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

The next day, at dawn.

Vice President Zhen, who had been waiting outside the lab all night without sleep, looked at Ding Yang, who had just come out, and asked with red eyes, "Engineer Ding, how did it go?"

His visit last night failed, so he could only place all his hopes on the rest of the project team, hoping that Zhu Yun, Lao Qin, Ding Yang, and others could find the problem and solve it.

Ding Yang and the project team hadn't slept all night and were feeling somewhat listless.

He sighed and shook his head, saying, "No progress. I haven't eaten anything since last night. I'm going to get something to eat now. If you want to know the situation, go inside and ask yourself."

With that, Ding Yang ignored Vice President Zhen and walked straight outside.

Vice President Zhen glanced at Ding Yang's retreating figure, then at the laboratory door, before finally turning and leaving.

He knew Ding Yang wouldn't lie.

In other words, the entire project team worked all night but still couldn't solve the problem of the voltage being lower than expected.

As the time for Liyuan Pharmaceutical to send someone for preliminary inspection drew closer, Vice President Zhen became increasingly desperate.

He could already foresee the criticism he would face at the senior management meeting this morning!

……

As expected, during the morning meeting, Vice President Zhen was severely criticized by President Xu in front of everyone.

Although they haven't been stripped of power yet, everyone knows this is only temporary.

Right now, the whole company is busy preparing for the arrival of the pharmaceutical company's representatives this afternoon, so President Xu naturally can't spare the time to deal with Vice President Zhen.

As for when it will be cleaned up, everyone can predict that it will simply be after the people from the pharmacy come today.

No matter what the outcome, Vice President Zhen will not have a good time.

After the morning meeting, all the senior executives rushed to the laboratory.

Laboratory No. 6.

Not only were General Manager Xu and Board Secretary Huang Yu present, but also the Chairman, Vice Chairman, employee directors, and nine other directors.

Yes, Vice President Zhen is also here.

Generally speaking, there is a power struggle between the chairman and the CEO in listed companies.

This involves the separation of ownership and management in modern corporate governance structures.

This conflict is not a personal grudge, but an inevitable clash between different stakeholders and their roles.

Galaxy Company also has this problem.

Mr. Xu and the chairman are outwardly friendly but inwardly at odds, each controlling their own faction.

President Xu and the vice chairman are in the same faction, while the chairman is in the same camp as Vice President Zhen and others.

The chairman glanced at Vice President Zhen, then looked at the project team and asked, "Has the cause of the nuclear battery problem still not been found?"

Zhao Peng's eyes were bloodshot. He shook his head. "I can't find it."

The chairman frowned and said, "I don't care what you do, Liyao is sending someone over this afternoon to resolve this issue!"

Zhao Peng said helplessly, "We've been working on this all night, but we still can't find the problem. This afternoon, even if the Jade Emperor himself came, let alone the medicine company, we still wouldn't be able to solve it. If you're not satisfied, you can fire us all."

The chairman, who had been looking very serious, suddenly smiled and reassured him, "Hey, Lao Zhao, what are you saying? You're a key figure in the company. If you fire me, you're not going to be fired."

More than half of the company's R&D team are Zhao Peng's people. If anyone dares to fire him, the company will be paralyzed tomorrow.

"Old Zhao, don't throw a tantrum."

President Xu spoke with a hint of meaning.

"Not throwing a tantrum?" Zhao Peng pointed at Vice President Zhen and cursed, "If this bastard hadn't suspended Xiao Chen with pay, would the nuclear battery project have run into this mess? Do you think I wouldn't be furious? Huh? Zhen, what did I say yesterday? Huh? I said if the nuclear battery project had problems, I'd definitely make trouble for you. Now that the project has problems, are you going to solve them for me? Huh? Speak up!"

Vice President Zhen is a minority shareholder and also holds a seat on the board of directors. Logically speaking, Zhao Peng, a senior employee, should be someone you could disregard. However, this is not the case. Everyone knows Zhao Peng's position in the company. In addition, he did make a mistake this time, which caused problems with the nuclear battery project.

Therefore, he simply pretended not to hear and kept his head down without saying a word.

The chairman continued to soothe him, "Old Zhao, don't be angry, don't be angry. Since you say Xiao Chen can solve this problem, why not just invite him back?"

Zhao Peng sneered and said, "As far as I know, someone went to invite them last night. Did they come back?"

