Chapter 37: Dean, we are very confident now!

Beijing, Foreign Guests Guesthouse.

Turgenev and the others sent by the Soviet Union were sitting in their room, feeling extremely frustrated.

Over the past two months, seven rounds of negotiations had all fallen through.

"What's going on?" Kovsky asked, looking at Turgenev.

"Didn't you say last time that they were playing mind games? That their military industry experts couldn't handle the core technology of the 956E, and that facing the tense maritime situation, they would be very eager to purchase two more 956Es! How did it turn into this now?"

"How should I know? I'm just as puzzled as you are."

Turgenev looked helpless.

During the first few discussions, it had been a two-way street; they held the initiative, and Wang De had shown goodwill.

But during the last two sessions, there was absolutely no room for negotiation.

Even when Kovsky hinted at a slight price reduction, Wang De remained unmoved.

It was a game of chicken to see who would blink first, and now Turgenev and his team were the ones getting anxious.

"Could it be... they really made a breakthrough with the 956E?"

As soon as Kovsky finished speaking, Turgenev shook his head like a rattle.

He said firmly, "Impossible! Absolutely impossible!"

"I was in the same graduating class as Engineer Zhang Gongnong. His grades were indeed better than mine, but you know the research difficulties China faces! Over the years, my expertise has deepened, and the gap between Zhang Gongnong and me has long since reversed—it has widened significantly!"

He paused, then added, "Even so, I wouldn't dare say I'm certain I could fully master the core technology of the 956E!"

Turgenev then supplemented, "Don't forget, if they truly had progress, they wouldn't have contacted us two months ago, and we wouldn't be standing here!"

Another representative asked, "Then what do you think Wang De and the others mean?"

"Perhaps they want to test our patience? But we deliberately ignored them for half a month this time." Turgenev spread his hands. "The Chinese are too skilled at schemes; I can't figure them out."

As soon as he said this, everyone present fell into silence.

In fact, they placed great importance on this procurement.

The reason the price was so high was partly due to the tense situation in the surrounding waters, which forced China to squeeze out the funds to buy them despite the cost.

On the other hand, the Soviet domestic economy was also struggling; asking for a few hundred million more USD could significantly alleviate military industrial pressure.

It was supposed to be a matter of mutual agreement, but the appearance of Su Dingping had changed everything.

Turgenev had been asserting here that the Chinese naval industry experts couldn't handle the 956E, but he could never have dreamed that Su Dingping, leading the professors of the 335 Research Institute, had already removed the backdoors they had left in the 956E. The day they would completely master the core technology of the 956E main ship was not far off.

The group stared at each other, unable to find a reason.

"Why don't you go and ask your old classmate about the situation?" Kovsky suggested to Turgenev.

Zhang Gongnong?

Thinking of how he and Zhang Gongnong had ended their meeting at the beginning of the month on bad terms, Turgenev immediately rejected the proposal.

"That man is arrogant and stubborn; there's no need for excessive contact."

"Then what do we do?"

After a long silence, Turgenev said, "Should we contact headquarters and let them decide?"

The group reached a consensus and immediately contacted headquarters.

Not long after, Turgenev and the others breathed a sigh of relief.

This time, headquarters had decided they could lower the price, but the bottom line was 1.6 billion USD.

"With a direct drop of 200 million USD, Wang De and his team definitely won't be able to sit still."

Turgenev was very confident about returning with a total victory in the next negotiation.

***

At the 408 Research Institute, located a hundred kilometers away from the guesthouse, Lyu Guangjun was leading a group of researchers in a meeting room to discuss the secondary modification of the 051B.

After returning last night, he and the two vice-presidents had spent the entire night studying the research report provided by Su Dingping, and their confidence had grown even stronger.

He hadn't slept a wink; as soon as dawn broke, he summoned all the researchers involved in the 051B modification.

"...Everyone, I am now a hundred percent confident in the modification of the 051B!"

