Sail across the sea

Chapter 538 Mao will be plucked bald by us.
"Xiao Fan, you're too ambitious," Zhou Xiaoyun sighed.

As a researcher, Zhou Xiaoyun certainly knew what it meant to follow everyone's interests in conducting research.

This approach could result in spending money but gaining nothing, or it could mean that a researcher gets incredibly lucky and achieves a major breakthrough, recouping all their investment in a single project.

Zhou Xiaoyun had heard that some research institutions abroad allow researchers to do whatever they want. They give researchers lifetime employment contracts and then let them fend for themselves. Some researchers choose to lie low under this system, enjoying their high salaries while indulging in leisure activities, while others, because of this security, can devote all their energy to research areas that interest them, enduring years of dedicated study before finally achieving remarkable success.

Organizations that can do this are those with strong financial resources who don't care about the cost of employing people.

Zhou Xiaoyun also knew that if you wanted to produce top-notch research results, you really had to use this method. The annual evaluation method for research results, which is commonly used by universities and research institutions in China, can only guide researchers to focus their energy on research work that can produce results in the short term, and cannot achieve the goal of accumulating knowledge and experience for future breakthroughs.

This kid in front of her actually wants to imitate the management model of large foreign research institutions, so Zhou Xiaoyun has to say that he's too ambitious.

"We need to have some technological reserves, right?" Gao Fan said with a grin. "Right now, we're just following in the footsteps of foreigners. Whatever results they achieve, we just copy them and lack original achievements."

"One day, we'll have stripped foreigners bare, and then we won't have any experience to learn from them. Does that mean we'll stop developing?"

"I'm afraid I won't be able to see that day you mentioned," Zhou Xiaoyun said irritably.

Gao Fan's metaphor was rather vulgar. Zhou Xiaoyun wanted to reprimand Gao Fan, but with Xie Qin and Ding Xinghuo, two company employees, present, she had to give Gao Fan some face.

Gao Fan shook his head and said, "Aunt Zhou's words are just making them too arrogant and demoralizing. Actually, the gap between us and foreign countries isn't that big, only twenty or thirty years. If we work hard to catch up, it will take at most twenty or thirty years. By then, Aunt Zhou will be less than 50 years old, so how could we not see her?"

"In twenty or thirty years, I'll only be 50. Can you even do math?" Zhou Xiaoyun said with a laugh. Of course, she knew that Gao Fan was just flattering her.

"He who does not plan for the future will have trouble in the present," Gao Fan said. "The third task I mentioned earlier is not something we need to start immediately; we can wait two or three years. However, Aunt Zhou, please keep an eye on the people the research institute has recruited and see which ones have innovative potential."

"Once the research institute is staffed, we will select those with innovative potential to form a future technology research lab, specifically targeting cutting-edge technologies for the next thirty years."

"I understand." Zhou Xiaoyun nodded and accepted Gao Fan's arrangement.

As they spoke, the group had finished looking at several teaching buildings and arrived at the edge of the teaching area. Ding Xinghuo stepped forward and pointed to a large open space in front of them, introducing it to Gao Fan and Zhou Xiaoyun:

“President Gao, Dean Zhou, this is the original teaching area. All that's in front is wasteland. When there were students, some would play soccer there, and we'd organize students to clear the weeds. But in recent years, without students at the school, these weeds have all grown over.” Zhou Xiaoyun turned to Gao Fan and asked, “Xiao Fan, what are your plans for this area?”

“Let’s plant trees first,” Gao Fan said. “Clear away all the weeds and plant trees. Later, I’ll find someone who knows about horticulture to come and plan it out, and turn it into a small park. In the future, when our engineers are tired from work, they can come here for a walk, or they can take their data and sit in the woods to do research.”

“Actually, you don’t need to take over all of this land,” Zhou Xiaoyun said. “I heard that the Provincial Economic Commission originally wanted us to take over 50 acres of the old campus, and let other units take over these vacant lands, even if it’s just to build staff dormitories for them. That way, we can save almost 2000 million yuan.”

Gao Fan laughed and said, "Aunt Zhou, you're being short-sighted. The urbanization rate in our country is very fast. Yaohu is still a suburb now, but in at most 10 years, Ruizhang's urban area will expand to this area, and then this place will be extremely valuable. The land I bought for 180 yuan per mu now may not be able to be bought for 18 million yuan per mu in the future."

“I don’t plan to get involved in real estate development, but our research institute is going to expand. We’ll need to build new lab buildings, dormitories, a canteen, a gym, and so on. This 150-acre plot might not be enough.”

"Alright, the money is in your account anyway, spend it if you want. I just don't understand, how could such a steady person like President Gao have such an ambitious son like you?"

"Aunt Zhou, you're mistaken. Old Gao is quite ambitious now."

With the site inspected and approved, Gao Fan no longer needed to worry about taking over the old campus. Fu Yiming transferred fifty or sixty people from Cangtang to Ruizhang, where Xie Qin took charge, undertaking all the administrative and logistical work of the research institute.

Gao Fan had people publish news of the establishment of the Canghai Research Institute and advertisements for outstanding engineers in industry media such as the Chemical Industry News, promising high salaries and various benefits such as housing and research funding.

To solidify the researchers' resolve to switch jobs and join the Canghai Research Institute, Gao Fan also contacted Yuan Xiaoyan, who had already resigned and gone into business, and asked her to organize the release of a series of public relations articles, including sentimental statements such as "pursuing scientific freedom" and "refusing to waste one's youth," making people feel that not joining the Canghai Research Institute would be a disservice to their vast knowledge.

Under the powerful publicity campaign, job applications from all over the country poured into Ruizhang. Xie Qin organized several people to be in charge of opening the letters and then sent piles of application materials to Zhou Xiaoyun for screening.

At first, Zhou Xiaoyun could manage, but she eventually couldn't keep up. She had to ask Canghai Chemical to send a senior engineer to help screen resumes and contact qualified applicants to come to Ruizhang for interviews. The chaotic and hectic process is best left undescribed.

Gao Fan originally planned to return to Beijing after settling things here, but a message from Bob forced him to stay in Ruizhang for two more days.

Bob told Gao Fan that the matter Gao Fan had asked him to investigate in the United States had made progress.

(End of this chapter)