Chapter 294: Death Note on Weibo
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
In the Xing Hai Headquarters, at the meeting room on the top floor, a middle-aged man in a suit sat nervously on the sofa across the CEO, Ling Jundong. The middle-aged man’s manners were refined and very respectful. With two hands on his lap, he nodded and bent forward from time to time. His etiquette was excellent. He was very fluent in the Z language, and one could tell that he was very knowledgeable about Z country’s culture. The only downside was that no matter how flowery and cultured his speech was, a sense of wretchedness could always be seen on his face.
“Your company’s technology is very advanced. This building is shockingly amazing and has unparalleled beauty. The moment I walked into the building, I knew that this is the greatest company on the planet. The CEO of this company is also the best CEO in the world. Respect. Ling-san, I really respect everything that’s been done here.” Ichiro Maeda raised his thumb and praised him.
Ling Jundong nodded slightly. He rather enjoyed the fact that this sort of flattery could come from the mouth of the Deputy Chancellor from j.a.pan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Moreover, the j.a.panese government responded to the recruitment announcement by Xing Hai Technologies and was the first to come forward. This was completely within the prediction of Xing Hai Technologies.
Although many people really despised the j.a.panese, their country was indeed very “eager to learn.” More than a thousand years ago, they dispatched a large number of “envoys” to the Tang Dynasty. They learned all aspects of the Tang Dynasty, from the written language, festivals, food, clothing, to the architecture, and completely bid farewell to their barbarian era. Two hundred years ago, when the West dominated the world, they dispatched a large number of students to the West to learn Western science and technology, festivals, clothing, food, and architecture, etc. They learned everything they could from the West and called their transformation an “all-pan westernization.”
Now that they witnessed more advanced technology appearing in Z country, of course, they wanted to learn. One must know that the j.a.panese economy had been stagnant for more than 30 years. j.a.pan was plagued by natural disasters such as earthquakes, volcano eruptions, tsunamis, and typhoons which occurred frequently. Sometimes, they experienced a nuclear plant explosion too. Their declining birthrate was extremely severe and the total population was declining year after year.
Besides a few key strengths in the field of science and technology, they were facing fierce compet.i.tion in other sectors from the two neighboring countries, Z and Gorea. The myth of their “artisan spirit” was being continuously eroded, it now turned into a “bowing spirit.” The pride that they had in themselves had long been overwhelmed by emotions such as disappointment, anxiety, nervousness, and inferiority.
Faced with the rise of Z country, they struggled hard. But they found that the gap between them widened. In their futile attempts to get out of their predicament, they only found themselves to still be slipping into an even deeper abyss. Just at this time, they heard that Xing Hai Technologies of Z country issued an announcement to “recruit bootlickers.”
The conditions in the announcement were somewhat harsh. But after three days of shutting themselves in to carry out an in-depth discussion, the j.a.panese high-level officials still felt that this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity! Once they seized this opportunity, it was very likely that j.a.pan would rise again. They must seize this opportunity!
Hence, Ichiro Maeda, who was proficient in the Z country’s culture, was sent here by Prime Minister, s.h.i.+nzo Anbe, after his position had been rapidly upgraded from a mere “diplomatic officer” to the “Deputy Chancellor” so as to show their high regard for Xing Hai Technologies. All the little details were very well done.
However, after hearing the request for collaboration from Ichiro Maeda, Ling Jundong shook his head and raised several questions regarding the principles of the matter. “Has Merica given you the ok to come over to us? After our collaboration is over, can you ensure that our products and data will not be touched and a.n.a.lyzed by the Mericans? If Merica intervenes in this matter and causes our collaboration to be cut short, shouldn’t Xing Hai Technologies receive compensation that is ten times of our financial losses?” In fact, all these were simply different forms of one question: What if Merica interferes and disrupts the cooperation between the two parties?
Ichiro Maeda thought for a moment and said, “Ling-san, we have discussed this issue in detail. Our solution is to conceal. We plan to conceal our cooperation, and carry out our collaboration secretly to prevent the Mericans from finding out.”
