Xia Lei and Fan Fan came out of the rest lounge all dressed appropriately and serious, but they still felt rather guilty. Xia Lei felt very awkward.
“Go ahead, Mr Xia. I will be leaving now.” Their interesting interaction had been disturbed, and Fan Fan did not want to stay in the office any longer.
“Yeah, okay,” replied Xia Lei.
As Fan Fan left the office, she turned back to look at Xia Lei. Her eyes were flirtatious, with a hint of resentment. There was an indescribable charm in it.
After Fan Fan was gone, Xia Lei smiled and said, “My father was not asking for me, was he?”
Qing Caiyue looked nervous. “I don’t know either. It was actually Yelena who told me to say this.”
Xia Lei understood right away. It was not his father who was looking for him. It was Yelena who had deliberately told Qing Caiyue to come to save him from the trouble.
Fan Fan’s identity was very special so Yelena did not want to get involved with her as it would increase the risk of being exposed. But it was different with Qing Caiyue.
“Director Xia, I am so sorry… Interrupting you and…” Qing Caiyue became more and more nervous as she spoke and her face was covered with a deep blush.
Xia Lei felt very embarrassed, but on the surface, he said with a straight face, “You did nothing wrong. Why apologise? Yelena has a lot of experience and she handles things well. You can go about your other duties now.”
But Qing Caiyue did not leave. Her face became more and more flushed.
Xia Lei asked curiously, “Is there anything else?”
“Um…” Qing Caiyue faltered. “Director Xia, your zipper is open.”
Xia Lei looked down and his face immediately reddened. His zipper really was down, and his red underwear underneath peeked out. What made him speechless was that he did not even know when Fan Fan had unzipped him. When he thought of how he had pretended seriousness as he talked with Qing Caiyue, he felt so embarrassed that he could die.
Xia Lei stood, frozen to the spot, and Qing Caiyue and a sudden misinterpretation of his actions. The most important thing about being a secretary for the director was understanding what the director meant. Since Xia Lei was standing there unmoving, did that not mean that he wanted her to zip up the zipper for him? This line of reasoning caused Qing Caiyue to hesitate, but she braced herself and reached her hand over.
Xia Lei snapped back to his senses and hurriedly took a step back. He zipped himself up and said awkwardly, “Eh, sorry. I forgot to zip it up when I just went to the restroom earlier. It’s okay now. You can go about your work.”
Qing Caiyue withdrew her pale hand immediately. She said with a flushed face, “Then I will take my leave.”
Xia Lei smiled wryly, turned around, and entered the rest lounge. He opened the safe and retrieved the small plastic medicine bottle which held the anti-antidote and hid it on his person. Fan Fan’s antidote was not perfect, but it was close. If some accident occurred after she used the antidote and she had his baby, then the joke would have gone too far. So for safety's sake, he would need to carry his anti-antidote with him everywhere.
The members of the German delegate soon arrived. This was a huge team. There were not just the senior technicians from the Rheinmetall AG, but also scientists from Germany’s science world. The leader was a German official named Koen. He was a cabinet member of the current German president’s party. Judging from his identity, and the abilities of these members, it was plain to see how much the German side valued this deal. To the Germans, they had made a mistake the last time, and this time, they would not allow any mistakes to happen.
The ambassador of Germany, Philip, introduced Koen to Xia Lei, and Koen introduced the members of the German team to him. There were actually some familiar faces among the group because there were many senior technicians from Rheinmetall AG. He had interacted with them during his time in Germany.
Ling Han was rather proactive during the whole process. He took care of the German members, arranged accommodation for them, asked them if they need anything else, and so on. His liveliness gave people the impression of him overshadowing the host. Many things which should have been handled by Xia Lei was instead handled by him.
Fan Fan, on the other hand, kept a low profile. She had only shown her face briefly to the German team before leaving.
Xia Lei sent her off.
“The German team has arrived. When can I come over?” Fan Fan asked Xia Lei in the car park.
Xia Lei replied, “Don’t worry. Go prepare your luggage when you get back. You will probably be able to replace Ling Han tomorrow.”
“You’re so sure?”
Xia Lei laughed. “I even fixed the matter with South Korea for you. Will this kind of trivial matter be a problem?”
“Can you tell me what you plan to do?” Fan Fan looked curious.
Xia Lei just smiled. “You should go back and wait for my good news.”
Fan Fan pouted. Her eyes threatened to bite Xia Lei.
Xia Lei did not want to challenge the look in her eyes, so he turned and left.
Ling Han had arranged everything so Xia Lei could not slack off either. However, the German party would not take Ling Han seriously no matter how proactive he was. Their aim was Xia Lei and his technology. When things were more settled, Koen came to Xia Lei’s office with his senior technicians.
“Mr Koen, do you not need rest? Your group came from Germany, so you must be exhausted from the long journey. You should rest,” said Xia Lei in fluent German and a smile.
“Mr Xia, we did not come to rest,” said Koen. “We came to do a technology exchange.”
“Yes,” said Xia Lei. “Have a seat. Let us sit while we talk. Caiyue, go make us cups of tea.”
