A nation's industrial development begins with junior engineers.

Chapter 1040: A little bit of cleverness, but not much!

"It's done!" Baoqiang jumped up first, excitedly leaning forward, almost pressing his face against the screen, shouting:

"Quick, look at what it says! What kind of tricks are those spies up to?!"

Director Zheng quickly stepped forward, followed closely by Secretary Liu, who couldn't help but crowd closer. The three of them squeezed in front of the screen, vying to see the content clearly. Their movements were so fast that they didn't have time to dodge, and with a muffled "thud," their three heads collided hard together.

As the three of them covered their heads and squatted down, the room fell silent.

Even Jiang Xia's usually calm eyes rippled slightly at this sight, let alone Old Wang. Even the members of the Black Shell Squad at the door couldn't help but twitch their lips slightly.

"Hiss... Jiang Guawa! Read it! What the hell is written on it?!" Baoqiang sat on the ground, clutching his forehead, not even bothering to pick up his cigar, and anxiously urged him with his head tilted back.

Jiang Xia remained silent and calmly entered the print command.

“Hey, you…” Baoqiang was stunned, and was about to shout again.

"Shut up!" Director Zheng covered his reddened forehead, and with his other hand, he skillfully bent his middle finger and gave Baoqiang's messy head a solid "potsticker" (a traditional Chinese way of saying "smack").

"You talk too much! Don't you know any rules?!"

After reprimanding Baoqiang, he turned to Jiang Xia, who had already torn out the first page of the printout and was quickly checking its contents. A look of considerable appreciation appeared on his face. He nodded and affirmed in a serious tone:

"Comrade Jiang Xia's approach is excellent! The information is sensitive, so he directly put it into writing, minimizing the possibility of mishearing, misremembering, or unintentional leaks caused by verbal communication. This demonstrates a high level of confidentiality! Everyone should take a look and learn from this!"

"puff--"

"Cough cough..."

Secretary Liu, who was still squatting on the ground, and Old Wang, who was guarding the door, almost couldn't hold back when they heard Director Zheng's serious "high praise," and quickly covered it up with a cough.

The two looked at each other, their lips twitching, wanting to laugh but not daring to make it loud.

A high degree of confidentiality?

Jiangxia?

Come on! Putting those two words together just sounds absurd. To those familiar with Jiangxia, when this guy is "tricking" people, he's anything but secretive.

His forward-thinking ideas, his outspoken and surprising remarks, and even his "tech geek-like" bluntness in inappropriate situations have caused many comrades to secretly feel their blood pressure rise, to both love and hate him, and to wish they could put a zipper on his mouth.

Old Wang approached and handed Jiang Xia a pot of freshly filled water, intending to lighten the tense atmosphere in the room with a joke.

But when his gaze fell on the printed paper, all his smiles froze instantly and vanished without a trace.

“Tunnel…isolated courtyard…below the roadbed…remote detonation…”

……

At the same time that the Little Red Building fell into a deathly silence due to the deciphered content, a completely different scene unfolded in the base's security office, not far from the Little Red Building.

Deputy Political Commissar Chang arrived here listlessly.

The salty sea breeze of summer blew on his face, but instead of waking him up, it only made him more irritable.

The excitement I felt in the man with the gold-rimmed glasses' car just now vanished as the cold wind blew, leaving only lingering fear and chill.

The more he thought about it, the more something seemed off.

That guy surnamed Qiu really knows how to talk, saying things like "understanding the difficulties" and "speaking strategically," but in the end, he just puts himself in the spotlight.

That kind of talk, like kneading dough, is just trying to fool someone!

If something goes wrong, the first person to suffer will be the one who made the specific "arrangement".

Bah! Aren't they just using me as a pawn?

What frustrated him the most was that he had handed over this "using someone else's gun" plan to them on his own initiative!

A mix of regret and bewilderment weighed heavily on his feet.

Before I knew it, I had arrived at the entrance of the base's security office.

Upon seeing him enter, the head of the security department immediately stood up from behind his desk, snapped to attention, and saluted: "Deputy Political Commissar Chang! What brings you here? What are your instructions?"

At this moment, Deputy Political Commissar Chang was filled with frustration and irritability, and had no intention of putting on airs. He waved his hand to indicate that he should not stand on ceremony, and plopped down on the wooden stool against the wall, slumping back with a look of exhaustion on his face.

