"That's it, you want modernization but don't want to spend money—how can there be such a good deal?" Kevin Zimmerman regained his confidence and started to push back.

Yvonne Harris said, "As for the negotiations, the Metallurgical Bureau can send more people to assist you in discussions with the Japanese side. You can also reach out to other suppliers to see if you can find a lower price. Budget cuts are a nationwide policy; this year, the focus of the entire economic work is to shut down or merge a number of large-investment, slow-return projects. If the 1780 rolling mill budget at Nanjing Steel can't be reduced, then we'll have to adopt another plan."

"What plan?" Kevin Zimmerman asked.

"Postponement," Yvonne Harris said. "Delay it for two years, and wait until the country's economic situation improves before restarting the project."

"Isn't that a bit inappropriate?" The Director of the Metallurgical Department, James Quinn, spoke up. He didn't address Yvonne Harris directly, but looked at the Deputy Director of the Metallurgical Bureau of the State Economic Commission, Samuel Lawson, who was sitting next to Yvonne Harris, and said, "Old Lawson, I remember last time you came, you told us that launching the hot rolling mill was urgent. I also remember you said that our country spends three to four billion US dollars a year just on importing steel, which means over ten million dollars a day. If, because we're short forty million dollars, the project is delayed by two years, no matter how you do the math, it doesn't add up, does it?"

Hearing James Quinn's words, Yvonne Harris wanted to retort, but Samuel Lawson patted his arm, signaling him to stay calm, then smiled and said to everyone:

"What Director Quinn just said is true. Our country's steel production technology is seriously lagging behind. As the central leadership puts it, our steel isn't up to standard, and our materials aren't suitable, so every year we have to spend a huge amount of precious foreign exchange to import steel. That's exactly why the country decided to introduce a batch of steel projects, including our Nanjing Steel 1780 hot rolling mill project. This determination is beyond doubt. But as everyone knows, our country is now facing enormous economic difficulties. In recent years, we've spread ourselves too thin, and funds are severely lacking. If we can't effectively reduce the scale of investment, then people's livelihoods will be affected, and follow-up construction can't be guaranteed. In this situation, the country decisively canceled a large number of projects, including the Pujiang Steel Plant that Section Chief Harris mentioned earlier, for which we had to pay huge compensation to the foreign side for breach of contract. Nanjing Steel is a key project protected by the State Economic Commission, and the Commission also hopes this project can be completed on time to ease the country's foreign exchange shortage. However, the original budget definitely can't be guaranteed. The forty million cut is the result of careful calculation by Section Chief Harris and his team. The country only has this much money—if you don't cut, other projects will have to be canceled. I think everyone can understand this. So, for us now, there are only two choices: one, continue to dig for potential and try to cut another forty million from the equipment import funds; two, temporarily shelve this project and wait for the country's economic situation to improve before restarting it. There is no third way, so there's no need to waste time looking for one."

Samuel Lawson's tone was very calm, but the firmness in his words was no less than Yvonne Harris's earlier. He had come to Jiangnan Province as a leader of the Metallurgical Bureau, and his words basically represented the Bureau's final opinion, leaving no room for doubt from James Quinn and the others.

"This is really a tough situation," James Quinn said, scratching his head, and then turned his gaze to the Deputy Chief Engineer of the Metallurgical Department, John Lewis. "Little Lewis, you've been negotiating with the foreign companies all along. Tell us, is there any wiggle room?"

John Lewis adjusted his nearsighted glasses and spoke hesitantly: "Director Lawson, Director Quinn, actually, during our negotiations, we also looked into the quotes from several other Japanese manufacturers. Sanli Steel's price should be the lowest. Even if we negotiate with other companies, it's unlikely we'll be able to push the price down further. If the Metallurgical Bureau insists on us cutting the price, then I think the only way is to look at the equipment. The main rolling line definitely can't be reduced. As for the finishing equipment, we originally planned to import three cross-cutting lines—for thin, medium, and thick plates. If we only import two for now and leave the thick plate line for later, we can save about twelve million dollars. For auxiliary equipment like water treatment, laboratories, and maintenance workshops, if it really can't be helped, we could cancel them for now and use Nanjing Steel's existing facilities instead..."

"How can you cancel the laboratory?" Samuel Lawson said in a low voice. "Nanjing Steel's current laboratory equipment is outdated and can't meet the needs of the new hot rolling mill. When the production line starts, if the lab technology can't keep up, the products won't have quality assurance, and the efficiency of the production line will be greatly reduced."

John Lewis nodded with a bitter expression. "Director Lawson is absolutely right, so..."

He couldn't go on. In fact, he knew that cutting functions like this was very inappropriate, but since the leaders were forcing him to come up with a plan, he could only grit his teeth and say it.

James Quinn saw that the meeting had reached another deadlock, so he quickly stood up, pretended to check his watch, and then said with a smile: