"Any questions?" Chen Feng asked with a slight smile.
"Of course there are questions. Think about it, in China's political arena, every step is a pitfall. If you openly accept the thanks from the foreign investor appreciation group, isn't that a huge pit? Those with ulterior motives will make a big deal out of it…" Qin Yan explained.
"Mayor Qin, your consideration makes sense. However, everything has two sides. There's a bad side, and there's a good side. Ultimately, whether to do it or not is a matter of choosing the lesser of two evils. I believe that openly accepting the foreign investor appreciation group will bring more benefits than harm, so we should proceed," Chen Feng explained calmly.
"What benefits?" Qin Yan asked.
"Mayor Qin, in Chinese history, there's a very classic idiom, 'A thousand pieces of gold to buy a horse's skull.' The core idea is to let the world know that he cherishes and values talent. We can also use this tactic to let the world know that investing in Mingshan City will absolutely not involve the kind of malicious exploitation of foreign merchants. Once our reputation is established, will Mingshan City lack foreign investors?" Chen Feng explained earnestly.
"That's the logic, but you can't guard against petty people plotting against you…" Qin Yan still said with a worried expression.
"Mayor Qin, you don't need to worry. To be honest, if I can't even handle a few petty people plotting against me, how can I expect to enter the higher echelons of China's political arena in the future and turn the tide to change the malpractices within it?" Chen Feng comforted Qin Yan.
Upon hearing this, Qin Yan realized it was true and no longer objected to Chen Feng accepting the thanks from the foreign investor appreciation group.
One day later, the foreign investor appreciation group arrived at Chen Feng's office as scheduled. In front of the major media outlets of Mingshan City, Chen Feng and the foreign investor appreciation group put on a spectacular performance, demonstrating what it meant for the government to support foreign chambers of commerce and how foreign chambers of commerce supported the government. Qin Yan and Cheng Lu both watched Chen Feng's performance on their phones and were impressed. He had the demeanor of a powerful figure from the provincial capital's political circle. Everyone knew he was performing, yet no one could pinpoint the traces of his performance. Chen Feng's office was lively for the entire morning, and the performance finally concluded.
"Elder Chen, it's just the two of us in the office now. I have some sincere words to say…" the president of the foreign business association said softly to Chen Feng.
"Elder Lu, you are too kind," Chen Feng replied with a humble smile.
"It's like this: this time, you forced the top two leaders of Mingshan City's industrial zone to jump to their deaths, saving us foreign investors an astronomical amount of losses. We feel it's wrong not to express our gratitude for such a great favor," Lu Zhanming said sincerely.
"Elder Lu, please don't be so polite. To be honest, helping you also serves my own interests. I want more foreign investors to develop in Mingshan City. Frankly speaking, for Mingshan City to develop from a county-level city to a prefecture-level city, it simply cannot rely on itself. It must depend on influential foreign investors like you," Chen Feng also said sincerely.
"Elder Chen, you are the best official I have ever met, bar none. You have no airs, you are not malicious, and you consider the common people… However, political figures, whether good or bad, usually accept some money. If you don't accept money, how will you climb up in the future? Your acceptance of money is completely different in nature from that of those two scoundrels. Those two scoundrels accepted money to bleed us dry. But you, when you accept money, you have your limits and will never be exorbitant. You accept money only to get by better in the political arena. Therefore, I think you should accept our thank-you money," Lu Zhanming said softly.
"Elder Lu, to be honest, you understand me. To tell you the truth, I don't reject accepting money, but I have my limits. However, I really can't accept money this time. First of all, you have already been severely exploited by those two scoundrels. Accepting your money again would only make things worse for you. When you recover your strength, I will accept some money, and I won't be polite then," Chen Feng said truthfully.
"Elder Chen, if that's the case, then perhaps a different form of gratitude?" Lu Zhanming said meaningfully.
"A different form of gratitude? That's interesting, tell me more," Chen Feng said with interest.
"To be honest, after being squeezed by those two scoundrels in the industrial zone, our foreign investors' cash flow is indeed tight. However, we have a football team. How about we give it to you directly?" Lu Zhanming said excitedly.
"A football team?"
"Yes, a provincial league football team. To be honest, the provincial football league is just as rotten as Chinese football, it's beyond redemption. However, it's still possible to make some money by leveraging the passion of Chinese fans. But it's becoming harder and harder to make money. The reason is simple: Chinese fans, disappointed time and again, have gradually become disillusioned and then despairing with Chinese football. Fewer and fewer people are willing to be fools for Chinese football, so we are also less inclined to pursue football. However, rest assured, you can sell this football team. No matter how much you sell it for, you won't lose anything." Lu Zhanming explained.
"Elder Lu, have you ever considered what might happen if your football team can play well?" Chen Feng asked earnestly.
"Elder Chen, to be honest, I have never thought of that, nor do I want to. You should also know many jokes about Chinese football. God can do anything except make the Chinese football team qualify for the World Cup. The Chinese football team, apart from anything else, is great at eating sea cucumbers. When the world football genius Maradona was asked how to make the Chinese football team play well, Maradona would only speak in veiled terms… You tell me, how can Chinese football with this kind of character be saved? I believe Chinese people are simply not suited to play football." Lu Zhanming said with a solemn expression.
"Elder Lu, that viewpoint is incorrect," Chen Feng replied calmly.
"Incorrect? How is it incorrect? The World Cup, China has only qualified once, and that was because Japan and South Korea were the host nations, so China simply won by default. And in all the years since, has China qualified again? Fourteen billion people, and they can't even play thirteen-a-side football well, doesn't that explain the problem? Chinese people, of the yellow race, are naturally not good at playing football." Lu Zhanming asserted confidently.
"Then why are the football teams of South Korea, Japan, and South Korea so formidable?" Chen Feng calmly retorted.
"This…" Lu Zhanming was stunned.
"Let me answer for you. Forget everything else and just look at the abdominal muscles of the Chinese football team players and compare them to the abs of the football teams from the other three Asian countries. Every player on the Chinese football team has a bulging belly and flabby muscles, while the others all have abs. Their bellies are as fat as pork. How can they play football well?" Chen Feng explained truthfully.
"It seems to be the case. However, Elder Chen, I am very curious. Can't the Chinese football team cultivate hardworking fighting spirit? The Chinese football team consists of one in ten thousand people. Is playing football that difficult? China can build missiles, nuclear bombs, aircraft carriers, space stations, the Sky Eye, and electromagnetic cannons… why can't they play football well?" Lu Zhanming asked with confusion.