"I'll issue a notice later," Director Xue nodded in reply, then added with a smile, "But our factory is quite well-informed; they know about everything, and the rumors get more and more exaggerated. We need to stop this kind of behavior."

“I support the director’s idea. We really need to crack down on this trend of spreading rumors and gossip,” Lao Liu said.

"Alright, you guys draft a plan and we'll discuss it at the meeting later," the factory director said, standing up. He then said to Director Xue, "The Municipal Bureau has another meeting; tell Xiao Hou to come along."

"Okay, I'll inform the car team and Xiao Hou right away," Director Xue said.

It took Zhang Xuebao a lot of effort to explain how to use a few software programs to Su Ya. He kept glancing at the Shanghai watch on his wrist, not to show off, but because noon was approaching.

A date with a big guy is purely a technical discussion.

Su Ya noticed that Zhang Xuebao kept checking the time and realized he was rushing to his noon appointment.

My mind was a bit scattered, and not knowing how to approach Zhang Xuebao, I said, "Engineer Zhang, can I go with you at noon? I'd like to learn more about computers."

"Well, okay, we'll talk about some technical issues. Just listen. It's alright if you don't understand. We're not on the same level. You might understand later," Zhang Xuebao said.

When the two left, Su Ya didn't forget to take the voltage stabilizer with her.

Zhang Xuebao saw a girl carrying something that weighed over ten kilograms. Feeling a bit embarrassed, he asked Su Ya to carry his bag while he carried the voltage stabilizer.

"Where are you two going?" Liu Juanjuan asked curiously as she left work and encountered the two carrying a voltage stabilizer.

"Oh! Let's go eat lunch." It was an honest statement. The factory had originally arranged for lunch, but Zhang Xuebao declined.

"Are you inviting Xiao Xing? Do you mind if I come along?" Liu Juanjuan was quite blunt, making Zhang Xuebao even more embarrassed to refuse. The problem was, no one was going to reimburse him for lunch! He'd have to pay for it himself.

With more people, won't the expenses be higher? Engineers don't have that much money!

Xing Baohua and Xu Shuai waited at the factory gate and chatted with Old Wei for a few minutes.

Upon seeing the three approaching, Xing Baohua looked Zhang Xuebao up and down, wondering why he had brought the voltage stabilizer.

"Why are you holding it?" Xing Baohua asked curiously.

Zhang Xuebao didn't speak, but looked at Su Ya, who was half a step behind him.

Su Ya looked slightly embarrassed, her face flushed. She said shyly, "I'll find you to fix it."

"Ha! Didn't I say? Let whoever wants to fix it do it." He said dismissively, pointing to the factory gatehouse and telling Zhang Xuebao, "Carry this heavy thing and put it over there first."

Su Ya was even more embarrassed and lowered her head. Liu Juanjuan looked at this one and that one, and seeing Xu Shuai's surprised expression, she wondered if these two were unaware of something.

Xu Shuai was even more surprised; he knew about Xing Baohua and Su Ya's relationship. Xing Baohua had been rejected by Su Ya before. After the computer was fixed, the two seemed like completely different people. Something just felt off.

He couldn't quite put his finger on what was wrong.

Seeing that Zhang Xuebao hadn't moved and was still holding it, Xing Baohua took the voltage stabilizer from him, walked to the guardhouse, put it down, and gave Old Wei a brief explanation.

He turned to the group and said, "Let's go."

Not far from the factory, they randomly picked a restaurant. After ordering a few dishes, Xu Shuai enthusiastically offered cigarettes. Even more outrageous, he ordered a bottle of beer for everyone.

The two girls waved their hands, refusing the cigarettes and beer. Zhang Xuebao and Xing Baohua talked the whole way, their words like gibberish, incomprehensible to anyone. They also ignored the things he offered.

"That's the principle," Xing Baohua continued, explaining his multi-reel continuous power supply in more detail.

“The larger the hard drive capacity, the larger the size and the heavier it becomes. This isn’t suitable for personal computers. Multi-disk continuous power supply is a good idea, designed for specific needs. Let me tell you a secret, we’re developing servers internally, and multi-disk continuous power supply requires even more servers,” Zhang Xuebao said.

Xing Baohua thought to himself, "In a few years, when your company is renamed Dalang Group, servers will be the main source of revenue."

"Do you have a goal?" Xing Baohua asked.

"No, it's still on a blank sheet of paper." Zhang Xuebao's answer was straightforward; it would take a long time for theoretical things to be commercialized.

"If we can develop a small server, we won't be far from automated office work." As soon as Xing Baohua finished speaking, Zhang Xuebao asked, "Automated office work, tell me about it."

Zhang Xuebao became interested and seemed very excited. Neither of them touched their chopsticks, just talking. The others, feeling a little embarrassed, started eating as well.

Nobody drinks the beer, so it all goes to Xu Shuai.

"In order to improve office efficiency and enable management to understand the situation through computers, from the office to the factory, and even to the workshop and individuals."

Pointing to Su Ya, he said, "For example, her job is semi-automated with computers, as printed paper documents still need to be passed around. But the factory manager's office, the director's office, and all the departments and workshops have computers, and they use the internal LAN to pass and read electronic documents."

No sooner had she finished speaking than Liu Juanjuan exclaimed in surprise, "My goodness, if every department and workshop is equipped with computers, how many computers will that be? How much money will that cost!"

"Let's put the money aside for now. To automate the office work, we need multiple computers. Either we need to add a server, or we can use one of the computers as a server," Xing Baohua said after glancing at her.

“Computers are so expensive, and they have to be kept in a special room. It’s so troublesome to come and go like that, how can it be automated?” Liu Juanjuan asked.

"Zhang Gong, explain to her what Moore's Law is. There won't be any more computer rooms." Xing Baohua was too lazy to explain to her.

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