The Grandmother in the Siheyuan

Chapter 336 Alliance
Mr. Yang put down his pen, nodded, and said, "Your view is correct. Tell me what you think, and what new ideas you have?"

"I've been racking my brains at home lately and come up with two recommendations."

Mr. Yang's eyes lit up, and he said with a smile, "No wonder you proposed to take on the LNG carrier project. So you had something in mind. Tell me about it."

"A two-stroke low-speed diesel engine propulsion system with a reliquefaction device, and a dual-fuel electric propulsion system," Liu Hua said with a smile. "In my vision, both of these propulsion systems are relatively safe, reliable, and highly efficient."

Liu Hua then spent an hour explaining the principles of the two recommendation systems, outlining their advantages and disadvantages.

Mr. Yang, who is over seventy years old, never stopped writing and would occasionally interject with a question. He truly deserves to be called an authority on ships, as every question he asked hit the nail on the head.

The meeting lasted for three days, and those three days were not easy. I had to sit in the meeting room for at least seven or eight hours each day, but they were also very effective.

The LNG carrier, weighing hundreds of thousands of tons, was broken down into thousands of sub-projects and handed over to research institutes, research groups, and even technical teams.

Don't underestimate those senior technicians; they are the ones who study how to weld the hull and how to cut and prepare materials.

Liu Feifei watched Liu Hua organizing those blueprints at home and said with a smile, "You really are a workaholic. You always say you want to rest more, play more, and not worry about anything anymore, but you can never find a moment to relax."

Liu Hua smiled and said, "Luckily, I married you, my virtuous wife. This time, I'll be flying all over the country, but thankfully they're all coastal cities with developed economies, so I won't have to endure much hardship."

"I'm not worried at all," Liu Feifei said with a smile. "I've lived with you for more than ten years. How could I not know what you're thinking? I wouldn't dare say you're selfless, but in your heart, the country is always the most important thing."

"Shouldn't it be?"

Liu Feifei nodded: "So, I've always supported you. Just go ahead and make your own way. I'll take good care of things at home and won't let you worry about anything."

Liu Hua flew to six cities in half a month. In each city, he did not have any other work, but just held meetings with people from the research institute.

We hold meetings to assign tasks, distributing our designs and letting them refine and implement them.

Each meeting lasts six or seven hours. Liu Hua explains his design concept to the researchers at the institute. Only if they understand it can they continue their research.

When Liu Hua returned to Beijing, he had lost a lot of weight. No wonder most of the researchers he saw on TV in his previous life were thin and slender. Even setting aside their research work, just traveling all over the country like that must have been a tough job.

After resting at home for two days, Liu Hua rushed to Shougang. Because it was closest to his home, Liu Hua put Shougang and the steel rolling mill as his last stop.

"Engineer Liu, we've been looking forward to your arrival for so long, but who knew we'd be waiting for more than half a month." Shougang's chief engineer said enthusiastically, "You've really made us wait anxiously."

The deputy factory director was a shrewd man. He could tell from Liu Hua's expression and face that he had been extremely busy lately. So he quickly smoothed things over: "Engineer Zhou, Engineer Liu's home is in Beijing, he can't get away. The main event is later, which is why Engineer Liu put us last. Let's not talk about work today. I reckon Engineer Liu has been very busy lately, so let's treat him well. Let's chat for a bit and let Engineer Liu relax. We can talk about business tomorrow."

At Shougang, Engineer Zhou was someone who would often work so hard that he would forget to eat or sleep. Only after the deputy factory director mentioned it did he notice that Liu Hua seemed really tired.

He immediately understood why. How could a deputy chief engineer of such an important project not be exhausted from all the mental and physical labor?
“The factory manager is right, let’s not talk about this today.” Engineer Zhou quickly said, “Today we’re having a welcome dinner for Engineer Liu. He just came back from out of town, how can we not have a welcome dinner?”

A grand banquet, with forty-year-old Shaoxing wine served, and a few sips here and there, are all about getting the blood flowing and relaxing the mind—just the right amount of fun.

Although we weren't going to talk about serious matters today, we did discuss some projects during the banquet, with a particular focus on Baosteel.

Baosteel and Shougang jointly undertook the task of refining ship steel. Although the two companies are said to be cooperating, they are also in competition. Whoever can come out on top will likely get more orders from shipyards in the future.

Although Baosteel is a rising star, it has received strong support and its current scientific research capabilities should not be underestimated.

Liu Hua emphasized Baosteel's strength, which immediately shocked the deputy director of Shougang.

"It's true what they say, the meat in a steamed bun isn't on the pleats." The deputy factory director sighed and said, "They built it after us, and they even used our factory's blueprints. When Baosteel was being built, we supported the engineers, but we never expected that it would turn out to be a case of raising a tiger that will cause future trouble, and that we would cultivate a formidable opponent for ourselves."

"That's going too far. What do you mean by 'raising a tiger only to have it become a threat'?" Liu Hua said with a smile. "What we're doing is enhancing our country's overall national strength. I think healthy competition is the best approach."

"I was just saying that," the deputy factory director said with a smile. "Every time the ministry holds a meeting, Baosteel is so proud of itself. They say that the ore they use is all imported from abroad, from rich mines in Brazil."

"You should be close to it too, right?" Liu Hua said with a smile. "This should be a major national strategy. We need to consider it from both an economic and a strategic perspective. From an economic perspective, using rich mines consumes less energy. From a strategic perspective, domestic iron ore should be stored as a strategic resource."

"That's true, I hadn't thought about it before."

Liu Hua said with a smile: "This is a problem that we must consider in the future. It's not just about iron ore, coal, oil and so on. As our country becomes richer and richer, all strategic mineral resources will have to be temporarily sealed off."

The deputy factory director's eyes lit up, and he immediately smiled and said, "Taking advantage of this opportunity, Shougang should just apply to our superiors to import iron ore from abroad as well."

“This is definitely a good thing, and I believe the higher-ups will agree.” Liu Hua nodded. “I suggest that our domestic steel companies form a strategic alliance, calculate the total amount of iron ore needed each year, and jointly purchase it from abroad.”

“That’s right, the larger the quantity, the better.” The deputy factory director said with a smile, “If Brazil doesn’t lower its iron ore prices, we’ll buy from Australia. With such a large quantity, I’m not worried about them not bowing down.”

"Why don't we be more straightforward and hold a bidding conference every year when we need to import iron ore?" Liu Hua said with a smile, "We'll buy from whoever offers the lowest price."

(End of this chapter)