Break out of the courtyard

As soon as Zhang Heping received the news that the leader of the Eagle Country had been re-elected for the third time, Shen Bi, a native of the Eagle Country, called him and wanted to invite him to attend the celebratory dinner tomorrow.

Because it was a bureau set up by the Governor of Hong Kong, Zhang Heping could not refute the other party's face, because Hong Kong Island had not yet been returned.

In fact, the change of leadership in the Eagle Country does not have as big an impact on Hong Kong as one might imagine.

If the Eagle King is replaced, Hong Kong citizens will give more emotional value.

That night, after dinner, the Zhang family went out together to take a walk down the mountain, mainly to accompany Zhang Pandi to look around.

After all, Hong Kong Island is so big, there was no way I could have visited it all in one go last night.

The next day, Saturday.

Deputy Director Sun of the 3rd Bureau of the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office and Section Chief Qin of the Hong Kong team got out of a black car, each carrying two bags of fruit, and then walked towards the gate of Renheyi Community.

"Why are there no bodyguards standing guard at the door?" Deputy Director Sun asked in a low voice.

Section Chief Qin slowed down his pace, approached Deputy Director Sun, and lowered his voice and said, "Didn't you notice the cameras around?"

After being reminded, Deputy Director Sun discovered that there were cameras on the street lights on both sides, on the left and right wall pillars of the front gate, and on the trees farther away, and some of the cameras were still moving.

Before the two men approached the gate of the community, four bodyguards came out.

The two bodyguards in front were holding a stick-shaped metal detector, and the two bodyguards at the back were each holding a black wolfhound, with their right hands on their gun holsters, which was quite intimidating!
After some inspection, Deputy Director Sun and Section Chief Qin followed the two bodyguards into the community and walked towards the Zhang family villa.

It was mid-June and the weather was already a bit hot, so Zhang Heping did not meet guests outside on the plain.

After Chen Shuting and Zhang Pandi welcomed Deputy Director Sun and Section Chief Qin into the living room and they sat down and drank two sips of tea, Zhang Heping came out from the study on the second floor.

With the withdrawal of funds from Heping Investment, Stepmother Investment and Huayingxiong, how to arrange the more than 3 billion magnesium yuan has become Zhang Heping's biggest problem at present.

Money, if not spent, is just a bunch of numbers and there is a risk of continuous depreciation.

Zhang Heping waved to Deputy Director Sun and Section Chief Qin who stood up, "Please take a seat, you're welcome!"

Deputy Director Sun said apologetically, "I'm sorry to bother you, Mr. Zhang. I have some official business to attend to, so I have to consult with you in person."

Zhang Heping sat on the sofa in the middle and nodded slightly, "Director Sun, please go ahead."

Deputy Director Sun sat up straighter and said solemnly, "There is a disagreement in the communication between the Shenzhen Branch of Peace Investment and the Aerospace Group and the Nuclear Industry Group. I would like to ask, what is Mr. Zhang's opinion on this?"

Zhang Heping took the teacup handed to him by the nanny and said calmly, "If they continue to insist on that conservative way of cooperation, I will let the renewable energy company negotiate cooperation with the Nuclear Industry Group, and let Hong Kong Island Telecom and the Aerospace Group buy satellites."

Deputy Director Sun remembered that the controlling shareholder of Taishan Nuclear Power Station was a renewable energy company, and that Hong Kong Island Telecommunications Company had spent 4.5 million magnesium yuan to lease a communication satellite from Aerospace Group. He immediately understood the implication of Zhang Heping's words. If they could not reach an agreement, the Peace Prize Trust Fund would not be allowed to invest in them!
"I heard that Mr. Zhang is planning to set up a new nuclear power company and aerospace company?" Deputy Director Sun asked tentatively.

"There are too many restrictions in the mainland..." Zhang Heping replied ambiguously.

Zhang Heping did not reveal his emotions to these two outsiders, nor did he say anything harsh about Hong Kong Island, as that would be useless.

"Chief Qin, please tell me what you need me to do." Zhang Heping did not give Deputy Director Sun a chance to ask more questions, but instead asked about the arms negotiations.

