Nanyang 1931: From piglets to giants

Chapter 313 Things change and people change
"Welcome, welcome, Mr. Zheng, welcome back to visit your hometown."

Looking at the officials gathered at the airport, Zheng Yi sighed imperceptibly and nodded to them one by one.

"Uncle, welcome home."

Zheng Yi looked at the middle-aged man in front of him and said with a smile: "It's Jilong. I haven't seen you for so many years. How come you have gained so much weight? You came to pick me up in person, haha, let me take a look."

As he said that, Zheng Yi was not polite at all and pinched Li Jilong's face without considering the occasion.

This man, who was once the other leg of the Li family and even Zheng Yi's own spokesperson, was sent back to China as a bargaining chip. Now he is in a high position, at least at this middle-aged age.

"Don't pinch me, uncle. There are reporters and cameras here, and I'm not that fat."

Li Jilong's living conditions are undoubtedly much better than those of other Chinese people of the same period. After all, he came from the corporate sector and was responsible for attracting investment, so he had to treat people to drinks and so on. As a result, even though he was less than 50 years old, he had a beer belly and fatty liver.

"Get in the car, uncle, get in the car, get in the car."

"Ah."

Zheng Yi brought his granddaughter with him into the car, which was a Hongqi brand. It could be seen that the car was a bit old and even emitted black smoke when it was driving. The Hongqi cars of this period still used Soviet technology. Soviet products were just like this, burning oil, emitting smoke, and the comfort level was also average.

Even Zheng Yi felt that this thing was not as good as the Toyota Crown produced in Singapore. It was very bumpy.

"By the way, uncle, we've always known you're from Fuzhou, but where in Fuzhou are you from? To be honest, we've searched through the household registration system in Fuzhou, and even the entire Fujian province, and we can't find out where you're from. Are you going back to your hometown this time... to pay respects to your ancestors? What's the procedure?"

Zheng Yi smiled when he heard this. This matter is really hard to explain.

In fact, he also knew that in recent years, the people in several counties under Fujian were a little crazy in order to find out where he came from. It was said that if there was someone with the surname Zheng in any village that was slightly related to him, they would want to find the old people to dig out the family tree of their ancestors for eighteen generations.

Some people actually produced a lot of so-called evidence, but the higher-ups actually all knew which evidence was unreliable, so that this matter has now become an unsolved case in Fuzhou and even in the whole of Fujian.

Zheng Yi knew he couldn't get away with this. Of course, given his status and position, it didn't matter if he was spouting nonsense. He said, "I'm from Fuzhou City. I don't know any more specifics. You know, I actually grew up in the United States. My father never told me exactly where in Fuzhou my family came from when he was alive, so I don't really know either."

"Then your father's name is..."

"Well...his English name is Peter Zheng, but fellow Chinese people call him Lao Zheng. He came to the United States with my grandfather. At home, he said that the family wanted to learn about American culture, so he also asked me to call him Peter. I never asked him what his Chinese name was. As for my grandfather, well..."

"What's your grandfather's name?"

"My name is... Smith."

Li Jilong: “…………”

"My grandfather died too young. I was barely old enough to remember him when he died. My neighbors only knew him as Old Zheng or Smith Zheng. They didn't even know his full name."

Li Jilong smiled bitterly upon hearing this: "Uncle, you... this has really given us a big problem. I'm afraid those Zhengjia Villages down below will have a few fights over this."

Zheng Yi smiled and said, "It doesn't matter. I just know that Fuzhou is my home. Besides, you know me well. Although I wear Western clothes, my heart is always Chinese."

Li Jilong: "Of course. Ever since the Anti-Japanese War, you and the overseas Chinese in Southeast Asia have given great support to the motherland. Over the years, the motherland and the overseas Chinese have been connected by hearts and by tendons."

"The country has already formulated a policy to give priority to opening up Fujian and Guangdong, especially for the Chinese in Southeast Asia, especially patriotic Chinese like my uncle. At the same time, a special economic zone will be established in Fujian specifically to attract investment."

"To put it simply, Fujian and Guangdong provinces are currently open to Chinese from Southeast Asia and welcome investment, but other regions haven't been very supportive of sole proprietorship yet. The higher authorities are planning to establish Shenzhen, Guangdong, and Xiamen, Fujian as demonstration special economic zones, where sole proprietorship should be permitted."

Hearing this, Zheng Xiaotong curled his lips in disdain and said, "We in the Southern Alliance have our own conditions when doing business around the world. We even have to bring guns and station troops. When we return to serve our country, we actually have to form a joint venture. Haha, who are we cooperating with? Who holds the dominant power? Who will we turn to for lawsuits if there are conflicts of interest?"

