Chapter 34

The former employees of Hongqi Piao were used to the boss occasionally giving out bonuses and gifts.

The new employees enjoyed comprehensive benefits at their previous company, so they accepted the situation well.

A group of employees gathered in the exhibition hall on the first floor.

The setup of the exhibition hall is already showing some success.

This is a carefully crafted showcase for Hongqipiao Company, which not only presents the company's product series but also profoundly reflects Hongqipiao's corporate culture.

Xia Ke put a lot of effort into setting up the exhibition hall.

On the matte gray-white floor, the neatly arranged glass display case bases emit a soft blue light, complementing the high-tech equipment. Product introductions and company information scroll across the screens. The entire space is designed to be simple yet sophisticated, exuding a luxurious feel and a strong technological atmosphere.

This is the most spacious place in the entire Hongqipiao company, besides the canteen.

Currently, any activities that require the participation of all staff are usually held here.

However, as more and more people arrived, the exhibition hall became increasingly crowded.

The park has a specially built event hall. Once the renovation is complete, everyone will no longer have to stand in the exhibition hall to participate in company events.

"President Xia is here!"

The buzzing among the employees immediately stopped, and they greeted each other.

"Hello, Mr. Xia."

"Good afternoon, everyone. As you have probably seen in the announcement, we have gathered you all here today to give you some perks."

Xia Ke didn't keep her in suspense. Winter was coming soon, and there was no central heating in the south, so they could only rely on air conditioning for warmth. Although the air conditioning was running in the exhibition hall, the space was large, so the insulation effect was not ideal. She always felt chilly when she came before. Now that she was wearing a temperature-controlled suit, she didn't feel it, but the employees were cold. It was just a perk, so there was no need to go on and on.

"These are temperature-controlled suits. Everyone should wear them so you won't feel cold. Xiaoyun, please distribute them to everyone."

The administrator next to him nodded and led his people to distribute the items to everyone.

"Thermostatic clothing? Isn't this the product that the thermostatic clothing division is about to develop? How come it's out now?"

Everyone else in the company was completely bewildered, but the most bewildered were the newly hired employees of the Constant Temperature Attire Department.

They just started working, so how come the products have already been produced before they even started working?

Those with experience, including Ma Yan, and those who had just been surprised, remained silent, their lips pursed.

Xia Ke gave everyone a brief explanation of how to use the thermostatic clothing.

Finally, she said, "If you have any suggestions or optimization plans after using the temperature-controlled suit, please feel free to speak up. Just like last time, the company will give bonuses to those whose suggestions are adopted."

"It's almost December, and I hope my colleagues in the thermostatic clothing department will work hard to develop our company's own thermostatic equipment as soon as possible."

Compared to the development of bionic prosthetics, the development of thermostatic clothing is more urgent.

She never forgot the rescue mission issued by the system.

"I understand that many of my colleagues are thinking of their families and want to share good things with them. However, I must remind everyone to keep a low profile, as the thermostatic suits we are distributing are still under wraps and have not yet been made public. Therefore, colleagues who received their thermostatic suits today, please keep it a secret for now and do not spread the word. Thank you for your cooperation!"

To ensure complete confidentiality, the safest approach would be not to distribute the thermal suits to employees. However, Xia Ke knew how harsh and cold the winters were in the mountains, and she also knew that some of her colleagues from the north were not well-adapted to the climate of Hongqi Village. Therefore, she did not choose to conceal this icy road, but instead chose trust and care, personally delivering this warmth and convenience to everyone.

Furthermore, if the thermostatic suit can be used to catch potential traitors who might leak company information, that would be a good thing. Although the thermostatic suit, as a finished product, has a certain market value, its value is obviously insignificant compared to the core R&D data that could cause incalculable losses if leaked.

Wu Manxiang is from Jingshui Province. Jingshui City is located a little north of the western province, and the two provinces are neighboring provinces.

The provinces of Tay and Jingshui are not only close to each other, but also have similar climates and terrains, both being mountainous and rainy, with particularly cold and damp winters.

The average winter temperature is around -1 or -2 degrees Celsius. Compared to the sub-zero temperatures in the north, this temperature is not very low. However, winters in Jingshui Province are just as difficult as in Xijiang Province.

The reason is that the cities in the southwest do not have heating, and because the summers are not very hot, air conditioning is not needed in the summer, and the winter temperatures are not so cold that people are not aware of the need to install air conditioning.

Without air conditioning or heating, how do people in southwestern provinces survive the winter?

The answer was: A person of integrity!

Most families use hand warmers in winter, which are essentially heaters that leave the front cold and the back cold, and warm the feet but leave the hands cold. These things are useful, but not that useful.

Anyway, Wu Manxiang's least favorite season since childhood is winter. Every time this season comes, her hands and feet get cold, and except for the moment she sits in front of the stove, she is always radiating cold air.

It wasn't until she went to university and worked in the north that she learned about the wonderful thing called central heating.

She was actually quite happy to be sent to Hongqi Piao this time, because it was really close to her home, and she could get home in just two space jumps.

However, the thought of the damp and cold south made her somewhat resistant. Having gotten used to the central heating in the north, she could no longer tolerate the damp and cold south.

She had prepared herself to be cold, but to her surprise, the boss solved this problem for her on her very first day at the company.

She had just received the thermostatic suit, and while the boss was still speaking, she had already turned it on.

Feeling the comfortable temperature around her, she wanted to sigh with pleasure.

It's unbelievable that such a product exists in the world; with just a gentle press of a button, all the scorching heat and bitter cold are kept at bay.