Upon hearing this, everyone, from the senior executives to the dozens of people in the project team around them, all looked at Vice President Zhen's face.

Vice President Zhen was furious; Zhao Peng had publicly humiliated him.

He was furious, but because he had done something wrong, he couldn't vent his anger, which made him feel incredibly frustrated.

The chairman glanced at Vice President Zhen again, then looked at Zhao Peng and said with a smile, "Xiao Zhen may not be familiar with Xiao Chen and couldn't invite him back. You are different. You spend every day with Xiao Chen. I believe that as long as you ask, he will definitely give you face and come back."

Zhao Peng snapped, "Why? Why did that guy surnamed Zhen kick people out and I have to go and invite him back? No way! I'm not going! Whoever wants to go can go!"

Helpless, the chairman could only look to the side, "Old Xu?"

Mr. Xu hesitated for a moment, then said, "Old Zhao is right. Whoever sent the person back should naturally be the one to invite them back. But Old Zhen tried and couldn't get them back, and our project can't be delayed. How about this, I'll call Xiao Chen and see if he can bring them back?"

The chairman knew that Zhao Peng was throwing a tantrum and probably wouldn't listen to anything he was told.

So he nodded and said, "Okay, with you, the boss, in charge, Xiao Chen should give you face. Promise him some benefits later, don't be stingy with cash rewards, promotions and raises are also fine. Senior technical talents should receive sufficient rewards."

Mr. Xu responded and took out his phone to dial Chen Yuan's number.

Seeing this, everyone from the project team to the chairman, Huang Yu, and other company executives looked over, wondering if Chen Yuan would return.

A moment later, the call was connected.

Mr. Xu introduced himself: "Mr. Chen, hello, I am Xu Tianming, the general manager of Xinghe Company... Um, are you able to come back to work now... Young man, don't be angry, everything can be discussed... I talked with the chairman and decided to promote you and give you a raise... Oh, okay, okay, I understand."

After a few words, the call ended.

The chairman asked with concern, "How is it?"

Huang Yu, Vice President Zhen, and other senior executives also looked on with anticipation.

The same applies to people in the R&D department, such as Zhao Peng, Wang Kai, and Lao Qin.

Everyone hopes Chen Yuan will come back to deal with the nuclear battery issue, otherwise something really bad will happen today.

Mr. Xu sighed and said, "He said he doesn't want to work here anymore. He said we can count it as absenteeism, or sue him for violating the non-compete agreement, he'll fight to the bitter end."

"Isn't this ridiculous!" The chairman's brows furrowed even deeper. "Why are we even suing him?"

Vice President Zhen's heart skipped a beat, and he immediately realized that the chairman's words had a hidden meaning.

Sure enough, the chairman's next words were: "Xiao Chen took on side jobs developing cochlear implants for other companies, which doesn't involve our company's business. Xiao Zhen, why did you set up an investigation team to investigate them?"

Vice President Zhen couldn't say he wanted to see if he could control Chen Yuan, but he didn't expect things to backfire and lead to this situation.

He knew he was going to be in trouble, but a mistake is a mistake, and he could only accept it.

Vice President Zhen said, "I didn't think this through carefully, and it has caused a negative impact on the company. It's too late to say anything now, and I can't regret it. Let's think of a way to bring Chen Yuan back."

"Hmm, that's true." The chairman said indifferently, "Xiao Chen is definitely angry, so he doesn't want to come back, and Xiao Zhen, you are the source of his anger. How about this, you go to the branch office for a while, and once things are resolved here and Xiao Chen's anger has subsided, I'll transfer you back?"

What?!

Directly assigned to a branch office?

Everyone knows that if Vice President Zhen goes to the branch office, it's equivalent to being expelled from the company's power center, and he'll never be able to come back.

Mr. Xu was somewhat surprised.

Huang Yu and the vice chairman were also quite surprised.

The project team members, including Zhao Peng, Wang Kai, and Lao Qin, were all surprised that the chairman was so decisive, abandoning Vice President Zhen without hesitation.

Everyone quickly realized why. This project in cooperation with Liyao could bring huge profits to the shareholders. Now that the project has run into problems, the only capable person is Chen Yuan, but he refuses to come back. The chairman's actions are naturally an attempt to appease them.

