Chapter 1270
Bait Turns into Hook: Fishing Master Li Aiguo Acquires Aircraft Expert
Back then, Xiao Wu was still a member of the eldest brother's family.
Zaporizhzhia is located in the heart of the country and is also a heavy industrial base, where people live a relatively stable life.
However, today, this stability has been completely shattered.
The residents of Zaporozhye had never seen such a spectacle in their lives.
First, several large SUVs and dozens of fully armed personnel stormed into the Cheka branch.
Then dozens of military vehicles and hundreds of fully armed personnel surrounded the off-road vehicle.
This is not over yet.
Just when everyone thought the situation had reached its limit, the earth in the distance suddenly trembled.
The dull thud of the tracks rolling over the road came like thunder.
That's a tank!
And it's not an ordinary T-34 or T-54.
That's a T-10M heavy tank!
This is the eldest brother's family's last generation, and also the strongest heavy tank, the absolute ace of armored assault.
Moreover.
As our readers know, this kind of national strategic weapon is only qualified to be equipped in four places in the Big Brother's country: the German-based group, the Moscow Military District, the Far Eastern Military District, and the Kiev Military District.
On dozens of T-10M tanks, golden laurel flags fluttered in the wind and shone brightly in the sunlight. The insignia spoke volumes: these were elite heavy tank units from the Kiev Military District!
"Damn it! How dare they bring in heavy tanks from Kiev?! Aren't they afraid the north will use this as an excuse to cause trouble?!"
Valentin, who was confident of victory, realized something was wrong when he saw the tanks appear.
This is not merely a display of force, but a declaration of justice.
Andrei was overjoyed: "Ha! I knew it! Second Uncle made a move! I knew Second Uncle wouldn't let me suffer a loss!"
However, before he could finish speaking, a sudden change occurred.
Valentin drew his pistol and pointed it at Andrei.
This happened too fast, too suddenly.
Valentin's men were stunned by the tanks' imposing presence, completely bewildered and unable to comprehend what their commander was about to do.
Meanwhile, the Zaporozhechka high-ranking officials that Andrei brought were busy counting tanks. Who would have thought that the Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs would suddenly pull this stunt?
It was too late to raise a gun and offer assistance.
Valentin was delighted, though. Whoever came, as long as they took Andrei hostage, it was all for the best.
Just then, a large foot wearing leather shoes kicked from the side, striking Valentin's wrist directly, sending his pistol flying.
Everyone was stunned when they saw who made the move.
"Li Aiguo!"
That's right, it was that Easterner who made the move!
"Damn it, force him!" Valentin had completely lost his mind at this point, pointing at Li Aiguo and giving orders to the soldiers.
The words had barely left his mouth when he abruptly stopped.
Because a cold, hard object was already pressed against his forehead.
Li Aiguo had already moved in front of him without anyone noticing, his movements fluid and graceful. He smoothly drew Andrei's sidearm from his waist and pressed it directly against Valentin's temple.
"Don't move."
When the soldiers saw Valentin being taken hostage, they stood frozen in place, too afraid to move.
With a gun pointed at his head, Valentin calmed down, or rather, he became calm after despair.
“Shoot. If I’m not mistaken, those tanks were sent by General Medal. I’ve lost this round. Even if I go back, I’ll be dealt with by the Korean Emperor. Shoot.”
Valentin was able to climb from the lowest level of the Cheka to the position of second-in-command because of his ruthlessness—ruthless to the enemy, and even more ruthless to himself.
Li Aiguo laughed: "Comrade Valentin, you're overthinking it. You and I are both just bait."
However, I've already completed my mission as bait and can now gracefully retire. But your mission isn't finished; how can you die?
Valentin paused, seemingly not understanding: "What do you mean? Am I, the Cheka's second-in-command, not qualified to be a big fish?"
But he immediately realized what was happening, and his expression changed drastically: "Your real purpose is..."
"No, no, no, as bait, I know nothing."
Li Aiguo grabbed Valentin by the collar and pulled him up like a chick.
