Siheyuan, Shazhu: I have both parents in this life

Chapter 159 Mikhail, do you have any connections with the tractor factory?
Then He Yuzhu made a phone call back to China. At first, Director Zhang was quite happy to hear about the production capacity, the condition of the equipment, and whether the technology could be taken over. But when he heard that the agreement had been signed, he felt a chill run down his spine. Even if it was an agreement, it was not something that a mere section chief like He Yuzhu could sign.

This is money, a huge sum of money! He immediately became a little anxious: "Hey Xiao He, how dare you be so bold? Don't think that just because you have someone backing you up at Steel Corporation, you can do whatever you want. Do you know how much money that is? Do you know the price the country paid to get that money?"

"Director, at least let me finish what I have to say. I've only said one sentence and you've already drawn your conclusion?" Even though He Yuzhu could understand Zhang Weimin's feelings, he was still angry. He said patiently.

"Alright, go ahead and tell me. I'd like to hear what you have to say." Zhang Weimin clearly took a few deep breaths to calm himself down. If this went wrong, he would be dismissed, and not only that, he might be demoted to some unknown place.

After He Yuzhu finished quoting the price, Zhang Weimin stood there dumbfounded on the other end of the phone.

"Director, Director, are you listening?" He Yuzhu shouted into the microphone when he couldn't hear anything from the other end.

"Oh, yes, yes, you continue, continue." Zhang Weimin was awakened by He Yuzhu's shout.

"Director, now we need the Ministry of Foreign Trade to step up and sign the contract."

"Okay, okay, you've stabilized the situation over there. I'll go report right away, and some comrades should be on their way soon."

"Yes."

After hanging up the phone, Zhang Weimin ran to the general manager's office. Unlike He Yuzhu, he directly quoted a price before mentioning production capacity.

"This young He is quite capable."

"It's not just two rounds, I think we have more surprises to come."

"You seem to have a lot of confidence in your subordinate."

“His abilities are there,” Zhang Weimin thought to himself. “You didn’t see how terrified I was by him, how angry I was that I was practically jumping up and down with rage.”

"Okay, I'll contact the department right now."

"Okay, please tell them to hurry up. I'm afraid Xiao He won't be able to hold out for long."

"Don't worry, the letter of intent has already been signed, so the people from above will just be going through the motions."

The matter was significant, but the Ministry of Trade acted swiftly, sending its resident representative in Moscow to contact the relevant departments in Russia. Negotiations proceeded quickly because of the existing agreement, making it difficult to renege on the deal. Of course, Russia also wanted to make money, as it was better than having to recycle everything.

However, the Russian side still sent people to try to take away all the documents, but when they went to inquire, they found that the documents had already been sealed and no one knew where they had been taken.

The popularity of the trip was quite low, but there was nothing that could be done. The contract was signed and had to be fulfilled. This was a matter between countries, and there was no room for reneging.

He Yuzhu hired a car to take the documents away to a temporary rented place where there were people watching over it almost every day. He Yuzhu had smuggled some personal items into the documents, which he had previously obtained from the Azov steel plant and was worried about finding a way to transport them back.

The steel mill here was very careful when providing information. They picked out all the information about new types of steel and only kept the information related to equipment. He Yuzhu not only added the 250-ton one, but also a lot of information about formulas that were only slightly outdated compared to the latest ones.

During the handover, he specifically instructed the person taking over that this batch of data was more important than the equipment, and that the person taking over should immediately transfer people from Kyiv. He Yuzhu waited until the people from Kyiv arrived before leaving.

During the time that He Yuzhu was running the steel mill, steel products from the Asia-Pacific Steel Plant had begun to be shipped out one after another, and rolling mills had also begun to be shipped out one after another.

However, the training of engineers in the factory was delayed because without He Yuzhu's main support, Mihai was unable to complete it.

After He Yuzhu handed over the work here, he rushed back to the Azov steel plant, treated everyone to meals, and gave them gifts. After all that, he got the connections sorted out, and the engineers who came with He Yuzhu were extremely excited.

Not only can you learn how to use a rolling mill, but you can learn how to use other equipment as well. Of course, whether the person teaching you is willing to put in the effort is also a question.

He Yuzhu had Mihai invite people over for meals several times to resolve this issue. Meals alone weren't enough; small gifts were also given, and the problem was eventually solved.

After finishing all that, He Yuzhu had some free time, so he started thinking about other things.

