April 2005, one day.

As runway lights swept past the portholes as runway lights swept past the portholes, Emirates flight EK385 from Hong Kong to Dubai soared into the night sky.

The air conditioning in the cabin was too full, and Qian Dan, who had just passed his thirtieth birthday on New Year's Day this year, took an international flight for the first time in his life. He was wearing only a thin short-sleeved shirt, and the rest of his clothes were in his checked luggage. He had a cold and wrapped himself tightly in the blanket on the plane, but he still felt a chill down his spine.

The plane climbed to the cruising altitude, and Qian Dan, who was so cold and weak, looked at the flight attendant in front of him in a daze. He liked the look of them in little red yarkes with a veil hanging from their faces. I feel that they add a mysterious flavor to the cabin, and add a sense of ritual to their first long journey away from their homeland.

He also felt that compared with the good-looking and slim flight attendants on domestic flights, the appearance, figure and clothing in front of them were not standardized enough. The one closest to him, chubby and with an open coat, was leaning against the bulkhead.

He turned his head, and on the next seat sat his leader, Lao Wang.

Qian Dan said: "Mr. Wang, I don't think the image of the 'Emirates' flight attendant is good? Far worse than a flight attendant on a domestic flight. ”

Lao Wang is only two years older than Qian Dan, lean and tall, with a receding hairline and black-framed glasses.

He lowered the stack of newspapers he was holding in his hand, glanced at the flight attendant, and asked Qian Dan, "Is it bad?" What are the criteria for 'good' and 'poor'? Let me ask you a question, what is the SLA (Service Level Agreement) promised on the ticket we bought? ”

Qian Dan took out the boarding pass from his pocket and looked at it: "How can there be an SLA on the ticket?" ”

Lao Wang has always been decisive and decisive, and his speed of speech is always fast: "You are a boarding pass, you haven't looked carefully at the ticket itinerary, right?" It says what time to fly, what time to arrive, and whether there is an in-flight meal, which is the SLA that the airline promises you. didn't promise you that their flight attendants would be beautiful and smile at you. ”

Without waiting for Qian Dan to answer, Lao Wang continued: "Now domestic flights are always delayed, no matter how beautiful and polite the flight attendant is, you will still be unhappy, right?" Emirates is one of the world's leading airlines, so we need to be humble and learn! In our company, too, professional services are worth more than just a smile with a few teeth, but a contractual delivery of the terms of the contract. ”

Qian Dan admired the "old pole" around him for a deep understanding of the essence of customer service, in those years, Weizhong company said that the service is good, more often it still stays at the level of good attitude, not afraid of hardship and tiredness, working overtime and not going home for the New Year, Lao Wang has already thought about one step ahead.

Qian Dan and Lao Wang work for Weizhong, a communications equipment supplier based in Shenzhen. Lao Wang is the technical service director of the company's software product line, and Qian Dan is one of his right-hand men.

Compared with Sweden's "Ericsson" founded in 1876, Canada's "Nortel" founded in 1914, and the United States' "Motorola" founded in 1928, "Weizhong", which was established less than 20 years ago, is a too young Chinese company.

However, as early as 2001, the boss of "Weizhong" judged that after joining the "WTO," the process of China's economic integration into globalization would be accelerated, and China would not only further open up foreign investment, but also open the window of time for Chinese enterprises to stride into the world and compete with the foreign powers in an all-round way. Since that year, "Weizhong" has continuously called on employees to go overseas to explore the market and make contributions.

At that time, Qian Dan was unmoved, he thought that his English was poor, and he felt that those calls were far away. Not many people in this world see a group of Chinese who claim to "create history and synchronize with civilization" are packing up and about to go to the corners of the world.

Time passed in 2004, "Weizhong" overseas orders suddenly blowout, the opportunity and pressure of the rapid development of the market in various countries came together, overseas manpower became more and more tight, the demand for dignitaries to stay more and more, more and more urgent, the pressure on the output of the headquarters personnel is increasing.

