Chapter 81: Old Friends from the Military Factory
I don't know how Alexei and Yan Zhengchuan slept that night, but He Changyi slept quite well.
Today, the two experts' itinerary is still a day trip to the storage yard, but this time only Yan Zhengchuan will accompany them, while He Changyi will go to make arrangements for visiting the military factory.
Alexei then drove back to Moscow. He helped He Changyi pick up people from the airport. Now that the mission had been exceeded, it was time to go back.
Before parting, under Yan Zhengchuan's watchful gaze, He Changyi leaned against the driver's side window and said to Alexei inside the car, "Give my regards to Grandma Vitalie. I'll be visiting her in a few days. And don't forget to make her a cup of ginseng tea every morning."
Alexei muttered, "Strange plant roots..."
He Changyi reached in and slapped him.
"What do you know? That's wild ginseng that I went through a lot of trouble to get it from someone. It's very good for the health of the elderly!"
Alexei glanced at her and said reluctantly, "Alright, I'll soak those dried grass roots. Hopefully, it really works as you say."
He Changyi stroked his hair like she was petting a dog and praised him, "Good boy."
Alexei rudely shook off her hand, rolled up the car window forcefully, stepped on the gas, and the brand-new boxy car shot off like an arrow, quickly disappearing around the street corner.
Yan Zhengchuan seized the opportunity to speak ill of him: "I told you this kid was no good, he won't even let me touch his head, you should break up with him as soon as possible."
Instead of answering, He Changyi asked, "Second brother, you didn't snore last night and Alexei really threw you out the window, did you?"
Yan Zhengchuan was heartbroken!
"Yan Zhengyue, you can't just choose a man based on his looks!"
He Changyi thought about it carefully and said solemnly, "You're right, we can't judge a book by its cover."
Before Yan Zhengchuan could express his satisfaction and agreement, he heard He Changyi's next sentence.
"Besides looking at her face, you also have to look at her figure."
She smiled wistfully, "For example, Alexei had a very good physique."
Yan Zhengchuan: ...
He spoke with difficulty: "January, if you really like Alexei's type, there are plenty of good-looking scoundrels in the capital, you don't necessarily have to find a foreigner..."
He Changyi patted Yan Zhengchuan on the shoulder sympathetically.
"Second brother, why don't you take the professors to study tanks instead?"
The group set off for their respective destinations. He Changyi contacted the military factory in Kovrov and expressed her willingness to continue purchasing. However, this time she wanted to bring several technicians with her. The factory did not suspect anything, or rather, it did not care, and readily agreed.
After dealing with company affairs for the day, the group returned to the house one after another in the evening. He Changyi shared the good news with Yan Zhengchuan and the two experts.
The experts were overjoyed, but Yan Zhengchuan was somewhat uncertain.
"No need for disguise? Just go straight there?"
He Changyi asked him seriously, "You don't really want to take this opportunity to wear women's clothes, do you? I can give you a new dress, plus an unopened lipstick. If that's not enough, I'll give you high heels too."
...What kind of talk is that! What do you mean he wants to wear women's clothes!
After teasing his second brother enough, He Changyi explained, "It's just a scrapped tank. After all, the current Egu army is just opening its warehouse doors and selling off its active-duty equipment. Even if the Federal Security Bureau wanted to arrest someone, they would have to arrest the entire military first, and they can't worry about this for the time being."
Professor Liu was initially pleased, but then sighed, "How did the alliance end up like this... You young people don't understand. The alliance was very powerful a few years ago, able to go toe-to-toe with the United States. Now it's really no good, it's rotten to the core."
Professor Huang appeared much calmer.
"If the alliance had remained that powerful, it wouldn't have been a good thing for us. The pressure from the north was too great. The current situation is good enough. We can now focus on economic development and have the opportunity to see the T-80 tank in person. It's great, really great."
Professor Liu said, "But the collapse of the alliance isn't entirely a good thing for us. Look at the United States. Before, with the alliance in front of us, the US would try to cooperate with us, providing investment and technology—they were so generous. But now, with the alliance disintegrating, they've set their sights on us. They won't sell us American equipment anymore, and they've even seized our fighter jets! It's as clear as day!"
Professor Huang patted his old friend's arm, unable to dissuade him, because these were also his own true feelings.
Regarding the incident mentioned by Professor Liu concerning the seizure of fighter jets by the United States, He Changyi had learned about the background and details from the newspapers.
In short, back when the Alliance was powerful and the US was outmatched, it brought China into the fold to fight the Alliance. To show its sincerity and to enable China to better restrain the Alliance, the US generously provided funds and technology, and even agreed to sell advanced American equipment.
Riding this wave of westward expansion, China's military helicopters, Hercules transport aircraft, anti-tank missiles, detection radars, and naval gas turbines have all developed rapidly, resulting in a leap forward in military strength.
There is also a fighter jet cooperation project, in which American military enterprises upgrade and modify Chinese fighter jets to enable them to have the avionics systems of fourth-generation fighters.
This should have been a good thing, but the problem is, the league died too soon.
If it had lived a few more years, the US might have even shared its most prized aircraft carrier technology.
