Chapter 263: Questioning

Lu Cheng didn't answer right away; instead, he opened the package on the table and revealed the Journals inside.

Xiao Jia and a few others couldn't help but crowd over to look, but they found not a single character they recognized.

"This is a foreign magazine, right?"

"Seems so, just don't know which country it's from."

"I know this one; at a glance it's Xiao Ri Zi's."

Xiao Ri Zi's language is easier to distinguish because part of its script evolved from Chinese characters, so when you see occasional characters that look like Chinese, you immediately guess it's Japanese.

When they saw the thick stack of foreign Journals, even Wu Qiming couldn't help but stand up.

"This is a professional Journal, right!"

To researchers, such a professional Journal is equivalent to a priceless treasure.

Xiao Jia, equally excited, couldn't help but take a Journal, hold it in his hand, and examine it carefully.

That cautious manner, seen by Lu Cheng, evoked an inexplicable pang of sadness.

It's just a shabby foreign Journal, yet it has become a treasure in these researchers' hearts.

Lu Cheng took the Journal from Xiao Jia's hand and tossed it onto the table, leaving Xiao Jia heartbroken.

"You still can't read it; what are you groping at!"

Xiao Jia, stung by the criticism, muttered, "You act as if you can read it too!"

"Hey, you actually got it right; otherwise how could I find a Hydraulic oil substitute in here?" Lu Cheng rummaged out yesterday's Russian Journal.

Xiao Jia involuntarily asked, "You mean you found a Hydraulic oil substitute from these Journals?"

When Xiao Jia asked that, everyone's faces showed curious inquiry.

Facts speak louder than arguments, so Lu Cheng spread the Russian Journal he held onto the table.

While flipping for the two pages Lin Qingyan mentioned yesterday, he said,

"You think I did nothing all month? That's impossible!"

"What did you do?"

"What else? Of course it was for the Journals; I flew specially to West Germany."

"You went abroad?"

"Ah, I went by plane; on the way back I hit a sandstorm, almost crashed. You could say I risked my life to bring the Journal back."

Lu Cheng sounded exaggerated; Xiao Jia wore a skeptical face: "How could I not believe you?"

"Believe it or not!" Lu Cheng stopped paying attention to him, continued searching... "Sigh, which page was it again?"

The dense Russian text above was completely unintelligible.

Xiao Jia muttered beside him, "Do you actually know Russian?"

"Of course I do!" Lu Cheng, giving up the search, thought since he couldn't read it and neither could they, just pointed to a random page.

"See, right here."

Hearing Lu Cheng, everyone gathered around.

Wu Qiming, anxious, said, "Group Leader Lu, since you understand Russian, quickly tell us what it says."

The R&D team's main goal now is to solve the problem; if Lu Cheng can solve even a small one, Wu Qiming will wholeheartedly acknowledge him.

Others added, "Yes, Group Leader Lu, we can't read it; please explain."

"Yes, yes, what does it actually say up there?"

Facing everyone's urgent questions, Lu Cheng instead stroked his chin and fell silent.

It's not that he was trying to show off; he was recalling what Lin Qingyan said last night.

Suddenly he clapped his hands: "Oh, this says that the Russians previously developed a low‑temperature‑resistant Hydraulic oil, and it was installed on tank vehicles."

That's how Lin Qingyan said it last night.

Xiao Jia asked in confusion, "Tank vehicle?"

"Yes, exactly." Lu Cheng casually pointed to a Russian word: "Look, this character means 'tank'."

Xiao Jia and the others leaned in to look, but they couldn't understand at all.

"What about the Hydraulic oil?"

"Hydraulic oil?" Lu Cheng flipped to another page, again pointed at a character: "See, this one means 'Hydraulic oil'."

Lu Cheng's confident expression led everyone to think his Russian was really good.

At that moment Xiao Jia noticed something off: "Why does it feel wrong? The character you just pointed at and the one you just pointed at now look exactly the same."

When Xiao Jia said that, the others also realized.

"The same?" Lu Cheng felt a pang inside; how coincidental that his random points hit the same character, and he hadn't noticed.

He didn't even know which character it was, yet it appeared so frequently.

He originally thought everyone still couldn't understand, but the researchers' work attitude turned out to be so rigorous.

"Ahem, that thing you don't get is called a polyphone."

"Polyphone? The Russians have polyphones too?"

"Ah, so the Russians can't have polyphones?"

Lu Cheng, stepping back, looked at Xiao Jia: "No, what's that tone? Questioning me? Then my Russian level is being questioned by others, and by you?"

After Lu Cheng scolded him, Xiao Jia tried to lean forward to confirm again, but Lu Cheng slammed the Journal shut, refusing to let them see it.

Wu Qiming then laughed, "Group Leader Lu, don't take it personally; Xiao Jia is just being rigorous, not questioning you. Since this concerns the snow‑removal machine's development, every detail must be repeatedly verified."

It may seem their research institute only draws simple schematics, but every point on the drawing must be realized, produced by the relevant factories, becoming real components.

If any part of the drawing is wrong, all components become scrap, so their rigor is simply a responsible attitude.

Lu Cheng, unbothered, said, "Director Wu, I understand your seriousness; that's a good thing. In fact, I didn't translate it personally; I have an entire professional translation team behind me, about eight people in total, so you can fully trust what I just said."

"An entire translation team?" Wu Qiming was startled for a moment; he really had underestimated Lu Cheng.

First, acquiring so many professional journals is not an easy feat, and gathering a professional translation team to translate for him would require an enormous network.

Their Iron Science Institute does have translators, but to assemble translation talent from so many countries, even the top leader could count them one by one.

"Alright, Group Leader Lu, regardless, you are also a member of our snow removal machine R&D team; everyone should be united, and I trust your words, but …"

Wu Qiming paused, then continued, "You mentioned that the hydraulic oil used on Soviet tanks meets the operating environment of our snow removal machine, but the old Russian won't sell us the hydraulic oil, which is essentially like not having found a substitute."

Lu Cheng disagreed: "You should broaden your thinking now; the old Russian won't sell us, but consider that our country's tanks also operate under extreme cold border conditions, so they must have solved this problem; therefore we can definitely go to a military factory to ask."

"Military factory?"

When he heard those three words, Wu Qiming just felt his head spin; a military factory is a combat unit, and their Research Institute has no authority to coordinate.

This seems even more difficult than developing a hydraulic oil ourselves.