Chapter 179 Visit or Confiscation?

The workshop of Haiwei Fishing Gear Factory No. 1.

The modified Toray wire-drawing machine was roaring wildly at a limit speed of 1000 RPM.

Silvery-white filaments, like flowing moonlight, piled up layer by layer on the winding head.

"Winding head number one, tension normal!"

"Cooling air temperature constant at 25 degrees!"

"Filament cake forming well, no burrs!"

Chen Guangwei stared at the filament outlet without blinking, as if what was flowing out wasn't fiberglass, but gold bars.

Just as the group was working in full swing, the workshop door outside was pushed open a crack.

Director Li from the Investment Promotion Bureau poked his head in. He was draped in an old overcoat, his face sallow, as if he hadn't slept well for days.

Seeing the room full of plastic-sheet makeshift structures and the machines running wildly, he paused for a moment. Then, his face broke into that characteristic smile—three parts awkward, seven parts ingratiating.

"Manager Lin, Factory Director Chen... are you busy?"

Lin Xi and Chen Guangwei crawled out from the plastic shed. "Something up?" Lin Xi asked. "Are there any issues with the contracting procedures?"

"The contracting procedures are perfectly fine!"

"I came this time, cough, well..."

"There is something I need to discuss with you."

Director Li rubbed his hands together. "Well... Mr. Nakamura from the Yamashita Trading Company hasn't left yet."

"They sent an official letter to the city."

"They said that since the contracting is a done deal."

"As international friendly partners, they want to..."

"Come into the factory for a technical exchange, and take a look around while they are at it."

Lin Xi and Chen Guangwei were both stunned. Is scouting for technological intelligence this blatant now?

"Exchange, my foot!" Chen Guangwei flared up immediately, pointing at the shed and roaring, "I just got this equipment tuned and the core process finalized."

"They want to come in now?"

"This is like a weasel paying a New Year's call to a chicken!"

"Let's see who dares to let them in; I'll break their legs!"

Director Li's face was bitter, and he waved his hands repeatedly: "Old Chen, don't be impulsive! I have my difficulties!"

He turned to Lin Xi and said: "Manager Lin, I know this isn't according to the rules."

"But the prospect Nakamura described this time is too big..."

"They said they've prepared 1 million US dollars, specifically to find investment projects in Haiwei City."

"The city leaders' eyes turned green for this foreign exchange."

"They gave me a death order."

"As long as it doesn't involve state secrets."

"Whatever they want to see, let them see it!"

"We must secure this investment."

One million US dollars. In 1982, this was a massive sum that could make any local official straighten their back, or even get promoted.

This was an open conspiracy. They use a pancake to smash open your national gates, and then make you smile while showing them your family fortune.

The live stream chat was instantly flooded with comments.

【It makes me so mad! Isn't this just blatant robbery?】

【High blood pressure warning! Back in that era, we were really too humble for the sake of foreign exchange.】

【This isn't an exchange; it's clearly buying a ticket with a pancake to come in and peek!】

【The person above hit the truth; many national treasure-level crafts were leaked out exactly like this!】

Lin Xi, who had been silent, slowly raised his head. He didn't get angry, but his gaze was so calm that it made people's hair stand on end.

"Director Li."

"Yes, I'm here." Director Li subconsciously straightened his back.

"Did the Japanese say they wanted to inspect more projects?" Lin Xi's voice wasn't loud, but every word was clear.

"Besides wanting to see this fishing tackle factory."

"Did they specifically name the Tin Inlay Factory, the Straw Weaving Factory, and the Xuan Paper Workshop?"

Director Li was stunned and blurted out: "Incredible!"

"How did you know, Manager Lin?"

"Mr. Nakamura said he is particularly obsessed with Chinese traditional culture."

"I've been accompanying him around these past few days."

Lin Xi didn't respond. Instead, he stood up, walked to the plastic wall covered in tape, and turned his back to Director Li.

"Then let me guess again."

"When they went to the Tin Inlay Factory."

"Did they not look much at the finished products, but instead circled around those old craftsmen?"

"Giving them electronic watches, radios, and dragging the old men to drink."

"After a few rounds of drinks, did they start asking about the formula ratios and the secrets of the heat control?"

Director Li's smile froze on his face. Lin Xi continued, his speaking pace steady, yet each word hit Director Li's heart like a heavy hammer.

"When they went to the Xuan Paper Workshop, did they keep the camera running the whole time?"

"Even how the workers scooped the paper and how they dried it."

"Even the color of the water in the pool was captured clearly?"

Director Li opened his mouth wide, looking as if he had seen a ghost.

Lin Xi turned around abruptly. His speaking speed accelerated suddenly, every word like a knife.

"Did they, even when going to the toilet, take a mineral water bottle to collect some tap water?"

"Did they grab a handful of mud from the workshop entrance to take away?"

"Were they particularly interested in the waste residue and liquid that you treated as trash and dumped?"

The cigarette fell from Director Li's hand, and he pointed at Lin Xi with a look of terror on his face: "How do you know this so clearly?"

"It's simply... simply as if you were watching right next to them!"

This was too terrifying! Because these details, except for him who accompanied them the whole time, no one else noticed. Nakamura and his group acted too covertly and naturally, just like a group of curious tourists. Even Director Li himself had almost been moved to tears because the other party cherished even a handful of soil. But now, after Lin Xi's recap... where was this love? This was clearly the invaders entering the village!

"Director Li, I didn't follow you." Lin Xi looked into Director Li's eyes, his tone heavy.

"I know because they have done this kind of thing more than once all over the world..."

"You think that's cultural exchange? That's technical dismantling!"

"They record video."

"It's to go back and analyze the workers' muscle memory and action essentials frame by frame."

"They collect water and grab mud."

"It's to go back and test our water quality and soil composition, and replicate our production environment."

"They get the old craftsmen drunk."

"It's to extract those core secret formulas that have been passed down by word of mouth for hundreds of years and have no written records at all!"

Lin Xi's voice echoed in the empty workshop.

"How was Cloisonné's secret leaked?"

"How was the Xuan Paper technology stolen?"

"That's exactly how it was stolen!"

"They steal our ancestral heritage back."

"Register it as their patent, and in turn, sue us for infringement!"

"Packaging our intangible cultural heritage as their 'craftsman spirit'!"

Lin Xi took a step forward, pointing at the ground beneath his feet.

"Director Li, the one-million-dollar pancake isn't buying a few admission tickets."

Lin Xi pointed at the ground beneath his feet.

"It's uprooting the roots of our Haiwei for hundreds of years, dirt and all!"

In the live stream, countless comments scrolled by.

【History is truly shockingly similar... That's how the Xuan paper was lost back then!】

【And lacquerware! The current standards for lacquerware are all set by the Japanese!】

【I'm listening and crying, these thieves! I really want to jump in there and slap them twice!】

【Director Li, wake up! Don't become a sinner for all eternity!】