Chapter 164: Various Reactions

Ning Shuangshuang speculated on her own that Du Qiu might be nearby in Somalia or possibly in North African countries.

Both places are war-torn and make it easy to hide one’s identity.

Thinking that Du Qiu was hiding in a war-torn area made Ning Shuangshuang quite worried.

“Shuangshuang, it’s clear that Du Qiu has managed to do this not only because he has money. It seems that in this past year or more, he has accumulated some power abroad,” Ning Yuzhe remarked as he stopped pacing and sat back in his office chair, addressing Ning Shuangshuang.

“What does Second Uncle think?”

Ning Yuzhe sighed lightly and said, “In this world, outside of Tang Country, there are so many war-torn areas. As long as you have money and put some thought into it, you can always muster some strong forces.

My worry is that Du Qiu is young and impetuous; with money and power, his ambitions might inflate too much, which may not be good for his development.”

“What is Second Uncle worried about?” Ning Shuangshuang pursued.

Ning Yuzhe took a sip of water from his cup and continued, “Nowadays, Dream Technology’s rapid development in the country is partly because the state feels it owes Du Qiu some debts and has supported him appropriately.

Otherwise, how could almost every city in the country place orders for the environmentally friendly waste treatment equipment that is banned from sale abroad?

The Xiaobai series of household robots also received a supportive stance from the state. Otherwise, just a safety clause could have banned its sale.

Furthermore, that Liang family’s boy wouldn’t dare to make another move against Dream Technology. The actions taken above clearly show they are waiting for Du Qiu to return to the country.”

“Du Qiu will definitely come back,” Ning Shuangshuang said firmly, then her beautiful eyebrows knit slightly, “If Liang Weimin dares to act rashly again, I definitely won’t let him off.”

Ning Yuzhe looked at Ning Shuangshuang, knowing that the reason Liang Weimin targeted Du Qiu might have something to do with her.

He had heard that Liang Weimin had been having troubles divorcing Sun Hongming’s daughter in the past two years and was uncertain of the current situation.

Ning Yuzhe sighed slightly and said, “If Du Qiu has grown a strong force abroad, when he returns, it will be difficult for the upper echelons to handle.

You must know, Dream Technology is in possession of core manufacturing technologies, and now many military-industrial enterprises want to learn about Dream Technology’s fully automated production line technology.

Although the super high-precision CNC machining center technology has been licensed for use by large consortia, other military enterprises have not yet received it.

This wave of people going to Dream Technology for visits, negotiating technology licensing agreements with Liu Yaofeng, have all been turned away by the excuse that he can’t make decisions because the chairman is not there.”

“Is this a problem?” Ning Shuangshuang asked in surprise.

Ning Yuzhe sighed and said, “Do you know how intense the negotiations were between North and South Car and companies from Eastern Eurasia and Germany for high-speed rail cooperation and technology transfer?

Eastern Eurasia awarded the technology transfer and thus secured the high-speed rail contract; Siemens from Germany, despite having the strongest technology, lost the contract because it wouldn’t transfer technology.

Although these were market-acquired technologies, it has always been criticized by the West, led by the United States. Now they repeatedly demand in economic negotiations that we’re not allowed to force technology transfers.

Foreign enterprises can afford to be adamant about not transferring technology and still enter the Tang Country’s market because they have their own countries backing them. But what backing does Dream Technology have for not transferring its technology?”

“But isn’t Dream Technology also our own Tang Country enterprise?” Ning Shuangshuang asked, somewhat confused.

“The problem is, it’s not state-owned!” Ning Yuzhe knew that although his niece was smart, she was very insensitive to some matters.

He continued to explain, “For most industries, not being state-owned is not a problem.

But Dream Technology is in control of top-notch core technologies in manufacturing; in the past, such enterprises were state-owned, especially a batch of core military-industrial enterprises.”

Ning Shuangshuang, not convinced, retorted, “Uncle, don’t joke. Nowadays, the state promotes military-civilian integration, and many private enterprises can participate in military product production.”

Ning Yuzhe rubbed his forehead, somewhat helplessly saying, “That’s because these products’ primary production enterprises are still state-owned. Have you ever seen a private enterprise in the country that can directly produce tanks, fighter jets, or missiles?

Moreover, Dream Technology now plays an almost irreplaceable role in the aerospace field.

Our Mars mission last year was successful in one clean sweep, and all those components were produced by Xingguang Precision.

Otherwise, do you think the country would dare announce a plan to establish a base on Mars by 2030?”

