Break out of the courtyard

No sooner had Professor Ye's group of experts from Western Sichuan had their access to the Shenzhen underground laboratory revoked than someone approached Elder Hua, asking if Zhang Heping had other ideas.

Mr. Hua had just finished dinner and was about to go for a walk with his family when the persuader arrived so quickly.

"Has Old Tang eaten yet?" Old Hua greeted the visitor with a smile, seemingly oblivious to the displeasure on the other's face.

"I was just about to eat when I received a call from Xishu saying that the Peace Academy had removed Professor Ye and the others' access, forbidding them from accessing the relevant equipment and fragments!" The old man surnamed Tang couldn't say it outright because the other members of the Hua family were present.

"Don't rush! Don't rush!" Old Hua led the little old man with dyed black hair to the sofa and said with a smile, "You don't know the whole process of this matter, or how it was handled afterwards. Have some fruit first, and I'll tell you slowly."

The elderly man surnamed Tang accepted the banana offered by Mr. Hua, simply holding it in his hand and waiting for an explanation.

Old Hua didn't rush to explain. Instead, he looked at his wife, children, and grandchildren and said, "You all go outside and wait for me. I'll say a few words to Old Tang and then come out to find you!"

After the family and the nanny left, Old Hua, who was sitting on the other sofa, looked at the old man surnamed Tang with a smile and said, "Tell me the solution first!"

"First, we will send some more experts from Western Sichuan to Shenzhen to obtain laboratory access and follow up on the previous brain-computer interface fragment research."

When the elderly man surnamed Tang heard that someone else was to be sent, he couldn't help but want to say something, but Elder Hua stopped him by raising his hand, "Let me finish!"

"If you feel that there aren't enough people in Western Shu after sending people over, you can have Professor Ye and the others return to Western Shu."

"I can tell you with certainty that Professor Ye and his team violated the laboratory rules set by Consultant Zhang. Now, no matter who pleads on their behalf, it won't work; it will only make him more resentful."

“If you don’t send other experts over, then the only option is to have Professor Ye and his team teach at the Peace Academy for a semester, and then apply for laboratory access six months later.”

The elderly man surnamed Tang waited for a while, but when he didn't hear about the third method, he asked, "What rules did they violate? Why were all their lab access privileges deleted?"

"Safety regulations!" Old Hua pointed to the banana in the other person's hand, took one for himself, and slowly began to peel it.

Seeing this, the old man surnamed Tang knew that if he didn't eat the banana, Old Man Hua would drag things out for who knows how long before revealing the reason.

What angered him most was that the person in charge in Western Shu had not explained things clearly to him, leaving him in a very passive position.

Old Hua had just taken a bite of his banana when he noticed that the old man surnamed Tang had devoured his banana in two bites. So he smiled and continued to explain, "Today, Consultant Zhang led them to inspect a batch of brain-computer interface fragments that had just been sent over. After sorting the fragments, packing them up, and sending them to the warehouse, he went straight back to Hong Kong Island."

"After Professor Ye and his team left, they dismissed the other experts and assistants in the laboratory, retrieved the brain-computer interface fragments from the warehouse, and began researching them in the laboratory using the second-generation brain-computer interface."

"If things had only progressed to this point, their lab access wouldn't have been revoked. At most, it would have been considered a violation of regulations, and guards would have stopped them soon."

"But..." Old Hua put the remaining half of the banana into his mouth, smiling as he looked at the little old man who had come to interrogate him.

Whether in terms of age or rank and benefits, Mr. Hua was a cut above the other party.

Although Mr. Hua is now retired, he is not someone the other party can offend at will.

If the two families hadn't lived so close to each other and greeted each other regularly, Mr. Hua wouldn't have said so much to him.

While eating a banana, he was deliberately keeping the other person in suspense, and also trying to gauge how much detail the other person knew from their facial expressions.

If the other party knows more, considering the way he came to interrogate him, there's a lot more to it than meets the eye, and Elder Hua certainly won't be so friendly anymore.

The elderly man surnamed Tang stared intently at Elder Hua as he finished eating the banana before urging, "Elder Hua, what did they do in the lab afterwards?"

“Cover up the security cameras!” Old Hua replied with a smile, throwing the banana peel into the trash can. Then he took an apple and handed it to the elderly man surnamed Tang. “You should first find out what mistake they made!”

Although Old Hua didn't say the second half of his sentence, it still made the old man surnamed Tang choke for a moment. He swallowed the question that was on the tip of his tongue and decided to call and find out the situation later.

"Speaking of which, when I took Professor Ye and the others to the underground laboratory, the first thing I showed them was the rules and regulations at the tunnel entrance." After handing over the apple, Elder Hua got up to see the guest out without offering any further explanation.

That's enough. Saying any more would be beneath him and would only make the other party look down on him, a retired old man.