"Sorry!" Section Chief Qin apologized, "I don't know much about this either. Mr. Zhang needs to meet the leader of the negotiation team and ask him in person."

Zhang Heping shook his head. "Then please let Section Chief Qin understand it clearly. I don't want to get involved in disputes in certain regions. After all, I am doing regular business."

"Um..." Section Chief Qin hesitated for a moment and asked, "Mr. Zhang, can I invite the team leader over now so that you can communicate in person?"

Zhang Heping was unsure of the mainland's intention to sell weapons to him, and because he had not received any information about this matter from Director Wang, his first impression of the matter was not very good. He wondered if it involved the electromagnetic pulse bomb hidden in his basement, or other weapons.

"It would be very rude to reject that person in person and offend him for no reason." Zhang Heping said calmly, "Please ask Section Chief Qin to clarify first."

Section Chief Qin thought about it, then stood up, said goodbye, and went out to make a phone call.

Deputy Director Sun next to him took advantage of this opportunity and said hurriedly, "Mr. Zhang, I heard that your investment in building factories and colleges in Shenzhen is going smoothly. Would you consider registering your nuclear power company and aerospace company in Shenzhen?"

"I have considered Shenzhen, but Shenzhen lacks technical talents." Zhang Heping picked up the teacup, took a sip of tea, and said slowly:
"To be honest with you, Director Sun, the reason why I invested 100 billion yuan to build a thorium-based molten salt reactor nuclear power plant in the mainland is that I don't want those factories that produce equipment for nuclear power plants to go silent."

"If you really calculate the return on investment, the return on investment of nuclear power plants in the mainland is not high. After all, the electricity price in the mainland is too low. State-owned factories only pay 1 cents per kilowatt-hour of electricity."

State-owned factories are the major electricity consumers these days. Foreign-funded enterprises, rural enterprises and residents have to be given a lower priority, especially rural enterprises and residents. The power will be cut off if they are told to.

Although what Zhang Heping said was true, Deputy Director Sun did not give up. After all, his mission here was to retain Zhang Heping's investment and technology.

Just as Deputy Director Sun was complaining in the living room about how difficult the domestic power generation industry was, Section Chief Qin finished his phone call and walked back into the Zhang family's living room.

"What's the matter?" Zhang Heping interrupted Deputy Director Sun.

Director Wang had told Zhang Heping before that if the cooperation talks failed, he would let Zhang Heping start a nuclear power and aerospace company in Shenzhen, and Director Wang would poach people for him.

Zhang Heping did not tell Deputy Director Sun clearly at this time. Firstly, he wanted to control the other party, and secondly, he wanted to sell this favor to his second sister Zhang Pandi.

Only by making Deputy Director Sun feel that this matter is difficult to handle, and then having Zhang Pandi mediate afterwards, can Deputy Director Sun remember Zhang Pandi's kindness.

Section Chief Qin glanced at Chen Shuting, Zhang Pandi, and Deputy Director Sun in embarrassment, "Mr. Zhang, can you please have a word with me?"

Zhang Heping was happy to leave, so he stood up and walked out the door, and came to the parasol in the middle of the flat land outside with Section Chief Qin.

After the two sat down, without Zhang Heping asking any more questions, Section Chief Qin whispered the information he had just asked.

"The Middle East is prepared to spend 35 billion magnesium yuan to buy 35 Dongfeng missiles from us." After Section Chief Qin said this, he saw that Zhang Heping was not surprised. He thought to himself that it was a difficult situation. Such a large amount of money did not arouse the other party's interest.

Then, Chief Qin said in a complicated tone: "The Middle East also wanted to buy our pride bombs, but was rejected by the higher-ups."

"The leader of the weapons negotiation team wants to ask you if you would consider selling some of your air defense systems and weapons to the Middle East."

"Hmph..." Zhang Heping now understood why Director Wang had no news in this regard!

The leader of this negotiation team was most likely from a certain faction in the mainland. He had heard some rumors but didn’t know much so he wanted to test him.

