Chapter 326 Tool Man

Li Weidong asked for an extra place to go to the United States, and naturally he planned to leave it to He Anan.

Last summer, after graduating from the Capital University of Foreign Languages, He Anan did not choose to continue his studies abroad, but directly participated in the work and was assigned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Of course, being able to be assigned to such a unit also has a certain relationship with He An'an's family background.

He Anan studied Japanese, so after entering the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, he went directly to work in the Asian Department.

Li Weidong didn't know if He Anan had time to answer the phone, so he called the paging station and sent a paging message to He Anan.

Beijing had a paging station as early as 1985, but a BP machine cost thousands of yuan at that time, which was unacceptable to ordinary Chinese. Therefore, in the 1980s, the domestic wireless paging service basically did not develop much. .

The Asian Games in 1990 was a turning point. Beijing began to vigorously develop and promote wireless paging, and more and more people used BP machines.

It's just that at that time, there was no automatic paging station, and there was no Chinese character paging service, and the BP machine could only display the phone number of the other party.

In 1992, the BP machine was also considered a kind of new and fashionable thing. At that time, a BP machine was attached to the waist, which would attract envious eyes from the surrounding.

Li Weidong waited for ten minutes before the phone beside him rang.

After hearing Li Weidong's voice, He Anan said, I saw an unfamiliar number, or an area code from another place, so I guessed it was you!

I'm here at Huanghai Petrochemical! Li Weidong then asked: How is it, are you busy with work recently?'

I'm so busy, I'm so busy! I didn't expect the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to be so busy, working overtime every day! If I had known this, I would have been admitted to a graduate school and then stayed at the school to teach. It would definitely be more leisurely than now! He Anan said.

Then why don't you give yourself a vacation and relax? Li Weidong asked, Let's go abroad to play for a while?

Go to Japan again? He Anan asked subconsciously.

I won't go to Japan this time, let's go to the United States! Li Weidong replied.

Really? He An'an's tone was full of surprises.

As the most powerful and richest country in the world, the United States is attractive to people from any country. I don’t know how many people leave their homes and businesses just for a visa to the United States, for the so-called “American Dream”. .

Li Weidong went on to introduce: Huanghai Petrochemical wants to purchase a batch of petrochemical equipment, which is from Mobil Corporation of the United States. They can't negotiate, so please ask me to negotiate with the Americans, and I will ask Huanghai Petrochemical for an extra overseas quota!

Great, then I'll ask for a leave of absence! He Anan said excitedly.

For people at that time, to take a special leave in order to go to the United States,

It is also a matter of course.

After all, the chances of getting a US visa are too few. Even He Anan, a staff member of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, can't get a US visa casually.

...

The headquarters of Mobil Corporation, Irving, Texas, USA.

Company executive Wallace stood by the large French window with coffee in his hand, frowning as if he had encountered a problem.

At this moment, his assistant knocked on the door and walked in and said, Mr. Wallace, we have just received news from the Hong Kong Island Office that China Huanghai Petrochemical would like to come to the United States again to negotiate the purchase of petrochemical production equipment. , I hope we can issue an invitation letter so that they can apply for a visa!

Hearing this news, Wallace immediately loosened his brows.

The people from Saudi Basic Industries Corporation will be here next week, and I'm worried that no one will cooperate with us to play this big show! It just happened that the Chinese came to my door. God helped me, such a suitable tool person is not good. Find it!

Thinking of this, Wallace said, Notify our Hong Kong Island office immediately and issue an invitation letter to Huanghai Petrochemical, the sooner the better!

Okay, sir! The assistant nodded.

Wallace continued; Also, let the Hong Kong Island Office notify our embassy in China that if Huanghai Petrochemical goes to apply for a visa, we must hurry up to apply for them! We now need people from Huanghai Petrochemical to come to the United States as soon as possible. , so that our negotiations with the Saudis will go a lot smoother!

Okay, sir, I'll do it right away. The assistant turned around and walked out.

American oil majors have always had enormous influence over the U.S. government, and in 1992, when President George W. Bush took power, the U.S. oil companies had an even more outrageous voice. With Mobil's strength and status, it is easy to get the green light from embassies abroad.

...

In the capital, Li Weidong stood in front of the US embassy in China with Song Jinlong and others, holding an identification document in his hand, waiting in line for an interview.

I went back to Qinghe for two days, and you asked me to come to the capital to sign! The efficiency of your Huanghai Petrochemical is too high! Li Weidong couldn't help saying.

