368: Chapter 367 Falling into a Pit

The Secretary-General of the Hanzhong City government was named Zhang Guoshang. He was around thirty-five years old and had taken office at almost the same time as Mayor Fang Dingbei.

At this moment, he spoke up, and even Mayor Fang Dingbei did not stop him, merely looking at General Manager Yu Tongguang with a slightly puzzled expression.

He knew of Wang Shuo's capability in software; after all, he was the teacher's disciple, and with a masterpiece like "zero egg" as a precedent, his ability was basically already recognized.

It wasn't just him; in the circles he was familiar with, whenever the words "Artificial Intelligence" were mentioned, the topic would inevitably turn to Frontier Technology and "zero egg", almost without exception.

If it hadn't been for the higher-ups suppressing the influence from expanding externally, I'm afraid my junior fellow apprentice's company wouldn't be in this lukewarm state right now.

But even so, the sales of "zero egg" were still in a state of outstripping supply; basically, whenever a batch was available for pre-order, it would be snapped up immediately.

Even he had never had the opportunity to order one.

According to the report from the Cyberspace Administration, the reputation of Frontier Technology and "zero egg" was currently fermenting online.

The basic logic was this.

Aside from the launch event, Wang Shuo had basically not invested any funds into promoting "zero egg". But those who had actually used "zero egg" were different; due to the astonishing experience of "zero egg", every single user had become a voluntary promoter. They would recommend "zero egg" through almost every channel, even enabling the third-person mode on "zero egg" for brief trials, and so... the situation became unstoppable.

Now almost everyone was eagerly awaiting the arrival of "zero egg" and calling for Frontier Technology to open up more pre-order slots.

If it weren't for the fact that relevant posts about Frontier Technology could only be commented on by those who had pre-ordered "zero egg" and were under real-name verification, I'm afraid Wang Shuo wouldn't be sitting here watching the scene right now, but would instead be back at the company, struggling with how to deal with this massive influx of voices.

If things continued like this, even if the higher-ups wanted to weaken the influence, it would likely be difficult to do so.

And now, the investment promotion project that he valued so highly was actually being entrusted entirely to his junior fellow apprentice by someone else?

And this was highly likely not just a line to fob him off.

The scene where the decisive General Manager Yu Tongguang consulted with his lucky junior fellow apprentice just now was still fresh in his memory, and everyone had seen it.

How could this not make him suspicious?

"Hehe."

General Manager Yu Tongguang was, after all, a business elite. He smiled and said: "The specific situation involves some commercial secrets between us and Mr. Wang, so it is not convenient to disclose. Please forgive us."

"However, when it comes to qualifications, I think that apart from Mr. Wang, no one else is qualified."

...

Wang Shuo stood by the edge of a field ridge, looking at the boundless, almost completely unobstructed wilderness before him, and immediately felt a sense of relief.

Taking out his phone, he saw at a glance the message that had been pinned to the top by Zero.

"Sister Zheng?"

Wang Shuo clicked on it, puzzled, and quickly understood the cause and effect.

Just as Wang Shuo had thought, the actions of Zheng Yi were indeed under strict supervision. In fact, just last night, a team of inspectors had rushed from Beijing to Hanzhong City and, completely disregarding the fact that Zheng Yi was recovering from her injuries, had forcibly conducted an interrogation procedure.

Zheng Yi did not go into detail about what happened inside, but Wang Shuo only had to think about it to know that something was very wrong.

Just what kind of person could force a dignified Senior Colonel like Zheng Yi to abandon public channels and send him a message through "zero egg"?

However, Wang Shuo had not expected that Zheng Yi could completely hide the existence of Night Crow.

In his mind, perhaps Zheng Yi would not reveal that the person inside Night Crow was him, but the situation regarding Night Crow would certainly have been reported.

But it was clear from the matters Zheng Yi had entrusted to him that she had not mentioned the existence of Night Crow in her report.

This was interesting.

Perhaps he could hand this task to Zero to analyze, just as a way to optimize the source code.

Just as he was thinking about how to issue the task, Wang Shuo heard footsteps behind him.

Turning his head to look, he saw three familiar figures had detached from the main group and had already arrived by his side.

"Junior fellow apprentice."