Throughout the entire process, the pistol remained firmly pointed at Valentin's vitals, and the soldiers, fearing for their lives, could only watch helplessly.
The whole process sounds complicated, but in reality, from the moment Valentin made his move to his subjugation, it only took a few dozen seconds.
At this moment, the tanks rumbled over, their movements perfectly synchronized, their black cannons aimed at the soldiers.
The atmosphere instantly reversed.
The roof of the command tank in the middle, numbered 001, slowly opened.
A slightly overweight middle-aged man crawled out from inside, his movements somewhat clumsy, even comical.
He wasn't wearing a military uniform, but only a finely made gray woolen overcoat and an ordinary baseball cap.
However, no one at the scene dared to laugh, or even breathe loudly.
Everyone's eyes were filled with awe.
Simply because he is Commander Xie!
"Commander Xie, aren't you going to dismiss the Corn Emperor and imprison him?"
Halfway through his sentence, Valentin's expression changed, and he said with a wry smile, "So, this was a trap you set in advance."
Sergei didn't even glance at Valentin, walking straight up to Li Aiguo with a warm smile on his face: "Young comrade, not bad. How about handing this man over to me?"
"Of course." Li Aiguo smiled slightly and stepped aside.
Behind Sergei, a tall, beautiful female Cheka officer stepped out.
She deftly pulled out handcuffs, twisted Valentin's hands behind his back, and cuffed them with a "click."
Li Aiguo narrowed his eyes slightly, thinking that Berezhnaya's female superior was about to make progress again.
Valentin's face had lost its earlier panic, and he said coldly, "Commander-in-Chief, Li Aiguo attempted to steal the blueprints of the Ivchenko-Progress Design Bureau. This is a serious act of espionage!"
As a high-ranking official in the Ministry of Internal Affairs, do you intend to protect him? Everyone is watching!
Even at this point, he still tried to pinpoint Li Aiguo's involvement.
“Valentin, my comrade deputy minister.” Sergei took out a cigarette from his pocket, and Berezhnaya, who was standing next to him, immediately stepped forward and lit it.
"You just said that Comrade Li Aiguo stole secrets?"
"Yes...yes! He...he and that Zong Xianfeng stole the furnace blueprints! This is a serious act of betrayal!" Valenkin gritted his teeth.
"Haha, I forgot to tell you."
Sergei burst into laughter. He leaned close to Valentin's ear and whispered in a voice only the two of them could hear, "Comrade Li Aiguo is one of our Cheka's men. His code name is 'Driver.' His file is in my private safe. Someone like him stealing classified blueprints? You're not kidding, are you? It's you who deliberately framed Comrade Driver and Comrade Andrei. You have ulterior motives!"
This Asian man in front of me... he's actually a Cheka member?!
Everything is connected.
The Medal General had set up a trap beforehand, making that fool Jason notice Zong Xianfeng, and then deliberately trapping Andrei, all to lure him out and wait for Valentin to personally intervene.
What is a game-winning shot? This is a game-winning shot!
Valentin finally understood why Li Aiguo had called him bait earlier.
It turns out that from the very beginning, he wasn't the hunter, but the silly fish that got caught!
"No... Thank you, Commander, you can't do this... I will not confess! I am the Emperor's man!" Valentin's face turned pale.
"Hehehe, have you forgotten the capabilities of the Cheka?"
"Take him away!" Sergei waved his hand, his tone chilling.
"Throw him into Lubyanka's basement and let him remember who gave him the guts!"
At Sergei's command, Valentin was dragged away like a dead dog.
The hundreds of fully armed soldiers were quickly disarmed and put on trucks.
Their likely destination is some cold farm in Siberia, where they will keep company with potatoes.
There's nothing we can do about it; that's just how things are on our side.
Choosing the wrong side comes at a terrible price.
Sergei was in a hurry to interrogate Valentin and did not linger.
He gave Li Aiguo a meaningful look, waved, and then drove away with the rumbling tank unit.
Berezhnaya was left to deal with the mess that followed.
To discredit Valentin and bring down the "Corn Emperor," paperwork was also crucial.
