书城轻小说与人民并行的提督生活
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第183章 商业互吹

“Mr. Wang, I really appreciate your attitude of being neither flattered nor insulted. As a professional soldier, I believe that your excellent conduct will bring you a bright future. At the same time, with such excellent talents as you, I think our city will be more secure and stable.(王先生,我很欣赏您宠辱不惊的态度,您作为一名职业军人,我相信您的优秀品行将会给您带来光明的前程,同时,有您这样的优秀人才,想必我们的城市也一定会更加安全,稳定。)”

这位市长先生很明显又开始商业互吹了,而我也得回应一下:

“Mr. Mayor, I still need your help when I come here for the first time. Although I have just arrived in your city, I can see that the city of lukewarm is much better than the original city I stayed in, both in terms of the city style and the spirit of the citizens. This is also Mr. Mayor's contribution.(市长先生,初来乍到,咱还需要您多多提携,我虽然刚到贵地,但是我能看得出来,卢卡旺这个城市比我原来呆的那个城市无论是城市风貌还是市民的精神风貌都要好得多,这也是市长先生的功劳啊。)”既然人家都那么说了,我也现学现卖,编了一段词。

而看得出来,这个市长先生也很圆滑,不像那种我印象里的有明显的偏见的人。

这时候,这位先生似乎又想起来了些什么,突然笑了,轻轻摇了摇头。

“Oh, we've been talking here for so long. I'm sorry. I haven't introduced myself yet. I'm Madsen Williams. Just call me old Mike.(哦,咱们都在这里聊了这么长时间了,真是抱歉,还没有进行自我介绍,我是麦德森?威廉姆斯,叫我老迈克就行了。)”

“My name is Wang Jun, and everyone who knows me is Charlie. Nice to meet you, Mr. Madsen.(我叫王濬,认识我的人都叫我查理,很高兴认识您,麦德森先生。)”

说是吃饭,实际上就是一次非正式会谈,因为列克星敦的身份,所以她被安排和市长夫人一起去吃饭了,在另一个房间里,所以说,今天的这次晚宴也是一次私人会谈。

我知道,新到一个地方要积攒人脉,现在看来,我给这个老迈克先生留下了不算太坏的印象,甚至说还算不错,不过说句实在的,我真的是被这个老谋深算的市长开头的下马威雷到了。

既来之则安之,今晚的晚饭,我也要表现出自己的风度。

这份牛排说句实在的算不上大,也不很小,要是平时,我肯定就狼吞虎咽的吃了,但是今天的情况和往常不同,因为今天晚上的饭并不是用来吃的,而是用来表演的。

尽可能斯文地切着牛排,我一口口慢慢吃着,而且时刻小心这位先生提出的任何问题,包括我的港区编制,以及一些生活上的问题,我都一一予以作答。

到最后,我们吃的差不多了,聊的也差不多了,我把盘子里的面包切成小块,放到了盛放牛排的盘子里,用面包吸取着盘子里浓郁的牛肉汤汁。

我这个做法,让老迈克可以说大惑不解,他笑了,开口说到:

“Mr. Charlie, your practice really refreshes me. As an officer, you have to dip bread in soup. I've never seen such a thing in my life.(查理先生,您的做法真的是让我耳目一新,您作为军官,却要用面包来蘸汤汁,这样的事情我这辈子从没见过。)”

我放下了手里的刀叉,正色说道:

“In our country, there is a saying:“Who knows the dish of food, which grains are hard.“ I have been taught since I was a child to respect food, because behind it there is labor and sweat. We can't waste it casually. Moreover, our usual expenses are provided by our superiors, and we can't waste taxpayers' money casually.(在我们的国家,有一句谚语:“谁知盘中餐,粒粒皆辛苦。”我从小就被教导,要敬重食物,因为它的背后凝结着劳动和汗水,我们不能随便浪费,而且我们平时的开销都是上级供给的,我们不能随便浪费纳税人的钱。)”

“Wonderful!”这位先生对我竖起了大拇指,“I'm glad that you have a deep understanding of food and labor. So, tonight, I'm really happy to have dinner with you!(我真高兴,您对于食物和劳动的见地真是有够深刻,那么,今天晚上,我着实很高兴和您一起用餐!)”

而我应答了两句,就继续品尝起了那些沾了黑胡椒汁液的面包。

然后,我们又闲聊了一会儿,就离开了这间屋子,然后和这位麦德森先生一起,找到了刚刚吃完饭不久的那两位夫人。

“Well, that's it. Nice to meet you tonight, Mr. Charles Wang. I hope it will take a short time before we meet next time!(那么就是这样了,王查理先生,我想我们很快就可以再见!)”市长先生把我和列克星敦送到了酒店的大门口,给我们打了出租车。

“It's a great honor to have dinner with you. Thank you very much for your treat!(非常荣幸能和您共进晚餐,我十分感谢您的招待!)”我和太太上了出租车,我和市长先生及其夫人告别:“Goodbye!”

“See you next time!”麦德森先生挥了挥手,向我告别。

出租车发动了,朝着我们港区的方向前进着,一路上,我没有和列克星敦交流一个字。因为谁知道这个司机什么来头?是不是个托?

直到下了车,列克星敦才开了口。

“达令,今天这顿饭吃的怎么样?”