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Chapter 745: Chapter 646: Trillion Dollar Market (Please Subscribe!)_1
When they left each other in Hawaii, Ayman and I exchanged phone numbers.
We agreed to keep in touch when we had free time.
And today, a month later, he really did call.
I put down my chopsticks.
Pressed the answer button.
"Ayman?" Tang Qing asked.
The next moment, a cheerfully innocent voice came from the other end of the phone, "Haha, yes, Tang ... Qing, good morning." The two words "Tang Qing" were spoken by Ayman in Chinese. Even though his pronunciation was off, he didn’t say it incorrectly.
"Good morning, but it’s evening where I am," Tang Qing replied, slightly annoyed. Luckily, he didn’t call in the morning, otherwise if Tang Qing was busy later and Ayman called again, he’d curse him out.
Ayman paused in surprise. Eventually it dawned on his straightforward mind. He immediately apologized, "Ah? I’m sorry, I’m sorry for disturbing your rest. I’m in New York, USA. I had just finished exercising this morning and forgot that it is now night in Huaxia."
"No problem, I’m having dinner. What’s up?" Tang Qing asked curiously.
"My father is making a trip to Huaxia, and I remembered you’re in Huaxia. So I made the last-minute decision to follow him and visit you," Ayman explained.
"Your father? The Prince?" Tang Qing remembered Ayman’s father, a former Saudi King’s son, a prince. What is he doing in Huaxia?
"Yes, I don’t know what my father is going to do, I didn’t ask. But while he’s on business, I can visit you. What do you think?" Ayman said, sounding hopeful. He was quite curious about Huaxia, a place he’s never been before.
Tang Qing laughed heartily, "Sure, I look forward to it. Are you going to Shanghai or Beijing?" he asked. With his status, if he’s on business, he must be going to Beijing, right?
Ayman explained, "My father will visit Beijing and leave me in Shanghai. Otherwise I won’t have any time on his schedule."
"Alright then, when will you get here?" Tang Qing asked.
"The night flight from the United States will likely.. arrive the day after tomorrow Huaxia time." Ayman thought for a moment.
Tang Qing responded, "I will pick you up then. How many in your entourage? I can arrange accommodations for all of you."
"Thanks, but we have our own car. The butler will arrange the accommodation. I just want you to show me around. I just don’t know whether you can spare the time," Ayman said.
"No problem. Just let me know when you need me. I’ll pick you up," Tang Qing said.
"..."
They hung up.
"Tangtang, was that Ayman?" Athough Lin Jiaxue was relatively fluent in English, and while not as good as Tang Qing, she could understand most of what was said, and thought Ayman might be coming to visit.
"Correct. He and his father are coming for business purposes. His father will visit Beijing while he comes to Shanghai to hang out. He’ll arrive the morning after tomorrow," Tang Qing explained.
"The day after tomorrow is Friday. I have class," Lin Jiaxue said, hesitating.
"It’s alright, I’ll take care of him. We can tour around and in the afternoon I’ll pick you up from school," Tang Qing joked.
"Would that be considered rude?" Lin Jiaxue worried.
Tang Qing shook his head, "No worries! It’s a big favor for a little prince like him that I’ll pick him up."
"..."
Lin Jiaxue found Tang Qing very assertive today, though she didn’t seem to understand why. However, to her, whatever Tang Qing said was just about the most reliable thing in the world.
Despite Tang Qing’s somewhat arrogant words,
It wasn’t exactly boasting or being wildly arrogant. If it were Ayman’s father, the prince, coming, well, that could warrant some attention. But as for Ayman, there’s no need to do anything special, just treat him as a regular person.
........
November 4th.
Friday.
Tang Qing woke up early.
After breakfast, he drove Lin Jiaxue to school, then he himself set off for the airport in his Benz.
10:30 AM.
Pudong International Airport.
Ayman’s father left his son at the airport and flew to Beijing without even getting off the plane. He left two luxury cars behind, a Rolls-Royce and a bulletproof Volkswagen off-road vehicle.
Of course.
The private plane they were on couldn’t accommodate the cars. These were shipped separately in advance. Using whatever means, Ayman’s father managed to get a black license plate. Otherwise, they’d definitely be stopped on the road as soon as they started driving.
So.
Not only was Tang Qing there to pick him up, but also two of Ayman’s drivers.
All of them recognized Tang Qing, so they instinctively stood next to him. It gave the impression that they were Tang Qing’s bodyguards. Their two white bodyguards looked quite impressive, attracting the attention of passers-by.