Andrei was still in a daze and looked at Li Aiguo: "Aiguo, what exactly is going on?"
"We've all been outsmarted by your second uncle. But it's a good ending, isn't it?" Li Aiguo smiled.
"Huh?!" Andrei scratched his head.
*****
Berezhnaya was very capable and completed all the statements in just two days.
From Jason from the Cheka branch, to the thugs and the bald guy in the prison, and finally the high-ranking Cheka officials who arrived later, everyone cooperated.
Li Aiguo also gave a statement, and then it was Andrei's turn.
“Yes, I ran away while the guard at the villa gate had diarrhea, wait, how could the guard have diarrhea!” Andrei said, then suddenly slapped his forehead.
"I was tricked by my second uncle!"
Li Aiguo: "."
This guy only just realized it now, unbelievable.
"Driver, the statements here have been taken. I still need to take statements from Zong Xianfeng, Dasha, and their parents-in-law. How about tomorrow?" Berezhnaya closed her folder and stood up as it was getting late.
“Of course, but I need to be there.” Li Aiguo had never trusted Berezhnaya, after all, she was a Cheka agent.
“Of course.” Berezhnaya gave Li Aiguo a deep look.
That evening, Andrei did not keep his promise to watch the folk dance, simply because Dasha's parents were hosting a family dinner at home to celebrate their survival.
The menu was extensive, featuring local specialties such as beet soup, kulish, salo, and fresh Dnieper River fish dishes.
What interested Li Aiguo the most was the Kulish, a thick porridge made by cooking barley, smoked meat, potatoes, and onions together. It used to be the military rations for Cossacks on marches.
Although it's a bit rough, the taste is really good.
"Comrade Aiguo, thank you so much this time. If it weren't for you, our family would never have been reunited."
Alexandrovich picked up the vodka bottle, poured a glass of wine, and presented it to Li Aiguo with both hands, his eyes full of gratitude.
“We’re old friends, and Zong Xianfeng is also my friend. This is a favor I should do.” Li Aiguo took the drink and downed it in one gulp.
"You're too kind. Not many people can escape the Cheka alive. You saved my whole family's lives this time." Alexandrovich was a little emotional, his eyes slightly red.
Anna Besonova sighed and said, "Who would have thought the Chekas were so vicious as to deliberately frame someone?" Although they were at the scene, they didn't know exactly what had happened, only that Jason from the Cheka branch was greedy and had caused the whole thing.
As for the high-level power struggle behind it, Li Aiguo did not mention it, saying that some things are safer to remain ignorant than to know.
Hearing this, Li Aiguo put down his chopsticks and suddenly said, "Alexandrovich, Comrade Anna Besonova, Dasha is about to marry Zong Xianfeng, and it will be difficult for them to return here. I have a suggestion, why don't you come along too?"
Upon hearing this, the air in the room seemed to freeze for a moment.
The first to react was Old Cat Andrei, whose chopsticks trembled slightly as he looked at Li Aiguo in astonishment.
Could this be Li Aiguo's real purpose in risking his life to come here?
No one understood the importance of the two of them better than him.
One is Alexandrovich from Zaporizhzhia University, an expert in the field of agriculture.
One of them was a designer from the Ivchenko-Progress Design Bureau who had participated in the development of the Il-38 large transport aircraft, the An-10, and the An-12.
The Ivchenko-Progress Design Bureau was the predecessor of the now-famous Motor Sich company!
That's right, that's exactly what Li Aiguo wanted to achieve.
In later generations, we were tricked when we tried to acquire Motor Sich. Now that we're in this era, Li Aiguo naturally can't miss this opportunity.
Let's take the aircraft designer back first, and then plan the acquisition later.
Under normal circumstances, neither Alexandrovich nor Anna would have agreed.
After all, this is their hometown.
but.
Having experienced being captured by the Cheka and nearly losing their families, the two looked at each other, their fear still lingering, and their attitudes wavered.
