Chapter 281: Wealthy
Zhao Minglei came in a Lada. He originally thought that it was presentable to pick up Mr. Steven with this car. But who would have thought that after leaving the airport he found out that Steven had already rented a car in Yanjing, and this car was a rare Crown. When he saw the luxurious Crown slowly stop in front of them, how could Zhao Minglei have the courage to invite the other party to ride in his broken Lada?
However, Mr. Steven was very considerate of Zhao Minglei's opinion and specifically asked about the accommodation arranged for him. When he learned that Zhao Minglei had already booked a room at the Friendship Hotel, Mr. Steven smiled and said that the guest should follow the host's wishes, and since the place had been booked, let's go to the Friendship Hotel.
Friendship Hotel was built in 1954. It was formerly the Xijiao Guesthouse. It was renamed Friendship Hotel in 1956 and began to receive foreign guests in 1973. It is one of the oldest foreign-related hotels in Yanjing.
The group drove two cars, with Steven and his group driving a Crown in the lead, followed by Zhao Minglei and Wang Juan in a Lada, and they left the airport and headed towards the Friendship Hotel.
When they arrived at the Friendship Hotel, Zhao Minglei ran around to help Steven and his group with the check-in procedures. Steven and his two companions checked into three rooms. One large suite with a reception room was for Steven, and the other two rooms were on the same floor as Steven and were occupied by Ruth and Steven's assistant (bodyguard) Paul respectively.
Friendship Hotel is the best foreign-related hotel in Yanjing, so its facilities are naturally not bad. After entering the room and taking a look, Steven seemed very satisfied with the layout of the room, and then invited Zhao Minglei and others to sit down.
"Mr. Zhao, this is my first time in Yanjing. Sorry to bother you with my help in ordering the silk here..." Steven handed Zhao Minglei a cigar, lit it and smoked it, and said very politely.
"It's no trouble, no trouble. This is what I should do." Zhao Minglei said quickly with a smile on his face, while asking about Mr. Steven's itinerary.
Steven smiled and told him that he could not stay in Yanjing for a few days. This time he came to Yanjing mainly to check the market situation in the mainland, especially the northern market. As a big boss in Hong Kong, he had more frequent contact with the mainland than in Guangzhou, but he didn't know much about the northern market.
Although Steven's company's products had been doing business with Yanjing through channels as early as a year ago, in fact, the business was not directly handled by the Hong Kong company and Yanjing, but by a company in the mainland, namely Yangcheng.
Originally, with Steven's status, there was no need for him to go there in person. After all, the mainland market is still small, and the business volume only accounts for a part of his company's total business volume. In addition, the cooperation between Yangcheng Company and Steven's company is quite good, and he does not want to change partners under this circumstance. However, he was moved by Zhao Minglei's unyielding sincerity, especially the words Zhao Minglei said on the phone, which made Steven very interested in the mainland market. So this time, he took the opportunity of the inspection in Pengcheng to take time to fly to Yanjing to see what the situation is in Yanjing.
"Mr. Zhao, Mr. Steven is very busy. He will attend Governor MacLehose's banquet in Hong Kong next Tuesday, have dinner with Sir Thomas Chung on Wednesday, and have a business meeting in New York on Friday, which Mr. Steven must attend as a special guest. So Mr. Steven will return to Hong Kong on Sunday night." Ruth stated in a dull, almost mechanical tone.
But this short sentence made Zhao Minglei and Wang Juan dumbfounded. The governor, the knight, and the business meeting far away in New York seemed like the existence of another world in their understanding.
Today is already Friday, and Steven will stay until Sunday at the latest, which means, as Steven just said, it will be at most three days.
Three days was a tight schedule, and Zhao Minglei had originally planned to take Steven and his party around Yanjing, to play the role of host, to treat them to delicious food and drinks, and then to visit the Forbidden City, climb the Great Wall, etc., in order to build up their relationships in this way.
But now it seems that all this is impossible, and Mr. Steven directly proposed to Zhao Minglei that he would go to Yanjing's market the next day or the day after tomorrow to take a look at what Zhao Minglei said on the phone about his transactions and channels, and to conduct an in-depth investigation of the actual situation in Yanjing.
Time waits for no one. Mr. Steven and his team will leave Beijing on a flight later on Sunday. If we cannot reach an agreement before he leaves, it will be a pity. It will not be too late to cooperate again in the future.
Zhao Minglei was a little surprised by this sudden change, but after thinking carefully, he realized that since the other party was a big boss in Hong Kong, he was not an ordinary person, so it was normal for him to have a tight schedule. But this disrupted his own plans, so Zhao Minglei had no choice but to re-arrange Mr. Steven's activities.
"No, I'm a little tired today. I'll take a rest in the hotel and walk around in the evening to feel the atmosphere of the mainland, especially the atmosphere of Yanjing." When hearing Zhao Minglei asking about his plans for the rest of the day, Steven waved his hand generously: " Tomorrow, at 8 o'clock tomorrow morning, can I bother Mr. Zhao to take me to see the market in Yanjing?"
"Yes, yes, of course." Zhao Minglei agreed quickly.
"By the way, there's something I'd like Mr. Zhao to help me with." Steven said suddenly.
