"Nan's Scarlett Food Group, Eugene Diesel."
"The Cargill Family, Cargill Group, Whitney MacMillan."
Eugene Diesel and Whitney MacMillan, Cargill's chairman and CEO and a member of the Cargill family, meet on a trail near a forest in Minnesota.
"Eugene, I really appreciate your Scarlett Grain Group's strategy of 'continuous stable low profits'." McMillan skipped the title, Mr. and other forms of address and called him by his name.
"Food is a very special product. It is unethical to make too much profit. I also really appreciate Cargill's slogan of 'Feeding the World'."
"This is our Cargill's beautiful wish." McMillan shrugged, got on his bicycle, and took the lead to ride forward.
Diesel followed a little slower, pedaling his own bike to catch up. "Whitney, what do you think of the Agreement on Agriculture?"
The Agreement on Agriculture is a part of the World Trade Organization (WTO) agreement, which regulates and constrains international agricultural product trade in three aspects: market access, domestic support and export competition.
Among them, domestic support refers to the general term for various fiscal expenditure measures taken by the government through various domestic policies to support agriculture and farmers.
It is necessary for countries (regions) to take measures to support agricultural production, but it is also one of the main reasons for unfair competition in international agricultural product trade.
Since these measures are of many types and have different functions, in order to treat them differently, the Agreement on Agriculture divides all domestic support measures into different categories according to their impact on production and trade, and vividly uses "green box" policies, "yellow box" policies and "blue box" policies as the distinction, and makes different provisions.
Among them, "green box" policies refer to those policies that have no distorting effect or very weak impact on production and trade; "yellow box" policies refer to policies that have a direct distorting effect on production and trade, including both support provided to a specific agricultural product and support that does not distinguish between specific products; "blue box" policies refer to measures that, while implementing price support measures, also restrict production area, number of livestock and product output.
Since the "yellow box" policy has the most direct impact on production and trade and the most obvious distortionary influence, it is highly concerned by governments around the world. The concession commitments in WTO agricultural negotiations also mainly revolve around the "yellow box" policy.
"Eugene, your question is not very clever. If you don't have the answer yourself, we wouldn't be meeting today." McMillan ignored the stone thrown by Diesel and didn't buy the roundabout way at all.
Although the final negotiations of the "Uruguay Round" will not begin until next year, the framework of the terms that will be signed has long been rumored, and the only unknown is the "specific data."
As for the agricultural agreement, both Diesel and MacMillan already knew that the "regulations" would require developed countries to reduce the amount of export subsidies and the export volume of subsidized products by a certain percentage in the next few years; developing countries would also reduce their exports by a certain percentage in the next few years.
The years for developing countries will be longer than those for developed countries, and the reduction ratio will also be lower than that of developed countries. The agricultural agreement is actually a disguised way of supporting agricultural development in developing countries.
In addition, developed countries need to cut agricultural production subsidies. This number will not be too small, and the maximum possible is 20%.
Under this influence, the support and subsidies for agriculture by agricultural product exporting countries will gradually weaken. With reduced support and subsidies, the income from agricultural planting will be insecure. Global food production will definitely decrease in the next few years, and exports will also decrease. The problem of imbalance in world food supply and demand will gradually become prominent. Rising food prices will cause rising prices of most commodities, thus causing global inflation.
"It's not very smart. In the next few years, our two companies will encounter good opportunities and also big crises. Compared with Cargill, which has been in existence for 127 years, our Scarlett is still very young and has not matured enough. However, youth also means simplicity and endless possibilities."
"I am very optimistic about Scarlett's future development. Scarlett's localization strategy is even better than Cargill's. I also appreciate your emphasis on and use of technology, as well as your simplicity." McMillan turned to look at Diesel. "This fall alligator hunting season, I plan to go to Florida to hunt alligators. I hope Mr. Adam can come with me."
"I'll pass it on."
Diesel responded without saying anything more. The purpose of his coming to Minnesota had been achieved. McMillan made his meaning very clear - cooperation was totally possible, so let the person who could make the final decision come over to talk.
