Volume 2: Feng Xi Arrives Chapter 40: Omnipresent

  "Is your colleague not as friendly as we Chinese people?" Lu Zhong asked with a smile.

  Kagawa Junco nodded frankly, biting the straw and staring at the yellow juice for a while, suddenly asked: "Lu Sang, do men in your China respect women?"

  Lu Zhong just smiled and pointed at his own forehead, saying: "Can't help but respect? The evidence is still here."

  Kagawa Junco smiled lightly and then said seriously: "Sorry, I was too flustered at the time."

  Lu Zhong smiled: "It's nothing, it's all in the past."

  Kagawa Junco suddenly said, "I think I'm not suitable for working outside, next year I will apply to return home and find a man with good conditions, then I will resign and be his wife." After finishing, she immediately became stunned and said, "Sorry, I was too rash." She had thought about this for a long time but never told anyone, even when calling her parents back home. But somehow, she suddenly told this to the stranger.

  Maybe it's because this Chinese man has no relation to me at all. Sometimes strangers are the best people to confide in.

  Lu Zhong smiled and said: "I heard that you are quite capable, but it turns out that when you encounter setbacks, you also retreat."

  Kagawa Jun's eyes looked at Lu Zhen strangely, and just said: "Lu, have you heard of me?" The corner of his eye caught a glimpse of a man walking quickly over.

  Kagawa Junco hastily stood up and said to Lu Zhong: "Sorry, I should go. It was pleasant chatting with you."

  The stout man hastily approaching was none other than Mitsui Bank's Ushiyama Branch Chief Representative, Yamamoto Taro. Before he even reached the front, he discontentedly shouted: "Kagawa Representative, you're too impolite! Mr. Akutagawa is still waiting for you, how could you leave without a word?"

  Kagawa Junko's complexion returned to calmness and said, "My head hurts a lot, I want to go back and rest. Please help me apologize to Mr. Akutagawa."

  "How can that be? Mr. Akutagawa has been looking for you, and you can drink with others but ignore us, your own people?" Yamamoto's tone was quite dissatisfied, and he pointed at Rong, then immediately saw Rong's smiling face in front of him, "Ah, Director Rong..."

  Lu Zhong felt a little strange and didn't know why Yamamoto Tarō and Kagawa Jun'ko were always speaking in English, but he had heard their conversation clearly.

  Yamamoto Tarō then said to Kagawa Junko, "You translate for me." He smiled and spoke a few words of Japanese to Lu Zhēng.

  Kagawa Junko looked at Lu Zhong in surprise, it seemed that from Yamamoto Taro's words, she knew that Lu Zhong was a Chinese official.

  Lu Zhong smiled at Yamamoto Taro and said, "Mr. Yamamoto, let's speak in English, it's more convenient for communication, I can understand."

  Yamamoto Tarō's mouth was agape in surprise for a while, before he burst out laughing and said: "Mr. Lu, you are the first Chinese official I've met who can speak English."

  Kagawa Junco was also surprised, the man in front of her, dressed very casually, originally thought he should be one of the poorer Chinese people, but somehow she seemed to enjoy chatting with him.

  How could he suddenly become a Chinese government official? And then suddenly be able to speak English? This is also too unbelievable.

  Listening to Yamamoto Taro's words, Lu Zhong felt slightly displeased. He could hear the faint disdain and arrogance in Yamamoto's tone towards Chinese people, which was probably unintentional but truly reflected the Japanese representative's inner thoughts.

  But Yamamoto Taro was telling the truth, and Lu Zhong smiled slightly, saying: "Yes, in the past our cadres all studied Russian and spoke Russian. I believe that as we open up to the Western world, there will be more and more comrades who can speak English. After all, English is one of the easiest languages to learn in the world. What I hope for is that in the future, Westerners will start a craze for learning East Asian languages, and only then can our two countries, China and Japan, be considered successful."

  Yamamoto Taro's heart skipped a beat. He didn't have much regard for Chinese officials, feeling that they were all like unopened lumps of earth.