Of course, there is another possibility: the higher-ups find his armed forces an eyesore and want to use this as an opportunity to give him a warning.

In response, Zhang Heping took out his cell phone and called Director Wang.

"Auntie Wang!" Zhang Heping said with a smile, "The mainland recently sent a team to negotiate arms exports. Their leader advised me to sell air defense systems and weapons to the Middle East."

"I was thinking about whether I should sell the bomb to the Middle East and let them take it back and test it."

"Oh! You didn't receive the message?" Zhang Heping put away his smile and looked at Section Chief Qin calmly, "Well, I'll wait for your call."

After speaking, Zhang Heping hung up the phone and placed it on the plastic table.

Zhang Heping looked at the buildings in the distance and asked in a quiet voice, "How many years has Section Chief Qin been in Hong Kong Island?"

Section Chief Qin looked a little confused when he heard Zhang Heping's phone call just now. When asked this question, he was even more confused about what Zhang Heping wanted to do.

"It's been almost two years since I came here!" When Section Chief Qin said this, he suddenly had a bad feeling.

Zhang Heping continued to ask, "How is your relationship with your President Xu usually?" "This..." Section Chief Qin hesitated.

Just at this moment, the cell phone on the table rang.

Zhang Heping hummed several times, "Okay, then I won't worry about it anymore."

After hanging up the phone, Zhang Heping stood up, patted Section Chief Qin on the shoulder, and without saying any more words to him, walked towards the villa.

Director Wang just said that the mainland only sold 35 missiles to the Middle East this time, and sent people to Hong Kong Island to sign the order.

However, the mainland added a special condition: missiles can be sold, but the right to launch missiles cannot be sold!
This is just like not being allowed to marry a wife. How could the Middle Eastern royal family agree to this? So the negotiations came to a deadlock, and have been going on since February this year.

Zhang Heping is not interested in selling weapons, because those things don't make as much money as his Tingmei Slimming Tea and Taitai Oral Liquid!

As the global economy improves, obesity rates in various countries have skyrocketed, and weight loss has become a hot business.

If this happened in the war-torn era decades ago, people wouldn't even have enough to eat, let alone lose weight.

With such a comparison, it is naturally easier for him to make money if there is global peace, so why would he be willing to sell weapons and cause trouble?

Zhang Heping returned home and exchanged a few more polite words with Deputy Director Sun.

When Section Chief Qin came back from answering a phone call outside, he apologized to Zhang Heping and said goodbye.

Deputy Director Sun, who was standing by, saw that Section Chief Qin's expression and tone were not right, and that he could not get to the point by staying here, so he had to say goodbye and leave as well.

...

As soon as he walked out of Renheyi Community, Deputy Director Sun couldn't help but pull his old classmate who looked unhappy and asked, "Lao Qin, what's wrong with you?"

Section Chief Qin looked back at the townhouse building. Although he could not see the anti-aircraft weapons on the roof, he had seen photos of the roof taken from a distance.

"What are you looking at?" Deputy Director Sun stood next to Section Chief Qin and looked in the direction he was standing, but all he saw were glass windows.

"I'm being used as a gun!" Section Chief Qin let out a breath, frowned, and walked towards the black car parked at the intersection.

"As a gun?" Deputy Director Sun quickly followed.

After the two got in the car, Section Chief Qin turned the car around and drove down the mountain, made a big circle at the foot of the mountain, and stopped at Repulse Bay.

Then Section Chief Qin took two packs of cigarettes from the passenger seat storage box and got out of the car without saying a word.

Deputy Director Sun was full of doubts at this time, but he still suppressed his doubts and did not ask. He got out of the car and caught a pack of Zhonghua cigarettes thrown to him by Section Chief Qin. Then he followed his example, leaning against the car door, smoking and watching the group of people training under the scorching sun on the beach.

"Damn, I'm so stupid!"

After a while, Section Chief Qin uttered these words.

"Tell me! What happened?" Deputy Director Sun threw away the cigarette butt and stepped on it with his right foot.

Section Chief Qin held a cigarette in his right hand and pointed at the people training on the beach, "These are the new recruits of the Umbrella Company!"