"Uncle Monkey, your business is really good. There are already several tables eating barbecue this morning."
After getting up in the morning and exercising, Nan Ruoyin brought Nan Youqiong to Lao Pao BBQ on Yanbian Street. Monkey treated them to soybean paste soup, grilled pork belly and Korean beef for breakfast.
"They're not having breakfast. The white-collar workers in Seoul have a rich nightlife. Starting from 8 or 9 in the evening, they will have several rounds of drinking. These tables will go straight to work after eating here." Monkey put down the fried eggs in his hand and sat next to Nan Ruoyin. "Would you like some wine?"
"don't want."
Nan Ruoyin waved her hand, picked up a lettuce leaf, picked up a piece of Korean beef, dipped it in the sauce and put it on the lettuce leaf, then picked up some enoki mushrooms and garlic, wrapped the lettuce leaf into a ball and stuffed it into Nan Youqiong's mouth, then wrapped another one and stuffed it into her own mouth.
After eating a few slices of meat and drinking some soybean paste soup with rice, Nan Ruoyin wiped her lips with a napkin and said, "Uncle Monkey, my father asked me to ask you if you have found a marriage partner. He has already prepared a wedding gift for you and is just waiting for the right time to give it to you."
"It's almost there, almost there." said the monkey a little shyly.
"Really? Uncle Monkey, I want a separate wedding invitation so you can earn an extra red envelope."
Monkey nodded, expressed his gratitude and waved to the side. Huishu received the signal and walked over and handed him a folder.
Monkey opened the folder and placed it on the table, pointing to each record and telling Nan Ruoyin information such as the location of the house, its size, and the purchase price. If there were any questions, Nan Ruoyin would ask.
Nan Youqiong sat on the side, eating and listening attentively.
In fact, there has always been someone to connect with Monkey, so Nan Ruoyin doesn't need to worry about it at all. The purpose of doing this now is to let her understand the business first and prepare for her future job.
The records went by one by one, and soon it was the latest one's turn.
"Uncle Monkey, which group or company wants this house at 522 Apgujeong 2-dong?"
"Uh..." Monkey hesitated for a while and said, "The ownership of this house will be handed over to Zhao Jinshui."
"Oh, Dad wanted it for personal purposes. What does he want the house in Seoul for?"
“I don’t know.”
Nan Ruoyin caught the slightest hint of something strange in Monkey's tone, looked away from the document, and looked at Monkey's face, and asked in an interrogative tone, "Not sure?"
Monkey's eyes swept across Nan Youqiong's face, "I don't know. It's not convenient for me to ask about the boss's private affairs."
"oh."
Nan Ruoyin nodded, already understanding that this house was related to "women". She picked up the folder and read it again from beginning to end. After she understood it clearly, she closed it and handed it back to Monkey.
"Uncle Monkey, you can pay more attention to the houses in Cheongdam-dong and Seocho-dong. The real estate in these two holes will have greater room for appreciation in the future."
“I have been paying attention to these two holes, but the people living in these two places are all old money. There are not many people who have fallen into loan sharking, and even fewer people who want to sell their houses.
Nonhyeon-dong and Sinsa-dong are where the new money lives in high concentrations, and the potential for appreciation of the houses is not bad. Moreover, the wealth of the people living here is unstable, and it is hard to predict whether they will be rich today and poor tomorrow, so many people are selling their houses.
"Well, you can also pay attention to the shops in Dongdaemun."
"There's news from the Zero Degree Faction that several shop owners in Dongdaemun have been frequenting the U.S. military's Yongsan base recently. There's a casino inside. Before long, someone will definitely lose so much money that they'll have to resort to loan sharking."
Nan Ruoyin: "Can the Zero Degree Faction expand its business to the Longshan base?"
"It's impossible to get in. That's the sphere of influence of other gangs. The Zero Degree Faction will contact the targets in advance and give them relatively low interest rates to attract business first."
"Zheng Zongzhi has a good business sense. Uncle Monkey, has Zero Degree Party also started to engage in real estate business?"
