Chapter 156 Laymen Directing Experts

This was Chen Fan's first time witnessing such a major setting. There were two groups of people, numbering at least twenty or thirty in total, constantly tossing around incomprehensible technical jargon, which inevitably made him feel a bit nervous.

"Relax, you've got this. A small occasion like this will be a piece of cake."

Half of these words were said to himself, and the other half were provided by the system.

Li Shizhen also found it puzzling. Clearly, the business could have been negotiated smoothly in English, so why on earth did the Chairman go out of his way to arrange for a Swahili interpreter?

However, Li Shizhen did not dwell on it for long. After all, one's perspective dictates one's understanding. Li Shizhen had once doubted the judgment of this young helmsman, but subsequent facts proved that those successive bouts of arrogance and radicalism had been utterly correct.

Now, whenever the Chairman gave specific instructions or precautions, he would unswervingly implement and execute them.

Prince Abuzaha was the leader of the foreign business delegation, and he was also the son of a prominent local tribal chief. Having been influenced by a Western education in his youth, he spoke fluent English—so proficiently that he did not even need to bring along an English translator, often handling business negotiations personally.

There were three other individuals working alongside Chen Fan as interpreters, all professional English translators. Judging by their appearance, they were about his age; when asked, they were only in their early thirties, but they had already spent five or six years in this line of work.

The three colleagues were taciturn and concise in their responses, and Chen Fan felt too embarrassed to ask any further questions. After all, this kind of work required maintaining a high degree of concentration at all times, without a single moment of distraction.

Abuzaha was heavily built. After settling into his seat, he pushed his chair back slightly and noticed the maple leaf gold emblem on the coffee table. He examined it with great interest, then spoke to his entourage in his native tongue, "This little trinket is quite exquisite. Do you think there would be a market for it back home?"

The senior official beside him pushed up his glasses and studied it closely. "The workmanship is indeed very exquisite, but the price... I'm afraid people wouldn't be able to afford it."

"They are interested in the maple leaf gold emblems produced by the group, but they don't know the price," Chen Fan told Li Shizhen using a colloquial translation.

Sensing a business opportunity, Li Shizhen hurriedly instructed Chen Fan, "Tell them there are pure gold, gold-plated, and composite gold versions. The materials differ, so the prices vary. The cheap ones are less than a dollar, while the expensive ones can cost hundreds or thousands."

"Oh," Chen Fan acknowledged, then relayed it to Prince Abuzaha using a very formal and official phrasing.

"Can it be changed to other patterns and designs?" Prince Abuzaha seemed tempted and asked in English.

"Yes," Li Shizhen nodded repeatedly with force.

"I believe Tina Mi would love these things. Coincidentally, I've been thinking about redecorating the house anyway," Abuzaha smiled, revealing a row of pearly white teeth.

"Let's discuss the serious business first. There will be plenty of time for these things once everything is finalized," a subordinate sensibly suggested.

Abuzaha carefully placed the gold emblem back onto the coffee table, nodded, and said, "That's true. Business comes first. The elections are taking place in three years, so we cannot afford to slack off."

Chen Fan listened through to the end, turned his head, and told Li Shizhen, "He is very interested in this little trinket, but wants to discuss it after the serious matters are settled."

As for the last sentence, Chen Fan thought about it and decided to say it anyway: "Prince Abuzaha is making preparations for the elections."

"Understood. You've done well."

Li Shizhen had gathered quite a bit of intelligence earlier and knew that this prince was highly ambitious. However, judging by the current situation, the other party seemed even more eager than anticipated.

"Respected Prince Abuzaha, this is the draft contract prepared beforehand. You should have looked it over previously. I wonder what your thoughts are regarding some of the detailed clauses within?"

Li Shizhen pressed down on a black folder and pushed it gently toward the other party, while instructing his subordinates to present the dozen spare copies of the contract draft to the foreign guests.

The Maple Leaf Group's business domains basically covered every aspect of national life—ranging as large as artificial intelligence, biotechnology, and aerospace, down to accessories, clothing, and daily necessities, all bearing a strong Maple Leaf style.

Prince Abuzaha spread out the contract and quickly located those few points of concern within the dozens of thick pages, pointing them out one by one. "We discussed this previously: can these railways be built within two years, or at the very least, show some obvious progress? Five years is indeed a bit too long."

After hearing the translator's rendition, Li Shizhen explained, "When planning, we considered that this is a systematic project, and all steps have undergone rigorous simulation testing. The five-year construction period is merely an estimated time; even rushing the work, it will likely take around three and a half to four years at the fastest."

