As Li Huguo spoke, he suddenly reached out, trying to snatch the notebook from Song Jinyue’s hands.
Song Jinyue swiftly moved the notebook behind her back.
Li Huguo’s hand grasped empty air. He looked up at her, a trace of anger flashing in his eyes.
Song Jinyue raised an eyebrow at him. “Take a guess.”
Li Huguo stared at her, silently grinding his teeth. Then he abruptly turned to the leaders who had already noticed the commotion.
“Leaders, I suspect this comrade is recording our conversation. What if she writes down something that shouldn’t be disclosed?”
The factory leaders and police leaders frowned as their gazes fell on Song Jinyue.
Secretary Wei smiled calmly. “Comrade Li, there’s no need to worry.”
Li Huguo looked at Secretary Wei.
The others also shifted their attention to him.
With a faint smile in his eyes, Secretary Wei said, “On the way here, I learned through conversation that Comrade Song Jinyue is a reporter from Jiang City Daily. I arranged for her to document Comrade Charles’s assistance this time. Her article will be used for publication, and it will be reviewed before release.”
Li Huguo’s expression stiffened slightly.
He forced a smile. “So it was arranged by Secretary Wei.”
Secretary Wei nodded slightly, still smiling at him.
Under that gaze, Li Huguo felt a chill down his spine, as if he had realized something.
He turned to Song Jinyue with an apologetic look. “Comrade Song, I’m sorry. I didn’t know this was Secretary Wei’s arrangement. I apologize for what I said earlier.”
Song Jinyue replied calmly, “It’s fine.”
As soon as she finished speaking, Li Huguo felt the pressure from Secretary Wei’s gaze disappear. He relaxed, but the way he looked at Song Jinyue had changed.
This woman was one of Secretary Wei’s people—perhaps even secretly assigned to protect Charles.
As he thought this, a dark glint flashed in his eyes, gone in an instant.
The factory director was extremely anxious, repeatedly urging Li Huguo to ask Charles if there was a better solution and to find a way to get it out of him.
But Charles kept saying, “No, no, no.”
While everyone’s attention was focused on Charles, Li Huguo, and the factory director, Song Jinyue quietly walked to Secretary Wei’s side and lowered her voice.
“He has a better solution.”
Secretary Wei looked at her.
She nodded.
Secretary Wei then told Li Huguo to inform Charles that they needed a few minutes to discuss and would give him an answer shortly.
Li Huguo translated the message word for word.
Charles nodded repeatedly. “OK, OK.”
Secretary Wei glanced at the factory director and the police leader, then turned and walked outside.
Song Jinyue, the factory director, and the police followed.
Once outside—
Secretary Wei looked at Song Jinyue.
She got straight to the point. “The repair method Charles suggested can last at least thirteen days, up to twenty-five days under three-shift operation.”
The factory director and the police leader were stunned.
This was different from what Li Huguo had said.
The factory director blurted out, “Didn’t Li Huguo say—”
Song Jinyue cut him off. “He mistranslated.”
They weren’t fools. A professional translator making such a mistake? Clearly intentional.
The police leader couldn’t help but curse, “Damn it!”
Song Jinyue remained calm. “There’s also a better method that Charles didn’t mention.”
Already angered by Li Huguo’s behavior, the police leader grew even more furious upon hearing this.
“That foreigner… I knew they wouldn’t be so kind! Making such a fuss to fix things—repairs cost money, buying machines costs money—damn it…”
Secretary Wei shot him a look. “Guoliang, mind your language.”
Zhong Guoliang immediately shut up. “Yes, Secretary.”
He then turned to Song Jinyue. “Sorry, Comrade Song. I got a bit emotional. Didn’t scare you, did I?”
“No.”
Factory Director Xiao asked, “Comrade Song, since you say there’s another method Charles didn’t mention, does that mean you know it?”
Song Jinyue answered straightforwardly, “Yes.”
Both Xiao and Zhong’s eyes lit up with excitement.
Secretary Wei shook his head helplessly at their reaction.
Song Jinyue understood exactly what they were thinking.
“This method won’t work if it comes from me,” she said. “It has to come from Charles.”
“Why?” Zhong Guoliang blurted out.
Director Xiao had already figured it out. The machine was imported, and Charles had already inspected it and provided an official solution with a limited duration.
If the machine didn’t fail when expected, the foreign side would notice something was wrong and come to check.
At that point, if they discovered unauthorized modifications, they could accuse them of tampering, lock the machine, or demand higher fees—causing even bigger trouble.
Song Jinyue explained calmly, “Because the machine is theirs. Every repair result is reported back with data. If the expected failure doesn’t occur and we didn’t report it, they’ll notice something’s off and come to inspect.”
“And once they see we handled it ourselves, if they get angry and refuse to provide the password, the machine becomes useless.”
The joy on Zhong Guoliang’s face instantly vanished. He cursed again, “So in the end, we still have to swallow this frustration.”
Secretary Wei gave him an annoyed look.
With that demeanor, who would believe he was a city public security leader?
Song Jinyue said calmly, “If we develop our own, we wouldn’t have to put up with this.”
The word “develop” stunned all three leaders.
“Develop?” Zhong Guoliang repeated.
Song Jinyue nodded.
Secretary Wei looked at her silently.
Director Xiao gave a bitter smile. “Comrade Song… you’re still too young.”
He sighed. “Ah…”
Secretary Wei brought the topic back. “Send Li Huguo away. Comrade Song, you talk to Charles alone and try to get him to use the method with the longest duration.”
He paused, then added, “If the negotiation succeeds, there will be a reward.”
Song Jinyue’s brows twitched slightly. “How much?”
Secretary Wei asked, “How long can the best method last?”
She replied, “The best method can repair the machine within eight hours, and the operation time can last at least thirty-five days, up to more than sixty days.”
Upon hearing this, Director Xiao immediately said, “Comrade Song, if you succeed in the negotiation, I’ll give you this amount.”
He raised two fingers.
Song Jinyue glanced at them. “Twenty thousand?”