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

The Americans have been even more ruthless in their blockade of this technology than they have been with nuclear technology; for decades, they haven't divulged a single word.

Now these people are actually offering to sell?

Richard Stern gritted his teeth and nodded, his heart bleeding.

He knew that lithography machines were strategic materials that were explicitly prohibited from being sold to China.

This thing is the starting point of the semiconductor industry; chips, computers, missile guidance, and satellite control all have to go through it.

The government's blockade of China is precisely to wait for the day when China will import finished chips and equipment at high prices, so that the government can keep the profits firmly in its own hands.

Now that he has opened this door and allowed China to obtain lithography machines, how can he continue to hold China back?

But then I thought about it again. Given China's current scientific research foundation, even if we give them an outdated civilian model, it will take them at least twenty years to catch up, and they won't be able to cause any trouble.

Besides, the value of the aircraft is currently too great, especially the stealth skin material. The higher-ups only care about the result—with stealth skin, their next-generation fighter jets will completely disappear from radar, giving them a crushing advantage in air combat. As long as they can bring the aircraft back, they don't care what they exchange it for.

The secret order came from the company, but the future was his own.

He was determined to have those ten planes.

Seeing that Su Wanqing was listening intently, Secretary Zhou quietly explained from the side:

"Comrade Su Wanqing, foreign countries have imposed a technology blockade on us, explicitly prohibiting the export of thousands of items, involving core equipment and materials for military, aerospace, and semiconductor industries. Among them, lithography machines are one of the most critical. This thing is the mother machine for manufacturing chips. Without it, our radar, computers, and communication equipment will all remain on paper. The Americans refuse to sell lithography machines because they want us to never be able to manufacture high-end chips on our own."

Su Wanqing listened and nodded.

How could she not know the importance of lithography machines?

More than two thousand years ago, China still did not have its own high-end lithography machine.

Back then, domestic mobile phone brands were selling like hotcakes, but then the US issued a ban, prohibiting chip manufacturers from supplying chips. Domestic mobile phones were instantly cut off from supplies, and the entire industry chain almost collapsed.

If you can't manufacture chips, your phone is just a brick.

If she could acquire a lithography machine in this era, the future would be completely different—even if the other side provided an outdated civilian model, it wouldn't matter. She could take it back, upgrade it for free, and then spend a fortune on further upgrades, directly reaching world-class levels in one step. This deal would be incredibly profitable.

Stern, gritting his teeth, said, "Although it's a decommissioned civilian model, you can still use it. The condition is that you sell us ten aircraft; the price is negotiable."

The marshal hesitated for a long time before responding.

Su Wanqing whispered to Secretary Zhou, "What is the Marshal hesitating about? We have so many planes, wouldn't it be more cost-effective to sell a few and exchange them for lithography machines?"

The key is that once she gets her hands on it, it becomes a high-end lithography machine hundreds of times better. It's practically free money and a huge profit.

Secretary Zhou lowered his voice and explained, "Comrade Wanqing, you may not know this, but after we disassembled and studied the batch of aircraft your friend brought over, we found that the special material used for the fuselage skin can effectively absorb and scatter radar waves, achieving stealth, just like the materials used in our most advanced fighter jets."

This secret has probably reached the ears of the other side, which is why they are in such a hurry to buy the plane back. They most likely want to remove the skin material and use it on their own fighter jets.

If we actually sell it, once the enemy's stealth capabilities improve, the gap we've worked so hard to close will be widened again.

But if we don't sell, it's really frustrating to have so many technologies held back by our necks and be controlled by others at every turn.

Su Wanqing finally understood.

After a moment's hesitation, she stepped forward, tugged at the marshal's sleeve, and whispered:

"Please agree first. The lithography machine is more valuable, so getting it in hand is the priority. As for the stealth material for the aircraft skin, don't worry—my friend actually has even more advanced stealth coating formulas, we're not short of that generation. We even have anti-stealth radar technology, I'll send it over once the equipment arrives."

She doesn't have these things in her space yet, of course.

But that's okay. As long as she can find a similar sample, she can upgrade for free. At worst, she can spend a lot of money to upgrade again, directly reaching a level two ahead of the current world.

When it really comes to that, let's see who's holding whom by the throat.

The marshal's eyes lit up immediately when he heard her say that.

He knew that Xiao Su's friend must have even better stock, so there was nothing to worry about now.

He deliberately frowned, feigning reluctance and a reluctant agreement:

"In that case, selling isn't out of the question. But the price you offered before was too low, absolutely not. We're currently short of foreign exchange, so here's a fixed price—forty million US dollars per aircraft, settled in US dollars. We'll still provide the lithography machines; whether you exchange them or not is up to you."

Stern nearly jumped up, his face turning bright red.

"Impossible! Absolutely impossible! The lithography machine itself is worth hundreds of millions, and we have to take enormous risks just to transport it out! An airplane costs at most ten million US dollars, not a penny more!"

After a back-and-forth negotiation, the two sides finally settled on a deal for an aircraft worth $20 million, plus a "second-class wafer roughing pilot line" that was phased out by the United States as a bonus.

Stern bit his lip until it bled—he didn't have much leverage over China to begin with. Titanium ore mining, refining, and forging were the key moves he had carefully prepared, but Su Wanqing had effortlessly dismantled them all.

In the end, they had to use strategically embargoed items like lithography machines as leverage to barely force the other party to agree.

Even so, he knew in his heart that this deal, on the surface, was the United States exchanging lithography machines for airplanes, but in reality, it was the first time that the Americans had been outmaneuvered by the Chinese at the negotiating table.

China is still lagging behind now. If we give them another year or two to digest and absorb this batch of equipment, not only the titanium industry, but also semiconductors and aerospace manufacturing will catch up... What will China be like in five or ten years?

Stern and Smith exchanged a glance, both seeing the same chill in each other's eyes.

Smith finally shook his head with a wry smile: "Who cares? We don't even know where we'll be by then."

·

As soon as he entered the conference room, the marshal's laughter never stopped, making the windowpanes rattle.

"Hahaha, all thanks to you, Su girl! If you hadn't just come back today and stumbled upon this, we don't know how much strategic material we would have had to trade for their worthless junk! With you here, we really got our revenge this time, and we really slapped those foreign devils in the face!"

"Yes, if you ask me, Comrade Su Wanqing is our national treasure. She brings honor to the country wherever she goes!"