Unlike the old man surnamed Tang, although Old Yang also received the news and rushed over, he did not rush in to talk to Old Hua. Instead, he chatted with the Hua family members outside for a while.

Seeing Elder Hua and Elder Tang come out together, Elder Yang bid farewell to the Hua family and went to greet Elder Hua.

"I just spoke with Professor Qian and Professor Deng, and their suggestion was to have Xishu send a few more experts over to take over the fragment research at the Shenzhen Laboratory." Professor Yang said this, clearly indicating that he understood the background before coming over.

Old Hua nodded slightly, then looked at the old man surnamed Tang beside him, who clearly didn't understand the situation.

……

The response from the capital was swift; by 21 p.m., the expert to be sent to Shenzhen had been selected.

Considering the reasons for Professor Ye and his team's violation of regulations, half of the team sent to Shenzhen this time consisted of young and middle-aged assistant researchers.

"They can question my judgment and that of my other assistants, but that has nothing to do with violating lab regulations." Zhang Heping, holding his phone, walked out of the underground lab to the stairwell where the signal was better, and said to Professor Hua on the other end of the line:

“You know me well, if you want to plead for them, you don’t need to waste your time.”

On the other end of the phone, Hua Lao mentioned the new personnel sent from Western Shu, and then laughed, "I reckon that they sent so many young people here to take over the work of the group of young assistants you arranged."

"It's nothing!" Zhang Heping said nonchalantly. "If they want to do what they want, let them. As long as it doesn't affect the research in other labs, I can't be bothered with them."

These words should not be taken literally. Knowing Zhang Heping as he did, Hua Lao could naturally sense the resistance in them, so he stopped talking.

After ending the call, Hua called Secretary Chen, Vice President Qian, and Vice President Deng to discuss the arrangements for the newly dispatched personnel in Xishu.

In this research on brain-computer interfaces and fragments, Professor Hua naturally sided with the Peace Academy.

Zhang Heping assigned a young assistant to help study the brain-computer interface fragments and handed over the fragments he had already categorized to the young assistant to check them one by one.

To be precise, it's not about verification, it's about practical teaching!
Because Zhang Heping's categorized fragments were like standard answers, the young assistants compared the structure within those fragments to the 3D model of the brain-computer interface, as if they were taking an open-book exam.

This is also why Professor Ye and his group of senior professors secretly took the fragments out to study them on the very day they were stored in the warehouse.

These auditors also wanted to learn from the young assistants, but Zhang Heping said their physical condition was too poor and he consistently disagreed with their participation in the fragment verification.

After the group of senior experts from Western Sichuan were admitted to the hospital, they spent a week recuperating in bed in a daze before gradually recovering.

This situation undoubtedly proves that Zhang Heping did not deceive them. Unfortunately, they did not believe it before and actually covered up the surveillance camera and secretly used the second-generation micro brain-computer interface to verify it.

After these dozen or so veteran experts were discharged from the hospital, the newcomers from Western Sichuan had already integrated into the mental power research laboratory of the underground base.

To ensure that the new researchers would not clash with the young assistants selected by Zhang Heping, Director Wang went to Hong Kong Island to find Zhang Heping and obtained three more second-generation microcomputers.

In this way, the laboratory had four brain-computer interfaces available for use.

However, for safety reasons, all experiments in the mental power research laboratory have been suspended. Currently, all those preparing to use the second-generation microcomputer are undergoing intensive training on how to utilize mental power. Meanwhile, the laboratory itself is also being renovated.

According to Zhang Heping's requirements and design drawings, four cast iron rooms were built in a corner of the laboratory.

Zhang Heping originally didn't want to go through all this trouble, thinking that the group of professors from Western Sichuan wouldn't stay in Shenzhen for long.

Unexpectedly, after Professor Ye and his group had their laboratory access revoked, they refused to go back. Instead, they wanted to stay at the Peace Academy to teach for a semester in exchange for a chance to re-enter the laboratory.

Their actions, ironically, made their superiors, who were originally planning to retrieve some of the brain-computer interface fragments, hesitate.

Professor Ye and his team had a simple reason: taking those brain-computer interface fragments back would not only fail to speed up their research, but would also distract them, making it far less efficient than the research led by Zhang Heping's team.

However, Zhang Heping has been too busy to deal with them lately. Even when the new researchers from Western Sichuan arrived in his territory, he did not come forward to express his welcome.

Since Zhang Heping discovered that basic mental energy receiving module, he has been trying to replicate it whenever he has free time.

It's important to know that Zhang Heping's cheat code isn't just about improving skill proficiency through reading books.

When Zhang Heping focuses on doing something, he can also trigger the AFK proficiency level.

Therefore, the brain-computer interface skills that Zhang Heping has acquired in the past month or so, such as the mental energy receiver repair skills, have already reached the master level of proficiency.

Even the slower skill of repairing brainwave interruptors has reached a minor level of proficiency.

