Capítulo 1544: Chapter 1544: Overseas Expansion
When Huaxia citizens heard that the magical Cancer Care Center had caused a sensation abroad, they inevitably boasted about it, saying things like “Amazing, my country, unique in the world,” and “Foreign netizens exclaim: An incurable disease conquered by Huaxia.”
The authors of these sensational articles know very well how to catch people’s attention. When they encounter topics that might be sensitive, they skillfully gloss over them ambiguously. So in the end, there are no details… If they wrote too many details, the article definitely wouldn’t get published.
Netizens who enjoy these articles don’t overlap much with those who hang out on social media, so relevant departments didn’t notice these opportunistic folks immediately—truly detestable clickbaiters.
In the end, it was the Foreign Affairs Department that broke the silence: some foreign friends wanted to learn about our latest cancer treatment methods in order to decide whether to proceed with treatment quickly.
You can imagine that those who made such requests to the Foreign Affairs Department must be “friends of the Huaxia people.” Otherwise, they wouldn’t go through the official channels; private exchanges could achieve the same purpose.
However, even if these people are considered friends, they can’t go through special channels. The fees at Luohua dropped significantly, and the number of people coming through organizational channels increased—a lot of people previously couldn’t meet the standard, but with the reduced fee standard, more people meet the criteria.
Aside from the deserving personnel from relevant professions, other industries are also fighting for entry quotas—those who build aircraft carriers are commendable, but are we who construct subways not worth mentioning?
After all, the five million standard can be borne by many people. Forget public funds; even self-paying is no issue, but the trick is that Luohua simply doesn’t accept anyone’s registration.
Because of this, there are many people who want to find fault with Luohua. Anyone with a bit of power wants to boss Luohua around, but the outcome goes without saying, so for them, gaining treatment at the care center through organizational channels is more convenient.
For most people within the system, being recommended to Luohua through Daoist Sects’ lineage is not a good choice.
—You can quietly enter a temple to burn a couple of incense sticks, and generally, no one will mind you. But to openly get a medical referral through the Daoist Sect, it becomes inappropriate. The organization can’t pretend not to see it, which begs the question: What exactly do you believe in?
Beauty Lin came to negotiate with Feng Jun. Feng Jun was too lazy to meet her in person, “Gao Qiang, let her use your walkie-talkie.”
Beauty Lin, through the walkie-talkie, said that some foreign friends wanted to know the mechanism of your cancer treatment.
Feng Jun replied, I don’t treat cancer; we just carefully take care of cancer patients, and then they get better.
Beauty Lin knew that this guy would never bear the charge of “practicing medicine illegally,” let alone share related experience.
In fact, she vaguely guessed that this kind of care likely had something to do with cultivation, making it difficult for outsiders to learn, so Luohua had no interest in applying for a patent and outright refused to communicate with other doctors.
So she settled for the next best thing, saying those foreign friends hoped to get a quota outside the organizational channels and wished he could offer some consideration.
“I never give special treatment to foreigners,” Feng Jun responded bluntly. “I can’t even treat all Huaxia citizens, where do I find the time to treat foreigners? And I charge high fees, one person one hundred million US dollars.”
Beauty Lin was quite clear about this, “You seem to have only charged Richard twenty million US dollars.”
“That’s different; how many Hope Primary Schools did he build for Huaxia? Did he publicize it?” Feng Jun replied confidently. “I feel he is a true friend of the Huaxia people, whereas those so-called ‘friends’ in your mouth… hehe, do you believe it yourself?”
Beauty Lin argued reasonably, “You charge Huaxia citizens how much in Huaxia currency should be the same amount in US dollars for foreigners… Back then with Richard, you charged each Huaxia person one hundred million in Huaxia currency, so now, you should charge five million US dollars, right?”
“I say, our elbows don’t bend outwards,” Feng Jun responded with a smile, “You’re speaking for foreigners too much. How about this… two million US dollars per person is the bottom line; anyway, this amount of money is nothing to foreigners.”
This statement was a bit outrageous. In recent years, wherever Huaxia people travel abroad, people in other countries think Huaxia people are exceptionally wealthy.
But Feng Jun believes, among the seventy-five billion people in the world, Huaxia’s population is less than one-fifth, and among the remaining four-fifths, there are quite a few extremely wealthy people. Two million US dollars is the baseline; it can’t be lowered anymore, or it would heavily squeeze the quotas for Huaxia citizens.
“That’s how it is,” Beauty Lin agreed with his explanation, “those who can be called friends of the Huaxia people must have some influence, some solid strength. Many tycoons from the Middle East are consulting, and forking out this bit of money isn’t a problem.”
After a pause, she spoke again, “Then should we notify them to come next session for treatment?”
“What are you thinking?” Feng Jun flared up upon hearing it. “The list for the next session has already been released. Let them honestly register and line up.”
“Are you kidding me?” Beauty Lin also got anxious, “Are people who pay two million dollars not entitled to cut in line? Word has it a hundred million Huaxia currency gets you a priority spot here.”
“How can Huaxia people and foreigners be the same?” Feng Jun lazily countered, “This is the price for Huaxia citizens to cut in line, twenty times normal queue cost, whereas for foreigners, cutting the line starts at four hundred million US dollars… and that depends on my mood.”
