Fan Fan had not arrived the next day, but Ling Han did, along with his a.s.sistant Song Baicheng.
In Xia Lei’s office.
“Xia Lei. I’m here on orders.” Ling Han went straight to the point. “I’m going to be facilitating the technology exchange between Thunder Horse Military Factory and Germany. I hope you will support me in my work.”
Xia Lei took a sip of the tea Qing Caiyue made for him, and said with a smile, “No problem. You’re my Brother. Who else am I going to support?”
“Mm, that’s good, then.” Ling Han looked awkward. “Uh, please don’t take what happened before to heart. I admit that I did you wrong and I was at fault, but I promise you that I won’t ever make the same mistake again.”
“What are you talking about, Brother Ling? I’ve forgotten,” said Xia Lei.
Ling Han paused, then chuckled. “It’s good that you’ve forgotten it. I’ll have to stay here for a while. Could you arrange accommodations for me?”
“The office building has rooms which are meant for honoured guests. You can stay there. You can also choose to stay in the villa. Sylvia from Rheinmetall AG is staying there, and so am I.”
“Would it be all right for me to stay in the villa?”
“Sure. I’ll make the arrangements now.” A small, almost hidden smile appeared on Xia Lei’s lips.
Ling Han did not want to stay in the guest rooms in the office building because the Thunder Horse Military Factory surveillance cameras were everywhere. If he stayed in the villa, he would be able to interact more with Sylvia too, and keep an eye on Xia Lei. He had these underlying motives, but Xia Lei was no different. With Ling Han close to him, there won’t be any secrets he could hide from him!
“Then I’ll stay in the villa too,” said Song Baicheng.
“Forget it. The villa doesn’t have so many rooms,” said Xia Lei flatly.
“You…” Song Baicheng’s face turned red.
“I have no other meaning behind my words, I a.s.sure you. Please understand. Stay in the guest room here, Mr Song,” said Xia Lei.
Song Baicheng wanted to say more, but Ling Han gave him a glare and he shut up. He knew that the villa definitely had enough rooms for him, and that Xia Lei had said that just to slap at his pride.
Ling Han grew slightly uncomfortable too, because Song Baicheng was his subordinate. Xia Lei being disrespectful to his subordinate was also, in a way, being disrespectful to him.
Ling Han’s gaze went to Xia Lei’s face, and Xia Lei’s gaze went to Ling Han’s face too. They both smiled when their eyes met. They seemed all harmonious, but below this harmony blew a cold wind.
Ling Han and Song Baicheng settled into Thunder Horse Military Factory.
Xia Lei did not bother to take care of Ling Han either. He made arrangements to have him housed in the villa, then went to the defence systems workshop.
“Wait for me, Mr Xia.” Sylvia’s voice came from behind him.
Xia Lei stopped in his tracks and looked back at the German machinist. A smile appeared on his face as he said in German, “Miss Sylvia. Good morning.”
“Morning? I’ve been awake for three hours already,” said Sylvia. “It’s such a ha.s.sle that I don’t understand Chinese. My interpreter will only arrive from Germany in a few days. I’ll have you rely on you for the next few days.”
“My secretary Qing Caiyue knows German too. You can ask her for help when I’m not around,” said Xia Lei.
“All right, thank you,” said Sylvia. “Mr Xia, are you going to the workshop? May I go with you?”
Her eyes were filled with a hunger.
Xia Lei knew her motives, and he did not reject her. He very promptly agreed. “Come with me.”
The defence systems workshop was a hive of activity.
Thunder Horse Military Factory’s defence systems workshop was already manufacturing a reactive vehicle armour. This type of reactive vehicle armour was an important part of military vehicles and tanks. If attacked by anti-tank sh.e.l.ls or missiles, this reactive vehicle armour would explode, pus.h.i.+ng the force outwards, and help the tank or military vehicle avoid destruction. It could boost the survival rate of the tanks and the military vehicles on the battlefield, and the safety of the troops. As Thunder Horse Military Factory’s first defence product, it was going to be used in the tanks and military vehicles which the factory would manufacture.
In truth, both the artillery workshop and the defence system workshop were meant to support the tanks and military vehicles which Thunder Horse Military Factory would manufacture.
After coming back from Germany, Xia Lei had taken all of Rheinmetall AG in his brain, and all of its products, its technologies. He used all that he had brought from Rheinmetall AG in Thunder Horse Military Factory, but he did not make an exact copy. He had improved upon several areas, and added a lot of his own design. It could be said that the current Thunder Horse Military Factory was a strengthened form of Rheinmetall AG, and it was just the size and scale that was different.
There were quite a few Russian and Ukrainian technicians in the defence systems workshop, and senior engineers. They were all talents which Thunder Horse Military Factory had recruited. Xia Lei could not do everything on his own after all, and he was only in charge of the most high-end parts and the solving of complicated problems. His employees did the rest.