"The bodyguards and security guards of the Umbrella Company, including these new recruits, number over 10,000!"

"The key is, they have gun licenses!"

Section Chief Qin said this, exhaled deeply, threw away the cigarette butt, and looked at Deputy Director Sun, "You just asked me what I was looking at!"

"Did you know that there's an anti-aircraft weapon on the roof of the apartment building I was looking at?"

Deputy Director Sun nodded, "I've heard about it!"

"I'm such a fucking fool!" Section Chief Qin took out a cigarette and put it between his lips, but his trembling right hand couldn't light the lighter for a while.

Upon seeing this, Deputy Director Sun grabbed the man's right hand, took away his lighter, and helped him light the cigarette.

Section Chief Qin was silent for a while before continuing, "Don't you want to know why I'm looking for Zhang Heping?"

"You heard it just now. He didn't want to meet the leader of the weapons negotiation team. I had no choice but to call that leader."

"As a result, after I made the call, I, a fool, told Zhang Heping what the team leader meant without even thinking about it."

"Then……"

"Wait!" Deputy Director Sun interrupted, "What did the team leader ask you to tell me?"

"He told me that China sold 35 Dongfeng missiles to the Middle Eastern royal family this time, earning 35 billion magnesium yuan in foreign exchange. However, the Middle East wanted to buy our pride missiles, but was rejected by the higher-ups." Section Chief Qin said this, threw away his cigarette butt, and said bitterly:

"The leader told me that in order to continue exporting weapons to the Middle East in the future, he asked me to ask Zhang Heping if he could sell some of his air defense systems and weapons to the Middle East."

Snapped!
When Section Chief Qin said this, he raised his hand and slapped himself.

"I'm such an idiot!" Chief Qin said indignantly, "Where did Zhang Heping get the air defense system? What weapons did the leader mention? I told Zhang Heping about it without even thinking about it!"

"As a result, he called back home..." Section Chief Qin said this but did not dare to mention the bomb or test explosion that Zhang Heping mentioned.

"I...I might have to take the blame!" After Section Chief Qin said this, he seemed to have lost all his strength, slid down the car door, and sat down on the ground.

Although Deputy Director Sun only understood about 70% of what was said, he roughly understood the concerns of his old classmate.

He and Lao Qin were admitted to university in 77. After graduating in January 82, they were lucky enough to stay in a government agency in the capital. They thought they would be on the rise, but they didn't expect to encounter this incident.

Let’s not talk about how poor Lao Qin’s family conditions are and what would happen if he lost this job; based on what he said now, Deputy Director Sun felt that at most he had touched upon a secret that should not have been touched!
The reason why Deputy Director Sun had this idea was because Zhang Pandi worked in their Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office. Some people had previously investigated Zhang Pandi and Zhang Heping out of gossip.

Then, someone discovered that no written records of Zhang Heping could be found in the country.

What does this mean?
Anyone working in a government agency is a smart person and they immediately guessed that there was something fishy going on.

In addition, Hong Kong Island's richest man Zhang Heping was given a central consultant position this year, which was published in the newspapers with great fanfare. The deeper meaning behind this is worth pondering.

Many thoughts flashed through Deputy Director Sun's mind. He frowned and asked, "What did Mr. Zhang say?"

Deputy Director Sun still maintained a minimum of respect when addressing Zhang Heping, not because the other party was rich, but because the Heping Group had built factories, opened hospitals, donated computers, and other actions over the years, which deserved his politeness.

As for Section Chief Qin standing next to him, he probably lost his composure because he had a grudge against Zhang Heping.

Originally he was just a messenger, and he had been saying that Zhang Heping should talk to the team leader face to face. However, Zhang Heping disagreed, which led to the subsequent troubles.

"He asked me how many years I had been in Hong Kong Island?" Section Chief Qin said blankly, "He also asked me about my relationship with President Xu."

"How many years he has been in Hong Kong Island is not the point!" Deputy Director Sun frowned and analyzed: "Your President Xu has a bad reputation in recent years!"

...(End of chapter)