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

As night fell, the stars outside were dazzling, a sign that tomorrow would be a good day.

Perhaps because he didn't sleep well last night, Chen Yuan took a nap as soon as he got back from the company in the afternoon.

Sure enough, when I woke up, it was already dark outside.

He couldn't help but yawn as he lay in bed. "I'm a little hungry, but I don't want to get up. I'll order some takeout."

Chen Yuan didn't even turn on the light. With his eyes closed, he groped around aimlessly until he finally found his phone next to his pillow.

He opened his sleepy eyes, just about to unlock his phone.

When the screen lit up, there were several missed calls.

There were about seven or eight missed calls.

Chen Yuan initially thought it was a harassing call.

However, upon unlocking the phone, it was discovered that all the numbers were the same.

The time slots for making the calls varied from 5 PM to 7:30 PM.

He didn't recognize the number, but since the other party had called so many times, he figured it must be something urgent.

Chen Yuan dialed back without hesitation.

The moment the call ended with a "beep," someone immediately answered the call.

"Xiao Chen, what are you doing?"

A familiar voice came from the other end of the line; it sounded like Zhen Yuhan.

Chen Yuan thought he had misheard, after all, he hadn't been in contact with the other party since their falling out last time.

He hesitated before asking, "Zhen Yuhan?"

"Yes, it's me." Zhen Yuhan seemed to have forgotten all her grudges and said in a very warm tone, "It's been so long since I've seen you, I've really missed you."

You're dreaming!

Chen Yuan had spent time with this guy before, how could he not know what kind of person he was?

He didn't want to waste time talking to the other person, so he said bluntly, "Get to the point, or I'm hanging up."

"No, no, no, no!" Zhen Yuhan didn't dare keep her in suspense any longer and quickly explained her purpose: "It's like this, I heard today that my uncle suspended you with pay. I thought, we're like brothers, how could I let you suffer like this? So, I immediately went to my uncle and strongly requested that you come back to work. Guess what? Haha, he agreed! Don't you want to thank me?"

Oh, I know what's going on.

Chen Yuan wasn't stupid; he could roughly guess what had happened.

Today, while inspecting the prototype of a nuclear battery at the company, he discovered a minor problem. As a result, he was called out by Sister Xiao Ke and didn't have time to make any adjustments. Later, he was called in by the investigation team and was immediately suspended from his duties and sent home with pay.

Chen Yuan estimated that there was a problem with the first test and verification of the nuclear battery. The people in the company could not find the problem. This project was a collaboration with Liyao, and the board of directors was determined to win it. In addition, they wanted to take this opportunity to expand into the new nuclear battery market. Therefore, Vice President Zhen had no choice but to ask him to come back.

However, since Vice President Zhen had just suspended Chen Yuan with pay, it would be a bit embarrassing to ask him to come back, so he sent Zhen Yuhan instead. He even used the excuse of brotherhood and saying things like "I helped you get the job" to make Chen Yuan owe him a favor!

Chen Yuan immediately laughed.

My buddy isn't even planning to go back to work, and you're still pulling this stunt on me?

Fuck your mother!

He pretended to be serious and said, "What did you say...feed...feed...feed...Hey, why is there no signal?"

After saying that, he hung up the phone and switched to airplane mode to prevent calls from coming in.

After doing all that, he pursed his lips and leisurely looked at what takeout to order.

Chen Yuan knew that doing this would likely further anger the company, leading to a full investigation into his violation of the non-compete agreement, but so what?

Since I've decided not to go back to work, I need to cut ties with some things completely.

He wasn't worried at all about whether Xinghe Company would win the lawsuit.

All I have to do is talk to Connolly and switch to a battery technology that's already available on the market. What's the point of you suing me then?

At most, he'll be fired for absenteeism, which will lead to the company holding him accountable; nothing else will happen to him.

In this situation, nothing usually goes wrong, and even if someone is held accountable, they generally won't have to pay much money in compensation.

……

Chen Yuan was leisurely ordering takeout, but Vice President Zhen's face turned ashen.

