Courtyard House: Initial Donation of 50 Million

The deafening roar of machine tools filled the third workshop of the Hongxing Machinery Factory, the air thick with the smell of machine oil and metal shavings. Wang Huanbo was bent over, guiding a young apprentice step by step in adjusting the feed rate of the lathe, his rough fingers precisely pointing out the minute errors on the dial. Sweat streamed down his focused profile, dripping onto his oil-stained work clothes.

"Engineer Wang! Engineer Wang! We've finally found you!"

A shout, piercingly loud, tore through the noise of the workshop. Deputy Factory Director Li Huaide burst in like a cannonball, completely ignoring the astonished looks from the others. His usually meticulously combed hair was now a mess, his forehead was covered in sweat, his face was sallow, and most noticeably, a large, red, shiny blister bulged at the corner of his mouth, trembling slightly with his rapid breathing.

Li Huaide grabbed Wang Huanbo's arm with such force that Wang Huanbo frowned. "Something terrible has happened! A huge, catastrophic thing!" Li Huaide's voice was hoarse, trembling with near-collapse. "The Southeast Asian...that joint order...it's exploded! The order volume is three times what we expected! The delivery date...the delivery date is the end of next month!"

Wang Huanbo straightened up, calmly patted the apprentice on the shoulder to signal him to continue operating, and then turned to Li Huaide. Although the other workers in the workshop did not stop working, their ears were all perked up, and their eyes kept glancing in this direction.

"Director Li, please speak slowly." Wang Huanbo's voice was calm and steady, like a block of ice thrown into boiling water, instantly easing Li Huaide's agitation.

"We can't slow down, Engineer Wang!" Li Huaide stamped his feet anxiously, his voice low but filled with despair. "Even if the factory's existing production lines run at full capacity, three shifts a day, without eating or drinking, we still can't finish half! The contract breach penalty... that's an astronomical figure! The factory... the factory is finished! I, the deputy factory manager... I..." His lips trembled, the rest of his words caught in his throat by immense fear, leaving only heavy breathing. He stared intently at Wang Huanbo, his bloodshot eyes filled with the desperate plea of ​​a drowning man grasping at a last straw. "Engineer Wang, you're the pillar of the factory, please think of something! I beg you! As long as we can get through this, I, Li Huaide, will do anything!"

The workshop was filled only with the monotonous hum of machine tools, the atmosphere so heavy it was almost suffocating. All eyes were on Wang Huanbo. This chief engineer, usually taciturn, always managed to solve problems that left others helpless at crucial moments.

Wang Huanbo remained silent for a few seconds, his gaze sweeping over the old, inefficient equipment in the workshop before settling back on Li Huaide's face, which was etched with despair. Li Huaide's face was expressionless, but a barely perceptible hint of contemplation flickered in the corners of his slightly drooping eyes. Then, he spoke slowly, his voice low but clearly penetrating the noise of the machines: "There... isn't absolutely no way."

Li Huaide's eyes suddenly flashed with an astonishing light, as if a dying man had been injected with a stimulant. He took a sudden step closer, almost touching Wang Huanbo's face: "What method? Engineer Wang! Tell me quickly! As long as it works, the factory will fully cooperate!"

Wang Huanbo didn't answer immediately. Instead, he gestured for Li Huaide to follow him to a relatively quiet corner of the workshop, away from the curious ears. He looked around to make sure no one could hear their conversation before lowering his voice and saying with an indescribable air of mystery, "We do have a way. We can get... a complete imported production line. It's secondhand, but it's more than ten times more efficient than our old-timers."

"An imported production line?!" Li Huaide gasped, his heart pounding. This was simply unbelievable! In this era of extremely strict foreign exchange controls and import permits for equipment being incredibly difficult to obtain, how could he possibly acquire a complete imported production line? This Engineer Wang's methods were too unconventional! "Which...which country is it from? How...how fast can it be?" His voice trembled, and he was so excited that he couldn't speak coherently.

"The equipment is all from Japan, the latest models," Wang Huanbo uttered, as if stating a simple fact, his tone as calm as if he were discussing what to have for dinner. "It will arrive, be installed, and debugged in three days at most."

"Three days?!" Li Huaide almost cried out in shock. He covered his mouth tightly, his eyes wide open, looking at Wang Huanbo as if he were an alien. Three days? A second-hand Japanese car production line? This wasn't just unconventional; it was practically divine intervention!

Before the overwhelming joy could even cloud his judgment, a more pressing issue immediately arose. Li Huaide suppressed the turmoil in his heart, lowering his voice to an even more subdued level, filled with immense tension: "Engineer Wang, this...this equipment...how...how did it get here? Through legitimate channels? Approval documents..." He dared not continue; without approval documents, that would be a colossal disaster.

Wang Huanbo's lips curled into a faint smile, the meaning behind which made Li Huaide's heart skip a beat. "Director Li, you don't need to worry about how the equipment will arrive. I have my own way of making it 'appear.' But the prerequisite is..." He paused, his gaze sharpening, "...a place is needed. An absolutely safe place, one that no one knows about, preferably...a long-abandoned place. The equipment can't just appear out of thin air in the factory; it needs a transfer point."

"An abandoned place...safe...nobody knows..." Li Huaide muttered to himself, his mind racing. A tremendous temptation and an equally enormous risk clashed fiercely within him. The huge penalty for breach of contract for the Southeast Asian orders hung like a guillotine over his head, while the lifeline Wang Huanbo had offered, though strangely enigmatic, possessed a deadly allure.

Suddenly, he slapped his thigh, his eyes lighting up with astonishing speed: "I've got it! The outskirts! Red Star Farm! That place has been abandoned for almost ten years! It used to be the factory's non-staple food production base, but it was completely abandoned after the business went bad, and now even the old man who used to guard the gate is gone! The place is big enough, and although the warehouse is a bit dilapidated, it's barely usable! Most importantly, the place is very remote, there's no one for miles around! It's absolutely safe!"

He became increasingly excited as he spoke, spitting as he spoke, as if he could already see the brand-new production line lying in the farm's warehouse. "Engineer Wang, what do you think? That's it!"

As Wang Huanbo listened to Li Huaide's description, a barely perceptible hint of satisfaction flashed in the depths of his eyes. He slowly nodded: "Sounds... acceptable."

"Great! That's wonderful!" Li Huaide was so excited he almost jumped up. The blister at the corner of his mouth seemed even larger due to the intense emotional turmoil, but he didn't care. He rubbed his hands vigorously, and finally, his face broke into his first genuine smile of the day, though it looked a little distorted because of the blister. "Let's not delay! Engineer Wang, how long will it take for the equipment you're preparing to arrive?"

Wang Huanbo hesitated for a moment, then gave an answer that made Li Huaide's heart race again: "Tonight."

"Tonight?!" Li Huaide felt overwhelmed by Wang Huanbo's endless stream of "surprises." But without hesitation, he waved his hand sharply and roared decisively, "Tonight then! I'll personally lead the factory's most reliable transport team! Engineer Wang, rest assured, this is a secret known only to heaven, earth, you, and me! I, Li Huaide, guarantee with my life that there won't be the slightest mistake!"

His eyes gleamed with a desperate, all-or-nothing resolve. The crisis surrounding the Southeast Asian orders lashed at him like a whip, leaving him no other choice. Red Star Farm, this forgotten corner, was about to become the center of a secret operation that would change the fate of the Red Star Factory. And the first step of this operation would begin tonight.