154 Military Official (2/2)
It was sunset and night was approaching. When Chen Fan's party of four walked out of the plane's cabin door, a surge of hot air came toward them.
Saudi Arabia's capital Riyadh is of a tropical desert climate, and the temperature in summer can sometimes reach about 50 degrees. Although it was now autumn, the high temperature made Chen Fan feel like he was in midsummer.
”Holy crap! This colonel became an embassy's military official at such a young age? Her dad must be really amazing!” Wang Bing who was walking beside Chen Fan saw Ye Xi's armband and exclaimed at once.
”Embassy's military official?” Chen Fan couldn't figure that out. ”What's that? A bodyguard in the embassy?”
”No!” Wang Bing shook his head and pointed to her armband. ”See the words 'Ministry of National Defense'? She belonged to the National Defense Military Officials, which is totally different from a bodyguard. It is official post responsible for military diplomacy and cooperation. Not only does it enjoy diplomatic privilege of meeting the highest military officer anytime, it also enjoys immunity. That means, even if she punched someone on purpose, the police do not have the right to arrest her and have to leave it to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to negotiate.”
”Whoa, isn't that awesome!” Chen Fan's eyes were larger than those of a bull.
”Indeed!” Ma Rongtao also pursed his lips.
After seeing the pretty female military official get into a black car, Ma Rongtao tapped Chen Fan's arm and pulled him out from his shock.
”Let's find a hotel for tonight. Tomorrow we'll go to Riyadh's landmark, Kingdom Tower, to meet the nephew of the minister of petroleum and mineral, Abdul.”
The first impression Saudi Arabia gave Chen Fan was monotony, extreme monotony. Not the buildings there, but the people.
For the pedestrians he met on the way, the men were all unified in white robes and white shawls, looking like Osama. As for the women, they were all black gowns and black shawls. The only difference was they had an additional black mask, and the only visible part of their bodies were their two round eyes, making it impossible for one to tell their age and looks.
”Goodness, this is killing me! I wanted to look at beautiful foreign girls, but all I can see now is black cloth!” Seated in the car, Wang Bing covered his head with his hands miserably.
”Go to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates if you wanna look at beautiful girls. There are beautiful girls from all over the world lying on the beach there. People like Julia Roberts and Britney Spears frequent there. Who knows, you may even see them skinny dipping!”
”The best part is, if you get their local nationality, not only can you marry four wives, the government also subsidizes the cost of living for the five of you which is equivalent to 4,000 RMB every month. You get an additional 100,000 for marriage and 50,000 for childbirth. You don't have to come up with a single cent before the child turns 18. Everything is paid by the government, including studying overseas.”
”What?” Wang Bing blinked. Was Chen Fan talking about a fairytale? How could there be such a wonderland in the human world?
”Don't believe? Go do some research later, and you'll see.” Chen Fan gave Wang Bing high hopes and then dampened his enthusiasm. ”But the houses there cost over 200,000 RMB per square meter on average. You need to have four houses if you marry four wives, and you have to pay them in full without any housing loan.”
”Isn't that simple? First I'll use up my entire fortune to get a small house of over 10 square meters and then marry and divorce repeatedly 100 times. Wouldn't I then be able to get five houses from the government?” Wang Bing's eyes beamed, looking as if he wanted very much to give it a try.
Ma Rongtao who was drinking mineral water didn't swallow the water and almost choked.
As the capital of the world's oil superpower, although Riyadh is not as luxurious as Dubai, it was no less than any metropolis Chen Fan had seen. The fancy cars, some of which Chen Fan knew and some which he didn't, even had Ma Rongtao who was the richest man in Zhongyun in awe.
......….
The next morning at 7 a.m., Chen Fan's party of four arrived at the landmark building of Riyadh, Kingdom Tower.
The Kingdom Tower was constructed by a Saudi prince's funding, and was listed as one of the new ”Seven Wonders of the World” for new modern buildings by the famous American travel magazine ”Condé Nast Traveler.” It is a building with a very special style, with a triangular hole at the top quarter of the building, looking a little like a bottle-opener. Needless to say, the hole is not for opening bottles, but for withstanding hurricanes by letting them pass through to reduce the building's resistance.
It is similar to the tall buildings in mainland China. Its first to third stories are shopping malls with all the luxury brands in the world. Above the third story are various corporate offices and private residences.
After they walked into Abdul's private club, Chen Fan finally understood the meaning of ”Nouveau riche.”
Holy sh*t, the handles on the two doors were made from 8,000 grams of gold, and even the carpet below the feet were made from giraffe skin, looking extremely stylish.
Abdul was the nephew of the minister of petroleum and minerals, 32 that year. Like most peripheral members of the royal family, he made use of his identity to get a considerable number of oil fields at a low price, and the amount of oil exports alone each year was more than 20 billion USD.
After the two mustached men in green military uniform scanned his body with a metal detector, Chen Fan finally met the oil magnate.
”May Allah praise and bless you, my dear Abdul!” After walking into the hall, Ma Rongtao went forward in stiff Arabic and warmly held the hands of the mustached man in a white robe sitting on the couch. Needless to say, that was the only Arabic sentence he knew.
”May Allah bless you too, my partner!” Abdul's moustache shook as he smiled. ”Is this the business partner you wanted to introduce to me? He looks really young!”
”Hello, how are you!” After listening to the interpreter interpret in Mandarin, Chen Fan also smiled and held his hands.
”Please take a seat!” Abdul gestured for them to sit down and got an attendant to brew some tea.
”Young man, you must be tired after travelling from the far east. Come try our calyx tea, it's effective in relieving fatigue.” Abdul touched his dense moustache as he smiled. ”This type of tea is picked only three days a year, although it is also planted where you come from, but the taste cannot be compared!”
”Mr. Abdul, may I know how much a barrel of crude oil you export is?” After the tea was served, Chen Fan drank a sip and felt that it was a little sour, but tasted quite good.
”According to the international crude oil price that day, if it is more than 100,000 tons at one go, I can give you a one percent price fluctuation. If more than 200,000 tons, it would be two percent. More than 300,000 tons… of course, the price cannot exceed five percent.
Abdul smiled as he drank the calyx tea. ”My requirement is at least 10,000 tons shipped each time, and also a signed long-term agreement of a year or more. It cannot be purchased as government procurement, otherwise the price has to be raised by three percent. We've signed agreement with OPEC, so the price positioning is different for different countries.”
”Yes of course!” Chen Fan readily agreed to Abdul's request. Anyway, he only had to pay a five million USD deposit, which he could afford to lose. If anything really cropped up, he could just quit this line and go collect protection money at the pier here.