Reply to Keats - Chap 41

Chap 41
Loyalty to the Emperor

Over time, Fang Jian felt that Chen Wan was different from those two capitalists who reeked of money from head to toe. She understood his academic achievements and scientific research spirit, and her attitude towards him changed a lot. She would even directly @Chen Wan in the group whenever she thought of a great idea, no matter whether it was one o’clock in the morning or four o’clock in the morning.

Zhao Shengge never spoke in the group, but whenever Fang Jian sent out some new news, reported some matters, or discussed some new plans, he would directly poke Chen Wan.

Chen Wan seemed to be always online. As soon as the other party asked a “?”, he would immediately and conscientiously serve as Zhao Shengge’s exclusive, on-call personal translation AI.

Minglong certainly also has a special technical team. Zhao Shengge is more responsible for controlling the overall progress of the project and coordinating all parties to take the overall situation into consideration. However, seeing that he really attaches great importance to it, Chen Wan tries his best to explain Fang Jian’s plan in a simple and easy-to-understand way.

“Mr. Zhao, this is roughly the principle that Fang Bo relies on. Winter ocean currents are an uncontrollable variable. We should try to determine it before November.”

“Um.”

“Okay, if you have any questions, feel free to contact me.”

“Does it bother you?”

Chen Wan has a strong sense of responsibility: “I am loyal to my master and I will be paid by him.”

Zhao Shengge seemed to smile lightly: “Chen Wan.”

Chen Wan tightened his grip.

“I’m not the type of client who exploits employees.”

“…”

Zhao Shengge was understanding and said, “You don’t have to reply to me when you’re busy.” He never asked Chen Wan to respond to him immediately all the time.

But Chen Wan is a person who responds to everything.

The reason for starting voice chat was that Zhao Shengge was not used to the inefficient way of communication. With the current chat frequency between him and Zhao Shengge, he was catching up with him and Zhuo Zhixuan.

Zhao Shengge’s call request was as powerful as he was, urging Chen Wan, who was caught off guard, with each call.

In Chen Wan’s social cognition, it seems that only people who are very familiar with each other and have a very good relationship will have voice calls at any time.

Chen Wan was puzzled, and her voice sounded appropriate: “Mr. Zhao.”

“Chen Wan.” Zhao Shengge responded and said nothing more.

The voices suddenly quieted down, and the sounds of each other’s breathing were transmitted, sometimes in sync, sometimes staggered. Zhao Shengge’s breathing was very low and steady, but Chen Wan felt that something was burning into his brain along the invisible current. However, Zhao Shengge still did not speak, so he had to say: “Mr. Zhao, let me tell you about the combined force structure of the offshore oil tunnel support first.”

“Speak.” Zhao Shengge’s voice was low and very magnetic.

Chen Wan tried to concentrate and began to explain to Party A seriously. Halfway through, Zhao Shengge said, “Chen Wan, someone is calling you.”

Chen Wan was talking so seriously that she didn’t even notice it. She turned around and said, “Oh, it’s my colleague. It’s time for lunch.”

“Well, let’s eat first.”

Chen Wan said, “It’s okay, let’s finish discussing this part first, or do you want to go eat first?”

Zhao Shengge said, “Go eat, and we’ll talk in the afternoon.”

Chen Wan took a few seconds to understand what he meant. He asked if he could call again in the afternoon. He immediately said, “Okay.”

Zhao Shengge said: “I have two meetings in the afternoon, from 2:40 to 3:20 and from 5 to 6. I have no plans in the evening.”

“?” Chen Wan didn’t react immediately.

Zhao Shengge didn’t hear his reply, and asked in a businesslike manner: “When is it convenient for you?”

Chen Wan didn’t know why, so she also started to report her schedule: “I have to go to the securities building at 2:30, which will take about half an hour. Then I will go over the draft with the kids on the team at 3:15. I will upload it to our group in about 40 minutes. A client will come over at 4:30, so it will be almost finished in an hour, and then I will be fine.”

