Chapter 24: Free Man (Please click to recommend)

  "Hello." George, with a thick layer of hair oil, greeted Su.

  Since he came to China, he has seen serious and solemn Chinese men, serious and solemn Chinese women, serious and solemn Chinese children, but never a carefree Chinese person.

  Su's natural expression and actions, not put on, made George feel good. The formal etiquette in China is very good, but living forever in a formal setting is sad.

  Su Cheng raised his head and smiled at him, pointing to his pancake, saying in English: "I drove all the way here, didn't even have breakfast, I'm starving."

  He was thrilled to hear him spit out such a long string of English, and even mentioned driving, George opened his mouth in English: "Is this your snack? I've had many authentic breads, but haven't had the chance to try local food yet."

  Domestic officials have always been welcoming to foreign guests. In their eyes, domestic cuisine is not worth mentioning, far less than providing Western-style meals that the other party is familiar with.

  Su Cheng smiled and said, "There are various snacks for sale outside the door, you can also call room service."

  He was average in English at university, not a genius but a hardworking kid. However, this life's Beida Su Cheng is a memory genius, with nearly 20,000 words stored in his brain, some professional vocabulary being obscure and boring.

  Of course, the way of thinking when talking with George is also later, and the grammar that Su City habitually uses is also later.

  The two combined, however, did boost his English level up a notch.

  George was delighted to be able to converse normally, after all, translation is translation, and there are diplomatic protocols, which can be quite dull. Moreover, the vocabulary she used was extremely peculiar, with many words dating back to before the Cold War, giving off an old movie feel.

  Several leaders looked at each other in dismay and didn't dare to lose their temper in front of the foreign guests, until they went to Su City to handle the room procedures, someone winked at the service staff.

  The waiter promptly said to Su Cheng, "Sorry, we don't have any empty rooms left."

  "Really nothing?" Su Cheng also saw the leader's expression. However, he was from the petroleum system and didn't need to care about local officials at all.

  "What's wrong, Su?" George suddenly asked, seeing that Su had furrowed his brow and thinking he had gotten himself into trouble. This was not the first time something like this had happened in China over the past week.

  Su Cheng shrugged and said, "They say there are no more rooms available."

  "How come, on just one floor of mine, there are several rooms empty." George said to the provincial official beside him.

  The latter reluctantly explained: "Out of safety considerations, we did not arrange for anyone on that floor."

  "I believe China is a very safe country and Chinese people are friendly and kind, so there's no need to prepare anything special for me. Since there's no room available, let Mr. Su stay on my floor." George was stunned for a few days, and then asked Su in a very fluent phrase: "Is that okay?"

  "No problem, thank you all." Su Cheng handed over the introduction letter again.

  At someone's prompting, the service staff finally completed the registration and check-in procedures.

  Su Cheng winked at the accompanying officials and continued to smile at George, asking: "Do you live here alone?"

  If at first he just happened to meet this foreigner and chatted with him for a couple of sentences to test his English level, after getting familiar with him, he intentionally drew closer.

  At that time, China still had all sorts of restrictions and frameworks. Many things were difficult to do on one's own, but through foreign friends, simple matters became easy as farting. Having an overseas relative or a foreign friend was extremely convenient.

  George also had the urge to chat, and smiled: "They all went to inspect the factory. We produce and import chemical products, mainly various oils, as well as ethylene and propylene."

  "So we are in the same industry. Oh, forgot to introduce myself, I work at Shengli Oilfield, a large oil and gas production company, we produce crude oil, diesel fuel, lubricating oil, etc., also involved in propane, ethylene...".

  These were all used by him when he was in school.

  George's eyes lit up, and he immediately said: "I've been to your Daqing Oilfield before, and this time I really intend to go to the Victory Oilfield. Can you introduce me?"

  "Of course."

  The two of them started talking back and forth.

