難眠的異國(guó)之夜

Sleepless night on foreign land

一彎月牙游移在異國(guó)夜空，這里的天空像被水洗過(guò)一樣明凈，月牙顯得那么晶瑩。夜深了，賓館周圍不知名的蛩兒在此起彼伏唧唧鳴叫。連日的奔波，夫人早已疲憊地進(jìn)入了夢(mèng)鄉(xiāng)，周興和卻再也睡不著了，他翻身從床上爬了起來(lái)，推門走到了庭院中來(lái)。

A crescent moon drifted across the exotic night sky, the sky was as clear as washed by water, and the crescent moon was so crystal. Late at night, the unknown insects around the hotel was chirping out loudly. After many days of travelling, his wife had fallen asleep wearily, but Zhou Xinghe could not sleep any more. He got up from his bed, pushed the door open and went to the courtyard.

庭院四周，是尤加利樹和棕櫚樹，夜風(fēng)吹來(lái)，樹葉在風(fēng)中簌簌作響。周興和站在草地上，舉頭望去，那彎月牙已移向遠(yuǎn)處黛色的山嵐，天幕上的星星仿佛都笑吟吟地凝望著他。好長(zhǎng)時(shí)間來(lái)，他如釋重負(fù)，好久沒(méi)有像今天晚上這樣輕松和愉快了。來(lái)到埃國(guó)經(jīng)歷的一切，證明他先前的預(yù)感是正確的。

Around the courtyard were the eucalyptus and palm trees, their leaves rustling in the night wind. Zhou Xinghe stood on the grass and looked up. The crescent moon had moved towards the dusky mountain in the distance. The stars on the sky seemed to be gazing at him with smiles. It had been a long time since he had felt so relaxed and cheerful as this evening. The experience of coming to Ethiopia proved his hunch was correct.

埃塞俄比亞雖然還是個(gè)發(fā)展中國(guó)家，但在這里，沒(méi)有那種千絲萬(wàn)縷說(shuō)不清道不明的關(guān)系網(wǎng)羈絆，沒(méi)有黑社會(huì)地痞流氓的胡攪蠻纏敲詐勒索，更沒(méi)有那種商場(chǎng)競(jìng)爭(zhēng)中處處需要提防的冷箭和暗槍；在這里，埃國(guó)政府講法律講信用講工作效率，埃國(guó)人民淳樸厚道重情重義講友誼，不但給了他們貴賓般的禮遇，政府部門也為他們創(chuàng)造了最好的工作條件，使他們?cè)谶@里工作生活起來(lái)得心應(yīng)手。

Ethiopia, though still a developing country, was free from the tangled network of relationships, the extortion of gangsters, and the sniping and backstabbing that must be alert for in the business competition. Here, the Ethiopian government paid attention to the law, credit and efficiency, and the Ethiopian people were honest, good-hearted, sincere and friendly. They were not only treated as honored guests, but also given the best working conditions by the Ethiopian government, making them easy to work and live in here.?

周興和他們剛到這里時(shí)，埃國(guó)務(wù)部長(zhǎng)阿可貝不但親自接見(jiàn)宴請(qǐng)他們，并親自參與了他們的合作會(huì)談。雙方在平等協(xié)商的基礎(chǔ)上，很快就達(dá)成了由埃國(guó)亞迪斯亞貝巴市政府與中國(guó)星河公司具體合作的協(xié)議。協(xié)議確定：埃國(guó)從中國(guó)星河公司引進(jìn)“FGC”專利技術(shù)和全套生產(chǎn)設(shè)備，由星河公司在這里選點(diǎn)建設(shè)輕質(zhì)建材生產(chǎn)廠，產(chǎn)品原料以埃國(guó)的甘蔗渣和火山灰為主，工廠招收和培訓(xùn)當(dāng)?shù)氐墓芾砣藛T和生產(chǎn)工人，生產(chǎn)出來(lái)的產(chǎn)品由埃政府房屋開發(fā)辦公室采購(gòu)。進(jìn)而，在工廠示范發(fā)展的基礎(chǔ)上，再由星河公司投資，打造中非星河科技園。該項(xiàng)目預(yù)計(jì)建成8個(gè)建材生產(chǎn)廠，每天生產(chǎn)建材板近10000張，年產(chǎn)值可達(dá)4億多美元，利潤(rùn)8000多萬(wàn)美元，年處理甘蔗渣和其它廢棄物54000余噸，為埃塞俄比亞提供就業(yè)崗位12000余個(gè)（還不包括為此從事房屋修建裝修的四萬(wàn)多人），每年可為埃國(guó)建房100萬(wàn)平米以上。

