Chapter 33 Chapter 33 Hometown

At two o'clock in the afternoon on August 15, LA time, He Ru and a group of more than a dozen people from M Group left LAX on a China Eastern flight and flew to Shanghai. The plane flew over the Pacific Ocean for more than ten hours, and at around 20 o'clock Beijing time the next night, it flew over the outer space of Shanghai.He Ru slept for more than seven hours on the plane. Because of the jet lag, she couldn't fall asleep again after the plane arrived at Kimbo Airport in Seoul in the afternoon.Now she overlooks the colorful and eccentric night Shanghai from the air, and she is in the night sky of LA in a trance.

LA and Shanghai are both located between 30° and 35° north latitude. One is located on the east coast of the Pacific Ocean and the other is on the west coast. The two metropolises complement each other, but each has its own unique characteristics. Compared with the high-rise buildings in Pudong that have sprung up like mushrooms after a rain, the Canyon in the center of LA looks a bit outdated. Most of them were built in the 1960s and 1970s of the last century. Today, it is difficult to see five buildings in downtown LA. Houses with more than one floor are being built, one is because LA is located in the circum-Pacific seismic zone, and the other is that LA's economic belt is gradually spreading to the surrounding urban area. Although the population of downtown LA is only about 3 million, with the addition of many surrounding satellite cities, the population has exceeded 10 million.Its area is more than twice that of Shanghai, so it is relatively loose in space. More than a dozen expressways pass through the urban area, and viaducts are everywhere.In terms of urban structure, LA is a typical checkerboard layout. Compared with big cities such as New York, Chicago, and Philadelphia, LA, as the economic hub of California, seems to be younger.

These are the impressions of He Ru who stayed in LA for more than five years.The reason why she didn't stay there after graduating from the MBA in the east was mainly because the environment in the east was relatively conservative and not as lively as California.She believes that the charm of a city does not lie in the number of high-rise buildings and vehicles it has, but in its cultural environment. Compared with when she left that year, the Shanghai in front of her eyes is more modern. The high-rise areas around Lujiazui seem to be no worse than Street Canyon in downtown LA.Although economic prosperity cannot be measured by high-rise buildings alone, the psychedelic changes in Shanghai in recent years are still very fascinating.Economic development is the blood of a city, and today's Shanghai seems to have been injected with fresh blood, glowing with youthful vitality.

He Ru thought to himself, no wonder their M Group is eager to enter Shanghai, because in this booming market in China, opportunities may be fleeting.This time, the Group’s shareholding in Far East Insurance Company may actually just want to build a bridgehead here first, and more funds will land in this huge market in the future. The plane landed slowly at Pudong Airport. There were already three vans waiting there.A deputy general manager of the Far East Insurance Company and a male translator in his thirties came with the car.The deputy general manager accompanied Chairman Fu of M Group into the first car. The male translator originally wanted to squeeze into the third car where He Ru was sitting, but there was no interpreter in the second car, so he had to get into the second car resentfully. .He Ru acted as the interpreter for the third car.

The convoy left Pudong Airport and went straight to the Pudong Shangri-La Hotel next to the Huangpu River. On the way, He Ru chatted with Jones.She asked Jones what was his first impression of coming to Shanghai this time? Jones said: "Unfortunately, I can't tell you my first impressions hastily, because when the sun rises from the east sea tomorrow, I wake up and suddenly find that everything around me is different again." A staff member from the headquarters next to him said: "I hope I have a good night's sleep. Because in New Jersey, the sun is rising from the sea in the east at this time."

When we arrived at the Shangri-La Hotel, we had dinner in the restaurant and were taken to our rooms.Because He Ru was the only woman between them, she was arranged alone in a guest room on the twenty-eighth floor. He Ru went to take a shower first, then poured a glass of red wine, and opened the curtains.From her room, you can enjoy the downtown Shanghai and the bustling night view of the Bund by the Huangpu River in the distance. The Oriental Pearl TV Tower not far away is dazzling in the night sky. Nine years, how to think. She looked towards the direction of Xujiahui where her alma mater was located in the distance. During the four years there, she had tasted all the ups and downs, and her feelings for it were beyond words.Now the sky above it is being shrouded in orange light clouds.The quiet night in the campus path at the beginning may have been swallowed up by the restless desire of luxury and money.

When she was in the United States, she had seldom considered the issue of personification, but when she got off the plane just now, she seemed to smell it all at once.Perhaps only memory is unadorned.Wu Xiaotian stayed here for more than seven years after graduating, no wonder there was a gap between them unconsciously.She thought, what exactly did Wu Xiaotian want to pursue here?Is his all-out scientific research now an escape from the past, or is it a real conceptual transformation? ! This night, she thought a lot.She is the business assistant and translator of Party M, so she must sleep well at night so that she will have enough energy to participate in the negotiation tomorrow.She was always in bed when she was sleeping, so she didn't fall asleep until after two o'clock in the middle of the night.This time, the representatives of the M Group and the Far East Insurance Company only have three days to negotiate, and the first meeting will start at ten o'clock tomorrow morning.

When negotiating business, they are very particular about the first impression they give to the other party, which will affect the strategy and bargaining chips of the subsequent negotiations to some extent. The next morning, He Ru got up in a hurry before nine o'clock.After grooming, she didn't put on much makeup, she just put her hair up and tied it into a small bun at the back of her head.She wore a dark black suit and skirt with a dark green shirt inside. She looked elegant but not flashy, which was just right for her identity.Then she went to the restaurant for breakfast.She ordered a glass of orange juice, two slices of toast, and a dessert.

While eating, suddenly a man came to her table with a plate, and asked her with a smile in fluent English, "Miss, can I sit down?" He Ru looked up, and it turned out that the person who came was the male translator from Far East Insurance.She nodded with a smile. After the man sat down, he handed over a business card. He Ru glanced at it, and saw that the man was Gu Cun, a manager of the research and development department of Far East Insurance Company headquarters, and an MBA graduated from B University in the United States.He Ru smiled and said, "So, you are a 'sea returnee'?"

She also gave him her business card.Gu Cun took her business card, glanced at it, and said mockingly: "What are returnees? I just prefer the domestic environment. If Ms. He is stationed in Shanghai on behalf of your M Group, then we will be colleagues and friends." gone." He Ru said: "There are only competitors in the business field, but no real friends. Didn't your teacher at B University tell you this?" Gu Cun was a little embarrassed, and said, "But this is China, and we should pay more attention to human touch." He Ru said: "I'm going back to LA in a month, my career is there."

Gu Cun smiled and said, "It's fine to go back. Now Shanghai is full of talents, hidden dragons and crouching tigers. It's the same whether you want to work or not. Has Ms. He already settled down in LA?" After hearing this, He Ru felt a little displeased, and she said coldly, "I'm sorry, Mr. Gu, can I not answer your question?!" Gu Cun smiled unnaturally, "Of course. I'm just curious."