Chapter 1

In the Middle East office of China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC), a simply furnished office room.

"Xiao Jiang, how did the talks go?" A middle-aged man sitting in a chair took out two cigarettes from the pack, making a gesture to throw one to Jiang Fan.

Jiang Fan quickly waved his hand to indicate he didn't smoke, while also answering the middle-aged man's question:

"112 dollars a barrel, they refuse to lower the price."

Jiang Fan is a member of CNOOC's overseas negotiation delegation, and this time he has come to negotiate crude oil procurement with a Middle Eastern country.

Recently, due to the instability in the international situation, international crude oil prices have remained high.

From over 70 dollars a barrel at the beginning of the year, prices have risen to over 110 dollars, even touching 130 dollars at one point.

Moreover, there is a possibility that prices will remain high in the future.

In such an environment, the country naturally hopes to have more strategic reserves of crude oil.

Therefore, the three major domestic crude oil companies were asked to send representatives to the Middle East for procurement negotiations, setting targets and procurement prices.

Jiang Fan is one of the negotiation team members from the third-largest crude oil company, CNOOC.

However, the overall negotiations have not been smooth, as the resources are in the hands of others, and from the broader context,

in a certain period, crude oil prices will remain high, and there is even a possibility of further increases.

In such a situation, the other party is not worried about stockpiling oil, so they are not likely to easily lower their prices.

"These guys are really hoarding and jacking up prices." The middle-aged man, seeing that Jiang Fan didn't smoke, put one cigarette back.

He put the other one in his mouth, took out a lighter, and lit it for himself.

The middle-aged man is a permanent staff member of the office, named Wang Hai, who has been here for five years.

He does not participate in the negotiations but arranges all the contacts and liaisons.

"There's nothing we can do. The resources are in their hands, and they have the pricing power. They naturally want to sell at a good price."

Jiang Fan took a new disposable cup from the table, walked to the water dispenser to get some water,

pressed the water button, but only heard a loud gurgling sound, with not a drop of water coming out.

"No water, don't press it. It hasn't been delivered yet." Wang Hai flicked the ash and continued:

"Water is more expensive than oil here. I don't know how they ended up with such good resources."

Jiang Fan had gotten used to such things in the few days he had been there. As he returned to his seat, he replied:

"We have plenty of water resources. It would be great if we could turn water into oil."

Wang Hai couldn't help but chuckle at Jiang Fan's words, but ended up choking on his cigarette.

Before he could fully recover, he hurriedly said:

"You're just dreaming. Turning water into oil, why don't you turn stones into gold?"

After saying that, he choked a few more times, making up for the coughing he hadn't finished earlier.

Jiang Fan smiled at Wang Hai but didn't respond.

After all, he had just been expressing a sentiment, and turning water into oil was something that might take a thousand years of technological advancement to achieve.

"Where did you get that bracelet?" Wang Hai noticed a bracelet on Jiang Fan's wrist.

"This? I saw it in a roadside shop when I came back and bought it on impulse." Jiang Fan replied.

"Oh." Wang Hai didn't dwell on this and continued with his own question: "By the way, why did you actively apply for an overseas assignment?"

He had always been curious about this. An overseas assignment is something others try to avoid, but Jiang Fan had eagerly applied for it.

Today, he finally caught him and wanted to ask properly.

"I... " Jiang Fan was about to answer when his phone rang.

He looked at the caller, feeling a bit conflicted.

He hesitated for a moment, then got up and walked out of the office, found a corner, and pressed the call button.

"Hello~"

"How are you there? Are you getting used to the life?" A girl's voice came from the other end of the phone.

"Everything's fine~" Jiang Fan's tone was not impatient, but his answer was brief, without much elaboration.

"Are you busy?"

"No."

"Then why do you seem like you don't want to talk to me?" The girl on the other end clearly had a slight complaint about Jiang Fan's attitude.

"No... no." Jiang Fan forced himself to smile and explained, trying to make his voice sound gentler.

The girl was silent for a few seconds before continuing: "Are you still thinking about the two of us?"

The girl's name is Lin Wan, and she is Jiang Fan's childhood friend. They have played together since they were young.

But the earthquake fourteen years ago changed the fate of both families.

At the time, Jiang Fan's family of three was napping at home when they suddenly felt the ground shake.

They tried to run, but it was too late.

As the house collapsed, his father used his body to protect his mother and son, but was hit by a large rock, and the whole family was buried under the rubble.

Fortunately, rescue workers arrived in time, dug through the debris, and saved them.