Li Jilong also smiled bitterly upon hearing this, then laughed and said, "This is Xiaotong, right? Haha, you've grown into a big girl now. Do you still remember your uncle? I held you in my arms when you were a child."

Zheng Xiaotong: "I don't remember, but I always knew there was someone like you in my family."

This girl grew up in the United States when she was a child. Even if she wanted to get close to her uncle Li Jilong, she had no chance, so the two of them were really not familiar with each other.

Zheng Yi smiled and lit a cigar without interrupting.

His original purpose of coming back this time was to break down barriers to communication and guide the Chinese from Southeast Asia to return to China to invest. Objectively speaking, this was not entirely out of patriotism. No one in the world was more confident about China's future development than him.

Other Southeast Asian Chinese, especially those super-rich businessmen who own certain shares in the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation, are at least still salivating over the huge market of more than one billion people in the country. Everyone knows the principle of occupying the market early and reaping the benefits early, and taking one step slowly will lead to more steps.

However, being a pioneer involves considerable political risks, so everyone is waiting for Zheng Yi to take the lead with his special status as their leader.

Over the years, everyone in the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation, whether Chinese or not, knows that following Mr. Zheng’s investment is the right path.

Over the past few decades, Mr. Zheng has been leading almost all of the emerging investment trends in semiconductors, computers, and chips. He has even been involved in many of the key technologies. The industries he has single-handedly led in producing, such as mobile phones and personal game consoles, are now ready to blossom.

Some of these industries are located in the United States, where Zheng Yi only holds personal shares. Some are in Southeast Asia, where Zheng Yi controls the upstream core. Although there is no concept of the Fortune 500 at this time and space.

But the whole world actually knows that among the two hundred largest, most powerful and most profitable companies in the world today, Zheng Yi has a stake of more than 5% in at least one hundred of them, and at least twenty of them are controlled or led by Zheng Yi.

After the collapse of the Bretton Woods system, although the SAARC further ceded part of its monetary sovereignty under pressure from the United States, the SAARC currency, as the world's second largest circulating currency, is strongly bound to the US dollar and has achieved 100% free convertibility.

However, as a price, Penang Bank and Bank of Singapore have now become one of the behind-the-scenes shareholders of the Federal Reserve. In addition, his voice in Citigroup and Morgan Stanley has become increasingly important. In fact, he has become one of the biggest behind-the-scenes bosses of the Federal Reserve and can control the issuance of US dollars to a certain extent.

So many people have said over the years that although Mr. Zheng's Southern Alliance was almost acquired by the United States, Mr. Zheng also almost parasitized the entire United States and became the most powerful behind-the-scenes boss in the United States.

Therefore, although he has not been involved in politics in recent years, he is regarded as one of the most powerful people in the world despite being out of politics.

However, precisely because of this, the country is actually extremely wary of his return to invest. After all, it is only the beginning of reform and opening up, and there are too many old stubborn people who are wary of a big capitalist like him.

When he invested in the United States, he secretly took away a certain amount of American power and became one of the masterminds behind the entire United States. This is acceptable to Americans. After all, if the mastermind is not Zheng Yi, it will be someone else.

Zheng Yi still has a very good reputation among the people, and many Americans even think that it would be great if Zheng Yi could become the president of the United States.

American politics has always been manipulated by various black hands, big or small. Just after the end of World War II, only the Republican Party was like this. Now even the Democratic Party has gradually shown signs of being infiltrated by big capital.

But it's different in China. Everyone is actually afraid that it's easier to invite a god than to send him away. If Zheng Yi returns to China to invest just for money, that's fine. After all, he is indeed a patriotic compatriot. The only thing is that we are afraid that he doesn't just want money.

If you want power, what kind of power, how to give it, and how much power is there.

I had to be so wary of him.

Zheng Yi knew all these things very well. He returned to China this time with the purpose of investing and making money, as well as the original intention of serving the motherland. However, political games were inevitable. After all, he was the real leader of a faction and he always had to consider his subordinates.

Investment is certain, but how to invest, how much power can be obtained, and what conditions the motherland can offer are naturally all things that need to be discussed.

He still had to maintain a patriotic image as much as possible, so he naturally couldn't say some unpleasant words. This little girl grew up in the United States, and this was her first time back to China, so she naturally said whatever she wanted. She was also Zheng Yi's substitute, so even if she said something wrong, it was nothing more than the little girl being ignorant and her words didn't count.