“Yes,” answered Qing Caiyue. She quickly went and made a few cups of tea. She then stood behind Xia Lei, holding a notebook and a pen, ready to take minutes.
She had already entered her working mode yet Xia Lei’s other secretary, Yelena, was nowhere to be seen. However, she had no complaints toward Yelena because it was thanks to Yelena that she got this job. She had said good words about her, and persuaded Xia Lei to keep her. So whenever Yelena told her to do anything, she would always be happy to do it.
“Mr Xia, I will be straightforward,” said Koen. “I am sure that Mr Xia knows our aim, so I want to hear your plan.”
“What you guys want is the Thunder Dragon intelligent lathe. There is no problem with that,” said Xia Lei. “When I was in Germany, I made you guys a Thunder Dragon intelligent lathe, but I think that because you did not operate it properly that the core was damaged. I can provide you guys with the core component and then send an engineer over to fix that Thunder Dragon intelligent lathe. Wouldn’t the problem be solved this way?”
Two senior technicians from Rheinmetall AG exchanged words in low voices.
The corners of Koen’s mouth curved into a faint smile. “That is good too, but we have already agreed that you will provide us with a Thunder Dragon intelligent lathe. You know, we paid a hefty price for this. The ones who will receive the greatest benefit from this cooperation will not be us, but you guys.”
Germany had originally already obtained the Thunder Dragon intelligent lathe, the XL2500 sniper rifle and Gust assault rifle’s production line, but because of the Americans’ interference, the deal was ruined. Now, the Germans had come out with their submarine technology as an exchange. In the end, of course, it would be China which profited.
Xia Lei agreed readily. “That will not be a problem. My side will provide parts of the Thunder Dragon intelligent lathe for assembly and ship them to Germany. My engineers will assemble and debug it to make sure it works properly for you guys. There will be no problem that way, yes?”
“Of course there is no problem, but will Mr Xia come to Germany? We would like it more if you are the one to handle this,” said Koen.
Xia Lei gave a laugh. “I almost died in Germany the last time. Do you think I will still go there?”
“Ahem.” Koen gave a dry cough and seemed uncomfortable. He changed the subject. “We have obtained permission to enter all of Thunder Horse Military Factory’s workshops. Our men want to take a look inside the workshops. There is no problem, is there?”
“Of course, no problem.”
“I am talking about the second generation Thunder Dragon intelligent lathe’s workshop and your newly constructed artillery, tanks, and defense system workshops.” Koen kept his eyes on Xia Lei, observing his expression and reaction.
Xia Lei shrugged. “You have already said it. You guys have obtained permission so there is no problem on my end. You guys can go anywhere. You can even take pictures, and use a pinhole camera to take videos or whatever. Those are all not a problem.”
“Mr Xia, we are not spies.” Koen had a smile on his face. “However, I do appreciate your support.”
The things in Thunder Horse Military Factory were not things which could be stolen from just some photos and a video, so Xia Lei did not care if these Germans took pictures of anything. He knew that the other party would try to take pictures, and they were trying to sneak shots, so he might as well be more generous and give them permission to take pictures openly. However, he had his own agenda behind giving Koen this convenience. This intention had to do with whether Fan Fan could replace Ling Han in Thunder Horse Military Factory, and whether Fan Fan could replace Zhongzhen Wukui as the ZN Bureau’s chief. Why else would he give these Germans this convenience?
“Hehe, you are very welcome, Mr Koen. I will try my best to satisfy your requests. As for me, I also hope to get support from you all,” said Xia Lei.
“Of course, of course we will support you,” said Koen with a smile.
The first formal talk between the two parties went very pleasantly.
At that moment, Sylvia entered. She wore a blue worker’s uniform and held a pure titanium part in her hand. It was the Thunder Dragon intelligent lathe’s core component. Everyone in the room looked at her when she entered.
Sylvia first greeted the members of the German delegation and then said to Xia Lei, “Mr Xia, I have made the Thunder Dragon intelligent lathe’s core component. Please take a look to see if there is a problem with precision.”
“Bring it over and let me see,” said Xia Lei.
Koen was excited but his demeanor was calm and collected. “Miss Sylvia, is what you processed really the Thunder Dragon intelligent lathe’s core component?”
“That’s right,” replied Sylvia. “During this period of time, Mr Xia has been teaching how to process these parts. If I grasp this technique, we will not have to bother Mr Xia anymore when our Thunder Dragon intelligent lathe needs to change this core part in the future.”
Koen and the German senior technicians couldn’t help smiling. They had thought that Xia Lei would hinder them and they’d never thought he would be so cooperative.
Xia Lei saw reactions of Koen and the German senior technicians. He held the pure titanium core component which Sylvia had processed and took a look. He whispered, “How is the task I gave you going?”
“It is almost done,” replied Sylvia in a low voice. “When do we take action?”
“Tonight.” He paused and raised his voice, “Yep, very nice, there is an improvement. As expected of Germany’s best machinist Miss Sylvia. If you can keep this up, you will soon be able to process the Thunder Dragon intelligent lathe first generation’s core component.”
Sylvia lowered her voice. “Can I come to you after I finish the task tonight?”
Xia Lei was speechless.