Hu Lei pushed the door open. Feng Qian put down the *National Defense Daily* in his hands and looked behind Hu Lei, but he didn't see Lei Baxi.

"Lei Baxi didn't come," Hu Lei answered the unspoken question.

Feng Qian felt that Hu Lei probably hadn't managed to invite Lei Baxi. This wasn't surprising; judging from their last meeting, Lei Baxi's corporate management model wasn't suitable for small enterprises. Just as he was thinking about how to console Hu Lei so he wouldn't be unhappy, he saw Hu Lei speak with great confidence.

"I thank Comrade Lei. After meeting today, he pointed out the direction. I asked him to help recommend some people to establish a Party group in the factory, and only then did I learn that a Party organization isn't about hiring people, but a Party Committee composed of Party members. I want to join the Party."

Hearing this, Feng Qian was stunned. He looked Hu Lei up and down, wondering if Hu Lei was suffering from some infantile disorder—how could he just act on whatever he heard?

Before Feng Qian could speak, the telephone on the desk rang. Hu Lei picked it up, and a moment later looked at Feng Qian with some surprise. "It's for you."

Feng Qian took the phone, listened to a few sentences, and immediately replied, "I understand. I'll go right now."

Putting down the phone, Feng Qian apologized to Hu Lei. "I've been assigned a task and will be busy for a few days. We'll talk after that."

Seeing Hu Lei's surprised expression, Feng Qian comforted him, "Don't worry, I'm not leaving Shanghai. Something just came up suddenly that I need to assist with."

This wasn't an excuse; the matter was indeed too sudden. Feng Qian was in charge of technology promotion. The call informed him that some technology transfer work required someone from the Ministry of Science and Technology to be present. Aside from the personnel the Ministry had already sent, since Feng Qian happened to be in Shanghai, he was asked to participate nearby.

Feng Qian rushed to the Shanghai Science and Technology Department, where colleagues from the Ministry had already arrived. During a brief exchange, Feng Qian was surprised to learn that this time they were transferring some potent pesticides, herbicides, and insecticides to the Soviet Union.

A colleague from the Ministry instructed, "This time, we need to emphasize to the Soviet side that DDT and those insecticides are highly toxic and leave serious residues. We do not recommend that the Soviet side use them long-term."

Speaking of this, the colleague lowered his voice slightly. "You might not be aware, but Chairman He has given instructions regarding agricultural use. At this stage, there are no better insecticides, so we have no choice but to use these pesticides with serious residues and high toxicity. Relevant units are developing pesticides based on interference mechanisms. We need to explain this clearly to the Soviet side."

"The Soviets probably won't really listen, will they?" Feng Qian, who had dealt with the Soviet side many times, was not optimistic. He had heard that Soviet scientific and technological work was simple and crude, so highly toxic pesticides with serious residues might actually fit their style.

"The comrades from the Ministry of Agriculture have already given a plan. Regardless of whether the Soviet side listens, we can determine whether to import Soviet grain in the future by testing for pesticide residues. So we aren't afraid of them not listening. But we must explain this first."

Feng Qian recalled the Soviet side's past performance and remained pessimistic. He asked, "Will the Soviets think we're keeping the low-toxicity pesticides for ourselves and not letting them use them?"

"You've dealt with relevant Soviet departments many times, which is why we specially invited you. The Soviets are desperate this time, so we have to be understanding."

Feng Qian happened to see the introduction to natural disasters in Eastern Europe in the *National Defense Daily*. Droughts, floods, insect plagues, and crop diseases. Natural disasters had broken out not only in the Soviet Union but also in Romania, Poland, Germany, Hungary, Austria, and other regions that were at relatively high latitudes compared to China. It wasn't just Europe; the United States had also experienced large-scale natural disasters.

Now they could only solve the urgent need first. As for the future impact of those fierce, highly toxic pesticides, they would have to take it one step at a time.

With the preparations made, the meeting convened quickly. After talking for a while, Feng Qian discovered that the agricultural situation in the Soviet Union was likely even worse than imagined.

When the Chinese side introduced the intense efficacy of the pesticides, the Soviet representatives looked solemn and extremely focused. After the Chinese side finished introducing the efficacy and added the suggestion not to use these pesticides long-term, the Soviet representatives didn't care.

One of them, an Agricultural Bureau Secretary named Korchagin, stated with a stiff and deliberately polite attitude, "China and the Soviet Union are friendly nations. We are willing to cooperate with China in these fields for the long term."