There was a small commotion when Xia Lei turned up in the defence systems workshop. Quite a few technicians and senior engineers came over to greet him. Xia Lei motioned for them to keep working, and brought Sylvia to tour his workshop.
Sylvia remained calm in the beginning but she soon lost her calm. She had spotted the shadow of Rheinmetall AG in Thunder Horse Military Factory, but it was not really the case when she took a closer look. The design of these machines were more advanced than those of Rheinmetall AG!
“Th, This is impossible…” Sylvia couldn’t help being shaken and shocked. “Mr Xia, the designs you have here… Your production lines seem more advanced than ours at Rheinmetall AG. There are several areas which have been modified and improved upon, including some problems we have not yet discovered. Um, may I ask… Who is the chief engineer in charge of designing this workshop?”
Xia Lei gave a laugh. “It may seem far away, but it is close at hand.”
“What did you say?” Sylvia didn’t understand Chinese, much less obscure idioms.
Xia Lei translated it to German for her.
“My goodness, you’re just…” Sylvia’s eyes flashed with excitement. “You’re like an all-capable G.o.dly being. You can process the highest precision parts, and design the world’s best sniper rifle and a.s.sault rifle, the h.e.l.lhound One-soldier Cannon, and you also…”
Xia Lei cut her off. He smiled as he said, “Don’t praise me too soon. I’m not some all-capable G.o.dly being. I am just good at doing things like these. I’m quite a failure outside of these. My wife and I are divorced. If I really am an all-capable guy, would she have left me?”
“She is an idiot.” As soon as the words left her lips, Sylvia immediately said, “I’m sorry, I don’t mean that. I just meant to say that she did something foolish. You are the closest to perfection on this Earth. I cannot think of anyone who is more accomplished than you.”
Excitement shone in her eyes. Xia Lei knew what she was thinking about. Closest to perfection on this Earth, huh? This was his first time hearing this, and it made him think of something else. ‘My body has been evolving. My brain, my body, and my organs are evolving towards perfection. What lies at the end of this evolution? I’ve put off eating the last AE capsule. Would my evolution still be perfect if I don’t eat it? If I do eat it, would I reach perfection more quickly?’
To eat, or not to eat that last capsule was a choice. This choice seemed simple but to Xia Lei, this was the most difficult decision on Earth. He wasn’t unhappy with how things were right now, even if he didn’t eat the capsule. But if he didn’t eat it... Would he be able to resist the temptation to eat the last AE capsule to find out what would happen to him in the end?
“Mr Xia, I’d like to…” Sylvia’s voice interrupted Xia Lei’s thoughts.
“What would you like to do?” said Xia Lei.
Sylvia spoke hesitantly, “I’d like to take a look at the h.e.l.lhound One-soldier Cannon which you designed. Can I?”
“Of course you can. You’ll be able to do more than see it too. I’ll give you one and let you take it apart. I can also allow you to take pictures of it, and get the permission to send them back to Rheinmetall AG.”
“This…: Sylvia stared at Xia Lei in surprise. She could not believe that Xia Lei had just agreed to this request like that.
She had been prepared to “sacrifice her all” to have her request granted but it now looked like she could get what she wanted without having to take a piece of clothing off.
Xia Lei suddenly drew close and said softly in Sylvia’s ear, “I’m helping you, so you’ll have to help me too. I’ve run into some trouble, and you can help me solve it.”
Warm breath puffed on her ear, and Sylvia’s pale face turned red. “Wh, What do you want me to do? I, I’m not that sort of loose woman…”
She had obviously misunderstood. Xia Lei’s way of saying things had been ambiguous, plus the position he had spoken in was rather intimate, and was obviously provocative too.
Xia Lei did not let her misunderstanding worsen. He cut her off and said, “What I want you to do is very simple. You only need to…”
The redness disappeared from Sylvia’s face, and she was so embarra.s.sed she could die.
“Just this one thing. Can you do it?” Xia Lei looked at Sylvia when he was done talking.
Sylvia shrugged. “It’s a little embarra.s.sing, but no problem. I’ll help you settle it.”
Xia Lei smiled. “Then, thank you.”
Ring ring ring, ring ring ring…
A mobile phone rang. Xia Lei took out his phone, looked at the screen, and walked off to one side to answer the call.
“I’ve settled it on my end. If I can solve the problem with the Korean government, and successfully obtain the submarine technology from Germany, Zhongzhen Wukui will have an early retirement and I will be the next Chief of ZN Bureau.” It was Fan Fan’s voice.
Xia Lei could not maintain the calm he had been faking any longer, and he let out a laugh. “Hehe, that’s great! I have a piece of good news to tell you too. I’m set on my end. Wait for the good news.”
“I’ll tell you some good news as well. I am close to getting the correct antidote. Just you wait — You’ll be a daddy.” Fan Fan’s laughter came from over the line.
Xia Lei suddenly felt like he had the most complicated male-female relations.h.i.+p on this Earth with Fan Fan.