Besides appeasement, the chairman's decision was also a preparation for Chen Yuan's non-return. When the shareholders learned the truth, they would definitely cause trouble for him and Vice President Zhen, since the two belonged to the same faction. By acting this way, he was essentially telling the shareholders that he was unaware of the matter and that dealing with Vice President Zhen was to distance himself from the situation.

Vice President Zhen was equally surprised by the chairman's ruthlessness. In order to maintain the cooperation with Liyao and stabilize the shareholders behind it, he actually went after his own people.

He didn't want to agree, but it wouldn't make a difference.

If this cooperation with Liyao fails, it will cause huge losses to the company's shareholders.

At that point, it won't just be a simple matter of being relegated to a branch office; he might face even more severe attacks.

Those shareholders are all about money, not people; they'll naturally gravitate towards whoever can generate profits for them.

Vice President Zhen gave a wry smile and asked in a certain tone, "Do I have any other choice?"

Normally, removing a director requires a shareholder vote, and it's impossible for the chairman to decide a life or death with just a word. But now, it's clear to everyone that the chairman and President Xu are determined to resolve the nuclear battery issue today. If Vice President Zhen has any objections, the chairman and President Xu might be able to join forces and remove him from the shareholder list!

Under the new legal provisions, the board of directors has the right to remove shareholders.

With the chairman and General Manager Xu controlling all the power in the board of directors, wouldn't it be easy for them to get rid of Vice President Zhen, a tiny shareholder?

Therefore, Vice President Zhen had better obediently accept his fate of being relegated, otherwise the consequences would be even worse.

The chairman ignored him and instead looked at Zhao Peng with a gentle expression. "Old Zhao, do you think... we can call Xiao Chen now?"

Zhao Peng glanced at the dejected Vice President Zhen and felt a sense of satisfaction, saying, "Alright, I'll give it a try. Just so you know, I can't guarantee I'll bring him back."

The chairman waved his hand and said, "Who can guarantee something like this? It depends on what Xiao Chen thinks. Just make the call, and if he proposes any conditions, as long as they don't involve company shares, agree to them for me!"

Zhao Peng said "okay," then took out his phone and dialed a number.

Everyone tensed up, wondering if Chen Yuan would listen to Zhao Peng and come back to handle the problem.

The call connected the next moment.

Zhao Peng said, "Xiao Chen, what are you doing... Hmm, there's a problem with the project, the voltage is lower than expected... Okay, thanks for your help."

It was a very brief phone call, and then I hung up.

The chairman asked, "What did he say?"

President Xu, Huang Yu, the vice chairman, and others looked concerned.

Lao Qin, Zhu Yun, and dozens of other people in the project team also pricked up their ears.

Even the extremely disappointed Vice President Zhen wanted to know the outcome.

Zhao Peng couldn't help but sigh.

Everyone's hearts skipped a beat. Could it be that even Zhao Peng's intervention wouldn't work?

"He agreed to come back and handle the problem," Zhao Peng said dejectedly. "But he said it was only because of me. After he finishes dealing with the problem, he will formally submit his resignation, and... he didn't mention a single condition."

Not a single condition was mentioned?

This means that Chen Yuan's willingness to return to handle the problem is not because he wants to reconcile with the company, but because he is genuinely doing so out of respect for Zhao Peng.

In other words, the other party was serious when they said they wanted to resign over the phone.

Upon learning of Chen Yuan's decision, President Xu and the chairman, along with other senior executives, fell silent. They naturally knew that Chen Yuan was highly capable.

If we could retain talent of this caliber, they would definitely create tremendous value for the company. However, in this incident where Vice President Zhen established an investigation team, they failed to protect this talent in the first place, causing him to be completely disheartened, and now they can only lose him.

To be honest, they felt really bad.

In particular, President Xu originally wanted to use this matter to see if Chen Yuan was easy to handle.

He never expected the other party to be so headstrong, and to simply quit, which made him very regretful.

As a result, people from both the chairman's faction and the faction led by General Manager Xu became increasingly displeased with Vice President Zhen.

Perhaps noticing the stares of the crowd, and fearing relegation, Vice President Zhen decided to throw caution to the wind. He maliciously speculated, "If this kid comes back and still can't handle the problem, let's see what you do then!"

That's right, he now has only one wish, which is to "die together with them".

Vice President Zhen hopes that Chen Yuan's return will not solve the problem!