Return to Hong Kong Island for a Century

Chapter 217 Introduction (First Update, 3800+ words)

Upon hearing these words, Li Wendong said, "I need to go back and think about it."

"Of course, no problem." Li Song wasn't surprised by the other party's answer.

Then he treated his uncle to a meal and then left.

When Li Wendong returned to the hotel that evening, he was somewhat puzzled, unsure of Li Song's intentions.

And is what Li Song said about the temple true or false? How did Li Song know about it?
Li Song didn't care; it was just a casual move. If it yielded any results, great; if not, so be it.

On Tuesday, Li Song stayed home writing his manuscript and didn't go anywhere else, just wanting to finish his work as soon as possible.

As for the person David introduced, he hasn't arrived yet.

On Wednesday, Li Song arrived at Baisheng Company, where Boeing's representatives were already present.

Boeing sent a senior executive from the Commercial Airplanes Group's marketing department this time.

Boeing is divided into several large divisions, including Commercial Airplanes, Defense & Space Security, as well as support divisions such as Financial Services, Common Services, and Engineering & Technology.

After Li Song arrived at Baisheng Company, the Boeing representative arrived at 10 o'clock.

"Mr. Peter, it's a pleasure to meet you. I am Li Song, the owner of Parkson Company." Li Song greeted Peter, the senior executive of Boeing's marketing department, with a smile.

“Mr. Li, it’s a pleasure to meet you too.” Peter was somewhat arrogant, looking at the tiny place that was Parkson Company, wondering why the company had sent him to such a place.

Peter was a white man in his fifties, bald. He also had a secretary with him, a blonde, blue-eyed beauty, though she was a bit old and had rough skin.

Peter followed Li Song to the conference room, his contempt for Parkson Company growing even stronger. Such a small conference room? It wasn't even as big as his own office.

“Mr. Li, we noticed that your company has applied for patents for two aircraft. We wonder if your company has any intention of producing these two aircraft?” Peter asked directly.

Li Song wasn't surprised at all by the other party's attitude, after all, it was a big company.

"Mr. Peter, I'm sorry, I can't disclose that information; it's a company secret." Li Song said with a smile, but directly refused the other party's request.

“Mr. Li, perhaps for your small company, the design of these two aircraft is excellent.”

“We don’t know who’s behind you, but what I’m saying is that your design is outdated.”

Narrow-body passenger planes! They are already outdated.

"Moreover, Boeing is the world's largest aircraft manufacturer."

"So you don't need to keep it a secret from us?"

"And there might even be a possibility of cooperation," Pi said arrogantly, looking at Li Song.

Li Song said with a smile, "Mr. Peter is right. How about we sign a cooperation agreement and have our company commission Boeing to produce aircraft in the future?"

“This… is impossible. Our company doesn’t accept external designs. We have the world’s most advanced and sophisticated design team, and our order book is already full,” Peter replied, shaking his head.

Peter didn't actually have that authority; he was just there to find out what was going on.

"Uh? Mr. Peter, aren't you here to cooperate with us?" Li Song asked.

“We’re here to cooperate, but only if we know who you are, where your research institute is located, and what your plans are for designing these two aircraft,” Peter continued.

"We can exchange ideas and cooperate on research, and we can invite your aircraft designers to visit Boeing."

“Especially for engine designers, you can learn a lot from our company,” Peter continued.

Li Song finally understood the other party's purpose. They had their eye on the aircraft designers, or rather, they wanted to know who designed the aircraft and then tried to find out under the guise of cooperation.

Then there's the next step.

"I'm sorry, our design and research institute is privately owned, so it's confidential," Li Song shook his head.

"So do you have any other plans? We at Boeing have extensive design experience, covering many types of aircraft, including short- and medium-range passenger planes, wide-body passenger planes, and so on," Peter asked again.

"Not for now. We're still optimizing our narrow-body medium- and long-range passenger aircraft," Li Song shook his head.

"This is my business card. If Mr. Li changes his mind, please contact us." Peter felt that Li Song was just a puppet, an idiot who knew nothing and wouldn't answer any questions. He kept it a secret, so he took out a business card, placed it on the table, and stood up.

"Mr. Peter, are you just leaving like this?"

“Yes, I’m very busy, Mr. Li. Goodbye.” Peter said as he walked out.

Li Song glanced at Tian Jiahui, who nodded silently. Then Li Song saw Peter out of the company.

Upon reaching the door, Li Song said, "Mr. Peter, Boeing is a great company, and I look forward to our future cooperation."

“Of course!” Peter reached out and shook hands with Li Song, then took his leave.

After Peter got into the car, his blonde, blue-eyed secretary said, "Someone just took a picture of us."

“Maybe it’s the person behind this kid. This kid is a puppet, I’m sure of it!” Peter said, watching Li Song wave at him.

"It's hard to say for sure right now, but the chances are pretty high," the blonde, blue-eyed secretary nodded.

"Actually, I think the people at headquarters are being too sensitive. It's just two design drawings, and they're even for narrow-body passenger planes."

“Our company can produce several of these outdated products every year,” Peter shrugged.

The blonde, blue-eyed secretary did not answer, because she worked for the Public Support Department and was actually an intelligence agent for Ami.

"Their company is too small, not even as big as my house."

"This is just for show, to impress others. I have a feeling that it might be those European guys behind it."

“Those guys in Europe have always wanted to compete with Boeing, that’s why they’re doing this to distract us,” Peter said with a smile, looking at his secretary. “Perhaps, Mr. Peter. We can take the next available flight home,” the secretary nodded and suggested.

"I think we can do more in this place..."

“No, Peter, I’m not interested in you.” The secretary shook her head.

