At the end of March, Zhao Xin returned to Fuldan City. This continuous journey was so exhausting for him that he returned to his residence and fell asleep.
When Liu Sheng heard that he was back, he planned to send someone to call him. But he heard that Zhao Xin fell asleep as soon as he came back, and knew that he must be exhausted. When they met in the afternoon, he reminded Zhao Xin: "I heard that A Miao is ill. If you have time, go and see her. It's so pitiful for this little girl to be alone."
As soon as Zhao Xin heard this, he ate a few mouthfuls of food, got up and left.
Liu Sheng originally thought that Zhao Xin would be back soon, and he planned to discuss with him about going north next month. As a result, Zhao Xin didn't come back until the next morning.
"What's wrong? I see there are dark circles under your eyes. Did you not sleep well?"
"Alas!" Zhao Xin took a sip of strong tea and shook his head helplessly. In front of his good friend, there are some things that Zhao Xin can only say to him. "This is a big deal! I thought A Miao had a very strong character, but now it seems it's just a facade. This child's family has been gone since she was nine years old, and she is only eleven years old now. Her mental endurance is actually quite fragile. .”
A Miao is indeed ill, but the biggest problem is heart disease. Zhao Xin chatted with her for a long time before he figured out what was going on.
Since following Zhao Xin, what A Miao misses most is the days on Bear Island. At that time, Zhao Xin could talk and laugh with her almost every day, and there were not so many rules. In his spare time, he would tease King Duofu, or take that little follower Xu Shounan around. At that time, A Miao felt that she had a family again.
But after arriving in Beihai Town, A Miao couldn't speak to Zhao Xin more than a few times in a year. Many times, she just said hello in a hurry and passed by. Later, A Miao studied medicine with Liu Siting. A Miao also worked hard, but she felt more and more lonely.
After Zhao Xin and Shen Xuan got engaged at the end of last year, some miscellaneous rumors began to spread in the medical station, and gradually spread to A Miao's ears. It was said that Zhao Xin didn't like her anymore, so he sent her to work at the medical station. What kind of wild girl from the mountains still thinks about sparrows climbing high branches and other nonsense.
Liu Siting had been gone for three months, and now she didn't even have anyone to protect her. A Miao was already worried, but now she was even more worried. Did Zhao Xin and the teacher not want me anymore? After being sad for the spring and autumn, and reflecting on my life experience, my heart disease became more and more serious, and it would be strange not to fall ill.
Liu Sheng heard Zhao Xin's words and said angrily: "Tell me who said those bullshit words? I'll go find them to settle the score soon!"
Zhao Xin shook his head and said: "Forget it, it's not easy for us to train a few medical staff. Besides, this kind of gossip is not new at all, it happens everywhere."
Liu Sheng said: "How do you plan to deal with this matter?"
Zhao Xindao: "What else can we do? Bring A Miao back and live with me first. At least I will have Guisheng to help take care of her. I will go north in a few days and take her with me to relax."
Liu Sheng frowned and said, "If you treat her like this, be careful not to let her go in the future."
"Ah? What do you mean?"
Liu Sheng said bluntly: "You once told me that women in this era have to live dependent on men. If you take care of A Miao like this, who will dare to marry her in the future?"
Zhao Xin shook his head and said: "Let's take it one step at a time. Change the environment first, and maybe it will get better gradually. Rikichi, Shino, A Miao, and Katsu Kaishu, the seven of them, are the first people to follow me. Over time, , more or less emotional."
In the next two days, Zhao Xin would take time to talk to A Miao, and the little girl's spirit obviously improved a lot. Another day later, A Miao took her luggage and followed Guisheng into Zhao Xin's wooden courtyard in Jurgen City. As a result, as soon as A Miao entered the house, she felt like she was home. Regardless of Guisheng's dissuasion, he started cleaning inside and outside the house.
Zhao Xin explained the precautions to Guisheng, and Guisheng would take care of him when he was away. Liu Sheng would also come over often to visit.
Guisheng said with some resentment: "Master, you have been gone for many days without me even taking you with you. If you do this again, I will fall ill like A Miao."
Zhao Xin slapped Guisheng on the head twice and scolded with a smile: "Silly boy, your parents are in Yangzhou! If you don't want to work with me anymore, I'll ask Boss Shen to take you back."
"Don't! Master, I haven't shown my appearance yet." Guisheng thought at this time that the young eunuch Chun Lai had been begging him for a long time, but nothing came of it. He should tell Zhao Xin today.
"Master, that Chun Lai wants to follow you."
Zhao Xin was stunned: "Is spring coming?" He had so many things to do that he had long forgotten that there was such a person.
