Stability Above All
The evening's organizational activities proceeded as planned, and Shen Qi treated the three female Party members to a nice meal.
"I have chicken, duck, fish, and shrimp. I'm so happy and touched!" Cui Xiaoyi held a chicken in her left hand and a duck in her right, radiating happiness.
"Xiao Yi, how many days has it been since you've eaten meat?" Shen Qi looked at Cui Xiaoyi's eating habits and felt hungry just watching her.
"Meat? What's meat? I'm so poor lately I can't even afford dirt, I'm eating wild marble every day." Cui Xiaoyi took a bite of chicken, then rinsed her mouth with a sip of red wine.
"Cui Xiaoyi, ever since I met you, you've been complaining about being broke every day. Is it really that bad?" Shen Qi knew that Cui Xiaoyi was a spendthrift; her salary would be gone in three days, and she would live on credit cards and Alipay for the remaining twenty-seven or twenty-eight days. Almost all of Cui Xiaoyi's salary was used to pay off last month's bills, and then she would continue to overdraft her credit cards and Alipay, and so on.
"I don't have many years left to live. The country is about to completely eliminate poverty. I should enjoy life to the fullest and eat and drink to my heart's content. This lobster is amazing, so much more tender and smooth than wild marble lobster." Cui Xiaoyi devoured the table with astonishing stamina.
"Eating wild marble can maintain your size?" Sang Tian looked at Cui Xiaoyi, gesturing a shape in the air with her finger.
After drinking, the party members became more open in their conversation. Everyone knew that Cui Xiaoyi had an impressive figure, and that she didn't get that size by eating marble. You can't get big breasts from eating marble; you can only get large gallstones from it.
Restaurants are one of the most important social venues for Chinese people. Many topics that are not dared to be discussed or are inconvenient to talk about in the office can be discussed at the dinner table. As long as the drinks are right, people can speak freely.
Shen Qi then asked Sang Tian, "Sang Tian, you graduated from the Chinese Department of Yenching University and were a writer. Why did you give up your writing dream?"
"The bookstore I used to work for recently went bankrupt and was acquired by a bigger site. Now they're asking me to write mindless, wish-fulfillment novels." Sang Tian sighed, lamenting her bad luck in being born at the wrong time. "I don't want to write mindless, wish-fulfillment novels, so I won't."
Sang Tian sighed, "Secondly, I've been failing miserably for a long time, never achieving anything great. I'm exhausted from all the failures. Taking a break for a while is good for my mood."
"That's right, only by writing what you love can you become a master." Shen Qi encouraged Sang Tian, but he also kept a watchful eye on her. If this struggling female writer ever found inspiration and became a master, she definitely wouldn't continue to collect a fixed salary from me.
"Director Shen, let's drink! Don't just talk the talk, you've practically dug up all the secrets of us young ladies." Wen Yan raised her glass to Shen Qi. She was more sober and noticed that Shen Qi was intentionally or unintentionally probing their past experiences and emotional journeys.
"Cheers! Come on, everyone, let's raise our glasses and wish our center all the best!" Shen Qi's alcohol tolerance was no problem against his three female subordinates.
After dinner, we went to karaoke. The three female subordinates had one thing in common: they would get drunk after eating and drinking, but sober up as soon as they started singing.
With three women making a scene, Shen Qi didn't even get a chance to touch the microphone.
So Shen Qi played dice by himself. He asked the waiter to bring twenty-four dice cups into the room. He picked twenty-three of them, while the other twenty-three players were virtual. "Twenty-four people, starting with fifty. I'll go first, eighty sixes."
Then Shen Qi imitated Player B, slightly lifting the second dice cup clockwise and glancing at the five dice inside. "Add 10, 90 sixes!"
"I'll add 10 more, 100 sixes!" Shen Qi continued to imitate player C.
"Are there really that many sixes? I'll roll 100 sixes!" Shen Qi lifted his dice cup; he didn't have a single six or a single one.
Cui Xiaoyi, Wen Yan, and Sang Tian were dumbfounded. They had never seen this kind of game before: a table covered with dice cups, played by just one person.
The singing stopped, and the three girls watched as Shen Qi lifted the dice cups one by one.
After all twenty-four dice cups were uncovered, the girls were increasingly dumbfounded. Including the common one, there seemed to be about a hundred sixes on the table.
