New Plans

(Thanks to readers 20190809172252334 and Yuan Hengzheng for the monthly tickets, and thanks to everyone for your support.)

Li Zhou had enjoyed this New Year especially comfortably, probably because he had become the kind of "other people's child" everyone talked about.

Unlike his classmates, he did not have to face blind dates as soon as he graduated, nor did he have relatives insisting he bring them along everywhere just because Li Zhou had made it big.

His only trouble was probably that more people had come to his home to offer New Year's greetings this year.

There was a saying—what was it again? The happier you were, the faster time passed. The more miserable you were and the more you wished time would pass quickly, the more each day dragged on like a year.

When you were happy, you did not pay attention to time at all. Time itself was constant; it was simply that when you were happy, all your attention was focused on the people or things making you happy, causing you to overlook time. Then, once you came to your senses, you would sigh that time had passed so quickly.

When you were unhappy, you would be bored out of your mind, hoping nightfall or quitting time would arrive sooner. At times like that, you cared especially about time and paid more attention to it, so it felt as though time moved slowly, because all your attention was focused on it.

A month-long holiday seemed long, but after visiting relatives during the New Year, gathering with brothers and sisters to chat and catch up, the time quietly slipped away.

Today was the sixteenth day of the first lunar month, and also Future Technology's first working day of the new year.

Early in the morning, Li Zhou got up bright and early.

Today was the first day of work for the company's employees in the new year. Following tradition, Li Zhou would stand at the company entrance and personally hand every arriving employee a red envelope, symbolizing a prosperous start.

The six of them had spent half the day yesterday preparing six hundred red envelopes, each containing six red hundred-yuan notes.

At eight thirty in the morning, Li Zhou arrived at the company with Zhou Song and three others, who were carrying cardboard boxes.

After Zhou Song and the others set up the tables at the entrance, the five of them waited for about half an hour before people gradually began arriving.

The moment Wu Xiaoxiao reached the company entrance, she saw her boss sitting outside. She jumped in fright when she saw him.

"Di... Director Li, good morning."

Seeing the first young lady arrive for work, Li Zhou quickly stood up with a smile.

"Good, good. Here, this is your red envelope. Work hard and keep it up in the new year."

Wu Xiaoxiao accepted the red envelope in a daze, only snapping out of it after a long while.

"Thank you, Director Li!"

"Mm, go on in."

After Wu Xiaoxiao sat down at her workstation and put down her backpack, she could not wait to open the red envelope.

One, two, three, four, five, six!

There were six whole bills!

Still thrilled, Wu Xiaoxiao immediately sent a message in the group chat.

"Girls, get to the company now! The boss is standing at the entrance handing out red envelopes, and they're big ones too."

The moment Wu Xiaoxiao sent the message, the group chat exploded.

"Seriously?"

"It has to be true. Big companies all have this tradition. I just wonder how much is inside."

"Then what are we waiting for? Girls, I'm charging in first. I'll lead the way for you."

"Let's go! Meet up."

In less than two minutes, news that the boss was handing out red envelopes at the company entrance spread from one person to ten, then ten to a hundred. Before long, the entire company knew.

"You losers, I'm already sprinting toward the company."

Attached image: sprinting.png

"Damn, wait for me, bro! You're way too shameless."

Meanwhile, Li Zhou and the others noticed that employees were gradually arriving, with quite a few women even running over, panting for breath.

Watching the employees suddenly rush over breathlessly, Li Zhou's mouth twitched. He could roughly guess why.

"Come on, line up. Everyone gets one."

"In the new year, work hard, everyone. Let's take the company to even greater heights."

"Thank you, Director Li!"

"Good, good!"

Halfway through handing them out, Li Zhou noticed Xiong Kexuan standing in line as well.

When she saw him looking at her, she even smiled.

Xiao Nuonuo was much cuter, constantly waving her tiny hand at him.

When it was Xiong Kexuan's turn, Li Zhou gave her a red envelope as well.

Then he took out another red envelope and handed it to Xiao Nuonuo in Xiong Kexuan's arms.

"Here, Xiao Nuonuo, this one is yours."

The little girl took the red envelope, then immediately turned her back on him and buried her little head in Xiong Kexuan's arms.

"I'm going in first, boss. Keep it up! ↖(^ω^)↗ I believe in you."

By the time he handed out the last employee's red envelope, it was already nine thirty. Once everyone had left, Li Zhou stuffed the remaining several dozen red envelopes into Zhou Song's hands.

"Take these and share them with the brothers. You all worked hard during the New Year."

Zhou Song did not stand on ceremony. For one thing, these red envelopes were meant to bring good luck, and for another, compared with the company's other employees who had been on vacation, the brothers truly had worked hard during the New Year.

"Boss, on behalf of the brothers, thank you."

Li Zhou rolled his eyes at Zhou Song and the other three.

"Alright, you've been with me for half a year already. It's not like you don't know I hate this empty politeness."

"Work hard. Once the headquarters is completed, the Security Department may become independent and hire a large number of people. When that happens, their character must be up to standard."

"Don't worry, boss. We know what we're doing."

After the morning's excitement over the red envelopes, everyone slowly reined in the hearts that had been drifting through a month-long vacation and returned to work.

At three in the afternoon, the company's largest meeting room was packed with employees.

As Li Zhou, Xiong Kexuan, and the others entered the meeting room, the previously lively room quickly fell silent.

After sitting down, Li Zhou pulled the microphone in front of him slightly closer.

"Colleagues, today is Future Technology's first working day of the new year. Today, we'll discuss this year's plans."

"This year, the IT Department will become our busiest department. I will personally lead and coordinate the development of a super system. Before the system is released, I will not say much more here, but those of you in IT should prepare yourselves mentally. This will be a major test for you."

After Li Zhou finished speaking, everyone in the IT Department felt somewhat uneasy.

"Another important matter is that the headquarters must be completed on schedule before June this year. At the same time, the interior finishing work being carried out alongside it must also speed up. According to the plan, we will move into the new headquarters building in July. You must keep a close eye on this."

"Also, around August, a product of major significance will be released. All relevant departments must prepare themselves mentally."

"As for the county's proposal to our company before the New Year about building a smart city based on Artificial Intelligence, communicate with Huawei as soon as possible about network connectivity. Give me a feasibility report for the smart city project. Wang Fei, you keep an eye on this."

"These are the main matters for this year. As for the details, the heads of each department must coordinate properly. Don't let me down."

After saying that, Li Zhou looked at Xiong Kexuan. He had nothing more to add.

Xiong Kexuan looked at everyone solemnly. "Don't underestimate this just because Director Li finished explaining it in only a few words..."