I will decide my own affairs.
Cui Yu's smile faded, but his tone remained polite.
“Mrs. Meng, I understand your concerns. But Yihe is Xinghuan’s strategic director. His future and project arrangements need to be based on the company’s overall strategy and his personal career plan, not other factors. The ‘Galaxy’ project is the group’s focus, and his ability and dedication are crucial to the project.”
"Career planning? Company strategy?" Ye Chunhan scoffed.
"Director Cui, don't put it so nicely. You..." Her words were interrupted by a cold voice from outside the office door.
"My career plans and project commitments do not need anyone to explain them for me."
The office door was pushed open.
Meng Yihe stood at the door, his face icy cold, the air around him frighteningly low. He had obviously just come out of the laboratory, and still carried a faint scent of the new materials.
His gaze first swept over his mother, whose face was pale.
He then made brief eye contact with Cui Yu, nodded slightly as a greeting, and walked straight to his mother, his tone flat and even.
"Who sent you here? This is my workplace."
When Ye Chunhan saw her son, she was taken aback at first. Then her expression softened with concern: "Xiaohe, look how exhausted you are! Mom was worried about you, so I came to check on you..."
“No need.” Meng Yihe interrupted her coldly.
“I’m at work. You shouldn’t be here, and you certainly shouldn’t be saying these things to my colleagues.”
Ye Chunhan's face turned ugly instantly when his son contradicted him in public.
"Xiao He! How dare you talk like that? I'm doing this for your own good! Look at you now, spending all your time on this lousy project, look at the state you've become! And that Chen family..."
“If you really care about me, leave now. I can handle my own work and my own affairs.” Meng Yihe stared directly at her without backing down.
The standoff between mother and son was so tense that you could almost hear sparks crackling.
Cui Yu, standing to the side, spoke up at the opportune moment, his tone calm yet carrying a clear stance of support: "Madam Meng, Yihe's meaning is very clear. The 'Galaxy' project is currently at its most critical stage, and his leadership and professional abilities are irreplaceable. The group and I personally deeply respect his decisions and contributions. We understand your concerns, but it's better to leave the specific tasks to professionals."
Ye Chunhan glanced at her son, whose face was ashen and whose attitude was unusually tough, and then at Cui Yu, who was speaking politely beside her. She knew that she would not get any benefit from this day.
She took a deep breath and managed to stand up, barely maintaining her composure.
"Fine, very well. Xiao He, you've really grown up." She coldly tossed out the words, picked up her bag, and walked out without looking back.
The office door closed.
Meng Yihe remained standing there, his jawline taut, seemingly trying his best to suppress his emotions. Cui Yu didn't speak immediately, but simply walked over, poured a glass of warm water, and handed it to him.
After a long while, Meng Yihe finally took the water glass and said in a low voice, "Please excuse my poor performance."
“You handled it very well,” Cui Yu said calmly.
Just then, Meng Yihe's personal communicator beeped sharply; it was an emergency call from the laboratory, and he answered it immediately.
"President Meng! The final simulation results are in! It passed! All key indicators passed!" The voice on the other end was so excited it almost cracked.
The previous gloom has been swept away.
He looked at Cui Yu and reported succinctly, as if delivering a victory report to a comrade: "It's through."
“Very good.” Cui Yu took out his phone. “Then let’s start our ‘return gift’ and the trial production of ‘Galaxy’ together.”
Meng Yihe resumed her usual demeanor: "The trial production simulation report will be sent to your email in ten minutes. I need the operations department and the production center to complete the final collaborative confirmation before 2 p.m., and all materials and equipment must be in an immediately available state."
"No problem," Cui Yu replied crisply.
Fingers flew across the phone screen, issuing instructions to the waiting team.
"Before 2 o'clock, all green lights will be on for you."
After sending the message, he looked up at Meng Yihe, a cold smile playing on his lips: "As for the 'return gift' for Dingsheng... Zhao Lei has already made preparations. Once I confirm it, that carefully packaged 'poisonous candy' will 'accidentally' enter the market."
He paused, then added, "Timing is very important. It's best to choose a time when Ji Nan is excited about 'getting' the core data, but hasn't had time to verify it in depth yet."
“Then let’s start the trial production of ‘Galaxy’ simultaneously.” Meng Yihe said almost without hesitation.
"Create the illusion that we're overwhelmed by internal adjustments or technical bottlenecks, making her more convinced of the 'authenticity' of that data, and more likely to be blinded by greed." Cui Yu smiled and immediately issued the final execution order to Zhao Lei.
...
A few days later, overseas.
Ji Nan sat on the sofa in the hotel suite, with an open laptop in front of her.
