Chapter 66: Dingping is capable of creating miracles!

Sun Yongguo and the others walked out of Su Dingping’s room, and wide smiles were clearly visible on their faces.

Each of them cradled a thick stack of design blueprints as if holding precious treasures, and their steps felt significantly lighter.

Earlier, they had examined the overall naval vessel design blueprints. Their sharp insight told them that once the modifications according to Plan B were successfully implemented, the probability of the Type 052B surpassing the optimized 956E destroyer was extremely high.

Just now, after carefully studying the detailed engineering drawings inside Su Dingping's room, each of them was left utterly astounded.

Now, they could be one hundred percent certain that once the Type 052 was successfully modified, it would undoubtedly surpass the 956E!

This belonged to the Chinese Navy alone—something superior to the 956E, and it was about to be born right from their own hands. Just thinking about it filled their hearts with excitement.

Having held their breath and suppressed their frustrations for so many years, they had first caught a glimpse of hope with the Type 051C, and now that hope would be fully realized through the Type 052 modernization.

The joy in their hearts was simply too overwhelming to hide.

Who said the Chinese couldn't do it? Wait until we finish our modifications, and it will scare you out of your wits!

Looking at Su Dingping walking ahead, Lü Guangjun nudged Sun Yongguo with his elbow and asked, "Are we really going to pass on the first try? Can we really pull this off in one go?"

Sun Yongguo did not answer directly. Instead, he countered with a question of his own, "Tell me, if we were asked to take charge of the 956E optimization project for the East Sea Fleet right now, could we pass on the first try?"

Lü Guangjun shook his head.

"Exactly," Sun Yongguo said. "Comrade Mingrui and the others still carry a heavy burden on their shoulders. It took them a full month, and the others likely won't take much less time."

"Then are you saying our chances of passing on the first try this time aren't very high?"

"Think about it. Comrade Mingrui and his team participated in the entire 956E optimization process from start to finish, yet they still couldn't pull off a one-shot success for the second 956E. And now, we are facing completely brand-new technologies."

Sun Yongguo pointed to the blueprints in his arms and continued, "These technologies have very little in common with the 956E! For us, this is entirely uncharted territory."

With Sun Yongguo putting it this way, Lü Guangjun naturally understood the subtext of his words.

When all was said and done, he was still worried that the military budget of over fifty million would not be enough.

After a brief pause, Sun Yongguo added, "Actually, I'm not worried that Dingping won't be able to pull it off in one go. I'm worried that after we spend the fifty-odd million in military funds, we'll discover a massive funding gap, and by then, Dingping will lose face."

"After all, young people care about their pride; that's understandable. We've all been young before."

"Who would want to slap their own face? Right?"

"I understand," Lü Guangjun quickly said. "I will quietly apply for an additional military budget from the superiors. We won't say anything for now. When that time actually comes, we'll pull out the extra funds so Dingping can save face. If everything really goes smoothly, we can just return the extra military budget."

Hearing this, Sun Yongguo immediately wore a pensive expression.

He certainly couldn't bring this up directly in front of Su Dingping. The biggest taboo in tackling major key projects is shaking the morale of the team, especially when the person is the chief designer of the project.

He didn't doubt Su Dingping's technical capabilities, but when it came to translating technology into actual warship components, he figured that Su Dingping, after all, lacked extensive experience in forging brand-new warships and didn't have a firm grasp of the costs involved.

Optimizing the 956E was merely making fine adjustments to core components; the two were vastly different in scale.

How could forging fail to produce mistakes?

Every forging technique that reached maturity was forged through countless rounds of trial and error.

Before you knew it, the costs would multiply several times over.

They knew this all too well.

What's more, they had discovered from the detailed structural diagrams that many components were completely brand-new, and none of them had relevant experience.

Wanting a flawless, one-shot success was simply too difficult!

Fifty-odd million was the ideal budget under perfect conditions, but accidents always happened, didn't they?

They were simply trying to create a safety net for unexpected mishaps in advance.

Lü Guangjun had just made up his mind to find time to apply for an extra military budget from Xu Dongguo when Zhang Gongnong suddenly spoke up from the side.

"两位院长, What are you two worrying so much for?"

"Comrade Gongnong, this is a major issue! What if something goes wrong!" Lü Guangjun lowered his voice.

"Director Lü, I believe in Dingping. I believed in him before, and he didn't let me down. I still believe in him now!" Zhang Gongnong continued.

