PDLP Chapter 691: Before, there was a rider on a white horse; now, six pairs of wheels have appeared!
Chapter 691: Before, there was a rider on a white horse; now, six pairs of wheels have appeared!
"How warm and kind it is, illuminating the hearts of the serfs..."
Before even stepping through the gates of the Hongxing Machinery Factory, the familiar singing voice, tinged with static, drifted from the factory's newly installed loudspeakers.
Secretary Liu glanced at Jiang Xia, who was sitting in the back seat next to her, head tilted to the side, fast asleep. Seeing the faint dark circles under his eyes, she suddenly felt an urge to smash that noisy speaker: This kid had stayed up all night drawing to fulfill his promise to those teachers about the equipment; she really wanted him to get some more sleep…
"Bang bang—!"
A loud car horn suddenly blared, instantly drowning out the radio broadcast and completely waking Jiang Xia from his deep sleep. Without a second thought, Secretary Liu punched Old Wang in the driver's seat in the arm, hissing in a low voice, "I told you to be quiet! Showing off how loud your horn is, are you?!"
Old Wang shrank back innocently, pointing out the car window: "Hey! What can I do? Look at this situation!"
At the factory gate, it was the morning rush hour, and a huge crowd of people surged into the factory, pushing bicycles and walking.
The steel behemoth he was driving was so large and cumbersome that it looked completely out of place in the crowd.
"This car is too big, I'm afraid it will hit someone! I have to honk!" he explained, his voice tinged with apology. He turned to Jiang Xia, who had been startled awake and was rubbing his eyes, "Sorry, brother, I disturbed you... It's okay, after you hand in the blueprints, come to my place and get a good night's sleep. I guarantee no one will bother you."
"Ah..." Jiang Xia yawned deeply, waving his hand with heavy sleepiness, "It's nothing... Staying up late is a passive skill that every researcher must master..."
He rather ungracefully picked at the corner of his eye with his finger, and then, with a mischievous smile, deliberately rubbed the dampness from his fingertip onto the clean sleeve of his secretary, Xiao Liu, standing next to him.
"Hey!" Secretary Liu tried to dodge in disgust, but failed and was left speechless, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.
Old Wang poked half his head out of the driver's seat and asked Jiang Xia for his opinion: "Shall we go see Director Yang first?"
"Of course we're going," Jiang Xia perked up instantly, a sly glint in his eyes. "We're still hoping to trick him into joining our cause!"
"What?" Secretary Liu's ears perked up. "You want to add Yang Youning to your project team too?"
“Not only that,” Jiang Xia shook his index finger, his gaze sweeping over the two of them, “we also need to drag Li Huaide into this. Do you two even understand what an audit is?”
Old Wang looked at the finger pointing at his nose and immediately shook his head like a rattle: "I can check people... those ledgers, just looking at them gives me a headache."
Jiang Xia then turned to look at Secretary Liu, who was still trying to rub the "souvenir" off her sleeve.
Secretary Liu said earnestly, "I know how... it's just that I'm still inexperienced, so I'm not as quick at unraveling complex issues..."
"That's why!" Jiang Xia slapped his thigh. "Finding an experienced person to take the helm will save us so much trouble! It'll make things twice as efficient!"
After saying that, Jiang Xia pushed open the heavy car door. Then, she turned around, facing the inside of the car, and held tightly to the seatbelt on the back seat with both hands. She carefully and little by little "slid" herself down from the high back seat.
Well… there's no way around it. This steel behemoth, which hasn't been officially named yet and is still in the testing phase, still has a high ground clearance, and it doesn't even have standard foot pedals installed. Between "landing safely" and "jumping out of the car in style only to twist your ankle and scream in pain," Little Dumb Hair unhesitatingly chose the former.
Why do we need to get off the bus?
Of course, I will undergo the inspection.
Since the Hongxing Machinery Factory changed its name and took on special missions, its security level has been raised to an astonishing degree. Jiang Xia couldn't say exactly how high, but the most obvious change was the addition of heavily armed checkpoints at the entrance, where all personnel and vehicles entering and leaving were strictly checked without exception.
Without rules, nothing can be accomplished. Jiangxia has no intention of becoming a rule-breaker, and if anyone is going to trample on rules, it's not in such trivial matters...
