A nation's industrial development begins with junior engineers.

"Hey bro, how about you chip in some money...?"

"Funding?"

The naval leader almost spat out the jelly he had just slurped into his mouth; his swagger froze instantly, replaced by a barely perceptible embarrassment.

He subconsciously touched his pocket, his fingers rubbing against the empty edge of the fabric, his Adam's apple bobbing silently.

The boy with the dazed look grinned, enjoying watching the big shots occasionally lose their composure. He knew better than anyone the Navy's predicament these past two years.

Unexpectedly, the naval leader's jaw muscles bulged, as if he had crushed something hard, then he nodded sharply, his voice squeezed out from between his teeth: "Yes! You wait!"

Jiang Xia was stunned.

He had prepared to hear a passionate lament about poverty, from the shortage of main engine bearings to the soldiers having to cut back on even their pickled vegetables, but he never expected to receive such a resolute reply.

Jiang Xia forgot to chew the locust flower cake in his mouth, and slowed down his movements as he built an offering table for his "mentor". His ahoge stood up straight, and his eyes were full of astonishment.

The naval leader suddenly stood up, put the half-eaten bowl of stew on a small stool, and strode towards the street.

There, a grass-green jeep had been parked quietly sometime earlier, its body worn but clean.

The boss opened the car door, bent down and climbed in, giving a brief instruction to the communications officer inside who was wearing an earpiece. The officer immediately handed him an earpiece and quickly adjusted the radio knob.

This jeep was equipped with a digital radio that was clearly recently modified and much smaller in size.

"Hello! Is this Xia Heizi? It's me!"

"You old bastard! You still have the nerve to breathe?!" A furious roar erupted from the other end of the line, the anger palpable even through the earpiece. "I'm asking you, where's Jiang Xia? How many days have you been keeping him on your lousy ship? I have an urgent matter to attend to! An urgent matter! Do you hear me?!"

The naval high-ranking officer chuckled, a hint of slyness in his voice: "What's the rush? I called you here to talk about Jiangxia. I've found the person you were looking for..."

"Found him? Quickly, get him on the phone!"

"I do not……"

"Hey! You son of a bitch, you're asking for it, aren't you? Haven't taught you a lesson in years, and you're already getting cocky again, aren't you?"

……

The naval leader held the microphone a little further away from his ear, and waited for the noise on the other end to subside before slowly continuing, "No, no... but... Xia Heizi, we brothers should keep our accounts straight."

Your precious little darling has come up with another incredible new invention, a fantastic thing that will benefit our navy and many other aspects of our lives! But now, everything is ready, except for that one crucial element… the East Wind.

He paused deliberately before revealing his true intentions: "This 'East Wind,' to put it bluntly, is the starting funding and supporting resources. You see, the people are here with me, the ideas are here with me, and the resources are all for the benefit of us all... Shouldn't your First Ministry of Machine Building show some appreciation? You can't just let the chicken lay eggs without feeding it, can you?"

Across from him, Minister Xia's voice initially betrayed surprise, then turned wary: "Hurry up and make him... wait! What did you just say? You want money? From whom?"

"I'll go with you!"

"They are currently helping our navy solve a huge problem and are devising a large platform that can connect scientific research forces across the country!"

Doesn't this require start-up funding and resources? You know the situation of our navy; our belts are practically stretched to the throat..."

Before he could finish speaking, he was interrupted by Minister Xia's furious roar: "You surnamed Xiao! Have you no shame at all!"

Minister Xia was clearly furious, even calling him by his full name: "You lured away one of my ministry's top technical talents without any procedures or consultation. Now that you've given him the talent and the ideas, and a huge problem is about to be solved, you turn around and tell me you don't have the money and expect me, your 'family,' to foot the bill?"

"This is outrageous! This is utterly unethical! You kidnapped someone and now you want the victim to pay a ransom?!"

“老班长！…………”

The naval leader's shout had a bit of a mournful, blood-stained quality to it, especially the word "long," with its long, drawn-out ending sound, almost like the sound of the Hai Liu Zi II launching from its launch tube.

"Old sergeant, our navy... it's tough! You know how poor we are, our belts are so tight that it hurts when we breathe! But the sea is there, and the enemy is there, we can't just ignore it!"

Can you bear to watch our brave soldiers, still rowing old sampans, fight to the death against the enemy's steel behemoths?

If this platform works, it'll give our soldiers wings of steel! Sergeant, you...you have to pull me out of this mess! For the sake of those kids adrift at sea, you have to give me a hand too!

There was a brief silence on the other end of the radio, with only slightly heavy breathing audible.

After a long pause, Minister Xia's voice came through after taking a deep breath, carrying a hint of gritted teeth and resignation: "...Fine! You bastard, Xiao, you win! For the sake of the sea frontier, for the sake of our soldiers, I...I agree to this favor!"

The naval leader's face instantly brightened, but before he could even grin, Minister Xia followed up with the second half of his sentence, decisive and firm: "But! You, right now, immediately, have that kid Jiang Xia get over here to answer the phone! Let me tell you, how the Dongfeng is borrowed depends largely on what he says! You old bastard, don't even think about skimming off the top!"

"Oh! My good minister! Just you wait and see!" The naval leader's voice immediately became incredibly warm, and a fawning smile appeared on his face, even though the other party couldn't see it at all.

He waved frantically at Jiang Xia outside the car window, and hurriedly replied into the microphone, "Right away! Absolutely right away! I'll bring him over to you right away!"

……

The jeep's window wasn't closed properly. Jiang Xia watched the naval leader's performance in silence, lit three cigarettes, took a puff, and then stuck them on the altar he had just set up.

After thinking for a moment, he placed the remaining half bowl of braised meat that the naval leader had left in front of the offering table.

"Mentor, that old man said he's seen you before. Why don't you go to his dream tonight and have a chat with him?"

"To reach this level is truly remarkable!"