108: Chapter 109 The Hardcore Nanny of a Transnational Tech Maniac

Looking at the long list in his hands, Xu Hao couldn't help but smile bitterly to himself:

"They really are the elite. Aside from the fact that all six of them need caffeine to stay alert, their other tastes are simply all over the place—there's absolutely no common ground!"

Complaints aside, as the Vice President of Jiyuan Technology and Shen Du's most trusted logistics manager, Xu Hao didn't show a hint of disdain or impatience on his face.

He professionally closed his notebook and solemnly promised the six "national treasure-level" masters before him:

"Rest assured, everyone. Whatever is on your list, no matter how obscure the ingredients or even if it's a private chef from your hometown, I will immediately send people to arrange it!"

"From today on, apart from work, for any daily needs—even if it's just a specific model of ethernet cable—you can call me anytime! Here, no mundane trivialities will become a burden to you!"

To fulfill this promise and completely stabilize the moods of these six big shots, Xu Hao didn't get a good night's sleep for the entire following week.

He was like an anxious super-nanny, driving frantically around Shanghai's high-end imported goods supermarkets and the circles of foreign chefs near the consulates.

Only after he had equipped each of the six with a dedicated private chef and opened up obscure cold-chain air freight channels for seafood and ingredients did Xu Hao wipe the cold sweat from his face. He had finally completed the most basic, yet most grueling, first stage of settling into this secret base.

After completely resolving the diverse living and dining problems of these "scientific masters," Xu Hao had originally thought that the most difficult logistics work had come to an end. But he soon discovered just how ridiculously wrong he was.

The real "nightmare" was just beginning.

When the base was settled, and Victor Zima and Arthur Pendleton, the two team leaders, handed the procurement list for the first phase of experimental equipment to Xu Hao, this dignified Vice President of Jiyuan Technology and elite in the internet industry felt the illusion of being illiterate as he looked at the dense list of technical terms.

This was absolutely not some conventional computer parts or chip testing bench. Everything listed on the sheet consisted of cutting-edge instruments that Xu Hao had never heard of, or even imagined existed!

At the beginning, buying this land and renovating the underground factory and dormitories had cost less than ten million RMB in total. At the time, Xu Hao even felt that the one billion in startup capital Shen Du had provided was far too generous.

But when he actually started purchasing hardware for the second phase according to this "list," he finally understood what it meant to "burn money like a burst dam"!

High-pressure cold plasma generator components, Superconducting magnetic interference array component that needed to be secretly customized from Germany and Japan, and silicon-germanium-carbon superlattice mixed materials with extreme purity. There were also those micro-deposition chamber components that needed to operate in an absolute vacuum...

Except for the two sets of top-tier supercomputing server clusters on the list that he could barely understand, which were used to carry massive algorithms, Xu Hao couldn't figure out what the rest of those bizarre-looking parts were for, even if he wracked his brain.

But the only thing he was clear about was that these things were extremely expensive! Expensive to an outrageous degree!

Since most of these devices were sensitive, cutting-edge parts subject to Western embargoes or export restrictions, Xu Hao had to utilize numerous underground channels and offshore shell companies. He frantically scoured the global black market and dark web, paying terrifying premiums that were several, or even over ten times, the market price.

In less than a short month, that heavy ten-billion cash check had been tossed into an insatiable black hole. Just this first batch of hardware procurement and channel facilitation had swallowed up a full eight hundred million!

Watching the account balance disappear like running water every day, the usually composed Xu Hao felt his heart bleeding and pounding uncontrollably. This was eight hundred million in cold, hard cash!

In the business world outside, this would be enough to buy several highly promising mid-sized internet companies. Yet here, it only bought a pile of cold iron contraptions whose names he couldn't even pronounce.

After surviving a chaotic month of procurement and infrastructure building, time finally approached the traditional Lunar New Year. With the last batch of heavy containers secretly shipped from overseas being slowly hoisted into the underground laboratory, the initial hardware framework of the entire Sheshan base was finally, barely, completed.

At the same time, Xu Hao successfully completed the defense handover with the foreign security team that Shen Du had hired at a high cost, which possessed a top-tier mercenary background. He had turned the entire abandoned factory area into an ironclad fortress that not even a fly could enter.

Standing on the playground of the factory area with the cold wind howling, watching the infrared defense net beginning to flicker on the high walls, Xu Hao rubbed his stiff, frozen hands and took a deep breath. He took out his phone and dialed Shen Du's private line.

"Mr. Shen, the base has been initially settled, and the security defense lines have all been activated."

As soon as the call connected, Xu Hao's voice carried a hint of uncontrollable trepidation as he hurriedly reported the situation: "But... the money spent is truly terrifying! It's just like opening the floodgates. The one billion in earmarked funds—just from being thrown into the first batch of black market equipment procurement and channel facilitation—now only has one hundred and eighty million left!"

Xu Hao swallowed hard; he was genuinely afraid that this young boss would lose his temper on the spot upon hearing this rate of money burning. However, Shen Du on the other end of the phone was surprisingly calm, not even a change in his breathing rhythm could be detected.

"Money is a trivial matter," Shen Du's deep voice came through the receiver. "Time and progress that can be bought with money are not called costs. As long as you can arrange their experimental environment to the highest specifications, if the money isn't enough, I will find a way to fill this hole."

Shen Du paused, his tone suddenly becoming grave: "Xu Hao, listen to me carefully. These six people, and those iron contraptions they are tinkering with, are truly heavy weapons capable of stirring up massive waves in this era!"

"Don't limit your perspective to the existing plate. I can tell you clearly, even if you were to throw in the entire ten-billion base of Jiyuan Technology right now, it wouldn't be as important as one ten-thousandth of their future experimental results!"

Hearing Shen Du elevate the status of this remote underground laboratory to a level that completely crushed all current core internet businesses, Xu Hao's heart jolted, and his fingers gripping the phone tightened involuntarily.

"So, from now on," Shen Du issued the final command: "Just go ahead and satisfy all their R&D and daily needs, don't worry about any costs. As for the daily business at the company, you are to temporarily hand it over completely to General Manager Chen Shengqiang; you don't need to worry about it anymore."

"For the coming period, you, Xu Hao, are the highest chief manager of this underground fortress! You are to stay nailed to Sheshan and personally garrison there!"

Feeling the heavy weight of trust and entrustment in Shen Du's words, Xu Hao finally understood the terrifying significance of this base. He stood straight, facing the cold mid-winter wind, and solemnly made a military pledge to the other end of the line:

"Understood! Mr. Shen, rest assured, even if I have to risk my life, I will definitely guard this plate for you, and there will absolutely not be a single mishap!"