Plain steel isn't enough; Russia is doing well in other areas too, reaching world-class levels.

So he asked Mikhail.

Do you know anyone at the tractor factory?

"Tractor, He, why are you interested in this again?"

“You know we’re an agricultural country, and so is yours, right? Then you should know the importance of tractors,” He Yuzhu began to persuade.

"Indeed, tractors save a lot of labor."

"Do you have any connection whatsoever?"

"Let me think about it and I'll get back to you later."

"Ok."

Mihai couldn't think of anything else, otherwise he would have just given a reply. The old man went back and looked through his contacts.

Why are you so eager? Do you think He Yuzhu didn't give him and the person who contacted him any benefits for introducing him to the steel mill?
He actually found it, and he came to find He Yuzhu the next day.

"Oh, yes, I have connections. I have a comrade-in-arms at the Kharkiv Tractor Manufacturing Plant, though he's in charge of logistics."

"As long as you have connections, just come with me whenever you're free."

"Okay, let's drive there this weekend."

"No problem, how far is it?"

"In Kharkiv, it's about 300 kilometers away, and we might have to set off the night before."

"Then you'd better bring good equipment and enough oil."

"Don't worry, I've prepared yours too."

In fact, Mihai doesn't usually have that much to do. On Friday night, the two of them set off in their jeep. Before leaving, Mihai specifically reminded He Yuzhu to bring his seasonings, as they would be needed.

He Yuzhu naturally said there was no problem.

The journey was fraught with danger but ultimately safe. The land was vast and sparsely populated, so it wasn't that they encountered people, but rather wolves. They ended up as victims of He Yuzhu's gun, and in the process, they also managed to kill a few sheep.

When He Yuzhu arrived at the destination and met the person, he realized that his comrade-in-arms was actually Mikhail's superior. When he left the army, he was only a company-level officer, while Mikhail was a battalion political instructor.

When they met, Mikhail saluted first, and besides, his current position was much higher than his—he was the deputy factory director in charge of logistics.

After exchanging pleasantries, the deputy factory director, named Andrei, curiously inquired why he had brought a Chinese person with him.

After Mikhail explained his purpose, Andrei said, "Tractors can be sold, but the problem is that ours are all tracked, and they didn't really like buying them before!"

He Yuzhu said, "We need tracked ones. This time it's a bit special; the terrain there requires them."

"Oh, I see. How much can you buy? My brother-in-law works in the sales department."

Can I take a look at the goods first?

"No problem at all."

After watching the tractors, He Yuzhu was somewhat impressed by the industrial base of the Soviet Union at that time. Thousands of tractors were parked in a large square, with various models available.

He Yuzhu took a closer look at the larger ones, and Andrei and Mikhail thought he was just curious.

He Yuzhu said it was a test drive, and they actually arranged it for him. This Andrei does have some influence.

Little did anyone know, He Yuzhu was trying to verify his thoughts, and this test drive revealed the truth.

This isn't a tractor, it's a tank chassis with a different driver's cab on top.

Then He Yuzhu made an excuse that he needed to discuss it with the domestic authorities, because fortunately there were too many, and Andrei didn't care at all, since he wasn't involved in production or sales.

He pulled Mikhail along to go for a drink; the two hadn't seen each other for almost ten years.

Mikhail said the food had to be good, but Andrei said he was in charge of logistics and could handle anything. So the group went to the canteen and had a special meal.

After finishing his meal, Mikhail said to Andrei, "Old buddy, is the quality of your canteen just average?"

"What, you know where there's good food?"

"I don't know where to find delicious food, but I know where to find good chefs."

“Where is he? Tell me, and I’ll poach him directly to our factory.”

“Look, this is He, a top-notch chef. You probably can’t poach him.”

"Isn't he a purchasing agent?"

"Purchasing is just a job; the chef is his real talent."

"After hearing what you said, I'm eager to see it for myself, but unfortunately I just ate too much."

“You provide the place, and I’ll show you tonight. We happen to have a few sheep on the truck, so you can prepare some other things as well.” “Then come to my house tonight.”

That evening, He Yuzhu won over Andrei's family with his cooking skills and drinking prowess. Andrei was already fifty years old and had grandchildren; it was quite a large family, and most of them worked at the tractor factory.

During the meeting, He Yuzhu expressed his desire to visit the factory. Andrei remained silent, but his eldest son, Andrew, immediately said no problem, and that the kid would be in charge of security.

