17: Chapter 17 Handing over trillions of dollars worth of technology? The general roars: Give him the highest honors!
Captain Li Jun stood where he was, motionless.
The cold winter wind whipped his crisp black jacket, making it snap, but it could not blow away the raging storm in his mind.
Trillion-level technology.
Just like that... given away for free?
The condition was to let the kids in Su Family Village watch cartoons during the New Year?
He felt that the worldview he had built over the past thirty years had been smashed to pieces in this moment by a young punk in his early twenties with a single, nonchalant sentence.
"You... you wait a moment!"
Captain Li Jun lunged forward and stopped Su Che again.
"Comrade Su Che, do you know what you just said?"
His voice was even slightly distorted from shock.
"I know."
Su Che looked at him with a puzzled expression.
"Isn't it just some router technology? I give it to you, you help get my village connected to the internet, it's very fair."
"Fair?"
Captain Li Jun almost choked on his breath.
"This is not a router! This is... this is..."
He wanted to say, "This is strategic-level technology capable of changing the world order," but the words stopped at his lips, and he swallowed them back forcefully.
Explaining this to this kid was like playing the lute to a cow.
He changed his approach.
"This thing is very valuable! Extremely valuable!"
"It could be exchanged for enough money to let those capitalists outside buy the entire Xuefeng City!"
"Oh."
Su Che nodded, then asked a question that almost gave Captain Li Jun a myocardial infarction on the spot.
"Can it be exchanged for full village internet access?"
Captain Li Jun: "..."
He felt that all his words seemed so pale and powerless in front of this "monster" with such a unique train of thought.
"Alright, Manager Li, the technology is yours. You handle the internet matter."
Su Che waved his hand, pushed his wheelbarrow, and walked away swaying.
"I have to go home and eat. My dad made stir-fried garlic sprouts with cured meat; if I'm late, it'll be gone."
Captain Li Jun watched his leisurely departing figure, as if looking at a monster that had walked out of another dimension.
He stood there, stunned for a full five minutes.
Then, he turned abruptly and rushed back to the small building next door like a gust of wind.
"Bang!"
He kicked the door open.
In the monitoring room, several elite soldiers who were slacking off were startled and jumped up from their chairs on the spot.
"Cap... Captain?"
Captain Li Jun ignored them, walked straight to the red encrypted satellite phone, and grabbed the receiver.
The call connected.
"General Zhang!"
"Captain Li Jun? What is it again? Did that kid blow something else into the sky?"
From the other end of the line came General Zhang's calm voice, carrying a hint of teasing.
"Report, General Zhang!"
Captain Li Jun steadied his breathing, trying to keep his voice stable.
"The target... he... he wants to hand over a piece of technology to the country."
"What technology?"
"Civilian-grade... quantum network technology."
Captain Li Jun swallowed with difficulty.
"He says it is permanent and can completely solve signal coverage and transmission latency problems."
"The cost is... one-tenth of existing technology."
"..."
A deathly silence followed.
Captain Li Jun could even hear General Zhang's breathing in the receiver suddenly become heavy.
"What... what are his conditions?"
Captain Li Jun looked out the window; wisps of cooking smoke had already risen in the yard of Su Che.
"His condition is..."
"Let us be the first to connect his village, Su Family Village, to this network."
"Because... the children in the village want to be able to watch cartoons smoothly during the New Year."
Captain Li Jun heard on the other end of the line an irrepressible, full-throated roar.
"Bastard!"
This shout was not scolding Su Che, nor was it scolding Captain Li Jun.
It was more like an emotional release after being shocked.
"This little rascal..."
In General Zhang's voice, there was an indescribable tremor—excitement, appreciation, and a hint of... heartache.
"Does he know what he is doing? Does he know what this thing means?"
"What does he think this thing is? A snack to trade for cartoons?"
"Report, General Zhang, I believe... he might really think so."
Captain Li Jun said with a bitter smile.
"..."
General Zhang fell silent again.
This time, the silence lasted a while.
When he spoke again, his voice had recovered its usual calmness and authority, but it now carried an unquestionable decisiveness.
"Captain Li Jun, listen to me."