After he finished speaking, he realized that he had gone into too much detail. In order to appear more professional, he quickly drew a timeline in his mind and added, “Then our overlapping time is between 3:45 and 4:30, and after 5:30.”

“Well, wait for my call.”

Chen Wan maintained a professional attitude and said, “Okay, Mr. Zhao,” and swallowed the words “I’ll wait for your call” that he subconsciously wanted to repeat.

After hanging up the phone, Chen Wan was stunned for a while, feeling in a very complicated state of mind.

Of course I was happy that I could talk to Zhao Shengge, but I also felt confused and at a loss as if I had been hit by a pie.

He had never thought that he would have such close and frequent contact with Zhao Shengge, even though they were all talking about official business.

Their conversation basically consisted of long paragraphs on theories of ocean current movement, tree diagrams, and economic data points and lines. It was hard to find even a single word of small talk, let alone any warm words like good morning and good night.

Even if Chen Wan’s phone was accidentally lost one day, the person who picked it up would only think that they were two workaholic colleagues or superiors who were not familiar with each other and were exchanging polite words.

But Chen Wan seemed to be suffering from the habit of checking his phone. He would check every once in a while to see if there were any new messages from the other party. He hoped that any questions from the other party would be answered as quickly and completely as possible.

In the new week, the Baoli Bay project received a self-inspection proposal from the Environmental Protection Association regarding marine pollution indicators.

Fang Jian was very angry and said directly in the group: “I can guarantee that the data of the model are all international standards. The environmental protection agency is a group of laymen who are instructing the experts.”

“…” Xu Zhiying said, “They have issued their own new regulations. If the rectification is not qualified as required, the next step is to issue a yellow card warning, which will delay the construction period.”

Fang Jian said directly: “There is nothing to change. Their new rules and standards are unreasonable.”

“…” Geniuses always have a bit of a temper. This group usually relies on Chen Wan to play the role of a mediator and a bridge. He carefully browsed the violation tips marked in the proposal and said, “This is not difficult. We can optimize a few data and coordinate the balance between efficiency and environmental protection from the perspectives of commercial benefits and technical operability. I will do the review part. It won’t take too long.”

Xu Zhiying followed him down the stairs and said, “Then I’ll ask someone to do some public relations.”

Zhao Shengge waited until they had finished speaking before asking a few questions. After the meeting, he said, “Chen, please stay for a while.”

Fang Jian has a stubborn temper and is easily angered. Zhao Shengge feels that it is inefficient to have a conversation with someone who is still emotionally unstable. When encountering a problem, he prefers to face the root of the problem directly and solve it quickly, rather than wasting his emotions on anything that is not helpful in solving the problem.

Zhao Shengge expressed his opinion.

“Mr. Zhao, I don’t agree with just changing the instrument.” Chen Wan and Zhao Shengge don’t always agree, and they will say directly, “The marine environment is inherently unstable. Inconsistent monitoring variables will lead to greater errors.”

Zhao Shengge pointed out: “The proposal has a specified deadline, which is the most efficient way.”

Chen Wan had a reason: “But there may be endless troubles.” He also said, “In fact, there are ways to make them not so rigid.” After saying this, Chen Wan felt a little regretful. He didn’t want Zhao Shengge to think that he knew many unconventional ways to take shortcuts.

Zhao Shengge raised his eyebrows, but didn’t say whether he agreed or not, and asked him to log off and rest first.

Chen Wan estimated that after he went offline, Zhao Shengge would continue to work, perhaps all night long, but he did not persuade him because he himself had to work overtime.

After a period of time, in order to meet the indicators of the Environmental Protection Association, Fang Jian issued a new type of composite modeling. Voice calls were basically incomprehensible and the efficiency was too low, so more and more business exchanges between Chen Wan and Zhao Shengge turned into video conferences.

In this way, Chen Wan was like getting a ticket to observe Zhao Shengge himself up close. Although this would describe Zhao Shengge as some rare animal on earth, for Chen Wan, this metaphor was not an exaggeration.

There is only one ticket for this visit in the world, and the privileges include but are not limited to interactive sessions at work. You have to be very lucky to have it.