"It's the little eunuch who was exiled that we met in Ninggu Pagoda. The one who gave the emperor tea that was too hot."
"Oh! It's him. What is he doing now?"
"The old eunuchs who came with us are now sweeping the floors in Fuldan City every day, or serving patients in the wards of the medical station. They can't do heavy physical work. They look very pitiful."
"What's going on with them these past few months?"
Guisheng knew what Zhao Xin was asking and said hurriedly: "It's quite normal and the people are very honest. I found two people and kept an eye on them."
Zhao Xin thought for a while and said: "Guisheng, you need to have more strings in your mind. Their identities are too sensitive... I am not discriminating against eunuchs, and neither does Mr. Liu. In this way, you let that spring come and go." Team, don’t think about serving people all day long.”
Upon hearing this, Guisheng said quickly: "Master, I understand."
Zhao Xin suddenly asked in a low voice: "During my absence, everything in the city was still normal?"
Guisheng came over and whispered, "Don't worry, both sides are fine. Farming is busy now, and the soldiers and civilians are either clearing land or building roads, but things are still normal down there."
Zhao Xindao: "Keep an eye on everyone. When there are more people, all sorts of things will appear."
Guisheng nodded, understanding.
Two days later, Zhao Xin saw that A Miao was fine, so he gave some instructions and left. This time he was going to West Africa to pick up Deng Fei and the others. The modification of the freighter had been completed, and now he was waiting for him to pay the balance.
When he thought about having to spend tens of millions to buy heavy oil when the freighter left the dock, Zhao Xin no longer felt an ordinary pain in his body, but his whole body ached!
On the way to West Africa, Zhao Xin met Andrew somewhere in Europe as agreed.
"Zhao, I've asked you about the thing you asked last time." As soon as Andrew said this, the FSB official wearing glasses suddenly appeared in Zhao Xin's mind.
"800-ton level, plus all supporting systems, 50."
Zhao Xin knew that after the other party's 50, there was another "million" that he didn't say, so he thought to himself, you're not just killing me, you're just chopping me up! However, he did not refuse directly, but changed his words. He smiled and said: "Andrew, are we friends?"
"Of course! We are close buddies!" Andrew has known Zhao Xin for a long time, and has learned a lot about the other person's mantra.
"Okay. Andrew, the price is not expensive to be honest. I plan to buy two."
When Andrew heard this, he stood up and hugged Zhao Xin in excitement. Zhao Xin quickly said: "I haven't finished speaking yet. I have no use for anti-ship missiles at all. Am I going to drive an 800-ton boat to provoke all over the world?" ? No! This is my personal belongings. It can ensure safety and fulfill my dreams. Besides, I have no use for anti-aircraft missiles."
When Andrew heard this, he also felt that what the other party said made sense. Just listen to Zhao Xin continue: "There are also helicopters and decks, but I don't actually need them."
"Zhao, do you want a hull?!"
Zhao Xin patted Andrew on the shoulder and said: "Let's keep the original 76mm rapid-fire cannon, add two more multi-barreled automatic cannons, and install a BM-21 rocket launcher in the free space at the stern. In addition, give me two bases of high-explosive bombs. The price is 35 each!"
Andrew was confused when he heard this. What would the ship look like if it were done like this? He pondered his thoughts before tentatively asking: "Do you still need the radar system?"
"Of course." Zhao Xinxin said that if all the radars were removed, then he would have no choice but to fight with bayonets on the sea.
"35 definitely won't work! Zhao, 40, right? Pay 30% deposit first."
"Okay." There is no other way. We can only deal with private matters at this price.
After discussing the ship, Zhao Xin proposed to purchase ten more D30s and two sets of BM-21 rocket launchers. Although rocket launchers are fun to shoot, one rocket costs thousands of dollars; 40 directional tubes cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to shoot once. As for long-range rockets, one costs more than 100,000 U.S. dollars, which is really unaffordable!
In fact, Andrew was also wondering, why did Zhao Xin buy only traditional weapons in the past two years? However, one of the most important principles in this business is not to inquire about customers' purchasing intentions, so he can only keep his questions to himself.
The night after the meeting, Andrew conveyed Zhao Xin's strange request to the previous supplier. When the supplier heard about it, he was also puzzled. Don’t anti-ship missiles look good now? Are anti-aircraft missiles so unpopular? Is this person planning to find someone to fight hand-to-hand with a 76mm rapid-fire cannon and a 122-meter rocket launcher? I can’t figure it out!
The supplier thought hard for a long time and finally decided not to give up. Compared with the old junk things that Zhao Xin bought before, two frigates are already a big deal. Since the other party has already paid the deposit in advance, let’s get started happily! Anyway, in the future, we can use satellite monitoring to see what the other party is up to.