Don't be fooled by Zhang Heping's quiet life at home; his family's Heping Group has recently become a hot topic of conversation among many people.

As Peace Group began its first round of share reduction plans, many people secretly mocked them for giving away the goose that lays the golden eggs.

Those superficial people have no idea how much gold, as well as shares in other groups and companies, were exchanged for the shares that Peace Group gave up in this round of trading.

Because Chen Shuting had experienced the wonders of spiritual power, she strongly agreed with Zhang Bei and his group's claim that the next era would be the era of virtual dream games.

Therefore, gold, the basic material that can convert brainwaves into mental power, has become a strategic resource for winning the future.

The problem is that a significant amount of gold in the world is held by the US.

Recently, the issue of mainland China repatriating gold from the United States has attracted significant attention from the United States.

If the Peace Group doesn't come up with some tricks, how much gold and gold mines it can acquire will depend entirely on luck.

Chen Shuting doesn't believe in luck because she used up all her luck to meet Zhang Heping, so she only trusts her man, Zhang Heping.

She strictly follows Zhang Heping's instructions on where to invest, even if it means selling off or exchanging out the Heping Group's assets bit by bit.

Because she knew very well that as long as Zhang Heping was around, and with advanced technologies such as longevity potions, regeneration and repair fluids, and brain-computer interfaces in hand, even if all of Heping Group's industries were gone, her family could quickly make a comeback!
However, a problem has been troubling her lately!

The warehouses at HSBC are running low, and the gold needs to be stored elsewhere.

She didn't want to put it in Shenzhen, feeling it was the least safe place.

Especially when it comes to her husband's use of gold, it's like using toilet paper; he doesn't take gold seriously at all.

If you go to that laboratory on the second basement floor now, you'll find the floor covered with gold nuggets and gold dust.

Time flies, and October has quietly passed.

Monday, December 11nd.

When those wealthy women from Hong Kong Island took their eligible single children to Victoria Peak to visit the Zhang family, the Maastricht Treaty officially came into effect on the other side of the world, and the European Union was formally established.

Negotiations between the Peace Group and the European Union, as well as its member states, on tax incentives are also nearing completion.

Yes, it was delayed because the EU hadn't been established yet, and many things were uncertain. Even if an agreement was reached, there were still many variables.

Compared to her business dealings, Tang Xin was more concerned about her children's marriages.

The eldest son, Zhang Bei, the fifth son, Zhang Long, and the sixth son, Zhang Hu, are now constantly around their father. Although Tang Xin knows that they are researching very powerful mental energy equipment, she is still worried that her three sons will not be able to find wives.

Listen to this: the son of the richest man can't find a wife?
This is such a bizarre thing!
Tang Xin felt a headache every time she thought about this problem.

If her three sons were even slightly more open, countless young women eager to marry into wealthy families would throw themselves at them.

Just like today, most of the children brought by those wealthy women are girls, varying in size and style.

Tang Xin felt that any normal man could pick one he liked from among them.

Therefore, Tang Xin urged her six children to wash up and get dressed early in the morning.

If she hadn't had to take Xiao Zhanghao to school in the morning, she would have kept an eye on them the whole time.

Even when she had to go out, she asked her mother, Xu Jiefeng, to keep an eye on things for her.

The neighbor, Tang Ren, had six concubines, as well as his daughters-in-law, sons-in-law, granddaughters-in-law, and grandsons-in-law of marriageable age. They brought quite a few of their relatives to the Zhang family, but none of them managed to find a match.

Zhang Bei, Zhang Long, and Zhang Hu are not incapable of interacting with the opposite sex. For example, the three brothers are currently handling the work of greeting guests, as their father doesn't have the time or energy for such tasks.

Director Wang has been paying close attention to the matter of finding partners for Zhang Bei and Zhang Nan in Hong Kong.

Over the years, Director Wang has handed over a lot of work, but she has always been in charge of arranging the marriages of Zhang's children.

Last month, someone mentioned to her that after the grandchildren of the Ye and Zhao families went to Hong Kong Island to develop their careers, she has been investigating and contacting those people.

This morning, Director Wang took the two girls to the top of Victoria Peak under the pretext of helping the grandchildren of the Ye and Zhao families expand their networks.

"Grandma Wang, is it really appropriate for us to go up the mountain empty-handed?" Ye Yushi, the granddaughter of the Ye family, looked at the front passenger seat with great concern. "My grandfather will definitely scold me for being impolite when he finds out."

Director Wang pointed to the cars lined up up the mountain and said, "These cars are all people going to visit the Zhang family. If everyone brings a gift, we'll be checking the gifts for safety until the wee hours of the morning."

"Therefore, when visiting the Zhang family for the first three days of the month, there is an unwritten rule that you cannot bring gifts."

"If you want to give gifts, there will be plenty of opportunities to do so later, there's no need to rush today."

...(End of chapter)