All three survived, with his mother and son suffering minor injuries, but his father was seriously injured.

But this was already a stroke of luck in an unfortunate situation.

Their family was later properly resettled, and his father's injuries were treated, with no immediate danger to his life.

However, the injuries were too severe, and although he survived, he lost his ability to work and had to take a lot of medication.

This added to the already unfortunate family's troubles, as although the government and society had provided a lot of help, it was not possible to support them indefinitely, so they had to find their own way out.

The burden fell on Jiang Fan's mother, who worked three jobs to support the family.

Jiang Fan was also very understanding. After finishing high school, although he had good college entrance exam results, he gave up the opportunity to go to university.

He started working to help alleviate his mother's burden.

After two years of hard work, he got a job at CNOOC, and his work became stable.

However, facing his father's still high medical expenses and the huge debts accumulated from borrowing money in previous years,

his salary was still far from enough to cover the gap, so he applied for an overseas assignment.

Ordinary people are unwilling to go on overseas assignments because although the salary is much higher,

it means leaving home and living in a foreign country, which is not as comfortable as being in China.

Especially for those who are already married, they are even less willing to be separated from their families and go abroad alone,

after all, no matter how much money you make, it can't compare to the joy of family life.

But Jiang Fan was different; he needed the money.

To pay off the huge debts he owed and to cover his father's future medical expenses.

So when Jiang Fan applied for the overseas assignment, it was quickly approved.

Of course, besides the money, there was another reason.

He wanted to avoid a person, Lin Wan.

Lin Wan was Jiang Fan's childhood neighbor, two years younger than him, and they were also childhood sweethearts.

Their parents knew each other and often joked about arranging a marriage for them.

Until the earthquake, Lin Wan's family was lucky; they were on a trip at the time and escaped unharmed.

When they returned, although their home was destroyed, they had assets elsewhere, so their lives were not significantly affected.

However, as Jiang Fan and Lin Wan grew up, her parents were less willing for their daughter to be close to Jiang Fan.

After all, although they thought Jiang Fan was a good boy, his family had a heavy burden and a lot of debt.

If their daughter married him, she would have to help pay off the debt, and such a marriage would not be happy.

But their daughter thought differently; she liked Jiang Fan and was determined to be with him no matter what.

Her parents eventually acquiesced, as the two families had been neighbors since childhood, and Jiang Fan's character was indeed good.

If not for the current situation, he would have been a good choice for a son-in-law.

However, although Lin Wan's family agreed, Jiang Fan had his own thoughts.

He had played with Lin Wan since childhood, and she had grown more beautiful and had a good personality. Jiang Fan naturally liked her very much.

But precisely because he liked her, he did not want to drag her into his troubles.

His family was in such a state, and he didn't know when he would be able to pay off the debt.

Marrying Lin Wan would only bring her more pain, and it was unnecessary.

So Jiang Fan deliberately distanced himself from Lin Wan, trying to hint to her several times to find her own happiness and not be held back by him.

But this girl was as stubborn as when she was a child and refused to agree, insisting that she would only be with Jiang Fan, which made him very troubled.

So, taking the opportunity of the overseas assignment, Jiang Fan also wanted to use distance and time to gradually fade this relationship.

However, since he came to the Middle East, Lin Wan's calls became more frequent, and she sent messages every day, more than when they were in China.

Even when Jiang Fan deliberately acted coldly, Lin Wan didn't mind, telling him about her life in China:

What she had for lunch, how the cafeteria aunt didn't tremble while serving food, who came to give a lecture at school, and so on.

She also cared about how Jiang Fan was sleeping and if he was getting used to the food.

This made Jiang Fan's heart start to waver.

So when Lin Wan asked, "Are you still thinking about the two of us?" he didn't know how to answer,

and could only vaguely respond: "No, don't overthink it, go to bed early."

Because of the time difference, it was almost bedtime in China.

Lin Wan paused for a few seconds and then said: "Okay, just remember, nothing can separate us. You should also go to bed early."

Then she hung up the phone.

Jiang Fan listened to the busy signal, his heart unable to calm down, muttering:

"If I weren't in this situation, if I had a lot of money, I would be so happy to marry you in a grand ceremony!"

After muttering, he was about to go back inside when he suddenly heard a voice:

["Detected the user speaking the voice key, 'Trading Bracelet' is now binding,

Identifying fingerprint~

Identifying iris~

Identifying blood~

Identifying DNA~

Permanent binding completed, confirmed user name: Jiang Fan."]