Chapter Ninety-Five: Seizing the Advantage with Technology

After listening to the old man, Yang Hui had thought a solution was finally at hand, but he had never imagined that the old fellow would now have a taste for riddles as well.

He had no choice but to think it through carefully, following the old man’s hint: what exactly was the situation, and what on earth was the old man’s method?

He began by recalling the old man’s style of play that afternoon. At first, it seemed the old man had been locked in a tug-of-war with the two opposing knights; then he changed his approach, and the situation immediately turned favorable, with good news coming one after another.

It seemed that the old man had completely ignored the two knights and launched a full-scale attack on the enemy king. Step by step, he forced the other side to sacrifice the knights to save the king. The entire endgame was simply this: ignore the knights, and strike hard at the king.

That line of thought seemed interesting. If applied to the current trainer aircraft project, it might make sense.

The base had seized some initiative, though not very visibly; that should correspond to the black pieces the old man had played. The ones trying to snatch the opportunity away were those extremely troublesome fellows; that should correspond to the two knights. So what, then, were the two enemy kings?

The king was the superior of the two knights, so in reality that would be the superior of the people trying to intercept the project. Thinking carefully, that ought to refer to the Ministry of Aviation Industry.

The more he thought about it, the more it fit. The Ministry of Aviation Industry really did seem to occupy that position. It was certain to lean toward the group expected to swoop in and steal the prize, but if one wanted to move against the Ministry of Aviation Industry now, would that really be wise?

No matter how hard he tried, Yang Hui still could not figure out what the old man meant. In the end, he had no choice but to surrender and explain his own line of thought to the old man, to see whether he was even in the right direction at all.

"Old man, according to what you said, I’ve applied your whole game to our present situation. Our base is the one you were controlling this afternoon... and the enemy king is the Ministry of Aviation Industry. But I still do not understand what you mean at all."

After hearing Yang Hui’s foolish explanation, the old man was almost so angry that he wanted to whip him with a belt. After all these years, how had he ended up raising such a grandson? He said irritably:

"Who told you to keep stuffing eggs into a basket like an idiot? I was telling you to grasp my line of thought: when something cannot be done head-on and the situation is troublesome, then change your approach, work around it from another angle, and achieve your goal that way."

Work around it? Yang Hui suddenly felt a spark of understanding.

If one thought in terms of maneuvering around the whole situation, then focusing only on the Ministry of Aviation Industry was a little too narrow-minded. If one widened the view further, then above the Ministry of Aviation Industry there would be...

At last he understood. Above it were the central institutions in the capital. This project had been negotiated between the base and the foreign side, and it was about to be reported upward. Not only reported, but reported all the way to the very top.

With a project involving several hundred million U.S. dollars, and one that could serve as a model of international cooperation, the higher-ups would certainly pay close attention once it reached them. If someone wanted to trip it up in the dark, that would be difficult. If they wanted to intercept it, they would have to do so openly.

Having grasped the point, Yang Hui said again, "I understand. You mean we must not only avoid hiding the project away, but must report it immediately and make a big deal of it, preferably all the way to the top so that the higher-ups take notice. That way, anyone trying to interfere in the dark will have no way to act."

Director Yang, who had already understood the old man’s meaning long ago, sat to the side and, seeing that Yang Hui had finally figured it out, went on to explain the practical approach for the trainer aircraft project.

"That is exactly what I mean. Think about it: right now, there are only two places in the country doing advanced trainer aircraft projects, your base and the factory in the northeast that produces the fighter-trainer six. If anyone is going to come steal the project, it can only be them. The others are all quite reliable; it is unlikely they would try such a thing."

At last, Director Yang put the factory that might come to steal the project out in the open. Now the task was to find a way to reduce that factory’s chances of success to the absolute minimum.

Seeing this, the old man added a few more words. Since the idea had been his, he ought to say a couple more lines.

