Li Huai didn't laugh, but said seriously to his son, "You're an adult now, and you have to be responsible for your actions. It's okay to date, but you absolutely cannot do things that are not allowed."
“Dad, I understand.” The eldest son nodded.
"When will you let Mom meet Ji Rou?" Zhao Qinglan glanced at her husband and continued to ask.
"Mom, are you not in a hurry?" Da Wa was worried that Ji Rou would feel pressured.
"This isn't a matter of whether you're in a hurry or not. Are you saying you're not serious about that girl? Li Yansen, let me tell you, dating without the intention of marriage is just playing around."
Even Zhao Qinglan became serious when facing her son.
Li Huai glared and bristled. "If you dare to wrong that girl, I'll break your legs."
The eldest child looked both amused and exasperated. "Dad, Mom, no, I was just thinking that we haven't graduated yet, we're just students, there's no need to meet each other's parents, right? I'm definitely serious about Ji Rou."
Zhao Qinglan's expression softened. "Alright then, let me meet you when there's a chance."
Back at school, Da Wa told Ji Rou that he had already told his parents.
Ji Rou blushed. "What did your uncle and aunt say?"
"I already told you, my parents don't object to me dating, they're just a little curious about you and would like to meet you if they have the chance."
Upon hearing that they were going to meet, Ji Rou became nervous. "When will we meet?"
"Don't be afraid. No time was mentioned. We can talk about this later."
Ji Rou finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Under the tree, two young people nestled together.
Li Huai and Xiao Chu left by train, while Zhao Qinglan made her final preparations before going abroad.
This time, she and Zhang Yu led the team, while Wei Hong stayed in China.
The advance troops traveled by plane, while the supplies and personnel followed by others traveled by train.
With official cooperation and coordination, the "use" of train cars has become more convenient.
Even though it was already the beginning of spring, Zhao Qinglan felt a chill as soon as she got off the plane.
Fortunately, she was wearing a coat, and by wrapping herself up tightly, she didn't feel cold.
Zhang Yu, standing beside him, asked with concern, "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine, let's go to the hotel quickly."
Because of the special nature of their "mission," embassy staff also came to see them, ostensibly to show their concern for this trip.
This time, Ding Yu and Liu Dandan accompanied her on her trip abroad, along with a number of security personnel.
Some of them, Zhao Qinglan and Zhang Yu, were transferred from the company, while others were specially assigned by their superiors to protect them.
The Soviet Union is not a peaceful country these days, and their large group is quite conspicuous, so their safety is still a very important issue.
Only when a person is alive can they do things, right?
As they drove away from the airport, Zhao Qinglan looked out the car window at the scenery along the way.
This was her first time visiting the State of Su across both her lifetimes.
The distinctive architectural style makes it immediately clear that this is not China, although it does resemble some places in Northeast China.
In the car, besides the driver, the passenger seat was occupied by Comrade Wei, Zhao Qinglan's translator and assistant for this trip.
Ostensibly a translator, they were actually sent by the authorities.
Comrade Wei studied in the Soviet Union and knows the country very well.
Along the way, he would also explain some of the buildings and historical anecdotes they passed by to Zhao Qinglan and the others, which can be said to be quite competent.
Upon arriving at the hotel, Comrade Wei took their identification documents to check in, while Zhao Qinglan and Zhang Yu whispered to each other.
"We need to talk to the people below and tell them not to go out alone; it's not safe outside."
"Okay, I'll go tell them."
Even decades from now, it's not safe for someone to travel to a foreign country and wander around in an unfamiliar land, let alone now, which is a special time.
Zhang Yu quickly gave instructions to everyone accompanying him.
After checking in and arriving at her room, Zhao Qinglan took a shower and went to sleep.
Nothing much is happening today, so she needs to conserve her energy; there's a tough battle ahead tomorrow.
Although she and Zhang Yu had rushed to learn Sukhomlinsky for a few days before coming, the time was too short, and they weren't geniuses, so they could only offer simple greetings.
Even while taking a shower, she was still recalling and reviewing the words she had learned.
For safety reasons, Zhao Qinglan, Ding Yu, and Liu Dandan stayed in a suite.
On the surface, she is a successful businesswoman in China, so living in such a poor place would not be in line with her status.
Their group actually needed to appear extravagant and wealthy to make the other party more interested in them.
Because some of their company's people had already come here to scout things out before, they weren't completely lost when they came again, as they had already contacted potential negotiators.
The next day, Zhao Qinglan and Zhang Yu changed their clothes and, accompanied by Comrade Wei and several security personnel, arrived at the agreed-upon restaurant.
The person they were meeting today was a government official from the State of Su, but this official actually had quite a few businesses of his own.
With Comrade Wei, a translator familiar with the Su country, as Zhao Qinglan's conversation with the other party went very smoothly.
After reaching some mutually satisfactory deals, Zhao Qinglan subtly inquired about the source of some weapons.
Once the other party understood, they burst into laughter and said that having enough rubles or US dollars was not a problem, and US dollars would be even better.
However, they still need to discuss in detail what kind of weapons they need to trade.
Besides this person, Zhao Qinglan and Zhang Yu also met a Soviet oligarch businessman and an army general, who were introduced by an intermediary.
They made different deals with different people.
Perhaps to lower the other party's guard, Ms. Zhao Qinglan basically led every conversation, while Zhang Yu mostly played a supporting role.
Every day they seem to just eat and chat, but only Zhao Qinglan and the others know how tense they actually are.
Every time she returned to her hotel room, Zhao Qinglan wished she could lie in bed and never get up again.
Because of the special circumstances and the great distance, Zhao Qinglan has not made a single phone call home since she went abroad.
Both Li Huai and the other children at the school were very worried about her.
However, everyone knew that she was on a heavy mission this time, so even if they were worried, they didn't dare to ask.
It was Sun Guangming again who learned some progress from our staff and sent a message to Li Huai to let him know that he was safe.
During her time in the Soviet Union, besides being mentally exhausted, Zhao Qinglan missed the food from back home the most.
At first, everyone thought it was pretty good, but after eating only bread and a few kinds of meat every day, with very few vegetables, everyone's stomachs started to rumble.
There are Chinese restaurants in Su, but perhaps to cater to the local tastes, Zhao Qinglan and her group sent someone to buy some to try, but they felt the taste wasn't authentic.
If it weren't for the lack of time and energy, Zhao Qinglan would have liked to buy groceries and cook for herself.
She had already begun to miss the magical instant noodles. Even if she had to eat instant noodles every day, she would still feel it was better than eating food from the Soviet Union.
Having made up her mind, she decided to return to China and build her own instant noodle factory.
Constantly meeting people and negotiating, Zhao Qinglan's Soviet language skills improved by leaps and bounds, which could be considered one of the few benefits of this trip.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