Although Li Jilong was somewhat embarrassed by what he heard, he explained, "It can't be helped. Public ownership is the mainstay, but you are still the largest shareholder. Our half of the joint venture will be shared among the local government, central enterprises, and the general public."

"If you, uncle, were to invest in a factory, for example, in Fuzhou, the local government would use land, infrastructure, and tax revenue to invest in the company. As for state-owned enterprises, the higher-ups have given China Resources the nod as the first choice. They can invest in the company with foreign exchange and certain foreign trade products. Finally, a certain share must be reserved for the workers. After all, the principle of workers being the masters of the company cannot be changed."

Zheng Yi smiled when he heard this, knowing that this was very different from what happened in history. In fact, there was a little trick, which was that the workers held shares.

The public shareholding must exceed 51%, but if the 51% includes workers, that is, as long as some of the worker representatives are willing to switch sides, the 51% and 49% votes can be switched at any time.

Of course, this is not Nanyang after all. When dealing with the government, the amount of shares is often not that important.

Zheng Yi didn't comment on this, but just smiled and said, "I came back this time just to travel. There's no rush for investment."

As he spoke, Zheng Yi looked at the street scene outside and suddenly asked, "Are you taking me to the West Lake Hotel?"

"Yes, uncle, why are you..."

"There won't be any more speeches from the leaders, will there?"

Li Jilong: "This... is indeed a speech by a provincial leader, it is..."

"As for the speech, let's wait until your brother and the others come to discuss the details. I won't give you that honor. This trip is a personal one, and I'm old now, and I hate overly formal occasions like this."

"Ah... yes, Uncle, I understand. So... is there anywhere you'd like to go? We originally planned to have a Buddha Jumps Over the Wall feast at Juchun Garden at noon, but it seems a bit early for lunch now. So, are there any tourist attractions or famous mountains and rivers you'd like to visit when you get back?"

Zheng Yi lowered his head upon hearing this, as if he was thinking about something, and suddenly asked, "Is there... a place called Dongjiekou Department Store in Fuzhou?"

"Uncle, do you know this? It is true. Not only do they have daily necessities, but this Dongjiekou Department Store also has an 'Overseas Chinese Counter' where you can buy goods from Southeast Asia."

"Let's go over there and take a look."

"it is good."

Li Jilong was a little confused as to why his uncle chose to go to the department store as his first stop after getting off the plane, but he still ordered the convoy to drive there as he was told.

As for standing up the provincial leaders, just let them go. There's nothing we can do about it.

In fact, the reason why Zheng Yi wanted to visit the department store was very simple, because that was his real home in China, and his mother was a salesperson in the department store.

When he was a child, he would come to the department store to play whenever he had time. Although looking back now, it seems that there was really nothing to play there, he remembered that his mother was very capable of getting overseas remittance coupons, and every weekend she could get cheap hairtail to eat at the internal price.

To be honest, he didn't know whether he still had a mother or whether he still existed in this time and space.

In 1980, he should have been in elementary school.

Unbeknownst to Zheng Yi, the department store had already begun to be cleared when the convoy just turned. A large number of police rushed over in a hurry, and armed police and special police were also urgently mobilized, not to mention the interior of the mall.

Zheng Yi's sudden turn gave every employee and management in the store an urgent task.

Soon, the car stopped in front of the store. Zheng Yi turned his head and looked at the building in front of him that was both strange and familiar. He was a little dazed for a moment.

"Uncle, we're here. This is...Uncle?"

Li Jilong looked at the old man in confusion in the passenger seat.

【Why the hell is he crying? 】

"Grandpa, what's wrong with you? Are your eyes uncomfortable?"

"Ah, ah?"

Zheng Yi also reached out to touch it and realized that he was crying. He quickly took out a handkerchief and wiped his face.

"fine."

Zheng Yi no longer wanted to explain, nor could he explain, but fortunately his status was high enough, so if he didn't want to explain, no matter what strange things he did, others could only bear it.

"Uncle, we're here." Li Jilong opened the car door for Zheng Yi.

"well."

"Uncle?"

"My legs seem to be a little weak, can you give me a hand, give me a hand."

"Eh."

After a lot of effort, Li Jilong helped Zheng Yi out, but he found that his hands seemed to be shaking and his legs and feet seemed to be a little unsteady, which surprised him greatly.

"Uncle, you, you don't have Parkinson's disease or something like that, do you? You should pay attention to physical examinations regularly."

"Don't worry, I usually have a small checkup once a week and a large checkup once a month. Aside from my prostate, I have no problems at all. Come on, I don't need your help."