“Fine then, don’t make me come to this damn Far East again, it’s too far.” Peter shrugged.

After Peter's car left, Tian Jiahui said, "Boss, this guy is too arrogant. I want him to get lost."

"Boeing, that's perfectly normal," Li Song chuckled, not taking it to heart.

“I’m going to the mainland tomorrow. If the people from the design company David recommended come, you should receive them,” Li Song said.

"Yes!" Tian Jiahui nodded.

However, just as Li Song returned to his office, Tian Jiahui arrived: "Boss, David called, the person he recommended has arrived."

"Then let's meet them." Li Song hadn't expected David's men to come today.

David received the call and hurriedly brought his team over, but this time he didn't bring his assistant from last time.

David was with two men, a middle-aged white man and a young white man.

“Hello Mr. Li, we are Dane, the vice president of Duolun Design Company, and this is my assistant, Harris.” David introduced the two people to Li Song.

"Mr. Li, hello, hello." Dane was very enthusiastic towards Li Song. Dane had arrived yesterday afternoon and, after learning about Li Song's situation from David, knew that he was a potential big client, and that he was also a writer and a billionaire in Hong Kong.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you too, Mr. Dane.” Li Song nodded.

"Sorry, I just met with a business partner and forgot to collect it." After arriving at the conference room, Li Song finally collected Peter's business card.

Yes, that was intentional.

Dane had already seen the business card and asked in surprise, "Mr. Li has business dealings with Boeing?"

"Yes, we have the intention to cooperate, Mr. Dane, your company?" Li Song replied vaguely, then asked.

“I’m sorry, it was my oversight. Our company has participated in the design of F1 circuits, as well as the design of circuits for many car racing series and motorcycle circuits. We have a lot of experience in circuit design.” Dane picked up a document and handed it to Li Song.

Li Song could not verify the authenticity of these materials, and Westerners also like to exaggerate.

David explained from the side, "Track design is a highly specialized field, and there are only a handful of design companies in the world that are qualified and experienced."

Li Song took a look and realized that the company was quite reputable, and he knew that what David said was true.

Moreover, the biggest advantage of these companies recommended by these organizations is that there are no issues with subsequent verification.

Track design and construction require various assessments. If you hire another company, they might get stuck at the subsequent approval stages.

Actually, this is just like contracting projects in mainland China. If you don't have connections, you'd better not take the job, otherwise you won't get paid, and you'll know how serious it is when it comes to the final inspection.

Westerners are also very skilled at this, with all sorts of certifications and recognitions. You'd only know how impressive it is if you didn't have connections.

As for the connection, just look at Boeing's subsequent parts quality scandal, the data falsification in the "craftsmanship spirit" notebook, and the data falsification by the renowned German company. All of these things will make it clear.

So the world is just a giant makeshift stage; what others show you is the best side, and as for the rest, you'll know how impressive it is once you experience it for yourself.

"We haven't received the geological data yet, so we don't know how long the designers will need," Li Song asked.

“Mr. Li, relatively speaking, motocross tracks are simpler to build than other tracks. We can optimize the route according to the terrain to achieve the required level of difficulty.”

“Sometimes, you don’t even need to build anything; you just need to put up signs on both sides of the track.”

“The most difficult to build is road racing, which requires many things, including geological conditions, hydrological conditions, climate conditions, and even wildlife, etc.”

“Generally speaking, the design time is 3-6 months, which involves data analysis, geological analysis, field surveys, and so on,” Dane said.

“Mr. David has already mentioned the location Mr. Li plans to hold the competition at. The weather conditions at this latitude are quite good in winter, but if we want to hold the competition in winter, we need to expedite the design.”

"Because the track design is complete, we can notify the other teams..." Dane said a lot.

Li Song nodded; "Then what about expedited processing? Can it be completed?"

“Yes, but it requires excellent cooperation. It will increase our workload, involve business trips to the mainland, and require more manpower. We will even outsource some of the work to other companies in the same industry… so the cost will be quite high,” Dane said.

"Money is not a problem, it would be best if the competition could be held in January or February next year," Li Song continued.

“Could we first take a look at some basic information, including a site survey? We can sign a preliminary cooperation agreement for this part first, and then finalize the subsequent contracts. Mr. Li, as you know, if the local conditions are not good, we may even need to transport helicopters from Europe to participate in the design,” Dane added.

"Okay, let's sign a preliminary cooperation agreement first," Li Song said.

Then Li Song signed a preliminary cooperation agreement with Dane, with an initial payment of $100,000.

Then Tian Jiahui contacted the mainland authorities, and personally accompanied the two to apply for mainland visas.

The next day, they went directly to Shanghai. Li Tianyou, who was in charge of the event at Parkson Company, was originally a receptionist. BMW Motorrad Company also sent a senior executive, Yang Wen, who used to be in charge of human resources and is now in charge of the event. He personally led the team to Shanghai.

On Thursday, September 18, 1980, Li Song sat on a boat bound for Guangzhou, looking at a news article in the newspaper.

The title is: Shocking! Author of Ghost Blows Out the Light, Beipai Sanshu, is suspected of collaborating with Boeing.

The accompanying photo showed Li Song seeing a guest off and shaking hands with him at the company entrance, along with Peter's detailed information.

This news surprised many people in Hong Kong. How could a writer like Beipai Sanshu have any connection with Boeing?

Isn't Beipai Sanshu planning to establish a television station? And isn't the general manager of Qimiao Magazine having a war of words with Shaw Brothers in the newspaper?
This is actually just a starting point; more things will gradually emerge later. This starting point needs to be explosive enough.

(End of this chapter)