Building a Sci-Fi Empire: Starting with Cold Nuclear Fusion

The next day, at dawn.

The morning meeting just ended here.

Amidst Zhen Yuhan's envious, jealous, and resentful gaze, Chen Yuan picked up the laboratory access pass from his desk and left the office area chatting and laughing with Xiao Yun.

What time does your company usually pay salaries?

"Payment is usually on the 5th, after 8 a.m. If the 5th is a holiday, it may be paid one or two days earlier and will arrive in the account after 1 p.m.

"It's already the 5th without me even realizing it. I've been working at the company for almost two weeks now. I only worked for one week last month, so I probably didn't make much money."

"You still have a bonus, a full 80,000 yuan."

Xiaoyun looked envious as she said, "If I could get that much bonus, I would definitely spend it all."

Chen Yuan chuckled and said, "You also got a bonus of over 20,000 yuan, so you can spend it as you please."

Xiaoyun said, "No, I'm still paying off my mortgage and car loan, so I can't afford to spend money recklessly."

Chen Yuan doesn't have a mortgage or car loan because he doesn't own a car at all.

As for the house, it was bought by his parents, who said it would be his wedding home.

This is a common practice in the Jiangsu and Zhejiang regions, where parents usually buy a house for their children when they get married.

Those who can afford it pay in full, while those who can't afford it pay a down payment, and then their children pay the mortgage themselves.

Since he had no car loan or mortgage, Chen Yuan was wondering how to spend the 80,000 yuan bonus he received.

He does prefer to buy a car, but the problem is he only has 80,000 yuan, which doesn't seem like he can buy a decent car.

He doesn't want to buy a BYD and be mistaken for a ride-hailing driver.

Chen Yuan couldn't think of anything for the time being, so he decided to talk to A Yu later to see if she could give him some good advice.

We arrived at the laboratory.

Chen Yuan followed Qin Shoucheng to learn how to operate various equipment and instruments.

Well, even though Xiaoyun calls him "Engineer Chen" and he received the project team's R&D bonus, he's actually been in safety training these past few days and hasn't had a chance to properly familiarize himself with the lab equipment and instruments.

It was around 10 a.m.

Chen Yuan is learning how to use the electrochemical workstation equipment from Qin Shoucheng.

Suddenly, he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket.

Chen Yuan wondered who had sent him the message.

He was busy learning how to use the equipment right now, so he didn't take it out to look at it.

Unexpectedly, he didn't take it out to look at it, but Qin Shoucheng took out his phone first.

Old Qin chuckled and said, "Hey, your salary and bonus have arrived. Xiao Yuan, has yours arrived yet?"

After spending a few days together, Qin Shoucheng was no longer as stern as before, and even his way of addressing Chen Yuan became more enthusiastic, changing from "Little Chen" to "Little Yuan".

It's clear that he really likes his capable apprentice, Chen Yuan.

Upon hearing this, Chen Yuan took out his phone. "Has your salary arrived? Let me check."

He unlocked his phone and saw that there were indeed messages from the bank, showing two income transactions.

These are a salary of over 1,000 yuan and a research and development bonus of 72,210 yuan after tax deduction.

Chen Yuan only worked for about a quarter of the month last month, earning a little over a thousand yuan.

Normally, he would definitely care a lot about this salary, but now the R&D bonus has arrived in his account as well.

His gaze wasn't on his salary at all; he was staring at the 72,000 yuan.

Old Qin asked, "Have we arrived?"

Chen Yuan replied, "We've arrived."

Old Qin was in a good mood. "After working on this project for a year, I finally got my bonus. Speaking of which, I have to thank you for it."

Chen Yuan put his phone away and laughed, "Brother Qin, what are you saying? This is the result of our joint efforts."

Old Qin chuckled and said, "Don't say that. We know perfectly well that without you, there would be no bonus, and the project team might even have been disbanded. We just got our salaries and bonuses today, so I'll treat you to dinner later... or rather, tonight. Tonight, let's invite everyone on the project team and find a nice restaurant for a good meal."

Chen Yuan also wanted to get to know his colleagues better and build rapport.

He readily agreed, saying, "Okay."

We had only been chatting for a few minutes when Zhao Peng, Wang Kai, and other mid-to-senior level leaders from the department came over for an inspection.

Perhaps it was because they saw Lao Qin and Chen Yuan chatting.

Zhao Peng approached with a smile and asked, "What are you two talking about?"

Old Qin recounted the dinner invitation for that evening.