When Zhou Xinghe just arrived here, Minister of State Affairs of Ethiopia Akobbe not only received them personally, but also participated in their cooperation talks. On the basis of equal negotiation, the two sides soon reached an agreement on the concrete cooperation between the Addis Ababa Municipal Government of Ethiopia and China Xinghe Company. The agreement determined: Ethiopia shall introduce the "FGC" patent technology and a full set of production equipment from Xinghe Company of China, and Xinghe Company shall select the proper site here for the construction of lightweight building materials factory; the raw material shall be mainly the Ethiopian bagasse and volcanic ash; the factory shall recruit and train the local managers and factory workers, and the products shall be purchased by the government housing development office. Then, on the basis of factory demonstration and development, Xinghe Company will invest to build the China-Africa Xinghe Science & Technology Park. The project is expected to build eight building materials factories, to produce the building materials of nearly 10,000 boards per day, with the annual output of more than $400 million, and profits of more than $80 million, to process 54,000 tons of bagasse and other wastes per year, and provide more than 12,000 jobs for Ethiopia (excluding more than 40,000 people engaged in the housing construction and decoration), and to construct more than 100 square meters of building per year for Ethiopia.

這是一個(gè)雙贏的合作協(xié)議，充滿了美好誘人的發(fā)展前景——星河公司在這里找到了用武之地，可以充分展示他們的技術(shù)優(yōu)勢(shì)，發(fā)揮“FGC”巨大潛能，同時(shí)取得可觀的經(jīng)濟(jì)效益；項(xiàng)目的引進(jìn)和投資對(duì)埃國(guó)來(lái)說(shuō)，更是他們求之不得的事情。當(dāng)埃政府官員將商談的結(jié)果向吉爾瑪總統(tǒng)和梅萊斯首相匯報(bào)后，他們當(dāng)即表示贊同，并指示抓緊時(shí)間把協(xié)議簽訂下來(lái)，進(jìn)入實(shí)質(zhì)性工作。

This was a win-win cooperation agreement, full of beautiful and attractive development prospects - Xinghe Company had found a place here, where they can fully display their technical advantages, play the "FGC" huge potential, while achieve considerable economic benefits; for Ethiopia, the introduction and investment of the project was the most desirable thing. When Ethiopian government officials reported the outcome of the negotiation talks to President Gilmar and Prime Minister Meles, they immediately agreed and instructed them to sign the agreement as soon as possible and get to the substantive work.

可這個(gè)時(shí)候，問(wèn)題卻來(lái)了。由于當(dāng)時(shí)個(gè)別中國(guó)企業(yè)在埃塞俄比亞與他們政府、企業(yè)打交道過(guò)程中不守誠(chéng)信，使政府和企業(yè)心有余悸，所以他們要求這次與星河公司的合作，需要中國(guó)駐埃大使館或國(guó)內(nèi)有關(guān)政府部門作為證人在合同上簽字。

But here came the problem. As some Chinese enterprises did not keep good faith in dealing with the government and enterprises in Ethiopia, which made the government and enterprises feeling frightened, so they required that in the cooperation with Xinghe Company this time, the contract should be signed by the Chinese Embassy in Ethiopia or relevant domestic government departments as witnesses.

但，我國(guó)駐埃大使館能同意嗎？

But, could our embassy in Ethiopia agree?

怎么辦呢？周興和冥思苦想了一夜。天一亮，他到了我國(guó)駐埃塞俄比亞大使館。我駐埃商務(wù)處王參贊在百忙之中，接待了周興和。在認(rèn)真聽取了埃政府準(zhǔn)備引進(jìn)星河公司專利和設(shè)備、星河公司與埃合作建廠，以及周興和在國(guó)內(nèi)取得的專利技術(shù)和產(chǎn)品情況，同時(shí)認(rèn)真地審查了他們公司資料和合作協(xié)議后——王參贊搖了搖頭，表示這件事他愛(ài)莫能助?！澳銈兣c埃方的經(jīng)濟(jì)合作，按說(shuō)應(yīng)該是件好事，但我們只能表示支持?！蓖鯀①澾z憾地告訴周興和，“這個(gè)問(wèn)題國(guó)家有規(guī)定，別國(guó)政府與我國(guó)企業(yè)間商務(wù)合作，駐他國(guó)的大使館，只有審查和建議權(quán)，沒(méi)有批準(zhǔn)和決定權(quán)。”

