Chapter 195: Someone Finally Came Knocking

Having managed to fool Department Head Jiang, Yang Hui now felt that he still had a long way to go. Although the military-grade chips used in aircraft could be produced in laboratories regardless of cost, Yang Hui still held onto the hope that after 1990 or 2000, there would be a truly finalized military computer chip available for use. This was truly a lofty ideal.

Department Head Jiang had left, and he really went to inquire about Acorn Company just as Yang Hui suggested. Of course, there was no problem with him going now. Acorn Company had recently launched a computer that became a hit beyond their own expectations. They had originally projected sales of 12,000 units, but unexpectedly sold 1.5 million units, achieving a profit of 8.6 million pounds back in 1983. It was also rumored that this computer was a strong contender for the Queen's Award for Enterprise in 1984.

It all looked quite glamorous, but their situation was not as rosy as it appeared on the surface. This computer adopted a truly unconventional operating system—the Archimedes operating system—which caused sales of the computer to plummet sharply in 1984. The company's top management had already recognized this massive problem.

Naturally, Department Head Jiang's visit now would certainly remind these people of certain things. One must know that Acorn's computer was a personal computer with a strong educational and popular science nature. Back on February 16, 1984, on the lunar calendar, that chief architect in Shanghai had uttered the classic phrase: "Computer literacy must be fostered from childhood."

Consequently, slightly well-off provinces and cities across the country successively launched vigorous computer literacy campaigns, and high-end personal computers began to gradually appear, particularly in middle schools.

This meant that there was already a domestic demand for computers. Naturally, these were of a simple, foundational literacy nature, which happened to coincide seamlessly with Acorn's computer design philosophy. Given the chief architect's immense popularity in the West, it was impossible for this classic quote not to have spread abroad. In other words, Department Head Jiang might reap some unexpected rewards during this inspection tour.

Putting that aside for a moment, those in aviation needed to get back to the main topic. Once again, it was time for Yang Hui's silver tongue, because yet another old friend of the Republic had arrived.

This time, the visitor was the Deputy Commander of the Egyptian Air Force—a person of considerable rank. However, compared to the golden-salesman Prince Sultan, he still fell a bit short, though he held a prestigious position as the official representative dispatched by incumbent President Mubarak.

What brought him here? The reason was simple: they knew that the Republic had a new aircraft this time, and it looked quite promising. Although Egypt was currently walking quite close to the United States and had also normalized its relations with Israel, President Mubarak still attached great importance to this aircraft, as Egypt saw in it the hope for its defense industry to take flight once again.

Through multiple Middle East wars, Egypt had realized the importance of an independent defense industry, as well as the driving force that an advanced defense industry could exert on the economy.

With Egypt's current focus shifting toward economic construction, any development of national defense naturally had to take the economy into account simultaneously. Thus, importing this aircraft was the absolute best choice—at least the aircraft looked quite advanced, and at the same time, it wouldn't overextend Egypt financially.

In addition, since this aircraft inherently had Arab world backgrounds, Egypt felt even more confident. Naturally, Egypt's inaction in later Middle East wars and its label as a traitor to the Arab nations had long since faded.

One must realize that even countries like Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and the United Arab Emirates were completely helpless against Israel now. Since everyone was in the same boat, the elder brother shouldn't mock the younger; the Muslims might as well unite tightly together.

Carrying the deep expectations of the president, Kram arrived at the Farnborough Airshow and located the star of the exhibition within the exhibition hall. Seeing the 1:1 scale model in front of the display stand, he felt for the first time that this fighter jet from the East was not as ugly as the traditional fighter jets of their country.

Seeing yet another bearded man arrive, Yang Hui's eyes lit up and his heart filled with joy. Feeling renewed strength surging within him, he hurriedly stood up to greet him.

The few others at the scene were equally overjoyed, but they didn't swarm forward because Prince Sultan had already taken the lead and walked over. Sultan actually knew the incoming person, as they had often discussed the future of the Muslim world together back in the day.

