Winning in a contest of skill against Sylvia meant that Xia Lei had won the respect of the Germans in Rheinmetall too. No one doubted Xia Lei’s ability from then on, and no one insulted Chinese manufacturing. The building of the XL2500 sniper rifle and Gust assault rifle production lines progressed smoothly with their help.

Liu Zhengnan show off his skill too. He became the hub of communication between Xia Lei and the German party. He had given the Germans tasks to do on behalf of Xia Lei several times, and directed them in their work. Xia Lei’s job was much more relaxed with him and Annina helping him to manage things.

Xia Lei dove into work too. He had obtained the permission to freely enter the precision processing workshop to use the intelligent lathe there to process all the precision parts he needed to prepare for the Thunder Dragon Intelligent Lathe.

A week passed in the blink of an eye.

Night time, in the precision processing workshop.

“Goodbye, Mr Xia.”

“You’re working overtime again, Mr Xia?”

“Come for a drink with us, Mr Xia. How can you not drink German beer when you are in Germany?”

“Mr Xia, it’s my daughter’s birthday. Would you be able to come to her birthday party?”

Xia Lei smiled as he exchanged greetings with the machinists, but he declined all of their invitations tactfully, no exceptions. He had become familiar with the people of the precision processing workshop in a week, and he had a good friendship with them too.

The machinists of the precision processing workshop seemed to be used to Xia Lei’s refusals too, and they laughed and chatted as they exited the workshop. The workshop was quiet after they left.

Xia Lei processed another part, then shut down the intelligent lathe. His gaze went to a wall, and through it. Behind the wall was Rheinmetall’s artillery workshop. There were several pieces of machinery and equipment in there, as well as finished and half-finished pieces of various artillery.

He had been spying on the artillery workshop behind the wall like this for the past week.

Sneaking into the workshop next door was the simplest way to get Rheinmetall’s world-famous artillery technology, but it was too risky to do so. He was looking through the wall, observing the artillery workshop a section a day, accumulating it all. This was also a way to get what he wanted, only that it was tiring and used up a lot of time.

This was the reason why Xia Lei wanted to work overtime every day.

He was always trying to expand Thunder Horse Military Factory, and he dreamed of making it a world-class military enterprise. However, it was not possible with Thunder Horse Military Factory’s current power and product lines. It had to have a comprehensive stable of products, artillery, armoured vehicles, tanks, and even missiles and fighter planes to become a world-class military factory!

Rheinmetall AG was representative of Germany’s military industry, the king of Germany’s arms dealers, so Xia Lei wanted to make full use of any time he had here.

His left eye was like a camera equipped with learning technology, and his brain was like a hard disk, storing the information. There was no technology he could not learn or grasp with these two units of himself working together!

The artillery workshop behind the wall entered his field of vision silently. The model number of every piece of equipment, how each piece of equipment was positioned next to the other, details of finished products and half-finished products, as well as the precision of the electrical engineering and parts and so on… these things flowed through his left eye and to his brain like a stream. His brain was like a bottomless black hole, swallowing everything.

These things were all nourishment, nourishment for Thunder Horse Military Factory. Get these, and Thunder Horse Military Factory would grow rapidly!

Step, step…

A series of footsteps rang out.

Xia Lei stopped using his X-ray vision, turned towards the sound, and stared blankly.

The person walking through the workshop door was Sylvia.

She was in a black trench coat, and her long, wine-red hair trailed over her shoulders. The delicate features of her face, and that hot, sexy body, plus those black high heels she wore made her not seem like an elite machinist, but an international model doing a walk on the runway.

‘Didn’t she end work already? Why’s she back? What does she want?’ Several questions popped up in Xia Lei’s head at once.

These questions seemed simple but getting the answers would be difficult.

Sylvia stepped over to him with her sexy legs. She was a temptation.

“Uh. Miss Sylvia, didn’t you end work?” Xia Lei couldn’t stay quiet any longer, and he spoke.

Sylvia stopped before Xia Lei. She said nothing, but undid her trench coat all of a sudden. The black trench coat slipped open soundlessly, opening up like a door, a door to a garden, revealing the dazzling scenery behind it.

Sylvia abruptly did a twirl, then started dancing slowly. The black trench coat flew from her to land on Xia Lei’s shoulder.

The trench coat she had worn had a fragrance on it, and Xia Lei did not know if it was from her body, or from some expensive perfume. It smelt good anyway, and was rather seductive.

Xia Lei laughed dryly. “What are you trying to do?”

