1968: Started from breeding

Chapter 357 Let me state first, I will not help you with anything on the embargo list.
After hearing Su Wenchen's words.

Ronald gazed at the results of the salinization control efforts for a long time, his breathing rapid, his heart churning with complex emotions.

Despite knowing that this might involve other things, the huge economic prospects and political interests tempted him to utter that rebuttal.

Finally, he could only murmur to himself.

"Su, you're a devil!"

Su Wenchen smiled and shook his head upon hearing this.

"No, no, no, Mr. Ronald, I think the word 'angel' would be more appropriate if you were to describe me!"

"To offer the most appropriate help when you are at your weakest, isn't that the act of an angel?"

Ronald took a deep breath and looked at Su Wenchen.

"Su, what you said is very tempting, and I admit that there is some truth to it. I also apologize for my inappropriate words earlier."

"But I cannot betray my country!"

At this moment, Ronald realized that his earlier suggestion to turn the man in front of him against his will was a completely wrong plan.

It was like opening Pandora's box, slowly pulling me into hell.

The other party clearly did not offer any substantial benefits.

But just a few words were enough to completely throw him into turmoil.

Before this, he himself had never dared to dream of the presidency.

Even if someone in China said that to him, he would think that the other person was high on drugs.

After all, he didn't even have a basic voter base.

But now, think about those three states with severely salinized soil, once they solve this problem themselves.

These farmers and their families will become their most stable supporters.

Even if I don't become president, this part of my bargaining chip will still be very important during the election.

Thinking about it this way, he realized that this kind of alkali-reducing fertilizer, which needs to be added continuously, might actually be a good thing for him.

This will ensure the stability of his voter base to the greatest extent possible.

At this point, he himself was unaware that he had begun to worry about the stability of the subsequent voter base.

An idea had already taken root in his mind and was spreading and growing.

Upon hearing the other person's words, Su Wenchen naturally sensed their hesitation and gave them one last push.

“Mr. Ronald, I think you’ve misunderstood me. No one asked you to betray your country. This is just a private collaboration between the two of us.”

“You need votes, farmers need land! And we also need some of your country’s industrial equipment.”

"Isn't this a win-win-win situation?"

Upon hearing this, Ronald unconsciously clenched his fist.

He then took a deep breath and said in a slightly hoarse voice.

"Let me make it clear first, I will not help you with anything on the embargo list."

Su Wenchen nodded again.

"Ronald, we're friends, aren't we? And we never make things difficult for our friends."

"I guarantee that all I need going forward is your help in importing some items that are not on the embargo list."

For Su Wenchen, the items on the list are not static.

Some things that are just beginning to sprout naturally won't make it onto the current list.

Moreover, a tear like this will only get bigger and bigger, and it can't be sewn up later.

Upon hearing Su Wenchen's words, Ronald remained cautious.

"You must guarantee that I will be your only agent in North America."

Su Wenchen shook his head directly.

"Ronald, I can't guarantee that, it's up to you."

"You should know that you are not our only business partner."

"It's your job to persuade your president. If you can't even persuade your president, then I have serious doubts about your competence."

Su Wenchen said this because he genuinely wanted to assess the other party's capabilities.

There's no problem with exports right now, but imports from the US are still up to the president.

Otherwise, no matter how good your product is, it's useless if the other party doesn't agree.

So Su Wenchen also wanted to see Ronald's abilities.

If he were truly a useless person, he naturally wouldn't waste any more time on him.

Seeing that Su Wenchen actually said that, Ronald also became a little anxious.

"No, Sue, didn't you say we were friends?"

Su Wenchen nodded.

"We are friends!"

"That's why I said you don't need to worry about things here in our country, I will help you solve the problems here."

"Do you really expect me to help you persuade your president?"

"I'm sorry, I really can't help you!"

For Su Wenchen, if he already had the ability, why would he need to support you?
I can do it myself.

Ronald realized he had lost his composure; clearly, today's events had a significant psychological impact on him.

So much so that upon hearing that they might lose the opportunity, they instantly lost their composure.

After calming down a bit, he realized that Su Wenchen was right; the other party indeed had no ability to interfere with their president's thoughts.

"Su, I'm sorry, I lost my composure today!"

"Don't worry, I'll go back and persuade the president!"

