919: Chapter 914 I'll do it even if it costs me money

Han Mo suddenly looked up at Shen Yan, his gaze like that of a beggar who hadn't eaten for three days seeing a roasted chicken; the previous coldness and vigilance instantly vanished like smoke.

"Want to know?"

Shen Yan took a contract from Chen Guangke's hand and gently placed it on the dusty workbench.

"Jinsan Laboratory, Chief Technology Officer. Fill in whatever annual salary you want, pick whatever equipment you like."

"The only condition is that I want you to mass-produce this thing within one month."

Han Mo didn't even look at the numbers on the contract; his eyes were fixed tightly on that small glass bottle, as if staring at his long-lost biological father.

"I'll do it!"

"As long as I can study this, forget getting paid, I'd even pay out of pocket to do it!"

Securing Han Mo was just the first step. With this technology fanatic taking charge, the framework for the laboratory was established, but Shen Yan knew this was far from enough.

For this kind of era-defining material to truly take root, a large number of supporting talents were still needed.

In the following few days, Shen Yan transformed into the nightmare of the Jinghai headhunting circle.

He didn't need to look at resumes or conduct interviews; relying on the intelligence provided by the system daily, he accurately found one buried talent after another.

In a basement laboratory at Jinghai Institute of Technology,

A young man wearing thick-rimmed glasses was staring blankly at the computer screen, which displayed a string of error codes.

His name was Li Xiang. He was a mathematical genius, but because of his solitary and inarticulate personality, his advisor treated him as cheap labor, even stripping him of his right to be credited as an author.

"Your algorithmic logic is correct; what's wrong is that the existing hardware architecture cannot run your model."

Shen Yan's voice sounded behind him.

Li Xiang was so startled he almost fell off his chair, turning back to look at the suddenly appearing stranger in fright.

"If you are willing, I can provide you with a supercomputing center that has a hundred times the computational power of this place."

Shen Yan slipped a business card into the boy's hand and turned to leave without saying a single unnecessary word.

Three days later, Li Xiang stood timidly outside the Shenyan Building, carrying a worn backpack.

In a chemical factory in the west of the Jinghai that was about to close down,

Zhao Tiezhu, an old worker with only a high school education, was directing several apprentices in dismantling a reactor.

He had been working in the field of chemical synthesis for thirty years. Although he didn't understand the profound theories, he possessed an almost animalistic intuition for controlling temperature and pressure.

When Shen Yan found him, he was squatting on the ground smoking a hand-rolled cigarette, his face etched with worry.

The factory closing meant he and all his old brothers would be unemployed.

"Master Zhao, want to switch to a bigger furnace to fire?"

Shen Yan handed him a cigarette—not some expensive cigar, but the same brand Zhao Tiezhu usually smoked.

"I have a batch of new materials here; they are very temperamental. Ordinary people can't handle them; it takes an old hand like you to keep them under control."

Zhao Tiezhu squinted, sizing up Shen Yan, and exhaled a smoke ring.

"Do you cover food?"

"We cover plenty, and we cover retirement too."

In the span of a week, Jinsan Laboratory transformed from an empty shell into a strange asylum brimming with talent.

There were mad professors ostracized by the academic world, a mathematical genius treated as useless waste, and folk masters who could barely read a few characters.

The only thing they shared was the fanaticism for technology in their eyes, and an almost blind worship for Shen Yan.

This was because Shen Yan gave them what they desired most: dignity, and the chance to touch the future.

The laboratory's renovation project was personally supervised by Chen Guangke, who applied all the ruthlessness he had honed on construction sites.

The construction team worked in three shifts, non-stop for twenty-four hours, compressing a planned two-month schedule down to ten days.

When the first ultra-high-precision centrifuge, air-freighted from Germany, was installed in place, the entire laboratory had already taken shape.

However, such a large commotion could naturally not be hidden from those who were paying attention.

Zhang Debiao sat in his spacious office, looking at the report handed over by his subordinate, his face so grim it looked like it could drip water.

"You're saying that Shen Yan, the software guy, actually set up a materials laboratory? And he even poached Han Mo, that old dog?"

Zhang Debiao fiercely ground the cigarette butt into the ashtray, unable to suppress his frustration.

Having been tricked by Shen Yan at Zhadatu Forest, he hadn't swallowed that insult yet. Now this kid was poaching people right under his nose—this was blatant provocation.

"Zhang Bo, should we..."

The assistant made a throat-slitting gesture.

"Idiot! This is a society governed by law. Do you want to end up in prison eating gruel?"

Zhang Debiao cursed, his eyes flickering momentarily.

"That old fellow Han Mo does have something up his sleeve, but with his terrible temper, he's made enemies everywhere."

"Go, call Old Liu at the Quality Supervision Bureau. Tell him someone reported Jinsan Laboratory for illegally storing hazardous chemicals and have him bring people over to investigate."

"Also, contact several suppliers and cut off their raw materials. I'd like to see how Shen Yan can pull a rabbit out of a hat when even the cleverest housewife can't cook without rice."

Meanwhile, inside Jinsan Laboratory, the atmosphere was red-hot.

Han Mo, wearing a brand-new white lab coat, stood in front of the ten-million-dollar electron microscope, directing with composure.

"Temperature down another 0.5 degrees! Li Xiang, run this set of data again; I need the exact coordinates of that peak!"

"Master Zhao, keep the reactor pressure at 3.2 atmospheres—not a bit more, not a bit less!"

These people, who originally had nothing to do with each other, erupted with astonishing chemical reactions under Shen Yan's orchestration.

Shen Yan stood behind the one-way glass, watching the busy scene inside, calculating his next move.

His younger sister, Shen Ya, walked over, holding a stack of financial statements.

Her complexion had improved significantly. Ever since she woke up, she had proactively asked to share her brother's workload and was now the administrative director of Jinsan Laboratory.

"Brother, the liquid funds in the account are almost depleted. This laboratory is a gold-swallowing beast. If we keep burning money like this, the company's cash flow will have problems."

Shen Ya looked at the expensive equipment with some worry. Although she didn't understand the technology, she knew that every single one of those metal hulks could buy a house.

Shen Yan turned around and gently rubbed his sister's hair.

"Don't worry, money has never been the issue."

"An Ran has already contacted several venture capital firms. As soon as the first batch of samples is out, those capitalists will line up to throw money at us."

As he was speaking, Wu Ya pushed the door open hurriedly, her expression not looking good.

"President Shen, there are several enforcement vehicles downstairs—they say they are from the Quality Supervision Bureau. They received a report about us operating illegally and want to seal the laboratory for rectification."

"Furthermore, several raw material suppliers we had agreements with suddenly backed out, claiming insufficient capacity and suspending supply."

Shen Yan's expression didn't fluctuate when he heard this, as if he had long anticipated all of this.

It seemed some people truly couldn't sit still anymore.

"Don't panic. Let them come up."