Liu Shanmin was worrying over a problem.
He had received a new assignment from back home: find a certain component for some super-heavy trucks, and preferably get hold of the manufacturing process as well.
And he had to get it quietly.
Although the other party had been vague about its intended use, Liu Shanmin immediately guessed, based on his previous assignments, that a certain unit of the Second Artillery Corps needed it to haul certain things capable of reaching anywhere on the globe.
At present, the country's powerful weapons were up to the job, but their transport vehicles still weren't quite there.
They needed to learn from their big brother's technology. To be honest, their big brother's equipment was big, clumsy, dark, and crude, but it was genuinely tough and practical.
Liu Shanmin's partners weren't fools either. For civilian goods, they could turn a blind eye, but certain critical items would definitely be investigated.
He had to return to this side of the border crossing to receive important assignments, then head to the neighboring country to carry them out.
After all, international long-distance calls were almost always monitored at this time. Certain departments on both sides weren't paid to sit around doing nothing.
He had to get it quickly, yet couldn't do it openly. That was a real pain in the ass.
Still, he had been given considerable latitude. There was no funding, but procedures such as customs clearance would be relaxed accordingly.
That made customs formalities for things like white sugar easier to handle.
The same applied to shipments coming this way. They could even make special arrangements when he declared the goods.
He knew he could definitely get what he needed in the city where he was based. Usable things often found their way out of certain bases.