African Nationhood

Annika Hannibal and the Portuguese businessman found the French businessman who gave him advice.

The French businessman is Ronald from the Falklands. This gentleman has been given the privilege to invest in the Matabeleland region since he invested in a 100-kilometer railway in the Falklands Office.

He came here for an inspection and found that the return rate from the gold and diamond mines here was not high. On the contrary, Tete had gathered a large number of foreign businessmen because of the communication between the Rhodesia Company and the South China Dominion.

And these businessmen attach great importance to the quality of housing, and the real estate market here has great potential.

So after he came here, he bought a piece of land and planned to develop it.

Because we had a good relationship with Commissioner Cheng Daye of the Mata Administrative Office before, and he was the first foreign businessman to respond to Minister Zhong Yilin’s call.

Officials at all levels in the North Zambia Region were also very polite to Leonard, so when he applied for approval to build materials, he quickly got the approval form.

His construction project was contracted to a local Chinese contractor, and the real estate project was a complete success. In the process, he was able to meet many foreign businessmen.

Through these foreign businessmen, he learned that individual officials in Tete City were accepting bribes.

After careful inquiry, he found out the details inside.

He lamented the talent of these Chinese in taking bribes, and when he met Portuguese businessmen who had suffered unfair treatment, he just mentioned it casually and did not want to tell them all.

After all, the other party had no interest in him and the matter was very secret. There was no need for him to go against the officials in power.

But when Agent Hannibal flashed her Department of Justice badge, Leonard had no choice.

"These are just what I heard from others, and I cannot guarantee whether they are true or false."

Agent Hannibal nodded, "Okay, Mr. Leonard, I will be responsible for verifying the authenticity of the situation."

“The urban construction director under Tete City Hall is called Jiawang Li. He loves painting, especially oriental landscape paintings.

His wife opened a painting shop and engaged in the business of buying and selling paintings.

If you want to obtain the material approval form from Jiawang Li, you must first go to the art store run by his wife to buy a painting and then give it to him. In this way, the bribery is completed. "

Hearing this, Agent Hannibal and the accompanying Portuguese businessmen were stunned. This was too hidden!

These Chinese people are really thorough about taking bribes.

"Thank you for your cooperation, Mr. Leonard. I will go and carefully check the clues you provided."

With Leonard's clues, Annika Hannibal's investigation is very simple.

She first went around the main commercial street of Tete City, and then found the calligraphy and painting shop that Ronald mentioned - "Xiushui Zhai" at the corner of Prosperity Street.

Annika Hannibal pretended to be unconscious and wandered into the calligraphy and painting store. There was a Chinese male clerk and a white female clerk in the store.

After seeing Hannibal's appearance, the white female clerk came over and greeted her in English.

"Hello, beautiful lady, what can I do for you?"

Annika Hannibal smiled and said, "I'll just take a look."

The white female clerk hummed, then stepped aside and stopped talking.

Annika Hannibal felt a little anxious. The white clerk didn't want to continue talking to her, so she couldn't continue to explore the details.

So she pointed to an ink painting and asked, "Can you introduce this painting to me?"

Annika Hannibal is pointing to a vertical landscape painting, which depicts a deep mountain scene.

The white clerk nodded and walked over with a smile, "This painting was painted by our painter when he was collecting scenery in Mount Bingade (the highest peak in today's Mozambique).
This painting mainly adopts oriental landscape painting composition techniques and follows the understanding and aesthetic taste of nature by ancient oriental literati.
The "Three Distances" are used, that is, the three spatial levels of expression: lofty, far-reaching and flat. At the same time, elements such as dangerous peaks, water springs, and figures in the mountains and forests are integrated to complement the natural environment and reflect the philosophical concept of harmonious coexistence between man and nature. "

After hearing such a large number of obscure words, Annika Hannibal couldn't help but feel dizzy.

"Well, the technique is good, and the concept of this painting is also very good. I like it very much. How much does this painting cost?"

The white female clerk didn't expect this customer to be so generous. A smile appeared on her face, "Please come to me for the specific price. My boss will negotiate the price with you."

Annika Hannibal didn't expect such an arrangement here, so she simply followed the white female clerk to the back of the store.

There is a wider space at the back of the store. It can be seen that this is a typical oriental store, with a typical front store and back store layout.

The white female clerk led the way to a room door and then raised her hand to knock on the door.

After getting permission from the person inside, she opened the door.

"Boss, this lady has taken a liking to work No. 31."

The person inside was a woman, "Well, please invite the guests in."

The white female clerk turned to Annika Hannibal and gestured to come in, "This is our boss's room, please come in."

Annika Hannibal smelled a nice aroma as soon as she approached the room.

Sitting in the room was a rich-looking Chinese woman with her hair in a bun.

This woman must be over 30 years old, but her temperament is elegant and her clothes are luxurious.

"Hello, distinguished guest, please take a seat."

Annika Hannibal had never seen a woman with such outstanding temperament, and she was also curious about her taste.

"Please drink tea. This is the more famous jasmine tea in the East. The taste of this tea is relatively light. I wonder if you can adapt to it."

Annika Hannibal smiled and took the tea cup handed to her, and then took a sip. The tea taste was indeed very light and fragrant in her mouth.

"From your tea tasting process just now, I can confirm that you don't understand tea tasting.

When drinking jasmine tea, you should first taste it at the end of your nose, smell the fragrance with your nose, and suddenly feel the fragrance coming to your nostrils, which can make people fully appreciate the pleasant feeling of the aroma. This stage is called "nasal tasting".

After smelling the aroma, when the tea soup is slightly cool and palatable, drink it in small sips and keep the tea soup in your mouth for a while.

Use the coordinated movements of inhaling through the mouth and exhaling through the nose to make the tea flow back and forth on the tongue many times, so that the tea can fully come into contact with people's taste buds.

Then taste the tea leaves and aroma and swallow them together. This is called 'mouth tasting'.

It can be seen that you don’t know much about Eastern culture, so I have some doubts about your purpose of buying the paintings in the store. "

Annika Hannibal's heart tightened upon hearing this, this woman is so smart!

She was anxious, so she could only make up an excuse, "You are very smart, but I really don't know much about the paintings here. I came here through someone else's introduction.

They said that Director Li of the Urban Development Bureau likes landscape paintings very much, so I want to buy one as a gift. What do you recommend? "

Hearing Annika Hannibal say this, the rich woman immediately smiled on her face.

"Director Li has a very high personal taste. If you want to satisfy him, you cannot choose an ordinary painting. You must choose a high-quality painting. Please follow me. The paintings behind this are all high-quality paintings to ensure that Director Li is satisfied."

Annika Hannibal breathed a sigh of relief. This hurdle was finally over. She drank the tea in one gulp, then got up and followed the rich woman to see the fine paintings. (End of chapter)