A nation's industrial development begins with junior engineers.

Chapter 739 Conflict!

"What are you doing here! Li Huaide, get your identity straight! Stop laughing and joking with them? This is an audit! Not a casual visit! Do you have any principles at all?" Yang Youning's eyes widened as if he wanted to tear Li Huaide apart.

"Yang Youning!" Li Huaide raised his voice, his face filled with anger. "Don't try to pin this on me! I, Li Huaide, am upright and honest in my work! I was doing it for the sake of the job! To ease the tension! Do you think everyone is like you, able to get the job done with a stern face?! Without communication and exchange, how can you gain a deep understanding of the situation?! That's bureaucracy! That's being out of touch with the masses!"

"I'm bureaucratic?! I'm out of touch with the masses?!" Yang Youning's face turned red with anger as he pointed at Li Huaide's nose. "I think you've been corrupted by sugar-coated bullets! Your eyes have been blinded by their flattery! Have you forgotten why we're here?!"

“I haven’t forgotten!” Li Huaide retorted without backing down. “I know better than anyone! But your reckless actions will only escalate the conflict! If you offend everyone, how can you investigate?! How can you get the truth?!”

The two argued back and forth, their voices growing louder and louder until they were both red in the face! One accused the other of "losing principles" and being "corrupted," while the other accused the other of "bureaucracy" and "reckless behavior." The atmosphere in the meeting room instantly became tense! The project team leaders looked at each other, wanting to intervene but not daring to, standing there awkwardly.

Finally, Yang Youning abruptly waved his hand and roared angrily, "Fine! You, Li Huaide, know how to play the game! You know how to build connections! Then go and 'communicate' with them! I, Yang Youning, am not going to keep you company!" With that, he turned abruptly and yelled at the badge-wearing soldiers in the back row, "Xiao Zhang! Seal up all the materials we checked today, especially the equipment list, and take them with you! Back to the guesthouse!" Then, without looking back, he strode out of the conference room!

"Yang Youning! You...!" Li Huaide stomped his feet in anger, shouted at Yang Youning's back, then slumped back into his chair, gave the project team leaders a wry smile, and shrugged: "Sigh... Look at this! What kind of mess is this! Team Leader Yang's temper... sigh!"

Seeing this, the project team leaders breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed there were internal conflicts within the inspection team! This Deputy Team Leader Li seemed much more approachable! The person in charge quickly stepped forward to comfort him: "Comrade Li, calm down! Calm down! Team Leader Yang has a quick temper, don't take it to heart! Work can be done slowly, we can communicate gradually..."

"Sigh, please excuse my poor appearance." Li Huaide sighed and rubbed his temples. "Forget about him. Work still needs to be done... But, given the atmosphere today, it's not appropriate to talk about work anymore. I think... how about we eat first? People need food, right? We can chat while we eat and relax a bit?"

"Yes, yes, yes! Let's eat! Let's eat!" The leaders, as if granted a pardon, quickly agreed. "The canteen is all set! Shall we move over now? Comrade Li, please!"

Just as the group was about to move on, the square-faced person in charge stopped in his tracks: "Comrade Huaide, should I go and apologize to Comrade Yang and invite him to join us at the table?"

"Just because there's no butcher doesn't mean we'll stop eating meat!" Li Huaide raised his head. "You may be afraid of him, but I'm not! This audit report is worthless without my signature!"

After saying that, Li Huaide gave a light snort and walked away with an imposing gait...

The other people being audited who were behind him showed delight on their faces.

……

The dinner was held in a small restaurant inside the office building. Outside, the wind was biting cold, but inside it was warm and cozy, brightly lit.

The dishes were extremely lavish, far exceeding the average standard for that era.

Leaving aside the elaborate dishes, steamed sea bass, braised sea cucumber with scallions, chicken stew with mushrooms, and sweet and sour pork were all fairly standard fare. In the very center was a camel hump; according to the manager, it needed to be grilled on-site to bring out its freshness.

On the nearby drinks table were several bottles of Russian "water of life" and cartons of "555" brand cigarettes.

This is a perfect blend of Chinese and Western styles.

Several leaders took turns toasting Li Huaide, showering him with compliments, thanking him for his "understanding" and "reasonableness," and complaining about Yang Youning's "lack of empathy." Li Huaide accepted all the toasts, always wearing a warm smile, making witty remarks and chatting animatedly, creating a very lively atmosphere at the table.

"Team Leader Li! I respect you! You're a truly insightful person! Much better than that other one!"

"Yes, yes! Team Leader Li, please take care of me in the future!"

