Chapter 37 The Old General: Fellow military workers, whose company is this Li Family Toy Factory?

In the office of the relevant affairs department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Eastern Country, the atmosphere was indescribably strange.

The director was an experienced middle-aged cadre. He pinched the bridge of his nose, repeatedly reading the sternly worded diplomatic note urgently submitted by the Israel embassy in the early hours of the morning, feeling his temples throbbing with pain.

"Li Family Toy Factory?"

He chewed on this name several times, finding it absurd no matter how he listened to it. He raised his head and instructed his most capable subordinate: "Go, pull up all the lists of our military industrial exports, as well as the rosters of all subordinate units. Check them for me! Check if there is a unit called 'Li Family Toy Factory,' or one disguised as a toy factory!"

The subordinate took the order and left, leaving the director alone in the office. He leaned back in his chair, his fingers tapping unconsciously on the desk. As an old hand who had been struggling on the diplomatic front for half a lifetime, he knew very well that Israel did not have the guts to challenge the Eastern Country alone. If there wasn't the instigation of the Ugly Country behind this, he would write his name backwards. But the problem was, even if the Ugly Country's intelligence agencies were incompetent, they wouldn't come up with such a ridiculous target. This matter was strange everywhere, giving him a whiff of something unusual.

A few minutes later, the subordinate returned with a document, his expression strange.

"Report, Director," he whispered, "From the military industrial group down to the subordinate companies... we have checked them all. Not only is there no 'Li Family Toy Factory,' there isn't even a person named Li in charge!"

"Hah!"

The director leaned back sharply, emitting a sigh of astonishment in a genuine old Imperial Capital accent. He was speechless in his heart, 'These comrades in the military industrial sector are hiding things deep enough.'

He pondered for a moment, picked up the secure phone on the desk, and reported the matter exactly as it was to his direct superior. The superior on the other end of the line remained silent for a long time after listening, evidently also stumped by the absurdity of the matter, finally leaving only one sentence: "I know. Wait for notification."

...

Half an hour later, an emergency internal meeting, led by higher-level leaders and attended by the heads of major military industrial units, was held in a non-public hotel conference room in the suburbs of the capital.

"No one claiming it? Everyone." The leader presiding over the meeting, an Old General, had eyes like lightning, slowly sweeping over everyone present. His rank was already quite high, enough to make any military industrial tycoon present feel pressure.

Around the conference table, the gathered military industrial tycoons looked at each other, the atmosphere somewhat heavy.

Suddenly, everyone's gaze focused unanimously on a man sitting in the corner. That man's name was Liu Jianguo, and he was the head of a certain military industrial unit.

When Liu Jianguo was young, he was a daring person. Back when his unit was undergoing military-to-civilian conversion, this old guy actually dared to take some obsolete equipment, military-to-civilian, but not completely converted, taking semi-finished military-to-civilian products, and reselling them abroad. If it weren't for his truly heaven-defying ability and repeated meritorious service, he would have been sent to prison to sing the "tears of the iron window" back then. Even so, he still received a severe disciplinary action. Later, when the factory returned to the military industrial system, he relied on his solid technology and courage to eventually sit in the position of the head.

Feeling the gaze of the crowd, Liu Jianguo's hand holding the tea paused. He looked up and shrugged innocently: "Why are you all looking at me? It really wasn't me this time."

After he finished speaking, he seemed to feel that this statement was not quite right, and quickly added: "What's this all about, when was it ever me?"

This statement, which could be called "confessing without being pressed," made several old buddies who knew him well unable to stop their mouths from twitching.

The Old General presiding over the meeting looked at him, also feeling a bit of a headache, but seeing Liu Jianguo's calm appearance, it seemed it really wasn't him. He waved his hand, letting these tycoons with different thoughts leave first: "Everyone go back. If any comrade has thought it through, you can come and talk to me at any time."

He still felt in his heart that this matter was most likely caused by someone daring among this group, and this person must be found as soon as possible. After the meeting ended, this leader immediately reported the situation again, passing this pressure to a higher level.

...

On the other side, the director of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was also anxiously waiting for the final reply from the higher-ups in his office. He knew that the current situation was that the matter was "not found" within the military industrial system, but the sanctions and diplomatic pressure from the Ugly Country were already pressing down. How to respond next, whether to be soft or hard, all depended on the attitude from above.

The phone finally rang.

The director jumped, immediately answering the phone. On the other end of the line was his superior's superior, a truly big leader, whose voice was calm and powerful.

"We have already understood the ins and outs of the matter." The leader didn't have any superfluous nonsense, stated a bit, specifically who the Li Family Toy Factory was, because time was tight, it hadn't been found out yet, and then directly gave him two principles.

"First, protect our own."

"Second, the Eastern Country is already strong."

The director was a smart man, and as soon as he heard the subtext, he understood immediately.

He understood the meaning behind the words.

He felt the blood in his whole body boiling a little. These two sentences were more powerful than any long-winded instructions. The leader's subtext translated was: Deny it to the end, push back when necessary, I'll cover it if something happens! We are no longer that Eastern Country that needs to swallow its anger!

"I understand, Leader!" The director straightened his back and replied in a loud voice.

Hanging up the phone, he felt the stone hanging in his heart finally fall, replaced by an unprecedented confidence and fighting spirit.

Therefore, at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' regular press conference that afternoon, a good show was officially staged.

A fair-haired and blue-eyed Chouguo Reporter, who had received instructions from the White House, got the first chance to ask a question. He stood up, with unhidden arrogance and aggressiveness on his face, and asked in English in a loud voice:

"Ms. Spokesperson, we have solid evidence that a military industrial enterprise in your country called 'Li Family Toy Factory' sold thousands of high-tech attack drones to armed organizations in the Middle East region, causing a serious humanitarian disaster. What is your country's explanation for this?"

This question was like dropping a bomb in the quiet venue. All the cameras of domestic and foreign reporters instantly focused on the lady in the blue suit with elegant temperament on the podium.

She was one of the most famous spokespersons of the Eastern Country's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, known for her composure, sharpness, and frequent golden quotes.

Hearing this question, the female spokesperson was slightly stunned at first, as if she hadn't heard it clearly. Immediately, the corners of her mouth uncontrollably turned upwards, and an expression of wanting to laugh but quickly restrained was accurately captured by the high-definition camera.

She adjusted the glasses on the bridge of her nose, adjusted the microphone, looked calmly at the Chouguo Reporter, and answered in a standard, calm, and slightly sarcastic tone:

"Mr. Reporter, are you joking with me?"

A single sentence made the atmosphere of the whole venue instantly become subtle.

"Toy factory?" She repeated this word, with a hint of appropriate confusion in her voice.

"According to the situation we verified overnight, there is no such unit in the list of all our military industrial enterprises. We express serious concern and bewilderment at your country's decision to make such reckless accusations and sanctions without sufficient communication, and perhaps without even consulting any professional Chinese language scholar."

She paused, leaned forward slightly, and looked sharply at the Chouguo Reporter who was already a bit at a loss.

"Perhaps you should first figure out what the difference is between 'toys' and 'weapons' in Chinese."

After finishing, she seemed to have suddenly remembered something, and lightly added that fatal blow.

"After all, we are a responsible major country. Unlike some countries that once used a bag of laundry detergent as evidence of weapons of mass destruction."