Abuzaha expressed profound regret upon hearing this. In this way, the achievements gained from the construction would not be able to add to his political capital.

Chen Fan was an utter layman, a freshman who hadn't even started his specialized courses. Although he possessed the technology provided by the obedient maid and could understand what was being said, he still had no idea what the bigshots were talking about.

"I am very sorry, respected Prince. We truly cannot meet your request. Do you have any other questions?"

Before the English translator could speak, Chen Fan preemptively forced out a translation of Li Shizhen's words and added a little extra of his own.

"There are currently three railways planned under construction. If we only build two railways to start with, they are expected to be completed within two years. Among them, the majority of the mileage for one railway lies within the tribe belonging to the Prince, while the other two merely pass through. I wonder what the Prince thinks of this?"

After finishing this long string of sentences with great difficulty, Chen Fan scratched his head, failing to grasp the meaning of his own words.

Li Shizhen also felt the timeframe was slightly too long, and furthermore, this speech was not supposed to be translated by Chen Fan in the first place, so he asked, "What did you say? The translation took a bit long... Don't go spouting things you shouldn't."

"I didn't say anything, just some polite pleasantries. You know how it is—pleasantries spoken by people all over the world are long and cumbersome," Chen Fan replied randomly, not knowing how else to respond.

Abuzaha took the words to heart. He reined in his smile, thought deeply for a moment, and said, "If we don't construct them simultaneously, but instead have the two railways start construction first, what difference would it make?"

Hearing the translation, Li Shizhen was somewhat surprised, unable to understand why the other party had suddenly thought of this, and replied earnestly, "If we do that, the overall construction period might be extended, and the cost will be at least 15% higher than it is now. However, solely for those two railways, they can indeed be completed within two years."

Abuzaha smiled, waved his hand, and said, "Money is not an issue. The most important thing is to ensure that those two railways are completed within two years."

Li Shizhen said with confidence, "Please trust the strength of the Maple Leaf Group; the construction schedule will definitely be met on time."

Chen Fan was still in a daze. He had inexplicably uttered a few sentences and somehow resolved the deadlock? But how big this business deal was had nothing to do with him anyway; he just considered it an experience to broaden his horizons.

The two sides continued to haggle over the specific details they cared about. Chen Fan didn't get to say much more, leaving it entirely to the team of interpreters to take turns in a relay.

By the time the major business deal was finally finalized, that unexpected little windfall was also brought to the negotiating table. Although the final amount was only a few million—not even matching a fraction of the infrastructure budget—business was business; nobody detested having too much money, and as long as there was a profit to be made, it was worth doing.

"This interpreter speaks very authentic Swahili. His articulation and pronunciation are even more accurate than mine as a local. I wonder if it's because he's been away from home for too long, but even my native tongue is getting rusty."

Abuzaha first praised Chen Fan before sighing with emotion. Swahili was ultimately just a local language, struggling to make its mark on the world stage.

"There are more and more college students studying Swahili nowadays. I believe exchanges between the two countries will reach new heights in the future," Li Shizhen said, partly out of polite flattery and partly out of pride in his mother tongue.

"I've thought about learning Chinese, but Chinese is truly difficult. Right now, I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed," Abuzaha wore his signature smile and said earnestly through clenched teeth in Chinese, "Thank you. Happy cooperation."

Chen Fan's mission was finally over, and the same went for the accompanying translators. Once off work, each of them transformed completely, acting like escapees from an asylum.

"The income this time is quite good; making seven to eight thousand in a single day," one of the young translators rejoiced, dancing around as he watched his bank account balance steadily tick upward.

Another seasoned translator remained unimpressed. "This profession relies on youth; you can't do it for many years. Besides, how could there be such major gigs every day? Landing one every three or four months is already considered pretty good."

"I'd never even heard of Swahili when I applied for my major, but today I looked it up and found out it's actually considered a major regional language with fifty million speakers," the curious young girl on the far side shook her phone, which was filled with news related to Swahili.

Someone suddenly called out to Chen Fan and asked, "May I ask, how much will you make for doing the Swahili translation this time? I heard from others that the rate for Swahili is usually about three to four times that of English, but I don't know anyone else in this line of work, so I'm a bit curious."

"It should be at least twenty to thirty thousand, no matter how you look at it," the veteran translator estimated roughly.

Chen Fan stood frozen in place, his pupils continually contracting and dilating, his hands trembling slightly as he pursed his lips and muttered, "Twenty to thirty thousand... Heh, yeah, around that."