Settling In

May 30th, the end of the month. Today is an absolutely memorable day for all employees of Future Technology.

From its inception to the present, Future Technology finally has its own company headquarters.

The Future Technology headquarters has a total of 40 floors, 20 underground and 20 above ground. The difference is that the bottom ten floors are all 5 meters high. In Li Zhou's vision, these bottom ten floors will become his personal laboratories and artificial intelligence center.

From early morning, various departments of Future Technology were busy packing personal belongings, waiting to officially hang the plaque at 10:15 AM and move into the headquarters.

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

At 9:30 AM, when Li Zhou accompanied the county leaders to the entrance of the headquarters, he found that many reporters had already set up their equipment.

Time ticked by, and Li Zhou kept glancing at his watch, muttering impatiently.

"It's already ten o'clock, why isn't that guy here yet?"

Just as Li Zhou was getting impatient and about to make a call, a military vehicle screeched to a halt in the headquarters' parking lot.

Seeing Yuan Jingsong, Li Zhou walked over with a smile.

"Old Yuan, you're late. I thought you weren't coming?"

Yuan Jingsong got out of the car and, without a word, casually tossed a document bag to Li Zhou. "Here's the list of retired personnel you asked for. All the retired soldiers on this list are excellent, and there are a full three hundred of them."

Li Zhou happily opened the document bag and quickly scanned it, completely unfazed by Yuan Jingsong's stern expression.

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

Li Zhou shrugged. "Relax, relax. Isn't it just that the headquarters is completed? The bottom ten floors of the headquarters building will be my private experimental zone and artificial intelligence center. That place will be full of company secrets from now on, so the security must be in place."

Li Zhou looked around to confirm there were no outsiders, then whispered in Yuan Jingsong's ear, "I've made new progress with artificial intelligence. If I don't have enough security for that thing, I won't feel at ease. If something not yet fully developed leaks out, it would be a disaster for the current internet. And besides artificial intelligence, I have some other research projects that are currently in the verification stage. Once they are successfully verified, their impact will be phenomenal."

Yuan Jingsong looked at Li Zhou with shock. According to the predictions of domestic expert groups on artificial intelligence and Han Language research, true artificial intelligence would emerge within five years at the latest. Five years was already enough to excite everyone in power. Who would have thought that Li Zhou, without anyone knowing, had already made new progress.

Just as Yuan Jingsong was about to ask Li Zhou for details, especially about the other projects he was secretly researching, about which he had received no information, he saw a woman running towards them and held back his words.

Wang Fei jogged up to the boss at the parking lot entrance and looked at him helplessly.

"Chairman, there are only three minutes left until the ribbon-cutting ceremony at 10:15. If we don't go now, we'll miss the auspicious time."

Li Zhou looked at his watch and indeed it was. He then turned to Yuan Jingsong with a look of a wronged wife.

"Hurry up, we're just waiting for you."

With that, Li Zhou bolted. It was a joke, the auspicious time for moving into the headquarters at 10:15 was personally calculated by his mother. If he missed the time because of himself, Li Zhou had no doubt his mother would chase him with a broom.

When Li Zhou arrived at the entrance, he saw his mother glaring fiercely at him. Li Zhou's face twitched, and he pretended not to see it.

At 10:15 AM, witnessed by many Future Technology employees and the media, Li Zhou and Yuan Jingsong, along with the leaders, unveiled the red cloth.

Li Zhou looked at the entrance of the headquarters, filled with emotion.

Everyone smiled at Li Zhou, waiting for his word to enter the headquarters building.

Li Zhou waved his hand grandly and shouted loudly.

"Open the door to prosperity, the prosperous door opens, bringing peace and good luck! Enter!!!"

As soon as Li Zhou finished speaking, all the employees were like they were back in high school during the break, rushing into the headquarters with joy. With such a large building, they no longer had to squeeze into a small office. Although the administrative department had already assigned areas to each department, they hadn't specified individual workstations.

This delighted everyone. Who wouldn't want to find a good spot? It would be even more perfect if it were by the window. The exterior of the headquarters was now fully landscaped, and it would be wonderful to enjoy the beautiful scenery during breaks.

The most composed were the people from the finance department and the CEO's office. As the boss's "little padded jacket," the finance department was located closest to the boss, on the tenth basement floor.

The CEO's office and the finance department were on the same floor.

Yuan Jingsong looked at the behavior of the Future Technology employees in surprise and turned to Li Zhou beside him, asking curiously, "Are they rushing to eat?"

Yuan Jingsong's voice was loud, and the leaders next to Li Zhou also turned their heads in curiosity.

Seeing so many people looking at him, Li Zhou couldn't help but twitch his lips. What the hell, eating!

Just as Li Zhou was feeling speechless, Yuan Jingsong chimed in again.

"My subordinates are like that. The moment they hear about food, they run faster than anyone."

Li Zhou rubbed his forehead and replied helplessly to Yuan Jingsong.

"They're rushing to grab workstations. Let's go, I'll give everyone a tour of the building, and then we can experience the company's catering at the cafeteria on the second floor."

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

In the small conference room, everyone, tired from walking, sat down for some tea.

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

Li Zhou smiled and replied, "There are ten more floors beneath our feet. However, they are part of the experimental zone and are not open to the public. Even within the company, without my personal permission, even General Manager Xiong cannot go down."

Except for Yuan Jingsong, everyone looked at Xiong Kexuan in surprise. Even the company's CEO didn't have permission to go down; it was too strict.

Xiong Kexuan looked at everyone and nodded helplessly. To this day, she had only been down there once, when she and Li Zhou were inspecting the renovations after they were completed.

Seeing Xiong Kexuan confirm, and then seeing Yuan Jingsong calmly sipping his tea, everyone nodded as if they had suddenly understood something.

Yuan Jingsong looked at them with a bewildered expression. He was just drinking tea, and they all acted as if they had grasped some profound truth.