After seeing that the other party had calmed down a bit, Su Wenchen nodded.

"Then good luck, Ronald. But as a friend, I can give you some advice."

"We are still young, so acting under the president's protection is a good strategy."

"Otherwise, if you are too high-profile at this time, you may end up losing more than you gain."

"If any unexpected situations arise later, your call to action will be much more effective."

Su Wenchen had actually heard about the incident involving the president who came after him, and even the person in front of him was one of the victims of that incident.

However, he also wanted to see if the other party would remain as loyal as before after their ambitions were stirred up.

However, Ronald thought that Su Wenchen wanted him to get the president's support first, and then figure out a way to deal with it in the next term or the term after that.

After thinking about it, I realized that what Su Wenchen said made some sense.

He's still young, so there's no need to rush. He can slowly build up his supporters.

"Su, your suggestion is very good. I will try to get our president's support when I get back."

Su Wenchen shrugged.

"Then I wish you good luck! I hope we can have a pleasant collaboration in the future!"

In fact, Su Wenchen didn't intend to interfere much with what happened to the other party afterward, as for whether or not to remind them later.

That also depends on how much benefit the other party can bring to him in the next few years.

If the collaboration goes well, Su Wenchen felt it was appropriate to offer a gentle reminder.

If the collaboration doesn't go well later, then naturally you can only hope for the best!
In any case, Su Wenchen didn't have to pay anything extra; he could earn US dollars just by exporting alkali fertilizer anyway.

After leaving the special laboratory.

Su Wenchen acted as if he hadn't said anything before, not uttering another word.

He only led the other party on a tour of the laboratory.

They were just saying all sorts of normal, polite things!

noon.

Reception hall.

When Ronald returned, he couldn't wait to take out a small recording device from his person.

After some operations.

The conversation between the two people at the research station slowly echoed in the room.

"Ronald, this is our experimental area, shall we go take a look?"

"Su, may I watch?"

"Yes, these are all our ordinary soil experiments."

"This way—!"

Ronald looked helpless as he heard the small recording device playing static noises since they entered the experimental area.

"Su, you're really cautious, leaving no loopholes at all!"

Clearly, while Ronald was indeed persuaded by Su Wenchen, it didn't mean he didn't want to have some leverage over Su Wenchen.

Moreover, according to his understanding, the other country's regulations are much stricter than theirs.

If a recording is kept, it could potentially become leverage for him to control the other party.

Unfortunately, the other party was very cautious and left no loopholes.

Just then, there was a knock on the door.

"Ronald, are you there?"

Hearing Hague's voice outside the door, Ronald got up and opened it.

"Mr. Haig, you're back!"

"So, what's your haul over there?"

Haig walked into the house and shook his head.

"I've heard some information that this area in the special economic zone is just a branch of their Blue Water Farm."

"In other words, this is just a branch office, and their main researchers are definitely concentrated at headquarters."

"So there's no need to put any more effort into this."

"When I mentioned wanting to visit Blue Water Farm in Beijing, I was immediately refused on the grounds that it was inconvenient."

"But you can freely visit this area!"

"Did you make any discoveries at the research station?"

Ronald sat directly on the bed and gestured towards the table with his chin.

"The small tape recorder is on the table!"

"One thing we noticed is that the research stations here are very rudimentary; they look like they were set up temporarily."

"It's basically consistent with your previous speculation. This is just their application site, not their research and development site."

Upon hearing this, I pressed the recording button.

Inside, the various words spoken when they first entered the research station could be heard.

Hearing Su Wenchen's words that only core technologies can be exchanged for core technologies, he was struck by the fact that Su Wenchen was inside.

"They have too big an appetite; they actually want our core technology."

"Hey, why is there only an electrical noise coming from behind?"

Ronald shrugged and entered the experimental area.

"They probably installed some kind of jamming device!"

"It mainly contains their various experiments on the treatment of saline-alkali soil."

"To be honest, the results are extremely good." "If we adopt their methods for land reclamation, the cost per hectare per year would probably only be around one hundred US dollars."

"Compared to the current proposed total cost of 2.5 billion yuan for remediation, this can be reduced by seven or eight times."

"I estimate that three to five hundred million US dollars would be enough to revitalize our five million hectares of land and turn it back into high-quality farmland."

