Although Old Master Xu was concerned about his old friend, it was nothing compared to his grandson-in-law.

Besides, Liu Deqiang was the one who had acted dishonorably first, so it was only right for Ye Feng to take action.

He had done more than enough.

“Alright, what’s happened has happened; let’s put it behind us. Liu Deqiang got what he deserved. From beginning to end, I have done right by him.”

After all, Liu Deqiang had followed him abroad all those years ago. And while he had been a great help, without him, Liu Deqiang might never have had the opportunity to go overseas, let alone build his career.

In short, you reap what you sow.

As long as those gold mines could be developed soon, that would be better than anything.

After returning from the Xu family’s home, Han Xiaorui told Ye Feng about how the semiconductor industry was being targeted by foreign powers.

“Right now, the ‘it’s better to buy than to build’ argument is popping up all over Hua Country. These compradors only care about short-term profits; they couldn’t care less about the nation’s interests.”

Previously, Han Xiaorui had thought the government’s methods for dealing with these compradors were too extreme.

Only after experiencing it firsthand did she realize just how despicable unscrupulous comprador capitalists could be.

‘They can’t wait to hand over the nation’s lifeblood to foreigners, practically begging to be their lapdogs.’

Ye Feng frowned slightly. “I’ve discussed this with some experts. The inevitable has finally happened.”

“But we must continue to invest. Our R&D team has developed a lithography machine, and the chips it produces are already in mass production.”

“They may be relatively low-end, but they’re also cheap, making them competitive both at home and abroad. However, with foreign powers now ganging up to cripple Hua Country’s high-end tech, they’re unlikely to purchase our domestic chips.”

“In that case, we can only sell them domestically. As long as someone is willing to buy our chips, we can survive. We’ll use the profits from downstream applications to fund the R&D upstream.”

Hearing this, Han Xiaorui sighed. “That’s a good idea, but if they’re targeting our high-tech semiconductor sector, then products made by companies that use our chips won’t be exportable. That will restrict those companies’ growth.”

“That would limit them to domestic sales. On another note, I had a thought. Using foreign chips in military applications is tantamount to making our military transparent to foreign powers. So, why don’t we use our domestic chips in our military?”

“Military contracts are very reliable. That might solve our problem. Also, our marine fishing division has been pretty lackluster these past few years.”

“Now is when we need the money. While you were away, I went through a ton of research and found ten potential locations. I’ll have the salvage team check them out. We might find something unexpected.”

Ye Feng took the notebook Han Xiaorui handed him. Inside were pages of detailed, organized research.

“Xiao Rui, thank you. I’ll swing by the main office tomorrow, and then head over to the marine salvage company. If we get lucky and find a shipwreck carrying gold, that would be even better.”

Antiques are easily corroded, and most are in poor condition. They aren’t as practical as gold and silver.

You can convert it directly into cash!

Han Xiaorui smiled. “I have a good feeling about it. I think you’ll find something great.”

Hearing Han Xiaorui’s words, Ye Feng felt even more confident.

The last time Han Xiaorui had given him coordinates, seven out of the ten locations had actual shipwrecks, valuable ones at that.

The marine salvage company seemed unremarkable on the surface, but its revenue was much higher than its competitors.

Han Xiaoqing saw her sister and brother-in-law talking nonstop the moment they got home.

“Alright, you two. All you do is talk business. If you aren’t bored of it, I sure am.”

“Brother-in-law, you probably didn’t get much rest in Africa, and you just had a long journey. You two should go wash up and get to bed early. I’ll watch the children.”

Han Xiaorui smiled. “How could we let you watch the children? You’re in your third trimester; you can’t overexert yourself.”

Han Xiaoqing patted her round belly. “It’s not that soon, I still have over a month to go! I just wonder if Wenxuan will be back for the birth.”

Chen Wenxuan had been gone for a while and still hadn’t returned.

Neither Han Xiaorui nor Ye Feng knew what kind of project Chen Wenxuan was working on, so they couldn’t give her a definite answer.

“Xiao Jing, even if Wenxuan can’t make it back, he’ll be thinking of you. He’ll be missing you and the baby.”

Han Xiaorui comforted her. Chen Wenxuan wasn’t out carousing; he was helping to forge the nation’s defenses.

The project he was on was top-secret, part of an effort to strengthen the country.

As his family, they had to be supportive.

In return, the families had to endure the separation of spouses, of parent and child.

But Han Xiaoqing was understanding. Seeing the guilty expressions on her sister and brother-in-law’s faces, she shook her head and chuckled. “I was just saying. I don’t regret supporting Wenxuan.”

This was what made Han Xiaoqing so admirable.

Ye Feng took it easy for the next three days.

He allowed himself to sleep in a little and go to bed a bit earlier, but he still went into the office during the day.

After all, he still had quite a few companies to his name. Even with his aunt and a team of highly capable professional managers, he still needed to keep an eye on things.

Once he was done with that, he sent two new sets of coordinates to his old army buddies in charge of marine salvage, telling them to set sail.

With coordinates, they wouldn’t have to search aimlessly in the vast ocean.

One of the two locations held a shipwreck.

It held six boatloads of gold.

To salvage it as quickly as possible and avoid any unforeseen problems, more people were dispatched from the relevant government departments.

Many of them were well-trained young men with crew cuts.

The gold they recovered was sold directly to the bank.

The bank would assay the gold, melt it down, and recast it into new gold bars.

The salvage team was ecstatic. Even though most of the haul was turned over or sold to the state, they still received a huge payout.

Everyone, from the top down, got a significant cut, making them wish they could be out on the water salvaging 24 hours a day.

Han Xiaorui was relieved to see such a huge influx of revenue, especially since it came from solid gold.

They would have no problem continuing to fund the R&D team.

With this funding, Professor Xu’s massive team was also able to weather the pressure and stay intact.

In order to keep the team together, everyone worked desperately hard, and their progress was astonishingly fast.

Seeing this, Han Xiaorui finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Half a month after Ye Feng’s return, Han Xiaorui finally went out to sea again.

This time, Han Xiaorui’s purpose wasn’t to fish, but to reward her little helpers.

These little helpers had been hard at work on the seafloor, searching for valuable shipwrecks.

Han Xiaorui’s Water Ability had many applications, but she didn’t overuse it.

Even so, the benefits for her little helpers were immense.

They weren’t as intelligent as humans, but they could sense the changes her ability brought.

Understanding her intentions, they worked even harder to find shipwrecks and other undersea treasures.

They searched not only within Hua Country’s territorial waters but also in international waters.

In any case, their job was just to find things; the actual salvaging was left to the professional team.

“Thank Mazu! She’s blessed us with more top-quality fish!” the crew exclaimed, looking at the seafood that had just been dumped from the nets.

Looking closely, they saw it was Big Yellow Fish.

Although farmed Big Yellow Fish were now available, the demand for wild-caught ones was greater than ever.

Rarity creates value, and wild Big Yellow Fish had become nearly impossible to find.

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