"Eh."

"Wait a moment!"

"what happened again?"

"Yes, is there a toilet? I need to pee."

"It's in the store."

After a while, Zheng Yi came out of the toilet and saw that there were only a few customers left in the store, all of them with short haircuts. He knew that the place had been cleared out, but the decoration and furnishings in the building were similar to what he remembered.

He originally thought that he had forgotten these memories long ago. Before coming in, when you asked him to recall what it was like in here, he indeed had forgotten everything. But now, as soon as he entered the door, the memories of the dead immediately began to attack him.

A woman wearing a small suit, looking very capable, without any makeup, but no less beautiful than those movie stars, bowed to him with a smile on her face.

"Hello, Mr. Zheng. I'm the foreman of our store. I'm happy to serve you. What would you like to see?"

"Auntie Wang..." "What did you say?"

"Oh, nothing. I want to see... I want to see... the counter that sells soap and washing powder."

"Huh? Oh okay, I'll take you there."

After saying that, the woman turned around and led the way. After walking two steps, she looked back and found that Zheng Yi had stayed where he was without moving.

"Grandpa, what's wrong with you?"

"You, please help me."

"Your legs, why are your legs shaking all the time? You, you, your legs are not really..."

"My legs are fine, it's fine, just support me a little."

As he was speaking, the sensible young secretary had already gotten a crutch from somewhere, trotted back and handed it to Zheng Yi.

Zheng Yi hesitated for a moment, took it, then frowned and threw the crutch back: "I don't need this thing, I'm in good health."

Everyone was confused when they saw this, especially those followers who came with him from Southeast Asia. Everyone could see that since Mr. Zheng entered the store, he was obviously... seemed... a little nervous.

But what is he nervous about?

It is really hard for everyone to imagine what else in this world can make Mr. Zheng nervous.

Even if the US President wants to meet Mr. Zheng, he has to make an appointment in advance.

"Let's go."

Soon, Zheng Yi adjusted himself. He was actually just a little nervous about being close to home, and he was really afraid of not seeing his mother.

After all, the flapping of the butterfly's wings has already had a great impact on the country.

But fortunately, God still favored him, and the worst situation did not happen. At the counter selling soap, laundry detergent and other cleaning products, he still saw the person he missed most in the past fifty years.

"Ah, Mr. Zheng, would you like to buy something?"

Salesperson Li Yuping was completely confused at this time.

The entire mall, whether it was customers or other salespeople, as well as those important figures who had only heard of her on the radio news and seen her photos, all looked at her curiously from head to toe.

She herself was also confused.

She is just an ordinary salesperson.

For a moment, I felt uncomfortable all over my body. My hands were numb, my two cloth shoes were twisted together, and my palms were full of sweat.

Less than half an hour ago, a notice was suddenly broadcasted from above that Mr. Zheng was coming to visit their department store. No one knew what was so good about the visit in the department store, but since such a big shot was coming, they immediately drove away the customers who were shopping.

Then a strict order was issued from above, requiring them to entertain this distinguished guest from Southeast Asia with 100% enthusiasm.

As a native of Fuzhou, it was natural that she knew who Mr. Zheng was. Li Yuping had never thought that as a salesperson she would have to take on such a "national task" one day, so she quickly tidied up her clothes.

But she really didn't expect that she would have any intersection with Mr. Zheng.

What’s even more surprising is that Mr. Zheng looks... more nervous than her.

"Hello, Mr. Zheng."

"Ah, hello, hello."

On the side, Li Jilong handed him a handkerchief. He didn't know why his uncle suddenly burst into tears.

Zheng Yi turned around and said, "Can you get me a stool?"

Li Jilong: "Ah, ah, okay, okay."

A stool was found for Zheng Yi to sit on, and it was discovered that Zheng Yi didn't say anything, just looked at Li Yuping. Li Yuping was confused and didn't know what to say. The other entourage was even more confused and didn't know what to say.

[What happened? Why is Mr. Zheng crying like this? ]

After a while, Zheng Yi suddenly said, "Miss, can I hug you for a moment?"

Li Yuping was stunned when she heard this. She turned her head in panic, looked left and right, and instinctively looked at her manager, but it was obvious that everyone was blindfolded.

"Okay...Okay."

Then everyone was stunned, watching Zheng Yi hug Li Yuping across the counter.

After sitting down again after a while, Zheng Yi's first question was: "Girl, are you married?"

Everyone: "…………"

What is going on? !
Look at Li Yuping more carefully.