At this moment, Vice President Zhen and Zhen Yuhan were still in the vice president's office in the administration building of Xinghe Company.

It was indeed Vice President Zhen who came up with a plan just now, having Zhen Yuhan call and trick Chen Yuan into coming back to deal with the nuclear battery issue.

He originally thought that the other party was a young person who had just entered society and would be easy to fool.

Unexpectedly, Chen Yuan hung up the phone so abruptly.

The meaning was quite clear: he didn't want to go back to the company to deal with the mess!

Vice President Zhen was furious, but he was helpless against Chen Yuan.

The other party has already been suspended with pay. What else can he do besides suing Chen Yuan for violating the non-compete agreement in the name of the company?

Most importantly, Vice President Zhen currently has no evidence that Chen Yuan violated the non-compete agreement, so he cannot file a lawsuit.

In fact, given the current situation, even if he had evidence, it would be impossible for him to sue Chen Yuan in the name of the company.

Because Xinghe must secure this cooperation with Liyao, neither the board of directors nor the CEO will agree to sue Chen Yuan.

At least until the issues surrounding the nuclear battery project are resolved, it is unlikely that a lawsuit will be filed.

Therefore, under such circumstances, even if Vice President Zhen wanted to continue targeting Chen Yuan, there was nothing he could do.

Vice President Zhen thought to himself, "Does this really mean I have to swallow my pride and beg that kid to come back to the company?"

It's already quite shameful for him to recall Chen Yuan to the company now.

If he were to personally beg someone to come back, and the people in the company found out, his lifelong reputation would be ruined.

Yes, up to this point, Vice President Zhen still hasn't realized the consequences of his actions and still believes that Chen Yuan is just throwing a tantrum and that it can be salvaged.

Zhen Yuhan, being somewhat naive, stared at her phone with a puzzled expression. "Where does he live? Why can't I get a signal when I call him?"

"No signal my ass!"

Vice President Zhen was already in a bad mood, and seeing his nephew's foolishness, he flew into a rage, yelling, "Use your pig brain! Is he really out of signal, or does he just not want to continue communicating with you? Look at you, you're always acting like a complete idiot! Chen Yuan is younger than you, and his education isn't as good as yours, yet he's so capable, while you're like a complete fool! If he were my nephew, I'd be holding my head high in the company by now!"

Zhen Yuhan was subjected to a barrage of insults, but she didn't dare to utter a single word in rebuttal.

After all, his uncle was the person with the highest status in the family, the kind that the whole family depended on.

He smiled ingratiatingly and said, "Uncle, I'm a researcher, why would I have so many tricks up my sleeve? It's not that I lack ability, it's just that the company hasn't given me the opportunity to shine. If I were given a chance..."

"Give me what?" Vice President Zhen glared and scolded, "A person should know their own limitations. Don't you know your own worth? You think you can go abroad to study and get a doctorate because of your own abilities, right? If I hadn't spent hundreds of millions, would you have been able to get into Harvard University?"

This is not something he made up. In fact, as long as you donate at least one million US dollars to Harvard University, you can obtain membership in the Harvard University Resource Committee. Of the children of the 424 members of the Harvard University Resource Committee, at least 336 are admitted to the university.

This demonstrates just how powerful money can be; even world-renowned universities like Harvard have relaxed their admission requirements because of it.

Zhen Yuhan remained silent despite being scolded.

Vice President Zhen was too lazy to waste words. He sat in his chair and thought for a long time. Finally, he sighed deeply, picked up his suit jacket, stood up and walked out.

Seeing this, Zhen Yuhan quickly asked, "Uncle, shall we go home?"

"The nuclear battery project issue hasn't been resolved yet, so why go home?"

Vice President Zhen said in a rather unfriendly tone, "Go find Chen Yuan. I have to bring him back today no matter what, otherwise I won't be able to explain to the people at Liyao tomorrow afternoon."

Zhen Yuhan hesitated and said, "What if this kid is determined not to come back?"

