At noon.
Shencheng, 42nd floor of Qingning Technology Building.
In a small conference room not open to the public, the atmosphere was relaxed.
Beyond the floor-to-ceiling window lay the shimmering waters and vibrant modern skyline of Shen City Bay. Inside stood only a compact round table.
Several half-finished cups of coffee and sheets of draft paper covered in casual doodles—algorithm formulas and architecture diagrams—were scattered across the table.
Liu Qingning sat surrounded by several colleagues, their easy laughter ringing out from time to time.
"The new braised pork trotter rice in the cafeteria is incredible! Rich without being greasy, and it melts in your mouth. I seriously recommend that all of you try it."
"Agreed! I had two portions yesterday!"
"The results of last week's internal Code Marathon are out. Pearl took third place, so she has to treat us tonight."
"Among Qingmi AI's new users last week, the proportion of those born after 2000 exceeded 30% for the first time. This is definitely a new opportunity—"
Liu Qingning quietly listened to everyone talking over one another, occasionally chiming in with a smiling remark or two. Her eyes and brows were filled with warmth.
These people were former associates and top alumni whom she had personally recruited recently.
They were also her most trusted inner circle within this massive tech company.
After a while.
Liu Qingning raised her hand to check her watch, then clapped. "All right, it's already noon. Meeting's over, meeting's over. Go get lunch. You can try the pork trotter rice."
Everyone burst out laughing.
Liu Qingning stood up and said half-jokingly, "In short, you've all just joined Qingning Technology, so it's normal to need time to adjust. If you run into any problems at work, come find me anytime. If technology can solve it, we'll use