The difference between Eastern and Western thinking is very obvious, and the consistent thinking of the Chinese people is not to show their wealth, and the higher the profile, the more trouble.

Americans are different, the richer they are, the more they want others to know that they are rich, so seventy or eighty percent of the richest Americans on the Forbes list are very cooperative with the survey, and if the final results of Forbes do not meet their expectations, they will also take the initiative to contact Forbes and complain that the other party has undercounted their assets.

Of course, this is also due to the differences in national conditions and cultures between the two countries.

The United States is a very typical capitalist country, and there is no moral criticism of the such thing as owning wealth. The more wealth you have, the greater your social status and prestige, and the more convenience you get.

In Huaxia, the social status of merchants is the lowest since ancient times, and most of the merchants of the dynasty were the lowest occupations, not to mention that they were not allowed to participate in the imperial examinations, and even had a dress code. For example, in both the Han and Ming dynasties, there were laws that explicitly stated that merchants were not allowed to wear silk and ride horses.

Possession of wealth is original sin and immorality in China.

Zhang Chenzhi didn't care whether the original sin was forgiven, the only reason why he didn't want to be high-profile was because he was afraid of trouble.

Yes, trouble.

In terms of safety, but secondary, Zhang Chen now has enough self-protection ability. He spends more than $3 million a year on security for himself and his family, nearly ten times more than Zuckerberg did two decades later, and with this level of security, the chances of an accident are slim.

The reason why it is troublesome, Zhang Chen can already imagine that after the release of the Forbes list, in the future, he may receive countless invitations to cocktail parties, charity dinners, fundraising luncheons and the like every day, and there will be more conference invitations such as seminars, forums, xxxx conferences, and maybe he will be asked to join all kinds of strange associations and secret societies.

Some time ago, Bill Campbell and Avi Arad asked themselves directly in person if they wanted to join Freemasonry, and if they wanted to join, they could be introducers.

Zhang Chen was of course curious about Freemasonry, but he had always been insensitive to such things as secret organizations, and he didn't like to be tied to the chariot of any organization.

In short, being famous means trouble, even if it is not troublesome in the United States, it will be troublesome when you return home.

I'm afraid that I won't be able to go wherever I want in the future, and I can see whoever I want.

Seeing Zhang Chen's helpless expression, Condoleezza Rice couldn't help but sneer, and quipped: "I don't know how many people's dreams of letting your name appear on this list, you don't seem to be reluctant." ”

Zhang Chen shrugged, "The more attention you get, the more trouble you have, isn't it proof that Stanford rejected my offer." And it is not in line with the teachings of an elder in our country. ”

Rice wondered, "What teaching?"

Zhang Chen said expressionlessly: "Make a fortune with a muffled voice." ”

。。。。。。

Condolizza Rice blinked inexplicably: "Anyway, congratulations, you are not yet twenty years old, and you have already achieved achievements that ordinary people cannot achieve in their lifetimes." However, because you are too young, there is still a long way to go, and you want to further your studies and lay a foundation, which is very good, although you can't go to Stanford, you can invite the world's top experts and scholars in all aspects to give you one-on-one guidance, and I am very much looking forward to your future performance. ”

Zhang Chen grinned, it seems that he has lost his life with Stanford in these two lives.

"By the way, there is something that has been delayed for a long time, and I happened to make an appointment with you today. Rice suddenly remembered something and took out his notepad, "When do you have time these days?"

Zhang Chen thought for a while: "The schedule for tomorrow and the day after tomorrow is full, the two companies I invested in are doing IPO roadshows, preparing for listing, and they will have meetings with underwriters tomorrow and the day after tomorrow, and they will attend Amazon's board of directors the day after tomorrow, don't 。。。。。。 What is it? How long will it take? If it goes well, I might have a few hours in the afternoon the day after tomorrow. ”

Condoleezza Rice muttered, "A friend of mine, I'd like to introduce you to a meeting, he's going to be meeting in Sacramento in the next three days, and if you can spare time, I hope you can meet." ”

Zhang Chen's eyes were slightly condensed, friends gather like things, people are grouped, Rice's solemn introduction shows that this friend is not an idle person.