"Besides, no matter what the final outcome is, if Dingping finds out later that we secretly doubted him behind his back, wouldn't that create a rift between us?"

"Since Dingping is the chief person in charge of the project, we must trust him unconditionally instead of sitting here second-guessing everything."

Changing his tone, Zhang Gongnong said solemnly, "Director Lü, I know your intentions are good, but if you employ someone, do not doubt them; if you doubt them, do not employ them! I still believe that Dingping can create miracles!"

Sun Yongguo and Lü Guangjun exchanged glances, rendered completely speechless by Zhang Gongnong's rebuke.

Having served as directors for so long, they were simply accustomed to worrying excessively.

"Then again," Zhang Gongnong added, "this time we are here to assist, to play a supporting role! Even if the funds run out in the end, Dingping will speak up. He isn't the kind of person to let false pride stand in the way! Don't worry."

Supporting role?

Right! This time we are assisting, not taking the lead!

Sun Yongguo and Lü Guangjun looked at each other and immediately burst into laughter upon realizing this.

By worrying too much, they had grown timid and lost the relentless drive they had previously displayed when facing the 956E optimization.

Abruptly, Su Dingping stopped walking, turned back to look at them, and asked, "Directors, what are you talking about?"

"N-nothing at all!" Lü Guangjun shook his head repeatedly.

Sun Yongguo took over the conversation and said, "We were just talking about how talented you are, and wondering whose daughter in the future will be worthy of you."

"That's right, exactly. We were just analyzing the daughters of a few friends we know, and we felt they all fell a bit short. Dingping, be honest with your directors—do you have someone special in your heart yet?"

Hearing this, Su Dingping hurriedly coughed twice.

Amidst a burst of laughter from behind, he hugged his blueprints and quickened his pace.

Before long, the group arrived at the open space beside the Type 052.

After assigning their respective tasks, Su Dingping turned to Sun Yongguo and said, "Director Sun, after the Chinese New Year, please submit another request to the superiors for a batch of missiles on my behalf! Once the Type 052 is modernized, the missiles it originally carried will be obsolete. We need to equip it with more advanced missiles."

"Then how about using the eighth batch of YJ and HQ missiles from the original Type 051B?"

"Equipping a powerhouse with a dagger—what kind of look is that? We need to give him a long sword!" Just as he finished speaking, Su Dingping stated firmly, "Let's apply for the eighth batch of YJ and HQ missiles! We'll modify them ourselves when the time comes!"

We're modifying missiles too?

The difficulty level had just gone up even further!

Lü Guangjun originally wanted to point out that the 408th Research Institute had already modified the eighth batch of YJ and HQ missiles, and actual tests on the Type 051C had shown good results.

However, upon second thought, the modified Type 052 would far surpass the Type 051C. Continuing to use the 801A series derived from their modifications felt as though the ship would be walking with a limp.

"Very well, leave this matter to me. I'll submit the application after the New Year," Sun Yongguo said.

"However, adding missile modifications to the mix means fifty-odd million in military funds probably won't be enough."

"It's fine, it's all within the plan."

"It's all within the plan?"

Su Dingping nodded.

Recalling Zhang Gongnong's earlier words, Sun Yongguo forcefully swallowed back the words that had already reached his lips.

"That's good then. I can rest easy."

"Everyone, you already learned the workflow yesterday. Let's begin now..."

Filled with boundless drive, Sun Yongguo and the others followed Su Dingping and threw themselves into the Type 052 modernization project.

Time flew by, and a few days passed in the blink of an eye.

As the Chinese New Year drew closer, Turgenev and his delegation at the Beijing guesthouse were nearly driven to distraction by anxiety.

"What is going on here! Didn't headquarters say that once the news was leaked, the Chinese wouldn't be able to sit still for more than a few days before coming to us?"

Kofsky paced back and forth in the room, cursing under his breath.

"Where are they? Not even a ghost has come to look for us!"

"In just two days, China will be celebrating the New Year! We came here to sell warships, not to celebrate the Chinese New Year!"

"Look outside—everywhere is lit up with red lanterns and bustling with activity. Do they look even remotely worried? I just don't get it. How can they possibly be in such a cheerful mood?"

The others sat in gloomy silence, not uttering a word, their moods sinking to rock bottom.

They had waited in vain for all these days.