Song Jinlong explained: The main reason is that Mobil's efficiency is fast enough! After you left that day, we contacted Mobil's office in Hong Kong as soon as possible, hoping that they would send an invitation letter.

Originally, why do we have to wait ten days and a half months for this kind of thing, maybe even a month, but I didn't expect that the Mobil office in Hong Kong would give us an answer every other day, and asked us to go to the United States. , and then sent the invitation letter!

Do American companies have such high efficiency? Or is it because of the high efficiency of the Hong Kong Island company?

Li Weidong had a bit of doubt in his heart, and he asked again: Director Song, as far as I know, to find a visa officer for an interview, it is also necessary to make an appointment to queue up. We queued up so quickly, it seems that your factory's The public relations ability is very strong!

I don't know, how can the appointment to see the visa officer be so fast this time! Usually, we have to wait at least a month, and it may be three or four months when there are many people. But this time we handed the appointment application to the embassy. , I got a reply right away, let us come to the interview.

Song Jinlong paused, then said, Speaking of which, I thought I would have to wait for a month or two, so when we received the notice from the US embassy for an interview, we Huanghai Petrochemical was in a hurry for a while, and we were ready to handle it overnight. visa-related materials.”

Hearing this, Li Weidong frowned slightly. It sounds like Huanghai Petrochemical has gone through a back door, so he can see the visa officer so quickly.

However, this is the embassy of the United States. Li Weidong does not think that Huanghai Petrochemical has the ability to go through the back door here.

Strange, this is a little out of the ordinary. Li Weidong frowned, and he couldn't remember the reason for a while.

Soon, it was Huanghai Petrochemical's turn to see the visa officer.

In order to successfully pass the signing, Li Weidong prepared a lot of materials, such as a copy of the business license of the electrical appliance factory, such as a copy of the OEM contract he signed with Xizhi Electric, and a bank deposit certificate.

When the visa officer asked relevant questions, Li Weidong presented these things and should be able to pass smoothly.

However, when Li Weidong didn't expect it, the visa officer just took Li Weidong's identity information, verified that it was himself, and then passed it to Li Weidong. He didn't even ask Li Weidong any questions other than his name.

Li Weidong walked out of the face-to-face room with a confused look.

In his last life, Li Weidong had applied for a US business visa. He knew the process of applying for a business visa and what questions the visa officer would ask, but today's experience is completely different from what Li Weidong remembers!

Is it so easy to get a business visa to the United States these days? Just ask your name? It's too perfunctory, right? Even if you don't test your English proficiency, you have to ask a few career-related questions, right? Aren't you afraid that I'm black in America!

Li Weidong felt more and more that things were a little weird, and his intuition told him that from the quick invitation letter, to the quick appointment of the visa officer, to the perfunctory face of today, all this was arranged by someone.

At this time, Li Weidong saw that Song Jinlong came out of another visa officer's room.

Director Li, you should have passed over there, right? Song Jinlong asked with concern.

It doesn't matter if other people just sign face to face, but Li Weidong must sign face to face, Song Jinlong also expects him to negotiate with Mobil!

Li Weidong asked, Director Song, what questions did the visa officer ask you?

I just asked my name, then looked at Mobil's invitation letter, and signed it! Song Jinlong replied.

The last time you went to the United States to negotiate, did the interview go so smoothly? Li Weidong asked again.

Song Jinlong thought for a while, and then answered, That's not true. The visa officer asked me a lot of questions last time, and they made me sweat.

Don't you think it's strange that I only asked my name this time? Li Weidong asked.

It's probably because I've been to the United States before, so it's better to get a visa! I heard that it's much easier to get a US visa once, Song Jinlong replied.

But I haven't been to the United States, but the visa officer only asked my name and signed it! It's so smooth. Li Weidong said solemnly.

Isn't it a good thing to go smoothly! Song Jinlong said casually, and then saw Li Weidong's solemn expression, so he asked in a low voice, Director Li, do you think there is something wrong with this?

Li Weidong nodded: From sending the invitation letter to today's interview, everything went so smoothly! If I guessed correctly, someone wanted us to go to the United States earlier, so they were helping us secretly!

Who is it? Song Jinlong asked subconsciously.

Who else is there, Mobil Corporation! Li Weidong continued; It is this kind of oil giant that has the ability to influence the embassy!

If it was Mobil, why would they do this? Song Jinlong pondered for a while, and then suddenly looked happy: Mobil wants us to go there sooner! Doesn't that mean they want to sell the equipment to us?

Not necessarily! Li Weidong shook his head pessimistically, and then said, Sometimes, you can't sing a play with just the protagonist and no supporting roles.