Just when Zhao Minglei didn't know what the other party wanted him to do for help, Steven made a gesture with his hand holding the cigar, and Ruth on the side took a suitcase from the bodyguard Paul, opened it and took out a stack of large-denomination bills from it.
"Mr. Steven, what is this...?" Looking at the banknotes in front of him, Zhao Minglei recognized that they were Hong Kong dollars, and large-denomination Hong Kong dollars at that.
Compared with the current largest denomination of RMB in the mainland, which is still the 10-yuan Great Unity, the largest denomination of Hong Kong dollars in Hong Kong is already 1,000 yuan. Of course, ordinary people rarely use the 1,000-yuan Great Gold Bull, and even the 500-yuan banknote is rarely used in the market, so the 100-yuan banknote is usually used.
Ruth took out exactly 100-dollar Hong Kong dollars, a thick stack of which equaled 10,000.
"I came here in a hurry. I heard that the currency used in the mainland is different from that in Hong Kong. What should I exchange for..." Steven looked at Ruth. Ruth still said in her formulaic tone: "Foreign exchange certificates."
"Yes, yes, foreign exchange certificates!" Steven smiled and patted his forehead, then continued, "Can Mr. Zhao help me exchange this money, please?"
Zhao Minglei is now a wealthy man, but when so many foreign currencies were placed in front of him, Zhao Minglei couldn't help but feel dry mouth. He nodded repeatedly and said that it was no problem, the front desk of the Friendship Hotel had such a service, but as the host, Zhao Minglei suggested that Steven did not need to exchange foreign exchange certificates, but directly use RMB. Since he invited Mr. Steven, he would pay for these expenses.
Steven refused and told Zhao Minglei seriously that business rules are rules, and it was not in line with Steven's identity. However, Zhao Minglei's reminder was good. If there was RMB available, Zhao Minglei could just give him the RMB. As for the Hong Kong dollars, they could be exchanged directly for RMB.
As for the exchange rate, Steven asked Ruth, who quoted an exchange rate. Then Steven asked Zhao Minglei if this was okay. Zhao Minglei was overjoyed and nodded in agreement. He immediately counted out 2,000 yuan from his bag and handed it over with both hands.
After doing all this, Steven sincerely thanked him, and then chatted with Zhao Minglei about the arrangements for visiting the market tomorrow.
After he finished speaking, Steven looked a little tired. Zhao Minglei thought it was about time, so he and Wang Juan stood up and said goodbye to Mr. Steven and the others.
When he got downstairs, Zhao Minglei was so happy that he couldn't stop smiling. He exchanged ten thousand Hong Kong dollars for two thousand RMB. This was .
Although the exchange rate of Hong Kong dollar to RMB was 5:1 last year, the exchange rate has begun to change this year, and the actual exchange rate has now reached 4.8:1. And this is the official exchange rate, and the actual private exchange rate has long broken the 3:1 level and reached 2.9:1.
In other words, just by helping to exchange 10,000 Hong Kong dollars, Zhao Minglei made nearly 1,500 yuan. Coupled with the purchasing power of foreign currency and the convenience of using it in many special occasions, the bargain was huge.
"Brother Minglei, congratulations on your wealth, everyone who sees you will get a share!" Wang Juan on the side was also very happy. In her opinion, Steven was simply a wealthy man who got such a big benefit as soon as they met.
Wang Juan felt the difference in front of Ruth today , and it also aroused Wang Juan's unwillingness. Zhao Minglei got 10,000 Hong Kong dollars from Steven, and the money was just right for her. Wang Juan had already thought about it. She would take some foreign currency to the Friendship Store and learn to dress like Ruth. What's so great about this Hong Kong woman? If she could dress like her, she would definitely be more stunning than her with her appearance.
"Hey, don't worry, you'll be there." Zhao Minglei patted his pocket cheerfully and gave Wang Juan a reassuring look. Then he said to Wang Juan, "By the way, Mr. Steven will be back the day after tomorrow. How's Brother Liming doing? Can you make time to meet him tomorrow?"
This is serious business, so Wang Juan naturally took it to heart. Moreover, after meeting Steven and his team today, Wang Juan was even more impressed by the bearing and background of the other party, the big boss of Hong Kong. If they could establish a relationship and cooperate, it would be a great opportunity for them. Such an opportunity is rare.
Wang Juan thought about it and said that she had mentioned this matter to Zhang Liming before, but Zhang Liming did not give a clear answer, but just said to wait until the person arrived. Now that the person has arrived, why don't they go directly to Zhang Liming? Report today's situation to Zhang Liming and see what he thinks.
Zhao Minglei agreed to this. The two of them drove away from the Friendship Hotel immediately and arrived at Zhang Liming's office an hour later. It happened that Zhang Liming was free today and had time to listen to them talking about picking up Steven today. After listening to their excited reports, Zhang Liming asked a few questions, and Zhao Minglei and Wang Juan answered them one by one. After that, Zhang Liming thought for a while and told them that they could make time to meet each other tomorrow night, but the time was not much, just time for dinner. He asked Zhao Minglei to arrange a hotel in advance and they could meet at the hotel then.
