Song Baicheng left, and the trouble also disappeared. Everything had been moved aside for the Thunder Horse Military Factory’s full upgrade. In the time after, Xia Lei focused all of his energy in his work.
Tanks, artillery, the defense system, and the Thunder Dragon intelligent lathe second generation, these programs all cost a lot of money. All of the funds accumulated by the Thunder Horse Group had been invested but the gap was still large. Guan Lingshan had calculated that the gap in funds reached 20 billion with the equipment imported from Russia and Ukraine, as well as the recruitment of related technical staff. This money was almost enough to buy two Thunder Horse Groups.
“The bank agreed to give us a 3 billion dollar loan,” said Guan Lingshan to Xia Lei in his office.
“3 billion?” Xia Lei furrowed his brows. “How can that be enough?”
“Of course it is not enough. I have talked with some of the bank’s managers. I also told them about our company’s potential and future income, but they said that a 20 billion dollar loan is way too much, they couldn’t approve it,” said Guan Lingshan.
Xia Lei’s eyebrows knotted. Investing tens of billions of dollars was indeed a big investment with big risks. But that was for others, to the Thunder Horse Group, the risks for this investment was almost zero. It was not that the managers of the bank did not know this, so why wouldn’t they approve the loan?
“Director Xia, how about we look for a bank overseas?” Guan Lingshan continued, “If not, we can also look into venture capital.”
Xia Lei thought for a while. “This is probably not a problem that could be fixed by looking for a bank overseas or sorting out sweets by color. I will make a visit myself. If it does not work out then, we will look for another solution.”
“All right, but Director Xia, we do not have a lot of time. The Ukrainian and Russian companies are urging us to make the final payment. They said that if we do not pay it to them on time, they will detain the equipment at the port and their staff in China will stop work.”
Xia Lei laughed bitterly. “These guys are sure realistic. Okay, I got it. Tell them the Thunder Horse Group will not owe them a single penny. The project can not stop. What needs to be done will be done.”
“Director Xia.” Guan Lingshan hesitated before finally saying, “Director Xia, how about we ask Sister-in-law?”
Xia Lei stopped in his tracks.
“Ah, um… Pretend that I didn’t say anything. Sorry, Director Xia,” said Guan Lingshan timidly.
Xia Lei smiled. “Why are you apologising? You did nothing wrong. I know that you are just trying to help me solve the problem but as you know, she and I had already divorced. No matter how great our relationship may be, I cannot ask her for 20 billion, can I? Besides, they might not be able to throw out 20 billion, even if it is the Vientiane Group.”
But even if they did have it, Xia Lei wouldn’t ask.
Guan Lingshan said awkwardly, “I understand, I… I won’t call her Sister-in-law anymore.”
“Go on, go about your work,” said Xia Lei.
She was not her Sister-in-law anymore after the divorce, naturally. There are things in life which could not be helped, and people who would never come back. He had already given up, so he would not look back.
Xia Lei received a call the moment Guan Lingshan left.
The caller was Tang Yuyan’s father, Tang Tianlong.
“Xia Lei, I am Tang Tianlong, your Uncle Tang, hehe.” Tang Tianlong laughed the moment he opened his mouth, sounding close and dear. “Are you surprised to suddenly receive a call from me?”
Xia Lei laughed. “So it is Uncle Tang. I am very happy to receive your call, and I’m not so surprised.”
The loans on his side had just had a problem and he called. Could this be a coincidence?
“What are you busy with?”
“There were some problems with the loans. I am working on it,” said Xia Lei.
“Is it difficult to get it done?”
“The amount of money that I need to borrow is a bit much. It will be hard, but I think that I will be able to take care of it,” said Xia Lei.
Tang Tianlong said, “Don’t be afraid to ask me if you need help. You do not need to courteous with your Uncle Tang.”
“I will. Then I will thank you in advance. But I do not need it for now, I will ask you when I do, Uncle Tang.”
“That’s the spirit.”
“Uncle Tang, that’s not what you are calling me for right?” Xia Lei spoke tentatively, “You do not have to be courteous with me.”
Tang Tianlong said, “It’s like this, I want to invite you to come to Grandfather’s 70th birthday.”
“This is a great event. When is it?”
“Tomorrow, at the Sheraton Hotel.”
“Got it. I will definitely come tomorrow,” assured Xia Lei.
“Come early. Let’s drink and have a good talk tomorrow. Okay, that’s all, you work on your stuff. I need to keep calling to invite people.” Tang Tianlong hung up.
Xia Lei sat at his desk, staring out into space. Why was Grandfather Tang Yunhai’s 70th birthday at this time? Under normal circumstances, weren’t they supposed to start doing invitations days in advance? Why did they just start inviting today, when the party was tomorrow?
Fan Yiming appeared at the office door. In his arms was a box.
Xia Lei’s left eye twitched. He saw what was in the box — the compass from the Ming Dynasty. Although he knew what was inside the box, he still pretended to not know. “Elder Fan, what is inside the box?”
“The compass.” Fan Yiming was straightforward. He carefully placed the box on Xia Lei’s desk.
Xia Lei opened the box to reveal the compass inside. Fan Yiming had not inserted the last needle, but placed it on the side.
“Elder Fan, what do you mean by this?”
