Courtyard House: Initial Donation of 50 Million

After the test drive, Petrov, his hands still gripping the steering wheel and his face still etched with admiration, turned to Wang Huanbo outside the car and requested a tour of the automobile production line in Russian. Having spent half his life in industrial manufacturing and personally experienced the performance of a vehicle, he wanted to see firsthand the manufacturing system that underpinned that quality.

Wang Huanbo readily agreed. After the group reunited, he led the way, taking the thirty-eight Soviet experts directly to the Hongxing Automobile Branch Factory. Yao Jianghe, Yang Weimin, Li Huaide, and others accompanied them, with factory staff following closely behind. The large group drove into the automobile branch factory gate.

As soon as they stepped into the final assembly workshop, the noisy yet orderly sounds of production hit them, and all the Soviet experts present slowed down in unison.

The workshop is spacious and bright, with the four major production lines for stamping, welding, painting, and final assembly arranged in a neat and orderly manner. The workstations are clearly divided, and the material delivery is seamlessly integrated. At present, Hongxing Automobile Plant has formed a complete product matrix: Hongxing brand family cars for employees, Hongxing Mengshi jeeps suitable for official business, field operations, and military use, and Hongqi Xingyao series luxury cars for high-end government receptions. The three production lines operate in parallel, with a tight pace but without any chaos.

After the previous test drive, everyone had a general expectation of the performance of Hongxing Automobile, assuming that Chinese car manufacturing was roughly at a "usable and adequate" level. However, seeing the entire production line in person completely shattered that expectation. The level of automation, the rationality of the workstation layout, and the efficiency of material flow of the entire production line were all significantly superior to those of civilian car manufacturers in the Soviet Union. Many assembly steps that originally relied on manual labor were assisted by specialized tooling fixtures, which not only improved assembly accuracy but also greatly reduced the labor intensity of workers.

This visible generational gap subtly sombered the atmosphere in the workshop.

Even though most Soviet experts held a favorable view of the Red Star Factory and genuinely wanted to help their socialist brethren, seeing that the factory's automobile production line was more advanced than their own left them with a bitter taste. The sense of superiority of the elder brother quietly cracked in the face of its undeniable industrial strength.

The smile on team leader Petrov's face gradually faded, his brows furrowed, and he walked slowly along the production line, his gaze sweeping over each piece of equipment and each process, his expression growing increasingly serious. He had initially thought this trip to China was for technology transfer, but now it seemed that, at least in the passenger car manufacturing sector, the relationship between the two sides was no longer one of one-sided assistance.

Vasily, mingling in the crowd, also frowned. One of his core missions was to ascertain the true industrial capacity and technological reserves of the Red Star Factory. But the mature and efficient automobile production line before him far exceeded the KGB headquarters' intelligence projections. If a single automobile plant possessed such modern manufacturing capabilities, then its core areas of precision machine tools, electronic components, and new energy likely held even deeper secrets. His hands, hanging silently at his sides, clenched tightly, his vigilance deepening—stealing core technologies would be far more difficult than he had anticipated.

At the end of the assembly line, a brand-new Red Star sedan completed its final inspection and smoothly rolled off the production line. From the body assembly to the finished vehicle, the entire process took no more than an hour and a half. Watching the finished car drive off smoothly, several Soviet automotive experts held their breath in unison.

They were acutely aware of the state of passenger car production in the Soviet Union: while the total annual output of automobiles seemed to be 500,000 vehicles, the vast majority were trucks and construction vehicles, with civilian passenger car production hovering around 50,000 per year. The production time per car was more than double that of the Red Star Plant, yet assembly precision and quality control stability were inferior. This imbalance between heavy industry and weak civilian passenger car production capacity was a chronic problem that the Soviet automobile industry had long failed to resolve.

The fact that Hongxing Factory can maintain such a fast and stable mass production of a popular sedan aimed at ordinary workers, while also maintaining high standards of quality control, is enough to move all the automotive industry professionals present.