"Yes, as the gangs in South Korea grow stronger, they will enter the real estate business. There will often be fights on construction sites in Seoul," said Monkey.
Nan Ruoyin pursed her lips and said, "Is Zheng Zongzhi clean?"
"Not clean. There were murder cases on him, but they were all covered up. Either there were no witnesses or someone took the blame."
"Forget it, there's no need to see Yehu." Nan Ruoyin said, turning to look at Nan Youqiong, "Are you full?"
“I’m full.”
"Yeah. Uncle Monkey, let's go. We are going to have some fun outside today."
Guangzhou.
Chen Ruiwu led Nan Wuwei to the magnesia mobile house on the construction site, walked into one of the rooms, and said to a female employee, "Xiao Jiang, this is Wuwei. You are responsible for accompanying him today. You must accompany him wherever he goes and whatever he does. Don't go to any dangerous places."
After Chen Ruiwu finished talking to the female employee named Xiao Jiang, he said to Nan Wuwei, "Wuwei, I have something else to do. You stay here by yourself. I will pick you up for lunch later in the afternoon."
"Yeah, goodbye, Grandpa Ruiwu."
Nan Wuwei watched Chen Ruiwu leave, then immediately walked to Xiao Jiang and said sweetly, "Hello, Sister Xiao Jiang."
"Hello."
Jiang Hailuo didn't know what to call the child in front of him. The child who came here with the big boss was definitely not an ordinary family's child.
"Sister Xiao Jiang, my name is Nan Wuwei. My classmates call me Namo Wen. You can call me that, Sister Xiao Jiang." Nan Wuwei said considerately.
Seeing that Nan Wuwei was a polite child , Jiang Haiyan became calm, "Oh, Wuwei, my name is Jiang Haiyan, the chairman asked me to accompany you today, where do you want to go, I will accompany you?"
"I want to take a look at the information of the workers on the construction site first. Grandpa Ruiwu said it is on the computer here." Nan Wuwei pointed to the computer at Jiang Hailuo's workstation.
"Okay, I'll bring it up for you to see." Jiang Haiyan responded, walked to the workstation, tapped a few times on the keyboard to bring up a simple ERP system, made room for Nan Wuwei and said, "Wuwei, you can take a look now."
"Thank you, Sister Xiao Jiang."
Nan Wuwei sat at Jiang Hailuo's workstation, put his left little finger on the Tab key and his right index finger on PageDown, stared at the screen, tapping his fingers from time to time.
Jiang Hailuo stood by and watched Nan Wuwei's operation, wondering, "What's so interesting about the information of migrant workers?"
Nan Wuwei not only read, but also occasionally wrote something in his notebook. Curious Jiang Hailuo had been paying attention to it, and he remembered that it was brief information about several migrant workers.
As time went by, Jiang Hailuo became more and more curious. Finally, she couldn't help but ask Nan Wuwei, "Wuwei, why are you remembering this?"
"My summer homework." Nan Wuwei said without raising his head.
"Summer homework?"
"Well, Grandpa Ruiwu said that most of the workers on the construction site are from Wuchuan, and they are from the same county, township and village. I want to observe a village and investigate the impact of the loss of strong labor on agricultural production, as well as the changes in family life after the income of farmers working in the city increases, including living conditions, support for parents, education and growth of children, and the direction of farmers' own lives."
“…”
Jiang Hailuo almost couldn't help but burst out laughing. A kid in his teens actually blurted out "research" or something like that, a summer homework. How could his name be Nan Wuwei? It would be better if he just changed his surname to Gan Wuwei.
"Wuwei, why are you 'researching' this?"
"My father said that he is a farmer, I am also a farmer, and my children will also be farmers in the future. He asked me to study hard to be a good farmer, and then learn how to be a good farmer parent. I am learning now."
“…”
Jiang Haiyan couldn't help but complain in his heart: "What a mess, learning how to be a farmer? Will people become stupid if they have more money?"
Nan Wuwei didn't know what Jiang Hailuo would think, he just continued to look at the information and wrote down what needed to be recorded. He also wanted to finish the research work as soon as possible and then fly to Xiangkeng. The Yamaha scooter he ordered had arrived, but he hadn't ridden it yet.
