Building a Sci-Fi Empire: Starting with Cold Nuclear Fusion

Two days passed in the blink of an eye.

Around nine o'clock that morning, Chen Yuan arrived at the laboratory as usual.

His department is very complex, with many different positions, not to mention the department head and manager.

In addition, there are middle-level leaders such as R&D managers, product managers, and project managers. However, Zhao Peng basically handles all the work of these leaders, so they rarely appear in Chen Yuan's sight.

The rest are the people who do the work, such as software engineers, hardware engineers, test engineers, product development engineers, system architects, data analysts, and operations engineers, among other positions.

Chen Yuan was initially interviewed for a product development engineer position, whose main responsibility is product design and development.

There are many secondary responsibilities, such as technical documents and documentation, testing and verification, problem analysis and improvement, and cross-departmental collaboration.

Logically, he should be very busy, especially since he designed both the 1175Ah battery cell and nuclear battery projects, but in fact, the opposite is true.

He wasn't busy at all; in fact, he was so free that he was sitting at his desk chatting with Ah Yu.

Ayu: "This Saturday, our company is organizing a spring outing to Suzhou. We'll have free time in the evening. You're from Suzhou, do you have any recommendations for places to visit at night?"

Ok?

Is Ah Yu coming to Suzhou?

Chen Yuan blinked and replied, "We can stroll along Shantang Street at night, or go to Huaihai Road. Will you be able to come see me this time you're in Suzhou?"

After the message was sent, Ayu didn't reply for a long time.

Chen Yuan didn't know if the other person was busy with work or for some other reason.

For example, not wanting to see oneself.

He was actually quite nervous.

He and Ayu had known each other for about 150 days, and had only ever chatted online. They had only seen each other's photos once.

Now that he's asked to meet, and the other party hasn't responded, he's naturally starting to overthink things.

To be honest, Chen Yuan really liked A Yu. It wasn't because he knew she was pretty from the photos he saw last time, but because after spending so much time together, anyone would develop feelings for her.

Just as he was waiting for information, Xiaoyun walked over from the side.

Xiaoyun came up and said, "Engineer Chen, all the materials for the nuclear battery have been purchased, and the detailed review showed no problems. We expect to enter the prototype model making stage in the next couple of days. Would you like to go and check the materials?"

Chen Yuan said, "Laboratory number six, right?"

Xiaoyun said, "Yes, Professor Zhang has already gone."

Chen Yuan said, "Okay, I'll go take a look now."

With that, he stood up and walked towards the door.

This project is different from the previous 1175Ah battery cell project.

Since the order was placed by a customer and not internally by the company, the bonus will not be paid out until the project is completed.

Although there will be no bonuses for the time being, Zhao Peng mentioned before that the bonuses for this project are higher than those for the 1175Ah project, around two million.

The reason the bonus is so high is that this project is groundbreaking for Galaxy Company. If it can really produce results, it can also expand into new businesses.

As the designer of the nuclear battery, Chen Yuan will naturally receive a substantial bonus, which he estimates will be even greater than last time.

As he was pondering something, his phone vibrated, as if someone had sent him a message.

As Chen Yuan walked down the corridor, he picked up his phone and saw that it was a private message from Douyin.

As expected, it should be Ah Yu who replied to my message.

Chen Yuan was eager to know if the other party would agree to meet him, so he immediately unlocked his phone to check.

Ah Yu: "You really want to see me?"

Chen Yuan typed, "We've known each other for so long, don't you want to see me?"

This time, Ah Yu replied quickly, unlike before when she kept people waiting. "I do want to, but I'm a little scared."

To ease the other person's tension, Chen Yuan tried to probe in a joking tone, "Are you afraid I'll eat you up if we meet?"

Ah Yu: "No, we've known each other for so long, I believe you're not that kind of person. I have other concerns."

Chen Yuan asked, "What are your concerns? Tell me, and we can discuss and resolve them together."

Ah Yu seemed conflicted. "I don't know how to say it, but I'm just afraid that if you see me, you won't talk to me anymore."

Upon seeing this, Chen Yuan chuckled and said, "Why would you think that? You're so beautiful, to be honest, I'm a little worried that you might not like me after we meet."

He meant it sincerely.

Although Chen Yuan didn't know what A Yu was like in real life, after spending about 150 days with her, he knew that she had a good job, was very well-educated and reasonable, and was very beautiful. Logically speaking, she should have many suitors and not lack excellent men around her.

He is of average appearance and his current economic situation is also average, so he is really afraid that after meeting Ah Yu, she will not like him.

This is a normal thought; in fact, many netizens have similar concerns before meeting in person.

Ah Yu: "There are some things I don't know how to tell you, but there's one thing I can tell you: I'm not a casual person. Even my chats are one-on-one. I don't have the energy to deal with other people, so don't have that kind of concern. But because of my own circumstances, I have to have that kind of thought."