Dasha was taken aback by Li Aiguo's suggestion. She was stunned for a moment, then overjoyed and quickly said, "Father, Mother, you know what the situation is like here. Why don't you come with us to the east? It's developing very fast there, and it's very safe."
Alexandrovich pondered for a moment, then said with some concern, "I teach agriculture at Zaporozhye University. It will be difficult for me to find a job in my field there, won't it?"
Li Aiguo laughed: "Comrade Alexandrovich, have you forgotten?"
Andre's greenhouses use our technology. We are now planning to deploy greenhouses on a large scale across the country and need experts like yourself to guide our work.”
Alexandrovich chuckled and slapped his forehead: "I really overlooked that."
I must say, your residual heat greenhouse design is truly technically superb. I've always been very interested in it and would like to see it in person.
“And what about me? I’m an aircraft designer,” Anna asked, her brow furrowing slightly.
"Mother, you may not know this, but our Qianmen Locomotive Depot workshop has already started producing small aircraft."
"In addition, Brother Aiguo is also building a wind tunnel, and he needs aircraft experts like you," Zong Xianfeng said.
Anna hesitated for a moment, then finally made up her mind: "I wouldn't dare say I need it, but I hope I can help."
The moment these words were spoken, the atmosphere in the room instantly became cheerful.
The happiest one was Dasha, who grabbed Anna's arm and began to whisper about life in the capital, even talking about having Anna help take care of her children after they got married.
“You’re a grown woman now, how can you be so shameless? I’ve heard that people over there are very reserved. If you act like this, Xiao Zong will have something to say about it.” Anna affectionately pinched her daughter’s nose.
After saying that, Anna suddenly remembered something, her expression changed, and she looked up at Li Aiguo: "This matter is probably not appropriate. I am an aircraft expert and a person with access to classified information. The research institute will not release me."
"Leave this to me," Li Aiguo said calmly, putting down his wine glass.
Alexandrovich and Anna were not very convinced.
After all, the Ivchenko-Progress Design Bureau is the most important aircraft research institute on Big Brother's side. Core personnel like Anna are not allowed to leave, not even after retirement, let alone go abroad now.
However, Zong Xianfeng and Dasha had great confidence in Li Aiguo, which put their minds at ease.
The atmosphere inside the room became lively again.
After a hearty meal, Li Aiguo stayed at Alexandrovich's house that night. It wasn't that he didn't want to go to a hotel, but rather that Berezhnaya's men were guarding the house, and he needed to give a statement the next day.
The next morning at eight o'clock, exactly as it should have been, the door was knocked on precisely on time.
Dasha opened the door, and standing outside was Berezhnaya.
Alexandrovich and Anna were both ready.
Since the two of them didn't know much about the situation, they just followed Berezhnaya's guidance and the recording went smoothly.
After taking the statements, Berezhnaya had the two men sign their names, then closed the notebook and looked at Li Aiguo, saying, "Considering that Valentin's people might target these witnesses, I will send people to protect this place."
Lately, Alexandrovich and Anna have been minimizing their outings; if they need to buy anything, we can do it for them.
This was not about preventing Valentin from entering; it was clearly a form of house arrest, out of fear that someone would ask Alexandrovich and Anna to testify and expose the General's scheme, or to prevent them from speaking out of turn.
Li Aiguo smiled, a meaningful smile: "Rather than being imprisoned here in fear, it's better to let them come back with us."
Both individuals suffered inhumane mental and physical torment during this incident.
"Look, Alexandrovich's hands are shaking; this is a typical early sign of heart damage."
That's because I drank too much vodka last night and haven't recovered yet!
"."
Berezhnaya would have believed his lies if she hadn't known that Alexandrovich hadn't actually been in prison.
Li Aiguo added, "Our hospital at the Qianmen Locomotive Depot has the best traditional Chinese medicine doctors. Taking them to Beijing for 'treatment' for a period of time not only shows that the Ministry of Internal Affairs is humane, but also shuts them up and keeps them away from this place of trouble. This is called... a win-win situation."
"We're going back to the capital."
Upon hearing this, Berezhnaya's expression changed slightly; how could she not know the importance of the two?
