Rebirth in the 50s: The Couple with the Hidden Space novel Chapter 986

Chapter 986: Chapter 858: Negotiation and Talks

The whole morning, neither side was in a hurry to talk about the overall deal. After having lunch together, at one in the afternoon they were back at the negotiating table, each side trading tricks back and forth.

Who says foreigners are straightforward and value efficiency? Zhou Jiao would like to beat that nonsense out of you!

They spent two hours in the afternoon just circling around: could they gain the upper hand in the talks, could they hit their own targets and still make it a win–win?

Back and forth they went, you attack, I respond, both sides throwing in every skill and tactic they had. Straightforward questions, hinting questions, leading questions—by the end, apart from a product spec sheet, everything else had to be pushed to tomorrow.

And Zhou Jiao’s task was to record all the discussion from today’s two meetings that hadn’t gone through the interpreters.

As for our side, there were dedicated recorders doing the official minutes.

Of course, on top of that, once the Finance people checked the numbers after the talks, She still had to do a final verification to prevent any errors.

Strictly speaking, Zhou Jiao’s assignment wasn’t that heavy. Besides faithfully recording, She wasn’t stupid enough to play hero and try to analyze the other side’s intentions.

Know your place—in her work, Zhou Jiao always kept that in mind. So many staffers sent abroad, each with their own role; why offend colleagues just for a little sense of achievement? Anyone traveling with her was an elite in their own right.

True to her usual middle‑of‑the‑road style, Zhou Jiao buried her own thoughts and quietly followed Minister Jin and the others through five full days of negotiations.

After both sides took a weekend break, the purchase prices for the machinery in this round of talks were basically settled, just waiting on the deposit and contract signing.

Of course, before that, the last critical step entered its busiest phase: using the data provided by the other side, they had to verify each machine model and its cost‑performance ratio against similar products on the international market.

This step was unavoidable. Back home, there was no way to get comprehensive, up‑to‑date technical information in time; nothing like this resource‑rich neutral country.

During the three days of rest, the entire group shifted into a tense, hectic state, especially the specialists who had tagged along; they practically stopped eating and sleeping.

It was hard enough for a country that poor and bare. The little bit of blood‑and‑sweat money squeezed out by people tightening their belts nationwide—who could dare be careless with it? One mistake and you’d be a criminal to the nation.

Zhou Jiao ran herself ragged along with them, so much so that She had no idea when that old woman Liang Shengnan left. Only after the data checks were finished did She accidentally hear it from the embassy staff.

By that point, she’d lost interest in these people and their comings and goings. First finish this purchase order; after that, they’d be on the move again.

And where to?

That was internal classified information. Before departure, no one dared let anything slip, and no one would notify you ahead of time.

At noon on the twentieth day in Riyadh, they finally wrapped up their first assignment. After a joint celebratory lunch in the afternoon, Minister Jin granted the group a day and a half off.

Of course, for safety’s sake, they still had to go out in pairs at minimum.

These past few days, colleagues in this foreign land had gotten to know each other. Everyone was feeling a strong sense of honor, and besides, each had family back home and decent jobs—who was going to risk sneaking off and overstaying abroad?

No matter what She thought privately, Zhou Jiao still obediently followed the group into town. As for that "chance encounter" with some so‑called real uncle, She’d long thrown it out of her mind.

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