Chapter 40: Chapter 40: Enterprise Salon
The sea breeze by Pingqing Lake still carried a hint of life’s daily grind.
Today was February 28, 2025.
A late February cold snap had pedestrians on the street instinctively pulling their coats tighter.
In the car, Jiang Miao gazed absentmindedly at the familiar scenery on both sides of Binhai Avenue. He and the others—Jiang Haibo, Ke Yong, and Li Zixuan—were on their way to the Pingqing Lake Enterprise Service Center.
Several electric scooters weaved through the traffic, ignoring the red light at the intersection.
Ke Yong tapped the brakes, and the pickup truck slowly came to a stop before the red light.
Suddenly, Jiang Miao’s gaze sharpened.
"Accelerate!"
"What?" Ke Yong thought he’d misheard.
"Accelerate! Punch it!" Jiang Miao roared again.
Ke Yong didn’t have time to think. He instantly released the handbrake, shifted gears, and slammed on the accelerator.
The pickup shot forward like an arrow, flying through the intersection.
「Three seconds later.」
BOOM! A large truck carrying iron pipes shot out from the oncoming lane at the intersection, slamming right into the spot where the pickup had been waiting.
Five or six cars at the intersection were knocked askew. Even more terrifying, the iron pipes, sent flying by inertia, pierced through several cars in front.
Now more than two hundred meters away, Ke Yong stared dumbfounded into his rearview mirror, gasping heavily for breath.
Jiang Haibo and Li Zixuan were also badly shaken.
Jiang Miao didn’t explain. Instead, he just gave an order: "Keep going! If the police stop us to ask questions, just say we were in a hurry. Don’t stop at the next few red lights—just run them."
"Yes, sir." Ke Yong had regained some of his composure.
Jiang Miao had spotted the danger because he had a habit of keeping a close eye on large vehicles like cargo trucks, dump trucks, and concrete mixers.
When that large truck came speeding toward them from the opposite direction, he noticed it was going too fast. A glance at his appraisal panel revealed its braking system had failed.
In that instant, he made the right call: telling Ke Yong to run the red light.
In the car, Jiang Miao closed his eyes to rest, mentally reviewing the data on the large truck. His appraisal panel could store all the data it had ever recorded.
He quickly found the fault data for the truck’s braking system: ’The air brake’s valve has aged, causing brake failure. All the components of the air brake system were manufactured in 2014. Most of the truck’s parts were also made in 2014, with a similar degree of aging. It seems I was overthinking it.’
Under these circumstances, human sabotage could basically be ruled out.
It wasn’t that Jiang Miao was overly suspicious; the situation had just been too dangerous. If he had been a few seconds slower, the truck would have definitely hit his car.
They ran four red lights in a row.
The pickup truck pulled over to the side of the road in front of the Pingqing Lake Enterprise Service Center.
Li Zixuan handed their invitation to the receptionist from the event organizer.
The receptionist glanced at the invitation. "Oh, it’s General Manager Jiang from Hailufeng Agricultural Technology Company. General Manager Jiang, this way, please."
This time, Jiang Miao and his group had come to Pingqing Lake to participate in the "Pingqing Lake Enterprise Salon."
This enterprise salon was a long-term networking event hosted by the Shanmei city government, facilitating communication between government agencies and businesses, as well as among the businesses themselves.
It was an annual event, held in monthly sessions, each with a different theme.
This month’s theme was "New Opportunities, New Era, New Technology."
As soon as Jiang Miao entered the venue, Li Ke from the tax bureau, whom he knew, spotted him and waved from a distance. Jiang Miao and his employees headed over.
"Li Ke, you look like you’re recovering well."
"Oh? Hearing you say that, General Manager Jiang, sets my mind at ease." Li Ke had clearly been through a lot with his pancreatic cancer. He then pulled Jiang Miao over to his circle of acquaintances.
"General Manager Jiang, this is our Director Huang..."
"Director Huang, this is Mr. Jiang Miao, the founder of Hailufeng Agricultural Technology Company..."
"Hello!"
"General Manager Jiang, so young and promising. Your company was a major taxpayer last year, ranking 16th in the entire city."
Jiang Miao smiled and said, "Just luck!"
"Hahaha, General Manager Jiang, you’re too modest."
After about ten minutes of schmoozing, Li Ke introduced him to relevant personnel from the Bureau of Industry and Information Technology and the Commerce Bureau.
While the government officials were enthusiastically chatting with Jiang Miao...
Not far away, the bosses and representatives of other invited companies were quietly discussing Hailufeng Company and its rising star, Jiang Miao.
However, these companies were clearly divided into several cliques.
There was the state-owned enterprise clique, which had a certain aloof, standoffish air.
There were cliques of local bigwigs: the Urban District business circle, the Lufeng business circle, the Hai Feng business circle, and the Lu River business circle.
There was a clique formed by companies from out of town, like the Peng City business circle from the Shenzhen-Shantou Cooperation Zone.
Birds of a feather flock together.
The concept of "hometown connections" is an unavoidable topic and reality in the country, and now Jiang Miao had no choice but to engage with these various cliques.
Of course, Jiang Miao didn’t plan to get too deeply involved in these cliques. They had their benefits, but they also came with troublesome social obligations.
Therefore, it was best to just dip his toes in. There was no need to get too invested. For Jiang Miao, the whole world was his stage; Shanmei was just a small pond.
