Chapter One Hundred Senator

  The wicker chair was still swaying.

  Chen Zhongguo showed a faint, inexplicable smile, half nostalgic and half reminiscent: "The Chen family has always been known for its scholarly traditions. I had hoped to start with you... When I saw that you were admitted to Jiangning University, I was overjoyed... Alas..."

  "Aren't you happy now?" Chen Yi was taken aback.

  Grandpa shook his head and nodded, saying: "Money can't be earned completely, $15 million a day, it sounds really not small, tens of billions of dollars in a year?"

  He asked himself: "Tens of billions of dollars are not for spending, but for doing business. If you want to talk about mastering the money-making industry in China, it ultimately boils down to politics. Ah Yi, do you want to enter politics?"

  Chen Yi never thought that tens of billions of dollars couldn't change his grandfather's mind at all. He spat out a mouthful of turbid air and said, "I don't like politics very much."

  "Whether you like it or not, you'll only know after experiencing it." Chen Zhongguo smiled and said, "If you don't like it, that's okay. If you want to do business, you can, but your studies cannot be abandoned."

  "Yes." What else could Chen Yi say?

  Seeing his unwillingness, Chen Zhongguo said calmly: "I know what you're thinking, but I'll tell you, a company that makes tens of billions a year, not to mention the whole world, there are countless ones that have gone through my hands."

  The old man dropped a sentence, and then said: "In the past, oil companies, chemical companies, coal companies, those were all profitable enterprises. There were also gold mining, TV production, steel manufacturing... In good years, they would pay tens of billions in taxes to the state. What was the result? Can they make profits of over 100 billion every year?"

  "They are state-owned enterprises, can't we just change our business model?" Chen Yi actually wasn't worried about not making money.

  The old man swayed in his rattan chair, smiling as he commented: "A young person's world is bright and sunny. Let you play for two more years, but remember, whether it's making money or studying, those aren't the goals. The goal is what? You have to find that out yourself."

  "Yes." Chen Yi wiped the fine sweat from his forehead, and after Old Master retreated, he became too philosophical.

  "Tell me again about that high-frequency trading of yours." Chen Zhongguo leaned back in his wicker chair, looking like he was waiting for Chen Yi to spin him a yarn.

  Although he is old, due to the nature of his work, he reads books and newspapers every day. Occasionally, when encountering problems that he doesn't understand, especially professional ones, he would ask people from research institutions to explain - the so-called national think tank, which indeed has an impact on everyone's life to a certain extent. Because policymakers can't be all-knowing and omniscient.

  All they can do is draw a line and let relevant professional think tanks compete to debate, so as to get seemingly ideal conclusions.

  Chen Zhongguo has stepped down, but it's not like he's really retired. If there was no hope at all, he wouldn't have shut the door on guests either.

  Chen Yi had always trusted Grandfather's judgment, and seeing that he was interested, she really did describe it to him bit by bit, as if telling a story.

  Chen Zhongguo listened for a while, reached out from the back of the chair to take out a towel and wiped his forehead: "I can understand some of it, so go find someone."

  "Yes."

  "Nie Hao from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who has been in the US for 20 years and has many friends in the business community. You can ask him to introduce some friends to see if you can get in touch with high-level figures again. For legislation, you need to find a congressman, there is an American senator Schumer, if you can pull him over to your side, then things are basically done."

  Grandpa's introduction would never be a low-ranking civil servant. Chen Yi was slightly startled and stammered: "Does this count as using your influence?"

  "Calculate. Unless you surpass me, no one in the Chen family can hide." Chen Zhongguo proudly raised his head.

  "You're always not letting us..."

  "This thing, I allowed it, earning foreign devils' money is a matter of course." Chen Zhongguo rehung the towel and said: "Another thing, as I mentioned earlier, there are many companies that make money, but making money is not easy. To be able to create a business at your age is not something that many people can do, you're one of the best. You should remember, among China's 1.3 billion population, in every industry, those who stand out on top are all exceptional talents. As for others in your family, I don't think they have what it takes to compete with them, you're the first."