Ning Shuangshuang seemed to understand something, yet felt something was not right, “Uncle, without Xingguang Precision, didn’t you produce components for the Mars mission before?

It seems that without Xingguang Precision, the Mars mission would still succeed, right? I think you might be overemphasizing Dream Technology’s role.”

Ning Yuzhe waved his hand and said, “Without Xingguang Precision, the Mars mission might still have succeeded, but the twists and turns involved…

Forget it, only insiders know the ins and outs of this issue, and you wouldn’t understand even if I explained.

Anyway, remember, precisely because Dream Technology has grown to be indispensable to the state, we cannot let it get out of control.

In this case, Du Qiu having strong forces abroad – how is that different from a foreign enterprise?”

After hearing all this, Ning Shuangshuang fell deep into thought.

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In a certain courtyard in the Imperial Capital, a man in his thirties was feeding pigeons in the courtyard with a focused expression, while a lady in professional attire reported something behind him.

“Chairman, there’s another piece of news – the government forces of South Sudan achieved an overwhelming victory, and a medical team from our country that was taken hostage by illegal armed militants has been successfully rescued.”

The man suddenly scattered the feed in his hand and turned around abruptly.

“Where did the news come from? Is it reliable?”

“This was just announced by the spokesperson of the Foreign Ministry; it’s absolutely true and trustworthy.”

“Did they mention the peacekeeping troops?”

“No,” the professional lady paused and then corrected herself, “Oh, the spokesperson did add something – he expressed gratitude to a company called Iron Guard Security.”

“Iron Guard Security? Find out what you can about them.”

“Right away.”

“Has the president of Dream Technology, Liu Yaofeng, returned to the country?”

“He’s already back.”

“Arrange a meeting for me; I will go to Magic City to see him tomorrow.”

“I will take care of it.”

The man waved his hand, signaling the professional lady to leave.

He stretched and loosened up, walking over to a stone table under the courtyard pergola, picking up the mobile phone on the table and dialing a number.

Speaking with a smile, the man said, “Uncle Qi, I’m Weimin. I just got two bottles of fine liquor, definitely pure brew. I will bring them to your place later so Auntie can store them.

To be clear, I’m keeping it at your place so I can drink it when I come over for a meal.”

“Why bring wine when you come for a meal?” responded the on-phone voice.

The man’s smile did not waver as he said, “Good wine requires good dishes. By the way, you mentioned something about the issue in South Sudan – what’s the situation now?”

“Oh, the peacekeeping troops didn’t find the medical team; they were rescued by a mercenary group.”

“Iron Guard Security, right? Do you know their background?”

Uncle Qi replied, “You seem to be aware. Apparently, they are registered in the Tanga Federation, and their personnel come from their national defense forces.

Additionally, the advantage gained by the South Sudan government forces relates to the Tanga Federation’s support.”

The man frowned and said, “Tanga Federation – isn’t that our aid-recipient country? What are they trying to do?”

“That’s unclear. All right then, I will leave you to it.”

“All right then, Uncle Qi, you carry on.”

The man placed his phone down and sat back, pouring himself a cup of tea from the teapot on the stone table and then downed it in one gulp.

He didn’t put the teacup down but played with it in his hands.

“Interesting. Who would have beaten me to the punch?”

He did not notice that among the tendrils of green ivy climbing the pergola, a beetle lay quietly.

++++++++

“Director, the information you requested.” Imanca placed a stack of folders on the desk of the GIA Tang Country affairs director Clark.

Clark, an old man with white hair and a kindly face, preferred reading printed documents over computer files.

He picked up his reading glasses from the desk, put them on, and began flipping through the report that Imanca had brought.

Since Clark didn’t ask Imanca to leave, she stood by the desk waiting.

In the Tang Country affairs office, Imanca knew that this seemingly kind old man was uncompromising; if he didn’t instruct something and someone went ahead with it, they’d inevitably be packing to leave.

At that moment, no one thought Director Clark was kindly.

Over a year ago, although Imanca had made a phone call to Du Qiu that Lagia found out about, Lagia understood Imanca’s special role and naturally wouldn’t touch her for such a small matter.

Simply dispatching her to the archives room in the office made it clear that he suspected she had contact with Du Qiu and wanted to see her caught in the act, possibly also able to follow the clues to catch Du Qiu.

Unfortunately, Imanca had lost contact with Du Qiu and, from the large amount of archived intelligence, it seemed as though Du Qiu had disappeared altogether.

“Lagia is dead,” Clark suddenly put down the folder and looked up at Imanca, stating it calmly.