340: Chapter 34 Breaking Up the Team

Jiang Yuan took a deep breath and told them everything that had happened that day, exactly as it occurred.

That morning, as usual, he entered the lab ready to work on the artificial intelligence project, but unexpectedly, the moment he arrived, he saw one of his team members standing before him with their head down, holding a piece of paper.

He thought the person was handing him data that needed his signature, but what the person held was actually a letter of resignation.

Seeing the resignation letter, he was stunned for quite a while.

He never expected someone on his Research Team to resign at such a critical juncture.

He asked the person for the reason, and they only mumbled that there was a family matter requiring them to leave immediately.

Jiang Yuan did not believe this reason.

He had personally selected every member of the Research Team,

and he was very clear about each person's family situation.

He didn't believe a family emergency serious enough to warrant resigning at this time could have occurred.

He told the person that if there was an urgent family matter, he could grant them a few days of leave to handle it.

But to his surprise, the person remained firm and insisted on resigning.

Because when they initially joined the Research Team, they had already signed a contract stating that if they left the Research Team midway, they would have to pay a high penalty for breach of contract.

So, when the person submitted the resignation letter, they also transferred the penalty fee to him.

Although Jiang Yuan still didn't understand why the person was so determined to resign, since their mind was made up and the penalty had already been paid, he didn't say anything further and simply let the person go.

The matter didn't end there.

As soon as one person left, another immediately submitted their resignation to him.

Although he was someone who only focused his energy on research projects, he wasn't a fool.

He knew something fishy was going on.

So, after calming down the team members who wanted to resign, he called Chen Guangke.

"That's the whole story. I don't know what's really going on."

"When I asked them if someone was making them do this, they wouldn't say anything, just claiming they had other things to attend to."

"But how can it be such a coincidence that everyone has something to do and everyone chooses to resign at this exact time?!"

As his voice fell,

Jiang Yuan's phone rang.

He initially intended to hang up directly, but Shen Yan stopped him.

"Answer it, it's fine."

Hearing this, Jiang Yuan reluctantly answered the unknown call.

"Who is it?"

"What?"

"Not interested."

After a brief three-sentence exchange, Jiang Yuan hung up the phone.

Afterward, he continued discussing the team members' situation with Shen Yan and Chen Guangke.

"If they all choose to resign, I'll have to find new staff to help, but recruiting takes time..."

Before he could finish speaking, Shen Yan asked Jiang Yuan, "Who was calling you just now?"

Jiang Yuan blinked, utterly bewildered, and replied, "He just said he was from some lab and asked if I was willing to work there."

As soon as he finished speaking,

his phone rang again.

It was the same unknown number.

Jiang Yuan frowned, and without hesitation, blocked the number. After blocking it, he muttered,

"Where did these people get my phone number?"

Shen Yan looked thoughtful.

"Do you think the people on your Research Team might have received this same call?"

At the same moment these words were spoken, the electronic voice of the tycoon system sounded.

[Special Mission: Please sabotage the artificial intelligence project invested in by Gu Xuantian.]

Gu Xuantian?

Shen Yan was stunned for a moment.

He didn't quite understand why the tycoon system would assign him this mission at this time.

While he was contemplating this matter, Chen Guangke spoke up.

"There's no need to think about it; someone must be manipulating things from behind the scenes. But the key question is, who wants to sabotage your investment like this?"

"Could it be Gu Hui?"

Hearing the question, Shen Yan did not reply.

He wasn't sure who was causing trouble.

Thinking this over, he said to Jiang Yuan, "Where are your team members right now? I'll go meet them."

Jiang Yuan nodded and led him to a room at the end of the corridor.

The team members preparing to resign were all sitting inside.

"Hello everyone, I am the boss of Company Name. You should recognize me, right?"

Upon hearing this, everyone nodded awkwardly.

They stood there, looking somewhat at a loss.

Shen Yan had no intention of pursuing the matter with them. He calmly asked them,

"Although I know Jiang Yuan already asked, I still want to ask you: do you truly wish to resign?"

The people unanimously nodded.

Seeing them nod, Shen Yan also nodded.

"I can agree to your resignations, but you must tell me the reason why you are resigning. Don't tell me it's because of a family matter; that excuse wouldn't fool a three-year-old, so don't even try to trick us."

The group exchanged glances, silent for a moment.

After a while, one person finally raised their hand and spoke up.

"Someone offered us a large sum of money to poach us to another lab..."

Before he could finish, Jiang Yuan couldn't help but question them fiercely, "Just because they offered you a slightly higher price, you're willing to directly abandon the project you've been working on?!"

As his words ended,

the group couldn't hold back.

"This project was never ours to begin with, so how can you call it abandonment?!"

Jiang Yuan completely failed to understand their thinking.

The project was something they built together.

How could it not be theirs?

He voiced his confusion.

In response to his confusion, the group replied, "The project leader is you, and Company Name is the entity that secured the project leadership. We are merely members of the Research Team; we are nameless, so what does it have to do with us?"

Hearing this, Jiang Yuan was uncharacteristically speechless for a moment.

The group also showed no inclination to waste any more time talking nonsense with them.

They stated firmly, "You don't need to say any more. We have prepared the penalty fees, and we have packed our things. We will leave as soon as we sign the resignation letters."

Seeing how self-righteous they were, Chen Guangke couldn't help but laugh in anger. He pointed at their noses and exclaimed, "Yes, yes, you are the most reasonable! Didn't you agree to join the research project yourselves?!"

"You were the ones who agreed to work on the project, and now you are the ones breaking faith and going back on your word. You are still the ones pointing fingers at us in the end. Are you trying to keep all the good things for yourselves?!"

"I don't want to waste any more time with you. Just tell me directly: who is the person behind this who poached you?!"

When he got fierce, he carried quite an imposing presence.

When Chen Guangke scolded them, they immediately reverted to their timid demeanor.

"We really don't know. The people who contacted us were all lab directors..."