“Especially in our Central Valley of California, our most core and important technology-driven agricultural system is concentrated.”

"Although our agricultural output value still ranks first in the country for a long time, our high efficiency has led to the over-extraction of the land's lifespan."

"I think we urgently need this kind of high-quality organic fertilizer to balance things out, otherwise there will definitely be big problems behind the heart of our agriculture."

Upon hearing Ronald's words, Haig remained silent for a moment.

"So, we'll have to ask them for help again this time?"

Ronald nodded.

"The core technologies are in the hands of others. Although our industry is indeed stronger than theirs, they are unwilling to give up our core technologies."

"It has already been proven on the Korean Peninsula that we cannot achieve military victory."

"The only solution is to look for other ways, right?"

Upon hearing this, Hager's face instantly darkened.

Ronald continued.

"It's only because the pressure from the north is too great that I don't think their country would even talk to us."

"So I think we need to compromise a little if we want to reach an agreement."

Ronald has clearly started laying the groundwork; for him, the best course of action is to make things sound difficult while others are still unaware of the specifics.

This way, fewer people will try to steal it in the end, increasing the chances of it falling into his hands.

Upon hearing Ronald's words, Hague glanced at him and frowned.

"This isn't something we can decide; let's just inform them of what's going on here!"

"Let the presidential advisory group handle the specific details!"

Ronald had hoped to gain Haig's support, but he didn't expect that the other party would not respond in the end.

So, I had no choice but to prepare to return to China and think of another solution.

in the afternoon.

Temporary airport in the Special Administrative Region.

The afternoon sun streamed across the smooth airport runway, casting a warm glow on the parked plane belonging to the American advance team.

The low rumble of the engine idling contrasted with the tranquility of the distant fields.

Su Wenchen, along with several leaders from the Special Economic Zone, including Lei Boliang, stood in a makeshift farewell area not far from the bottom of the gangway.

He also wore a polite, gentle, yet distant smile.

General Haig strode over first, his face still solemn.

Without any unnecessary movements, he walked up to Su Wenchen, extended his hand briefly and forcefully, his eyes still scrutinizing, but his words were still polite.

"Mr. Su, thank you for the hospitality and cooperation of the Special Administrative Region during the inspection."

"Your communication on security is very constructive, and your development in poultry is also incredible."

Especially after they finished testing the Golden Feather Chicken last night, to be honest, if he hadn't personally selected the chicken, he would have thought they weren't testing broiler chickens.

The result was that not only were there no harmful substances, but the beneficial substances in the chickens were also several times higher than in normal broiler chickens.

After a day and a half of contact.

Even though he remained wary, he acknowledged that the other party had made meticulous and thorough arrangements for security and hospitality.

Seeing that the other party was being polite, Su Wenchen also reached out his hand in a calm response.

"General Haig is too kind."

"Safety is of utmost importance, and this is something we, as the hosts, were supposed to prepare in advance."

Su Wenchen then looked at Ronald behind him, who looked more serious than Hague.

His smile appeared even more vibrant, carrying a lingering excitement and anticipation for the future.

Then he warmly extended his hand and shook hands firmly with Su Wenchen.

His tone was deliberately exaggeratedly enthusiastic.

"Su, I must express my amazement once again!"

"Whether it's your agricultural achievements or your scientific research spirit, the Special Economic Zone has left an indelible impression on me."

"Especially that golden-feathered chicken, its flavor is truly a gift from God! And the research results on those rabbits are simply breathtaking!"

Su Wenchen smiled and waved.

They had someone bring up two golden-feathered chickens tied with red ribbons.

"Both of these are golden-feathered chickens that have been castrated since they were young."

"This is a farewell gift specially prepared for you and General Haig. We hope that you and your families can also enjoy our delicious food!"

Upon seeing this, Ronald immediately showed his delight.

"Oh! Sue, thank you so much! I was just wondering how I was going to tell my friends and family about how delicious this was when I got back!"

"Thank you for the gift. I believe our friendship will last forever!"

Su Wenchen responded with a smile upon hearing this.

"It's just a small token of my appreciation. I hope Mr. Ronald likes it."

"We are never stingy with sharing with our friends!"

"We hope these delicious foods can reach the other side of the ocean and be shared by more people."