What to do? Zhou Xinghe thought hard all night. At daybreak, he arrived at our embassy in Ethiopia. Counsellor Wang of our Commercial Counsellor’s Office in Ethiopia took time out of his busy schedule to receive Zhou Xinghe. After carefully listening to the Ethiopian government's plan to import Xinghe's patents and equipment, the cooperation between Xinghe and Ethiopia, and the patented technologies and products obtained by Zhou Xinghe in China, while reviewing their company's materials and cooperation agreements, Counsellor Wang shook his head and said he could do nothing to help. "Your economic cooperation with Ethiopia is supposed to be a good thing, but we can only show our support." Counsellor Wang regretfully told Zhou Xinghe, "There are regulations in this problem that the foreign governments have the right to conduct business cooperation with Chinese enterprises, and the embassies in other countries only have the right to review and make suggestions, but not to approve or make decisions."

? ? “王參贊，國(guó)家有規(guī)定，這我們理解。”周興和聽王參贊如此一說(shuō)，盡管他很失望，但他還是耐心地與他講道，“也請(qǐng)您理解我們，我們從那么遙遠(yuǎn)的祖國(guó)來(lái)，來(lái)一趟多不容易??！我們?cè)倩貒?guó)去送審報(bào)批，國(guó)內(nèi)有的部門的工作效率您是知道的，這來(lái)回一折騰，說(shuō)不定這么好的一個(gè)合作項(xiàng)目，就有黃了的可能呀！”

"Counsellor Wang, the state has regulations, which we understand." When Zhou Xinghe heard Counsellor Wang's words, although he was very disappointed, he said to him patiently, "Please understand us too. It is not easy for us to come here from such a distant motherland. If we go back to China to submit an application for approval, and you know the working efficiency of some departments in China, after we toss about this, maybe a cooperation project as good as this one will be spoiled!"

“國(guó)家沒(méi)賦予我們這個(gè)權(quán)限，我們也實(shí)在無(wú)能為力呀?！?/p>

"The country did not give us this authority, so we can do nothing about it."

“埃塞俄比亞總統(tǒng)、首相對(duì)這個(gè)項(xiàng)目都如此重視，只要協(xié)議一簽，我們馬上就能進(jìn)入到實(shí)際工作中?！敝芘d和繼續(xù)試圖說(shuō)服王參贊，“對(duì)這樣一個(gè)百利而無(wú)一害、馬上就能產(chǎn)生巨大經(jīng)濟(jì)和社會(huì)效益的項(xiàng)目，您何必讓我們?cè)倩貒?guó)繞那么多圈子呢！”

"The President and Prime Minister of Ethiopia are so committed to this project that as soon as the agreement is signed, we will be able to get down to practical business." Zhou Xinghe continued to try to persuade Counsellor Wang, "How could you bear us to go back to China and waste so many times for such a project that would produce huge economic and social benefits immediately?"

“同志呀，你應(yīng)該知道，外事無(wú)小事。我不是用外交語(yǔ)言來(lái)搪塞你，我還是只能向你表示遺憾。”

"Comrade, you should know that there is no small matter in foreign affairs. I am not putting you off in diplomatic terms, but I can only express my regret."

“我知道，您是怕我們的合作項(xiàng)目不成功，給國(guó)家和你們?nèi)锹闊?。您放心，作為一個(gè)中國(guó)企業(yè)家、中國(guó)公民，我用自己的信譽(yù)和人格做擔(dān)保，絕對(duì)只能是為自己的國(guó)家爭(zhēng)光，不會(huì)給自己的國(guó)家丟臉?！?/p>

"I know that you are afraid that our cooperative project will not succeed and cause trouble to the country and you. You can rest assured that as a Chinese entrepreneur and a Chinese citizen, I guarantee with my own credibility and personality that I will only win honor for my country and not lose face for it."

“你說(shuō)的這些我都相信。但這個(gè)規(guī)矩我們不能打破，也從沒(méi)有開過(guò)這個(gè)先例?！瘪v外大使館官員當(dāng)然有自己的工作原則，無(wú)論周興和怎么請(qǐng)求，王參贊就是不松這個(gè)口?！巴鯀①?，我們國(guó)家改革開放這么多年，作為一個(gè)中國(guó)民營(yíng)企業(yè)，要到海外來(lái)發(fā)展，多不容易呀！來(lái)到這個(gè)地方，我們是兩眼一抹黑，你們就是我們的娘家人哪！”周興和鍥而不舍地向王參贊講道，“現(xiàn)在我們是萬(wàn)事俱備，只差你們大使館代表國(guó)家簽個(gè)字蓋個(gè)章，我們與埃政府的合作就成功了，你們駐外大使館最大的工作原則，不就是國(guó)家的利益嗎？”

