Chapter 6 — People With Real Power, Ultimately Shine

If this clause is not handled satisfactorily... The deposit and supervision costs alone are enough to swallow more than half of the project's profit. More seriously... Once the two sides cannot reach a common voice... The trust that has just been built will immediately collapse. Even the entire deal can go up in smoke. The harmonious atmosphere in the meeting room disappeared without a trace. The cold pressure... Like sea water surging from all four directions... In just a blink of an eye, it engulfed me. All eyes in the room. All hope. All the stress. They are all like bright spotlights... Shining straight on me alone at the same time. This is the first time since joining the project... I clearly feel such heavy pressure. My eyebrows unconsciously furrowed slightly. It was also the first time... At the negotiating table, I showed such a serious expression. Leblanc calmly looked at me. He seemed to enjoy seeing our side in a difficult position. I took a deep breath. Then ask the other side to give us five minutes to discuss internally. After being approved... I did not participate in the helpless exchange of leaders sitting next to me. I bowed my head and opened my laptop. Ten fingers type continuously on the keyboard. At the same time, the pen in hand quickly scribbled on the notebook in front of him. My mind moved at unprecedented speed. Continuously search for all relevant knowledge accumulated over the years. Every second... Every minute... Quietly passes. The entire meeting room was silent. There's only the sound of rustling paper... And suppressed breathing. General Manager Vuong's heart almost jumped into his throat. Kevin crossed his arms across his chest, leaning heavily on the back of the chair. Set up a sitting position and wait to see a good show. The expression of the French representative also gradually changed. From the look of forcing people step by step... Turning into eyes full of scrutiny. Five minutes... As long as a century. How am I... going to solve this situation? Five minutes of internal discussion... over. Under everyone's tense eyes, I closed the laptop. I raised my head. The tightly furrowed eyebrows relaxed. His eyes also returned to their usual clarity and confidence. General Director Vuong and the entire Chinese negotiating team held their breath. No one knows what I intend to do in the end. I did not directly respond to the harsh terms that Leblanc just issued. Instead, I turned to the head of the French legal department and calmly spoke in a tone of academic exchange, not argument.

"Mr. Leblanc, I remember very clearly the additional provision of GDPR you just mentioned."

"However..."

"Perhaps he missed a further guidance document issued by the European Data Protection Board three months later, code 2021/C 76 I/01."

As soon as he heard this... Leblanc's face changed slightly. I don't stop.

"This additional document clarifies that, for partners outside the European Union that have been recognized as 'equivalent standards of data protection', it is only necessary that the data transfer agreement clearly stipulates the scope of use and data destruction mechanism..."

"...then the independent risk deposit may be waived."

Having finished speaking, I stood up, walked to the whiteboard, and picked up the pen Yes.

"Also..."

"Regarding the provision you just proposed, I would like to share three typical commercial arbitration cases that recently took place in Europe."

I present three similar incidents that occurred in Germany, Ireland and Belgium respectively.

"In these three incidents..."

"There are two final judgments that both determined that the unilateral and exceeding customary supervision requests as you just mentioned caused 'unnecessary damage to the cooperative trust between the two parties', so were not accepted by the court."

I not only use fluent French to present the entire developments and results of each case. But also write on the whiteboard: Case number. Court name. Applicable laws. Source cited. Each stroke is neat. Coherent argument. The entire meeting room... Besides my voice... There was no other sound. The entire French delegation... Including Leblanc... All stared at the whiteboard with wide eyes.