"Xiao Yang, it seems the boss is really valuing you this time by choosing you to go to Europe. It makes us old folks envious. I've waited a full five years for this opportunity!" said Professor Zhao, the head of the delegation and vice director of the research center, as they sat on the transcontinental flight.
The plane carried over 30 researchers from the center, all of whom were either students or subordinates of Vice Director Zhao, with the exception of Yang Yunhe.
This trip to Europe was a dream that Professor Zhao had spent five years painstakingly working to realize.
Speaking of five years ago, a major event had occurred in the entire research center: the former director and founder of the research center, Ni Guangnan, was removed from his post and eventually went to teach at Jiangnan University.
This had a significant impact on the entire research center's atmosphere, indirectly leading to many changes and the establishment of the hierarchical system.
However, these details are not important. The reason for mentioning this event is that Professor Zhao, Vice Director Zhao, was a key figure's son in that incident.
At the time, the sole trigger for the incident was the internal staff's disrespect towards Boss Huang. While this might have caused some turmoil, it would not have led to Ni Guangnan's direct dismissal, given his immense influence on the research center and his undeniable contributions to the Jiangnan Group.
As a result, Ni Guangnan was dismissed. Therefore, the core reason was Ni Guangnan's disregard and misuse of company assets. However, the pivotal point that ignited the entire affair stemmed from a peculiar maneuver by Professor Zhao.
Professor Zhao was an expert in high-energy particles. He had dedicated his life to researching various high-energy particles and had designed hundreds of different collision schemes, hoping to find the high-energy particles of his dreams using a high-energy particle collider.
The problem was that high-energy particle colliders were extremely rare globally, with fewer than three operating normally worldwide. Only one high-energy particle collider located in Europe could meet Professor Zhao's requirements.
The cost of using this collider was 50 million US dollars.
Professor Zhao himself could not afford this sum. His only recourse was to seek funding approval from the Jiangnan Research Center.
However, while high-energy particles were theoretically crucial for constructing the entire universe, their practical commercial value was minimal beyond publishing a few papers.
Therefore, the research center would never approve 50 million US dollars.
Not even 50 million RMB would be approved.
But Professor Zhao was unwilling to miss this sole opportunity. Thus, his first thought was of his old friend, Ni Guangnan. Leveraging Ni Guangnan's general generosity with research funds and his attitude of prioritizing research over commercial value, he obtained Ni Guangnan's signature on a report requesting 50 million RMB.
However, he tampered with the currency unit column, using thermochromic ink to change RMB to USD, nearly succeeding in obtaining 50 million USD for experiments in Europe. Ultimately, Boss Huang discovered this, and all his efforts were in vain.
Ni Guangnan, a veteran who had founded the entire research center, was forced to step down. Professor Zhao, naturally, could not expect a better outcome.
Boss Huang did not expel Professor Zhao from the research center but posted a public announcement and issued a formal reprimand.
However, Professor Zhao felt too ashamed to remain in the research center. He promptly resigned and retired, disappearing entirely from the academic community.
Although Professor Zhao disappeared, his son did not. On the contrary, he continued to work diligently at the Jiangnan Group's research center, who is the Vice Director Zhao before us.
In fact, Professor Zhao's son had initially looked down on the Jiangnan Group's research center. He was working at a reputable national research institution and was a considerable genius, not deigning to join a private company.
Alas, his father, feeling immense shame for causing his old friend's downfall, had half-begged his son to join the Jiangnan Group to conduct research, with the aim of making significant inventions to recoup his father's lost honor.
Bound by filial duty, Professor Zhao came. Boss Huang, aware of the cause and effect, did not object, treating it as a normal situation. Unexpectedly, he made several major breakthroughs, steadily rising to his current position as vice director.
The final step for Professor Zhao to restore his father's honor was to fulfill his father's unfinished dream: conducting experiments using the European high-energy particle collider.
Thus, Professor Zhao saved up various bonuses he had received from the Jiangnan Group over the years, amassing 15 million US dollars. He then directly submitted a report, and with Boss Huang's special permission, secured an additional 40 million US dollars in funding. He then led a team to Europe to vindicate his father.
