On the afternoon of the next day, the higher executives of Thunder Horse Organization all arrived at the conference room within the headquarters. The meeting was set to be at 2:30 pm but it was already 2:40 pm and Xia Lei hadn’t shown up.
In the beginning, the conference room was quiet but when Xia Lei failed to show, they started to talk.
“Director Xia was the one who invited us here for a meeting. It’s past 2:30, why hasn’t he showed up? Unless there’s some emergency?” said Huang Xuewen, the AI expert, to Li Youdun next to him.
Li Youdun replied, “I’m not sure, something must’ve come up.”
“Brother Li, do you think Director Xia called all of us for a meeting because the workshop for the new material is ready?” asked Huang Xuewen.
“Probably. It’s the most pressing matter right now.”
“Sigh, this is ridiculous. Director Xia should let us catch our breath and give us some time to prepare.”
“Hehe, don’t worry about it. Director Xia is a genius. He probably already has a plan. We just need to follow his instructions,” said Li Youdun with a grin.
As everyone conversed, Liu Zhengnan, on the other hand, was very quiet. He was on his phone in his chair. There was a diamond ring on his screen. This diamond was huge and shiny, obviously quite expensive.
He must be choosing a wedding ring for Xia Xue.
Based on Xia Xue’s current status and position, it was only normal for her to receive the most expensive jewellery. He just couldn’t afford that.
At this moment, Qing Caiyue entered the room and placed the projectors on the table. She turned them on and the images of two ladies were projected. One was Guan Lingshan from the Haizhu base, another was Zhou Xiaohong from the Shu Di base. Both ladies were veterans here at Thunder Horse. They were the ones who started the company with Xia Lei.
It was obvious that Guan Lingshan and Zhou Xiaohong had both received the notification too. They couldn’t rush to Jingdu on time so they could only participate online.
Guan Lingshan was sitting very straight, her expression solemn as she waited to enter the conference. Zhou Xiaohong was checking a document. A middle-aged lady, her secretary, was whispering by her ear to remind her of something.
“That must be Zhou Xiaohong, the one in charge of the Shu Di base?”
‘Yep, I heard she was just a middle schooler. Xia Lei had taken her in a while back. If he didn’t, she would probably amount to nothing more than a kitchen porter,” whispered someone.
“Yeah, this is fate,” sighed someone.
“Fate? I think…” Someone wanted to say something but did not continue.
No one whispered about Guan Lingshan though, because she was a university graduate and held a high position in the Thunder Horse Organization. Zhou Xiaohong was a middle schooler, yet she was already head of the base. Many people who had more suitable qualifications were not happy about that fact. While they did not dare raise this to Xia Lei, when he wasn’t here, discussions like that emerged.
The world wasn’t fair. All sorts of prejudice existed. Race, nationality, academic background, industry were all grounds for discrimination.
When Qing Caiyue finished setting up the two projectors, she sat next to Liu Zhengnan. Her gaze fell on him scrolling through diamond rings and smiled, “Woah, Zhengnan, are you buying a ring for Xia Xue?”
Liu Zhengnan kept his phone frantically and gave a faint smile.
She nudged him with her shoulder. “What, are you going to propose at Director Xia’s wedding?”
Liu Zhengnan nodded awkwardly. “Yeah, but I don’t know if she’ll say yes.”
“You’re handsome and so nice, you’ll definitely succeed,” said Qing Caiyue. She then lowered her voice, “What if I help you when the moment comes? You’ll definitely succeed.”
“Thank you for your kindness,” said Liu Zhengnan politely.
Two German architects walked in. Blonde-haired, blue-eyed Anina and Sylvia added another dose of eye candy in the room. Qing Caiyue was no longer the main attraction.
They both sat at the end of the long conference table, speaking in German.
“Lukas must be announcing the launch of the workshop for the new material right?” said Anina.
Sylvia said, “I think so too. It’s the best aerospace material in the world. I get so excited just thinking about it. After mass production of the material, we must keep some to make an impenetrable ZTZ100 battle tank.
“Of course, he’ll definitely give us some.”
“He doesn’t visit us anymore.” Sylvia looked disappointed but did not talk about it.
“Shhh, his wife’s here, don’t let her hear you,” whispered Anina.
Sylvia looked at the entrance and saw Liang Siyao. Sylvia shut her mouth because she knew how capable this woman was. Lian Siyao was a former high-level intelligence agent at the CIA, and Sylvia did not dare take this woman’s man.
When Liang Siyao entered, the room fell quiet.
Liang Siyao said, “Director Xia left due to an emergency. I will be hosting his meeting.” With an abrupt turn in the topic, she said, “I believe you all know the topic of this meeting. You’re right, this meeting will be about the workshop.
“CEO Liang, when shall we begin manufacturing?” said Huang Xuewen.