For example, if Zhao Shengge forgets to hang up the camera after the video conference, Chen Wan can see Zhao Shengge working.

If this were a live broadcast, he could pay money and Chen Wan could watch it all day long and would definitely be number one on the list.

But it was free, so he only watched for a while and then pretended to realize he was still offline and turned off the camera.

Every week Fang Jian releases new data, and the two will discuss it online.

Zhao Shengge and Chen Wan didn’t talk often, and the sound of papers turning and mouse clicking came from the headphones.

Chen Wan could occasionally hear him tell his secretary, “The tea is too strong” or “Don’t eat it yet.”

During one video conference, Chen Wan was so focused that when he looked up he saw the enlarged handsome face of Zhao Shengge, who was looking down at him. Both of them were too close to the camera, which was even more frightening than in real life.

Chen Wan stepped back without changing her expression, and then asked, “Mr. Zhao, is there anything you need me to explain?”

Zhao Shengge would ask him some questions.

Like a thief, Chen Wan used her mind to accurately record every subtle expression and unintentional habit of Zhao Shengge, but never crossed the line once.

He never took the initiative to chat with Zhao Shengge, nor did he use the opportunity to ask about his well-being. Every time he was as serious as if he was making a remote report to his superior.

Perhaps because she grew up in the Chen family, which was surrounded by wolves and tigers, and was used to being bullied, she was born to admire the strong. Chen Wan felt that men were sexier at certain moments at work than in bed.

Zhao Shengge’s almost machine-like strictness and precision in his work, as well as the strength and ambition that permeate his bones, are the reasons why Minglong’s market value increased by more than 60% within five years of his taking power.

Zhao Shengge is certainly not perfect. Chen Wan has long known this fact. He often reveals his authoritarian and controlling nature, as well as many… somewhat strange demands.

For example, during a video conference, Zhao Shengge asked Chen Wan: “Do you mind if I record the screen so I can listen back and review it later?”

Formal video conferences will keep a copy as a record of the meeting, so Chen Wan had no objection. He just thought that if Zhao Shengge had informed him in advance, he might have dressed a little more formally instead of the overly homely sweater he was wearing now, because today was the weekend and he had no plans to go out.

For example, Zhao Shengge is a workaholic and is quite arbitrary.

Fang Jian built the model together with his Columbia University students. Due to the time difference, video conferences were often reversed day and night. Zhao Shengge could operate seamlessly like a machine, but he didn’t like Chen Wan staying up late.

“Chen Wan, go to bed.”

If Chen Wan was found to be online during the time he had agreed to go to bed, Zhao Shengge would leave him alone, ignore him, and not respond to his questions, which made Chen Wan very upset.

During video conferences, Zhao Shengge seemed to like Chen Wan to sit in certain fixed positions and directions.

If he is at home, Zhao Shengge likes to go to the study room with the best light.

If he is in the company, Zhao Shengge seems to prefer him to sit in front of a spacious desk without backlight.

“Chen Wan, you’re too far away. I can’t see you.”

Chen Wan sat closer to the camera, hoping that the other party would not mind the dark circles under his eyes from staying up late the night before.

“Chen Wan, the light over there is very dim.”

But on the screen, Zhao Shengge himself was sitting very far away. Although this allowed Chen Wan to see where he was, Chen Wan still hoped that he could sit closer so that she could see his face clearly.

But Zhao Shengge just leaned back in his chair, looking at him from a distance, with no intention of getting closer.

Chen Wan couldn’t see his expression, she could only hear his voice.

“Chen Wan, turn up the volume.”

“Or you can come closer and talk.”

“…Okay.”

Every time at this moment, Chen Wan would feel a very strange feeling in his heart, which was hard to describe.

Chen Wan thought that he was carefully observing, capturing and recording every habit and trait of Zhao Shengge, but he seemed to have forgotten that if Zhao Shengge didn’t want others to notice something, then no one in this world would be able to see it at all.

Chen Wan also forgot that when a person gazes at others, he is also being gazed at.