  But this young official in front of him was neither arrogant nor humble, gentle yet firm, and was really quite different from the Chinese officials he had met before.

  With a smile on his face, Yamamoto Taro said: "Mr. Lu is absolutely right, I was thinking the same way too. Mr. Lu, there's a Chinese saying that goes 'it's better to meet by chance than to make an appointment'. I've visited you several times but unfortunately missed you each time, and I've always regretted it. Today, you can't refuse me again, right? Moreover, I can introduce two friends to you, both of whom are experts in investment."

  Lu Zhong knew that Yamamoto Taro and other Mitsubishi Bank personnel were very close to Qin Huailiang, the secretary of the municipal party committee. Ah Fei had mentioned more than once that these Japanese people and Qin Huailiang spent money at Bailemen.

  Qin Huailiang is a regular at Bailemen, but he has never been to Feicui Song and Dance Hall even once.

  It seems that today, Qin Huailiang is definitely gone.

  Lu Zhong thought for a moment and smiled: "Alright, last time I had something urgent come up and missed our appointment, I've been feeling apologetic about it, Mr. Yamamoto please don't blame me."

  "Lu Juntao is too polite!" Yamamoto Tarō smiled brightly, making a please gesture, and turned to Kagawa Junko with another expression: "Representative Kagawa, you can't be absent!"

  Lü Zhēng and Yamamoto Tarō walked ahead, chatting and laughing. Kagawa Junko hesitated for a moment before following them.

  ……

  Entering VIP Room 1, Lu Zhong felt a strange sensation in his heart, it was here that he had hit Yang Chaoyang.

  There were three or four people sitting in the private room. What Lu Zhong didn't expect was that among them, there was a Westerner with high nose bridge and deep eye sockets, and a thin Japanese old man sitting in the central position on the sofa.

  Yamamoto Tarō introduced him to Lù Zhēng: a middle-aged white man named Smith, an American and the CEO of Oriental International Financial Services.

  The thin little Japanese old man sitting next to Smith was Ikuo Akutagawa, the head of the Asian market research section of Mitsubishi Headquarters' Overseas Investment Department.

  Lu Zhong smiled and replied in English, "Your English is very fluent, not bad at all. Have you considered working for a big company?" The condescending tone was obvious. It was his first time in China, and he wasn't even familiar with the numerous official titles in Chinese government departments. Seeing this young man who was only in his early twenties, he assumed he was a low-ranking Chinese official. His intention behind these condescending words was actually to recruit talent, as Mitsubishi's investment needed talented Chinese people who were familiar with China.

  Yamamoto Tarō hastily spoke a few words in Japanese to Akutagawa Ryūnosuke, presumably explaining Rikujō's identity. However, he was cut off mid-sentence by Yamamoto, and Akutagawa's face showed a hint of displeasure.

  Lu Zhong had just sat down when Xiang Jiang Chunzi sat beside him, smiling and patting the sofa next to her, indicating that Akutagawa Ichiko should return to her original seat. Akutagawa's face looked even more unpleasant.

  Yamamoto Tarō saw Akutagawa Ichiro's embarrassment and the triumphant look on his face flashed by.

  Actually, for a young and ambitious executive like Yamamoto Taro from the Mitsubishi group, deep down, he looks down on old middle-level department heads who are about to retire, such as Akutagawa Ichiro. In their minds, someone like Akutagawa Ichiro has spent his whole life being just a section chief, and an unimportant one at that. Now that the economic environment is good, but if it were bad and layoffs were needed, someone like Akutagawa Ichiro would be the first to go. To many ambitious young executives, people like Akutagawa Ichiro are nothing but trash who have already been eliminated by society.

  This situation where young employees look down on older colleagues is not unique to Mitsubishi, but is widespread in corporate organizations throughout Japanese society. It's a cruel competition that precisely because of its cruelty, doesn't allow young employees to slack off and puts immense pressure on them. No one wants to become disposable trash for the company after decades.

