"The spring breeze has turned the south bank of the Yangtze River green again, and the ducks are the first to know when the spring river warms up!"
Standing in the spring of 1992, Lin Huowang chuckled as he forcibly pieced together these two unrelated ancient poems.
Yes! In the blink of an eye, the calendar has turned to 1992 again.
This year was an absolutely extraordinary year for China.
The old man drew a circle in the south, and the spring breeze of reform and opening up suddenly turned into a gale, blowing across the land and making the people restless.
Although China's reform and opening up had accelerated due to Lin Huowang's involvement, it was all a collaboration between Lin Huowang, a "Hong Kong investor," and state-owned enterprises. The development of the private economy was still cautious and in the early stages of unregulated growth.
However, once this circle was completely drawn, the status of the private economy in the country was confirmed, and a period of rapid economic development with a hundred flowers blooming immediately began.
In the capital, it was still Lin Huowang's quaint courtyard house.
However, the entrance to the Lin family's courtyard house is now a bustling hub of activity.
Previously, Lin Huowang's reputation only circulated in very, very small circles, such as Zhao Mengsheng's circle, Liao Gong's circle, some circles of Gong Xue's drama troupe, and some circles in Zhongguancun.
Only those who had dealings with Lin Huowang, or those who were indirectly connected to him, knew about the existence of this Lin family courtyard house.
But now!
Lin Huowang didn't want this either!
As his reputation grew, as the ownership of several industries gradually came to light, and as the projects and decisions he, as "Advisor Lin" without a specific rank, participated in became increasingly high-level...
Every day, the line of people wanting to visit "Advisor Lin" stretched from the alleyway to the main street. Some wanted to attract investment, some wanted official approvals, and others wanted to use connections to get projects done.
But Lin Huowang completely ignored these visitors.
They've all come to me through connections? These are the kinds of people Lin Huowang despises the most—the middlemen and privileged kids from the 1990s.
At this very moment, he was hiding in a secret room in the backyard, surrounded by several old generals in naval uniforms with gray hair, around a huge blueprint, their eyes as red as rabbits'.
"Advisor Lin... this... is this the 'Varyag' from Ukraine?"
An old general, his hands trembling, stroked the huge, unfinished line drawing of the aircraft carrier on the blueprints, and said in a choked voice:
"Can we... really get it back?"
"Yes! It absolutely can!"
Lin Huowang's eyes shone brightly as he spoke with certainty.
Over the past few years, his main focus has been on taking advantage of the chaos following the collapse of the Soviet Union to move a lot of things back to China.
Especially some of the big and super-large machines, from the production line of the Su-27 to the engine of the high-thrust rocket, and then to trainloads of top experts.
But this huge thing in front of him was truly his greatest obsession.
There's no way around it! China's navy has always been its biggest weakness!
Without a navy, without a strong naval defense force, how can we talk about national security? How can we talk about strategic defense? How can we talk about breaking the United States' maritime hegemony in the Pacific?
"General, I've already made all the arrangements over there."
Lin Huowang pointed to the blueprints and said calmly, "I registered an entertainment company in Macau. My stated purpose is to buy this abandoned ship and convert it into a floating casino hotel."
"Ukraine is so poor they're practically selling their pants. The shipyard manager and I are best buddies, a friendship built on money, of course. But you know what? As long as the money's there, he'd do anything, let alone an aircraft carrier, even dismantle the dry dock and sell it for scrap metal!"
"But...what about Türkiye..."
The old general was still somewhat worried about this, saying, "The Americans are watching that strait."
"Hmph, Turks?"
Lin Huowang sneered, "Then let's just wait it out! If they want tolls, we'll pay them! If they want technology transfer, we'll give them some of the Defender rocket launcher technology! I don't believe that we can't break through this road by throwing money at it and exchanging benefits for it?"
"As long as this ship can get into our home, I'd be willing to pay any toll, or even have to dance for them to entertain them!"
"The fire is raging..."
Upon hearing these words, the old general was moved to tears. He tightly grasped Lin Huowang's hand and said, "You...you have truly given our navy a new lease on life! With this half-finished aircraft carrier, we can not only study the structure of aircraft carriers, but also avoid at least twenty years of detours!"
"Our Chinese people's dream of a navy is finally... finally about to come true!"
Seeing the excited expressions on the faces of these old generals, Lin Huowang felt a surge of excitement in his heart as well.
After all, in its previous life, the journey home for this ship was fraught with difficulties and dangers.
In this life, he has money, people, and the support of the country. At such a convenient time, he vowed to make sure that this giant ship was adorned with the battle robes of the Chinese Navy ahead of schedule!
...
After seeing off the old generals, Lin Huowang was just about to go back to his house to rest when a noisy commotion came from the front yard.
"We want to see Advisor Lin! Let us in!"
"Do you know who I am? I'm Director Wang from the Materials Department! I have an urgent matter!"
Lin Huowang frowned upon hearing this. Who was so ignorant of etiquette so early in the morning?
How dare a mere section chief come up to me and act so arrogantly?
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