"Don't listen to his nonsense — come in, quick." Chu Xuan shot Zhao Chen a glare and drew Zhao Wan'er into the room. Zhao Chen followed behind with a smile.
This room was very large; the first thing to meet the eye was a great living room, a full 200 or 300 square meters. Along one side of the living room was an enormous floor-to-ceiling glass window, and beyond that window one could look down upon a vast open-air exhibition hall full of artistic feeling. One could see the holographic projections of some dozens of interstellar warships, and among them no small number of people, viewing them and discussing this and that.
"Wah…" Zhao Wan'er was quite startled at the sight of it.
"Isn't this the Empire procurement? How are there so many people?" Zhao Chen asked.
Chu Xuan explained, "Though this is, in name, the Empire procurement, a time like this is generally also a fine opportunity for the various ship manufacturers to promote their own interstellar warships. Even those warships not taken up by the Empire military might, here, still pick up any number of ship orders. That's also the reason so many interstellar warships are hovering outside the starport. After all, if it were purely the Empire procurement, there'd be only some dozen-odd associated powers involved — how many people could come?"
Hearing Chu Xuan's explanation, Zhao Chen understood the sense of it too. He looked down over the whole exhibition hall grounds; the vast bulk were T2 warships, with only a small handful of T1 and T3 warships. By the crowd of onlookers around each display stand, one could tell which warship was the most sought after.
"In this term's Empire procurement, the two hottest, in truth, are a pair of interstellar warships. The one is the T1 Wolf-Louse-class Medium Interstellar Destroyer from a certain Northern Goose Starship Technology Group; though the Empire military has no intent to procure it, this warship is one much admired across the various star-domains. It'll likely reap no small number of ship orders on this occasion. The other is the T2 Hyena-class Medium Interstellar Destroyer that has long held sway atop the T2 destroyer bestseller list; word is that the Hurricane Conglomerate, for this procurement order, specially developed a newest model, and they're dead-set on carrying this procurement order off. And the members of the procurement committee, too, all look on this T2 Hyena most favorably; in all likelihood it should be this T2 warship that's drawn as the winner," Chu Xuan said on.
The corner of Zhao Chen's mouth curved faintly upward, and he thought to himself, That's not necessarily so.
"What's the procurement process like?" Zhao Chen asked.
Chu Xuan said, "It's nothing more than this: before the closing date, each ship manufacturer unveils the interstellar warship it means to submit for bid, sets forth its strengths and weaknesses, its price, and so on. At the last, the members of the procurement committee cast their votes and select the warship that wins the bid. And then the relevant procurement order contract is signed."
"Is the whole process wholly open?"
Chu Xuan thought a moment. "Save for some privacy clauses in the signing that comes after, the greater part is open. This is a tradition running all the way back to the Starlight Empire's founding — excepting certain top-tier ships, which are matched up directly with the manufacturer in private, since for that sort of warship there isn't much room for choice in any case. But a portion of the T3 warships, and all of the T2 and T1 warships, have their information made public. This was a rule laid down by the former emperor who founded the Starlight Empire back in the day — its very purpose being to guard against instances of graft and jobbery cropping up, which would bring trouble to the ship research-and-manufacture industry, and leave some excellent-but-unconnected ship manufacturers without the chance they ought to have."
Hearing this, Zhao Chen couldn't help but sigh in admiration at just how thoroughly considered this founding emperor of the Starlight Empire had been — thinking of danger in the midst of safety. Small wonder the Starlight Empire had been able to become one of the three great polities of the Galactic Alliance.
"Then when is this finally settled?" Zhao Chen asked.
"The time each procurement order is settled differs. As it stands, this procurement has, all told, 27 different project needs. The time span may run as long as a week to half a month," Chu Xuan explained.
"Then when is the T2 interstellar destroyer order established?" Zhao Chen asked the question he was interested in.
Chu Xuan raised a hand and opened an electronic document, on which were the detailed particulars of the procurement fair. "The T2 interstellar destroyer will have its procurement order settled on October the fifth; because its order amount is very large, it's a procurement order under key attention. Though everyone latently reckons that the Hurricane Conglomerate's T2 Hyena is certain to win the bid, the process that must be followed will still be followed," Chu Xuan said.
October the fifth — that time wasn't far off either, only about a week away.
"You seem exceedingly interested in the Hurricane Conglomerate?" Chu Xuan asked, curious.
"They did, after all, warmly entertain me once before. I'm the sort who never forgets certain 'old friends' once I've laid eyes on them." Zhao Chen wore a faint trace of a smile.
Chu Xuan went on, "These next couple of days, you and Wan'er will stay here; there are a great many rooms, take your pick of them freely. And over this stretch I'll accompany the two of you to have a look at those interstellar-warship exhibits. If you find, among them, any ship technology of interest — anything that might be of help to that… that matter of yours — tell me, and our Chu family will find a way to help you see it settled."
Where T4 starship technology was concerned, the Chu family placed no small store by it indeed.
Zhao Chen nodded, and said with a shrug, "This time round I'll just treat it as coming for a holiday. My little sister-in-law and I will do exactly as you say."
"Are you quite done or not?" Zhao Wan'er snatched a pillow up from the sofa beside her and hurled it at Zhao Chen. Zhao Chen caught it with the greatest of ease.
Chu Xuan had, by now, built up some resistance to that mouth of Zhao Chen's; she rolled her eyes and went on, "There's one more important matter in the midst of all this — a banquet in three days' time. A great many of the Starlight Empire's high officials and notables, and the large conglomerates besides, will attend it; and the little princess will be present as well."
The little princess!
Zhao Chen's and Zhao Wan'er's eyes both lit up.
Zhao Wan'er said excitedly, "Then will my elder sister be there too!"
"As I recall, your Zhao family's Big Sis holds a post in the little princess's royal guard fleet, doesn't she? Though the specific word of it I'm not clear on either. You can try your luck when the time comes," Chu Xuan said.
Big Sis…
At the thought that he'd be seeing Big Sis, Zhao Chen felt some anticipation, even. That figure in his memory — just now he felt it had grown somewhat blurred, and he could only dimly call to mind a silhouette.
"Then the two of you rest a while first; if you need anything, feel free to tell the room's intelligent assistant," Chu Xuan said.
"Thank you, Sister Chu," Zhao Wan'er said sweetly.
This woman really was one thing in front of people and another behind their backs — earlier, when he'd brought Chu Xuan up, she'd been inexplicably angry, and now here she was calling her "Sister Chu"?
Zhao Chen glanced at Zhao Wan'er, and Zhao Wan'er just then happened to catch the look her big brother cast her way; perhaps having guessed at what Zhao Chen was thinking, she stuck out her tongue at him.
This girl.
Zhao Chen paid Zhao Wan'er no further mind. He looked out beyond the floor-to-ceiling window at that open-air exhibition hall — and he caught sight of that familiar interstellar warship, and that lovely figure.
The stage is set and ready for you. Now let me have a good look at just how high, in the end, you can climb.