  Lu Zhong was uninterested in the Japanese infighting and instead chatted with Smith for a few sentences.

  Oriental International Financial Services Company? That's an investment company. Lu Zhong is quite familiar with this line of work, so he wants to chat with him for a bit.

  According to Smith, the Oriental Finance Corporation was registered in the British Virgin Islands. Lu Zhong smiled slightly, these tax havens are now increasingly favored by some financial companies.

  Nowadays, Orient Finance is preparing to put its business in Hong Kong and mainland China.

  Lu Zhong now also knows why these Japanese people are talking in English, looking at Akutagawa's appearance, showing great respect to Smith, and even a bit of fawning, as if hoping to cooperate with Smith's investment company to develop the Asian market.

  Rikuto was not very clear about the organizational structure of Mitsubishi Bank, and he didn't know the awkwardness of Akutagawa's identity, as well as his eagerness to make achievements.

  But Ryo knew that Mitsubishi Bank, relying on the Mitsubishi Group, was almost a giant in Japan's financial industry, but it had always been difficult to expand into overseas markets. Later, it merged with Tokyo Bank to borrow from the vast overseas business network of Oriental Bank.

  The current Mitsubishi Bank is looking for some overseas investment and financing partners, but the financial company that can be favored by Mitsubishi Bank and make Akutagawa Ichio humble himself is not simple.

  Lu Zhong couldn't help but chat with Smith for a few more sentences. During the casual conversation, Smith asked, and Lu Zhong also admitted that he had been to the United States and had visited the best private brain hospital in Los Angeles.

  Having a pleasant conversation with Smith, suddenly, "Bang" sounded, and it was Akutagawa Ichiro who slammed the cup in anger, slamming the beer mug on the tea table, shaking the cups and saucers.

  However, Kagawa Junko, although she raised her glass to drink with the male colleagues as he had requested, only took a small sip and refused to do anything else, let alone toast Smith.

  Smith's face turned somewhat unnatural as he overheard the conversation on this side, and Akutagawa Ichiro immediately got angry!

  Sexual harassment is a serious problem in Japanese companies, especially since the Equal Employment Opportunity Law has not been revised to specifically address sexual harassment. In some large corporations, it seems that superiors harassing female subordinates is taken for granted and rarely results in any criticism. Even when exposed, it often ends with the company paying compensation, and there are few cases where the perpetrator is punished.

  Akakawa Kazuo, a director at the Mitsubishi Bank headquarters, was the type of executive who would bow to everyone he met. For years, he had been living under great pressure. Now that he was overseas, all the employees he faced were his subordinates, and it was as if he had suddenly been liberated. He suddenly had some thoughts about the beautiful and sexy Yukawa Junco. Of course, it wasn't that he wanted to possess her, but rather that talking to this lovely young woman who was younger than his own daughter, chatting with her, joking with her, was a very pleasant thing.

  However, unexpectedly, this beautiful Tokyo University flower would rather sit next to a Chinese person than try to curry favor with him, which made Akutagawa Ryūnosuke extremely angry.

  The Chinese are poor and ignorant, and the Kagawa representative is a shame to the Yamato people.

  What's more serious is that Mr. Smith seemed to be very interested in Kagawa just now, and Kagawa's performance may have greatly offended Mr. Smith.

  In a rage, Akutagawa Ichio scolded Kagawa Junko in Japanese, Kagawa Junko bit her red lips and didn't say a word, she was usually gentle but at this moment, she looked very strong.

  Yamamoto Taro and others were just watching the excitement on the sidelines with schadenfreude.

  Finally, Lu Zhong couldn't bear it anymore. Although it was none of his business, the whole private room was full of men, and a lone girl was being scolded for no reason, which was unbearable to watch.

  "Mr. Akutagawa, forgive me for being presumptuous, but aren't you? Shouldn't we calm down?" Lu Zhong smiled and interrupted Akutagawa Ichiro's lecture.