He read some materials in the morning, and after the workers on the construction site had lunch at noon, Nan Wuwei went to the prefabricated panels, brick piles, and shell panels on the construction site, which the workers used as dining tables, to see what the workers were eating and listen to what they were talking about.
Wuchuan dialect is not difficult to understand, and Nanwuwei can understand it clearly by listening and guessing.
"Sister Xiao Jiang, I saw some workers eating winter melon without much meat, some were eating chili peppers without much meat, but some were eating twice-cooked pork. Are the dishes in the canteen on the construction site divided into different grades?" After taking a look around, Nan Wuwei asked Jiang Hailuo.
Jiang Hailuo: "There is no distinction between levels. The construction site will prepare four free dishes for one meal. Each dish will have a little meat, but not too much. Each person can get three or four slices. Migrant workers can order whatever they want. There are also paid dishes. If you want to eat them, you need to tell us in advance. Twice-cooked pork is a paid dish."
Nan Wuwei: "Oh, how often do you improve the food?"
Jiang Hailuo: "Twice a week, for lunch on Wednesday, we will prepare two and a half meat dishes, and for dinner on Sunday, we will prepare one full meat dish and one half meat dish, and everyone will have a bottle of beer."
Nan Wuwei: "People in Wuchuan are very particular about food. Are they used to eating free food?"
"Some people don't want to eat free food after a while, they will spend money to eat paid food, and sometimes they will go out for dinner together." Jiang Hailuo said with a look of disdain on his face, "I don't know how they can bear to spend more than a day's wages on a meal."
"A younger uncle?" Nan Wuwei asked.
"There are people of all ages, including those with families... Some are already fathers and are willing to spend money on food, spending more than half of their monthly salary on food."
"oh."
Nan Wuwei nodded and started recording in his little notebook.
“Do workers have social security?”
Jiang Haiyan: "The company respects personal wishes. Those who want to pay can pay. For those who don't want to pay, the company will pay the portion it needs to bear in cash."
"What about accident insurance?"
Jiang Haiyan: "The migrant workers will buy it on the third day after they arrive here."
“…”
Nan Wuwei continued to ask several questions until Chen Ruiwu appeared, and then he ended his questioning.
Chen Ruiwu came over with a bulging belly, threw his cigarette butt on the ground, and came to Nan Wuwei and said, "Wuwei, what do you want to eat for lunch? Seafood? Roast goose? Or should we go eat toads? There is a new Nanle Restaurant that has just opened. The toads they make are delicious."
"Hehe, I want to go to Ou Ji to eat soy sauce chicken."
"Okay, let's eat District Note."
Chen Ruiwu held Nan Wuwei and was about to leave. Nan Wuwei turned back and said to Jiang Haiyan, "Little Sister Jiang, please come with us."
"I'm going too?" Jiang Hailuo asked in surprise.
"Xiao Jiang, come too and continue to accompany Wuwei in the afternoon." Chen Ruiwu also greeted him.
After hearing Chen Ruiwu's call, Jiang Hailuo approached Nan Wuwei and the other man, and followed them to where Chen Ruiwu parked the car.
With the wheels rolling, the group soon arrived at Qu Ji Restaurant near Hepingli.
After entering the store, Nan Wuwei looked around but did not see Qu Jing. He caught a waiter and whispered a few words to her. The waiter quickly called Qu Jing over.
As soon as Qu Jing saw Nan Wuwei, she immediately pinched his shoulders and looked left and right, "Hey, who is this? Isn't this Wuwei? You came to Yangcheng without calling your Aunt Qu first."
"Auntie Qu, I treat this place as my own home. Why do I need to call when I get home?"
"Xingmuzi." Qu Jing touched Nan Wuwei's head and said, "Did you come alone?"
"No, I came with a grandfather and he has already gone to the private room. Aunt Qu, I haven't had the soy sauce chicken you made for a long time. I really want to eat it." Nan Wuwei said obediently.