After being glared at by his father, the kid didn't dare to utter a sound.

Andrei said that visits require factory approval, and he could help ask, but it's already the holidays and it will have to be next week.

He Yuzhu said he could stay here for a few days, and he would return to the Azov steel plant next week.

Mihai stated directly that he would come to pick him up next week, and that he would help take care of the people there.

The next day, Mikhail returned to the Azov steel plant, while He Yuzhu was arranged by Andrei to stay at the plant's guesthouse.

He Yuzhu did not rush into the factory that night. The security here was much higher than that at the Biasu Steel Plant. During the day, he saw that some places were built as machine gun emplacements. Although he did not see machine guns, it did not mean that they were not there.

It makes sense when you think about it; this used to be a tank factory. Although it's been converted to civilian use, it can be converted back immediately in the event of war.

On Monday, He Yuzhu still made a phone call back to China; he had to put on a show, after all.

When Zhang Weimin heard that He Yuzhu had gone to the tractor factory, he said, "We don't have any tractor procurement tasks, what are you doing there?"

"Director, I just want to see for myself. You have no idea how complete the variety of tractors is here. Some of them are even bigger than trucks."

"Oh? But we don't have any quotas. We'll have to ask. Just take a look, but don't actually place an order, I can't handle it."

"understood."

"Then you have to promise that you'll run wild as soon as you're let out."

"I promise."

"Okay, that's settled then. International calls are expensive." Zhang Weimin hung up the phone immediately.

After making the call, he told Andrei's brother-in-law Ivan that they still needed to discuss things back home, and that the other party didn't care at all, as their main clients were in China and Europe.

Besides, Russia is also operating under a planned economy at this time. Whether they sell more or less, their sales staff won't earn more money. Even if they want to boost sales, they definitely can't rely on China because they don't have the money.

Andrei acted quickly, and He Yuzhu received permission to visit on Wednesday.

The reason was that He Yuzhu had given him face, because he had also accomplished some things. On Monday night and Tuesday, He Yuzhu hosted two meals for him, one for Andrei's external contacts and the other for the tractor factory's superiors.

"Hey, before you visit, I need to tell you that you can only visit the permitted areas. Don't ask about other places, and you can't go there either."

“Andrei, I understand. It’s the same at the Azov steel plant.”

"Good that you understand. Ivan and Andrew will be with you."

"Okay, Andrei, I'd like to ask if you're selling your production line?"

"This is not for sale in principle. You know we make a living from this."

"We're not going to steal your business."

“I can ask around for you. I heard from Mikhail that you've secured a deal to acquire some old steel mill equipment, but our situation is different. You should understand that.”

“I know I’m not familiar with this area. Do you have any smaller tractor or car factories for sale? I mean the kind you’re planning to phase out.”

"I don't know either, but I can try to find out for you."

"Thank you, Andrei." He Yuzhu extended his hand.

"I should thank you too, you helped me get rid of two big problems." Andrei also extended his hand and shook hands firmly with He Yuzhu.

On Thursday, accompanied (and supervised) by Ivan and Andrew, He Yuzhu toured most of the tractor plant by car. He saw all the workshops, except for some fenced-off areas where security personnel were on duty. He was not allowed to visit the engine production workshop.

During the visit, He Yuzhu saw dozens of tractor cabs being hoisted at the same time in a certain workshop, and he thought that a tractor factory of this scale would probably not exist in China for many years to come.

If war breaks out, dozens of tanks can be assembled in one row here, demonstrating the extent of the industrial capacity.

He Yuzhu just looked around and didn't ask too many professional questions, only asking about production volume and other things that procurement should ask.

After touring the workshop, Ivan also gave a presentation on the office building. There was nothing particularly special about it, and He Yuzhu didn't hear anything related to research and development.

After the tour, He Yuzhu was invited home by Andrew. After eating a meal cooked by He Yuzhu, his father took over all of He Yuzhu's time, and today he wanted to get there first.

Ivan, as the uncle, also went there shamelessly. Then He Yuzhu got the two of them drunk. When Andrew got drunk, he became a chatterbox and rambled on and on about a bunch of random things.

He Yuzhu extracted some useful information from his words. The area he hadn't been allowed to see today contained a research and development building, which also included a test workshop. There was also an underground space beneath the building, but he didn't say what was inside. There were many workshops in such a large area.