Thinking back on all those years of hard work and struggle at the grassroots level, finally reaching the position of deputy political commissar, only to find myself caught up in the power struggle among the big shots, with superiors urging me to bail someone out and a man with gold-rimmed glasses setting a trap for me, and then recalling my own rash plan...

This is not a way out.

It's clear that he's stubbornly driven into a dead end, with both ends completely blocked!

Overwhelmed with sorrow, this man, who had spent many years in the military, found his eyes uncontrollably reddening. He rubbed his face violently with his palm, his voice muffled, filled with suppressed grievance and resentment:

"...Instructions? What instructions do I have... I'm just a scapegoat! They... they're all fighting among themselves, so they're just getting things done! What are we lowly errand runners supposed to do? Huh? What are we supposed to do!"

The head of the security department stood aside, taking in his appearance and secretly finding it amusing.

He was originally from the old lair and had long ago received orders to secretly cooperate in protecting Jiangxia. When he saw Deputy Political Commissar Chang rushing to the Security Department, he felt a chill in his heart, thinking that the other party was really going to carry out some reckless plan that was detrimental to Jiangxia. He was thinking about how to send a message to Old Wang to warn him.

Who would have thought that this person would go around in circles and come to me to wipe away tears?

This is...an unexpected opportunity.

The head of the base's security department calmly put away the whistle around his neck, stepped forward, poured a cup of hot water for Deputy Political Commissar Chang, and handed it to him, saying in a gentle tone: "Deputy Political Commissar, is something on your mind? Why don't you tell me? Maybe I can give you some advice."

Deputy Political Commissar Chang took the water glass, his fingertips touching the warm glass, his emotions calmed down a little, but he still sighed: "What's the point of consulting? It's all a mess, there's no use talking to them."

The head of the security department sat down opposite him, speaking sincerely but with a hint of guidance in his words: "You're a veteran leader of the base; no matter how difficult the situation, you always have a solution. Judging from your expression, could it be that you're concerned about those comrades in the Little Red Building?"

Deputy Political Commissar Chang glanced at him but didn't say anything, which was taken as tacit agreement.

The head of the security department has a rare surname, Chao, and is an honest-looking old comrade.

Based on the rumors I'd heard and the current situation, I had a rough idea of ​​what was going on. It seemed that Deputy Political Commissar Chang had been pushed out to take the fall, and now he was in a difficult position.

Director Chao chuckled inwardly, dragged a chair over to sit next to Deputy Political Commissar Chang, lowered his voice, and said in a tone of "we're all in the same boat": "Political Commissar, it's really tough for us doing the actual work down here. We have to understand the intentions from above, and we have to consider the situation on the ground. It's not good to do either way. Some leaders can talk a good game, but we have to run around like crazy and still have to take responsibility."

These words struck a chord with Deputy Political Commissar Chang. He looked up at Director Li with a start, as if he had found a kindred spirit, and nodded vigorously, almost losing control of his emotions again.

Seeing this, Director Li knew the time was right, but he subtly changed the subject: "However, no matter how difficult the task, there is always a solution."

If a direct confrontation doesn't work, let's think of another way. Like you just mentioned, wanting to understand the situation and show concern… do we really have to make such a big fuss, conducting such a large-scale inspection? That's too conspicuous, too easy for people to misunderstand.”

Deputy Political Commissar Chang was taken aback: "No inspections, no discussions, then how... what about those above..."

The serious expression on Director Chao's face slowly melted away, turning into a kind of compassionate and caring look, like that of a close older brother.

He didn't respond to Deputy Political Commissar Chang's complaint about the "battle of the gods," saying that mentioning it briefly was enough, as saying too much would be unpleasant.

Director Chao leaned even closer, his tone as relaxed as if they were chatting about everyday matters:

"Political Commissar, look at you, you're getting stuck on this. It's just that... you feel you have to 'show up' at the Little Red Building and 'get some information,' but you can't force it, and you can't explain it to anyone. You're caught in the middle, aren't you?"

Deputy Political Commissar Chang kept his head down and did not reply.

"Hey! I thought it was no big deal!" Director Chao slapped his thigh. "This is such a simple task! Why are you worrying about it like this?"

"Simple?" Deputy Political Commissar Chang looked at him suspiciously, almost snot bubbles coming out of his nose.

"Simple!"

Director Chao nodded firmly, his smile becoming even more sincere. "Political Commissar, are you confused? Have you forgotten that you're also in charge of a whole host of other things?"

"What are you in charge of?" Deputy Political Commissar Chang was a little confused.

"Logistical support! My leader!"