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Chapter 927 Opportunity (rd update, please subscribe)

A day later, the guests from afar left.

After the guests left, Hermann, the head of the South Sea Oil Company, looked out through the thick glass window opposite his desk.

At this time, the central business district of Taiping City was already twilight. Although it was past the end of the working day, there were always some offices in the middle of the building with lights on. However, after 8 o'clock in the evening, there was no one in the building.

Eight o'clock in the evening is the iron rule in Nanyang. Overtime hours can never exceed this time. Now everyone has formed this habit.

"Interesting! They actually think we are their lifeline!"

Gazing out the window, Herman lit a cigarette, took a puff, and smiled.

"But this is also good. Let's reach a preliminary consensus first, and then slowly discuss the details."

In fact, Herman knew that the real details had nothing to do with Saudi Arabia. What were the real details?
It is a collaboration between the two companies, or what the Arabian American Oil Company is willing to offer!
That's the most important thing.

Just like that, after smoking a cigarette, Hermann walked to his desk and gently turned on the desk lamp.

At this time, the secretary, Miss Shirley, came back, put the report he needed on his desk, and then retreated to the wall.

The content of this report was sent by the Overseas Affairs Department. The report said that according to his instructions, the Overseas Affairs Department had sent Director Ding Deyun and his team. They flew to Tripoli, the capital of Libya, and stayed in a hotel for a week before they were received by the Minister of Natural Resources. Three meetings were held in six days, but no agreement has been reached yet. At the same time, several other European and American companies are interested in the Sirte Basin. After further bargaining, Ding Deyun and the minister agreed on a sum of money. But even if the money went into the minister's personal account, the problem was still not solved.

That is the end of the report. The characteristics of that place are only reflected in that minister.

What is the result?
So far, no results have been seen in the report.

Thinking of this, Hermann leaned forward and pressed the switch of the intercom again.

"Please tell Mr. Lai Yunjie from the Overseas Affairs Department to come see me, Miss Shirley."

Hermann turned as the intercom broke the silence of the double-glazed, soundproof chamber.

"Manager Lai is here, General Manager."

It was Miss Shirley's voice.

Crossing the room, Hermann approached the switch on the wall and turned on the main light in the room, then walked to the table and turned on the intercom.

"Let him in, Miss Shirley."

Lai Yunjie walked to the door. He was a 39-year-old middle-level employee who had always been competent and capable at his job. Like many middle and senior managers in the company, he was also a search team member.

Hermann came forward smiling to meet him from the center of the office.

"Ah, come in, Manager Lai, please come in."

Lai Yunjie walked into the room, Miss Shirley closed the door behind him, and sat down at her desk.

Herman gestured to him to sit on the sofa, far away from the meeting place in this spacious office. Lai Yunjie sat on the sofa and sank into the soft cushions.

"I read your report."

Herman said.

"I noticed when I read the report that the minister was a bit difficult to deal with?"

"That's not the point,"

Lai Yunjie shook his head and said.

"The point is that the current minister is collecting money, collecting money from everyone!"

When he spoke, there was some helplessness in his tone.

"Ok!"

Herman opened his eyes wide and said, "What did you say? Collecting money from everyone, what's going on?"

Of course he knew that it would cost money to expand overseas business, but he didn't expect that there would be people who would be so...ignorant of the rules and take money from everyone?
What are they doing?
"He took $50,000 from us, and he also took the same amount from other people. Manager, we can only move on to the next step after we pay this amount!"

Lai Yunjie's tone was full of helplessness.

"If we don't pay, we can't even move to the next step. This is how they deal with us or everyone else. First you have to pay, no matter whether the matter is successful or not, you can only consider the next step after you pay."

Faced with such a result, he thought for a while and said.

"So, this money is just a stepping stone?"

"Yes! We enjoy fair treatment just like those American and European companies - fifty thousand dollars!"

Lai Yunjie grinned.

"It's very fair. No matter the size of the company, the fee is 50,000! At least on the surface, we are the same as other European and American companies. Everyone spends the same amount of money to proceed to the next step."

"In any newly established country, everything is a matter of bribery."

Herman said,
"Usually."

"Indeed, the one who can really decide all this is the king. Only if we pay this money can we have the opportunity to meet the king. In addition to paying a suitable price for the exploration and mining rights to rent that piece of land, we also need to give the king a suitable price. Otherwise, the king will never agree to give us the exploration and mining rights of the Surt Basin."

“Everyone has a price, it’s just a matter of how much.”

Herman continued.

“But American and European companies are very powerful there, right? They are very powerful, and they were there earlier and deeper.”

"Yes, Manager. There are many European and American consultants in the Libyan government. They have a certain influence on the king. Compared with us, they have more advantages. We must pay attention to this. However, I believe Director Ding, they will definitely find a way to complete their work. However, I think that no influence can compare to money! After all, everything will be solved by money in the end."

"Indeed, money makes the world go round!"

They chatted for more than ten minutes, and Hermann had basically understood most of what he needed to know. At 7:20, he politely led Lai Yunjie out, just as he had greeted him when he came in.

After he left, Hermann glanced at the report in front of him and muttered to himself.

"It's nothing more than a matter of money. I hope everything goes well!"

So, after staying in the company until eight o'clock, Hermann left the company and drove away from the front door of Nanyang Petroleum Company in a BMW driven by his driver.

While driving towards his residence in the southwest of the city, Hermann was still thinking about many issues in his mind. Most of these issues were about the company's operations. However, he inevitably thought of Saudi Arabia and the preliminary consensus that Frank had reached with him before.

“The two companies can hold shares in each other.”

"We are friends, but Riyadh's choices are turning us into our enemies."

"If the Nanyang government can intervene, I think our interests can be guaranteed to the greatest extent."

Sitting in the car, Hermann leaned back, closed his eyes and thought about all this. He didn't need to go to Chang'an now. After all, things had just begun.

Even their oil fields have not yet begun to be explored, let alone exploited. In this case, things do not seem to be urgent.

When the car arrived at Ping'anfang Station, the driver stopped, bought a newspaper from someone on the road, and handed him a late copy of the Taiping Evening News.

The newspapers were mostly about domestic news, but there were also some international news. Suddenly, a piece of news caught his eye in the news column. The news was published in the corner of the newspaper, and if you didn't pay attention, you would even ignore its existence.

He just took the newspaper and read it, and then read it several times in a row. He looked out the window at the chaotic traffic and the crowded pedestrians, some of whom dragged their feet to the station, and some of whom walked slowly and heavily to the bus in the rain. They were ready to return to their comfortable home to be with their families after another busy day in the central business district of Taiping Market.

As he looked out the window, an idea began to form. Others would have laughed off the news, but Hermann was not one of them.

The news in the evening paper was not very clear. It was about another country. That country was not Saudi Arabia, but another one. He had hardly heard of that country either. It was obviously insignificant. The headline of the news was: Yemen accuses Saudi Arabia of occupying its territory to the United Nations!
(End of this chapter)