As soon as the alliance collapsed, the United States immediately turned its back on China, ending cooperation and arms sales.
The United States also seized the fighter jets that China had shipped for modification and refused to return them for a long time. They only recently relented, but only returned a portion; the crucial nose cone model equipment was permanently confiscated.
Professor Liu was criticizing this very issue.
"If the alliance hadn't broken up, would the US have seized our fighter jets? They were counting on us to take the pressure from the alliance! Now look what they've done, using us when they need us and discarding us when they don't. What a bunch of idiots!"
The old professor was furious, his face flushed red, and he was panting heavily.
He Changyi got up and poured a cup of tea for the two professors.
"They say it's better to have your own than your parents'. We used to learn from the Alliance, then from the United States, but in the end, we still have to rely on ourselves. Although we started late and progressed slowly, no matter how late or slow we are, we are still moving forward step by step."
Professor Liu was a little embarrassed for losing his composure in front of a girl who was even younger than his own daughter, and quickly took the teacup.
"I got a little too excited, Ms. He, please forgive me..."
He said self-deprecatingly, "I've worked in the military industry my whole life, but in the end, I still can't compare to the United States, our ally. Chairman Mao said we should work hard and be self-reliant, but we're still being held back by others. Alas, I'm useless. A scholar is utterly useless..."
He Changyi said gently, "How could they be useless? Without military engineers like you, even if I bought a hundred brand-new T-80s, they would only be disposable on the battlefield. But with an expert like you, it's different. We can learn from the barbarians to defeat them. By learning advanced foreign technologies, we can go back and build our own third-generation tanks, and later there will be fourth and fifth generations..."
Professor Huang suddenly shouted, "Well said!"
This usually reserved and modest expert spoke in a loud voice:
"What a great saying, 'Learn from the barbarians to subdue them'! Indeed, although we are still lagging behind foreign countries, one day we will be at the forefront of the world, possessing the most advanced tanks and fighter jets. On that day, all countries will come to learn from us!"
Professor Liu also perked up, "You're right, I believe that day is not far off!"
He Changyi and Yan Zhengchuan exchanged a smile, and Yan Zhengchuan gave her a thumbs up.
It had to be his sister; that's what they call a tiger father and a tiger daughter.
The next morning, just as dawn was breaking, the two experts urged each other to go to the military factory.
Besides Yan Zhengchuan and the experts, He Changyi only brought Xie Xuejun with him.
Xie Xuejun always strictly adhered to confidentiality rules. After getting into the car, he didn't look around, ask questions, or say much. He focused on driving, sitting upright and keeping a close eye on the surrounding road conditions.
He Changyi sat in the passenger seat, and Yan Zhengchuan leaned in from behind, asking her in a low voice, "Is this the person the old man found?"
He Changyi nodded, and Yan Zhengchuan clicked his tongue, "At least he's thoughtful."
The jeep entered the military factory through the side gate with practiced ease and parked directly outside the tank graveyard.
Professors Liu and Huang jumped out of the car without hesitation, grabbed their notebooks, and rushed into the pile of tanks.
The contact person shrugged and said to He Changyi, "It seems your technicians really love their jobs."
He Changyi said without changing his expression, "After all, I pay them three thousand US dollars every month."
The person in charge stared wide-eyed.
"How much?! Three thousand dollars?!"
His breathing quickened, and he asked He Changyi eagerly, "Do you still need a technician? I only need two thousand, no, one thousand US dollars in salary!"
He Changyi smiled and slapped the envelope hidden in her sleeve into his hand.
There will be an opportunity.
The contact person felt the thickness of the envelope and became even more attentive during the rest of the trip, even taking the initiative to lead He Changyi and his group to the tank repair workshop, where there were more active tanks and armored vehicles.
There weren't many workers in the workshop, and they all looked listless.
The younger workers were lazy and unskilled, with a perfunctory attitude, just going through the motions.
The older workers were highly skilled, but they were weathered, taciturn, and their dirty work clothes were covered with patches and unpatched tears.
One of the elderly workers, with gray hair, frowned and rushed over aggressively after seeing the person in charge enter with several foreigners.
"How could you bring foreigners in? This is a classified workshop; you've violated security regulations! You must take them away immediately, or I'll report this to security!"
The contact person impatiently pushed him away.
"Come on, old Ivan. You're the only one who still cares about those bullshit secrecy regulations. Secrecy, secrecy, secrecy—do you think secrecy will put your family to eat? Don't forget, if I hadn't found a way to get money, you wouldn't even have a salary, let alone your wife's medical expenses!"
Old Ivan's hand, which had been blocking the crowd, fell limply to his side, just like his wrinkled and greasy head.
The person in charge pushed him aside and warmly invited He Changyi and the others to continue their tour.
As the crowd passed by old Ivan, who was hanging his head, someone suddenly said uncertainly, "Teacher Ivan?"
It's Professor Liu.
He stared in astonishment at the Alliance technician who had helped Zhong thirty years ago, barely recognizing him as the spirited young teacher from back then.
Old Ivan raised his head, squinted, and carefully examined the old man in front of him who was just as old as he was.
"You are... Liu?"
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