Lao Wang began to ask everyone to arrive at work 15 minutes early every morning and read English aloud for 15 minutes first.

Qian Dan didn't care, he was indiscriminately filling the numbers, while thinking that our English education is really a failure, this big house of people who have read at least is also a bachelor's degree, and has studied English for at least ten years, so that "language ability is not good" will become the company's annual overseas customer satisfaction survey found TOP 1 problem!

Gradually, the more he drank the wine, today he sent Zhang San to Thailand, tomorrow Li Si went to Angola, and the day after tomorrow, Wang Wu, who was bored, said that he was going to fly to Brazil. Qian Dan had a sense of existence in his heart, as if watching a football game reach its climax, how could he just run laps off the field?

The more the overseas market situation is in full swing, the stronger Qian Dan feels the call from the bottom of his heart. Finally, when Zhao Liu went to Russia and Sun Qi went to England, he couldn't help but run to ask Lao Wang for war.

Lao Wang was thinking about how to arrange troops to deal with the new business situation, and he quickly decided to let Qian Dan go to the "North Africa and Middle East Regional Department" to be stationed as the deputy of Lao Xie, the director of software services in the regional department.

Headquartered in Cairo, Egypt, the "North Africa and Middle East Region" was the most important and most stressful overseas grain producing area for Weizhong at that time, and managed the business of more than 10 subsidiaries set up by the company throughout North Africa and the Middle East.

The UAE is on its way from China to Egypt and is one of the most important subsidiaries of Weizhong in North Africa and the Middle East. Lao Wang's trip was to go on a business trip to supervise a major project, and Qian Dan was on a business trip with the leaders of the agency before reporting to the headquarters of the regional department.

Their flights depart and land on time. It was half past eight in the morning Beijing time and half past four in the morning local time when we arrived in Dubai.

Before joining Weizhong, Mr. Wang worked in a foreign company and had the experience of going abroad. Although Qian Dan has long been an "old Jianghu" in China, it is the first time he has gone abroad.

After getting off the plane, Lao Wang rushed forward along the passage with confidence. Qian Dan followed behind a little curiously and a little nervously. He quietly looked at Dubai Airport, trying to remember every sign in English on the aisle.

Although it was dawn, the arrival hall at Dubai Airport was unexpectedly bustling, packed with South Asian laborers waiting in line to do the eye scans needed to enter the UAE.

I wonder what that cold machine can read from people's eyes?

Lao Wang rushed to the machine and glared at the camera nonchalantly, and a green "GO" was quickly given on the screen of the machine. Qian Dan stared at the camera seriously, but it ruthlessly turned on the red light.

"Passport Control (the area of entry visa inspection)" does not allow people to stay, and Lao Wang goes to pass through the customs and enter the country first.

Qian Dan simply used two fingers to prop up his eyelids, and then put his eyes close to the lens of the machine, but it was still to no avail.

The border officer was surprised, pointed to the ceiling and said, "Look! ”

Qian Dan looked at the ceiling suspiciously, and then looked at the border control officer, as soon as he landed and had not yet entered the country, there was such an episode, which made him a little overwhelmed when he was stranded alone.

The border officer approached him, pointed to the ceiling, and said a few words.

Qian Dan pricked up his ears and understood that he was going to look at the lights on the ceiling by himself, and he had to look at them for a minute. He obediently looked up, stared at the incandescent lamp in a foreign land, counted to sixty times in his heart, and stared at himself until he was dazzled before trying. The machine was finally moved and gave a green "GO".

He is a science and engineering man with good understanding, and he quickly understands that it is the light that makes his pupils dilate or shrink, and so on, which meets the minimum requirements required for machine recognition.

Qian Dan and Lao Wang met again at the baggage claim area and continued to move forward.

The automatic glass door of the arrival hall split in two in front of them, and as soon as they stepped across the door line, the hot "water vapor" came to their faces, and the sky in Dubai was a sauna day.

A white, Sven Chinese was lying on the railing outside the door, bored.