Liang Siyao replied, “Very soon. This plan must begin before the Spring Festival. The higher-ups are in a hurry. They will provide money, people and machines wherever needed. They are willing to give huge support like never before and are just waiting for us to set a plan.”
“That’s great,” said Li Youdun with a smile. “In that case, we can mass-produce Alloy X soonest by next year’s summer. At that point, I believe our drone will be born then.”
“Yes, Director Xia and I discussed last night. He actually has already designed the drone for the Thunder Horse Organization. He will name the drone the Wasp.”
When the word ‘Wasp’ fell, there was an eruption of discussion.
“Can’t believe Director Xia had already designed the drone. That’s great! With new materials and a new drone, our Thunder Horse Organization would very quickly take over regions initially held by Lockheed Martin. We’ll be able to fight them!” Huang Xuewen was especially emotional, his voice shook as he spoke.
“Are you sure?” said someone else. “Isn’t this too soon?”
“Do you really want to question it? With Director Xia’s speed and capabilities, nothing is ‘too soon’. I don’t think that was too fast at all, everything is very normal,” said someone.
“That’s right! Director Xia didn’t take too long designing our tank either. Plus designing a tank is much more difficult than creating a drone,” said someone.
There was a flurry of discussion.
Qing Caiyue had her head lowered, taking notes seriously.
Amidst the heated discussions within the conference room, Xia Lei was watching through the security cameras. He carefully observed every person. Liu Zhengnan, Qing Caiyue, Huang Xuewen, Li Youdun…
This was his objective of arranging this meeting. He wanted to use his eyes and his bait to lure the mole out.
The drone Liang Siyao talked about, that he designed for Thunder Horse Organization, wasn’t real either. He named this non-existent drone ‘Wasp’ because he wanted to sting the spy very badly!
“All the people who knew about the project on new materials and this project are all here. Would the spy be here too? Who stole the recipe and samples of Alloy X and gave it to the Americans? Who sold Long Bing’s Japanese mission out?” As he observed everyone in the meeting room, he repeatedly thought about these questions.
Within the meeting room, Liang Siyao raised a hand again and smiled. “I know you are all very emotional, I am too. However, emotions are not what we need now. Look at this. This is the blueprint of Director Xia’s drone and the true recipe of Alloy X with its production methods. Director Xia has already completed the most important sections. The next step is for all of us to work hard.”
Liang Siyao held up the two folders she brought. Both folders had very clear markings. One was written ‘Alloy X’ and the other was ‘Wasp’. However, she did not open them, just showed the folders and put them down.
“CEO Liang, can I take a look at it?” said Huang Xuewen hurriedly.
Liang Siyao looked at Huang Xuewen. “You’re in the AI tech field, drones and materials aren’t in your expertise.”
“Can I look at it?” said a material scientist from the materials lab.
Liang Siyao said, “Don’t worry about it, Director Xia will make the final decision. I brought his secret documents here only to show you all that this matter has reached a critical moment. We must work together to shoulder this workload so Thunder Horse’s workshop for the new material can be built as soon as possible.”
There was a flurry of discussion again.
After a few moments, Liang Siyao spoke up. “After so many discussions, I think it’s time for you all to share your opinions. Secretary Qing, please record the sharing.”
“Alright, CEO Liang.” Qing Caiyue opened her notebook, entering a minutes-taker state.
Liang Siyao looked at Li Youdun. “Youdun, you’re one of the participants in the making of Alloy X, as well as the person in charge of the new material. You have the most right to speak.”
After a thought, Li Youdun said, “CEO Liang, I am currently writing a proposal for Director Xia and have only written the introduction. I don’t know Alloy X’s recipe and its manufacturing procedures. Me and Elder Fan have made samples but they were unsuccessful. I deeply admire Director Xia for solving the problem. While I’m very curious how he did it, I’m not in a hurry because I know he will announce the recipe and production methods at the right time.”
Liang Siyao said, “That’s not a suggestion.”
Li Youdun smiled awkwardly. “CEO Liang, I believe Director Xia has already planned everything. He just wants to observe our determination. I have this resolution and I am willing to dedicate my life to Thunder Horse’s production of this new material! I believe many here are like me, we Thunder Horse people aren’t afraid of hardships. We are confident enough to appease Director Xia and are worthy of his trust!”
Qing Caiyue clapped softly.
This was a trigger. In a moment, there was applause in the room.
In the other room, Xia Lei’s eyebrows were slightly furrowed. It wasn’t because he had found something suspicious, or any clues but because everyone looked very normal. He couldn’t find the spy!
Xia Lei picked up his walkie-talkie and said in a low voice, “Siyao, adjourn the meeting. It’s meaningless to continue with it. We’ll just have to wait for them to take the bait later.”
In the meeting room, Liang Siyao said, “That will be it for today, the meeting has adjourned.”