Luckily, their communication devices weren’t advanced.
Otherwise, someone would be there to livestream it for attention.
Looking at the time.
Ayman should be out soon.
Soon enough.
Ayman, donned in a white robe, appeared at the exit.
"Wow... the Saudi guy."
"Really, he seems to have a pretty high status."
"What’s he doing in Huaxia?"
"Of course he’s come to travel."
"So handsome."
"..."
Ayman drew quite a crowd when he appeared. Wearing tea-colored sunglasses, he looked impressively handsome in the heat of the Shanghai market. However, as soon as Tang Qing showed up, all focus was shifted from Ayman.
Ayman also saw Tang Qing.
He rushed up to him quickly.
And gave him a hug.
"Tang Qing, I’m so glad to see you. Hawaii’s not fun and neither is America. I’ll be relying on you these few days," Ayman politely said.
"No problem, as long as you foot the bill," Tang Qing shrugged.
"No problem, all expenses are on me," Ayman laughed heartily. He truly liked Tang Qing’s demeanor. Tang Tang didn’t treat him like a prince, and they could jest freely. Ayman always felt relaxed around him.
Discussing money with tycoons was always straightforward. Nobody felt like they were imposing, not when such small day-to-day expenses couldn’t compare to inviting people over for instant noodles. Was this really considered spending money?
Tang Qing actually just joked about it.
There was friendship between landlords. 𝔫𝖔𝔳𝔭𝔲𝔟.𝖈𝔬𝔪
He could not ask Ayman to really foot the bills.
It was just a saying
As they got into the Rolls-Royce.
Ayman did not stop talking.
"Tang Qing, the urban construction here is amazing, even better than the capital of Saudi Arabia. Unlike Riyadh that only has a small area with high rise buildings, most of the rest are low-rise houses with sand everywhere. You guys have a great position here in Huaxia."
This sigh of admiration was truly heartfelt.
Saudi Arabia.
They have won a unique geographic advantage, possessing large amounts of oil. They couldn’t spend all the money even if they tried. But the environment there was hostile, almost half of the country was desert.
Fortunately, Saudi Arabia has plans. They didn’t just let things slide. Instead, they invested heavily in basic and heavy industrial projects to shift the economic structure. However, they still couldn’t wean off from the dependency on oil.
"If there was a technology that could turn the desert into an oasis, our living environment could be greatly improved," Ayman sighed. Travelling all over the world, Ayman was really worried about Saudi’s environment. Once the oil economy was gone, how far could Saudi Arabia go?
What Ayman said reminded Tang Qing.
Saudi Arabia lacks water, and the technology for seawater desalination is a good direction. As long as the cost issues can be resolved, it’s not an empty talk to improve the desert environment. Tang Qing’s mouth curled up at the corners.
He found another project to knock a windfall.
Desert environment reformation technology.
Everyone hopes for green mountains and clear water. Once this can be achieved, whether it’s Saudi, Middle East, or even Africa, huge economic and political benefits could be gained. However, the specific technical aspects still need to be discussed with the scientists.
In any case, these scientists all belonged to the same system. There was no need for additional training.
Actually, research related to environmental reformation technology has been ongoing in the command room. Knowing that ever since the first time he returned from Thailand, and headed to Beijing, Tang Qing had some ’ideas’ about the haze in Beijing.
What he thought at that time was about reducing pollution, mainly pollution control technology.
Then naturally, he set up a project for it.
The progress was also significant, but the cost issue couldn’t be solved. Although the progress of purifying harmful substances in the air was great, the research on the challenging problems of heavy metals, chemical pollution in rivers and land was still ongoing.
This time, Tang Qing planned to add desert reformation and seawater desalination technologies to the list.
However, he wasn’t in a hurry because the system would upgrade. After the lab’s next upgrade, no one knew what impressive technology would be opened. Plainly speaking, Tang Qing was depending on the next upgrade for a technical breakthrough.
This is also an important project of the Myanmar Bank Group.
He named it the ’Change of Heaven and Earth’ plan.
Seawater desalination.
Turning the desert into farmland.
River and sewage treatment.
Soil pollution remediation.
Harmful air purification.
Disposing solid waste.
Even... nuclear pollution removal.
Tang Qing felt that this plan.
Would bring him benefits amounting to at least a trillion Asia dollars, or even more, in the future. The additional benefits deriving from it would be even larger. This project naturally belongs to the Zhiya Research Center.
He wanted this research center.
To become the most solid pillar for the value of the Asia dollar because science and technology were the primary productive forces.
