He pulled open the door. Zhao Xiangjun, hearing the sound, turned around. She glanced at him with a weary expression, then turned back to open her own door.
Chen Xiao said, "That was all a misunderstanding, really!"
Zhao Xiangjun, on the verge of losing it, said, "Can we not talk about this anymore? I already said you can pay me back when you get your commission. Are you a man or not? Stop being so wishy-washy!"
Chen Xiao said, "Fine. I was going to pay you back, but my phone broke..."
Zhao Xiangjun stared at him with a look of pure horror. "Don't you dare push your luck! I don't have money to 'sponsor' you a new phone!"
She hurried into her room and SLAMMED the door shut!
'What does she mean? Who asked her to sponsor a phone? I was just trying to explain that I'd planned to pay her back tonight, but... ugh.' Chen Xiao was past the point of being able to explain.
It was impossible to explain, so he just gave up. Chen Xiao had accepted his fate.
He had to work on Monday, so Chen Xiao got up early. He noticed the door across the hall was open. He didn't see Zhao Xiangjun, but he did see two children—one was about seven or eight years old, and the other was in a baby walker. Chen Xiao was in a hurry to get to work, so he didn't pay it much mind.
He went downstairs for breakfast. The breakfast shop was quite crowded, and there was only one seat left when Chen Xiao sat down. Just as he started eating, he noticed the other customers looking toward the entrance. He saw Zhao Xiangjun bustling in. She ordered some food and asked the owner to pack up a meal for two.
She glanced around the shop, noting the way a group of men were staring at her, looking like they wanted to devour her whole. Her expression remained blank. Suddenly, she spotted Chen Xiao and CLACKED over to sit across from him.
"Morning. You're not eating much, huh?" Chen Xiao noticed she had only ordered a bowl of congee and two shumai.
Zhao Xiangjun rolled her eyes and lowered her head to eat.
Chen Xiao, having been snubbed, didn't say anything else. She ate little, and as soon as the owner finished packing her takeout order, she finished her meal in a few quick bites.
"You'd better work hard and earn that commission quickly. If I find out you're slacking off, I'll demand you pay me back immediately!"
Chen Xiao said, "I can pay you back right now..." He had bought a new phone yesterday, so he could finally transfer the money.
Zhao Xiangjun rolled her eyes again. "Just stop! You've got money? You're a big shot now, are you?"
She stood up and CLACKED away. A moment later, Chen Xiao received a notification:
"DING! Detected that target Zhao Xiangjun has voluntarily spent 15 yuan on the Host. Rewarding the Host with 1,440 yuan for the Zhao Xiangjun-specific Diligence Fund! Fund balance: 222,240 yuan!"
Only then did Chen Xiao realize she had paid his bill along with hers. For some reason, he was starting to feel quite at ease with Zhao Xiangjun picking up the tab. He even consoled himself with the thought, 'Well, she's basically just putting money in my savings account anyway...'
Wang Jing still hadn't returned to Dr. Feng's Robot Technology Company. He couldn't accept the 4,000 yuan base salary. To each his own, so Chen Xiao didn't try to persuade him further.
Today, they had a meeting with Bai Lu. Feng Feifei was leading their team, with Yuan Kai and Chen Xiao participating. They were meeting with the team from the Design Institute to have an in-depth discussion about the various applications for drones in intelligent inspection, understand the client's needs, identify industry pain points, and provide a precise direction for R&D.
The three of them took the company's business van to the Jiangzhou Transportation Design Institute. The moment he got out of the car, Chen Xiao received a system notification!
"DING! New Mission: Establish a research project between Dr. Feng's Robot and the Jiangzhou Transportation Design Institute."
"Mission Reward: A random gift package based on the completion rate. A 2 million yuan project constitutes 100% completion."
'Hmph. Is the system afraid I'll slack off?' he thought. 'But I'm hardly the key player for this mission's completion. Feng Feifei is the CEO and CTO—she's the one running the show!'
When Feng Feifei, Chen Xiao, and the others entered the designated conference room, Bai Lu and the Design Institute's technical staff were already there.
Great minds think alike, and beauties appreciate beauties. The moment they met, Feng Feifei and Bai Lu greeted each other very politely. Yuan Kai, who had spoken with Bai Lu on the phone before but was meeting her for the first time, offered a somewhat fawning greeting.
It was the 5 million yuan order that had elevated Bai Lu's importance to the absolute maximum in Yuan Kai's eyes. She might just be an assistant to the general manager, but she was an assistant with real power—the power to greenlight projects.
Chen Xiao, being familiar with Bai Lu, just gave a simple greeting. Feng Feifei's group sat down across from Bai Lu's team. While a staff member was setting up the projector, Yuan Kai tried to get friendly, smiling at Bai Lu. "Assistant Bai, have you reached King rank yet?"
Bai Lu looked at him, completely baffled. She had no idea what he meant.
"Manager Yuan, you must be joking. Our General Manager is the real 'King' around here. I'm just an assistant!"
Chen Xiao was probably the only one present who understood why he'd asked that. Bai Lu's answer only deepened Yuan Kai's misunderstanding. He mentally filled in the blanks, assuming her general manager also played LoL and that Bai Lu was his support.
"I've been practicing hard at home recently. I hope I get a chance to play a match with you, Assistant Bai!"
Bai Lu, still not understanding, just hummed noncommittally to brush him off. 'This business manager from Dr. Feng's Robot must have a screw loose,' she thought.
Yuan Kai thought Bai Lu had agreed and shot a triumphant look at Chen Xiao, as if to say, "See? Poaching your client is just that easy!"
'What an idiot!' Chen Xiao lowered his head, trying not to laugh out loud.
The projector was ready. Feng Feifei took the lead in presenting the project's outlook, technical points, and various parameters. Since the company's pre-sales staff hadn't been hired yet, she, the CEO, was personally giving the pitch. Of course, this was also a sign of respect for a major client. She hoped for a perfect outcome today.
Feng Feifei's presentation skills were excellent. Her logic was clear, she highlighted the key points, her market analysis was spot-on, she detailed every technical specification, and she clearly articulated the technological roadmap.
She also answered the questions from the Design Institute's technical staff with great clarity, winning over everyone in the room.
Finally, Bai Lu stated her position. "I'm very optimistic about this project's prospects. After our discussions, President Feng also made adjustments to some of the technical approaches. Once a product like this is finalized, it could completely replace some of the older existing equipment. It would also give us a voice in the industry, allowing us to capture the most profitable market segment!"
Hearing this, Feng Feifei knew the deal was sealed. She listened with a smile as Bai Lu continued.
"So, President Feng, when you get back, you can have your team draft a project proposal based on our research project template. We'll start the internal approval process and should have it confirmed within two weeks."
This so-called research project was a grant, meaning the Design Institute would provide the funding for Dr. Feng's Robot to conduct the R&D. Since this was already in line with Dr. Feng's Robot's own R&D direction, the funding for this project would essentially save them a significant sum in research expenses.
"Assistant Bai, shall we confirm the funding amount for the research project?"
"Yes, let's say 2 million yuan. I discussed it with Chen Xiao last week. Is that acceptable, President Feng?"
2 million was a lot. Feng Feifei was very satisfied; even 1 million would have been a pleasant surprise. Before she could speak, Chen Xiao cut in, "Assistant Bai, after our last discussion, we went back and looked into it. We believe a 2 million yuan budget would be quite tight. Would it be possible to increase it to 3 million?"