Actually, Vice Director Zhao had not intended to bring Yang Yunhe along. However, just before their departure, Tong He found him and asked him to bring Yang Yunhe. The reason given was that Yang Yunhe was also an absolute expert and a leader in high-energy particles, with his invention of the anti-gravity engine being the best proof.
In terms of achievements, no one in the country could surpass the anti-gravity engine technology in its application of high-energy particles. To some extent, Yang Yunhe was considered a top expert in practical applications within China's high-energy physics field. Tong He believed that bringing Yang Yunhe would undoubtedly yield valuable insights.
Faced with this reasoning, Professor Zhao could not refuse, as the majority of the funding came from the research center. What else could he say? He could only reluctantly bring Yang Yunhe along.
Professor Zhao was somewhat reluctant, not because he was unwilling to share credit with an outsider, but because Yang Yunhe held the same rank as him in the research center – both were vice directors. What if there were disagreements during the experiment? Who would defer to whom?
Although Professor Zhao was in charge of the entire project, Yang Yunhe had become a significant figure within the institute recently and had a better relationship with Boss Huang than he did. What if Yang Yunhe directly called Boss Huang, leaving him with no recourse?
Regardless of Professor Zhao's various thoughts on the plane, Yang Yunhe paid them no mind. His only thought at the moment was whether to take this opportunity to escape.
This plane would be landing in France, and once they were outside the airport, the constraints of Jiangnan Group would effectively cease to exist.
Yang Yunhe only needed to run, and he could immediately escape the control of Jiangnan Group, find a police station, call Goldman Sachs, and then receive protection from Goldman Sachs' local resources, before quickly flying to the United States. Afterward, Yang Yunhe could enjoy a wonderful life in the United States.
Well, at least that's how it seemed.
In short, this was Yang Yunhe's best chance to escape. He was carrying all the information regarding Black Gold and Tong He Alloy, and these materials were very secure because they were all stored in Yang Yunhe's own mind.
Yang Yunhe was also a genius. While he couldn't claim perfect recall, it took him a few days to memorize everything. Moreover, as long as the information was stored in his mind, Goldman Sachs would never dare to turn against him. After all, Goldman Sachs had no idea how much information he had concealed that they were unaware of. It would be foolish to choose to store the information in storage devices, as that would make the storage devices valuable, not Yang Yunhe himself.
The plane landed, and as they followed the group out of the arrival hall, taxi drivers immediately swarmed them. Yang Yunhe found himself in a state of extreme indecision.
This was the best time to escape. Grabbing a taxi driver and running would surely ensure no one could catch him, and he could immediately flee by car.
But should he escape or not?
As Yang Yunhe was engaged in this internal struggle, a somewhat aged figure suddenly walked over. Then, this completely unfamiliar old man directly hugged Yang Yunhe and exclaimed excitedly, "Child, you're finally here!"
"Sir, you've mistaken me for someone else!" Yang Yunhe was startled. Could this be a French honey trap?
Fortunately, Professor Zhao quickly stepped forward, embraced the old man, apologized to Yang Yunhe, and looked at the old man with a wry smile, saying, "Dad, why are you confused again today? I'm your son!"
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"Child, why have you lost so much weight? Did that rascal next door steal your food again!" Sitting on the bus, Yang Yunhe felt very uncomfortable and stiff, not knowing how to act as he looked at the aged Professor Zhao, who was clinging to his side.
Professor Zhao sighed helplessly beside him. "Director Yang, you actually resemble me when I was young. My father probably mistook you! His Alzheimer's has been getting progressively worse in recent years. Initially, he would occasionally mistake me, but now he doesn't recognize me at all!"
"I understand," Yang Yunhe nodded. He knew something about the case from back then. Therefore, the old man tightly gripping his arm was likely the Professor Zhao who had triggered Ni Guangnan's downfall.
He had initially shown symptoms of Alzheimer's and wanted to complete the experiment while he was still relatively lucid. However, it seemed now that he was in an advanced stage of the illness and had completely forgotten many things.
"Director Zhao, why isn't your father accompanying us?" Yang Yunhe asked curiously.
"My father's name was not on the company's delegation list, so naturally, he couldn't travel on the company-arranged flight!" Professor Zhao said expressionlessly. "My father, accompanied by my wife, arrived here a week in advance. He was just here at the airport to pick me up!"