Many others did the same as Wu Manxiang. When they opened their thermostatic suits and felt the faint coolness disappear, everyone wanted to exclaim in surprise, but they kept quiet due to the current situation.

The next morning, Xia Ke summoned Ma Yan and Liu Yun, two people she trusted, to her office to discuss matters.

The main reason for sending someone over this time is to keep the research and development data confidential.

"The people we've recruited this time are a mixed bag, and it's impossible to see their true nature in a short time. I've brought you here today so we can all think about how to keep the research data confidential."

"The people we recruited this time came from diverse backgrounds, and we really couldn't avoid the presence of some noisy and malicious individuals among them."

"I think the best approach is to break down the research and development materials, with each group only responsible for a portion of the work. This way, even if someone leaks information, they won't be able to grasp the entire project information."

"We also need to implement an information classification system, so that only those who need to know relevant information to complete their work can access sensitive data. This can prevent information leakage to the greatest extent, and even if information is leaked, the scope of the leaker can be quickly identified."

"This is a good approach, but the difficulty lies in how to reasonably decompose the data."

"We lack in-depth understanding of the research and development data on thermostatic clothing, making it difficult to grasp the key technologies and research priorities. The unreasonable division of data may not only cause confusion in the research and development process, but also reduce the work efficiency of each research and development team."

This is not what Xia Ke wanted to see.

What she wanted was something that was reasonable, efficient, and confidential.

“You both make a good point. Here’s what we’ll do: I’ll find someone who will absolutely not leak any information to oversee the overall situation and assign tasks. Ma Yan, you’ll have to work a little harder lately to strengthen our company’s internal firewall. Liu Yun, you’ll arrange for everyone to sign confidentiality agreements and give the R&D department some special confidentiality training.”

Xia Ke doesn't know a single reliable, professional person who can manage the overall situation and won't leak secrets, given her current network of connections. She has no choice but to seek help from the government.

The contact person is still Chen Ying.

Chen Ying, who was in charge of diplomatic work, ended up with a lot of extra work outside of diplomacy because of her connections.

But because Xia Ke was familiar with her, the government did not consider changing the contact person.

Chen Ying had just finished a meeting when she received her call.

Recently, China has been facing a lot of international pressure. In addition to some old historical issues, the most disgusting thing in recent diplomacy is the United States' disgusting attempt to provoke China by claiming that China landed on the moon.

The United States, with its thick skin, claimed the flying car technology as its own and joined forces with other countries to pressure the United States to hand over the technology.

Anyone with eyes can see that the Eagle Country is just making up lies because it's jealous of the Flower Country's space ring and flying car technology.

But the US wants the technology, and so do they. It was fine when no one had it, but now, why should China have so many things while they don't? Other countries, envious, naturally followed suit. If they could force China to hand over the goods, that would be perfect—their own country would gain a huge advantage. Even if they couldn't, they could still annoy China. Why not?

At the busiest time, Chen Ying received a message from Xia Ke that there might be a major snow disaster this winter.

If someone else had said this, Chen Ying would have been dismissive. How could an ordinary citizen like him have information about something that even the National Meteorological Bureau hadn't detected? But if Xia Ke had said this, then he would have to carefully consider the weight of her words. Considering the mystery behind Xia Ke's role in providing data for the Space Rover, the claim of a snow disaster in winter was probably true.

She immediately shared the information with the relevant departments upon receiving it. However, Xia Ke was unclear about the specific scope of the disaster and had no concrete locations for implementing preventative measures. She could only urge the provinces to prepare more disaster prevention and warmth supplies.

"Hey, Xia Ke, you were looking for me?"

"Okay, see you in ten minutes."

Ever since Xia Ke attended the meeting in Beijing, thinking that she would need to find Chen Ying again, the location of her intermediate-level spatial ring has remained unchanged: from Beijing to her home.

Ten minutes later.

Chen Ying's office.

Xia Kelai explained her purpose: she wanted the country to find her two people who could oversee the development of thermostatic clothing and bionic prosthetics.

She didn't intend to take advantage of the situation for free. She would pay the highest market price after the person arrived and promised to donate a batch of thermostatic clothing and bionic prosthetics to the country every year.

Chen Ying waved her hand, "None of these are needed."

"The country can grant your request, but if you want the research rights for bionic prosthetics, rest assured, the research results will only be used for military purposes and will not be used for any other purpose."

Xia Ke roughly knew that the country's purpose in wanting to use bionic prosthetics was nothing more than to transform the military. It was indeed not reassuring to purchase things used on soldiers from outside, and her heart was also hoping that the military would become stronger and stronger.

But now she's a businesswoman, so she haggles.

"Ten people, just give me ten people in batches when I need them."

Talented people are really hard to find. Now Xia understands why those bosses are willing to spend money and drive cars to recruit people to work for their companies.

But no matter how hard it is to get, she still lost out in this negotiation. Xia didn't care. This technology, whether it's under the red flag or within the country, is just a matter of passing it from one hand to the other. The benefits still stay within her own country. This is her way of repaying the country for the care it has given her during this period.

She knew better than anyone that she couldn't be living so comfortably without the country watching her from the outside.

While the outside world was in an uproar over the appearance of space rings and flying cars, her surroundings remained safe and peaceful. The advent of flying cars eroded the profits of so many vehicle manufacturers, but the market remained calm.

The country has been quietly working behind the scenes to ensure that she can stay and develop in Hongqi Village with peace of mind.

"I agree to your request. It will be a pleasure to cooperate with you then."

"It's a pleasure to work with you."