Chapter 960: Chapter 833: Business Trip to a Different Region

Arriving at this port located five to six hundred kilometers from Beijing, Zhou Jiao realized that this mission was not going to be easy. Especially since she had another identity in secret.

Besides Zhou Jiao, there were three male colleagues and one female colleague from several departments, including the Economic Committee, Foreign Affairs Office, Financial Committee, and Secretariat.

Before leaving, the five of them participated in a joint meeting, and only afterward did she understand that professionals were going to inspect the quality on-site; they were there for the final confirmation and implementation of the next batch of orders.

As for her? Heh...

Upon arrival, as soon as they got off the train, designated staff drove over to pick them up. Apart from the checks with the four of them, Zhou Jiao had another task this time.

She, being fluent in several foreign languages, was to focus on the opposing engineers, and in case of any anomaly, she could produce her credentials to become the leader of this mission.

With approximately 35 million US dollars worth of precision instruments to be imported, every department had to proceed with caution. Especially concerning the over 6,000 pieces of equipment ordered this time.

The order included 2100 radio measurement instruments, 250 radiation instruments, 1000 optical instruments, over 300 mechanical instruments, over 450 thermal instruments, around 350 electrical instruments, over 350 analytical instruments, 40 meteorological instruments, over 110 timing instruments, over 250 material testing machines, over 1100 laboratory equipment, and 36 electronic computers and peripherals.

For the advancement of the nation’s technology, diplomatic measures were employed to break through blockades; a significant amount of foreign exchange was spent, and the efforts of staff both overtly and covertly had been concentrated.

Upon receiving the task from Shi Dashen, Zhou Jiao did not dare to relax, even though she later discovered that there were plainclothes officers patrolling around the area in secret. She still insisted on checking her handgun every night to ensure that she could immediately take down any threat.

"Mr. Zhou, are you working overtime here tonight?" asked a local staff member quietly as they approached Zhou Jiao. In her eyes, of the five people from Beijing, this one seemed the most approachable.

Zhou Jiao nodded with a gentle smile.

"You all are working hard."

Zhou Jiao looked at the experts busying themselves and smiled ambiguously. If it weren’t for the unique circumstances, she couldn’t come up with a complete excuse; she would love to take a trip abroad.

A pile of iron machines, that’s the blood of the people nationwide. How much did they export to earn just a little foreign exchange, which was then spent on these?

These past few days, she kept recalling Shi Dashen’s tear-filled words. Who in the future could imagine that a prosperous nation once relied on its people to tighten their belts?

After five tense days passed, watching the machines being escorted away by soldiers, Zhou Jiao returned to the guesthouse and slept from dusk till noon the next day.

When she woke up, she found the female colleague from the Finance Department, who also looked dazed, gazing at her, and the two couldn’t help but laugh out loud at each other.

"Interested in shopping before boarding the train?"

Zhou Jiao glanced at her wristwatch. With the evening train and half a day ahead, having not used even a single bullet, she decided to go out and celebrate.

"Mr. He, do you plan to leave after lunch, or...?"

"Just call me by my name in private." Helan said, sitting up, "It’s a rare visit here, let me treat you to some local snacks, and afterward, we’ll take a stroll downtown."

Considering her age was close to that of her parents, Zhou Jiao didn’t dare address her by name.

She smiled and nodded, "Then I’ll call you Aunt Lan, and you can call me Xiao Zhou. As long as we can catch the evening train, I’ll go with you in the afternoon, Aunt Lan."

"You have three days of leave this time; I thought you, being young, would be eager to stay an extra day to have fun."

Zhou Jiao smiled. She didn’t mention that she had three sons waiting for her at home. What young girl? Anyone with some connections would know a bit about her background.

She didn’t mind whether the other party was intentional or not. Anyone sent by a unit on this mission would be competent and capable.

After washing up, the two greeted the other three male colleagues and ended up being invited for a meal at the municipal canteen.

When they left, it was already late. Zhou Jiao followed the other to a nearby department store. With strangers present, she didn’t feel inclined to buy much.

By chance, Zhou Jiao noticed that the other dropped two local cloth tickets while paying. She made sure to glance unobtrusively toward the food counter, waiting until the other quickly hid them, then smiled and said, "Aunt Lan, I’ll go buy some pastries over there to take back."

Pastries could be bought with grain tickets, so Zhou Jiao didn’t need to be discreet. However, she was contemplating separating from the other soon.

If she guessed right, the other party had already traded a significant amount of local tickets with outsiders during work in these two days.

Although being caught would give her leverage, Zhou Jiao had no intention of reporting or building her success on another’s misfortune.

Strictly speaking, her task was to ensure the goods were intact and safely returned—what did other matters have to do with her?

After buying two bags of pastries together with the other, Zhou Jiao made an excuse to leave first. Seeing the other’s half-hearted attempt to stop her, she couldn’t help but find it amusing.

Compared to these small tricks, her experience in the Black Market made her unimpressed.

It was already past three in the afternoon when she left the department store. At that moment, even though she was familiar with the city, she truly couldn’t think of where to go. 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

Visit the farmer’s market? The main activity was before noon, and there wasn’t enough time to reach the countryside before the evening train.

Visit other department stores? She didn’t lack anything, and she wasn’t willing to exchange national grain tickets for local ones.

Not hesitating for long, Zhou Jiao decided, as usual, to stroll down the street towards the pier. Nowadays, with looser management, the shrewd would find gaps to exploit.

On a previous trip to the grasslands, after Zhang Guoqing and she disguised themselves to handle the wild game inventory at two slaughterhouses, the storeroom felt quite empty.

Zhou Jiao, who liked to keep the pantry full, was somewhat uncomfortable with that. Before starting work, she had leisure time to collect seasonal fruits and vegetables.

But nowadays, rising early and returning late daily, and occasionally conscripted by Doctor Hu for hospital training on weekends. With two additional sons, the food supply was quickly dwindling.

With the three-day leave for rest, Zhou Jiao planned to visit the farmer’s market a few times. Once Zhang Guoqing returned to work, she suspected they wouldn’t have the chance to act together.

"Young comrade..."

Zhou Jiao walked leisurely, not noticing someone calling her from behind, secretly planning how to amass a large amount of fruits and vegetables quickly.

Behind her, an elderly lady with small feet hurriedly caught up to her, "Young comrade, wait a moment..."

Zhou Jiao’s heart began to race, and she quickly took two steps back, examining the woman. Wrinkled face and reeking of fish, such an elderly woman, she really didn’t know.

"You’re not a local, are you?"

Zhou Jiao looked around and found the place somewhat isolated; she regretted her earlier carelessness. Thankfully it was only a frail elderly woman; what if someone meant harm?