<h4>Chapter 294: Death Note on Weibo</h4>


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Nyoi-Bo Studio <strong>Editor: </strong>Nyoi-Bo Studio


    In the Xing Hai Headquarters, at the meeting room on the top floor, a middle-aged man in a suit sat nervously on the sofa across the CEO, Ling Jundong. The middle-aged man’s manners were refined and very respectful. With two hands on hisp, he nodded and bent forward from time to time. His etiquette was excellent. He was very fluent in the Znguage, and one could tell that he was very knowledgeable about Z country’s culture. The only downside was that no matter how flowery and cultured his speech was, a sense of wretchedness could always be seen on his face.


    “Yourpany’s technology is very advanced. This building is shockingly amazing and has unparalleled beauty. The moment I walked into the building, I knew that this is the greatestpany on the. The CEO of thispany is also the best CEO in the world. Respect. Ling-san, I really respect everything that’s been done here.” Ichiro Maeda raised his thumb and praised him.


    Ling Jundong nodded slightly. He rather enjoyed the fact that this sort of ttery coulde from the mouth of the Deputy Chancellor from Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Moreover, the Japanese government responded to the recruitment announcement by Xing Hai Technologies and was the first toe forward. This waspletely within the prediction of Xing Hai Technologies.


    Although many people really despised the Japanese, their country was indeed very “eager to learn.” More than a thousand years ago, they dispatched arge number of “envoys” to the Tang Dynasty. They learned all aspects of the Tang Dynasty, from the writtennguage, festivals, food, clothing, to the architecture, andpletely bid farewell to their barbarian era. Two hundred years ago, when the West dominated the world, they dispatched arge number of students to the West to learn Western science and technology, festivals, clothing, food, and architecture, etc. They learned everything they could from the West and called their transformation an “all-pan westernization.”


    Now that they witnessed more advanced technology appearing in Z country, of course, they wanted to learn. One must know that the Japanese economy had been stagnant for more than 30 years. Japan was gued by natural disasters such as earthquakes, volcano eruptions, tsunamis, and typhoons which urred frequently. Sometimes, they experienced a nuclear nt explosion too. Their declining birthrate was extremely severe and the total poption was declining year after year.


    Besides a few key strengths in the field of science and technology, they were facing fiercepetition in other sectors from the two neighboring countries, Z and Gorea. The myth of their “artisan spirit” was being continuously eroded, it now turned into a “bowing spirit.” The pride that they had in themselves had long been overwhelmed by emotions such as disappointment, anxiety, nervousness, and inferiority.


    Faced with the rise of Z country, they struggled hard. But they found that the gap between them widened. In their futile attempts to get out of their predicament, they only found themselves to still be slipping into an even deeper abyss. Just at this time, they heard that Xing Hai Technologies of Z country issued an announcement to “recruit bootlickers.”


    The conditions in the announcement were somewhat harsh. But after three days of shutting themselves in to carry out an in-depth discussion, the Japanese high-level officials still felt that this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity! Once they seized this opportunity, it was very likely that Japan would rise again. They must seize this opportunity!


    Hence, Ichiro Maeda, who was proficient in the Z country’s culture, was sent here by Prime Minister, Shinzo Anbe, after his position had been rapidly upgraded from a mere “diplomatic officer” to the “Deputy Chancellor” so as to show their high regard for Xing Hai Technologies. All the little details were very well done.


    However, after hearing the request for coboration from Ichiro Maeda, Ling Jundong shook his head and raised several questions regarding the principles of the matter. “Has Merica given you the ok toe over to us? After our coboration is over, can you ensure that our products and data will not be touched and analyzed by the Mericans? If Merica intervenes in this matter and causes our coboration to be cut short, shouldn’t Xing Hai Technologies receivepensation that is ten times of our financial losses?” In fact, all these were simply different forms of one question: What if Merica interferes and disrupts the cooperation between the two parties?


    Ichiro Maeda thought for a moment and said, “Ling-san, we have discussed this issue in detail. Our solution is to conceal. We n to conceal our cooperation, and carry out our coboration secretly to prevent the Mericans from finding out.”