"I believe in all you say. But it's a rule we can't break and we've never set such precedent." Of course, the officials in the embassies abroad had their own working principles. No matter how Zhou Xinghe asked for, Counsellor Wang would not let it go. "Counsellor Wang, after so many years of Reform and Opening-up in our country, as a private Chinese enterprise, it is not easy to develop overseas. We have come to this place blind, and you are our own family!" Zhou Xinghe said to Counsellor Wang with great perseverance, "Now we are ready for everything. All we need is your embassy to sign and stamp on behalf of the country, and our cooperation with the Ethiopian government will be successful. Isn't the biggest principle of your embassies abroad the interests of the country?"

王參贊還有更重要的工作要做，他給周興和作完解釋后離開了。怎么辦呢？就這樣走了嗎？不行，如果再回國(guó)找政府有關(guān)部門，說(shuō)不定他們隨便找個(gè)什么借口，就會(huì)給你擱上一年半載，那樣一來(lái)不但黃花菜涼了，或許一件大好的事情真的就會(huì)泡湯了！

Counsellor Wang had more important work to do. He explained to Zhou Xinghe and left. What to do? Is that it? No, if we go back to China to find relevant government departments for approval, they may find any excuse, and delay a year or half a year; in that way, such a big good thing may really be ruined!

周興和實(shí)在不甘心，他干脆待在大使館里不走了。從上午到下午，他坐在商務(wù)參贊辦公室，不厭其煩地向其他工作人員講埃政府從總統(tǒng)到首相對(duì)這個(gè)項(xiàng)目的態(tài)度，講自己公司與埃政府合作的廣闊前景，講自己專利技術(shù)的優(yōu)勢(shì)和公司這些年在國(guó)內(nèi)誠(chéng)信守法的經(jīng)營(yíng)情況，講自己回國(guó)辦手續(xù)來(lái)回奔波的艱辛和困難?？傊痪湓挘贿_(dá)目的，他絕不罷休！

Zhou Xinghe was so unwilling that he simply stayed in the embassy. From morning to afternoon, he sat in the Commercial Counsellor's Office, took patience to explain to other staff about the attitude of Ethiopian government, the President and the Prime Minister toward the project, tell the broad prospects of the company cooperation with the Ethiopian government, his own patented technology advantage and the company integrity and law-abiding business situation in China over the years, as well as the hardships and difficulties of going back and forth to China just to go through the formalities. In a word, he would not give up until achieving his goal!

直到天快黑了，大使館的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)終于被他的誠(chéng)心和精神感動(dòng)，破例以中國(guó)大使館商務(wù)處的名義，為他簽署了意見(jiàn)蓋了公章。

Until it was almost dark, the leader of the embassy was finally touched by his sincerity and spirit, and made an exception to sign their opinion with the official seal in the name of the Commercial Counsellor's Office of the Chinese Embassy.

從中國(guó)大使館出來(lái)，周興和這才如釋重負(fù)地長(zhǎng)長(zhǎng)吐了一口氣。

Coming out of the Chinese Embassy, Zhou Xinghe let out a long sigh of relief.

萬(wàn)事俱備。此后，他們?cè)诎Ｆ陂g的工作進(jìn)行得異乎尋常地順利。勿庸贅述，他們與埃政府的協(xié)議順利簽訂，選點(diǎn)建廠的事宜很快落實(shí)。幾個(gè)月來(lái)，工廠的建設(shè)也超乎想象地順利。在建廠同時(shí)，周興和利用當(dāng)?shù)鼗鹕交液透收嵩M(jìn)行的產(chǎn)品試制也取得成功，生產(chǎn)出來(lái)的產(chǎn)品經(jīng)檢測(cè)，不但達(dá)到預(yù)期效果，某些指標(biāo)甚至還超過(guò)了在國(guó)內(nèi)的水平！

Everything was ready. Since then, their work in Ethiopia had been unusually smooth. Needless to say, the agreement between Xinghe and the Ethiopian government was successfully signed, and the matter of selecting the site to build the factory was soon implemented. In the past few months, the construction of the factory had gone smoothly beyond imagination. At the same time, Zhou Xinghe also successfully used the local volcanic ash and bagasse for trial production. After testing, the products not only achieved the expected results, but also exceeded the level of some indicators in China!

