Chapter 553: The Blueprints for the Reconnaissance Plane

He Yuzhu returned to Liu Rusi's residence; the moment he stepped through the door, his ear was twisted by a hand.

"Ouch—what are you doing?"

Liu Rusi's willow-leaf eyebrows stood upright, but her hand did not loosen in the slightest: "Getting capable, aren't you? Ran a trip to M Country and even found yourself a foreign girl?"

He Yuzhu tilted his head to beg for mercy: "Sister, be reasonable. She has a boyfriend; I only hugged her when I was leaving. You're the one who's being unfair. You saw me at the wharf but didn't even say hello, just watched me get off the ship sneakily without even picking me up."

"Is your brain pinched by a door? What is my status? Who knows if there were tails following behind?" Liu Rusi glared at him.

"Forget it, if someone were tailing me, could they escape my dog-like nose?"

"Still talking about a dog-like nose?" Pingping walked out from the inner room holding He Mu, "The young lady and I were less than a hundred meters from you, and you didn't even notice."

"That's because I didn't sense any malice! If there really were any, I would have discovered it long ago," He Yuzhu muttered, unconvinced.

At this moment, He Mu stretched out his little hands and called out in a milky voice: "Daddy, hug!"

He Yuzhu hurriedly took his son, lifted him high, and caught him gently.

He Mu giggled, and the room was suddenly filled with a joyful atmosphere.

After playing for a good while, Liu Rusi finally let Pingping take the child away.

The two entered the study, and she brewed a cup of Pu'er tea and pushed it over.

He Yuzhu recounted his trip to the United States in detail.

Liu Rusi's eyes brightened as she listened, and upon hearing the end, she couldn't help but slap the table: "Blew up an aircraft carrier? That's truly satisfying!"

He Yuzhu grinned: "I'm very familiar with this route now. In the future, if they dare to come to Hong Kong to show off their power again, just call me; I guarantee they won't return."

"You did a beautiful job this time," Liu Rusi lowered her voice, "Reliable news says that M Country thinks it was Su Guo who did it, and the gunpowder smell between the two sides has been very strong lately."

"It's better if they start fighting!" He Yuzhu's tone revealed a desire to watch the spectacle.

Liu Rusi shook her head: "Not for the time being. But the intelligence front has already seen blades drawn. Both sides have sent large groups of people to Hong Kong."

"Then will you be in danger?" He Yuzhu put away his joking expression.

"It's fine for now, but hard to say later. Hong Kong, this place, I'm afraid it will become an international intelligence center in the future!" Liu Rusi said after taking a light sip of tea.

"To establish a new shipping company, how much money is still missing?" He Yuzhu asked.

Liu Rusi smiled: "Ship prices aren't cheap now; a ten-thousand-ton cargo ship costs 1.2 million US dollars each. To form a scale, we need to buy at least forty ships, which is about 48 million. With what Zhao Ying had originally plus what you gave later, there's less than 30 million. You'll have to make up the remaining gap."

He Yuzhu pondered for a moment: "I have US dollars on hand, but I can't move them for the time being. Much of it is new money, but I can give you gold."

Liu Rusi's eyes lit up: "Gold is even more useful here in Hong Kong."

"How were those old cargo ships handled before?" He Yuzhu asked.

"Fifty thousand US dollars each, sold on credit to Liushi Trading Company. These ships will only run domestic routes from now on, not international ones," Liu Rusi paused, "Speaking of which, Liushi Trading still hasn't undergone Public-Private Partnership, thanks to Secretary Liu's help."

"Why is that?" He Yuzhu asked.

"The money 'sponsored' out on the company's books far exceeds the company's net profit. Secretary Liu applied for a special case," Liu Rusi explained.

He Yuzhu understood immediately—the supplies he had brought back from overseas over the years were all recorded on the Liushi Trading books under the name of "sponsorship." The value of those items was already astronomical; just like the Steel Smelting Equipment brought back from M Country this time, the market price was tens of millions of dollars, but the price Liushi Trading Company sold it for was only tens of thousands of dollars. At the same time, the cash for building the steel plant also had to be lent to the steel plant by Liushi Trading Company. If this were a joint-venture company, the accounts would be impossible to explain.

Before leaving, He Yuzhu left Liu Rusi with one hundred tons of gold and ten million US dollars as startup capital for the new shipping company.

Returning to the Lingnan Tractor Factory, it was already the end of October.

In the Bureau Chief's office, Bureau Chief Liu personally brewed a cup of green tea for He Yuzhu.

"This time, I brought back a complete set of Steel Smelting Equipment; do you want it?" He Yuzhu got straight to the point.

Secretary Liu's face immediately beamed with joy: "That's great! It's too troublesome to transport steel from the north now; if it weren't for bringing back hundreds of cargo ships, transportation would really be a big problem."

He Yuzhu laughed: "Secretary Liu, regarding the matter of Liushi Trading Company, I thank you on behalf of Liu Rusi."

Secretary Liu waved his hand: "Don't be polite. If you really count it, it's us who took advantage of Liushi Trading Company."

"Liu Rusi also sincerely wants to do something for the country. She doesn't care about that money!" He Yuzhu said earnestly.

Secretary Liu nodded and asked: "When will those pieces of equipment for the steel plant arrive?"

"At most half a month."

"Good! I will coordinate with steel smelting talents from all over to come here," Secretary Liu said while picking up the phone.

Six months later, the factory buildings of the Lingnan Liengang Chang were all completed.

After another three months of intense debugging, all the equipment was in place.

With the continuous gathering of steel smelting talents from across the country, in September 1956, the first furnace of molten steel finally surged out.

Secretary Liu looked at the thinner He Yuzhu and patted his shoulder hard: "Zhuzi, you finished in nine months what was supposed to take two years; remarkable!"

He Yuzhu looked at the glowing red molten steel and shed tears with excitement: "The ones who should be thanked are the workers. Without them working three shifts, day and night, this steel plant wouldn't have been built."

"The comrades who came to assist have basically all returned; what are your plans?" Secretary Liu asked tentatively.

"Of course I want to go back too," He Yuzhu wiped the sweat from his forehead.

Secretary Liu pondered for a moment: "I still want to keep you here for a while longer. However, you are a bit tired recently; why not go back to Beijing for a home leave first?"

He Yuzhu nodded: "That works too. I happen to need to find Liu Xiaohua to discuss something."

"What specific matter?"

He Yuzhu took out the blueprints for the U2 Zhenchaji: "Got this, and there are two more aircraft that haven't been fully assembled."

Secretary Liu took it and looked; his breathing became rapid: "This... this thing is too important!"

"There are also two prototypes and a batch of parts arriving at Huangpu Wharf in a few days. It's just uncertain if the parts are complete," He Yuzhu added.

Secretary Liu was so excited his hands were trembling, and he patted him heavily: "Zhuzi, you've performed a great service again this time! I will report to the Military Commission immediately!"

"I request to escort it personally and use my home leave while I'm at it," He Yuzhu said.

"Good! I'll give you the specific departure time tomorrow."

In fact, as early as three months ago, most of the assistance personnel had left one after another after their two-year terms expired.

Liu Haizhong, Jia Dongxu, and He Daqing had also returned to Si Jiu Cheng long ago.

Only He Yuzhu stayed until today for the sake of the steel plant smelting its first furnace of steel.

By the evening of the next day, Secretary Liu received instructions from above: "In two days, professional personnel will arrive here to dismantle and transport it away."