"Really? Haha, you're so sweet. Okay, go to the box and wait. Auntie will make you some soy sauce chicken."
"Uh-huh."
After Nan Wuwei acted nicely in front of Qu Jing, he walked towards the box.
"Wuwei, you are busier than your grandfather Ruiwu. You have to go out for social events even after having a meal?" Chen Ruiwu joked as Nan Wuwei entered the box.
"Hehe, the owner of this store is my aunt." Nan Wuwei walked to Chen Ruiwu and moved the chair closer to Chen Ruiwu. "Grandpa Ruiwu, the washbasin in my yard is too old. I want to tear it down and rebuild a new one."
Chen Ruiwu said generously, "This is easy. I'll ask a skilled worker to bring a skilled worker with me this afternoon to bring the materials over to build the house. It will be done in half a day."
"No, Dad said that we should keep public and private affairs separate. The workers and materials all belong to the company. Grandpa Ruiwu, please help me find two craftsmen, and buy some bricks, cement, and tiles for me. I also need to replace the faucets and galvanized pipes. I'll pay for it myself."
"You are just like your father." Chen Ruiwu nodded at Nan Wuwei and said with a wry smile: "Okay, Grandpa Ruiwu will personally find a master for you."
"Thank you, Grandpa Ruiwu."
Jiang Hailuo sat on the side, listening to the conversation between the old man and the child. She felt a little confused. It was too much. Building a wash basin had to be both public and private. But she was also a little curious. She really wanted to know who the father Nan Wuwei was talking about was.
"Wuwei, your grandfather Zong Qing called this morning and asked you to go to the village to play for a few days. Do you want to go?"
"Okay, I'll go to Xiangkeng to see my great-grandmother first, and then I'll go to the village to see Grandpa Zong Qing when I come back."
"Your father didn't buy anything for your room. Tell Grandpa Ruiwu what you want. I'll buy it and send it to the village first."
"Grandpa Ruiwu, no, I'm just a child. If you want to ask me for a big purchase at home..."
Before Nan Wuwei could finish his words, the door of the private room was pushed open with a clang. Qu Jing entered the room with a livid face and rushed to Nan Wuwei in three steps. "Wuwei, call your father quickly. Something happened to your Uncle Li."
"Auntie Qu, don't worry, I'll call my dad right away." Nan Wuwei asked Chen Ruiwu for his cell phone and immediately dialed Xiangkeng's forwarding number.
…
"Qu Jing, I understand. Don't panic. It's not a big deal. Wait in the store. I'll call a lawyer to find out the situation. To be honest, Li Hai deserves what you said. It's not a bad thing to let him reflect on his mistakes in prison.
I will be in Yangcheng the day after tomorrow. Before I arrive, don't run around or look for anyone randomly. It's really not a big deal."
Nan Yi ended the call with Qu Jing, handed the phone to the school beauty, and said to Han Zhenhe who was sitting opposite him: "I think this piece of land east of the airport near Aotai is more suitable for building our industrial zone. It is close to the airport and not far from the border highway, but..."
Nan Yi stared at the map and pointed at a few blue and yellow dots. "These houses and small farms are a bit troublesome. Go to the Tijuana City Government tomorrow to talk to Mayor Messi. It's best to let the Tijuana government handle the relocation, even if we have to pay a little more."
"President, I'm afraid Messi will ask for too much." Han Zhenhe said.
Nan Yi stroked his chin and said in a deep voice: "Money is not a big deal. I am just worried that the farm may be difficult to deal with. This piece of land is perfect for building an industrial zone. It can be said that Tijuana's industrial zone has only just begun to develop. Why hasn't anyone taken a fancy to this piece of land yet?"
"President, are you saying it's related to drug dealers?"
"It's very likely, it's too close to the border ." Nan Yi concentrated on thinking for a while, waved his hand and said, "Forget it, we don't need to keep guessing, you will know the answer when you meet Messiah tomorrow. It's getting late today, you should go to bed first."
"Okay, President."
After Han Zhenhe left, Nan Yi picked up the map and studied it for a while, then walked to the balcony, looking out at the sea to relax his nerves.