更讓人激動(dòng)和興奮的是，2005年8月25日，當(dāng)埃國(guó)務(wù)部長(zhǎng)將中國(guó)星河秸稈廠已經(jīng)落成，并將于8月27日舉行剪彩儀式的消息向總統(tǒng)吉爾瑪匯報(bào)后，吉爾瑪總統(tǒng)聽到這個(gè)消息很高興，在對(duì)國(guó)務(wù)部工作給予肯定的同時(shí)，并表示自己一定履行當(dāng)初許下的諾言，要親自出席建材廠在埃落成剪彩儀式！

What more exciting and excited was that, on August 25, 2005, when the Minister of State Affairs of Ethiopia reported the news that the China Xinghe Straw Factory had been completed and the ribbon-cutting ceremony would be held on August 27 to the President Gilmar, President Gilmar was glad to hear; while encouraged the work of Ministry of State Affairs, he said he must keep his promise made at the beginning, to attend the ribbon-cutting ceremony of the building materials factory!

一個(gè)國(guó)家的總統(tǒng)，竟要親自出席一個(gè)在世界并不太知名、規(guī)模也并不大的外國(guó)企業(yè)落成剪彩儀式，這在他們國(guó)家恐怕還絕無(wú)僅有！

It was probably rare for a President of a country to attend the ribbon-cutting ceremony of a foreign company which was neither well known nor large in the world.

現(xiàn)在我們揣測(cè)，對(duì)吉爾瑪總統(tǒng)而言，他看中的恐怕還不是這個(gè)企業(yè)的知名度和規(guī)模，而是對(duì)這個(gè)企業(yè)的發(fā)展前景，以及為本國(guó)政府和人民帶來(lái)的巨大利益。

Now we suspected that for President Gilmar, what he may care about was not the popularity and scale of the enterprise, but the development prospects of the enterprise and the huge benefits it will bring to the government and people of his country.

“什么，吉爾瑪總統(tǒng)明天要親自出席星河秸稈廠落成剪彩儀式，這個(gè)消息可靠嗎？”建材廠剪彩儀式前一天，消息才傳到中國(guó)大使館。駐埃大使林琳聽到這個(gè)消息十分意外，同時(shí)也難以置信。中國(guó)知名的企業(yè)如中石油、中電信、中鐵建等公司在埃落成或開工，埃國(guó)政府連部長(zhǎng)親自出席的也不多呀！當(dāng)消息得到確認(rèn)后，林琳大使當(dāng)即表示，“既然吉爾瑪總統(tǒng)都要親自參加這次活動(dòng)，那我怎么能不出席呢！”

"What? Is it reliable that President Gilmar will personally attend the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the completion of Xinghe Straw Factory tomorrow?" News reached the Chinese embassy only a day before the ribbon-cutting ceremony at the building materials factory. Ambassador Lin Lin was surprised and in disbelief at the news. Since many well-known Chinese enterprises such as China National Petroleum Corporation, China Telecom, China Railway Construction Corporation and other companies had been completed or started business in Ethiopia, there were not many ceremonies that the Minister from the Ethiopian government had attended in person. When the news was confirmed, Ambassador Lin Lin immediately said, "If President Gilmar is going to attend this event in person, how can I not attend this event!"

吉爾瑪總統(tǒng)要親自參加剪彩儀式的消息，也令周興和感到意外，當(dāng)然更感到高興。他為自己這些日子來(lái)，在這里辛勤工作，能得到這樣的回報(bào)倍感欣慰——一個(gè)國(guó)家的總統(tǒng)，還有部長(zhǎng)和市長(zhǎng)、駐外的大使，竟都要親自來(lái)參加他們工廠建成剪彩儀式，這在政治上給了他們多大的鼓勵(lì)和肯定呀！

The news that President Gilmar would personally attend the ribbon-cutting ceremony also surprised and certainly pleased Zhou Xinghe. He was very glad to get such a reward for his hard work here these days - how much encouragement and recognition it gave them politically that the president of a country, as well as ministers and mayors, and ambassadors, should personally attend the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the completion of their factory!

周興和睡不著了，他慢慢在庭院里踱來(lái)踱去，字斟句酌想著明天在儀式上的講話內(nèi)容。月牙已經(jīng)落下西邊的山嵐，星星在天上慢慢隱去了蹤影，一只晨醒的鳥兒，一聲啁啾，彈丸般地射向廣闊的晨空。

Zhou Xinghe could not sleep. He walked slowly up and down the courtyard, thinking over his speech for tomorrow's ceremony. The crescent had fallen down the west mountain, the stars in the sky slowly disappeared, a bird woke up in the morning, and a chirp shot like a bullet into the vast morning sky.

天，眼看就要亮了。

The day was coming.