Just an ordinary person, at least in the eyes of a big shot like Mr. Zheng, this is simply too ordinary.

Li Yuping could only reply awkwardly: "To answer your question, I am married and my husband is a bus driver."

"Hmm, huh? You, your lover drives a bus? What's his name?"

"Um...my name is Sun Jianguo."

Zheng Yi: “…………”

"Mr. Zheng, what's wrong with you?"

Zheng Yi covered his temples with his hands, feeling a little confused.

Good news, mom is found, but dad is gone.

"Do you know Zheng Jianbin?"

"Ah? Brother Jianbin...yes, I know him too. He was my neighbor when I was little, and my dad and his dad were colleagues."

"Then why aren't you together?"

Li Yuping: “…………”

She was a little bit confused by this.

Zheng Yi couldn't help but mutter, "Damn, who is Sun Jianguo?"

Li Yuping asked curiously, "Mr. Zheng, do you... do you know me?"

Zheng Yi thought about it and suddenly had an idea. He asked, "Is your father's name Li Long?"

Li Yuping nodded: "Do you know my father?"

"Your grandfather's name is...is..."

Zheng Yi actually forgot his great-grandfather's name for a moment.

No, it seems I never knew.

"My grandfather's name is Li Chong."

"Yes, Li Zhong, that's Li Zhong, girl, we are relatives! This Li Zhong is my father's, no, he is my mother's brother."

[The ages should be about right.]

"Ah? But our family...our ancestors are from Shaowu, not Fuzhou. Aren't you from...Fuzhou?"

Zheng Yi: "Ah~~, after all this time I'm from Shaowu."

Everyone: "…………"

Li Jilong standing by couldn't help but cover his face.

This is obviously nonsense. And didn’t you just say in the car that you don’t even know your father’s name and that you grew up in the United States with your grandfather?

How did you recognize your relatives in Fuzhou?
This set of rhetoric can actually be said to be full of mistakes and omissions, and it can't even stand up to careful scrutiny. If you think about it a little, it is pure nonsense. But the same thing is, since Zheng Yi said so, no one dared to question him.

"Do you have children?" Zheng Yi asked again.

"Yes, I have a daughter named Sun Hong, who is eight years old this year."

"Daughter...then, do you know whether Zheng Jianbin is married or has children?"

"He...seems...to have a daughter too."

"Ah... She's also a daughter. That's good, that's good."

"They're all daughters. Dad and Mom aren't married, and they each have daughters. Does that mean I don't exist in this world anymore? This is really...really...it seems pretty good."

Zheng Yi suddenly asked again: "What are you doing now?"

"Ah? I'm working as... I'm working as a salesperson."

"Oh, yes, look at my brain. So, do you want to go abroad? Why don't you come to Penang? I'll take your whole family to Penang, okay? You can do...any business you want, and I can give you money."

Everyone was stunned for a moment, and Li Yuping was even more bewildered. She didn't understand why such a thing would happen. After thinking for a moment, she said, "Are we...really related? Then should I call you...uncle?"

Upon hearing this, Zheng Yi smiled bitterly and shook his head.

"You call me... Ha, that's fine, just call me uncle."

"Then, then uncle."

Li Yuping secretly glanced at her manager and a group of leaders whom she had only seen in newspapers and on the radio.

Just as he was speaking, the provincial leader who was preparing to speak at the West Lake Hotel also rushed over, sweating profusely.

"Well, uncle, I don't want to go to Southeast Asia. Could you please invest some money in our shopping mall, or in our city, to help us integrate with the international market and help our shopping mall earn foreign exchange?"

Zheng Yi laughed when he heard this.

My mother is actually quite aware.

But this is normal. After all, it is only the 80s. Although my family has nothing to do with high-ranking officials, it is indeed of good origin. Not everyone can be a salesperson in the 80s.

"Okay, let's do this. I'll have Nanyang Department Store and Walmart move in. The initial investment... let's invest a billion dollars first and see how it goes. I'll add more once it's gone. You'll be the general manager, and you'll decide how the joint venture works."

After saying that, Zheng Yi stood up and said, "By the way, we'll go to Juchun Garden later. You can come with us. Let's chat at the dinner table."

After saying that, Zheng Yi stood up and walked out.

Li Jilong came over at the right moment and whispered, "I just checked. Zheng Jianbin is a technician at the Second Chemical Plant."

Zheng Yi: "I know."

"Now let's..."

"Go to the Second Chemical Plant."

"Then this Sun Jianbin is..."

"Well...it should be my eldest nephew."

"Fine……"

(End of this chapter)