Rolling 100 sixes out of 120 dice is nothing special; what the girls find hard to understand is that Shen Qi had only seen three cups before revealing the secret.
"Amazing, absolutely amazing." Cui Xiaoyi casually tucked the microphone into her chest and began counting the sixes on the table.
Sang Tian and Wen Yan joined the "counting sixes" group. After the three girls finished counting, they came to the same astonishing conclusion. "99 sixes! Director Shen, you successfully won! How did you do that? There are twenty-one dice cups, and you didn't even look at the dice inside!"
"No need to look, just do the math, it's just a math game. Why aren't you singing anymore?" Shen Qi pointed to the big screen.
"We're amazed by your amazing skills! Why don't you perform it again?" The three girls strongly urged Shen Qi to do it again.
Shen Qi shook his head. "This divine skill can only be used once a day; it won't work the second time. You're not singing anymore, huh? Then let's go to the spa. When you're out having fun, try to have some fun. Our principle is: work hard, live happily."
One man and three women went to a spa, sauna, and get massages.
Male guests receive services in the men's section, and female guests receive services in the women's section. The services for men and women are separate, and all are standard services, charged per item.
The four of them then met up at a restaurant and had a late-night snack together.
This organizational activity deepened mutual understanding between superiors and subordinates, which is beneficial for subsequent work, and a cohesive team is rapidly taking shape.
They partied until the early hours of the morning, and the organized activity ended. The three girls spent the night at the spa, while Shen Qi returned to the Yanjing University Faculty Dormitory.
Ou Ye was already asleep, and Shen Qi, not wanting to wake her, slept on the sofa.
"The sofa isn't comfortable, come in." A voice came from the bedroom. It turned out that Ou Ye was still awake. She turned on the bedside table light and pointed Shen Qi in the right direction.
Shen Qi entered the bedroom and got into bed.
Shen Qi had informed Ou Ye in advance about today's organizational activity, and his family leader had approved his attendance.
"Having fun?" Ou Ye asked from beside him. She was very considerate and never urged Shen Qi to go home.
"We can't let morale drop; if the team falls apart, it'll be hard to lead," Shen Qi said wearily.
"In your center, the one with the biggest chest is Cui Xiaoyi, the one with the longest legs is Wen Yan, and the one with the most talent is Sang Tian. This team is hard to manage." Ou Ye turned off the lights and went to sleep, this time for real.
The wife at home is a bit upset. Shen Qi doesn't try to explain; the more he explains, the harder it becomes.
Everything is for the sake of work, to lead the team well, and to stabilize the female employee team so that the team can grow and thrive.
Being a manager is not easy; you have to manage everything inside and out. After stabilizing the female employees at his workplace, Shen Qi spent a few more days stabilizing the female employees at home.
Stability is paramount; when everything is stable, good things will naturally follow.
Both of Shen Qi Mathematical and Physical Research Center's Mathematical Research projects at the Center for Mathematical Research have been approved.
Xiao Junlong's Mathematical Physics research project has received funding from six research grants from relevant national departments, relevant departments in Beijing, Yenching University, and other institutions, with research funding exceeding one million yuan.
Ma Chaofan's Algebraic Geometry project also received funding from six research grants. Previously, the two of them had applied for a total of 12 research grant projects, all of which were approved by the relevant departments, fully supporting the academic research endeavors of the Shen Qi Mathematical and Physical Research Center.
Shen Qi only applied for one funded project for his Condensed Matter Physics research: the National Key Basic Research Program of China (973 Program).
The approval process for the 973 Program is a bit more complicated. Even though the relevant departments have arranged a fast-track approval channel for Shen Qi, he still needs to wait for a while.
"Gentlemen, the country attaches great importance to the development of our center. All the projects we submitted have been approved. I dare say that the funding allocated to the two mathematics projects is among the highest in recent years, second only to the Hodge conjecture 973 Program that Vice President Lu worked on back then."
Shen Qi arrived at the Mathematics Room and gave Xiao Junlong and Ma Chaofan a firm order, "There's no turning back now. The country has given us so much funding; if we don't produce some decent results, who will we be able to face? I have no time limit for your research; I only require you to do it well and create a high-quality project. If you need any resources or support during the project, just let me know, and I will fully support you in making it a masterpiece and a benchmark. That's all I'll say. Success is the only option; failure is not an option. Let's get started!"