Zhao Peng and Wang Kai exchanged a glance, then said with smiles on their faces, "That won't do."

Old Qin let out a sound of surprise, "You want us to work overtime tonight?"

"No." Zhao Peng stopped teasing Lao Qin and said directly, "I just applied to the company for team building to reward your project team, so we'll be doing outdoor team building this afternoon. As for dinner tonight, the company can pay for it."

Old Qin was overjoyed. "Thank you, Minister."

Zhao Peng waved his hand, looked at Chen Yuan, and blinked as he said, "Xiao Chen, think about what to eat tonight. I've booked a restaurant in advance. Don't worry about the cost; the company will pay anyway. A five-star hotel is fine too."

Chen Yuan immediately understood that this so-called team building activity was probably organized by Lao Zhao specifically for him.

As for why he could guess, it was simply because he had made outstanding contributions to the 1175Ah battery cell R&D project, which made Zhao Peng, the department head, see his potential and ability. He wanted to express goodwill in this way and take advantage of this team building to integrate himself into Lao Qin's project team more quickly.

Chen Yuan wasn't tactless, so he flattered Zhao Peng and said, "I'm young and just started working. I don't know what kind of restaurant would be suitable for our team building. Minister Zhao, you are our leader, so I'll follow your arrangements."

Zhao Peng laughed and scolded, "You slippery fellow, fine, I'll arrange it later and have someone come and inform you."

Wang Kai, the department manager, took the opportunity to pat Chen Yuan on the shoulder and said, "Little Chen, do a good job. Lao Zhao and I have high hopes for you."

Chen Yuan said, "Thank you for your appreciation, leader."

Zhao Peng and Wang Kai, along with other mid-to-senior level leaders from the department, offered a few words of encouragement before taking their leave.

After everyone left, Lao Qin looked at Chen Yuan and said, "Xiao Chen, the leaders all appreciate you. I reckon if you achieve more, a promotion and a raise will be no problem."

Chen Yuan said, both amused and exasperated, "Brother Qin, I'm still in my probationary period. I don't even dare to dream of a promotion or a raise."

Old Qin smiled and shook his head, saying, "You've already achieved such excellent results since joining the company, are you worried about not passing your probation period? Let me tell you this, right now, Minister Zhao and Manager Wang want you to pass your probation period more than anyone else. They might even be thinking of talking to HR, but for some reason, such as the fact that you've only been with the company for a short time and they're afraid that someone might be dissatisfied, they haven't made you a permanent employee yet. Otherwise, with such a great contribution this time, you would definitely have been made a permanent employee long ago."

Upon hearing this, Chen Yuan's heart skipped a beat, and he tentatively asked, "You mean, if I were to be given a permanent position now, Zhen Yuhan would be dissatisfied?"

Old Qin looked around to make sure no one was coming before lowering his voice and saying, "He joined the company at the same time as you. His uncle is the company's vice president. If you get promoted before him, where will his uncle put his face? Otherwise, do you think Minister Zhao and Manager Wang appreciate you so much that they won't promote you ahead of time?"

Oh, this is all about the intricacies of human relationships and social interactions.

Chen Yuan was speechless. He thought to himself that his grades should have been good enough to get him a permanent position, but because of Zhen Yuhan, his permanent position would be delayed for a while.

Whether or not he gets a permanent position is actually a very important matter for him.

The simplest point is that my salary increased significantly after I became a full-time employee.

In addition, it is generally impossible to get a promotion or raise during the probationary period; that is only possible after you become a full-time employee.

Chen Yuan is able to connect to the quantum spiritual realm, so he's not worried about not achieving results, and getting a promotion and a raise won't be difficult.

Therefore, he naturally hopes to be promoted to a permanent position as soon as possible.

Just then, Lao Qin added meaningfully, "Actually, it's not impossible for you to be promoted early. As long as you produce some convincing results, Minister Zhao and Manager Wang won't care whether Zhen Yuhan's uncle is a vice president or not, just to keep you. You should understand what I mean, right?"

Chen Yuan's expression changed, and he nodded, saying, "Brother Qin, I understand."

Old Qin nodded and said, "Good. Let's continue to familiarize ourselves with the equipment and instruments. The 1175Ah cell R&D project is coming to an end. The company may give us new tasks soon. Let's do our best then, and you can try to get promoted ahead of schedule."

Are there any new projects coming up soon?

Chen Yuan was filled with enthusiasm, thinking that he and his team members should perform well and try to get promoted to a permanent position ahead of schedule!