HCB Chapter 806: The Background and Consequences.
Chapter 806: The Background and Consequences.
Before Jiang Xia could say "Please come in," Li Huaide squeezed in sideways and gently closed the door behind him.
"Little Jiang—Engineer Jiang!"
"Tsk, Uncle Li, don't be so annoying so early in the morning..."
Jiang Xia got goosebumps as soon as he saw Li Huaide squeeze in.
Hey, who called out? Li Huaide's face was covered with a complex expression that mixed grievance, lingering fear and deliberate flattery, especially his eyes, which were trying to imitate the eyes of some harmless little animal, looking at Jiang Xia with watery eyes.
Damn it, Uncle Li, you didn't also time travel once, go and learn from your descendant with the same surname, and become the first oil king after the founding of the People's Republic of China?
Li Huaide drew out his words, his voice tinged with a perfectly timed sob, and strode to the desk, almost leaning over it.
“Your Uncle Li… I’ve staked everything on you this time! You have no idea, last night when I closed my eyes, I dreamt that my father-in-law was pointing his finger at me and yelling that I was a traitor…”
Okay, that's the style. Leaning forward 15 degrees, chin slightly tucked in, and speaking in a low voice that's completely out of place...
Given this scene, coupled with Li Huaide's gaunt face, if he were to wear a pair of gold-rimmed glasses on his face, well...
As Li Huaide spoke, he secretly observed Jiang Xia's reaction out of the corner of his eye. Seeing that Jiang Xia reflexively started rubbing his arms, he subconsciously took two steps to close the window, then turned around and complained even more enthusiastically: "I'm so panicked! What am I trying to achieve?"
"Isn't it all for a bright future for our factory, and for you, Engineer Jiang, to lead us to accomplish something truly extraordinary? This time, I've... I've cut off all my escape routes!"
This performance was so vivid and moving that it perfectly captured the image of an opportunist who was "forced" to betray his own family for the greater good, yet worried about being punished later.
Jiang Xia was both amused and exasperated by his exaggerated behavior. Just as she was about to speak, the office door was pushed open with a "bang," and Yang Youning strode in.
He had obviously overheard something outside the door, and as soon as he came in, he sneered at Li Huaide, "Come on, old man! Now you're here to show off and play the victim? If you hadn't wanted to use this to get rid of your father-in-law's control, would you be so 'righteous'? Stop playing the victim with Xiao Jiang!"
Li Huaide's pitiful expression froze instantly when Yang Youning exposed him to his face. A hint of embarrassment and anger flashed across his face, but he quickly put on a pained expression: "Director Yang! You...you're being too hurtful! My loyalty to the factory and to Jiang Gong is as clear as day! I was just thinking about the bigger picture!"
"Oh, so you're saying heaven and earth can bear witness?" Yang Youning crossed his arms and glanced at him sideways. "Then why don't you talk about that 'super-large bending machine' thing? Is that also for the sake of the bigger picture?"
"Huh? A bending machine?" Jiang Xia slapped his forehead after being reminded by Yang Youning, and turned to look at Company Commander Tang beside him. "Old Company Commander, look at my memory! I almost forgot about this. This machine isn't on the emergency relocation list, is it? I was just thinking, could we coordinate to send it to the Darian Shipyard? They urgently need this kind of large forming equipment to build ship hulls."
Then, Jiang Xia looked at Li Huaide and said, "Uncle Li, this bending machine you found this time is no ordinary machine. Although it is not yet assembled, it is a PBy-1000 model. If we talk about the biggest contribution of the Dongfeng 113 project, apart from the preliminary demonstration of certain technologies, this machine is the most precious one!"
Yes, PBy-1000! This behemoth, with 1000 tons of pressure, a 4-meter blade, a 3-meter flywheel, and the ability to fold 25mm armor plates like cardboard, is actually sleeping on the ground of an office building!
It should be noted that the bending machine Yang Youning used to work with Shinuo Treasures was only an HDGT-010.
"Hey, you little brat, what did you say? You're not taking this great machine back to your own factory, you're thinking of sending it to another factory!"
"Hey, Li Huaide, tell me quickly! Isn't this the bending machine you first wanted to bring back to the factory? Tell this kid! This bending machine originally belonged to us!"
Upon hearing Jiang Xia's offer to give this important piece of equipment to other sister factories, Yang Youning immediately became anxious and grabbed Li Huaide by the neck, shaking him violently.
Li Huaide grimaced as Yang Youning shook him, but quickly exchanged a glance with Yang Youning.
"Ouch, Lao Yang, take it easy!" Li Huaide broke free, straightened his collar, and his pitiful expression vanished, replaced by a shrewd and calculating look. "Xiao Jiang, this machine is truly a treasure. Lao Yang examined it carefully on site. Its 4-meter-long workbench means it can bend an entire tank side armor plate into shape in one go! This capability is unique in the entire country!"
Li Huaide held up one finger and waved it in front of Jiang Xia...
