Chapter 47: Seeking an Audience with Guo Yang

  Chen Heqian was organizing his words in his heart, thinking about how to persuade Qin Hai. Qin Hai saw the changing expressions on Chen Heqian's face and smiled slightly: "Teacher Chen, you don't need to say more. Although I've never left Anhe, I'm very clear about what's going on in the capital; I'm also very clear about the status of the General Hospital. I know that this arrangement is a great promotion for someone like me who is just a young worker, but forgive me for being short-sighted, I'd rather stay here and start from the grassroots."

  Chen Heqian is still making efforts, he said: "As a young man, starting from the grassroots level is correct. You have such a mentality, which is very commendable. I also used to work in factories and operate machine tools. However, when you arrive at the General Hospital, you still have opportunities to come into contact with the grassroots level. We often have to undertake various tasks for enterprises and troops, which are all opportunities to come into contact with the grassroots level."

  Qin Hai Dao said: "Teacher Chen, you misunderstood. I just want to do some things on my own, and before things are clear, I don't think it's convenient for me to say more to you. Don't worry, I won't leave the field of materials, we will definitely meet again within a few years. Also, I'd like to ask you and the experts in the project team for something..."

  "What is it? Just say it." Chen Heqian said.

  Qin Hai Dao said: "I'm currently working at the agricultural machinery factory, and in the future, there will definitely be many things that I'll need to trouble you all with. Sometimes, I may even need to take a shortcut through your place or open a back door for me. I hope that when the time comes, you can give this young man some convenience within the scope of policy."

  "This..." Chen Heqian hesitated, this kind of thing about opening the back door for him, he had encountered it before, his way of dealing with it was to reject it mercilessly. But the person in front of him was Qin Hai, whom he highly valued. Setting aside Qin Hai's own talent, just based on Qin Hai's contributions to this project, Chen Heqian found it hard to be too ruthless.

  Qin Hai burst out laughing and said, "Teacher Chen, I'm sorry to have scared you. What I meant by 'opening the back door' is absolutely within the scope of policy and won't make you violate any principles. I just wanted to ask for your help in introducing me to some people or providing a proof for me when it's convenient for you. I can guarantee that these things will definitely benefit the country and its people, and absolutely won't harm heaven or reason."

  "What's difficult about that?" Chen Heqian's heart put down a bit. As a bookworm, he didn't quite understand the twists and turns of social matters, but he had a good impression of Qin Hai, so he also believed in Qin Hai's character. Since Qin Hai could guarantee not to harm heaven or reason, it was naturally possible to provide some help within reasonable limits. To say nothing of his own energy being not bad either, many students and old friends were all people who spoke with a certain weight in the power departments.

  "Has Teacher Chen agreed?" Qin Hai asked with a hint of a smile.

  Chen Heqian nodded seriously: "As long as it doesn't violate the principle, I will definitely help you with all my might."

  "That's good, now there is one thing that the student would like to ask Teacher Chen for help with, is Teacher Chen willing?" Qin Hai Dao.

  "You're not setting a trap for me, are you?" Chen Heqian said gloomily.

  Qin Hai Dao said, "This is easy, I just need to ask Teacher Chen to give me a certificate, certifying that I have certain knowledge and can complete a certain task. As for whether this task is right or wrong, it's not necessary for Teacher Chen to judge, what do you think?"

  "This doesn't seem to be a problem." Chen Heqian said, "Whatever you can do, I can still hear it. However, since you're being so mysterious, what is it exactly?"

  Qin Hai Dao said: "I want to do a pen business with General Yue."

  "......" Chen Heqian was speechless, this pit was really too big.

  No matter whether Chen Heqian was willing or not, he had nodded his head and would have to go through with it. Moreover, he was also very curious about what kind of thing could make Qin Hai, a young man, give up the opportunity to develop in the capital city and instead be willing to stay in a county town as an ordinary worker.

  The next morning, Ge Dongyan received a call from Qin Hai and drove a jeep to the base, picked up Qin Hai and Chen Heqian, and took them to the provincial military region's compound in the center of Hongze City, leading them to Yue Guoyang's office.

  "Commander, Professor Chen and Little Qin have arrived." Ge Dongyan went in first to report.

  "Please let them in." said Yue Guoyang. He had received a report from Ge Dongyan beforehand, saying that Qin Hai wanted to talk to him about something, so he set aside the morning for it. The situation with Qin Hai's work at the missile base during this period of time had already been reported to him by someone else, and it was said that Qin Hai's joining had actually accelerated the progress of the entire project several times over, his curiosity about Qin Hai also grew day by day.

  Qin Hai and Chen Heqian entered Yue Guoyang's office, after exchanging pleasantries, Yue Guoyang invited the two to sit down on the sofa, he himself also left his desk and sat down on the sofa opposite them, making a gesture of equal conversation.

