Moving In

At the end of the month, May 30, was an absolutely memorable day for every Future Technology employee.

From its founding until now, Future Technology finally had a true headquarters of its own.

Future Technology's headquarters had forty floors in total: twenty underground and twenty above ground. The difference was that the lowest ten floors each had a height of five meters. In Li Zhou's plans, those ten underground floors would eventually become his laboratories and Artificial Intelligence center.

From early in the morning, every department at Future Technology had been busy packing up personal belongings, waiting for the official unveiling at 10:15 before moving into the headquarters.

News of Future Technology moving into its headquarters today had spread long ago.

At 9:30 in the morning, when Li Zhou accompanied the county leaders to the entrance of the headquarters, he found quite a few reporters already setting up their equipment.

Time passed second by second. Li Zhou occasionally raised his wrist to check his watch, grumbling in displeasure.

"It's already ten o'clock. Why haven't I seen that guy yet?"

Just as Li Zhou was growing impatient and preparing to make a call, a military vehicle screeched to a stop in the parking lot outside the headquarters.

Upon seeing Yuan Jingsong, Li Zhou walked over with a smile.

"Old Yuan, you're only getting here now? I thought you weren't coming."

Before Yuan Jingsong could say anything after getting out of the vehicle, he casually tossed a document bag to Li Zhou. "The list of discharged personnel you wanted. Every veteran on it is outstanding, and there are a full three hundred of them."

Li Zhou cheerfully opened the document bag and gave it a quick scan, utterly unconcerned by Yuan Jingsong's cold expression.

Yuan Jingsong stared straight at Li Zhou and asked seriously, "Tell me honestly, what do you need so many retired special forces soldiers for? Do you know how much of a force these three hundred men would be if fully armed?"

Li Zhou shrugged. "Relax, relax. The headquarters is finished now. The ten underground floors of the headquarters building will become my private experimental area and Artificial Intelligence center. They'll be full of company secrets in the future, so the security has to be up to standard."

Li Zhou looked around and, after confirming there were no outsiders nearby, leaned close to Yuan Jingsong's ear and said, "I've made new progress with Artificial Intelligence. I won't feel at ease unless I put more security around that thing. If the unfinished stuff leaked out, it would be a disaster for today's internet. Besides Artificial Intelligence, I have some other research projects that are currently in the verification stage. Once they succeed, their impact will be phenomenal."

Yuan Jingsong looked at Li Zhou in shock. According to the domestic expert group's projections for Artificial Intelligence and Han Language research, true Artificial Intelligence would appear in no more than five years. Even five years had the higher-ups thrilled beyond measure. Who would have thought Li Zhou had quietly made new progress already?

Yuan Jingsong had just wanted to ask Li Zhou for specifics, especially about those other projects he had been researching in secret. Yuan Jingsong had not received a single word about them. But when he saw a woman running toward them, he held back his question.

Wang Fei jogged over to her boss in the parking lot and looked at him helplessly.

"Chairman, there are only three minutes left until 10:15, when we unveil the red cloth. If we don't go over now, we'll miss the auspicious time."

Li Zhou raised his hand to check, and it really was so. He looked at Yuan Jingsong with the resentful gaze of an abandoned wife.

"Hurry up. We're waiting for you alone."

With that, Li Zhou took off running. Just kidding—the auspicious time of 10:15 for moving into the headquarters had been personally calculated by someone his mother had sought out. If he missed it because of himself, Li Zhou had no doubt that his mother would chase him down with a broom.

When Li Zhou reached the entrance, he happened to see his mother glare fiercely at him. His face twitched, and he pretended not to notice.

At 10:15, before the eyes of countless Future Technology employees and media reporters, Li Zhou, Yuan Jingsong, and the leaders pulled down the red cloth together.

Li Zhou looked at the headquarters entrance, overwhelmed with emotion.

Everyone watched Li Zhou with smiles, waiting only for a word from him before entering the headquarters building.

Li Zhou made a grand sweeping gesture and shouted loudly.

"May we have a booming start! The red doors open, bringing peace and good fortune! Go in!!!"

The moment Li Zhou finished speaking, every employee charged straight into the headquarters like high school students rushing to the cafeteria after class. Their faces were full of delight. With such a huge building, they no longer had to crowd into tiny offices. Although the Administration Department had assigned areas to each department, it had not said where each person's workstation would be.

Everyone was thrilled. Who wouldn't want a good spot? It would be even better if they could get one by a window. All the landscaping outside the headquarters had now been completed, and being able to enjoy the view during breaks was simply perfect.

The calmest people were those from the Finance Department and the President's Office. As the boss's trusted right-hand people, the Finance Department had been placed closest to the boss—on the tenth underground floor.

The President's Office and the Finance Department were on the same floor.

Yuan Jingsong looked at the behavior of Future Technology's employees in surprise, then turned to Li Zhou beside him and asked curiously, "Are they rushing to get food?"

Yuan Jingsong spoke loudly, and the leaders beside Li Zhou all turned to look at him curiously.

With so many people looking at him, Li Zhou's mouth twitched uncontrollably. The hell do you mean, food!

Li Zhou was still speechless when Yuan Jingsong unexpectedly added another remark.

"The little brats under me are the same. The moment they hear it's time to eat, they run faster than anyone."

Li Zhou rubbed his forehead and answered Yuan Jingsong helplessly.

"They're fighting over workstations. Come on, I'll show everyone around the building, then we can go to the cafeteria on the second floor and experience the food at my company."

Li Zhou led the group on a casual tour beginning from the first floor, finally stopping at Xiong Kexuan's office on the tenth underground floor.

Everyone was tired from walking, so they sat together in the small conference room and drank some tea.

At that moment, the county party secretary asked curiously, "Director Li, I heard Future Technology's headquarters building has forty floors in total. Why are there only thirty visible?"

Li Zhou replied with a smile, "The other ten floors are beneath our feet. However, the lower levels are experimental areas and are not open to the public. Even within the company, without my personal permission, not even President Xiong can go down there."

Other than Yuan Jingsong, everyone looked at Xiong Kexuan in surprise. Even the company's ceo had no authority to enter? That was far too strict.

Xiong Kexuan looked at everyone and nodded helplessly. So far, she had indeed only been down there once, when the renovations had just been completed and she had gone with Li Zhou to inspect the site.

Seeing Xiong Kexuan confirm it, then seeing Yuan Jingsong calmly sitting there drinking tea, everyone nodded as though they had come to some realization.

Yuan Jingsong looked utterly baffled at the group. I'm just drinking tea. Why are they all acting like they've understood some great truth?