The look on Sun Wenli's face looked worse than death. His family owned a factory. Even though it was a rather huge company, they only looked good on the outside. The inside was rotting and losing life, and they had recently jumped on KING Universal Space Tech Corporation's developments to move towards space projects. Even though they had missed the opportunity to cooperate, given the conditions of their family's factories, they had no problem producing spare parts required for space projects.
Since he and Ye Zisu were schoolmates, and given their competitive advantage, it was likely that they could get orders from KING's space projects. They did not dare to ask for all, just some orders were enough to let their family business regain life. Making money was secondary. It was more important for them to hitch a ride on this space project and make a name for themselves, or even make an impact in the stock market.
If his father was to find out that he had offended KING Universal Space Tech Corporation's largest shareholder...
To think he had wanted his bodyguard to fight Wang Zheng! Thank goodness they didn't fight. Earlier on, he was just ruthlessly thinking of sacking Big Ghoul and forfeiting a month of his pay. But now, even a hundred "thank yous" were not enough to express his gratitude.
"Earlier on, it was my..." seeing Yi Xisi apologising first, and under Yan Xiaosu's watchful eyes, he bit his teeth and stood forward, wanting to offer an apology too.
Wang Zheng smiled and waved his hands. "It's nothing, really. Today is our class gathering, what matters most is that everybody's happy."
Sun Wenli followed suit and smiled. Only his smiling face looked uglier than a crying face. "Oh, right, I almost forgot. I have something urgent to tend to. I'll make a move first."
Yi Xisi and the few of them who had come down from level 3 also claimed to have something going on and left. They were definitely too embarrassed to stay.
The moment those people left, the atmosphere returned to being light and happy.
Wang Zheng chuckled and told Yan Xiaosu, "You, really. It was nothing actually."
Yan Xiaosu smiled. "Boss, sometimes being too cool about things will bring you trouble. I understand that now. Some people think they're great when it's actually because you're too lazy to get up and give him a tight slap. For these types of people, you've got to beat them up every time you see them. I did that for their good. I was teaching them how to behave like human beings and not act like pigs. What happened just now… they were lucky it's you. If they bumped into fiercer men, they wouldn't even know what happened after getting killed."
"You're full of your own logic." Wang Zheng shook his head. While Yan Xiaosu was not wrong, it was just that his bottom line was way deeper than that. Things were not too bad, and he could just smile and laugh it off.
Just then, Xiao Lu raised his glass and said, "Wang Zheng, I really didn't think that you'd be the one who's got the most hidden abilities in class.... I say, is KING Corporation hiring? I'm actually pretty good. How about that? Would you consider?"
Xiao Lu didn't apply for college after graduating from highschool. Instead, he chose to enter the workforce. In this day and age, only lazy bums would starve. If you set your attitude right and worked hard, you'd certainly find a position or place that belongs to you.
Wang Zheng chuckled. "I'm a phantom shareholder. You've got to go to Yan Xiaosu for recruitment and management matters."
The color on Xiao Lu's face instantly drained. Five minutes earlier, he would not bother being polite to Yan Xiaosu. But now?
Having seen Yan Xiaosu make Yi Xisi and gang sheepishly leave with a few jokes and chatter, he felt completely different than he was in the past. His image had changed entirely, and it was difficult to approach him. Wang Zheng, however, was amicable and approachable.
Yan Xiaosu made his way over and punched Xiao Lu in the shoulder. "We would surely welcome you if you wanna join us. It's just that only our public relations department has vacancies, so it's a little difficult."
"What's difficult?"
"About that, my old friend, well, really, your image can't make it."
"My image is pretty good, isn't it? I definitely won't embarrass KING."
"1.8 meters and above."
"..."
Student Lu immediately caved in.
"Just kidding. The rules are dead, we're not. But even though we were schoolmates, the workforce is still about capabilities. You'll have to start as an intern and pass an evaluation in a month before you can be officially employed."
Yan Xiaosu smiled, but he was rather serious about it.
"That's no problem."
After giving Xiao Lu the company's PR contact details, Yan Xiaosu dragged Wang Zheng and Ye Zisu into a corner. "The company's deadlock situation has been resolved. We managed to pull in a huge sum of investment from FLC Group. The next phase in the project can finally kickstart."
Even though KING Universal Space Tech Corporation's developments were going well, they were unable to get listed under the pressure from Margate Interstellar Airways and CT Group. Furthermore, there were huge problems in terms of funding. They had been getting by by using funds from OMG and Little Fortune Star.
A conservative estimation would put the fund shortage in the billions, and OMG and Little Fortune Star were almost unable to hold the fort any longer. The two companies could not possibly put all their stakes in this one investment and hinder their own operations.
The project had constantly been looking for new investors, but it was a pity there were too many restrictions. Many of those who had enquired said they were unable to accept the terms and conditions.
Ye Zisu blinked and finally recalled. "FLC? The new energy group? I heard this group is rather mysterious. Even though they claim to be a new type of energy resource company, they invest in every industry. They're very different from ordinary investment companies and don't usually interfere with operations."