But just because he didn’t want to get deeply involved didn’t mean others didn’t want to get to know him better.
For instance, Gu Haijing, the boss of Seaview Company—also in the aquatic breeding industry—took the initiative to approach him.
"General Manager Jiang, hello. I’m Gu Haijing of Seaview Company."
You don’t hit a smiling face, as the saying goes. Jiang Miao smiled and extended his hand for a shake. "General Manager Gu, hello. I’m Jiang Miao. It’s a pleasure to meet you."
Unlike the other entrepreneurs in suits and ties, Gu Haijing wore a rather traditional Chinese-style linen outfit. His skin was dark and ruddy. When they shook hands, Jiang Miao could feel the roughness of the man’s palm; this was an entrepreneur who often worked on the front lines.
"General Manager Jiang, your artificial eel breeding technology is very impressive. I was wondering if you might be interested in a partnership?"
Jiang Miao smiled and shook his head. "Not for the next year or two, no."
"Oh? That’s a real shame. I’m very optimistic about that technology. It’s just a pity it was stolen by the Ryukyu people!"
"Our company is pursuing legal action. I believe justice will be served."
Jiang Miao’s naive-sounding reply left Gu Haijing speechless for a moment, but he didn’t let it show. Instead, he smiled and offered his good wishes. "Well then, I wish you the best of luck, General Manager Jiang. Here’s my business card. If you need anything, feel free to give me a call."
"Thanks." Jiang Miao took the card, then pulled his own from his pocket and handed it over. "General Manager Gu, this is my card. I look forward to working with you in the future."
"Of course, of course."
After they walked away from Jiang Miao, Gu Haijing’s young son, Gu Yiming—who had tagged along to gain some experience—spoke with a displeased look on his face.
"Dad, that kid really doesn’t know what’s good for him."
But Gu Haijing’s face immediately hardened. He lowered his voice and scolded his clueless son. "What kind of occasion is this? Have you no manners? Save it for when we’re home! Otherwise, you can go back right now."
"I know..." Gu Yiming quickly lowered his head.
"Behave yourself." Gu Haijing turned to his assistant. "Xiaozheng, keep an eye on this kid later. Don’t let him say anything reckless."
"Yes, General Manager Gu."
"Dad! Do you have to go that far?"
"Hmph. Loose lips sink ships. In business, you make money through harmony. Behavior like yours, with no filter, will only make enemies. As they say, even if the deal falls through, the goodwill remains. If he doesn’t want to cooperate, that’s his prerogative."
Gu Haijing had indeed felt a bit put out by Jiang Miao’s rejection, but after so many years in business, he had learned to remain unperturbed by favor or disgrace.
Working on the principle that it’s better to have one more friend than one more enemy, he hadn’t shown any dissatisfaction in front of Jiang Miao.
But his son Gu Yiming’s behavior was actively making an enemy, so how could Gu Haijing not be angry?
...
After more than an hour of networking...
Jiang Miao’s face was stiff from smiling. Finally, the awards ceremony portion of the enterprise salon began.
As the host announced the start of the awards ceremony, Jiang Miao breathed a sigh of relief and quickly led Jiang Haibo, Li Zixuan, and Ke Yong to their seats.
The host’s melodious, rhythmic voice flowed through the venue.
Hailufeng Company was not among the first group of business representatives to go on stage to receive an award, as that group was honoring last year’s top ten taxpayers.
The second group honored the top ten investors, and again, Hailufeng Company was not included.
It wasn’t until the third group that it was Hailufeng Company’s turn.
This group recognized innovative enterprises. As the company that had developed artificial eel breeding technology, Hailufeng Company was on the list of honorees.
Jiang Miao went on stage with the representatives or bosses of nine other companies to accept the award certificate from the head of the Bureau of Industry and Information Technology.
"General Manager Jiang, keep up the great work!"
"You’re too kind, Director Li. It’s all for the good of our hometown!"
One hand washes the other.
Next, this group of award-winning business representatives stood together for a photo. This was followed by a group photo of all three batches of award recipients with the government representatives.
The whole process took another hour.
It wasn’t until eleven-thirty, just before noon.
The host finally made the formal announcement: "Dear leaders! Honored guests! The second session of the third annual Shanmei Pingqing Lake Enterprise Salon has successfully concluded! Please exit in an orderly fashion!"
CLAP CLAP CLAP...
The venue erupted in thunderous applause.
Jiang Miao clapped with a smile. His applause was sincere, because the enterprise salon had left him mentally and physically exhausted. After all, having to deal with all sorts of people wasn’t nearly as freeing as being back at his own company.
’Now, it’s finally over.’
As soon as they walked out of the venue, Jiang Miao started complaining in a low voice, "Old Jiang, this event was such a grind. It’s more tiring than spending a few days in the lab. Next time, you can come in my place!"
"Boss, this was my first time at an event like this, too. It really is a bit draining," Jiang Haibo replied, equally exhausted.
"Ah Yong, get the car. Let’s go grab a bite."
Ke Yong nodded and hurried to bring the car around.
Jiang Haibo asked, wiping his glasses, "Boss, where are we eating?"
"How about some Lu River lei cha?"
"Lu River lei cha? Sure, I haven’t tried it before."
A moment later, Ke Yong pulled up in the pickup truck.
After getting in the car, he gave the order: "Head to Kuisan Market on Tonghang Road."
"Kuisan Market? Let me check the GPS."
