Sail across the sea

On the platform, primary school students in white clothes, blue trousers and red scarves came forward to present flowers. Director Wang of the Provincial Economic Commission and Director Liu of the Department of Foreign Trade shook hands with Mr. Hatch and greeted each other's family members. There is no need to repeat the details.

Afterwards, accompanied by several officials, Bob took the Mercedes-Benz car specially used by the Department of Foreign Trade to receive foreign guests to the Provincial Economic Commission to attend a more formal welcome ceremony held in the auditorium of the Economic Commission.

Gao Fan, as a partner of the Hatch Group, was invited by the Foreign Trade Department together with his nose. He squeezed into a domestic car with several department-level cadres from the Foreign Trade Department, and also went to the Economic Committee.

As for the other people who went to Yangcheng to participate in the Spring Fair, they were already picked up by their respective units at the station.Before disbanding, Zhu Nian informed them that they would go to the foreign trade office to attend the celebration party the next day, which is also a custom.

The welcome ceremony held by the Provincial Economic and Economic Commission for Bob was a bit of a combination of Chinese and Western flavors. It was basically a few round tables set up in the auditorium, and everyone sat around the table.The leaders went to the rostrum to give welcome speeches, and Bob also went up to give a thank-you speech. Both sides said some beautiful but false scenes.

After the ceremony, all kinds of wine and dishes were brought up like water, and naturally there was another process of speeches, toasts and reciprocations.Bob didn't know much about Chinese wine table etiquette, so he seemed a bit jerky, but everyone didn't care, thinking that "foreigners" were just like that.

After a round of drinking, when the officials at his table started toasting each other, Bob slipped to the corner table where Gao Fan was sitting with his glass in hand, pretended to toast Gao Fan, and whispered bitterly in private : "Gao, I'm dying. I've never drank such strong alcohol. I think Chinese alcohol has higher alcohol content than whiskey."

Gao Fan gloated and said, "Didn't you say you want to experience Chinese culture? Let's start with the wine culture first. You don't know how to drink, but you still want to do business in China?"

"But why don't you drink alcohol? Is there Coke in your glass?" Bob discovered a mystery, that is, there was a red liquid in Gao Fan's glass. A sweet fragrance.

Gao Fan looked at the Maolin red rice wine in his glass, remembered the stalks of later generations, and said with a smile: "That's right, this is our Maolin province's cola, called Red Army Cola."

"Red Army Coke, what do you mean?"

"You know, Maolin used to be the Soviet area, that is, the base of the Red Army. The life of the Red Army was very difficult back then, and they could only have an extra meal during festivals or when they won big battles. When the Red Army had extra meals, they drank This kind of cola is called Red Army Cola.”

"Can I try it?" Bob asked eagerly.

Gao Fan called the waiter, asked her to get another glass, and poured Bob half a glass of rice wine.Bob took a sip, his eyes lit up, and he took a big sip.

Maolin's red rice wine actually has an alcohol content of more than ten degrees, but because it is extremely sweet in the mouth, and Bob has drunk a lot of high-alcohol liquor before, he is completely insensitive to such alcohol content, so he doesn't think it is wine at all. , but really treat it as a cola.

"It's so delicious, I think it's much better than Coca-Cola!" Bob praised, "If I drink this Coke instead of distilled alcohol, won't it be rude?"

"It's no problem at all. In our Maolin, Red Army Coke can also be counted as alcohol." Gao Fan said.

"Gao, you are not enough friends, you should have told me this earlier." Bob muttered, and ran back to his table excitedly, completely unaware that Gao Fan was having fun.

Bob, who thought he had deciphered the code of the Chinese wine table, returned to his table and asked to replace his wine with "Red Army Coke".Zhu Nian, who was in charge of accompanying him, didn't understand at first, but when he understood what "Red Army Coke" was, he quickly ordered the waiter to fill a full tank with an extra-large enamel tank.

Bob really regarded the rice wine as a cola, and began to toast to everyone frequently, and every time he did it first.As a result, as Gao Fan expected, after drinking an enamel vat of rice wine, Bob slipped under the table and became so drunk that he passed out.

Bob was so drunk that he didn't wake up until noon the next day.Recalling the process of his own drunkenness, how could he not have imagined that the "Red Army Coke" mentioned by Gao Fan was actually a hidden murderous intent, and he didn't feel it when he drank it, but it actually had a lot of stamina.

However, how can a person not suffer from a knife in the rivers and lakes, and Bob is not worried about his drunkenness.

After sobering up, Bob was invited to the Provincial Economic Commission and had a formal meeting with officials from the Economic Commission and the Department of Foreign Trade.He declined the arrangement of the two departments to send people to accompany him on the inspection, claiming that he hoped to fully participate in the business activities of Canghua Vitamin Company without interference, so as to understand the operating characteristics of Chinese enterprises and provide the group with first-hand inspection materials.

Prior to this, Zhu Nian had reported his conversation with Gao Fan on the train to the leaders of the two departments, and claimed that this represented Mr. Hatch's meaning.After the analysis of the two departments, they felt that the foreign guests had such a request, and it was inconvenient for them to refuse.

Bob's drunken performance at the dinner party the first day also made the leaders of the two departments feel that the foreign guest was straightforward and not the kind of hypocritical person, so they no longer insisted on sending someone to accompany him, but left Bob alone. The office phone allows Bob to call himself whenever he has something to do, and promises such as calling every day and every day...

Hey, this seems to be the treatment that a certain monkey can only enjoy when it protects a Buddhist learner.

After spending another day in Ruizhang, the provincial capital, Bob boarded the train with Gao Fan and headed for Cangtang.

"Gao, why do you always play tricks on me?"

Sitting on the train, looking at the scenery outside the window, Bob complained to Gao Fan like a wronged little daughter-in-law.

"I told you that Red Army Coke is also alcohol. It's okay to drink a little bit of that thing. Who drinks like you?"

Gao Fan said disapprovingly.He doesn't think it's wrong to put a foreigner on the wine table at all, my wine style in Greater Akalin Province is also very strong, okay?

Sure enough, Bob wasn't really angry. He smacked his lips and replied:
"Well, don't tell me, Red Army Coke is really an amazing drink. I think I've grown to like this Coke."

"It's not easy." Gao Fan said, "Go to our Cangtang. I dare not say anything else. There is absolutely no problem with eating and drinking. It is guaranteed to be pure natural and pollution-free. As for the Red Army Coke, you can do it 24 hours a day. It’s enough to drink it as boiled water.”

"The premise is..."

"The premise is that you work hard and help us get back the vitamin E production equipment first."

Gao Fan said domineeringly.