"In this day and age, being in the energy business means being filthy rich. Their conditions are, number one, monopolised rights to the usable product for the first five years, and number two, they hope that our project can use their new energy standards for product development. Well, I say, quality goods need no advertising."
Yan Xiaosu gleamed. There was always light at the end of a tunnel. FLC was a timely rain. Moreover, their terms were no problem to KING Corporation.
Wang Zheng laughed. "Like I said, I'm a phantom shareholder. You guys can deal with these things."
"Well, you say that, but Boss, they kept insisting that they need the largest shareholder to sign the contract. It's as if he knows you. Ah, whatever. As long the conditions are to our advantage. Finally, problem's solved!"
Yan Xiaosu chirped happily.
Wang Zheng being the largest shareholder of KING was a fact known by everyone out there, especially those outside the Solar System. Frankly speaking, the Milky Way was way too big, and unless it's some heaven-shocking and ground-shaking achievement, it'd be pretty great to have a day or two's fame.
Wang Zheng and Ye Zisu looked at each other. No matter what it was, FLC's investment was a timely assistance to them.
To Xiao Fei, the development of space technologies would inevitably be used for military purposes. What she hoped was that it could simultaneously benefit civilians and provide extra security to the safety of mankind's interstellar travels.
Before this, theories were just theories and could be brought out as a topics of discussion. But now that it involved usable products, they were trade secrets.
On the research team, everyone's tasks and work had become heavier, and Xiao Fei held fewer classes at Ares College, much to the dismay of physics majors. Especially for freshmen who came to Ares College to study physics because of Xiao Fei. The seniors were still alright. They'd at least seen Xiao Fei in person. The freshmen were just sad. They had not even gotten a single chance to meet her. Of course, ordinary students didn't actually require Xiao Fei's attention, but the effects of a celebrity professor would definitely be something quite different.
"So that's the current situation, Wang Zheng. For this period, you take over my classes," said Xiao Fei.
"I'm busy too, Prof. I have to train, and .... study."
"Study? You study?" Xiao Fei said in disbelief.
Wang Zheng straightened his body. "I'm learning about the Aimo's Theory of Miniaturisation. I'm really busy."
"The person who talked to me about 11-Dimensioned Space Theory is talking about learning the Miniaturization Theory? You're learning backwards, aren't you? Prof. Wang, it seems like you're using too many brain cells on mecha. Do we have to talk to the Federation Science Academy so that we don't let a science prodigy become shrouded by the military?" Xiao Fei smiled, her eyes gleaming. If somebody thought that becoming the IG team leader would let him get away with everything, he couldn't be more wrong.
Wang Zheng gulped and mumbled something. This was outright threatening him! All right then. He conceded defeat. "Prof, don't worry, I will lead them into the great halls of science..."
"Pretty sound bullsh*t there. Go on."
"No more."
"Then get moving! Go prepare for class!"
"Yes..." Wang Zheng sighed.
"Attitude?"
"Yes Ma'am!"
Everyone had their weakness, and every object had its nemesis. Wang Zheng was only unable to hold things down with Xiao Fei. Not even Old Merchant could make him so docile.
Preparing for class was actually very simple. Xiao Fei had given the password to her class preparation platforms to Wang Zheng for him to download the content himself. He just had to arrange them according to his own understanding and then the teaching materials for one class would be ready.
Wang Zheng was a student and a professor at Ares College, so naturally he had an office to himself. He could even hire an assistant and the college would pay for it.
But this was the first time Wang Zheng had used his office. Xiao Fei's class preparation platform was in the server inside the school network, which was not linked to the Skylink network; it couldn't even be accessed by wireless network or servers. It could only be accessed by using the smart system specially prepared by the college for the professors.
Level three, room 16, a south-facing window, at the end of the corridor. 20 square meters wide, large enough to fit a whole bunch of experimental equipment and a single bed. One of the best office spaces in the college.
Wang Zheng entered the room and saw a boy lying on his desk, asleep and drooling. Beside him was a broom and a rag.
A student working part time?
He looked around. It was spotless. Very clean.
Wang Zheng smiled. It was well cleaned. He knocked on the desk.
Bam bam.
The boy who had fallen asleep jumped. "I'm not skiving.... uh, you scared me. I thought it was...."
The boy looked at Wang Zheng and wiped his mouth. Then he glared at Wang Zheng and said, "Who are you? What are you doing here? Do you know what this place is?"
"I do. But who are you?"
"Me? I am... Why are you asking me? This is a professor's office. No students are allowed here without permission. Even though it's not the exam period, as a student, you shouldn't break rules. Are you a freshman? Which department are you from?"
".... Physics, I guess." Wang Zheng felt like saying Mech Department.
The office contained a smart system that could connect to the school's secure network, and many professors were more keen on saving their exam questions on the college's servers than on Skylink's servers. These days, hackers ran amok and the networks used by the public were never entirely secure. Certain hacker associations who were especially hooked on decrypting things would always release exam answers on Skylink just one day before the exam for no good reason other than they felt like it. They saw it as a hobby.
"Physics? Then all the more you can't be here. I'm a part-time teaching assistant. I work here. If anything goes wrong, I'm held responsible."