If this kept up, they really were going to spend the Chinese New Year in China. If word got back home, their colleagues would laugh their heads off.

Those who knew would assume they went there to negotiate business and sell warships; those who didn't would think they had arrived three months early just to celebrate the New Year in China.

Turgenev's brow was similarly furrowed, and he couldn't figure it out either.

"This doesn't make sense. The fourth Kongō-class guided-missile destroyer of the island nation is so powerful, and we kept a trump card hidden in the 956E—the gap between the two is huge. They can't possibly not know that!"

"Why aren't they anxious?"

"Indeed, why aren't they anxious?" Kofsky echoed the question.

The two stared at each other with wide eyes, their brains practically short-circuiting for a moment.

They simply couldn't comprehend it.

The Chinese acted as if they had nothing to fear in the world!

In their wildest dreams, they would never have guessed that the trump card they took so much pride in had already been cracked long ago. Right now, Su Dingping was leading Sun Yongguo and the others in rushing to modify a modernized warship belonging to the Chinese Navy that was far more powerful than the 956E.

At this point, expecting them to buy two more 956E destroyers was nothing short of pipe dream.

Kofsky looked at the others and asked, "The Chinese refuse to show up—what do we do? Day after tomorrow is their New Year. If we still don't leave, it won't be appropriate."

Another person replied, "I want to leave too, but headquarters hasn't given any instructions!"

"If we return without authorization, the charge of dereliction of duty will stick to us permanently."

Just as the group was at their wits' end, Turgenev received a phone call.

After a long pause, he hung up and said to the others, "Headquarters says we are to return tomorrow."

"What about the 956E? Are we not selling them anymore?"

"Not selling."

Everyone immediately breathed a sigh of relief; they were finally able to leave.

These past three months—starting from high spirits and descending into suspicious paranoia—had been absolute torment.

On the morning of February 4th, at the VIP departure lounge of Beijing International Airport, Wang De led a group of people carrying numerous large and small gift packages as he walked over.

"Respected Turgenev, why are you in such a rush to leave? Stay and enjoy yourselves for a couple more days."

"No need, matters at home require our return."

"Today is New Year's Eve in China; let's share a reunion dinner together tonight before you leave."

Turgenev shook his head repeatedly. "No, no, we must head back."

"Since your minds are made up, please take all these gifts back with you. You can't make a trip here for nothing, after all."

With that, Wang De instructed his men to set the gifts down.

Hearing the phrase "make a trip here for nothing," the faces of Turgenev and his companions turned pitch black.

They had endured over three months for the sake of making a profit of over a billion US dollars, not for these token gifts.

"Mr. Turgenev, do come visit often whenever you have free time. We warmly welcome you."

Turgenev remained silent.

"Mr. Turgenev, don't rush off just yet. Take the gifts."

"Hurry up, bring them over."

After a moment, the gift-bearers returned empty-handed, lugging the large and small packages back with them.

"Secretary Wang, they stubbornly refuse to accept them."

Wang De clicked his tongue and said, "How righteous of them. Knowing that our navy has a hard time making ends meet, they're too embarrassed to accept gifts."

After a brief pause, he asked, "The receipts are still there, right?"

"Yes, Secretary Wang."

"Take them and get a refund."

"Understood!"

Wang De was in high spirits.

These fellows were finally sent packing, and since they didn't take the gifts, it saved money yet again.

Pulling out his phone, he reported the matter to Xu Dongguo.

Xu Dongguo was quite satisfied with this outcome.

We offered expensive gifts, and if you refuse to take them, you certainly can't blame me for lacking hospitality!

Over the past three months, all the food and drink consumed by those people had been provided by the navy, and the expenses were by no means small.

"Wang De, there is a matter that requires your cooperation right now."

"Please give your instructions, Chief."

"Head immediately to the Actor Country and assist Zhao Quanfa in completing the '1121' Project!"

"Understood, Chief!"

No sooner had he hung up the phone than two mysterious individuals sought him out.

They led Wang De to a secluded room, handed him a file envelope sealed with a red wax stamp, and then turned around, standing with their backs to him.

Wang De wore a skeptical look—what kind of matter required such a high level of confidentiality?

Tearing open the seal, he took out the contents inside.

An airline ticket, a merchant identity, and a document.

Opening the document and casting his gaze over it, his pupils suddenly constricted.

The document contained only a single sentence: Capture the Varyag aircraft carrier.