Prepare the Knife

After the meal, under Ayase Sonoko's guidance, the three children collected all the dishes and bowls, washed them clean, and put them away.

"Dr. Chen, I'd like to donate some money to this elementary school," Zhao Wanyu whispered to Chen Mengchuan, taking out a stack of cash.

Chen Mengchuan smiled and took it from her hand. He counted it and found there was 1,000 yuan in cash.

"Miss Sonoko, Miss Zhao Wanyu would like to donate some money to the school. She hopes we can buy some necessities for the children," Chen Mengchuan found Ayase Sonoko and said to her.

"Really?" Ayase Sonoko looked at Zhao Wanyu happily.

Zhao Wanyu smiled shyly. Before Ayase Sonoko could bow, she bowed to her first and handed over the money.

"Thank you, Miss Wanyu," Ayase Sonoko said, bowing after gratefully accepting the money.

"It's just a small token of my appreciation," Zhao Wanyu said, feeling a little ashamed.

From this Japanese woman, who wasn't particularly beautiful or outstanding, she saw a spirit and positive energy. These made Ayase Sonoko seem full of sunshine. She vaguely understood why Chen Mengchuan had traveled thousands of miles from Shanghai City, crossing mountains and rivers, to come to this poor and remote place.

However, some doubts also arose in Zhao Wanyu's heart. Ayase Sonoko clearly didn't know Chen Mengchuan before, but judging by their interaction, Chen Mengchuan seemed to have a very deep... familiarity and naturalness with Ayase Sonoko, as if they had known each other for decades.

"You knew her before, didn't you?" Zhao Wanyu asked Chen Mengchuan.

Chen Mengchuan smiled complexly and didn't answer her. He just asked, "I'll be staying here for a few days. Do you plan to stay with me, or go back by yourself?"

"I want to stay. This place is very different," Zhao Wanyu replied.

"Understood," Chen Mengchuan smiled.

There were still classes in the afternoon, so Ayase Sonoko didn't continue to entertain the two of them. Chen Mengchuan found a family surnamed Xu near the school, took out some cash, and explained his request to stay for a few days. The Xu couple happily and courteously tidied up two empty rooms for them to stay in.

After calling his parents to report that he was safe, Chen Mengchuan called Sun Zhongyong.

After a brief chat about the progress of the office renovation, Chen Mengchuan got to the point.

"Brother Sun, the Xia Science Academy will approach you to discuss software inspection and bug fixing. Stall them. Insist on signing a contract for 500,000 yuan per person per day, for at least 4 days, the more the better. Make them prepay 70% of the fee," Chen Mengchuan said.

Sun Zhongyong felt a bit panicked upon hearing his words. Was this extortion of the Xia Science Academy?

"Will this work? Mengchuan, don't cause any trouble."

Chen Mengchuan smiled, "If they don't approach you, then it won't work. If they do, just negotiate like this. Negotiate as high as you can."

"Okay, I'll remember it. I've already started arranging recruitment for the company. I took the liberty of hiring Xiaoxiao. I hope you don't mind," Sun Zhongyong asked.

"Brother Sun, you can make the decisions. At this stage, the only thing I can help with is perfecting the technology quickly. Talent like your sister, recruit as many as you can," Chen Mengchuan said with a smile. He was a little surprised that Gu Xiaoxiao would be willing to join their company, especially since everything he had now was still just an illusion, with nothing substantial to show for it.

"Haha, her salary demand wasn't low. I had to persuade her quite a bit to bring it down to 30,000 Huaxia yuan a month. I figured you'd probably be willing, so I agreed," he added.

Chen Mengchuan understood Gu Xiaoxiao's value even better than Sun Zhongyong. If she could be trusted and trained, she could be a great help with much of the maintenance work for Chisako in the future. A monthly salary of 30,000 yuan was practically a steal.

"Brother Sun, I don't really understand HR matters, but she's a top student from Stanford. If she went to Shanghai City, finding a job with a million yuan annual salary probably wouldn't be difficult. Are you sure she'd really come for 30,000?" Chen Mengchuan asked.

"You kid, you don't need to praise her just because she's my cousin. I know you mean well. Once the company is on the right track, I'll find a professional to adjust the company's salary structure."

Chen Mengchuan chuckled.

"Be careful out there," Sun Zhongyong added a few more words, without asking where Chen Mengchuan was.

After hanging up the phone, Chen Mengchuan felt a warmth in his heart. Sun Zhongyong was an upright person, efficient in his work, and a reliable partner.

"Knock, knock, knock!" Zhao Wanyu knocked on the open door.

Chen Mengchuan turned his head. Zhao Wanyu was holding a large bowl of fresh goat milk.

"Sister-in-law asked me to bring you this goat milk."

"Thank you," Chen Mengchuan quickly stepped forward to take the goat milk. His phone rang again.

Seeing that he had a call, Zhao Wanyu smiled, gestured for him to answer it, and went out to take a look, then turned and walked away.

Chen Mengchuan answered the phone.

"Brother Chuan, it's me, Xiao Guo," Guo Siming's voice came from the other end.

"Team Leader Guo, stop apologizing. Just tell me what's wrong directly. I really don't have that much time to chat," Chen Mengchuan interrupted him.

"Brother Chuan, are you still angry with me..."

"Are you going to talk about business or not? If not, I'm hanging up," Chen Mengchuan said, annoyed.

"No, no, no, Brother Chuan, I'll talk, I'll talk. There are some problems with Xuanyuan's logical chain structure. Although we've fixed most of the bugs, there are still constant conflicts. Since you wrote Xuanyuan's logical core, the academy hopes you can come back to re-examine the logical conflicts and fix the logical core structure," Guo Siming said cautiously.

"Team Leader Guo, you're looking for the wrong person. Although I used to work at the Xia Science Academy, I never touched the Xuanyuan project. How could I possibly fix its logical core structure?" Chen Mengchuan sneered.

There's a chance! Guo Siming's expression brightened slightly, and he quickly said, "Brother Chuan, you're still angry with me. I've already confessed to the academy that you are the main person in charge of the Xuanyuan project. The dean said you are welcome to return to the Xia Science Academy anytime, with a 20% salary increase. Where are you now? Shall we meet and discuss?"

"Is that so? Then I'm truly sorry. I've already started a company with a friend, and I'm near the Kunlun Mountains. I'll likely be here for a while, so it might be difficult to meet in person. How about this: I'll give you my friend's number. You can talk to him. He's our company's general manager. If you can convince him, then I'll give it a try. What do you think?" Chen Mengchuan smiled.

"Okay, okay, okay!" Guo Siming breathed a sigh of relief.

After giving Sun Zhongyong's number to Guo Siming, Chen Mengchuan hung up and called Sun Zhongyong.

"Brother Sun, the fat sheep has arrived. Prepare the knives."

The transition period will have 4 updates daily. After chapter 30, it will be pure hard sci-fi! Please read on!