"One of a kind!"
The way that finger was waving... made Company Commander Tang behind Jiang Xia really want to break it.
"Uh, whether we need it or not is another matter. This bending machine you're talking about originally belonged to our factory..."
"Is this the old steel rolling mill?"
Jiang Xia waved to interrupt Li Huaide's rambling. When Li Huaide returned in his armored vehicle, Jiang Xia had specifically scanned the bending machine. He knew its relevant parameters better than the two of them. Otherwise, he wouldn't have thought of giving it to the Darian Shipyard, which urgently needed large plate processing capabilities.
Ironically, those people left this heavy weapon exposed to the elements, which inadvertently promoted the natural elimination of internal stress in the casting. Despite its rusty exterior, in Jiang Xia's eyes, this behemoth resembled a treasured sword, its sharpness concealed, waiting to be drawn.
Now that it's been disassembled and cleaned, its precision is even more stable than when it first left the factory!
When Jiang Xia asked Li Huaide this question, it was as if he had been hit where it hurt. He stammered for a long time and couldn't say a complete sentence. His eyes were a little darting.
Yang Youning, being impatient, saw that Li Huaide had messed up at a crucial moment, so he simply became his "mouth substitute," taking over the conversation and rattling off the whole story: "Xiao Jiang, here's what happened! Didn't we go to check and verify the accounts of the remaining equipment as you requested a while ago?"
After searching high and low, we finally found it! Hey, it's always dark where the light is! They were sitting in the open space behind the office building, and we passed by them several times without noticing!
He gestured as he spoke, his voice trembling with emotion: "In the end, it was just that this old man had to pee urgently and was being unhygienic. He just peed and flushed this big guy out!"
As he continued searching, he noticed a chisel-engraved, cursive letter mark on the machine's base, which looked like a foreign language. He muttered to himself, "This mark looks vaguely familiar..."
As Yang Youning finished speaking, he gave Li Huaide a meaningful look, and the latter looked away somewhat awkwardly.
Yang Youning continued, "I have sharp ears, and when I heard it, I pressed him for answers. At first, he hesitated and didn't want to talk, so I provoked him: 'You dare to speculate about such a deadly thing as your father-in-law possibly sending someone, and you dare to report it to your superiors, but now you're scared when you see a mark?'"
You little rascal, you've already clung to Xiao Jiang's coattails. With him protecting you, what way out do you have? What wouldn't you dare say?
Spurred on by Yang Youning's words, Li Huaide seemed to have no choice but to go all out. He sighed and continued, "Sigh... what Director Yang said..."
"That's just speculation. Who knows if they're really that ruthless..."
Seeing Yang Youning trying to choke him again, Li Huaide quickly raised his hands in surrender: "Alright, alright. Since we've come this far, I'll tell you the truth. That mark... I do recognize it. It's a habit my father-in-law developed when he was studying in the Alliance. He's used to leave a personal mark on important items he handles, using the abbreviation of his Russian name at the time."
Li Huaide paused, observed Jiang Xia's expression, and then lowered his voice to continue, "Xiao Jiang, do you still remember the bending machine you fixed?"
"I remember...it was quite troublesome. A bunch of brilliant people kept nitpicking at me, saying that thing was very simple..."
"Huh? Who is it? A thing with a double hydraulic cylinder and a pit-type heating furnace, you think it's simple?"
"It's not important. People forget that times have changed, and perspectives differ. Uncle Li, please continue..."
"Oh, good! This PBy-1000 is very likely the one my father-in-law contacted at the beginning..."
"Also, the reason why Yang Erlengzi couldn't find Lao Maozi to fix it was also my father-in-law's doing."
"Hmph! I knew it! That old bending machine broke down suspiciously before. We applied for repairs and upgrades, but the reports kept disappearing without a trace. At the time, I thought that someone probably didn't want our factory to be able to restore its production capacity in this area smoothly. The purpose behind this..." Yang Youning snorted coldly and glanced at Li Huaide.
Li Huaide remained silent, but everyone present knew what was going on.
By blocking equipment and hindering production, they then allow their own people to rise to power based on their success in solving key equipment problems, thus gaining complete control of the factory.
This was a game that had been planned long ago.
But then, a loud bang echoed through the sky, and Jiang Xia made his dazzling entrance.
"Alright, Uncle Li, everyone knows how well you've performed, let's not talk about that anymore." Jiang Xia waved his hand, took out a stack of documents recently sent from the Comprehensive Machinery Factory, and placed them in front of the two of them.
Concerned about the factory's production situation, Yang Youning naturally picked it up and started reading.
Li Huaide, however, spoke cautiously:
"Xiao Jiang, you...don't blame me?"
"What's there to complain about? Without your intervention, I'd probably still be banging on a sledgehammer. As for Uncle Yang, he's been playing along with you, so he probably doesn't care about this. Alright, enough said. Go look at the documents. Once you see them, you'll understand why I didn't agree to move this big guy back to our factory!"