equal social security rights and provide a certain level of pension security for all citizens.

However, relying solely on insurance paid by enterprises and individuals is not enough to maintain the national annuity. Therefore, it is necessary to use the national pension of investors as the principal to operate investments in the financial market.

The South A Petroleum Company is one of the many overseas projects invested by the National Pension Fund.”

Then he changed the subject and said:

"I don't know, nor do I care, what South A Petroleum has done in the Middle East, but South A Petroleum has a profit of several hundred million yuan every year, and a considerable part of it will be transferred to the National Annuity in the form of investment dividends. Each of our pensions, medical insurance, work-related injuries, unemployment, etc. will benefit from the profit. Well, I can receive a pension of more than 200 yuan every month. If it weren't for the overseas investment of the annuity, how could I receive such a high pension?
So, I am grateful to them because of their excellent work overseas, which allows me to enjoy retirement pension and medical insurance. "

Listening to his old friend's words, Sun Qiyun was so shocked that he was speechless - this was so fucking shameless.

It's just shameless.

Perhaps because they had not seen each other for many years, or perhaps because of their long-standing friendship, Sun Qiyun did not say such words.

Instead, the old man looked at his old friend whose expression was changing and said:
"You must be saying in your heart that I am shameless. How could I be so shameless? Yes, in your opinion, I am indeed shameless for saying such a thing.

Otherwise, I would have just ignored all the crimes committed by the oil companies there.

Well, this is a shameless behavior. In your opinion, my behavior is indeed shameless. , But..."

Looking at his old friend in front of him, the old man said:

"I have to admit that this overseas investment has benefited each and every one of us. We all benefit from overseas investment."

"While you are benefiting, have you ever considered the interests of the local people? Their resources have been plundered by you, their countries have been destroyed by you, and everything you enjoy is the result of their hard work and blood."

Sun Qiyun said in an angry tone.

"Your seemingly happy life is achieved by exploiting those who are poorer and more difficult."

"so what?"

The old man looked at his friend whom he hadn't seen for many years and his tone suddenly became a little excited.

"Does it mean that in order to let foreigners eat well and live well, we have to sacrifice our own interests, endure hunger, and give food, wealth, and everything to foreigners, just to exchange for their praise? No, we are not like that..."

Faced with the sudden anger of his old friend, Sun Qiyun was a little nervous, and for some reason he felt a little timid. He even spoke incoherently.

"You, you, you are simply unreasonable."

When he refuted, his tone was a little stuttering, and he lacked the righteousness he had before.

"Unreasonable?"

The old man snorted, then said:

"We are unreasonable. Yes, because we only care about our own people. We only care about whether our own people can have enough food to eat, whether they can live in a house and drive a car, whether they can have a generous pension and complete medical insurance.

Whether now or in the future, we will never waste our wealth on foreigners at the expense of our people's well-being, let alone hand over our precious overseas investments to foreigners.

These overseas investments..."

The old man looked at his old friend and said:

"We will protect these overseas investments at all costs, because they concern every one of us, everyone's life, and everyone's future.

But no one can offend our interests for any reason.”

Then his expression became even a little ferocious, and he looked at his old friend whom he had not seen for many years and said:
"You should never doubt what a beast will do when it is protecting its food. It will tear to pieces any opponent who tries to take its prey away."

When the old man said this, his tone was unquestionable. Even his eyes were challenging, as if reminding the other party - if you don't believe it, just try it.

Facing his old friend with a somewhat ferocious expression, Qi Yun suddenly felt a little overwhelmed. He couldn't even understand why the other party became so excited. So, he looked at his old friend and said.

"Is this a warning to me?"

"No,"

Shaking his head, the old man looked at his friend whom he hadn't seen for many years and said.

"I'm not warning anyone. I don't have the ability to warn anyone, but I'm just reminding everyone - this place is different from any other place. Please don't look at it with ordinary eyes and attitudes."

Then he took a deep breath, shook his head and sighed:
"Ugh……"

He closed his eyes, his expression looked a little heavy...

Sun Qiyun looked at his old friend in silence.

After a while, he said:

"I'm just here to do an interview."

The old man did not speak, but just smiled and finally said:
"Just like back then, huh?"

(End of this chapter)