As soon as he saw Qian Dan, he came to the spirit: "You guys finally came out!" Welcome on board! Welcome aboard the Great Pirate Ship of the North African Middle East! This is Mr. Wang, right? My name is Zeng Zijian, I do sales here, and I am an old brother with Qian Dan. ”

Zeng Zijian is one year older than Qian Dan, and they are old brothers with a very unusual relationship. After graduating from university, the two worked in the same bank and the same office in Changsha; Later, Qian Dan first jumped to "Weizhong", and Zeng Zijian was influenced by it and followed in his footsteps; Later, Zeng Zijian first came to the "North Africa and Middle East Regional Department" to be resident, and Qian Dan also came out.

Zeng Zijian did not match Lao Wang and Qian Dan's business, but he happened to be on a business trip to the UAE subsidiary from the regional department, and he insisted on coming to the airport to pick up his old friend.

The United Arab Emirates is a union of seven emirates, the most important of which is Dubai, a freeport known for its luxury, and Abu Dhabi, the capital of Abu Dhabi, the destination of Chandan and Lao Wang.

Cars gallop along the desert highway that connects Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

Inside the car, the speeding alarm was ringing non-stop, and outside the car, a red sun was rising on the edge of the sky and the desert.

While driving, Zeng Zijian introduced the UAE to Lao Wang, who was sitting in the passenger seat, and Qian Dan, who was lying in the back seat.

He said that the UAE is the most motivated country in the region, although its oil and gas resources are also abundant, but the government has always focused on the development of economic diversification, in the 70s of the 20th century to open canals, in the 80s to do trade, in the 90s to promote sightseeing, in the early 21st century has become the entire Middle East people, money and goods transit center.

He said that after accumulating wealth, the UAE's "locals" enjoy great social benefits, such as an interest-free loan at birth to help you thrive, free medical care for major illnesses and minor illnesses, a government-gifted property when you get married, and even a racetrack jackpot here that is often millions in cash, but bets are free.

However, it is not easy to become a "Local" in the UAE, and you must have lived legally for at least 20 consecutive years. The UAE has a population of more than 4 million, 80 percent of whom are expatriates, with many workers from neighboring countries in South Asia and the Middle East, as well as blond and blue-eyed European and American faces. In recent years, there have been more and more Chinese living here, and there are many dragons and snakes, and they can do everything.

Qian Dan was skeptical when he heard this, and when he drove into Abu Dhabi City, Zeng Zijian asked: "Mr. Wang, Dandan, do you know what real Arabic numerals look like?" ”

Lao Wang asked with interest: "What kind?" Aren't we the Arabic numerals we have since elementary school? ”

"No, what we learn from elementary school is actually the number of Indians, you look at the license plate of the car in front, 90721, that's the number of the Arabs."

Qian Dan curiously poked his head into the middle of the front seat, and saw a BMW 320 in front of him, with the left half of the license plate on the left side of the license plate that he had known since he was a child, "90721", and the strange symbol "٩٠٧٢١" on the right side.

Qian Dan, who was bent on quickly integrating into the environment, found the license plates of other cars on the road, and memorized Arabs 1 to 9 in his heart.

Zeng Zijian spoke again: "Look at the trees on the roadside, although they are on the seaside, they are dry and cannot be planted. Emiratis have money, they all rely on this drip irrigation to carry out greening, and a tree costs about $3,000 a year. ”

Qian Dan hurriedly looked at the side of the road, and sure enough, there were black rubber pipes for drip irrigation under every tree on the side of the street.

The car turned into a street alley and stopped in front of a small three-story building.

Zeng Zijian said: "Here, this is the building, the first floor is the office of your technical service department, the second and third floors are the dormitories, and there is a room on the third floor that has been tidied up, which is for the two of you." ”

The iron door in front of the building was closed, and Zeng Zijian didn't knock on the door, jumping, grabbing, and stepping on, and climbed in from the door.

