Xiang Mingzhang stayed in Hangzhou for one more day. No matter what, he wanted to thank the Yao family for everything they had told him, so he fulfilled his promise and talked with Yao Jingcheng about the cooperation between the two parties. Old Xiang Yue would send someone to follow up later.
As we set off on our return journey, the car sped along the highway. After a day and night of psychological struggle, Xiang Mingzhang experienced all kinds of emotions like a one-man show and gradually calmed down.
He still didn't know how Shen Ruozhen came here and how he became Chu Shichen.
There are misunderstandings or tricks, and maybe he will never figure them out, but he compromised and was willing to be confused once and become an ignorant fool for that person.
Xiang Mingzhang stared out the window, his breath slowly sighing and spreading hazily on the glass. He ordered, "Don't talk nonsense about what happened in Hangzhou, especially to Secretary Chu."
The driver quickly agreed: "Don't worry, I understand."
Two and a half hours later, the car got off the highway and did not return to the apartment, but went straight to Xiangyue Park.
During working hours, the first floor of the office building was very deserted. Xiang Mingzhang entered the elevator and pressed the ninth floor button. The number jumped up quickly and he was actually a little nervous.
Xiang Mingzhang laughed at himself in his heart, thinking that there would come a day when he would feel homesick.
When he arrived at the sales department, Xiang Mingzhang walked in with his collar straightened. Voices came from the direction of the multimedia room. After the project team had a meeting, more than a dozen people rushed out.
The leader shouted, "Mr. Xiang is back!"
Everyone was greeting each other at once. Chu Shichen was the last one to come. He tilted his head when he heard the voice and looked at Xiang Mingzhang through his colleagues.
Xiang Mingzhang stood there, his heart pounding. He remained calm on the surface and asked, "Just finished the meeting?"
Peng Xin was about to make a phone call to report, and said directly: "Mr. Xiang, the date of the second exchange has been announced, it will be the day after tomorrow."
Xiang Mingzhang asked: "How are the preparations going?"
"It's quite sufficient." Peng Xin is experienced. He only admits 60% of his confidence. Since he said so, it means he is very confident. "Secretary Chu's plan is in place. It has laid a solid foundation for us. It will naturally be more powerful to build a tall building."
Chu Shichen said modestly: "The foundation is Xiang Yue's technology, I can only be regarded as adding bricks and tiles."
The manager said: "Mr. Xiang is personally leading the technical support team. We are confident."
Everyone was in a good mood, so Xiang Mingzhang had nothing to worry about. He ignored the others and looked at Chu Shichen. There was a faint smile on his face, which perfectly overlapped with the old photo taken in 1943.
Xiang Mingzhang ridiculously wanted to rush up, pull Chu Shichen aside and ask him who he was, and asked him how he was going to make up for his birthday this year since autumn had passed.
Then, how will Chu Shichen react
Xiang Mingzhang couldn't imagine it. When everyone dispersed back to the office area, Chu Shichen approached and found that Xiang Mingzhang's eyes were particularly focused and he was staring at him closely.
The two finally got talking, and Chu Shichen asked, "Mr. Xiang, is everything going well in Hangzhou?"
Xiang Mingzhang came back to his senses: "Not bad."
The president's office had been closed for a few days. Chu Shichen turned on the air circulation every day so it wasn't too stuffy. Xiang Mingzhang came in, took off his coat and put it on the back of the chair.
There was a row of documents on the table. Chu Shichen walked over and took out a few that needed signatures, and said, "Mr. Xiang, please take a look first."
Xiang Mingzhang did not sit down: "No hurry."
Chu Shichen said, "Hmm," You just came back from a business trip, it would be good for you to take a rest."
Xiang Mingzhang asked: "Now that I'm back, what reward do you want?"
Chu Shichen was joking in the video, but now he said seriously: "I am responsible for the business work. The second exchange is a display of results and a test of myself here. I don't ask for anything else, I just hope everything goes well."
Xiang Mingzhang tried to figure out whether the word "here" refers to Xiang Yue or this new era
When researching anti-currency, to what extent did this person work so hard
For him, this job is a fresh exploration, which contains unfinished transfer of ambitions. It is also a display and sustenance of "Shen Ruozhen" under the identity of "Chu Shichen".
Xiang Mingzhang was willing to wait, even though he felt extremely upset.
Suddenly, Chu Shichen turned around and was about to leave: "You must have had a hard journey. I'll go make you a cup of coffee."
Xiang Mingzhang was quick-witted and quick-handed, and suddenly hugged Chu Shichen from behind. He seemed to be out of control and had a stress reaction the moment Chu Shichen left.
Xiang Mingzhang locked the person in his arms and said, "Don't go anywhere."
Chu Shichen was stunned for a moment: "What's wrong with you?"
Xiang Mingzhang said: "Just think of me as going crazy."