Among the crowd, Ivan, an expert specializing in automobile manufacturing, looked particularly grim. He had come with a mission to provide technical assistance, intending to leverage his decades of experience to help the Red Star Plant optimize its production lines, increase capacity, and showcase the strength of the Soviet automotive industry. However, after seeing the entire production line with his own eyes, he discovered that its process layout, automation level, and production rhythm were all more advanced and efficient than mainstream production lines in the Soviet Union. Instead of providing guidance for improvements, he found many valuable insights to glean from this line.

A strong sense of frustration welled up inside him. Ivan pursed his lips, his gaze fixed on the constantly running production line, and remained silent for a long time.

The morning passed quietly amidst meticulous visits and exchanges. From final vehicle assembly to parts processing, from quality inspection to finished product warehousing, the more detailed the Soviet experts observed, the greater their sense of disparity became. It wasn't until Li Huaide reminded them that lunchtime had arrived that everyone snapped out of their reverie.

"Dear experts, you've had a long morning. Let's head back to the main factory canteen for lunch." Li Huaide smiled politely and gestured for them to have lunch. "The kitchen has prepared a Russian-style lunch. Please try it and see if it suits your taste."

Accompanied by Yao Jianghe, Yang Weimin, Wang Huanbo, and other senior and middle-level executives of the factory, the group left the automobile branch factory and headed towards the main factory canteen.

The kitchen of the main factory canteen was already bustling with activity. Sha Zhu was in charge of cooking at the stove, while He Daqing was watching the heat and preparing ingredients; the father and son worked together seamlessly. Li Huaide had specially set aside a separate dining area for specialists, which was clean, quiet, and separated from the staff hall, ensuring both privacy and convenient personalized service.

Once everyone was seated, the dishes were quickly served one by one. The main course was freshly baked rye bread, crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, with a rich wheat aroma, served with a small dish of butter and sour cream, a familiar way to eat it in the Soviet Union; the main course was Russian-style braised beef in a clay pot, sealed in a small earthenware pot, the aroma of steam wafting out when the lid was lifted, the beef stewed until tender and flavorful, the broth coating potatoes and carrots, rich and comforting; the soup was authentic borscht, bright red in color, topped with a spoonful of cream, with a perfect balance of sweet and sour; the dessert was freshly baked egg tarts, crispy on the outside and smooth on the inside, with a rich milky flavor.

From beetroot and fresh beef to butter, cheese, sour cream, and pickles, every Western ingredient was painstakingly sourced by Li Huaide. Many of these rare items were difficult to purchase in bulk in Beijing, so he used his father-in-law's connections to secure them through special supply channels, all to ensure the Soviet experts enjoyed the food and truly felt the sincerity of the Red Star Factory.

Petrov picked up his knife, cut open the rye bread, spread some butter on it, and took a bite, a hint of surprise flashing in his eyes. He then scooped up a spoonful of borscht and tasted it; the flavor was almost identical to what he often ate in Moscow. "Very authentic." He looked up at Li Huaide and Wang Huanbo, his tone sincere, "I never expected to find such an authentic taste of home in China. Thank you both for your trouble."

The other experts also started eating, their faces showing satisfaction. The complex emotions from the morning's visit were somewhat soothed by the warm and delicious food.

In the kitchen, Sha Zhu glanced at the dining area's reaction through the food delivery hatch, grinned, and nudged He Daqing beside him with his elbow: "Dad, look, our cooking skills should be enough to satisfy the Russians' tastes, right?" He Daqing wiped the water from his hands, a faint smile appearing on his usually expressionless face: "The heat and seasoning were just right. If they're enjoying their meal, then our mission wasn't in vain."

The canteen was warm and inviting, filled with the aroma of food, and the atmosphere among guests and hosts was harmonious. No one noticed that Vasily, seemingly leisurely cutting his bread at the table, was actually glancing repeatedly at the canteen entrance, the kitchen corridor, and the positions of the security personnel on the perimeter, silently calculating the subsequent infiltration route. Good food and courteous treatment might appeal to an ordinary technical expert, but they couldn't sway the mission objectives of a KGB agent. Beneath this seemingly friendly technical collaboration, undercurrents were still silently surging.