"Of course, the potential of alkali-resistant rabbits also needs to be explored jointly by both of us."

Ronald's smile deepened, and he nodded knowingly.

"Yes, Su, working together is very important."

"I believe the potential for cooperation between our two countries is enormous."

"I will definitely report in detail to the President and our friends back home everything I have seen and tasted here, as well as its enormous benefits to the people and its broad prospects!"

"This happened so suddenly that I couldn't give you a return gift, but I'll prepare one for you next time we meet!"

Su Wenchen maintained his official smile and extended his hand to shake hands with Ronald one last time.

"Then I look forward to seeing you again."

"It's getting late, please board the plane! Wishing you both the best of luck on your journey!"

"Yes, Sue! Soon!"

Ronald gripped the handle tightly, his eyes gleaming with ambition and determination.

Haig nodded slightly, without saying anything more.

But once he stepped onto the gangway, his sharp gaze swept over the farewell party and the special economic zone scene that had left such a deep impression on him.

In just one day and a half, he had completely shattered his impression of this country as ancient and backward.

"Crack!"

The hatch slowly closed, and the roar of the engine suddenly intensified.

The enormous special plane accelerated on the runway, finally leaping gracefully into the blue sky and flying into the distance, becoming a tiny dot on the horizon.

Su Wenchen stood still, his gentle smile gradually fading, replaced by a calm, contemplative expression tinged with assessment and expectation.

"A gift you'd like?"

Lei Boliang approached silently, looked around, and whispered.

"Do you really think he'll provide them with their internal assessment of us later?"

Su Wenchen shook his head.

"Who knows!"

"However, I feel that once ambition is aroused, it's not so easy to suppress it."

"Anyway, it's just a side move; whether it succeeds or not, we won't lose anything."

"Our main task is to develop ourselves well; becoming strong is the only true principle."

He clapped his hands after he finished speaking.

Instantly, everyone in the Special Administrative Region who came to see them off turned to look.

"Everyone worked tirelessly day and night for the past day and a half, and they all worked very hard."

"Make a note of those minor issues that were found; don't rush to fix them!"

"Everyone's New Year's Day holiday was disrupted, so I'm giving you two extra days off to go back and get some rest!"

"We can refine it gradually when we get back."

Upon hearing Su Wenchen's words, especially the cadres in charge of the work around him, their eyes lit up instantly.

"Director, does the two-day leave count as today?"

Su Wenchen smiled and waved his hand.

"No, once the duty roster is arranged, the staff at the club can leave early."

After speaking, he looked at Jiang Dayong and the others.

"Old Jiang, you can make your own arrangements for your engineering team!"

Jiang Dayong rolled his eyes. Since Su Wenchen had already said that, what other arrangements could they possibly make?

So he looked directly at his subordinate's burning gaze and said...

"Didn't you see that Director Su has spoken?"

"They said we did a good job with the mission, so everyone gets two days off!"

The moment Jiang Dayong finished speaking, the largest group of young men from the military cheered.

Seeing this, Su Wenchen also yawned.

"Okay then. I only slept for two hours last night, I was so sleepy."

Lei Bailiang snorted coldly.

"You're not tired at all! On the way back, weren't you the one snoring in the car?"

"If anyone's tired, it's me!"

Su Wenchen smiled and replied upon hearing this.

"Uncle Lei, I told you I would drive when we came back, but you wouldn't let me. So, I'll personally take you home to rest!"

Lei Bailiang shook his head immediately upon hearing this.

"Forget it, I don't trust your skills."

"By the way, I heard you haven't been back for almost a year!"

"If you need, I can help you get a train ticket. You should be home by tonight!"

"Oh, by the way, isn't your father-in-law from the Ministry of Railways? Buying a train ticket shouldn't be a problem for you!"

A gentle smile appeared on Su Wenchen's face.

“My wife wrote to me before New Year’s Day, saying that after she had arranged things at the commune, she would bring the children here and they could stay until after the New Year.”

"I estimate I'll be here in the next day or two!"

"Alright, Uncle Lei, I'm not talking to you anymore. I'm going back to get some sleep. I need to tidy up my place these next few days!"

Lei Boliang nodded.

"You really need to clean up your doghouse properly, otherwise I doubt your wife will be able to move in."

(End of this chapter)