He opened the door from the inside and said, "Come in, it's still early, it's not time for breakfast, everyone is in their rooms." Nowadays, there are many such cases overseas, where offices and dormitories are mixed together, which makes people completely mix work and life. ”

Qian Dan and Lao Wang dragged their suitcases into the door, and Qian Dan asked, "Why don't you take the key?" ”

Zeng Zijian said nonchalantly: "The security situation in Abu Dhabi is very good, and everyone lives together, so they usually don't bother to close the door. ”

Qian Dan's first day overseas was a long day.

Although it was a long journey, they were not able to rest first.

Colleagues from the Asia-Pacific region rushed to find Lao Wang, saying that there were customer complaints in Thailand, and he was busy coordinating and dealing with them; A colleague in Eastern Europe pulled him to a conference call to discuss the business plans of the regional department, and he spat on the phone.

The technical service system of "Weizhong" did not anticipate the sudden blowout of sales in overseas markets at all, and did not prepare human resources and business strategies in advance, so it was passive everywhere this year. Lao Wang's time is always filled with all kinds of complaints, requests for help, and discussions.

As soon as Qian Dan decided to be transferred to the "North Africa Middle East", he was in a hurry to intervene in the regional business remotely. He didn't look at the mailbox for a day, but there were nearly 200 emails copied by the Lord, and he saw that Iraq, Sudan, and Tunisia were dignitaries; There are customer complaints in Saudi Arabia and Syria; There was a major accident in Yemen's equipment to clean up the aftermath.

The two of them were busy with the phone and computer for a day, and after dark, they were dragged by the head of the subsidiary's technical service to a nearby local restaurant for a simple dust-washing meal.

It was nine o'clock in the evening when they returned to the dormitory, and the two of them had just gone upstairs, and Zeng Zijian, who had not shown up all day, came out.

He carried a six-pack of "Heineken" beer in his hand: "Mr. Wang, Dandan, did they take you to a local restaurant?" There is no alcohol in the local restaurant! I'm here to help you with jet lag, you'd better not go to bed too early today, drink two bottles of wine, and carry it until 11 o'clock before going to bed, the jet lag will be faster. ”

There is a small rooftop on the roof where clothes are dried. They took chairs out and sat side by side, their legs neatly resting on the low wall by the rooftop.

Lao Wang said: "I went to the company's '901' strategic planning meeting a few days ago, do you know what '901' is? ”

Qian Dan and Zeng Zijian shook their heads.

Lao Wang seems to be showing off: "'9' refers to 2009, '1' refers to 10 billion US dollars, and '901' means that the company plans to reach 10 billion US dollars in annual sales by 2009, and last year our sales were converted into less than 4 billion US dollars, and the boss really dared to think!" ”

Zeng Zijian said: "Mr. Wang, I think this goal is reliable!" Now that the overseas market has been completely opened, especially in the Middle East, the price of crude oil in the international market was only about 30 US dollars a barrel at the beginning of last year, and now it is more than 50 US dollars. Another point is that after the 9/11 incident, there is a gap between Arabs and Americans, and the Arab world is looking east and China! We have a lot of market opportunities, and Mr. Wang will support him more in the future! ”

Lao Wang drank all the wine in the wine bottle in his hand: "Nonsense! I still don't support you? I've transferred all the money to you! ”

Zeng Zijian said: "I have long persuaded Dandan to come out, but he hesitated, but he still can't escape, right?" It is difficult to take the first step to live abroad, but once you have taken the first step, it is good. The world is our oyster！ I'll regret it if I don't come out again. ”

"Who wants to escape? Didn't I have confidence in my English before? What did you just say? What is the world is our? ”

“The world is our oyster！ The world is our oyster! In Shakespeare's words, the world is full of opportunity. ”

"Cow, you're very good at English now! You can pretend to be Shakespeare! ”

"Brother, I've been overseas for two years, and I'm going to be forced out! You don't have to worry about not being able to speak English well, as long as you dare to open your mouth, you can pass the language barrier in no time. ”

Quiet nights on the shores of the Persian Gulf, only the wind blows stronger. The more the three of them chatted, the more excited they became, and they were full of ambition.