133: Chapter 133 Trio. Nightingale Crimson

December 14th, 2:20 PM.

Li Wei, the recruitment manager for the HR department at Spark Materials, looked at the resume in front of her. Her sixth sense told her that this person was a bit too perfect to be real.

Wang Mingyuan, 35 years old. Bachelor's in Materials Science and Engineering from Tsinghua University, PhD from MIT, studied under Professor James Wilson, a titan in the field of composite materials. After graduating with his doctorate, he worked at Boeing's Advanced Materials Lab for five years, participating in the R&D of composite wings for the 787 Dreamliner. He returned to China three months ago, citing the reason that "the domestic materials industry is entering a golden age of development, and I hope to contribute what I've learned to my motherland."

Educational background: Impeccable.

Work experience: A 100% match for the job requirements.

References: MIT professors and former Boeing executives—all big names in the industry.

Even the salary requirements: Reasonable, without any outrageous demands.

“Dr. Wang, your resume is very impressive.” Li Wei tried to keep her voice professional. “However, this Senior R&D Engineer position may require frequent overtime, and the project cycles are very tight. Having just returned from America, can you adapt to this pace?”

Wang Mingyuan—or rather, the activated “Crimson” asset—nodded with a smile. His expression held just the right amount of humility and confidence typical of a scholar returning from overseas. “Manager Li, when I was involved in the 787 project at Boeing, I once worked 14 hours a day for three consecutive months. Materials R&D is like that; you have to give it your all at critical moments. Since I chose to return home, I have already prepared myself.”

“How much do you know about our company?”

“To be honest, a month ago, I hadn't heard of Spark Materials.” Wang Mingyuan adjusted his sitting posture. “But after the data on your new composite materials started spreading through the industry, I made a point to study it. Although public information is limited, I can see from those data points alone that your technical route is very... bold, and effective. That is exactly what interests me—finding breakthroughs outside of traditional frameworks.”

Li Wei nodded and made a note on the evaluation form. “Your research focus is mainly on metal-matrix composites, but our company currently has multiple product lines, including polymer composites and ceramic-matrix composites. If you join us, you may need to broaden your research field.”

“That is exactly what I want.” Wang Mingyuan's eyes lit up. “At Boeing, everyone is just a cog in the machine, only able to focus on a very narrow field. I hope to have a broader vision and participate in the entire process from basic research to industrial application. This is also why I chose to return to China and why I chose Xinghuo.”

The interview lasted forty-five minutes. Wang Mingyuan answered every question fluently, demonstrating deep professional expertise while timely expressing his identification with and passion for the company. He even mentioned several papers Wu Yi had published early on, saying those papers “inspired the direction of my doctoral research.”

As the interview ended, Li Wei stood up to shake hands. “Dr. Wang, we will give you an answer within a week. I should mention that if you proceed to the next round, you may need to have an interview with our Chief Scientist, Mr. Wu Yi.”

“That would be my honor.” Wang Mingyuan smiled. “I look forward to good news.”

After seeing the applicant out, Li Wei returned to her seat and stared at the resume for a long time. Then she picked up the internal phone and dialed the Cybersecurity Department.

“Engineer Liu, this is Li Wei from HR. There was an applicant just now with a very unusual resume. I'd like to request a deep background check.”

“How deep?”

“As deep as possible. Especially his social connections and academic collaborators during his time in America, and... whether the timing of his return to China has any correlation with the timing of our company's product releases.”

There was a brief silence on the other end of the line. “Do you suspect he's a corporate spy?”

“I don't know.” Li Wei looked out the window. “It's just that this person is... too perfect. It's as if he was tailor-made for this position.”

“Understood. Send me his name and details. We've recently monitored a 3000% increase in probing attacks on the company servers, so we need to screen all suspicious personnel anyway.”

Hanging up the phone, Li Wei leaned back in her chair. She had been in HR recruitment for eight years and had interviewed over a thousand people, but this was the first time such an outstanding candidate had made her feel uneasy.

Perhaps she was overthinking it. Perhaps the company had simply become famous suddenly, attracting genuine talent.

But what if?

What if it was a carefully designed infiltration?

What she didn't know was that at the same time she was making the call, Wang Mingyuan had already walked out of the office building where Spark Materials was located. He didn't leave immediately, but instead found a window seat in the cafe across the street and ordered an Americano.

From this angle, he could clearly see the entrance of Spark Materials, the parking lot, and the windows of the third-floor laboratory.

He took out his phone, snapped a few photos, and then opened a seemingly ordinary note-taking app, entering a string of what appeared to be gibberish. After clicking sync, this data would pass through seven layers of encryption and three relays before finally arriving at a server in Delaware.

The first day's mission was accomplished: establish contact, leave a perfect first impression, and trigger the HR department's upward reporting process.

“Nightingale” was in position.

Next, he needed to find out what secrets were burning within this suddenly rising “Xinghuo.”

December 15th, 7:30 AM.

Xiao Zhang, the receptionist at Spark Materials, looked at the four nearly identical visit letters in front of her and felt like she might not be fully awake yet.