“Please, my dear Chen Laoda,” Beauty Lin said with a mix of amusement and exasperation, “Your referral quotas are all in the hands of the Daoist sects, are you saying… let those Middle Eastern tycoons go to the Daoist Sect to burn incense?”
“Red lotus, white root, and green lotus leaf, the three teachings are originally one family,” Feng Jun answered slowly, “Confined by narrow views, if they don’t want to go to the Daoist sects to burn incense, that’s fine. To be honest… I myself am considered part of the Daoist lineage.”
“You want my Daoist lineage to assist in caregiving, but you don’t want to burn incense… I ask, have you considered my feelings?”
Beauty Lin felt there was something off about what he said, but she couldn’t quite pinpoint it, “But aren’t faith and belief supposed to be free!”
Feng Jun leisurely replied, “The Daoist sect allows others to worship, isn’t that freedom? Turn it upside down… give it a try?”
Beauty Lin was silent for a moment, then spoke with a hint of tears in her voice, “Please don’t make things difficult for us, okay?”
“Fine, I won’t make it hard for you,” Feng Jun responded crisply, “For those within your channels, I’ll only treat Huaxia citizens. For those outside your channels, they must have a recommendation from the Daoist sect… You can tell anyone that this is my rule.”
In fact, Beauty Lin was overthinking it. When she explained to others that Luohua was a branch of the Daoist sect, and required recommendations from other Daoist sects to queue for treatment, most of the foreign friends understood.
Then Feng Zhizhang from Mount Taibai called, saying there were foreigners burning incense there, and they donated $100,000 hoping to get a referral, asking what should be done.
Feng Jun laughed when he heard this, “Your majestic Xuande Cave Heaven is only worth $100,000?”
“I also feel it’s too little, it’s not in line with my status at Mount Taibai,” Feng Zhizhang answered sulkily, “He also promised, for a higher place in the line, he could donate a million dollars, but I think… should we, the dignified Huaxia, be this penny-pinching?”
“My dear friend, I have to criticize you here,” Feng Jun coughed dryly, “If they have money, let them spend it. If we go by average, we’re still a developing country. If we consider historical averages… we’re far from poverty alleviation. Why are you, a poor man, pretending to be a tycoon?”
“Of course I’m taking that million,” Feng Zhizhang declared, showing his toughness, “But after taking it, should I give him a spot a little further up the queue?”
“He gave incense and money, as per the rules just give him a spot in line,” Feng Jun said lightly, “Everyone is born equal, having the chance to queue is already considered a great fortune.”
Feng Zhizhang hesitated, then shyly asked, “I think if we persuade him, he might convert… if a foreigner converts to the Daoist sect, is there any discount?”
“Of course there is,” Feng Jun answered decisively, “Ordinary foreigners willing to burn incense at the Daoist sect, the caregiving fee is $20 million, for converts, it’s $5 million… dollars! Whatever extra you can collect, that’s yours.”
“That’s the way to do it,” Feng Zhizhang slapped the table, “We should encourage foreigners to convert, the Daoist sect should go international. But isn’t $5 million a bit high? How about… five million Huaxia currency?”
“Tch,” Feng Jun snorted disdainfully, “What are you thinking? Different tribes have different hearts, conversion is just a formality, not sincere. Reducing it three-quarters isn’t a small cut… even if there are many bad people in Huaxia, I still prefer to trust Huaxia citizens.”
“Tch,” Feng Zhizhang smacked his lips in slight regret, “I think this helps in promoting the Daoist sect.”
The Daoist sects have been quiet for a long time, analysis shows, the Daoist elders have been too focused on their own cultivation, indifferent to promotion. The principle of ‘come if you agree, leave if you don’t’ is indeed a Daoist tenet, but it also shows a reluctance to progress.
“Then he can promote the Daoist sect,” Feng Jun naturally replied, “Establish Daoist temples abroad, accept leadership from the Middle Kingdom… no leadership necessary, just a token respect for the Middle Kingdom. If he can achieve something, wouldn’t we support him?”
Feng Zhizhang was also a cultured person, though not a proper graduate of a religious academy, but the philosophy department at a Normal University is quite formidable. He pondered and spoke, “Isn’t this similar to foreign missionaries?”
Feng Jun smiled, “My dear friend, philosophy department isn’t as good as the Chinese department, how can these be the same?”
Feng Zhizhang was silent for a moment, then sighed, “I know there’s a difference, but it doesn’t feel big.”
“The difference is huge,” Feng Jun laughed, “I thought you studied philosophy, don’t you understand the difference in civilizations?”
“In our time, we mainly studied Marxist philosophy,” Feng Zhizhang answered indifferently, “Hei Geer and Hume were banned, Kant could be discussed, Laozi and Zhuangzi were absolutely forbidden… Daoism is really hard.”
“I find you can’t grasp the key point in what you say,” Feng Jun was a bit helpless, “Let me put it this way, I ask you, we’ve set up many Confucius Institutes abroad, are they missionary in nature?”
(To be continued, request monthly ticket.)