"This is difficult, driver!"
"Since you can't make the decision, then report it upstairs," Li Aiguo said calmly.
This attitude greatly displeased Berezhnaya.
She was, after all, Li Aiguo's superior, but she really couldn't do anything about this man; she always felt like she was being overpowered.
It's really uncomfortable.
"I'll report right away!"
Berezhnaya didn't think the higher-ups would agree.
After all, Anna and Alexandrovich are just too important.
A secluded location in Zaporizhia.
Berezhnaya reported Li Aiguo's words to Commander Xie verbatim.
"Both of these professors are very important and it's impossible for them to go abroad."
“Sir, if we refuse directly, it might hurt the driver’s feelings. We can ask the research institute to intervene and say that the institute does not allow it.”
Commander Xie did not answer, but squinted his eyes, the cigarette in his hand glowing intermittently.
He understood.
Li Aiguo is making a deal with him.
Taking these two people away was not only helping Li Aiguo, but also helping the Ministry of the Interior to "silence" them.
They took away the evidence of Valentin's persecution of the innocent, and also took away potential trouble.
"Approved." Commander Xie waved his hand. "Take them away. Make sure to 'cure' them."
"Huh?!" Berezhnaya was stunned.
"Boss, both of them are very important figures. If they go to the east, it will be easy for them to..."
"Stop talking, Berezhnaya. You are no longer the group leader, but my deputy. You may become the deputy commander of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in the future. You should understand that all the work is to prepare for the struggle!"
They're just two professors, don't worry about them too much. Focus on the bigger picture, you know?
Now that General Medal has gained the upper hand, we need to strike while the iron is hot.
"Understood." Berezhnaya could only sigh helplessly when she saw that she couldn't persuade Commander Xie.
She was highly involved in this fishing plan. She originally thought Li Aiguo was the bait, but now she felt that Li Aiguo, the bait, had become the hook.
Meanwhile, in Moscow, at the Kremlin.
"Valentin, that idiot! A complete idiot!"
With a roar, a corncob was slammed onto the carpet.
The Korean emperor was pacing back and forth in the room, his face flushed and his chest heaving.
"He was sent to arrest people to teach that old guy a lesson! And what happened? Not only did he fail to find any evidence, he ended up putting himself in Commander Xie's clutches!"
The secretary, standing in front of the desk, kept her head down trembling, not daring to breathe.
"Your Majesty, what... should we do now?"
"How to do?"
He walked to his desk, picked up a pen, and heavily signed his name on the proposed resolution.
"Tell Commander Xie that this is my intention."
The emperor threw down his pen and slumped into his chair.
****
A few days later on the Siberian wilderness.
With a long whistle, an international train bound for Beijing slowly started moving, like a giant steel dragon breaking through the dull night.
In his soft sleeper compartment, Li Aiguo drew the curtains, shutting out the outside world.
Professor Anna still finds it unbelievable as she reflects on what she has experienced over the past few days.
Following Li Aiguo's plan, she submitted her resignation to the research institute, expecting it to be rejected.
Unexpectedly, the research institute readily agreed and even gave her a substantial bonus.
She wasn't even stopped when she tried to take the documents from the office.
As for the procedures required to go abroad, it used to take several months or even half a year to complete.
It was completed in just a few days.
As for Alexandrovich, the situation is similar; his research has not been published for many years due to suppression by Li Xianke.
These items were classified, but the security department of Zaporizhia University showed no intention of investigating them and even personally returned the documents to the university.
Anna was still somewhat uneasy, glancing at the Cheka outside the window: "Comrade Li Aiguo, are those Cheka really not going to investigate the information we brought back?"
"Don't worry, Professor, those Chekas are just waiting for you to leave." Li Aiguo waved goodbye to Berezhnaya.
"You...you know?"
Li Aiguo smiled but did not answer.
The old cat was filled with admiration.
The Cheka were able to get the two important personnel to come out on their own initiative, without even checking their documents.
What defines a fishing master?
That's it.
(End of this chapter)