  What an enormous compliment!

  Since I was old enough to remember things, Grandpa has always held a high position and never easily praised people.

  In his impression, the number of times he could get praised was truly countable on one's fingers.

  A surge of pride, as if infectious, reached Chen Yi's body. He jumped up from his chair and exclaimed loudly: "I will definitely help Grandpa return to the top."

  "Oh? You're quite spirited." Chen Zhongguo burst out laughing loudly, attracting the attention of all the servants who came running over.

  He waved his hand to indicate that nothing was wrong and laughed loudly: "Grandpa, I'm happy in my heart, you go busy with your own things, I'll secretly drink two cups of wine."

  Chen Yi smiled awkwardly and followed the housekeeper out.

  Han Jie remained in the car, seeing his face filled with joy, and she was also delighted.

  The next day, Chen Yi checked the information and made an appointment with Nie Hao at a specific time.

  Grandfather's secretary didn't show up to help, which made him a bit puzzled, but he didn't go ask about it either.

  In this way, although he knew that Chen Yi was Chen Lao's grandson, Nie Hao regarded Chen Yi as somewhat of a student-like problem, and the degree of attention was indeed limited.

  The place where the two agreed to meet was even his office, Nie Hao was after all a forty-year-old deputy director-level cadre, and even if it was an old superior's request, there should be some consideration for the way things were done.

  Chen Yi thanked him politely and said straightforwardly: "About the US Senator Schumer, do you have any information that can help me win him over?"

  "Schumer?" Nie Hao was slightly surprised and immediately said: "Schumer is a tough guy in the Democratic Party's Senate, do you... want to interview him?"

  Chen Yi blinked his eyes, really didn't understand the situation.

  Nie Hao understood that he had misunderstood, smiled and closed the volume in front of him, saying: "You say, say, say."

  Chen Yi still didn't mention his own company, but asked: "I want to win over Shu Mo and have him pass some bills that can guarantee a financial company's relatively monopolized position."

  "Monopoly position?" Nie Hao didn't expect it to be a big topic, and he sat up straight with some seriousness, saying: "Schumer is not very friendly to China. Those bills for the appreciation of the RMB were all proposed by him."

  Nie Hao turned around and said, "What kind of bill do you want him to pass?"

  Chen Yi had already thought this through and immediately said: "I want him to restrict and list service providers. This is unfair competition."

  "Peer-to-peer service provider?"

  "It's about connecting one's own computer with that of the exchange, so that the brokerage firm can get the information ahead of time." Chen Yi explained.

  He is not prohibited from participating in the transaction, in fact, due to his super-strong computer computing power, as long as the exchange maintains fair trading, he can be faster than other traders.

  Perhaps in a few years, when the new generation of computers for securities companies is launched, his advantage will decrease, but for now, physical distance is far from being a bottleneck.

  Nie Hao started to lose his understanding.

  He originally thought it was just taking care of his nephews and nieces, but now it seems that things are quite troublesome.

  After a moment of contemplation, Nie Hao hesitated and asked: "What's the name of that company?"

  He shouldn't have asked like that, but because of the other person's young age, a strong curiosity still prompted him to ask.

  "Is it just a matter of getting Shu Mo to take the lead and finalize this bill, then we won't need the company name anymore?"

  He didn't pretend either. Since he had already told his parents and grandfather about the company, it was not a matter of confidentiality. Moreover, the registration information of Jinyuan International was not top-secret either.

  But which company made demands on Schumacher and which one benefited from it is hard to say.

  In other words, the company I have may not be the one I'm speaking for - it's possible that I've been entrusted by someone else. Once I say something, there's no room for turning back.

  Nie Hao knew this, but didn't say anything, secretly judging Chen Yi and the current situation of the Chen family.

