Chapter 208 - 166: A Layout Across Time and Space

3:00 PM.

Inside a coffee shop near the entrance of Jinling University.

Chu Bamboo put away the contract, stood up, and shook hands with Hu Ruochu, who had also risen to her feet with equal reserve.

"I hope we have a pleasant collaboration in the future, Miss Hu! Oh, wait, I should be calling you Director Hu now... Also, when are you planning on heading to Shanghai?"

"I’ll book a ticket to Shanghai right away! I’ll head there tonight. I’ll do my best to start work officially tomorrow!" Hu Ruochu pursed her thin lips, her words quick and clear, but her expression was still somewhat dazed.

According to her previous thinking, this deal most likely wouldn’t have gone through. After all, with the current financial climate... getting into heavy industry really wasn’t a rational choice.

Besides, if an industry giant had made the acquisition, it would have been more believable... but a complete outsider buying them out? What was the motive? To lose money? Then again, a true industry giant wouldn’t have given their company a second glance—

A behemoth like Biyadi would rather build its own factories from scratch. At least that way, all the standards would meet their own specifications!

She had come here, really, just to grasp at straws.

But, somehow... it had all happened in a single day. The speed was so fast she almost suspected she was dreaming... And on top of that, they had also sent her a job offer for the human resources department—

To be honest, for a split second, she even wondered if President Chu was trying to pursue her. Of course, that thought vanished quickly. If he really had that in mind, he wouldn’t be rushing her off to Shanghai like this.

"Um, President Chu!" Hu Ruochu hesitated, but decided to ask her question.

Hearing this, Chu Bamboo held up a finger and wagged it gently. "Director Hu, if anything comes up in the future, contact President Lin Xia."

"I have a lot on my plate. I need to focus my energy on... ahem! Anyway... unless it’s a problem Lin Xia can’t handle, don’t come to me."

"...Alright!" Hu Ruochu nodded stiffly. This was the main reason she felt he wasn’t trying to pursue her.

As for whether Lin Xia might be the one interested in her? That was even more impossible... Setting aside the fact that she didn’t get that vibe from him either, just think about it: the money was Chu Bamboo’s. Would a subordinate really convince his boss to greenlight a purchase in one day for a reason like that?

Not even in your wildest dreams.

"President Lin," Hu Ruochu took a deep breath and looked at Lin Xia, who was downing the rest of his coffee. "Um, you two want me to set up an R&D center in Shanghai, and also look into whether we can find a manufacturing partner there... and liaise with the government."

"But, we’re already here in Jinling. Isn’t it too soon to be expanding...?" Hu Ruochu chose her words carefully. "Also, aren’t you from Jinling University? Why not prioritize recruiting outstanding graduates from Jinling University?"

Hu Ruochu had serious doubts about this. It was clear the two men before her had money... but their current actions gave her the impression of a rich landlord’s foolish son, striking out on his own and fumbling through a new venture.

Hu Ruochu even saw a reflection of herself in them.

She hadn’t felt much for her family’s factory before... but after taking over from her father, she’d struggled for several years, nearly bankrupted the place, and ended up saddled with a mountain of debt...

As she struggled ceaselessly, she grew more and more desperate. She wasn’t sure if it was because of the sunk costs or some other reason... but she had truly developed an attachment to the factory.

If that wasn’t the case, she wouldn’t have hesitated for only a moment before accepting their offer to join.

Lin Xia paused, shot a subtle glance at Chu Bamboo, and continued, "Our future goal is to become a giant in the battery industry, just like Biyadi! Therefore, we can’t limit ourselves to just one place..."

Hu Ruochu was speechless.

What a thunderclap to start things off!

’We’re going to take on Biyadi? For real? Can we even win?’

"Compared to Jinling, Shanghai offers greater potential to face the world and has a much larger, broader talent pool!" Pausing briefly, Lin Xia emphasized, "Don’t worry. We have enough resources, enough confidence, and enough courage to execute the development strategy set by the group!"

"...I see." Hu Ruochu barely managed to keep a straight face, forcing herself to look as if she’d had a sudden epiphany...

’The boss has already explained this much, and it looks like he’s made up his mind after careful consideration. Am I supposed to keep questioning him?’

’This kind of subtle advice is the most I can do. So be it!’

’I just hope these two bosses act like decent human beings and don’t throw me under the bus when things go south later!’

Watching Hu Ruochu leave, Chu Bamboo breathed a sigh of relief and rubbed his temples, a headache forming. "Alright, that’s the first stage done! Tonight, you follow up and see if she really goes to Shanghai."

Lin Xia made an "OK" gesture. After a moment of silence, he asked, "So... about that question Director Hu just raised?"

He was actually just as confused.

He had originally leaned toward having Hu Ruochu do some preliminary investigation in Shanghai, then calling her back after the initial commotion died down. He had also been thinking they should first consolidate their position in Jinling.