…………
At the factory gate, the line of people waiting for inspection moved slowly.
Master Qin, who hadn't been seen in a long time, was pushing his well-maintained Forever brand "28-inch" bicycle and chatting casually with his old partner, Master Lin, next to him.
The morning sun slanted down, casting long shadows on the smooth cement ground, perfectly covering the apprentices following behind them.
"Old Qin, it's been a long time since I've seen young Jiang..." Master Lin's voice was quite loud, but tinged with regret: "You know, this young man is very capable and ambitious. Has he been transferred by the ministry? I always feel uneasy without him watching over him..."
"Hey, didn't you even say goodbye before you left?"
Master Qin pushed his bicycle forward a bit and sighed, "Who says otherwise? What a fine young man, quick-witted, skillful, and without any airs. He can even get along with us roughnecks. But..."
He lowered his voice and gestured with his chin toward the depths of the factory area: "Old Lin, you have to think of it this way. That Xiao Jiang is a legitimate engineer! His connections are with the Ministry of Machine Building! Think about it, what did this Hongxing Factory do before? What's it called now? How can they be the same?"
"The higher-ups value him; they might send him on some extremely important, top-secret mission. He can't be like before, just wandering around our workshop all day, wasting our time."
Master Lin clicked his tongue, took out a crumpled pack of "Economy" brand cigarettes, then, considering the occasion, stuffed them back in: "That's true, the people from the Ministry of Machine Building... they're like celestial beings descended from heaven, different from us sledgehammer-wielders. It's just a pity, if he were still here, who knows what new things we'd be developing..."
"Yeah... When Xiao Jiang was around, it was tiring, but his spirits were different. It's been a while since I heard him talking about 'a kind of basis', and it's really strange!"
"This old man was hoping to give it his all under his command... but alas!"
As the two were talking, "Bang bang—!!!" A loud, metallic horn blared out without warning behind them!
The sound was urgent and fierce, completely unlike the old Liberation trucks in the factory. It made people's ears ring and their hearts jump!
"Ouch!" Mr. Lin was so startled he nearly dropped his bicycle. Mr. Qin also jumped, his anger rising from his shock, and abruptly turned to look at the source of the sound: "Who is that! What kind of car is that, driving like that..."
The rest of his words got stuck in his throat. Master Qin and Wang Tiezhu, along with all the workers nearby who had been startled by the horn and looked in the direction of the sound, were all frozen in place, their mouths agape and their eyes wide open, staring intently at the roaring steel behemoth!
It was a steel monster they had never seen before! Its enormous body almost blocked half of the factory gate passage, and it was extremely high off the ground, like a crouching, ready-to-pounce beast.
The grass-green paint still smelled of fresh paint, but under the rising sun, the sharp, angular steel lines and heavy texture exuded a cold and intense sense of oppression, making the workers, who were used to trucks and jeeps, hold their breath instantly.
What's striking is its highly modern wedge-shaped front end, with the front armor sloping at a sharp angle and featuring sharp lines, a stark contrast to the boxy appearance of traditional trucks.
What surprised Master Qin the most were the six huge tires under it, covered with thick treads! Each tire was almost half a person tall!
Slightly behind the center of the vehicle body stands a low, flat, oval protrusion. Although it's unclear why that area is still empty, it's definitely not just for show.
The deep roar of the diesel engine continued, not as heavy as that of the tracked vehicle, but more powerful and surging, like a steel cheetah ready to pounce at any moment.
"My God..." Master Lin gasped, his voice trembling, "What... what is this iron lump? Such huge wheels!" He instinctively gripped his bicycle tighter, as if the steel monster would charge at him at any moment.
Master Qin had spent his entire life as a fitter and was extremely sensitive to mechanical structures. At this moment, he was deeply shocked by the uniquely shaped, modern wheeled armored vehicle. His throat was dry, and his eyes were fixed on the huge bulletproof tires and the gap in the roof.
His dry lips trembled as he tried to speak, but no words came out; only exclamations of surprise could escape his throat.
Just then, Master Qin's sharp eyes caught sight of a familiar figure carefully "sliding" down from the vehicle!
"Xiao Jiang!"