As a result, someone ordered two 800-ton frigates originally built for the country's navy to be refitted. The engineer in charge of the project was confused and thought that this was the stupid weapon combination that would come up with...
Zhao Xin really has no good way to avoid satellite surveillance. Boats are not cars and can be driven into a warehouse; the dock has no roof.
Andrew had mentioned before that you could spend money to buy the trajectory data of reconnaissance satellites and use the gaps in satellite reconnaissance to avoid it. But Zhao Xin understands that anyone who dares to buy this kind of data in the international market is definitely looking for trouble. All he can do now is avoid a certain G satellite, because the other party's satellite map is only refreshed once every six months.
Two days later, when Zhao Xin arrived at the port in West Africa, when he saw Deng Fei and Ding Guofeng, they both complained. I have seen lazy people, but I have never seen such lazy people! Work depends entirely on your mood, and you have to work hard all day long. Some people even steal things from the construction site. Ding Guofeng was so angry that he almost beat people.
Zhao Xin had no time to worry about this. He originally chose to renovate here because he considered that chaotic management and corruption would prevent him from being noticed. He asked Deng Fei: "How is the quality of the modification?"
"With the Swiss company as supervision, there is no problem with the quality."
Zhao Xin said again: "That's fine. What's the situation at the port?"
Ding Guofeng smiled bitterly and said: "There are countless thieves. The most important thing for us to do every day is to check the backpacks of the workers who disembark. Not to mention the rigging, all the leftover materials will be stolen by the workers if they are not careful."
It is said that in order to avoid direct conflicts with workers, Deng Fei and others mainly check suspicious people with large backpacks every day. Several warehouse doors on the ship are locked with anti-theft locks. In addition to these, the two also hired a security company to patrol the ship 24 hours a day.
Zhao Xindao: "Has everything been done at the port?"
Deng Fei said: "The money you gave has basically been spent, and all departments have taken care of it. As for the guards sent by the port prosecutor, I gave them several boxes of instant noodles and four cartons of cigarettes. They were so happy that they couldn't open their mouths from ear to ear."
Deng Fei said it simply, but Zhao Xin knew that these two people would definitely not have an easy time. A major feature of West African ports is that there are usually no less than ten departments managing ship procedures. Although the local living conditions are very poor, the standard of boarding inspection is high; the local immigration department is even more notorious. Once problems are discovered by these departments, sky-high fines will be imposed.
"Don't worry. It's all done." Deng Fei patted Zhao Xin on the shoulder. Because he can speak French, he battled wits and courage with these departments for two months, used money to clear the way, and argued with reason, and finally got away with it.
In addition, Deng Fei also took a fancy to a second-hand tugboat parked in the port in advance and negotiated the price. This tug has 4,000 horsepower, a speed of 10 knots, and a bollard drag force of 56 tons. Although the operation of the tugboat is extremely professional, the new ship is so big that it is impossible to directly dock and enter the port like the Thor.
When Zhao Xin paid the balance and completed the delivery procedures, ten days had passed. During this period, the new ship started to refuel. Considering the price, Zhao Xin decided to only add half of the fuel. Anyway, he doesn't plan to continue buying heavy oil in this time and space.
After the three people completed all the formalities, they waited patiently for two more days. At this time, all the relevant personnel at the port had spent money to organize the operation, and there was no one to restrain them; so the operation started at three o'clock in the night. By morning, the three of them had already boarded a flight.
But people at the port faced empty berths early in the morning and didn't even fart. They didn't care where the big and small boats went. The money Zhao Xin gave them was enough for them to live happily for a while. As for work? Let’s talk after the money is spent!
In mid-April, Zhao Xin and the others returned to Beihai Town without stopping. The new ship was named "Thunder", and its huge blue hull shocked the entire Beihai Town. Tens of thousands of people, old and young, came to the beach every day to watch.
The original pier was too small to allow the Thunderbolt to dock, so it could only park in deep water one kilometer away from the shore. Deng Fei could only drive a tugboat to take Zhao Liang and other workers on board the ship to install weapons every day.
Because the new D30 and BM-21 have not yet arrived, what Zhao Liang and the others can do now is to imitate the MK93 defense system and weld dozens of heavy machine gun racks with shield steel plates around the deck of the Thunder, and finally Just install PKM upwards.
Zhao Xin can't wait for the Thunder's modification to be completed. He will return to Fuldan City immediately to lead the team north. Later, Deng Fei will drive the Thunderbolt, carrying the second group of workers, to the northeast of Bitterleaf Island in mid-May.
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