Wandering in the vast darkness

Chapter 49 in Beijing

Yu Wenhao's phone rang. He glanced at it and saw it was Meng Zhen. Yu Wenhao quickly told Brother Wang, "It's a call from home, I'll take it."

Brother Wang raised his hand. While Yu was on the phone, he picked up the Nongfu Spring water bottle, unscrewed the cap, took a few sips, and then screwed the cap back on.

On the phone, Meng Zhen lowered her voice and asked Yu Wenhao, "Brother, are you alright?"

"We're already home and getting ready to cook dinner," Mengzhen said.

Yu said, "Okay, I'm driving now, I won't talk to you anymore. I'll call you when I get to Wuhu."

Meng Zhen understood. The alarm was off. If it hadn't been off, Yu Wenhao wouldn't have called Cao Fang to avoid worrying her; he would have called him instead. His statement meant that everything was alright on his end.

Meng Zhen breathed a soft sigh of relief and said, "Brother, drive slowly and be careful."

Yu said hello.

After hanging up the phone, Brother Wang had already started talking non-stop. He couldn't hold back any longer; he had only told half of his story about his trip to Beijing. He continued:

"I agree with what he said; that makes it seem more reliable. Xiao Yu then took out his business card. I looked at it; the header said CIC (China Investment Corporation), and they were an investment company under CIC. As soon as I saw CIC, I felt it was trustworthy. Xiao Yu said that their company does indeed do investment and has ample funds, but they are very strict in their review of investment projects."

"The guy I went with and I burst out laughing when we heard that. He told the other guy, 'Luckily, Mr. Wang is sharp; he saw right through them and they were just trying to freeload, so we left immediately.' I said, 'It's not that I can't afford to treat them to a meal, but I don't like their behavior and I don't want to waste my energy on them.'"

"The meeting lasted for two hours. At the end, Mr. Ma told me that he was quite interested in my project, including our products and our existing market layout. He said that as long as there is capital investment, we can start immediately."

"I asked him how many days it would take if I had to wait, and he told me three days. He said we would have a meeting the day after tomorrow, and we would hear back the day after tomorrow whether it would work out or not. I thought, it's only three days, so I'll wait in Beijing for three days."

"When that person saw us coming downstairs, he came over to me and said that he wasted a few minutes of my time and wanted to talk to me. So I invited him to the coffee bar in the lobby of the Tianlun Dynasty Hotel. As soon as we sat down, he said, 'Why are you with those people? Those people can't do anything, they just freeload.' He was with those people, saying that he was going there for lunch."

"Their company is indeed not far from where we live, right on Wusi Street. Turn left after passing Wangfujing Street, and you'll soon arrive at a very impressive office building. The driver dropped us off at the entrance, and Xiao Yu led us upstairs. Once we got upstairs, the guy who came with me and I both breathed a sigh of relief, feeling that we had come to the right place."

"In front of me, he called his department head, introduced the project, and introduced me as well. His department head asked Xiao Yu to send over my business license first. Xiao Yu also asked me if the leader wanted him to take a picture of me. They wanted to check not only the authenticity of the company, but also whether I was the legal representative of the company and not some kind of middleman."

"Then, he introduced himself as Yu, not the Yu you're talking about, but the Yu of Renze, and told me to call him Xiao Yu. Xiao Yu said to me, 'In this society, where are all these floating things? Where would you find real money? And if it were real money, it wouldn't come and go so easily; there would definitely be procedures involved. If it were that easy, who wouldn't just put that money directly into their own pocket?'"

"The person who came said that I could tell that President Wang was different from them. He is a person who really wants to get things done, which is why he came here specifically. Otherwise, he wouldn't have come."

"Xiao Yu works in Project Department Two. Their general manager's surname is Ma. General Manager Ma led us into the conference room and also invited people from the risk control department to come and participate. I gave them a detailed introduction to my project and the situation of the previous investment. They also carefully reviewed our company's reports."

That evening, we moved to the Beijing Overseas Chinese Building Ruisi Hotel, which is near Wusi Street. After that, the two of us had nothing else to do in Beijing except wait, so we went to places like the Bird's Nest, the Water Cube, and the Forbidden City.

"I quickly agreed and thanked Xiao Yu, asking him to stay so I could treat him to dinner. Xiao Yu declined, telling me that we were currently working on a project they were discussing, and according to the rules, he couldn't have much contact with me. If we were to meet again, it would be in three days, after we had a result."

"We had just come downstairs when, you know, these guys are really something. In such a short time, they actually found out where we were staying. There was one guy, probably in his thirties, whom I'd seen before in that private room at that small restaurant. He sat there without saying a word."

"When we said goodbye to Mr. Ma, Xiao Yu took us back to the hotel. He reminded us that it would be best to change hotels and not to hang out with these shady people in society anymore. If word got back to their company that we were in contact with these people, it would be bad for us."

"Xiao Yu was very happy. He told us that the company was not far from here and that the car would be there soon, so we should wait. When their car arrived, I saw that it was a Buick Envision that came to pick us up. Xiao Yu said it was specifically for picking up clients."

"I said, strict review is the right thing to do. If it's as exaggerated as those people say, I don't believe it's true. Xiao Yu made me show him all my certificates and licenses, and also showed me the project approval document from the Provincial Development and Reform Commission. Only then did he tell me, 'I think your project is feasible, but whether it can be done is not up to me.'"

"Sure enough, what that man said was pretty much what I expected. He also told me that when he came out, those people found out we had already left, but the food had already been ordered and couldn't be returned. They were trying to figure out how to pay for the meal. He didn't eat a single bite, but he had to leave fifty dollars to get away. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to leave either."

"But, he said to me, 'But all our projects, like those of banks, need to be reviewed by a meeting. After screening, the projects to be investigated are finally determined.' He asked me whether to wait for news in Beijing or go back to Hangzhou to wait for news."

"We went back to the hotel, grabbed our things, and I told that guy, 'Let's go, don't waste time here, it's all just fluff. Let's get to the airport and find the next flight back to Hangzhou.'"

"Xiao Yu's company is very large, with Project Department 1, 2, and 3, as well as Compliance Department, Risk Control Department, and Legal Department, etc. It looks like a very formal company, and the people in the company also look like employees of large companies, such as China Investment Corporation."

"Of course I agreed to let him take the photos. He took them and sent them over. About ten minutes later, I received a call saying that they had checked and the company, project, and legal representative were all correct. We could go to their company to discuss it, and the car was already on its way."

"He found the hotel we were staying at, but I don't know if it was the middleman who told him. I think it's unlikely. If it were, the middleman would definitely have followed us. In this business, going over him is considered skipping the deal, which means you're missing out on his benefits, and everyone avoids that."

"I think this is how big state-owned companies should operate, unlike those hooligans I met at noon, who were lucky to even get a free meal."