The screen showed screenshots of several seemingly confidential technical documents, which were leaked by that "greedy former project manager" about the "optimized processes" and "key breakthroughs" of Xinghai Technology's original failed project.
Chen Siyang sat opposite him, pushed up his glasses, and said with barely suppressed excitement, "President Ji, if these data are true, they can indeed fill the gaps in the key parameters of our current models. In particular, this treatment plan for high-temperature tolerance, although radical in approach, will have huge benefits if successful."
"I never imagined that there was such an accumulation within the Star Sea..."
Ji Nan also wore a satisfied smile, but a trace of a businessman's caution remained deep in his eyes: "That Liu Ye is ambitious and eager for quick success. He's willing to burn money to achieve results."
“These data seem plausible, but we need to arrange for our own team to conduct preliminary verification as soon as possible. Cui Yu and Meng Yihe are currently in charge of Xinghai, and I heard that things are in a mess inside, so it's not surprising that this kind of ‘dirt’ has leaked out.”
She picked up her coffee, took a sip, and her tone turned sarcastic.
"Those two greenhorns think they can clean up the mess just because they have the backing of the group? They're probably worried about how to fill the hole left by Liu Ye right now. It's perfect that this data is in our hands; it might be more valuable than it was in their hands."
Just then, her other phone received an encrypted message.
She clicked on it and saw it was a brief report sent by her informant in China:
[The Xinghai 'Galaxy' project suddenly started small-scale trial production today, but the process was chaotic and interrupted multiple times. Meng Yihe personally went to the workshop to supervise the work, and looked extremely distressed. It is suspected that a major technical bottleneck or equipment compatibility problem has been encountered.]
Ji Nan looked at the message and compared it with the "hard-won" technical data in front of her, and her smile deepened.
"It seems they really are in trouble." She turned her phone screen towards Chen Siyang. "On one hand, the trial production is not going well, and on the other hand, core data has been leaked. Xinghai is probably in deep trouble this time."
Chen Siyang looked at the message and laughed.
"Then we can seize the time and get ahead of them to digest and absorb these technologies."
“That’s right.” Ji Nanzhi closed his laptop with a smug look on his face.
"Immediately arrange a team to prioritize verifying the key parts of these data sets. We need to let Xinghuan know that Xinghai, this mess, is useless in their hands, but a treasure in our Dingsheng's hands."
Xinghai Technology, Confidential Workshop.
The air was filled with a peculiar, slightly metallic scent.
Meng Yihe stood in front of the central control console, her eyes fixed on the rapidly scrolling data on dozens of screens.
Several brief interruptions in the process were not unexpected.
Instead, he deliberately set up stress testing and parameter fine-tuning steps to squeeze out all the potential of the material under extreme conditions and to ensure the absolute robustness of the trial production process.
To outsiders, all of this appeared to be a chaotic and disastrous failure.
Several brief interruptions precisely occurred at the critical points of material phase transformation and stress distribution, and with each restart, the process parameters were further optimized. The performance curve of the "Stardust" material is steadily climbing towards its theoretical limit.
Cui Yu appeared at the door of the control room.
He didn't come in, but leaned against the door frame, watching Meng Yihe's focused and tense back, and the fluctuating curves on the screen that seemed shocking to laymen but exquisite to experts.
He took out his phone and quietly snapped a picture of Meng Yihe's back.
Then he looked down and typed.
A few minutes later, Meng Yihe's phone vibrated. He frowned and glanced at it; it was a message from Cui Yu.
[Good acting, Director Meng.]
Ji Nan has already taken the bait and is organizing people to 'verify' our garbage.
Meng Yihe's gaze darted quickly between the screen and her phone, her fingers flying across the keyboard as she typed two words:
【Quiet. 】
Then he stopped paying attention and focused all his attention back on the complex control data.
Cui Yu looked at the cold reply, but instead of being annoyed, he chuckled and put his phone away.
He knew that the real battle was with Meng Yihe. And he needed to ensure the safety of the rear and allow the enemy to continue their relentless advance down the wrong path.
Zhao Lei reported on the progress of the "return gift" every hour: Dingsheng's research team was indeed overjoyed and was mobilizing resources to "verify" the false data, and even began to adjust the research and development direction of one of their own competing projects based on it.
"Let them keep busy," Cui Yu whispered into the phone. "When they've invested enough sunk costs, their expressions when they discover the truth will be quite a sight."
At the same time, he efficiently handled countless trivial but crucial administrative and personnel matters brought about by the restructuring of Xinghai Technology, solidifying operational barriers one by one to ensure that once "Galaxy" succeeds, it can be transformed into a market advantage as quickly as possible.