"Against an open attempt to steal the project, your chances of success are very high. First, you are already working on the fighter-trainer seven project, so you have a technological edge over their fighter-trainer six.

"Second, this project was hard-won by you. The foreign investor is certainly more familiar with your side, and the higher levels in the country will, in order to encourage you to keep going out and opening new ground, naturally tilt a little more toward you. Add to that the fact that you are prepared in advance, and if you make the initial proposal look good enough, and even release a few side projects to other sister units, then this project will be yours nine times out of ten."

When it came to these matters of seizing projects, it was indeed the old hands in the capital who were the most ruthless. In the blink of an eye they had come up with such a brilliant method, and the key point was that it would leave the base gaining advantage at every turn.

They would no longer have to worry about leaving the Ministry of Aviation Industry out in the cold and provoking its dissatisfaction, while also being able to bring the project under their own banner openly and fairly.

As for whether that factory in the northeast could snatch the project from the base, that was just laughable. To defeat an interceptor head-on in design would be far too easy; the new trainer aircraft already had a plan in reserve.

They then went on and on discussing how the follow-up matters should be handled and how to guard against future trouble.

By the time they were done, night had fallen. Only when Yang Yue and Granny Zhou called them to dinner did they finally leave off, still not quite satisfied. Before the meal ended, Director Yang gave a few more instructions.

"That settles it. Let’s go eat. Xiaohui, remember to tell your base leaders about our idea, and have them send someone tomorrow to report this matter to the Ministry of Aviation Industry. This is a big deal; tomorrow I will report both this project and your company’s establishment all the way to the top."

Yang Hui stood up, stretching himself, and agreed readily. "No problem. After dinner tonight, I’ll go back to the guesthouse and discuss it again with the base leaders. Tomorrow we’ll have people notify all the relevant ministries and commissions together."

The serious matters had been settled, but the smaller ones were no fewer. Once they were seated at the table, the three elders naturally turned to talking about Yang Hui and Yang Yue.

When it came to discussing the personal affairs of the younger generation, it was only natural for the older woman to speak first, and Granny Zhou was exactly that kind of person.

"Xiaoyue, how are you two getting along now? Down in the far southwest we know nothing at all about your situation. Tell us about it now, so we can have some idea in our hearts."

Later generations often complained endlessly about being interrogated by their elders at the dinner table about their private affairs. Yet this tired old scene was not tired at all. Back in 1983, Yang Hui and Yang Yue were already being made to endure it. If one traced it farther back, to the time when humanity first developed the habit of eating meals at the table, this kind of melodramatic and overused scene already existed. Passed down to this day, it had become a cultural gene.

At times like this, Yang Yue found it awkward to speak, so Yang Hui had to submit to the elders’ questioning.

"Well, things are pretty good for us over there. The leaders at both institutes have treated us very well. Director Bai at my side thinks highly of me, which is why he accepted my suggestion to do this model aircraft project. And Chief Designer Yu is a good person too; he seconded Yueyue to our institute to work on the model aircraft fuselage. You could say this project is being led by the two of us for the most part."

If one wanted to know the state of their relationship, that was a little difficult. Yang Hui avoided the topic and talked at length about how valued they were at work, and how promising their future would be.

But this little sly fox was actually skirting the main issue. How could that be tolerated? The old man could no longer keep calm.

"Yang Hui, speak to the point. We are asking about your and Xiaoyue’s personal affairs. You must give us a proper answer now."

It looked as though he could not dodge this after all. He might as well speak honestly.

"As for that... right now Yueyue and I get along very well over there. There have been no setbacks; we support each other. This model aircraft project is Yueyue’s support for me..."

How could this fellow be dragging everything back to work again after only a few sentences? He was simply impossible to pin down. Even Director Yang could not bear it anymore and directly asked the question that most concerned all three elders.

"I say, you two are both grown adults now—one is twenty-two, the other twenty-one. Since there is no problem between you, how do you plan to handle the rest of your lives? You cannot keep dragging this out forever."