Chen Yuan teased her, "Could it be that the photo you showed me last time was fake, or that you turned the beauty filter on too high and were afraid that the person wouldn't look the same as the photo? Don't worry, no matter what you look like, you're still A-Yu, and you're still the person I only want to be with."

While typing, he and Xiaoyun entered Laboratory No. 6 one after the other.

There were many people gathered together inside.

Needless to say, the project team members like Lao Qin, Zhu Yun, and Guo Ning are also included.

Even department leaders like Zhao Peng and Wang Kai, whom we only see at morning meetings these past few days, are here now.

Seeing so many people around, Chen Yuan felt embarrassed to continue chatting, so he put his phone in his pocket.

He went over and talked with the others, and then checked the materials with Zhang Shulin.

After confirming that there were no problems, Zhao Peng instructed the project team to produce the figure model as soon as possible.

This task took nearly an hour.

By the time we came out of Lab 6, it was almost 10 o'clock.

Chen Yuan stood by the corridor window and took out his phone to check it.

To his surprise, an hour had passed and Ayu still hadn't replied to his message.

Chen Yuan's heart skipped a beat. He thought that either A Yu really didn't want to meet him and didn't know how to reply, or the photo she gave him last time wasn't of her, or she had used too much beauty filter and was feeling inferior.

Everyone loves beauty. Although he does like beautiful women, he wouldn't give up the time he would spend with Ayu for about 150 days if she really wasn't good-looking.

In a sense, Chen Yuan is a sentimental person.

As long as the feeling is right, it doesn't really matter whether you look good or not.

The prerequisite is that they can't be too ugly, otherwise it's uncomfortable to sit together and eat, who can stand it?

Just as he was about to send another message to ask the other party, a message came in.

Ah Yu: "I was busy just now and didn't reply to you in time."

Chen Yuan pressed further, "What's your decision?"

Ah Yu: "I'm really a little scared. To be honest, I cherish the time we've spent together and don't want this meeting to give you a bad impression of me. Maybe... you could give me some more time?"

Chen Yuan said helplessly, "I will respect whatever choice you make. But what I want to tell you is that I cherish these 150 days of companionship just like you. Therefore, whether you look the same as in the photo or not, I will not have a bad impression of you. If you think I am the kind of person who judges by appearance, then I will not force you to not meet."

Ah Yu quickly explained, "I don't think so, really. I've always thought you were a very good boy. Not only are you handsome, but you also have a great personality. It's just that for my personal reasons... I'm really a little scared."

Upon seeing this message, Chen Yuan truly didn't know how to reply.

If he insists on meeting, it will seem as if he is forcing the other person.

But if we say we won't meet, who knows when we'll have another chance to meet?

Chen Yuan stood there holding his phone for about five minutes, thinking about how to reply.

Just then, Ah Yu sent another message: "Are you... angry?"

Chen Yuan replied, "No, I was just thinking about how to make you willingly see me."

Ah Yu brought up the old question again: "You really want to see me that much?"

Chen Yuan said with certainty, "Yes, I really want to see you. I want to stroll with you in the city night breeze and chat. I want to see your profile, which I've been longing for, under the dim light of the streetlights. I also want to smell your sweet scent up close. I really want to see you."

This is rather cheesy; most people would probably find it disgusting.

However, Chen Yuan and A Yu were in a rather ambiguous stage; one spoke sincerely, and the other didn't feel uncomfortable looking at him.

Ah Yu replied gently, "What you're thinking about is actually what I've been thinking about too. I've made up my mind. Even though you might not like me after you meet me, being able to stay with me for so long is already a blessing from heaven, so I'll try my best to face it. Let's meet on Saturday afternoon. Can you promise me one thing?"

what?

Are you really willing to meet me?

Chen Yuan's face lit up with joy, and he quickly asked, "What is it?"

Ah Yu's tone was still filled with worry, "It's a very simple thing, that is, after you see me, no matter what happens, you at least have to have a proper dinner with me, okay?"

Is it that simple?

Without hesitation, Chen Yuan said, "I agree."

He was overjoyed to finally meet Ah Yu.

Suddenly, my phone vibrated; a short message had been sent.

When Chen Yuan opened the message, he found that the 4S store had informed him that his car loan had been approved and asked him to come over today to complete the formalities.

The message also stated that if the procedures go smoothly today, the car can be picked up around this Friday.

Can I pick up the car on Friday?

Ah Yu happened to come over on Saturday.

Then I can drive around with him and have some private space, right?

Chen Yuan's eyes lit up. He thought of asking Zhao Peng for two hours off in the afternoon to get the car loan paperwork done as soon as possible.

The thought of meeting Ah Yu filled him with an intense longing.

However, this enthusiasm did not last long before Chen Yuan had a slight worry again.

Could it be that what Ah Yu said today was a way of giving me a heads-up?

The other person's real appearance may not be the same as the photo, or even be ugly?

Chen Yuan couldn't help but pray that it wouldn't look like the photo, but just not so ugly that he couldn't stand it.