Although Sultan still held some lingering resentment toward Egypt, since a friend from Egypt had arrived, what resentment was left? Everyone was in the same boat now; nobody had the right to point fingers at anyone else.

"Kram, I didn't expect to see you here. This is truly a joyous moment. It must have been nearly ten years since we last met. How nostalgic."

Kram now carried a special mission. Although he was very glad to see Sultan here, after a few polite pleasantries, he got straight to the point.

"Sultan, I heard you invested in an aircraft this time. I wonder if this aircraft is capable of flying across the Red Sea?"

Making the Super J-7 fly across the Red Sea—wasn't that a clear indication that Egypt had developed an interest in the Super J-7? This was truly fantastic news; perhaps they could reap another harvest at this airshow.

Yang Hui hurriedly replied, "Respected Minister Kram, as for the question of whether this aircraft can fly across the Red Sea, I believe there is no need to ask. We are certainly willing, and our nations share a profound traditional friendship."

Hearing Yang Hui say there was no problem, a heavy stone in Kram's heart finally fell mostly to the ground. After all, when it came to introducing such an advanced trainer jet along with its entire production line into Egypt, Kram still had some lingering doubts.

"Is that so? This is truly wonderful news. We in Egypt are in exact need of importing such an aircraft to strengthen our national defense industry while simultaneously driving economic growth."

Seeing Kram's excited expression and hearing his trembling words, Yang Hui was baffled. Was importing a fighter jet really this exciting? There seemed to be no need to make such a fuss.

Suddenly, a thought struck Yang Hui. Something was wrong here. It seemed his interpretation didn't quite match Kram's intent. Just now, Kram mentioned strengthening the defense industry, which didn't sound like what he had in mind. Could purchasing a single trainer jet really strengthen the national defense industry?

He quickly sought to confirm this with Kram again; this was no joking matter: "Kram, just now you meant that you want to bring this aircraft to your country for production? Are you certain?"

Just as he was planning to exchange a few more words with Sultan, he suddenly heard this representative from the Republic—who had just readily agreed to everything—ask such a question again. Did this really need to be repeated?

"Yes, of course! Our intention is to import this aircraft and produce it independently within Egypt. The Arab nations and the Muslim world need their own aviation industry; that is beyond doubt."

Well, Kram had gone ahead and spoken on behalf of the Arab nations and the Muslim world—was this really acceptable? It was better to gauge Prince Sultan's stance first. The major financial backer of the Super J-7 project was still Saudi Arabia. If Saudi Arabia was willing to give the nod, this matter wasn't entirely out of the question.

Sure enough, seeing Yang Hui and the others from the Republic looking at him, Sultan suddenly understood. So this matter still hinged on his own attitude! This required careful consideration. If a production line was to be exported, which other Arab nation could possibly shoulder such a responsibility?

Saudi Arabia itself? After pondering the thought, Sultan decisively abandoned this seemingly wonderful idea. Although Saudi Arabia had deep pockets, it literally lacked even the slightest foundation in the aviation industry. It was better to leave such matters to other countries.

While he was deep in thought, Madad chimed in and stuck his oar in. Hearing that Egypt intended to import the production line, Madad couldn't stay calm. He, the second-largest investor, was still standing by the sidelines waiting—how could it ever be Egypt's turn? Of course, Pakistan's perspective differed from Egypt's. Pakistan had no interest in the Super J-7; it was merely a trainer jet, and how many units could Pakistan possibly need?

After conferring quietly, a decision was reached: the issue of the production line this time should be brought up alongside Egypt's proposal, though with a different objective and naturally a different angle of approach.

"Yang, I have a question now. Your new Super-7 project extensively utilizes the research results we funded for the Super J-7. Since Saudi Arabia and we funded that research, do we also enjoy some benefits in the Super-7?"