Vice President Zhen said firmly, "No, I will definitely bring him back."

There was one more thing he didn't say, something he was willing to pay any price for.

Otherwise, if there are problems with the cooperation with Liyao, he will definitely be kicked out of the board of directors by President Xu immediately.

Vice President Zhen believed that as long as the price was high enough, there was nothing that couldn't be done.

As for how to find Chen Yuan, it's actually not troublesome at all.

Because employees are required to fill in their home address when they join the company.

……

Half an hour later.

At home, Chen Yuan chatted with A Yu while pondering what he should do next.

He currently lacks funds and certainly cannot invest in building controlled nuclear fusion and cold nuclear fusion reactors himself; instead, he needs to find a partner who can protect him.

He had already decided who this partner would be, but he couldn't just offer himself up without careful consideration, otherwise he would be easily manipulated.

What happened to him today proves this point: things that are too easily obtained may not be taken seriously by others.

Just then, the doorbell rang.

Chen Yuan thought the takeout had arrived, so he quickly called out "It's here!" and then got out of bed in his slippers and walked towards the living room.

Arriving at the door, I reached out and opened it.

To Chen Yuan's surprise, the person standing in front of him was not a deliveryman, but two familiar faces—Vice President Zhen and Uncle Zhen Yuhan.

Ok?

These uncle and nephew actually came to our door?

Most importantly, Vice President Zhen was beaming with a bright smile at that moment.

Upon seeing this, Chen Yuan immediately understood just how anxious the other party was to have him handle the nuclear battery project.

Unfortunately, he had already figured out what to do, so when he saw that neither of them had said a word, he didn't give them a chance to speak and slammed the door shut.

Vice President Zhen and Zhen Yuhan, who were standing outside the door, were stunned.

They never expected Chen Yuan to do this.

Now that we've been turned away, how are we going to get them to come back?

Vice President Zhen realized something was wrong and quickly shouted, "Engineer Chen, let's talk. We're open to discussing anything. Can we sit down and talk?"

There was no sound from inside.

Vice President Zhen's heart skipped a beat, and he said loudly again, "Engineer Chen, I was wrong about what happened before. I came here specifically to apologize to you and hope you can give me another chance."

There was still no response from inside the house.

Vice President Zhen felt a chill in his heart, realizing that Chen Yuan was determined to dislike him!

It's okay if you don't like him.

The problem is, the pharmacy staff are coming for a preliminary inspection tomorrow, what if we can't produce a report?

Vice President Zhen certainly didn't want to be kicked out of the board of directors because of this.

Therefore, seeing Chen Yuan's resolute attitude, he became extremely anxious and pleaded, "Engineer Chen, please open the door. Let's sit down and talk face to face. We can discuss any terms. Really, bonuses, promotions, and raises are all no problem. Please open the door."

There was still no sound from inside.

Finished!

This time it's really over!

Vice President Zhen finally realized that no matter how much he begged, Chen Yuan would not open the door.

At that moment, his heart sank to the bottom, and a feeling called despair was spreading through his mind.

Perhaps because her uncle's attitude was too humble, Zhen Yuhan couldn't stand it anymore and snorted coldly, saying, "Uncle, why are we wasting our breath talking to him? If he won't open the door, then..."

Snapped!

Vice President Zhen suddenly turned around and slapped his nephew hard across the face!

Zhen Yuhan screamed, covering her face with a bewildered and aggrieved expression, saying, "Why...why did you hit me?"

Vice President Zhen didn't say anything, but simply turned and walked towards the elevator.

The slap he gave his nephew just now seemed to have exhausted all his strength.

Vice President Zhen was hunched over, looking as if he had aged twenty years in an instant, appearing so forlorn.

At this moment, deep down he only hoped that a miracle would happen tomorrow, otherwise he would really be in trouble.

A single misjudgment led to the failure of the company's cooperation with Liyao, and may even have affected the development of new business areas. It would be strange if the board of directors didn't punish him.

But... will a miracle really happen?