    Were they not just burying their head in the sand? Ling Jundong rolled his eyes. “There will be millions of students, thousands of science and techpanies, and hundreds of thousands of employees using our products at the same time. How is it possible to keep this a secret from Merica?”


    “Ling-san, this is impossible in other countries, but it is entirely possible in Japan!” Ichiro Maeda proudly said. He was not bragging. There was a ‘shaming culture’ in Japan. The essence of this culture was about “going with the flow,””the minority obeys the majority” and “not fitting in is a disgrace, those people will be isted and outcast.” Hence, the Japanese could often disy an amazing sense of uniformity. This could be seen from the scenes of useless fans waving their glow sticks in sync at the concerts of some anime songs. Of course, this was not unity, nor was it a reflection of their “high inner quality;” it was just a special culture. If this culture was used for the purpose of ‘keeping things secret’ and ‘falsification,’ it would definitely achieve good results.


    However, Ling Jundong still shook his head! “We tend to prefer open and transparent coboration, we also publicly announce our partners. Rather than sneaking around, Xing Hai Technologies is honest and upright! We want the world to know who our partner is!”


    Ichiro Maeda’s body trembled fiercely! Announce the partner to the world? If Merica got wind of this, it would skin them alive. There were three aircraft-led navy battle groups that were even now docked in the Yokohama Port in Japan for repairs! Since they were already Merica’s bootlickers, they could not be theckey of Xing Hai Technologies. The consequences of being a half-hearted, disloyal dog for two powerful countries at the same time was to be skinned alive.


    At this thought, Ichiro Maeda pleaded earnestly. “Don’t announce it at all costs! Our Prime Minister is consulting Merica about their opinions on this matter. Merica will definitely agree. Japan is a big country! We are taking an independent diplomatic route. Other countries cannot intervene in our foreign policy. This coboration is possible, but please don’t announce it! We hope to avoid unnecessary trouble.” At this point, he already became incoherent. His logic was so full of loopholes it could not withstand any more rebuttals and doubt. Even he himself could not believe these words. He had no confidence. A dog-like country. His country was essentially a dog.


    Besides, even if there was a one in a million probability that Merica would agree to Japan and Xing Hai Technologies coboration, Chen Jin would still propose several additional conditions that he personally prepared. Would they stop worshipping the ghost of thetrines? Would they apologize for historical issues, would they kneel and acknowledge their mistakes? Would they fork out at least tens of billions for civilpensation?


    Although it was said that one must be forward-looking, to forget one’s history was to betray one’s ancestors! If these left-over issues remained unsolved, Chen Jin would never coborate with them. He would only end up cultivating an ingrate that harbored ulterior motives. It would turn around and bite his hand. In short, he would not treat the other party as a human. The dog leash had to be grasped tightly in his hands.


    The first negotiation ended without results.


    In the evening, Ichiro Maeda went back by ne. Then, he had no chance to return to Z country. A rope was wrapped around his neck and hung on the roof beam. Very quickly, he became cool. This was because Xing Hai Technologies posted on their official Weibo, saying that Japan sent a diplomat toe and discuss the possibility of cooperation, but the talks were fruitless. This Weibo post instantly became the death note for Ichiro Maeda. Would the Mericans have mercy on him? This was the content of the discussions by the majority ofizens on Japan, who was the first country to propose the coboration.


    “Be an honest and loyal dog, stop dreaming.”


    “It’s too difficult to change your fate. You can’t change your dog life.”


    “The country under the strictest control of Merica is Japan. It is a natural dog + cash cow. It also provides young and fair girls to the Merican soldiers for them to trample and enjoy.”


    “One dog and two masters, isn’t it looking for death?”


    “If you want to lick the boots of Xing Hai Technologies, you should free yourself from your leash before talking about it!”


    “We can’t agree to this coboration. Japan has a human appearance but the heart of a beast. We can’t share good things with them!”


    The first country who seemed to be a bootlicker failed to be recruited because it did not meet the conditions. Two days passed. On July 6th, a country that had the real qualifications to be a bootlicker finally appeared.