Why would someone who doesn't even easily reveal his emotions go crazy? Chu Shichen suspected that something had happened and asked, "What is it that you want to tell me?"
Xiang Mingzhang changed his answer temporarily, but he was sincere: "I'm sorry."
Chu Shichen didn't understand: "Sorry for what?"
Xiang Mingzhang pressed his chest against Chu Shichen's back, and they fell forward unbalancedly. As Chu Shichen gasped, he half-covered his face with his palms, interlaced his ten fingers, and supported his four hands on the table.
Xiang Mingzhang held Chu Shichen in front of him, and at the same time recalled the night when they drank vodka together and were intimate on this desk.
It turned out that the one who was naive and didn't know how to respond was Shen Ruozhen.
Time cannot be turned back. Xiang Mingzhang said: "When I kissed you for the first time, I should have been gentler."
Chu Shichen lowered his head, afraid of showing his embarrassment: "Mr. Xiang, were you possessed by an evil spirit by the West Lake?"
Xiang Mingzhang also lowered his head and rubbed his forehead against Chu Shichen's ear: "More than that, I plan to take some time to worship Guanyin."
Chu Shichen said: "Guanyin doesn't care about romantic matters, it would be blasphemy if you went there."
Xiang Mingzhang admitted it. Playing the role of a gentleman was too torturous. He was better at being an offensive jerk. "Then I won't blaspheme. You are as kind as water. Please help me out of this predicament."
A quarter of an hour later, Chu Shichen came out of the president's office, holding his neck with his left hand, and quickly turned into the secretary's office.
The day after tomorrow, the second exchange will be held in the Cultural Hall of Lanxin.
Because the promotion meeting was not very effective, all companies are eagerly waiting to make efforts in the second round of exchanges. After all, after this round of screening, they will enter the final bidding stage.
Xiang Yue came with three people. Xiang Mingzhang and Chu Shichen both wore black suits. They signed in and entered the venue, accompanied by Yunyun. Xiang Mingzhang glanced around and said, "There are one third more people than at the promotion meeting."
Chu Shichen saw Shang Fusheng and Li Heng. From a distance, Li Heng shrugged at him.
The selection team arrived later, and Hu Xiushan made his first public appearance, accompanied by his secretary and the general manager's office. Representatives from various companies watched from afar with curiosity, and no one tried to build a relationship with Hu Xiushan.
The meeting was about to begin. Hu Xiushan's secretary walked to the seats of Xiang Mingzhang and Chu Shichen and greeted them on behalf of Hu Xiushan.
The hall was suddenly in turmoil. Everyone thought that Xiang Yue was doomed to failure. When did he secretly attack Chencang
Chu Shichen didn't like to be too prominent, but it didn't hurt to mess up the enemy's mind before the battle. He said, "It can be seen that until the final victory or defeat is determined, we must not underestimate the enemy."
Xiang Mingzhang said jokingly: "Shang Fusheng spent a lot of money in Beijing, this time it should be my turn to play the role of host."
Chu Shichen asked: "Do you want to date him after this?"
Before Chu Shichen could ask in detail, the exchange meeting began. After the program was read out, the general manager's office delivered a pre-meeting speech on behalf of the selection team.
Xiang Yue ranked second, and Peng Xin took the stage to give an exchange presentation.
The presentation file was divided into two parts. The technical part was handled by Xiang Mingzhang himself, and the business part was carefully polished by Chu Shichen. They had a precise grasp of the demand points and had sophisticated solutions, and the two swords combined to form a smooth speech.
Xiang Yue is the only company that has achieved full-scene simulation. The lights in the auditorium dimmed, and only the renderings on the screen were changing. There were two logos in the upper right corner, one was Xiang Yue and the other was Yisi.
Chu Shichen seemed to be watching a revolving lantern, meeting Duan Hao and his wife, inviting Zhou Kesen to Harbin, holding a promotional meeting, and implementing the loan plan. Step by step, he was finally halfway through the journey.
After the speech, Chu Shichen had another wild thought: would he be the one to go on stage
The second exchange ended successfully. All companies performed at their best, with Xiang Yue being particularly outstanding. The interactive session was very consistent with the selection group's proposals.
Peng Xin is used to big events, but today he was particularly nervous. The first thing he said when he left the hall was, "I need to rest for a few days to save my vital signs."
Next, we will wait for the official specifications to be released, and then prepare for the final bidding. It is right to conserve energy before the tough battle. Xiang Mingzhang said: "Arrange for the project team to take a vacation together."
Peng Xin boldly said: "According to the convention, we will have a dinner together..."
Xiang Mingzhang said impatiently: "You can handle it yourself. Secretary Chu and I have something else to do."
Peng Xin left sensibly, and Xiang Mingzhang drove the car, taking Chu Shichen out of Lanxin Cultural Park.