  Kagawa Junko kept telling herself to be strong, to be strong, not to shed tears and lose face, not to let these men look down on her.

  Mr. Akutagawa's roar, just pretend you didn't hear it, just pretend nothing happened! Think of mom's lullaby, think of the beautiful look on mom's face when she made sushi for me after I got accepted into Tokyo University, and I'll be strong enough to move forward!

  Gradually, Mr. Akutagawa's roar seemed to really fade away, huh? Who is it, with a warm voice, speaking on my behalf?

  After starting work, those indifferent colleagues would never truly help themselves.

  Kagawa Junco turned around, and immediately saw the warm smile of that man. Then her heart seemed to melt suddenly in that warm smile. Her beautiful eyes suddenly welled up with tears.

  Akutagawa Ichio looked down on Chinese people from the bottom of his heart, but at this moment he also felt that what he had done was not right and didn't know why he suddenly got angry.

  He slightly bowed his head in apology: "Mr. Lu, I'm really sorry, although it's an internal matter of our company, but we disturbed you, sorry." After finishing speaking, he pointed to the private room door and said a few words in Japanese to Xiangjiang Chunzi, with a very severe tone.

  Lu Zhong also knew that this must be telling Xiang Jiang Chunzi to get out and then settle the score with her later.

  Lu Zhong slowly stood up and said calmly, "Mr. Akutagawa, you are being too rude in front of our guest. You just said this is an internal matter for your company, fine. If the corporate culture of Mitsubishi Bank is to bully the weak, then I think we won't welcome such a company in Wushan. And I can guarantee that no matter how powerful Mitsubishi is in Japan, I can make it difficult for you to do business in China!"

  Akutagawa Ichio was taken aback, this young Chinese man, what a big tone, really too arrogant, too ignorant, really ridiculous, a frog in the well!

  Akutagawa Ichio was about to mock this impolite and arrogant young Chinese man, but unexpectedly, Mr. Smith also stood up, lightly applauding Lu Zhen, then turned to Akutagawa Ichio and said: "I unconditionally support Mr. Lu Zhen, I think that before you win Mr. Lu's respect, we have no need or basis for cooperation, sorry, goodbye."

  Akutagawa and the others were completely stunned. What's going on? How did Smith suddenly end up on the same side as that young Chinese man?

  Akutagawa Ichio was even more stunned, originally his status was completely unequal to Smith's, this time he only received some secret messages from friends and hurriedly followed to visit Smith in Wushan, but unexpectedly Smith was very casual and they chatted very well. This greatly boosted his confidence, hoping to find a good overseas partner for Mitsubishi Bank in the initial contact, as long as Smith agreed to meet with high officials of the Overseas Investment Department, then his position in the Overseas Investment Department would inevitably be greatly improved.

  And besides, isn't reprimanding Kagawa's representative just because you're afraid of your own dissatisfaction?

  But little did I think, suddenly something unexpected happened.

  "Mr. Smith..." Akutagawa Ichio tried to hold him back, but Smith had already followed Rikuon and gone far away.

  The whole house of people stared at each other with wide eyes.

  Originally, Akutagawa Kazuo scolded Kagawa in order to curry favor with Smith, but who knew it would end up like this.

  Only Kagawa Junco looked at them with a sarcastic smile on her lips.

  After leaving the private room, Smith quickly walked a few steps, suddenly handed a letter to Lu Zhong, and then mysteriously smiled, saying: "I look forward to meeting Mr. again." After finishing speaking, he hurried away.

  Lu Zhong was bewildered at first, then suddenly enlightened, and finally burst out laughing.

  The doubts were resolved, and I was even more surprised. How could Smith help me out of nowhere? Even if my eloquence was good, it would take only a few minutes to turn an old American into my comrade-in-arms? Especially since this old American was clearly a financial mastermind?

  This is impossible after all. In the end, it turned out to be like this.

  Lu Zhong shook his head helplessly and thought to himself, "Ah, White Muslin Bag, you're really everywhere!"