"Warm Welcome!"

Zhou Rui was not visiting Xiang Kun and Xia Libing's breeding research base for the first time. While it was still under construction, he had come by several times with Li Shiping and Ye Chong.

But at the time, even the first phase of construction had not been completed. When they came over hoping to take a look around the site, they had been stopped by the Liu brothers, Liu Zhengyi and Liu Gaoshang.

This time, when they came again, they still saw the Liu brothers at the entrance. They were still wearing hard hats and yellow reflective vests, looking every bit like site foremen.

The car stopped outside the Research Base's massive iron gates. Li Shiping, who was driving, rolled down the window and said to Liu Zhengyi as he approached, "We're here to see Ms. Xia—Xia Libing. Is she here?"

Liu Zhengyi did not answer. His gaze swept through the vehicle before he nodded to his younger brother, Liu Gaoshang, standing on the other side of the gate.

Understanding, the latter pressed the remote control, and the gates slowly slid apart.

Li Shiping drove the van, carrying all eight of them, into the Research Base courtyard. They soon realized that the place had changed dramatically since their last visit. The first phase was essentially complete. The main laboratory building was not tall, but it had an unmistakably sophisticated design.

The area that had still been barren land when they last saw it had now been excavated for foundations, and work on the second phase had begun, extending much farther outward.

Yet there was not a single person on the construction site. The machinery stood silently off to one side. Even the area that looked like temporary worker dormitories showed no sign of activity. Once they rolled down the