After sitting in the hall for a whole day, Chu Shichen leaned back on his chair with his arms crossed to rest. The traffic was a bit congested on Friday, and he could only vaguely sense the route half an hour later: "Where are we going?"
Xiang Mingzhang said: "Company."
Chu Shichen asked: "You won't have to work overtime, right?"
Xiang Mingzhang did not answer, but drove all the way back to Xiangyue Park, stopped in front of the R&D center building, and said, "We're here, get off."
Chu Shichen heard from Ling Qi that Xiang Yue focused on technology and invested huge amounts of money in research and development every year. The internal configuration of this research and development center was top-notch in the industry.
Unfortunately, he had never been inside this building. As a secretary, he had no reason or authority to go in, and he couldn't even imagine it.
Xiang Mingzhang held the highest level access card and took Chu Shichen all the way to the reception, conference room, engineer's office, third-level computer room, second-level computer room, first-level computer room, and front-end workstation.
It’s so huge, several times the size of an office building, and every inch of it is magical.
Chu Shichen hurried past, but the nameplate on the outer wall already dazzled him. He felt like he was visiting the Grand View Garden, and his tone was hopeful: "Mr. Xiang, where are we going?"
Xiang Mingzhang took him by the hand and turned a corner, stopped in front of a door, and said, "We're here."
After entering the fingerprint, the door opened and Xiang Mingzhang pulled Chu Shichen in. The temperature in the room was very low and the lights were off. It was pitch dark before dusk.
Chu Shichen suddenly opened his eyes wide—tiny green dots of light flickered in the darkness of the room, just like fireflies in the dark night.
He was so shocked that he couldn't move: "What is this place?"
Xiang Mingzhang let go of Chu Shichen and pressed the switch a few times skillfully. In an instant, hundreds of spotlights lit up and the huge space suddenly became as bright as day.
There are hundreds of servers scattered all over the place with green dots of light, neatly arranged to form a wall of colorful fireflies that stretches as far as the eye can see.
Xiang Mingzhang said: "This is my first data center."
Under the floor were air-conditioning ducts that cooled the machines. Chu Shichen was stunned for a long time. He walked a little closer and stepped carefully between two rows of servers. He raised his hand, and a green light shone on his palm and reflected in his pupils.
Chu Shichen couldn't describe this feeling at all. He had a more tangible understanding of the technology company, servers, drives, switches, and then witnessed the cold machines heating up during operation.
This is a leap and development over the past century.
Xiang Mingzhang walked towards him, stopped half a meter away, and said, "Xiang Yue has been expanding and has built more than one data center across the country, but this place means something different to me."
Chu Shichen asked: "Because it's the first one?"
"Yes, it was the beginning of my founding of Xiang Yue." Xiang Mingzhang replied, "To the east is the backup computer room, and to the west is the main control room. I used to devote myself to this place, working day and night."
Chu Shichen was touched: "Why did you bring me here?"
Xiang Mingzhang answered the question irrelevantly by saying, "The first computer was born at the University of Pennsylvania."
Chu Shichen couldn't help but repeat: "Penn..."
Xiang Mingzhang said: "I like computers, and I like the low noise these machines make when processing data. Any complex structure can be cracked by a program, and all irregularities can be sorted out by an algorithm."
"I said worshipping Guanyin was a joke. I don't believe in Buddhism, I only believe in science. I always think that everything in this world can be explained by science. If not, it's just that humans haven't figured it out yet."
"Materialism, atheism, I have never had any doubts."
Xiang Mingzhang finished speaking calmly and smiled silently: "But because of one person, I was shaken."
Chu Shichen felt inexplicably flustered.
Xiang Mingzhang continued to confess: "I can't figure it out. My cognition has been overturned and my ideas have collapsed. I probably won't be able to figure it out for the rest of my life."
Chu Shichen slid his Adam's apple: "Who is this person?"
"Yes." Xiang Mingzhang repeated slowly, "Who is this person?"
He couldn't figure it out, so he brought this person here.
This was the place he set up, where he spent thousands of days and nights using scientific principles to solve all problems.
These machines are testimony to Xiang Mingzhang's willingness to go against his beliefs and principles in order to seek an answer.
He said, "As long as he admits it himself, I will believe it."
Chu Shichen seemed to understand but not quite, and stood there in panic.
Xiang Mingzhang looked at him and asked, "What happened in the early spring of 1945?"
Hundreds of machines seemed to have stopped, everything was silent, and the blood color on Chu Shichen's face faded away in an instant.
Xiang Mingzhang had silently recited those three words thousands of times since he knew them. They had been engraved in his heart until he finally waited until he actually called them out loud in front of this person.
He moved his lips and called out softly, fearing that he was awakened from a dream: "Is it you, Shen Ruozhen?"
(End of this chapter)