“I have been here for a month studying this every day, but my efforts have been fruitless. I have given it a lot of thought over the past few days and I have finally thought it through. I have decided to give it to you.” Fan Yiming said, “You can study it to find the last treasure location. You are more likely to succeed than I am when it comes to this.”
“Elder Fan, is this your idea or…” Xia Lei did not finish.
“Mr Xia, were you going to say Song Baicheng? Did you think this was Song Baicheng’s idea?”
Xia Lei did not say yes, nor did he say no.
Fan Yiming felt somewhat angry. “Mr Xia, I know that what had happened before made you very uncomfortable. But that was not my fault. What happened before had nothing to do with me. I am someone who does scientific research. I hate politics even more than you. But sometimes, we just cannot avoid it.”
Xia Lei smiled. “Elder Fan, don’t get mad. That was not what I meant.”
“No one gave me any order. This was my own idea. If you do not want it, then I will take it back.” Fan Yiming was still a little angry.
Xia Lei hurriedly said, “Then I will accept this. Elder Fan, please do not be angry anymore. You, me, and Fan Fan are members of the Alloy X Project. Everything we do is for the purpose of solving the problem of this project.”
Fan Yiming’s anger finally subsided. “Then do you have a plan?”
Xia Lei thought for a moment, then said, “No, but after everything is finished with the Thunder Horse Military Factory, I will have time to think about it. It will not take long; two months at most.”
“Great, then I will return to the Academy of Science. Notify me once you are done here and I will come back. Fan Fan will also go back with me. There is nothing for her to do here anymore,” said Fan Yiming.
“I will not go back.” Fan Fan came through the door right after Fan Yiming finished his sentence.
She wore a white, round-collared t-shirt with light blue denim shorts which just barely covered her buttocks. It gave off an indescribably youthful and cute vibe, but was also enchantingly sexy at the same time.
“You will not go back? What are you staying here for?” Fan Yiming stared at Fan Fan with a slightly confused look.
Fan Fan said, “Mr Xia is the only one who can come in contact with the ancient alloy pieces. I have been studying his brain waves. I suspect that there is a sort of correspondence between his brain waves and the ancient alloy, so I need to gather more data on Mr Xia’s brain waves. I think that I just might be able to solve this mystery.”
Fan Yiming stared blankly for a second before he finally said, “There actually could be this possibility. How come I have never thought of it before?”
Xia Lei’s gaze also went to Fan Fan. The hypothesis she described had also roused his interest.
It was true that he was the only one in this world who could come in contact with the ancient alloy pieces, and there must be a reason for that. It was definitely not because he fixed the Ming dynasty compass. As for the treasure choosing an owner, that was all drama that could only occur in martial arts or fantasy novels — the possibility of that happening was literally zero. So after eliminating the former and the latter, the hypothesis that Fan Fan described seemed quite likely to be true.
“Fan Fan, if your hypothesis is right, what would happen?”
“We can artificially produce bio-wave magnetic fields for each specific frequency, meaning we can all touch the ancient alloy inside this bio-wave magnetic field. We can even use the bioelectric wave to study ancient alloy pieces and crack its secret,” explained Fan Fan.
Before Fan Fan had explained her idea, Xia Lei had thought that she was just looking for an excuse to stay by his side to continue her “Little Leilei” plan. He had not thought that she would be serious.
Actually, what Fan Fan said was all still a hypothesis but he believed that this kind of hypothesis had a high chance of being real. This was because Princess Yongmei was made of pure energy, so she was using brain waves when she communicated with him! He was the only one in this world who could see Princess Yongmei, and only he could “hear” her voice!
“Haha! As expected of my Fan Fan!” Fan Yiming became very excited. “I’ve always researched the ancient alloy from a scientific view and never thought of researching from the bioelectric wave angle. That was a very good hypothesis. I agree, you should stay. However, you should send me an e-mail everyday. I want to understand your research process.”
“Yes, Grandfather.” Fan Fan smiled.
“You guys talk. I need to go back now. Tomorrow is that old guy, Tang Tianlong’s 70th birthday. I need to prepare a present for him,” said Fan Yiming.
“Will Elder Fan also be going tomorrow?”
“I didn’t want to but that old Tang Tianlong called me himself so I could not decline. Well then, I’m off.” Fan Yiming turned and left. When he got to the door, he turned his head and said to Fan Fan, “Remember to send an e-mail to me every day.”
Fan Fan pouted. “I know, I am not a child. You don’t have to remind me.”
“Hehehe…” Fan Yiming laughed while leaving.
Xia Lei waited till Fan Yiming disappeared from his vision before he finally asked, “Fan Fan, how did you think of such a hypothesis?”
“It was accidental. You know, I’ve been researching your thing during this period of time…”
“What thing?”
Fan Fan’s face was bright red. “Your sperm. I found that they carry something very special inside them. Every time I tried to extract them they would disappear. I am still unable to capture them with modern scientific methods. So this made me think if it could be that the brain waves released from your brain resonated with the ancient alloy, and that’s why you could come in contact with the ancient alloy without danger.”
Xia Lei was silent for a bit. “How do you plan to study it?”
Fan Fan glanced at the rest lounge. Her face was red as she said, “Go to the lounge, I am going to take samples from you.”
“Taking samples from the brain?”
“Dummy, I want to catch little tadpoles.”
Xia Lei was speechless.