"Political Commissar Zhou, what do you mean by this?"

Qian Xuedong's temper flared up instantly, and his face turned red.

"Comrade Su Tang's appointment was decided after deliberation by the Party Committee of the Military Region! Her contributions are evident to all! Your current accusation against her background shows a lack of trust in us frontline researchers! It is a questioning of the decision made by our Party Committee of the Military Region!"

Qian Xuedong's voice echoed in the serious conference room, filled with barely suppressed anger.

Faced with Director Qian Xuedong's anger, Zhou Huai'an remained as calm as a mountain, not even changing the curve of his lips. He slowly adjusted his gold-rimmed glasses.

"Director Qian, please don't get agitated. When did I question the Party Committee's decision? I'm acting entirely out of public interest, to better protect Comrade Su Tang's research findings, and also to protect the interests of our military region."

He took out a document stamped with a bright red seal from his briefcase and gently placed it on the table.

"This is my report and request to the relevant technical departments at the headquarters in Beijing. The higher-level leaders attach great importance to this matter and have decided to send a 'national-level expert group' composed of the country's top materials science and thermodynamics experts to our Tibetan area to assist and guide the subsequent research and development and production of the thermal circulation furnace."

He surveyed the entire arena, smiled, and unleashed his final, deadly move.

"Therefore, I propose that our military region's existing project teams temporarily suspend all core research and development work, seal up all technical data and experimental data, and remain on standby."

"We'll wait for the expert team from Beijing to arrive so we can have a comprehensive technical exchange. This is for the good of our entire project, and even more so for the national interest. Director Qian, don't you agree?"

These words were well-reasoned and supported by evidence, and the author even cited a document from a higher authority bearing a red seal, making them virtually unassailable.

This tactic of "cutting off the fuel supply from under the cauldron" is extremely insidious.

Once the expert team takes over, Su Tang, the project leader, will be completely sidelined and marginalized under the pretext of being too young or not having a professional background.

All the core technologies of the furnace will be stolen by Zhou Huai'an's people under the guise of technology transfer.

This is blatantly an attempt to steal credit!

Director Qian Xuedong was so angry that he trembled all over. He stared at the document, then looked at Zhou Huai'an's face with a "for the public good" smile, and felt a surge of blood rush to his head.

He wanted to refute, but the other party kept repeating "organizational principles" and "national interests," and even held up the imperial sword, leaving him speechless for a moment.

He felt like he had punched cotton, his chest tight with frustration.

The news was sent back to the research institute immediately.

The atmosphere in the project team's temporary office was so oppressive it was almost palpable.

"Bang!"

Geng Xiangdong slammed his hand on the table, his weathered old face turning a deep purplish-red, his lips trembling with anger.

"This is outrageous! Absolutely outrageous! This is like crossing the river and then burning the bridge! It's like using the millstone and then discarding the donkey!" He panted heavily, pointing towards the door and cursing, "That guy surnamed Zhou, who does he think he is! We worked so hard, risked our lives to achieve this, and he thinks he can just take it away with a few words? No way!"

Lin Fan and Chen Xue, the two young people, were even more pale-faced, and their eyes were red.