However, storms never come from a single direction.
Meng Yihe's personal cell phone, which was placed in the corner of the control panel, vibrated again.
This time it wasn't Cui Yu.
The name that popped up on the screen made him furrow his brow—it was his father, a figure who usually only appeared when his mother put pressure on him.
He took a deep breath, suppressed the urge to hang up immediately, gave his deputy a "pause" gesture, picked up his phone, and walked to the corridor outside the control room.
The call was connected.
Meng Ling's calm voice came from the other end, omitting all pleasantries: "Xiao He, your mother is very sad."
Meng Yihe remained silent, her fingertips tightening slightly.
"I've heard about the Xinghai project. It's not progressing well, and it's even gotten into trouble with Dingsheng?" Meng Ling's voice was emotionless, but it carried immense pressure.
“There’s no need to get yourself into a mess at a time like this. Your mother and I have already arranged a time to meet and have a meal with the Chen family next week. Please make sure you have time in advance.”
This isn't a discussion; it's a notification.
Meng Yihe felt a familiar suffocating sensation, and his stomach began to twitch again. He closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, his voice was as cold as ice: "I won't go. It's a critical period for the project, and I can't leave."
"Meng Yihe!" Meng Ling's voice finally carried anger.
"Don't be reckless! Xinghuan is just offering you a pie in the sky, and you really think you can reach the top in one step? What the Chen family can give you is far more worthwhile than your adventures in the Star Sea! This is the path you should take!"
"I choose my own path," Meng Yihe said firmly. "If you interfere in my work again, or come to my colleagues without permission..."
He paused, then spoke slowly and deliberately.
"I can't guarantee I'll be this polite next time."
After saying that, he hung up the phone, his fingers trembling slightly from the force. He leaned against the cold metal wall, took a deep breath, and tried to suppress the turmoil in his chest.
At your request, I became what I am now.
A cold and weary voice echoed deep within his mind, filled with endless weariness and mockery.
A top-tier university, an impressive resume, undeniable ability... I did everything you asked for and became what you wanted me to be.
What else do you want now?
Looking up, I saw Cui Yu leaning against the opposite wall, holding a strip of stomach medicine and an open bottle of mineral water.
"Tsk." Cui Yu's tone was ambiguous, neither teasing nor anything else.
"Do all members of your family habitually use 'it's for your own good' as a weapon?"
Meng Yihe tensed up abruptly, a surge of embarrassment and annoyance at being caught in the act: "You were eavesdropping?"
“The corridor is a public area, Director Meng.” Cui Yu walked over and handed him the stomach medicine and water, her gaze falling on his still tightly gripped phone and his slightly white knuckles.
"Besides, you look like you're about to crush the console. I have to come and see if there's a problem with the project, or... something else that's bothering me."
Meng Yihe stared at the medicine and water in his hand, but did not take them.
Cui Yu didn't insist, but just shook the medicine tablet: "Take it. The 'Galaxy' project hasn't succeeded yet, and its chief engineer can't collapse first." His voice was lowered, but it had a strange penetrating power.
"Don't forget, you're not alone in this struggle now."
Meng Yihe remained silent for a few seconds before finally reaching out to take the medicine and water, and whispering, "Thank you."
"You're welcome." Cui Yu watched him swallow the pills before casually mentioning, "By the way, I just received news that the park management committee is organizing a seminar for the 'High-tech Enterprise Mutual Assistance Alliance,' specifically requesting that the technical heads of each company attend. It's tomorrow afternoon. The theme is 'Technology Ethics and Risk Avoidance,' which sounds pretty boring."
Meng Yihe immediately frowned: "I don't have time."
“I know,” Cui Yu replied, “so I helped you decline. The reason was that the person in charge of the Xinghai technical breakthrough could not leave his post.” He paused, then added, “Moreover, I found that Chen Siyang’s name is on the list of founding advisors for this alliance.”
Meng Yihe looked up instantly.
Cui Yu smiled and said, "It seems that Ji Nan hasn't been idle either. Since the probing didn't work, he started trying to infiltrate and exert pressure under the guise of 'academic' and 'public welfare'. Maybe he's even hoping to 'bump into' you or someone else at the conference."
"A pointless tactic," Meng Yihe scoffed.
"It doesn't matter how clever the methods are, as long as they work." Cui Yu's eyes turned slightly cold.
"However, they miscalculated."
He straightened up and patted Meng Yihe on the shoulder: "Go back and keep an eye on your 'Stardust'. I'll handle these flies outside." His tone was relaxed, yet carried a reassuring certainty.
"I promise they won't disturb you."
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