"This matter must absolutely not be handled this way!"
"We are the People's Army, not robbers taking advantage of a crisis!"
"We cannot, and will never allow ourselves to, comfortably take away a treasure offered by a pure heart with the most sincere patriotism!"
"Then... what does the General mean? Give him money?"
"Give him money, my foot!"
General Zhang swore directly.
"Do you think this kid is someone who can be bought with money?"
"Giving him money is an insult to him!"
(If Su Che could hear this conversation, he would definitely be thinking, 'Damn it, no, please insult me as much as you want! It's not that I don't want money, I just don't dare!')
"We cannot hurt this child's heart!"
"Then... what should we do?"
Captain Li Jun was a bit confused.
"What should we do?"
General Zhang sneered.
"Doesn't he want to connect the village to the internet? Connect it! Do it immediately!"
"From the Military Region Information Engineering Department, send me a reinforced company of engineers! No, send a battalion!"
"Bring our newest and best equipment! Within three days, I want the internet speed in Su Family Village to be faster than our military command center!"
"Also!"
General Zhang changed the subject.
"Doesn't he like playing with scrap? Doesn't he like inventing things?"
"Go! Take those 'treasures' in my military supply warehouse that were just decommissioned and haven't been sent for destruction yet, load them into a truck, and send them to him!"
"Just tell him they are obsolete equipment discarded by the Telecommunications Bureau, and see if he can use them!"
"Yes, sir!"
Captain Li Jun's eyes lit up instantly.
He knew what those "treasures" the General was talking about were.
Among them were scrapped aircraft engine blades, suspension systems from old armored vehicles, and several experimental water pumps that were shelved due to electromagnetic compatibility issues...
These things were trash in the military.
But in the hands of Su Che...
Heaven knows what earth-shattering gadgets they would turn into!
"Also!"
General Zhang's voice sounded again.
"Draft a document and report it immediately to the highest scientific research leading group in the capital!"
"State that the Southern Theater Command, Xiang Province Military Region, has discovered a 'top-tier civilian scientific research talent' in Xuefeng City, Xiang Province."
"After preliminary evaluation, we recommend granting him the status of 'National Special Technical Consultant,' enjoying security treatment equivalent to a Major General!"
"Give him an official title!"
"A title that allows him to conduct research legitimately, and allows us to protect him legitimately!"
"I want the whole world to know!"
"The Qilin child of our Dragon Kingdom is protected by the state! Whoever dares to touch a single hair on his head is an enemy of the entire Dragon Kingdom!"
After hanging up, Captain Li Jun felt the blood in his entire body boiling.
Meanwhile.
In the Su family yard.
Su Che was holding his rice bowl, bragging to his father, Su Pingan.
"Dad, I told the Telecommunications Bureau to pull fiber optic cables to our village for free. In a few days, we'll be able to watch cartoons."
Su Pingan picked up a piece of cured meat with his chopsticks, stuffed it into his mouth, and said indistinctly.
"You kid, you only know how to brag."
Just as he finished speaking.
"Rumble—"
A heavy roar of engines approached from the distance.
A military green heavy truck with a "Dragon Kingdom Telecommunications Emergency Repair" license plate drove directly to the entrance of the Su family yard with unstoppable momentum and stopped.
The door opened, and Captain Li Jun jumped down.
He walked up to Su Che, stood at attention, and gave a standard military salute to the young man who was still holding his rice bowl.
"Comrade Su Che!"
"The country thanks you for your contribution!"
"The rewards specially approved by the higher-ups have arrived."
He pointed to the huge truck behind him.
The tailgate of the truck slowly lowered.
A pile of what appeared to be bizarre scrap metal to ordinary people appeared before Su Che.
A rusty, complex-structured, strange water pump.
Several blades with strange curves, shimmering with metallic luster.
And a set of... crawler suspension, covered in grease but still showing its precise structure?
The rice bowl in the hand of Su Che fell to the ground with a "clatter."
He looked at that truckload of "trash," and in his eyes, an unprecedented, scorching light erupted.
"Holy crap!"
"These... these damn... what kind of divine treasures are these?!"