"Team Leader Li has a huge capacity for alcohol! Another cup, please!"

While enthusiastically toasting, Li Huaide skillfully steered the conversation, from the "difficulties" of equipment procurement to the "hardships" of tackling technical challenges, and then to the "difficulties" of personnel transfer... He was like a slippery fish, moving with ease among the clinking of glasses at the dinner table, seemingly chatting casually, but inadvertently extracting some fragmented information.

After several rounds of drinks and dishes, the leaders were flushed, their tongues were slurred, and their speech was becoming incoherent.

Although Li Huaide's face was slightly flushed, his eyes remained clear. Seeing that the time was right, he declined the leaders' kind offer to "arrange a rest" by citing "not being able to hold his liquor" and "having work to do tomorrow," and insisted on returning to the guesthouse.

Several leaders personally escorted Li Huaide to the factory gate.

A gust of cold wind made them even more intoxicated, and they began to stagger.

Li Huaide shook hands with each of them to say goodbye, his face bearing a "sincere" apology: "Oh, comrades, you're too kind! Please stay! We've been treated so well today! I'll treat you another day! Definitely! Definitely!"

A military green jeep was already waiting at the door. Li Huai opened the car door, got into the passenger seat, and flashed a bright smile at the people in charge who were still waving goodbye outside the window.

……

Meanwhile, Jiang Xia was also enjoying dinner with a handsome middle-aged man.

"Wing-body fusion? Was that an idea Lao Guo came up with for you?"

The middle-aged man and Jiang Xia bumped heads together, the man pointing at the drawing paper with his right hand, occasionally taking a bite of the black steamed bun in his hand.

Jiang Xia took a bite of the steamed bun in his hand. "No, I suggested it. I was thinking of asking Teacher Guo to take a look, but he wrote a comment and sent the drawing back to me!"

The middle-aged man's lips twitched as he looked at Teacher Guo's comments: "This is the first time Brother Guo has been so concise. Last time I asked him a question, he wrote a whole long article for me..."

See what others have written.

Just one word: "Agreed!!"

Hmm, that's good, but they added an extra exclamation mark.

"Xiao Jiang, tell me about it. Your suggestion is a bit too... I don't understand it at all!"

Hey, what's there to not understand? It's just the F-16 that the US sells everywhere. To be honest, this plane is really beautiful, and it can be considered a benchmark of blended wing-body design.

"You and the other two teachers were the main force behind the development of the Dongfeng-103 (Q-5), right? To be honest, its range is a bit short. Based on this, I thought about how to solve the problem, and the first thing that came to mind was to increase the internal volume of the aircraft and improve the lift-to-drag ratio."

Jiang Xia, with a black steamed bun in his mouth, spoke a long string of words, almost choking himself. He took out his military green water bottle and gulped down several mouthfuls before he could catch his breath.

"It's that simple?"

"Yeah, we should treat the symptom, not the cause!"

"Your thinking is really simplistic!"

"That's still better than endlessly pushing the bar, right, Professor Shunshou?"

"Hey, Dongfeng 113... actually, it's a good project."

"Well, let's not discuss this project anymore. Professor Shunshou, could you take a look at how to handle this wing-body fusion? If it's suitable, I'll hand it over to you for the overall project team, okay?"

Jiang Xia looked at the "grandmaster" of my country's aviation industry in front of him and spoke very sincerely.

Well, he can't be insincere. If he doesn't get a few big shots to help him shoulder the burden, he definitely won't have the energy to complete the tasks assigned by the boss. Not to mention that "digital defense system" that's comparable to the Five-Year Plan.

"Hmm? You... can apply for such a big project?" Teacher Shunshou put down his drawing pen and caught a bit of bread crumbs that sprayed out of his mouth with his left hand.

"Hehehe, come and sign your name..."

Looking at the stack of project description letters stamped with red seals, Teacher Shunshou picked up his pen and hesitated for a moment:

"Signing the papers isn't a problem. Could you help me get some funding? We still owe the Water Resources and Electric Power Bureau for electricity after the last time we were building the 113 model..."

"They said they'd resolve it, but there's still no news. Brother Ruoyu has been asking around for months without any response..."

"Otherwise, I wouldn't have served you steamed buns..."

"no problem!"

Teacher Shunshou looked at the confidently nodding little tuft of hair with a suspicious gaze.

It seems that Teacher Shunshou was really fooled...

Jiang Xia understands this very well.

"Look at this..."

"Funding Notice!"

Teacher Shunshou's hands were shaking a little...