  The company George is in is a major importer of chemical products, purchasing large quantities of crude oil and petrochemicals from the Chinese market every year. This time he came to China for inspection and expansion of the market.

  They have always been purchased and sold through China National Chemicals Import & Export Corporation. However, this practice is obviously lacking in transparency.

  Since leaving Beijing, George has been thinking on the train about how to get in touch with more local people and local companies.

  Suzhou is delivered right to our doorstep.

  For George, chatting is what cost, if can thus more understand a bit China, that is again good.

  Before Su Cheng intervened, the chemical import and export company official who accompanied George was still calm until they talked about specific oil products. At that time, the official started coughing desperately, almost pulling people forward. The Shandong official remained silent and observed the changes.

  It was as if Su Cheng hadn't heard anything at all.

  Chui Hongguo watched his junior's performance, feeling helpless and envious of his freedom. Nowadays, state-owned enterprises with money don't care about local officials, like the petroleum system, which has its own schools, hospitals, and under the command of the Victory Oil Field, there are also public security bureaus, judicial bureaus, intermediate people's courts, and procuratorates, not afraid of local governments at all. On the contrary, local governments want to use a little more oil, get a little more production materials, sell a few more machines, and have to beg and coax them.

  As for chemical import and export companies, this kind of Bodhisattva belongs to the type that benefits from being supplied with good things and kicks away those without benefits. No one will give up the benefits in front of them to please them. For example, a large-scale enterprise like Shengli Oilfield often has customers bullying shops.

  The English teacher from the local university gave the officials a hard time with translations, as Suzhou's English was full of new words. Artificial intelligence was bad enough, but SST (supersonic transport) left her hopeless.

  Looking at George, the more they chatted, the happier he became, and he didn't have any intention of going upstairs to rest. If it weren't for taking care of Su Cheng's hearing, his speech speed could be twice as fast, and even so, it had already reached the limit of translation.

  After being in China for so long, George finally found a normal way of speaking. The English teacher's grammar and vocabulary usage were flawless, but the words themselves made him feel uncomfortable. It was a hard-to-describe feeling, like people from the 1930s talking to those from the 1970s, or people from the 1970s talking to those from the year 2000.

  George had to be careful not to use abbreviations, at first even OPEC (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) had to be spelled out as "anizatioroleumExptries", which was a tongue-twister for him. Words like greenpower were even more troublesome, judging from the translated responses, it seemed that the other side had mistakenly translated gold power into green power because they didn't know that green referred to the color of US dollars; perhaps it should be considered fortunate that it wasn't translated as environmental power.

  The so-called new words in Suzhou are actually also learned in school. With the same background as the female teacher who does translations, it is also due to the backwardness of school textbooks. Many of the words he says now were popular phrases in the late 1980s and early 1990s. It's as if schools are naturally preparing students for time travel and rebirth.

  "Su, are you on vacation?" George asked suddenly.

  "I suppose so."

  "Can you be my private translator?" George asked with expectation. From his perspective, the translators around him were all assigned by the negotiating company, and the information was filtered too heavily. Su Cheng was also Chinese, but as long as he didn't belong to the chemical import and export company, it would be good for him to get more information.

  Moreover, the way they use language also makes people feel more comfortable.

  He turned to face the female teacher and explained, "Your translation is also good, but Su understands my cultural background and company business better. You can continue to translate for them, but let Su Cheng be my translator."

  The female teacher was still speaking Chinese to others, when Su Cheng had already stretched out his hand and smiled: "No problem, I'd be delighted."

  George shook hands with Su and smiled: "How about $100 a day for translation fees? I'll probably stay here for about 10 more days."

  "No problem." Su Cheng nodded.

  The official of the chemical import and export company next door had just heard the translation, and saw Su Cheng and George shaking hands, suddenly furious.

  He didn't want to lose his temper in front of the foreign guests, so he suppressed his anger until George went upstairs. Then he hastily shouted at Su Cheng: "Do you still follow diplomatic discipline?"