Chapter 43

"Uh, a novel about the Soviet Union?" Douglas was indeed somewhat hesitant. This wasn't just an economic issue; anything with an ideological confrontation was very sensitive in today's America.

At this time, it was the Reagan administration. Perhaps due to his background as an actor, Reagan placed great emphasis on cultural competition during the Cold War between the US and the Soviet Union. In fact, Reagan's persistent propaganda policies could be said to have thrown the final straw at the Soviet Union.

During this period, many American cultural works were more or less influenced by the State Department, and even directly by the CIA. The State Department, unlike China, was a crucial body for managing foreign affairs or controlling the globe.

There was a saying that the US President could manage the entire world outside the United States—this global influence of the United States was realized through the State Department. It's easy to imagine what kind of powerful department this was.

At this moment, Douglas truly realized that the Chinese person in front of him was from that "legendary" mainland China. What he might write was indeed worrying.

Although the United States boasted "freedom of speech," it wasn't a place where one could openly spread rumors without consequences. The real rule here was that you could say what you wanted, but you had to take responsibility for your words.

If Hu Wenhui wrote something "responsible" in his article and then returned to China, the publishing house would be the one to pay the price.

"If it's this kind of topic, I'm very sorry, but the publishing house must verify the content..."

Although he used the term "content verification," Hu Wenhui understood that Douglas meant "censorship." This was to be expected, just as it was impossible to openly publish books praising capitalism in the Soviet Union (Gorbachev himself excluded), it was also impossible to openly publish articles promoting communism in the United States.

In the context of the Cold War, this was an unquestionable industry standard. Not only in the publishing industry, but patriotism in the United States was also a given. As John F. Kennedy famously said, "Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country."

To be honest, Hu Wenhui himself actually quite liked the political views in "Starship Troopers"...

Hu Wenhui gently shook his head, dispelling these random thoughts, and said cheerfully, "No problem, I won't cause any trouble for Mr. Douglas. The content will definitely not be overly sensitive."

"Ah, that's good." Douglas finally breathed a sigh of relief and smiled sincerely.

Seeing that both sides had reached an agreement so easily, Scott and Badala quickly raised their glasses to celebrate. Since they had obtained Hu Wenhui's manuscript, the two had already invested in the Scholarly Publishing House, becoming the second and third largest shareholders after Douglas.

As long as Hu Wenhui's works could be published, the Scholarly Publishing House would find it much easier to gain a reputation. As long as there were no major problems in management, it would become a stable source of income. How could the two not be excited? Hu Wenhui himself also hoped that the high-fidelity model aircraft, after being promoted by TOPGUN, would gain a reputation in the United States, so he naturally didn't want to strain his relationship with them.

Thus, under the premise that all three parties were eager to please each other, the meal was truly enjoyable, with light laughter breaking out from time to time. Compared to the generally calm atmosphere in Freddy's restaurant, the guests at this table clearly had a successful business talk, frequently drawing envious glances from others who were dealing with difficult clients.

Hu Wenhui had actually had a sudden idea. Before his rebirth, he had indeed seen an online script called "Zeta's Alias," which interestingly told a Soviet version of a 007 story.

But mere parody wasn't his goal, even though it did satisfy his small, mischievous interest from his internet days. The reason Hu Wenhui was eager to speak out on Soviet issues was largely because he hoped to become a "Soviet expert."

1985 was approaching, and Gorbachev would soon take office. At that time, the Soviet Union would face a series of dizzying "reforms" and "struggles." During this period, there would also be major events such as the normalization of relations between China and the Soviet Union. Although the Soviet Union had only seven years left, there were countless opportunities for people to exploit.

In history, the United States dominated the 1990s, and the Clinton era saw a booming domestic economy, largely due to the benefits of the Soviet Union's collapse.

If circumstances allowed, Hu Wenhui didn't mind "accurately" predicting the course of several major events. He believed that once these predictions came true, his influence, both domestically and internationally, would significantly increase. By the time the Soviet Union collapsed, or even before, he could influence China's policy toward the Soviet Union, which held tremendous potential.

The closer he got to being a "doomsayer," the more anyone who wanted to oppose Hu Wenhui would be intimidated. What if this kid casually said something detrimental to their side...

This line of thinking was similar to his decision not to hide his lottery win. The world was often irrational or very experiential. Even if rationality suggested that no one could predict the future or had unbeatable luck, when people faced a consistently victorious and incredibly lucky enemy, they would likely not be able to perform at their best.

Just thinking about this, Hu Wenhui really wanted to see if he could "scare off the enemy" with his reputation.

However, Hu Wenhui hadn't forgotten his original purpose for coming to the United States. After completing the preliminary preparations, he immediately began his original task—purchasing equipment to modernize Heng Jianyun's company.

In Hu Wenhui's vision, Heng Jianyun's company would be a future special forces unit. Although it might seem a bit cliché, it was undeniable that special forces were an indispensable and extremely important part of modern warfare.

Take the Gulf War, the opening battle of modern information warfare, where the first shot of the US Army was fired by a special forces unit that conducted a low-altitude helicopter assault. They destroyed the early warning radar in Iraq, which posed a threat to the F-117 stealth bombers.

Without the early warning radar, Iraq was completely open to the F-117, exposing its vulnerabilities, cough...

In short, in modern information warfare, if any unit best embodies the concept of a combat center, it is undoubtedly the special forces.

Since he wanted to arm Heng Jianyun's company as a special forces unit, what equipment would Hu Wenhui need to purchase? If you think the first thing to buy would be electronic equipment, you're wrong. If you ask what is most important for a soldier's combat effectiveness, it's definitely the weapon in their hands. But if you ask what has the greatest impact on combat readiness, many would say—boots.

An infantryman might only fire their weapon for a fraction of the time during a war, but most of the time, they are on the move. Therefore, having a good pair of military boots is crucial for protecting a soldier's combat effectiveness. Similar items include load-bearing equipment, uniforms, protective gloves, and backpacks, but these are relatively low-tech and can be produced domestically.

Before the new century, the People's Liberation Army (PLA) didn't much consider the comfort of soldiers, emphasizing that people should adapt to equipment rather than the other way around. During the border conflicts, many frontline photos showed a rather awkward situation: our soldiers were often barefoot.

Was this due to poor logistics in the PLA? Yes and no. No matter how poor the logistics, it wouldn't be so bad that soldiers would go into battle barefoot. The unique climate of tropical jungles made soldiers extremely uncomfortable, and the prolonged high temperatures and humidity in frontline environments like cat-ear caves made even the friction between clothes and skin unbearable, leading to "chafing."

In such conditions, it wasn't surprising that PLA soldiers chose to go barefoot. However, this was clearly not appropriate during combat, so having a pair of jungle boots and comfortable, non-clingy uniforms was crucial for maintaining combat effectiveness.

However, high-count, high-density cotton fabrics could be found domestically, so there was no need to come to the United States to purchase them. Most of the materials for making military boots were also available domestically, but the most important aspect was the design. What Hu Wenhui valued most was the specialized rubber sole for combat boots from Vibram. For boots suitable for the mountainous environment of Vietnam, using Vibram rubber was the best choice.

Well, since Hu Wenhui had already made a move, he certainly wouldn't be stingy. Being generous, he needed to establish the concept from the start that anything produced by Hu Wenhui was of the highest quality!

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