Chapter 375: An Extremely Mysterious Organization

There's a legendary figure in the Bible named Joseph.
This guy was the prime minister of ancient Egypt. It's said he could interpret dreams, and from a bizarre dream of the Pharaoh, he gleaned a prophecy of seven years of abundant harvest followed by seven years of famine.
After the seven years of bountiful harvest, he ordered the requisition of 20% of the surplus grain, ostensibly to replenish the national treasury, but in reality to stabilize grain prices, which were on the verge of collapse due to low yields hurting farmers.
Then, the seven-year famine arrived as predicted.
He opened the granaries, supplying his own people while simultaneously selling the grain at inflated prices to neighboring countries.
He turned a natural disaster into a massive financial operation spanning fourteen years, sucking the wealth of the entire Middle East into the Pharaoh's coffers.
...
After a few rounds of drinks, Huang Fengwen suddenly blurted out this biblical story, leaving Su Hao and another person present, Du Yuanhang, somewhat bewildered.
Du Yuanhang interjected, "This is a scheme that involves everyone in the world..."
"Scheme?" Huang Fengwen took a sip of his drink and shook his head.
"This isn't scheming, it's called following the natural order. He hasn't seen through the secrets of heaven, but rather the greed and fear deep within human nature.
Throughout history and across cultures, this method has never gone out of style; it's just been given a different name: 'macroeconomic control' or 'strategic reserves.'"
As he finished speaking, he finally turned his gaze back to the silent Su Hao.
"I think the scheme you've been setting up lately has that flavor."
Su Hao's heart skipped a beat. So this story was subtly pointing at him.
These words were clearly directed at his recent wheat-buying spree.
"Haha, Chairman Huang is right!" Du Yuanhang immediately chimed in, glancing at Su Hao half-jokingly and half-probingly.
"I've heard about it too. Chairman Su has been stirring up the wheat market lately, buying it back like it's free.
Our guys at the shipping company are even speculating behind his back, saying maybe there's going to be a war next year, and Chairman Su is making preparations in advance, hahaha!"
As he spoke, Du Yuanhang kept glancing at Su Hao's face, clearly trying to get some information from him.
"Pah, pah, pah!" Huang Fengwen glared at Du Yuanhang, feigning anger.
"What nonsense are you spouting! You can eat whatever you want, but you can't say whatever you want. Good things might not come true, but bad things might. Be careful, your words might become a self-fulfilling prophecy!"
"Yes, yes, Chairman Huang is right. I'll drink a cup as punishment!" Du Yuanhang quickly downed a cup.
Su Hao simply smiled, remaining silent, silently praying:
May God protect him, please don't let war break out, or he'll have made a huge mistake.
"Su Hao," Huang Fengwen's tone shifted, becoming serious,
"Regarding the wheat, you surely have your own plan, so I won't ask further.
Anyway, it seems like nothing bad will happen."
"Besides that, is there any other problem?" Su Hao keenly caught the subtext in his words.
"Problem... well, not really, it's just a bit... subtle.
You donated 300 million to Indonesia through the foundation, right?"
Su Hao had assumed Huang Fengwen was worried about his aggressive wheat purchases causing market turmoil, but the real issue was the donation to Indonesia.
"Yes. Chairman Huang, is there a problem with this donation?"
"What's wrong with donating money to do good deeds?
The problem is the timing of your donation is so awkward.
Right now, our country and Indonesian officials are locked in a power struggle, and relations are very tense!"
This was the first time Su Hao had heard of this.
"What happened?"
"The Jakarta-Bandung High-Speed ​​Railway project we're cooperating on with Indonesia is a flagship project of the 'Belt and Road' initiative! And what happened? Those bastards are dishonest.
Halfway through the project, they started bringing up budget overruns.
The original budget was US$5.5 billion, but now, for various reasons, it's increased to over US$7 billion."
"According to the contract, they should bear 60% of the cost overrun. But instead, they're starting to act like scoundrels."
Du Yuanhang interjected, "Not paying?"
"It's more than just not paying!" Huang Fengwen sneered.
"Their government refused to provide sovereign guarantees, passing the buck to the joint venture company below, telling them to figure it out themselves.
Where would the company get the money? They're constantly crying poverty at the negotiating table, saying they can't afford a single penny."
"Oh..." Su Hao's eyes instantly turned cold. "So, they're trying to renege on their debt?"
"And that's not all!" Huang Fengwen slapped his thigh.
"Their plan is to use the budget overrun as an excuse to delay payment, but actually, they want to take advantage of the chaos to steal our core technology!"
They fantasized that once they got their hands on the complete high-speed rail technology, especially the complex train operation control system and dispatching system, they could kick us aside and find a cheaper construction team to do the rest of the work!
"Trying to dine and dash and then take the whole thing?" Du Yuanhang exclaimed in astonishment.
"This just happened recently," Huang Fengwen sighed. "Their engineers were caught red-handed by our security system when they tried to copy data from our dispatching center server!
Caught red-handed! That's how the matter came to light, and the authorities have officially lodged a protest."
Logically, since they were in the wrong, shouldn't they obediently come and admit their mistake?
Hey, no! Not only did they refuse to admit it, but they also adopted a shameless, "what's the worst that can happen?" attitude.
It's said that the Indonesian side responded to the official protests lukewarmly, paying lip service while secretly looking for a new ally and preparing to start their own scheme.
They complained about being poor and having no money to pay, but in reality, they were saving the money for their own underhanded dealings.
"So, the key point is that I just happened to send them a large sum of money at this critical juncture?"
Su Hao instantly understood the crux of the matter.
"Exactly! This matter was handled... a bit awkwardly. Although the higher-ups haven't said anything explicitly, they're definitely having their doubts."
Su Hao frowned slightly. If he had known about this earlier, he would definitely have reconsidered the donation plan to Indonesia.
"But Chairman Huang, if we suddenly withdraw the donation now and take the money back, wouldn't that make the atmosphere even more awkward?"
"Hmm... that's true." Huang Fengwen nodded.
"Anyway, it's already like this. The conflicts between officials are their business; those disaster victims who truly need help are innocent."
"That makes sense."
Su Hao's initial intention in establishing this foundation was to use his "intuition" to ensure money was spent wisely, helping those on the verge of misfortune.
Using the suffering of others as a weapon in a game—he simply couldn't bring himself to do it.
"See, Lao Du, didn't I tell you?" Huang Fengwen suddenly burst into laughter.
"Our Su Hao, his vision, his magnanimity, are beyond compare!"
"That's right, that's right, I, Du, have long admired Chairman Su's character to the point of utter deference!" Du Yuanhang quickly chimed in with flattery.
"Alright, this will be done as you wish." Huang Fengwen waved his hand, speaking with undeniable authority, "Go ahead and do it! If anyone complains, I'll take care of it!"
"Okay, thank you, Chairman Huang… Chairman Huang." Su Hao almost blurted out "Brother Huang."
The two exchanged a smile, lightly clinking glasses, their brotherly demeanor revealing undisguised envy in Du Yuanhang's eyes.
"To be honest, I've had this feeling for a long time. Chairman Huang, if you and Chairman Su stood together, anyone who didn't know better would think you were brothers."
"Hahaha, absolutely! We're practically best buddies!" Huang Fengwen laughed heartily.
"But I've always been curious, how did you two meet?
I've heard some rumors… that you two are jointly running a very mysterious organization?"
"Hmm?"