The Chengdu High-Tech Zone Management Committee, the Xi'an Economic and Technological Development Zone, the Wuhan East Lake High-Tech Development Zone, and the Zhengzhou Airport Economy Combined Experimental Zone—official visit letters from four cities, all requesting a meeting with the company's General Manager, Wu Yi, at 10:00 AM that same day. Even the wording was remarkably similar: “To conduct in-depth exchanges on cooperation in the new materials industry and seek common development.”

“Did they coordinate this?” Xiao Zhang looked up and asked the administrative supervisor.

“Impossible.” The supervisor frowned. “If they had coordinated, the times would be staggered. This is a collision.”

“Then what should we do? There's only one Mr. Wu, and only one 10:00 AM slot.”

“Arrange four meeting rooms and have the four representatives wait separately. I'll go ask Mr. Wu for instructions.”

Five minutes later, Wu Yi heard about this “sweet trouble” in his office. He was adjusting his tie in front of the mirror, and his hands froze mid-air upon hearing the news.

“Four? On the same day? At the same time?”

“Yes. And they all came with full sets of investment attraction plans. Judging by their posture, this isn't a simple visit; they're here to bid.”

Wu Yi finished tying his tie and walked to the window. Vehicles were already arriving one after another in the parking lot below, with license plates from all over the country. He had only slept five hours last night, discussing technical details with Hongqi Automobile until the early morning, and now he had to face a “siege” from four cities.

“Does President Su know?”

“It's been reported. President Su said...” The administrative supervisor paused. “‘This is proof of our industrial status, but also a test of our strategic choices. Choose correctly, and we'll get twice the result with half the effort; choose wrong, and we'll be playing catch-up for the next ten years.’”

Wu Yi smiled wryly. Su Chen always had a way of making words carry such weight.

“What else did he say?”

“President Su said not to just look at policy incentives. Look at the industrial ecosystem, look at the talent pool, and see if this place can turn a 10 billion investment into a 30 billion ecosystem.” The administrative supervisor glanced at her notebook. “Also... stay alert; there will be rats around lately.”

“Rats...” Wu Yi thought of the “perfect resume” reported by the HR department yesterday and the abnormal attacks reported by the Cybersecurity Department. Undercurrents were already surging, though most people couldn't feel them yet.

“Make the arrangements. Four meeting rooms; I'll talk for twenty minutes in each room. Tell them that due to the time conflict, each party only has twenty minutes for an initial exchange.”

“And after that?”

“After that...” Wu Yi looked at the calendar. “Tell them that next week we will organize an inspection team to visit the sites in person. You can't explain a 10 billion investment in twenty minutes.”

At 9:50 AM, the guests in all four meeting rooms were in place.

Wu Yi stood in the hallway, took a deep breath, and then pushed open the door to the first meeting room.

Three people were sitting in the meeting room. Leading them was Zhao Qiming, the Director of the Investment Promotion Bureau of the Chengdu High-Tech Zone. He was about forty years old, wearing gold-rimmed glasses, appearing refined yet sharp.

“Mr. Wu, I've heard much about you.” Zhao Qiming stood up to shake hands with moderate strength. “Sorry to disturb you. We know you must be very busy today, so we'll get straight to the point.”

He opened his laptop, the projector lit up, and a massive planning map appeared on the screen.

“This is the plot of land we have reserved for the Xinghuo New Materials Industrial Park. It's located in the core area of the Science City in the Tianfu New Area, covering 3,000 acres.” Zhao Qiming circled the location with a laser pointer. “In terms of transportation: it's 28 kilometers from Tianfu International Airport, a 25-minute drive; Metro Line 18 goes directly there and will open at the end of this year; the starting station of the Chengdu-Europe Express Rail is right next to it, so your materials can be loaded directly and reach Europe in 13 days.”

Wu Yi nodded without speaking.

“Industrial support.” Zhao Qiming switched the slide. “Within a 50-kilometer radius, there are 247 aerospace industry chain enterprises, with Chengdu Aircraft Industry Group only 15 kilometers away from the site. The new materials laboratories of the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China and Sichuan University have already expressed their willingness to build a joint R&D center with your company.”

He paused to observe Wu Yi's reaction, then continued: “Regarding policy, we offer a full exemption from corporate income tax for five years, followed by a 50% reduction for the next five years. The land price is set at 70% of the minimum standard for industrial land. Additionally, Chengdu has established a 10 billion new materials industry development fund, which can invest in your upstream and downstream enterprises to help you perfect the local supply chain.”

“What about talent?” Wu Yi asked.

“That is the part we are most confident about.” Zhao Qiming smiled. “Chengdu universities graduate more than 8,000 students in materials-related majors every year, but in the past, 60% of them would flow to the Yangtze River Delta and Pearl River Delta. If Xinghuo lands here, we can work with universities for targeted training and provide a package of solutions such as talent apartments and school enrollment for children. What we want to do is not just bring in one company, but to retain the talent foundation of an entire industry.”

Wu Yi made notes in his notebook.