Zhang Chen thought for a while: "Wait a minute, I'll confirm it." ”

After that, Zhang Chen called Cheryl Sandberg, confirmed his itinerary for the next three days, looked up and said to Condori Zarice: "I should be able to spare time from three o'clock in the afternoon to the evening tomorrow, and it should not take an hour to take a helicopter from the Bay Area to Sacramento, I don't know if this time is possible? However, I must go back to the Bay Area in the evening, and there is an important meeting at nine o'clock in the morning the day after tomorrow." ”

Condoleezza Rice stuck out his tongue, "Okay, it's really a rich man on the Forbes rich list, I'll ask him if this time is okay first." ”

"Hi, George, it's, it's, um, yes, that thing you told me last time, um, yes, tomorrow afternoon at half-past four to five, um, okay, just have dinner together, okay, see you tomorrow. ”

Condoleezza Rice hung up the phone and said with a smile: "No problem, then I'll rub your helicopter tomorrow?"

Zhang Chen nodded: "No problem." Then he said tentatively, "You friend。。。。。 Who's that?"

Condoleezza Rice said casually: "Oh, you should have heard of him, he is now the governor of Texas, George Walker Bush, and his father also has this name, but the middle name is different, it is the previous president of the United States." He came to Sacramento to talk to California and Colorado about water distribution in the past few days, and he read your book Red Sea and Blue Ocean and was very interested, so I wanted to arrange for you to meet him. ”

Zhang Chen's face changed slightly, sure enough.

Zhang Chen had already guessed when Condoleezza Rice called just now, and of course he knew that Rice would be Bush Jr.'s most trusted secretary of state in the future, and even more so, Bush Jr.'s most trusted person. It is precisely because of this that he deliberately narrowed the relationship with Rice.

In Zhang Chen's view, George W. Bush is the most mediocre president of the United States in recent decades.

Not to mention the jokes about Bush Jr. that are circulating outside, let's just say that in terms of national strategy, Bush Jr. can be said to have achieved nothing.

The United States under the Creston administration was the most powerful period in the history of the United States, and it was at the peak of history in all aspects of economic, political, and military.

The Crichtons had a very clear idea, the end of the Cold War, the collapse of the Soviet Union, and the urgent need for the United States to find the next imaginary enemy to calm the possible contradictions at home, and Crichton set this goal on China.

For the United States, this is actually a very correct way of thinking, and it is also very far-sighted.

Clayton had already predicted that Huaxia would become the biggest competitor of the United States in the future, so it was the most in the interests of the United States to strangle Huaxia in the cradle and strangle Huaxia from political, economic, and diplomatic aspects, so that Huaxia could always maintain a low-end position in the international supply chain.

After Bush Jr. took over, he originally followed this line of thinking, but the reason why he was said to be mediocre was because this person was too unassertive and had no strategic vision. The outbreak of 911 made George W. Bush completely change the foreign policy of the United States and shift his strategic goal to the Middle East. I don't know what he thinks, he wants to win over China to fight terrorism together, and the eight years he has been in power can be said to be the eight years with the fastest development in China, and it is also the best eight years in Sino-US relations.

In the eight years he has been in power, housing prices in the United States have soared, interest rates have fallen again and again, financial risks have been magnified dozens of times but nothing has been done, and the US military has been mired in the quagmire of the Iraq war and cannot extricate itself, but it has not reaped the benefits of bullshit in Iraq, and it can be said that the political, economic and military decline is in an all-round way.

Having such a president of the United States is certainly not a good thing for the United States, but for Zhang Chen, it is a great thing.

The traitor's favorite is the faint king.

Faint gentleman, faint gentleman, hello. With a faint king, it is easy to make a fortune.

Zhang Chen's eyes rolled and showed a heartfelt smile: "Ah, it turned out to be Mr. Bush, I have also heard a lot of legendary stories about him when he was a soldier, and it is really good to be able to meet him." ”

(End of chapter)