Andrew's wife is a housewife and doesn't understand these things, but she still drove her husband to rest because Andre had mentioned these things once during a family dinner and was severely scolded by his father, Andra.

Ivan was also drunk, so he couldn't remind his nephew.

He Yuzhu returned to the guesthouse by himself that night. These past few days, he had been spending time with either the deputy factory director, the sales department leaders, or the security department cadres. The people at the guesthouse were very polite to him.

That night, He Yuzhu sneaked into the tractor factory again, heading straight for the fenced-off area.

Fortunately, it wasn't wartime in Russia, so the guards were much looser, and He Yuzhu was able to sneak in in no time.

After searching around inside, I found a rather strange building that didn't look like an office building, nor a workshop.

He Yuzhu headed straight for the building. There were security guards at the building, and after observing for a while, He Yuzhu realized that he definitely couldn't get in from the front.

So I went around to the back and finally managed to climb up to the top floor (eighth floor) from the back, since there was only one window open on the top floor.

When He Yuzhu went up to take a look, it turned out to be the restroom, which the cleaning staff had probably forgotten about.

After looking around the top floor, which was all offices and no archives or small laboratories, He Yuzhu started searching down floor by floor.

On the fifth floor, he found the laboratory. After glancing at the materials, He Yuzhu realized that they were researching a new tractor. He then took out a miniature camera and started taking pictures. These things couldn't be taken away at all.

What's strange is that there's only an outline drawing of the engine and some parameters, but nothing else.

He Yuzhu thought to himself, "They're really careful."

After leaving the laboratory, He Yuzhu continued his search and found an archive room on the fourth floor. The room contained all the tractor-related items. He Yuzhu only took pictures of the blueprints and related parts parameters of the most advanced types, but he still couldn't find the blueprints for the engines or any more detailed information about the parts.

He thought to himself, "It seems to be in a safer place. Let's keep looking. Without an engine, everything else is just for show."

The third floor and below were large laboratories of workshop type. He Yuzhu did not go down directly because there were people patrolling.

He started looking for how to get down to the so-called underground space. There was no elevator, and after searching for a long time, he finally found an escape route in a room disguised as an office.

When He Yuzhu went down to take a look, he was also slightly shocked. There were tanks everywhere, all kinds of tanks. He Yuzhu even saw a T-54 in it. He didn't recognize it because it had a model number on it.

Unfortunately, there's only one here; it was clearly kept as a memento when the original design was finalized.

They continued searching downwards until they reached the very bottom. Inside, instead of tanks, they found all sorts of engines. He Yuzhu thought to himself, "So the engines are all here."

He couldn't take the finished engine with him, so he went directly to the laboratory and the place where the data was stored.

The archives were much larger than He Yuzhu had imagined. It took him quite a while to open it. Now he didn't think the lock-picking feature the system had given him was useless. He had never had the chance to use it before, and this was the first time he had opened such a complex lock.

Once inside, He Yuzhu discovered that there was more than just engines; there was also information on tanks. However, the information on tanks and related engines had been gathering dust, and the boxes hadn't been touched in a long time.

何雨柱挑了挑好像只有T34的还有点用，所以他用空间里面的一堆废资料替换了所有T34/76和T34/85的资料，还有一份发动机的资料毛熊这边应该是停产了。

Where did this useless data come from? It was from the steel mill he acquired. He had reflected on the data he obtained from the Azov steel mill before, and it was a bit obvious, but unfortunately, there was nothing to replace it with.

These were specially selected; it's impossible to tell where the materials came from, and they don't have any specific meaning. Some of them are even older, dating back to before the war.

After taking these, he went to find information on the T54 and related engines. This time he couldn't just take them directly, so he could only take a bunch of photos.

Before leaving, He Yuzhu restored the archives to its original state. After leaving the building, he went to the workshop next door and managed to scrape together a set of T54 parts. Of course, he didn't take the outer armor and cannon.

Back at the guesthouse, He Yuzhu had a good night's sleep, and the trip was considered a success.

In the following days, He Yuzhu also kept an eye on whether anything happened at the tractor factory. Fortunately, nothing did, but he was still conscripted by Andrei.

However, he wasn't wasted his time; he was given a lot of things, including wine and Russian products.

When the weekend came, Mikhail came again. After drinking heavily, He Yuzhu drove back to the Azov steel plant with him.

　Thank you to readers Sangeng, Shu10096, and 124***885 for the generous donations!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)