  A financial company on Wall Street sounds pretty impressive.

  If it's said that Chen Yi owns it, he definitely won't believe it. But if it's said that Chen Congyu owns it, why doesn't he show up?

  "In guessing, Nie Hao said: "Chen Lao's affairs are my affairs and will not be shirked. First, let me talk about the difficulties. Firstly, Schumer is unfriendly to China, which I can handle through American friends; secondly, Schumer has a high status, he is the chairman of several important committees in the US Senate, in Washington, he is always among the top 10 figures, apart from formal channels, it's hard for me to talk to him directly, and I need to find someone to introduce us; thirdly, the cost of passing the bill, you may not know that Schumer was brought up by Wall Street, at least most of the time, he represents the interests of Wall Street financiers, now you want to restrict them, the possibility of Schumer agreeing is very small."

  Chen Yi thought for a moment and said, "Then there's only one question left."

  "What?"

  "On the American side, I'll go through an American intermediary. How to find Schumer for a talk, I also have someone in mind, but it's the price of the bill..." Chen Yi rubbed his lips and said, "Is money a solution to problems?"

  "Of course it is in the US." Nie Hao burst out laughing, and then said: "But that's just talk, you can give money, others can also give money, relying solely on smashing is not enough, we need to use money to create momentum."

  Chen Yi nodded understandingly and said: "I can prepare $10 million as the initial operating funds. Can you recommend a candidate to me?"

  Nie Hao was stunned.

  He finally knows what kind of people the young masters of aristocratic families are.

  $10 million, he had passed through his hands many times, but he himself had never had it.

  After thinking for two minutes, Nie Hao pondered repeatedly and said: "Since it's been mentioned, I do have a few candidates in mind. Maybe we can find some time to meet up and discuss..."

  "No need." Chen Yi coughed and said, "I'm not experienced enough. If possible, I hope Director Nie will take care of this aspect more. When it's time to pay the bill, let the American company foot it directly."

  Bribing senators, or political trading, either way it's not a good reputation.

  Chen Yi still wants to mix in the US and doesn't want to get involved.

  Compared with his daily income of tens of millions of US dollars, taking out money is the most appropriate thing.

  Washington is so full of professional lobbyists for special interests that they outnumber the politicians.

  As for Nie Hao, he doesn't care about his reputation in the United States.

  His thoughts, Director-sama naturally understands.

  Nie Hao couldn't help but admire Chen Yi Xiang's meticulousness in his heart and then agreed.

  After a few rounds of small talk, he had a greatly increased good impression of Old Man Chen's grandson.

  Not to mention children of the same age, even among leaders of their own generation, how many can think so clearly?

  He thought: With such young people in the Chen family, they won't collapse.

  Nie Hao had no idea that Chen Yi's head was topped with not only the Intelligence Scroll and Listening Scroll, but also a large amount of Green Breath Fruit.

  Unity of three brings no disadvantage in negotiation.

  After a while, Nie Hao smiled and said: "You are in the first year of Jiangning University, my son is also in Jiangda, this year should be the third year, when you have time, you two get closer."

  He handed over his business card with his son's phone number written on it and said, "If you have time tonight, come to my house for dinner. You can also get to know each other."

  Under his mind's sudden change, he also decided to re-strengthen his ties with the Chen family.

  Chen Yi smiled brightly and said: "Thank you, Uncle Nie."

  Chen Zhongguo had him come find Nie Hao, also with a probing intention.

  If Nie Hao is still willing to maintain a close relationship, he will certainly help Chen Yi. And for Nie Hao to be willing to maintain a close relationship, Chen Yi's performance has a certain stimulating effect.

  This was both a test of Chen Zhongguo for Chen Yi and a probe for Nie Hao, as well as a move by him on the political stage.

  A leisurely chess move during retirement.

  Heaven knows when this chess piece will come into play.

  ……