But Chu Bamboo had unilaterally decided to have her put down roots in Shanghai. Although they weren’t short on cash for factory construction thanks to the special loan... this way of doing things was a bit...

So...

"Shanghai is important in the future! Very important," Chu Bamboo said, his eyes narrowing, his voice tinged with a strange quality.

The reason he made this decision was the large number of Ancient Ruins and Ancient Relics that would be unearthed in the future.

He was pondering a very serious question. ’If I deliberately buried a lot of things in many places around Shanghai... could I then "unearth" them myself in the future?’

Given how well Ancient Relics would sell in the future, he could easily make a huge amount of money.

In the Dream World, Ancient Relics were a truly stable currency! Many fugitives from the Dream World would sometimes bypass Qian Coins entirely, opting instead to buy cell phones on the market—the status of these usable electronic devices in the future was more reliable than gold in the Real World.

Of course, despite all this, Shanghai was ultimately just a key strategic deployment... Chu Bamboo still planned to keep his main base of operations in Jinling—

Although Jinghai City would be quite important in the future, Celestial Capital’s political, military, and industrial status would be even more crucial... Most importantly, all his connections in the Real World were here...

If he had gone to Fudan for university, perhaps he would have put down roots in Shanghai!

"...Alright, if you say so!" Lin Xia scratched his head, choosing to trust Chu Bamboo’s judgment. But then he added, unable to let it go, "It’s a shame, time was too tight! We couldn’t get her to sign an insurance policy."

"..." Chu Bamboo shot Lin Xia a speechless look. He had been the one to veto that suggestion.

To put it bluntly, it’s not like they were short on that little bit of money! Besides, if they had really made her sign, never mind what Hu Ruochu would think, but if something actually happened, the police investigating the case in the future would definitely be suspicious of them, wouldn’t they?

Chu Bamboo shook his head. "Okay, this whole series of moves is just a precaution... In reality, even if she stayed in Jinling, she probably wouldn’t have gotten into trouble... Or rather, if she really did get into trouble, then we’d have a much bigger problem."

After all, that would mean Howard still had his sights on him.

Chu Bamboo glanced at the time. "Next up, we’re going to..."

...

Z Company Headquarters.

Secretary Xu Fei respectfully led the way for Chu Bamboo.

"My sincerest apologies, President Chu. President Zhao was planning to receive you personally! But he’s just too exhausted right now and is at home catching up on sleep, so... he could only have me..."

"I understand!" Chu Bamboo waved his hand to stop Secretary Xu from saying more. He walked straight ahead and opened Zhao Shao’s office door.

A huge floor-to-ceiling window overlooked the bustling street below! Even though the building wasn’t particularly tall, it still gave one a sense of open-hearted expansiveness.

"Um, President Zhao has already given orders to prepare an office for you!" Secretary Xu added. "It’s just that it isn’t ready yet, so we’ll have to trouble you to use President Zhao’s office for the time being."

"It should be mostly ready in about a week... All the standards, including backend permissions and so on, will be exactly the same as President Zhao’s!"

Chu Bamboo nodded nonchalantly. Seeing this, Secretary Xu understood that the other man had no intention of continuing the conversation. He didn’t press the matter and simply poured two cups of hot tea for them.

"If you two need anything, just give me a call! Or you can press the red button on the desk."

"..." Chu Bamboo stared at the button, lost in thought. For some strange reason, he thought of... the Golden Lion King from across the ocean, who also seemed to enjoy pressing buttons in a white house to have someone bring him a Coke.

He quickly shook his head, clearing the random thoughts from his mind.

With the sound of the door closing, the room was once again left with just the two of them.

"Sometime soon, I’ll introduce you to Lao Zhao." Chu Bamboo glanced at the somewhat restless Lin Xia, his tone light. "Don’t be so nervous..."

"Although Lao Zhao is... he’s still a good guy! You two will get along great! I guarantee it." Chu Bamboo was full of confidence.

This was one of Lin Xia’s strengths—he was highly adaptable and very good at getting close to people...

If Lin Xia and Lao Zhao hadn’t become very good friends in the future, he wouldn’t have been able to parachute so easily into Z Company and become the general manager in the timeline where Chu Bamboo immigrated to the land of the White-headed Eagle.

"...Perhaps."

"Z!" Chu Bamboo didn’t say any more on the topic, his expression turning serious. "First, let’s deal with those online sock puppets! Then, give the control permissions for the sock puppets to Lin Xia’s Z software account! Let him have control."

Before coming to the company, Chu Bamboo had contacted Zhao Shao, and Zhao Shao had agreed to lend control of the sock puppet accounts to Chu Bamboo and Lin Xia.

And since he was already on the phone, Chu Bamboo had also asked for employee permissions for Lin Xia—probably about the same level as that group of programmers out front.