Forced to marry a disabled man in the countryside? I'll repay you tenfold!

These words pierced the hearts of everyone present like knives.

Everyone clenched their fists, but couldn't utter a single word in rebuttal—what they said was true. That year's floods, if a supercomputer had accurately predicted them in advance, could have provided at least three days' warning. How many lives could have been saved in those three days?!

Smith became even more unrestrained in his mockery.

"A country that can't even build the most basic electronic computer, a group of people who have never even seen an integrated circuit, yet they keep shouting about modernization?"

Forgive my bluntness, but you can't even mass-produce a decent transistor radio, you don't even have a highway, and you have to buy second-hand commercial airliners from abroad.

With such a foundation, how can we talk about catching up with and surpassing the UK and the US?

Without this supercomputer, your nuclear physics simulations would have to continue by hand, taking several months to calculate a single set of data. By the time the calculations were completed, other countries would already have deployed their next generation of nuclear warheads.

Your oil exploration, weather forecasting, and codebreaking will all be done in the dark, forever lagging behind others by ten or twenty years.

He paused, then surveyed the ashen faces of the crowd with satisfaction, before speaking slowly and deliberately:

"We're the only ones willing to sell this to you. The price is $2000 million!"

Everyone present gasped in shock; that figure was nearly ten times higher than the normal market price.

"Furthermore, you can't repair this equipment yourself, and no one knows how to operate it. Therefore, we require that an engineering team be stationed on-site for long-term maintenance. You will be responsible for all the maintenance personnel's salaries, accommodation, and transportation costs!"

Furthermore, the routine maintenance and parts replacement of this supercomputer must all use original parts specified by us. A separate parts procurement contract must be signed annually, with prices determined unilaterally by us based on the market conditions of that year.

So you're saying they're selling us parts and components for ten or a hundred times the price? And we can't even argue with that?

Su Wanqing was absolutely furious! So this was the kind of humiliation our country suffered back then?!

"Furthermore, all calculations performed by your researchers using this computer must be reported to us in advance. We have the right to review whether your research content is used for military purposes."

"What? It's so expensive? You'd only pay a tenth of this price for the same device back home, right?"

Smith smiled slightly, a smile full of undisguised contempt: "Oh, what can I do? You can't even manufacture the most basic chips, and you don't even have an engineer who can operate them. You can't even do repairs; you can only watch helplessly when the machines break down. You don't agree to these conditions? Then you can continue calculating slowly with your hand-cranked calculator."

The group of people lowered their heads in humiliation, and no one could utter a word of rebuttal.

The technical expert next to him had red eyes and trembling lips, but couldn't utter a single word.

If you fall behind, you will be bullied! If you fall behind, you don't even have the right to negotiate—everyone understands this principle, but when you are actually trampled on and crushed, the humiliation is more painful than being cut by a knife.

"Marshal, these conditions are even more outrageous than last year. Not only have the prices increased, but we are also required to grant them the right to review scientific research projects—which is tantamount to exposing everything we are researching to them."

"Yes, and they even want us to promise not to independently develop similar products for five years. Isn't that cutting off our escape route?"

The marshal took a deep breath, which rolled around in his chest several times, before slowly exhaling.

"Okay, I can agree to all these conditions. However, I have one request—please leave temporarily so our professionals can go in and examine the equipment on their own. It will only take five minutes. After five minutes, we will sign off on everything you've said."

"Marshal! You agree to everything? No more haggling? Just sign it right away? Our foreign exchange—"

The marshal raised his hand to stop the conversation behind him.

Upon hearing this, Anderson's lips curled into a mocking smile: "Professionals? Haha, what kind of professionals do you have?"

It's just a temporary excuse to back down. Fine, go ahead and watch; I doubt you'll figure anything out.

The person next to him whispered in his ear: "What if they sabotage it in there? If they break it, they might turn around and say the equipment was faulty from the start..."

Anderson chuckled dismissively: "Don't worry, they'd rather have this machine than cause trouble—after all, all their so-called 'computers' over the years have been hand-built from the most primitive parts. They're so excited to finally see a real one."

Then he waved his hand dismissively, his tone full of condescending arrogance:

"Alright, let your people in to inspect it. We'll guard the entrance. But let me make this clear beforehand—if you cause any damage inside, or touch anything you shouldn't, you'll have to pay for all the equipment at its original price, and from now on, we won't consider selling any of our products to you. Think carefully about the consequences."

The marshal smiled and uttered a single word through gritted teeth: "Okay."

The area was immediately cleared, and everyone filed out.

The marshal walked to Su Wanqing's side and patted her shoulder heavily. "Go ahead, I've secured this opportunity for you. Don't push yourself, just do what you can."

Although he didn't know what the girl wanted to confirm, she always acted with discretion—she had contributed so many things to the country, fighter jets, radars, machine tools, which of them weren't real, tangible things?

She would never speak without reason.

Therefore, this matter must be very important to her.

Since this girl thinks it's important, he must help her do it.

Their generation is old and may not be able to do much else, but when it comes to the demands of young people, they will do everything in their power to fulfill them!

Su Wanqing nodded, silently thinking to herself: Old man, don't worry about leaving this to me. I'll replicate it dozens of times better in no time.

Soon, Su Wanqing was the only one left in the huge exhibition hall.

The foreigner closed the door from the outside, his movements slow and leisurely, clearly saying: "I doubt you can pull anything off."

Outside the door, the group of people who had followed looked at each other, none of them understanding what Su Wanqing was trying to do—by kicking everyone out and staying inside alone, what could she possibly learn?

However, since the marshal had spoken, no one dared to ask any more questions or think any further. When did Su Wanqing become a professional appraiser?

"Activate radar scan!"

Su Wanqing silently recited the name in her heart, and the power of precious gold spread out silently, sweeping every corner around her clearly.

After confirming that there were no surveillance devices or spying eyes, she smiled slightly, walked to the huge supercomputer, and gently placed her palm on it.

"Take it!"