After these pleasantries, the Soviet representatives immediately requested with solemn expressions that the Chinese side ship the goods immediately. It looked like they didn't want to wait a moment longer.

Seeing this attitude from the Soviet representatives, the participating comrades wanted to explain the situation further. The Agricultural Bureau Secretary named Korchagin in the Soviet delegation interrupted the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology's introduction.

"Chinese comrades, do you know what degree the agriculture in the Kiev region has reached?"

Seeing the stunned expressions of the Chinese representatives, Korchagin introduced himself again. "I am Korchagin, Secretary of the Kiev Agricultural Bureau of the Soviet Ukrainian Republic. Agriculture in Ukraine has suffered a serious reduction in yield. In the past two years, the entire Ukraine region has built a large number of water conservancy projects; floods and droughts cannot destroy Ukraine's agriculture. But those hateful rats, bugs, and invisible bacteria are harming our crops. Therefore, our purpose in coming here is to obtain pesticides immediately. Our harvest this year has been affected; we absolutely cannot let next year be affected in the same way. So, comrades, please discuss the work of transportation."

For a moment, the Chinese representatives were all stunned. This Agricultural Bureau Secretary Korchagin's straightforwardness reminded the Chinese representatives of various Chinese cadres they had encountered. These cadres were simple and honest, open and aboveboard in their actions. They were good comrades and even better people, performing excellently at the grassroots level.

Although this meeting couldn't be considered high-level, the fact that the Soviet Union had sent such a Secretary comrade to attend did surprise the Chinese representatives somewhat.

However, the Chinese representatives didn't feel that this Kiev Agricultural Bureau Secretary Korchagin was being rude. Judging by his position, his anxiety was very reasonable. There was nothing wrong with Korchagin's request; a qualified Agricultural Bureau Chief should solve imminent problems immediately.

It could be seen that the other representatives at this Soviet meeting did not oppose Korchagin's request. Thus, the direction of the meeting shifted to a very practical level: how the Chinese side would immediately transport agricultural supplies to the Soviet Union and conduct technology transfer.

The Soviet Union had 22 million square kilometers. Although much of the territory wasn't truly developed, the amount of pesticides needed was enormous. Moreover, the disaster-stricken areas were in the Soviet Union's prime regions—the central and southern parts of the Soviet Union's European territory. Transporting via the Trans-Siberian Railway appeared uneconomical.

The Chinese side stated that they would immediately organize shipping, departing from Shanghai, bypassing the Strait of Malacca, passing through the Suez Canal from the Indian Ocean, entering the Mediterranean and then the Black Sea, to dock and unload at the port of Odessa in southern Ukraine.

Hearing this transport plan, Feng Qian couldn't help but think of Hu Lei. Hu Lei had always felt that China's shipbuilding industry would eventually face a stagnation point. This idea wasn't wrong in principle. However, with the development of China's foreign trade, the demand for shipbuilding would continue to grow for a long time. The stagnation in demand that Hu Lei believed would happen would only appear after a long time.

This period happened to be the time for small enterprises like Hu Lei's. Whoever could become a medium-sized enterprise with technological content during this stage would win the initiative in the next stage.

While discussing the transport time, Secretary Korchagin of the Kiev Agricultural Bureau didn't interrupt. He just listened seriously as the Soviet translator translated Chinese into Russian. Even when discussing the time, he didn't say anything. Only after the discussion finished did Secretary Korchagin ask one question.

"Can the time be shortened a bit more?"

The eyes of the Chinese representatives fell on the representative sent by China Shipping. The China Shipping representative hesitated for a moment before answering, "Our ships aren't enough yet, but please rest assured. It is early October now. In four months, we will have a large number of new ships launching. We will definitely be able to transport the pesticides the Soviet Union needs to the Soviet Union before the spring plowing next year."

Like the other comrades from the technical departments, Feng Qian didn't interject, but in his heart, he connected several recent events. Natural disasters in Europe, China importing large amounts of grain from the United States, and China's frantic shipbuilding. Although Feng Qian wasn't one to gloat, he had to admit that as long as China continued to develop itself, it had the ability to solve problems. When other countries in the world encountered problems, they could only come to China to seek cooperation.

Although China never hoped for the world to be full of suffering, China could indeed expand the sales of Chinese products through the difficulties of other countries.