The next day, when the driver went to Mulan Cloud Residence to pick up the car, Ji Yanzhi specifically had him come over to ask how things had gone.
"Did you see Mr. Shen?"
"Yes," the driver said. "When I entered the courtyard, I made a point of knocking on the door to say hello."
"How did he look? Was he in a good mood?"
The driver thought back for a moment. "Well... Mr. Shen might not have slept well last night. He looked a little listless."
Listless?
Ji Yanzhi's brow shifted slightly. Had he gotten too excited?
As he was thinking, someone knocked on his office door. "Come in."
Fang Jie walked in. "Director Ji, Director Feng from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is here."
"Please show her in."
Ji Yanzhi stood up and had just reached the sofas when Director Feng entered. They shook hands and exchanged greetings, and Ji Yanzhi invited her to sit.
Director Feng was brisk and forthright, so she got straight to the point once she sat down. "As of ten this morning, seven European Union countries have withdrawn from the sanctions coalition, and all twenty-seven NATO countries have issued statements through their foreign ministries. We've heard from the United Nations that sixty-three statements opposing semiconductor bullying are currently piled on the secretary-general's desk. Even Iceland revised its wording three times overnight."
Ji Yanzhi was somewhat surprised. "Eastern Europe moved faster than expected?"
Director Feng smiled. "That's because the other countries have already left them behind in terms of response time. Take the new canal transit regulations Egypt announced just yesterday: tariffs on any cargo ship carrying Huaguo's LS-2 material have been reduced to three percent."
Ji Yanzhi's eyebrows twitched. After a moment's thought, he asked, "What is the United States doing now?"
"The