Seeing Lyu Guangjun looking so radiant, the researchers below were filled with suspicion. Seeing the two vice-presidents sitting there with smiles and confidence, their confusion only deepened.

The three leaders had been gone for over ten days. How could they restart the 051B modification plan immediately upon their return? This was too fast! At the very least, they should spend several months identifying the problems, overcoming them, and then proceeding with the modification!

In just over ten days, they wouldn't even have found a few problems!

Even if they had gone to the West for advanced training, it wouldn't have been this quick.

Seeing the confused expressions, Lyu Guangjun said to the two vice-presidents, "Distribute all the materials brought back so they can see them as well."

Immediately, the two vice-presidents distributed the large amount of brought-back data.

Soon, the sound of flipping through documents filled the meeting room.

After a short while, a researcher suddenly exclaimed.

"Brilliant! Using multiple stages of Sflow in conjunction with the Dafti wave protocol—how did I never think of that!"

Others also began to speak up excitedly.

"The combination of steam turbines and cruise diesel engines... I have some new ideas!"

"Terminal braking for the projectile..."

"Director, where did this data come from? It's incredibly valuable!"

Watching the excited crowd, Lyu Guangjun felt a sense of trance.

It was a good thing he had gone to the 335 Research Institute to demand an explanation from Sun Yongguo; otherwise, they wouldn't have had these gains.

"Everyone, do you have confidence now?"

"Director, we are very confident!"

"Director, give us some time, and there will definitely be no problem!"

Putting away his smile, Lyu Guangjun said solemnly.

"This time, we swear to succeed in the modification of the 051B! If we fail again, I will resign as Director! Everyone, Chief Xu is still waiting for our news. We must fire the second shot in our counterattack against the Western technological blockade right here!"

The second shot?

Had the first shot already been successfully fired?

But they hadn't heard a single sound of movement during this period!

Connecting this to the materials before them, they felt both shock and a sense of speculation.

As soon as the meeting ended, everyone rushed into the laboratory to commit to the new round of the modification plan.

Just as Lyu Guangjun returned to his office, the telephone rang.

"Hello? Old Lyu? You finally answered! Last time you said you'd find me in the evening, and I've been waiting for over ten days! I couldn't get through to your phone, and when I called your office, they said you weren't there. I thought something had happened to you!"

Cheng Yiqiang vented his frustrations over the phone.

"What exactly happened? Our negotiations with the Soviet Union..."

"Old Cheng, I have something to attend to right now. I'll contact you later."

Lyu Guangjun didn't even give him a chance to say more and hung up directly.

He had no time to explain to Cheng Yiqiang; he tidied up his materials and headed straight for the laboratory.

Having been hung up on twice, Cheng Yiqiang was about to explode with anger.

He immediately flew to Beijing, determined to demand an explanation.

A few hours later, standing at the entrance of the 408 Research Institute, Cheng Yiqiang was stunned.

The entire 408 Research Institute was under martial law; no one was allowed in or out.

After struggling for half an hour, he could neither enter nor contact Lyu Guangjun.

"You sly dog, Old Lyu, you're hiding from me!" Suddenly, he remembered that Lyu Guangjun had gone to the 335 Research Institute after accepting his suggestion, and then he had suddenly become a different person.

"I'll see for myself what secret the 335 Research Institute has that makes you so secretive you won't even see me!"

Immediately after, he took a special plane directly to Harbin.

A few hours later, standing at the entrance of the 335 Research Institute, Cheng Yiqiang was completely dumbfounded.

The 335 Research Institute was also under martial law, guarded by Wan Long and his men, with no one allowed in or out.

"Fine, you win. I'm leaving! I'm leaving!"

He had completely lost his temper and flew back dejectedly.

Three days later, a military vehicle drove toward the northern maritime military base.

Upon seeing the license plate, the sentry immediately saluted: "Greetings, Chief!"