Rapid Progress!

Everything went much smoother than expected.

In less than a week, Lu Jingping and several Jiuzhou Automobile R&D personnel, holding the research results they had developed, were preparing to embark on their journey home.

An unusually large number of senior and junior colleagues came to see them off this time, and they were incredibly enthusiastic!

A crowd of Doctors bid them a reluctant farewell, creating quite a spectacle that drew the curious glances of many passing university students.

"Safe travels, junior brother! Please come back again next time you need anything!" a postdoctoral researcher with a receding hairline waved goodbye.

Another postdoctoral researcher with a receding hairline enthusiastically added, "Yeah, yeah! Especially for things that bring in money fast and are easy work, don't hesitate to come find us!"

A postdoctoral researcher with lustrous black hair touched their hair, looking at their senior and junior colleagues with a hint of smugness and a touch of emotion.

"It turned out to be simpler than we anticipated, and we were lucky too. We found a solution after only a few hundred trials."

"Everyone made significant contributions, achieving an effect where one plus one was greater than two."

"This research process really felt smooth. If only all projects were this simple, I'm sure I could keep my lustrous black hair."

"Maybe it was the money that motivated us, hahaha. We made over a hundred thousand in less than a week. I never thought making money could be this easy!"

The laboratory rental, paid on a daily basis, cost less than one million. The remaining over four million was paid to these twenty-odd Doctors and postdoctoral researchers, averaging a little over 170,000 per person.

In less than a week, everyone earned over a hundred thousand. Even for these postdoctoral researchers, especially at the end of 2008, it was a very substantial income.

Standing at the university gate, they were all in high spirits, discussing how they would spend their earnings.

"Now I can have a prosperous New Year when I go home. I'll give my parents 100,000. They worked so hard to raise me all these years; they'll be so happy."

"Buy a house, buy a house! This is the first time I've earned so much money. I plan to buy my parents a house in our hometown's small county when I go back for New Year. This money is enough to buy a nice house."

"They'll probably be shocked. Even with any subsidies before, it wasn't much. 170,000 – that's more than they could earn in several years."

"My family already has a house and a car. I'll get my parents a big red envelope, and with the rest, I can get a top-tier computer, hehe!"

"With this money, I might be able to try studying abroad."

From how to spend the money, the conversation among these Doctors, with an average age of around thirty, quickly turned back to the benefactor who had paid them such a large sum, and they became curious about the company.

"Jiuzhou Automobile, huh? I'm already curious about this company. They don't seem short on money and are eager for talent. According to the two junior brothers, the treatment there should be good, and there aren't too many restrictions."

"These two junior disciples have been babbling in our ears for days. I wonder what kind of magic potion the company's boss gave them to make them defend it so much. It's making me tempted."

Zhu Yongchun watched their taxi drive away, took out a delicate hip flask from her pocket, opened the cap, and took a gentle sip. "It wouldn't hurt to take a look. I plan to check it out next year after my project is finished. If it's really good, I might stay there."

Zhu Yongchun's words surprised the postdoctoral researchers around her.

"Senior Sister, you have a chance to stay at the university. In a few years, you'll be a professor. You're actually tempted too."

"You're the teacher's most cherished direct disciple; won't you stay to lead the team?"

"Are you deliberately giving us the chance to stay at the university?"

Facing the speculations of her senior and junior colleagues, Zhu Yongchun carefully put the hip flask back into her pocket. As she turned to walk back to the laboratory, a voice drifted on the wind.

"I'm also quite interested in new energy vehicles. If the R&D funding is sufficient, it's not impossible. Plus, drinking at school is inconvenient, and the teacher always lectures me."

The senior and junior colleagues who had followed immediately chimed in with complaints.

"The inconvenience of drinking at school is the main point, right!"

Mhm, junior brother is right!

Laughter filled the air for a moment.

Everyone was accustomed to partings. Nowadays, phone and internet communication were very convenient, so there wasn't much sadness.

Life went on, but with the financial boost of over a hundred thousand, at least everyone would have a very happy year.

After bidding farewell to their many senior and junior colleagues, Lu Jingping and the others embarked on their journey home.

With these research results, they could continue to advance the R&D progress.

In the taxi on the way to the airport, Lu Jingping called Xu Yifan to report the situation.

"Boss, I haven't failed you. Things should go much smoother from now on. Perhaps this R&D project can be announced as completed in just a few months."

Xu Yifan's delighted voice came through the phone, "Excellent work!"

"Oh, and when is your return flight?"

"If we're landing at Shuangliu Airport, it should be around 4 PM."

"Okay, I'll pick you up then."

"No, no, we can get back ourselves."

"Don't be so polite. You are all heroes. Well, when you get back, I'll treat all the researchers to foot massages!"

Without giving them a chance to refuse further, Xu Yifan declared, "It's settled then!"

Soon, at the Jiuzhou Automobile factory, Xu Yifan was driving his car towards the airport once again.

Temporary driver online!

While driving, Xu Yifan's mind moved, and he glanced at the system panel out of the corner of his eye.

[Super Factory System: Level 1]

[Funds: 25.29 Million]

[Buildings: Production Workshop Lv. 1, Research Center Lv. 1, Battery Research and Development Center Lv. 1, Employee Dormitory Lv. 1, Cafeteria Lv. 1, Warehouse Lv. 1, Office Building Lv. 2.]

[Employees: 549 (Satisfaction: 65%)]

[Products: Jiuzhou Mini (Old Man Happy) (Production Technology: Average) (Product Quality: Average) (Annual Output: Over 20,000)]

[Technology: None (A trash company with no core technology!)]

The funds have changed slightly, and overall, there are still around twenty million that can be spent freely.

As for the employees, after a week, the recruitment process has basically concluded.

Apart from research positions, all departments have had personnel added, and the company has now reached the scale of a medium-sized enterprise.

It has also basically reached the capacity limit of this car factory. If they want to expand further in the future, they will need to build new factory buildings and supporting facilities for various factory operations.

The employee dormitory's capacity has reached its limit. Fortunately, with the current three-shift system, there is ample rest time, and most employees live within the city and can go home after work.

Otherwise, employees would only have ten-person rooms!

He looked at these figures every day. At a traffic light, while the vehicles were stopped, Xu Yifan shifted his attention to the buildings. He saw the current progress of the Level 1 Battery Research and Development Center.

[R&D Project: New Lithium Iron Phosphate Battery Technology, Progress: 72%!]

It jumped directly from the previous 35% to 72%!

At this moment, Xu Yifan didn't feel any heartache about the money at all. It was only eight million, and the progress had increased by 37%. It was simply a great deal.

If you have money, you must spend it!

He took two deep breaths and softly murmured, "Calm down, calm down. It seems like I've returned to my previous state.

Breaking through about 1% progress costs hundreds of thousands. Spending money now is a bit not worth it."

"As long as I don't have an endless supply of cash, the 'pay-to-win' feature is most cost-effective for breaking through bottlenecks."

"I still need to calm down. I only have over twenty million in funds, and there are many places where money will be needed later."

"Why do I suddenly want more difficult challenges to overcome? This is too much."

Beep beep beep----

With the honking of the car behind him, Xu Yifan finally started driving again, heading towards the highway.