Were they not just burying their head in the sand? Ling Jundong rolled his eyes. “There will be millions of students, thousands of science and tech companies, and hundreds of thousands of employees using our products at the same time. How is it possible to keep this a secret from Merica?”
“Ling-san, this is impossible in other countries, but it is entirely possible in j.a.pan!” Ichiro Maeda proudly said. He was not bragging. There was a ‘shaming culture’ in j.a.pan. The essence of this culture was about “going with the flow,””the minority obeys the majority” and “not fitting in is a disgrace, those people will be isolated and outcast.” Hence, the j.a.panese could often display an amazing sense of uniformity. This could be seen from the scenes of useless fans waving their glow sticks in sync at the concerts of some anime songs. Of course, this was not unity, nor was it a reflection of their “high inner quality;” it was just a special culture. If this culture was used for the purpose of ‘keeping things secret’ and ‘falsification,’ it would definitely achieve good results.
However, Ling Jundong still shook his head! “We tend to prefer open and transparent collaboration, we also publicly announce our partners. Rather than sneaking around, Xing Hai Technologies is honest and upright! We want the world to know who our partner is!”
Ichiro Maeda’s body trembled fiercely! Announce the partner to the world? If Merica got wind of this, it would skin them alive. There were three aircraft-led navy battle groups that were even now docked in the Yokohama Port in j.a.pan for repairs! Since they were already Merica’s bootlickers, they could not become the lackey of Xing Hai Technologies. The consequences of being a half-hearted, disloyal dog for two powerful countries at the same time was to be skinned alive.
At this thought, Ichiro Maeda pleaded earnestly. “Don’t announce it at all costs! Our Prime Minister is consulting Merica about their opinions on this matter. Merica will definitely agree. j.a.pan is a big country! We are taking an independent diplomatic route. Other countries cannot intervene in our foreign policy. This collaboration is possible, but please don’t announce it! We hope to avoid unnecessary trouble.” At this point, he already became incoherent. His logic was so full of loopholes it could not withstand any more reb.u.t.tals and doubt. Even he himself could not believe these words. He had no confidence. A dog-like country. His country was essentially a dog.
Besides, even if there was a one in a million probability that Merica would agree to j.a.pan and Xing Hai Technologies collaboration, Chen Jin would still propose several additional conditions that he personally prepared. Would they stop wors.h.i.+pping the ghost of the latrines? Would they apologize for historical issues, would they kneel and acknowledge their mistakes? Would they fork out at least tens of billions for civil compensation?
Although it was said that one must be forward-looking, to forget one’s history was to betray one’s ancestors! If these left-over issues remained unsolved, Chen Jin would never collaborate with them. He would only end up cultivating an ingrate that harbored ulterior motives. It would turn around and bite his hand. In short, he would not treat the other party as a human. The dog leash had to be grasped tightly in his hands.
The first negotiation ended without results.
In the evening, Ichiro Maeda went back by plane. Then, he had no chance to return to Z country. A rope was wrapped around his neck and hung on the roof beam. Very quickly, he became cool. This was because Xing Hai Technologies posted on their official Weibo, saying that j.a.pan sent a diplomat to come and discuss the possibility of cooperation, but the talks were fruitless. This Weibo post instantly became the death note for Ichiro Maeda. Would the Mericans have mercy on him? This was the content of the discussions by the majority of netizens on j.a.pan, who was the first country to propose the collaboration.
“Be an honest and loyal dog, stop dreaming.”
“It’s too difficult to change your fate. You can’t change your dog life.”
“The country under the strictest control of Merica is j.a.pan. It is a natural dog + cash cow. It also provides young and fair girls to the Merican soldiers for them to trample and enjoy.”
“One dog and two masters, isn’t it looking for death?”
“If you want to lick the boots of Xing Hai Technologies, you should free yourself from your leash before talking about it!”
“We can’t agree to this collaboration. j.a.pan has a human appearance but the heart of a beast. We can’t share good things with them!”
The first country who seemed to be a bootlicker failed to be recruited because it did not meet the conditions. Two days pa.s.sed. On July 6th, a country that had the real qualifications to become a bootlicker finally appeared.