Sylvia did not stop dancing; she was sexy, enchanting. “You told me to dance. I’m keeping my promise. It doesn’t count if you don’t watch, however. So… I’m dancing for you.”

Xia Lei was speechless.

It had been a week. He did not expect that she would pick tonight to keep her promise.

Sylvia put both hands on Xia Lei’s shoulders, and went down… then up… then down… slowly, swaying, breathing her hot breath on Xia Lei. “So… Want me to keep stripping?”

Xia Lei snapped back to his senses then. “NO. No. This is enough, this is enough.”

Sylvia ended her dance. She stared straight at Xia Lei. “Did you come out of the closet or something?”

Xia Lei was speechless.

Sylvia immediately looked down between Xia Lei’s legs, and she smirked. “You didn’t, I see.”

“Miss Sylvia, I’m married,” said Xia Lei awkwardly.

Sylvia laughed. “I know. I looked up quite a few things about you on the internet over the past few days. Owner of Thunder Horse Military Factory, creator of the XL2500 sniper rifle and the Gust assault rifle, China’s Father of Rifles. Your wife is the wealthiest woman in China, Shentu Tianyin. Huh. Her name’s difficult to pronounce. Excuse my rudeness. But… did you think I wanted to replace her? I’m afraid I don’t have that sort of appeal.”

Xia Lei smiled wryly. He didn’t know what to add to that.

“Mr Xia, you’ve been in Germany for a while now but you haven’t stepped out of Rheinmetall’s doors. Men like you are very popular among women. Don’t you want to have some fun?” The look in Sylvia’s eyes grew seductive.

‘She is the chief machinist of Rheinmetall AG, in charge of the company’s precision processing workshop. All the things which need to be precision-processed in Rheinmetall go through her workshop, so she must know a lot of the company’s key technologies…’ thought Xia Lei.

The woman was trying to seduce him, but his head was full of other thoughts.

“Mr Xia?”

Xia Lei gave a laugh. “I wonder, what is this fun that you’re talking about?”

Sylvia smiled. “Come to my place. I have a lot of good German beer at home. Oh, I can get some marijuana for you too.”

“Drinking is fine, but forget the marijuana. I’ve never smoked it.”

“Sure. Let’s go, I’ll get the car.” Sylvia was delighted.

‘She’s obviously interested in me. Cheating seems normal in the west. I’ll sacrifice myself for a bit, and get on good terms with her. I will surely gain something out of this,’ thought Xia Lei.

What was a little sacrifice of his chastity compared to the rise of Thunder Horse Military Factory?

He followed Sylvia to the carpark, and Long Bing appeared out of a dark corner. She said nothing, just looked at Xia Lei and Sylvia.

“Miss Sylvia, please hold on. I’ll go talk to my friend,” said Xia Lei.

“Is she a girlfriend?” said Sylvia with a laugh.

Xia Lei did not answer. He walked up to Long Bing and said quietly in her ear, “I’m going to her place with her.”

Long Bing wrinkled her brows. “That’s dangerous. There are German Special Forces soldiers here protecting you. They might not be able to protect you if you go to her place. Oh, right, what are you going to her place for?”

This was actually what Long Bing wanted to know most.

“She is the chief machinist at Rheinmetall, and holds the reins of Rheinmetall’s precision processing workshop. Practically all of the precision-processed parts go through her hands, so she must have some key technologies of the company. She’s interested in me, so I… Um. I want to get those technologies. Coming to Rheinmetall is like entering a treasure trove. Are you really going to leave empty-handed? I want to build Thunder Horse Military Factory up, and I need Rheinmetall’s technologies for that,” said Xia Lei.

“So… You’ve decided to use the ‘Pretty Boy’ plan?” Long Bing had a peculiar look in her eyes.

Xia Lei smiled wryly. “You can say so. She’s interested in me. This sort of opportunity doesn’t come easily.”

Long Bing thought for a bit. She took out a small electronic device and put it in Xia Lei’s hand. “Take this. Tang Yuyan and I will follow.”

“No. Rheinmetall will sense something if you mobilise. This has to be treated like we are a normal dating couple.” Xia Lei still put that electronic device in his clothing. “I’ll take it so that you and Tang Yuyan would know where I am. You can hear me speak too. Don’t worry, I’ll be careful. Nothing will happen.”

“Be careful.” Long Bing hesitated, but still said it. “Um… If you must do… that… Remember to use a condom. Avoid winning the lottery.”

Xia Lei was speechless.