Mayor Fang Dingbei revealed a faint smile, pointed to the vast land before them, and said: "How is this land? Are you satisfied?"

"Satisfied."

Wang Shuo nodded subconsciously, then realized what he was saying and replied: "Senior fellow apprentice, why are you asking me? You should ask General Manager Yu Tongguang; they paid for the land."

This casual remark caused Mayor Fang Dingbei's eyes to flash.

General Manager Yu Tongguang shook his head with a bitter smile. This young man was good in every way, but his mouth was too direct. He had even been prepared to help him cover it up, saying only that they had discussed the shareholding ratio but not specific division of labor.

Now it was done; with just that one sentence, as long as Mayor Fang Dingbei wasn't a fool, he could basically infer most of it from the context.

Sure enough, Mayor Fang Dingbei's smile widened a bit, and he patted Wang Shuo on the shoulder: "Junior fellow apprentice is truly..."

After composing his words, Mayor Fang Dingbei said: "'Dragon and phoenix among men' is not enough to describe your achievements, Junior fellow apprentice."

Wang Shuo was stunned, looking at Mayor Fang Dingbei, who seemed overly enthusiastic, and felt a sense of unfamiliarity.

Why did it feel... off, just in this short amount of time?

"Junior fellow apprentice, if you encounter any issues in the future, just come to me. Don't be polite at all."

Mayor Fang Dingbei winked at Wang Shuo and said with a smile: "Of course, if there are any other such good projects, you must think of your senior fellow apprentice. If you need people, I'll give you people; if you need land, I'll give you land. Policies can also be tailor-made for you, Junior fellow apprentice."

"Your senior fellow apprentice here has no other requests; I only hope that you can hire a few more people here and pay out a few more salaries. I will be completely satisfied."

Wang Shuo stared straight at him and said quietly: "Senior fellow apprentice is truly the 'father and mother official' of the people of Hanzhong City, wholeheartedly thinking of the public. How about I hire another five thousand people?"

"Really?"

Mayor Fang Dingbei looked delighted: "That couldn't be better. Just say the word on what conditions you need, Junior fellow apprentice, and I will go right now and have Director Jiao take the lead in implementing it."

"Let's stick to fresh university graduates," Wang Shuo thought for a moment and said.

"No problem."

Mayor Fang Dingbei nodded repeatedly, his inner joy overflowing.

Every year, the greatest employment pressure came from newly graduated university students. Now it was fine; the year had just begun, and Wang Shuo alone was absorbing ten thousand people here. For the others, they could find ways to contact other enterprises—shove them in wherever possible—and at the same time, it wouldn't hinder them from choosing their own jobs. The situation was looking great.

Watching Mayor Fang Dingbei, who was beaming in front of Wang Shuo, Director Jiao couldn't help but cover his face.

It was over; another guy had fallen into Wang Shuo's deep pit and couldn't extricate himself. This time, it was even Mayor Fang, whom he had always respected.

He couldn't quite understand why such a serious and proper person had become as kind and gentle as a neighborly elder after interacting with Wang Shuo for just a short while.

"Oh right, Director Jiao."

Wang Shuo seemed to remember something and turned his gaze to Director Jiao, who was standing to the side.

"What?"

Director Jiao, who was lost in thought, replied subconsciously.

"Regarding our contract, I think it's time to fulfill part of it."

Wang Shuo said softly: "I have upgraded some functions on the basis of Guard No. 1, calling it the Guard No. 1 Modified Version. There are about one hundred units now, and I am prepared to deliver them all to the Police Station."

"Really?"

Director Jiao's eyes widened. Was this kid in front of him still the Wang Shuo he knew? Did he have a sudden epiphany today? He was actually taking the initiative to fulfill the contract?

"Mm."

Wang Shuo nodded: "Additionally, I feel that the surveillance range of the Skynet in our Hanzhong City still has significant deficiencies. I have decided to provide the Police Station with another five thousand high-definition cameras, and I will provide free upgrades and maintenance for all Skynet systems, including the main intelligence."

Director Jiao was completely dumbfounded.

Could happiness come so suddenly?

General Manager Yu Tongguang stood to the side, watching this scene, and revealed a faint smile.

Well, another one has fallen into the pit.