  Chen Heqian first briefed Yue Guoyang on the work situation for this period of time. Since the missile troops were not under the provincial military region, some confidential content was naturally glossed over, and he only said that the work progress was smooth, and Qin Hai played an important role in it.

  "Professor Chen, isn't this a bit of an exaggeration? So many experts couldn't solve the problem, but Xiao Qin, just a technical school student, actually solved it?" Yu Guoyang asked half-jokingly and half-seriously.

  Chen Heqian said, "This young Qin is no ordinary technical school student. He reads a lot of books and they are very diverse. His thinking is indeed more open-minded than ours. This is not just my personal opinion, but the common view of our entire project team."

  "Is that so, Xiao Qin?" Yu Guoyang turned his head and asked Qin Hai again.

  Qin Hai Dao: "Commander Yue, this is just the love and care of all the teachers in our study group towards me, a young student. If I have provided some valuable ideas in certain areas, it's only because an onlooker sees more clearly, which isn't anything remarkable."

  "Haha, humility is a virtue, but excessive humility is hypocrisy." Yue Guoyang stopped pursuing the matter further, he would rather believe Chen Heqian's words, because Chen Heqian had no reason to exaggerate Qin Hai's abilities.

  "Alright, let's talk about it then. What is it that you want to say to me?" Yue Guoyang brought the conversation to the point.

  Chen Heqian shifted his gaze to Qin Hai, indicating that he should speak. Qin Hai adjusted his collar, sat up straight and said to Yue Guoyang: "Commander Yue, I came to see you today without an appointment, I wanted to ask what you thought of the military shovel I had Ge Pai bring last time."

  "That weird thing of yours is called a military shovel?" asked Yue Guoyang with a smile.

  "Hmm, it can be called a versatile military shovel. If you want to call it in a more rustic way, you can also call it an engineer's spade." Qin Hai replied.

  Yue Guoyang said disdainfully, "The name 'Omnipotent Military Shovel' is quite rustic. It's not as good as the name 'Combat Engineer's Spade'. With that name, everyone will understand what it's about at once."

  "Uh... that's a minor detail." Qin Hai hastily interrupted, he wasn't here to discuss the name of the military shovel with Yue Guoyang either. "Commander Yue, what do you think about this type of engineer's spade?"

  "Very good, very suitable for our troops." Yue Guoyang replied straightforwardly, and on this issue, he didn't need to beat around the bush with Qin Hai.

  Qin Hai Dao: "Great, then I'd like to ask Commander Yue, have you considered equipping your troops with this type of engineer's shovel?"

  "No!" Yu Guoyang also gave a crisp refusal.

  As for Yue Guoyang's response, Qin Hai didn't find it unexpected. In fact, whether Yue Guoyang said he wanted to or not, Qin Hai's strategy remained the same; the difference lay in whether Yue Guoyang took the initiative or not. Now it seemed that Yue Guoyang had passed the ball to Qin Hai, waiting for him to propose a solution.

  "If I'm guessing correctly, Commander Yue means that you're not unwilling to provide the troops with this equipment, but rather that there are no conditions under which you would provide it. Is that right?" Qin Hai asked with a smile.

  Yue Guoyang chuckled and said, "What's the difference?"

  "Of course." Qin Hai said, "If you don't want to at all, then I have nothing to say. If we must talk, it would be about how the high-ranking commanders in our unit are neglecting their duties and just going through the motions. But if you think it's because of a lack of conditions, that's easy to solve - we can create the conditions to resolve this issue."

  "Haha, you're taking advantage of me! Now that you've said it, I don't think I can refuse even if I want to. Isn't that right, Professor Chen?" Yu Guoyang burst out laughing and dragged Chen Heqian into the conversation as well.

  Chen Heqian looked at Yue Guoyang, then at Qin Hai, and really couldn't figure out what kind of silent understanding these two people had, but somehow they seemed to have a tacit agreement, leaving him out in the cold.

  "Little Qin, you should know that now the whole country is cutting military spending and reducing military expenditure. Commander Yue may really not have the funds to purchase this type of engineer's pickaxe. I've seen that engineer's pickaxe, its difficulty lies in the selection of high-strength steel materials, using such steel materials, the cost is very difficult to control." Chen Hetian said to Qin Hai.

  Qin Hai looked at Yue Guoyang and said, "Commander Yue is probably worried about this too? I have a way to make the troops get such a good shovel without spending a single penny. Commander Yue, are you interested in hearing it?"

  "Oh? What do you mean?" Yue Guoyang was indeed moved by Qin Hai, as long as he didn't have to spend money, he had no psychological barrier. He looked at Qin Hai and said: "Tell me, what's your good idea?"