Chapter 166: Chapter 151: Old Dong: Seeing Ghosts, Two of Them

Liu Weicai came from the same direction as Lin Qi. He also hadn’t secured clearance for the rooftop parking bay, so he could only park his flying vehicle in the paid lot.

Dong Wenlong looked as if he’d seen another ghost, stiffly turning his head to look at Liu Weicai.

His fists clenched, a thousand thoughts raced through his mind.

Seeing Dong Wenlong’s reaction, Liu Weicai chuckled softly.

The moment Lin Qi saw Liu Weicai’s expression, he understood. It seemed Elder Dong hadn’t just sent the message to him.

He figured he’d probably sent Liu Weicai the same message: "So long, then!"

Lin Qi patted Elder Dong’s shoulder without a word and headed into the H4 Skyscraper.

Liu Weicai also walked past the petrified-looking Dong Wenlong. As he passed, Liu Weicai brought him a piece of good news. "Old Dong, don’t be so down. I’ve got good news for you. Your vacation days are safe, and you can still proceed with your early retirement plan."

It was indeed good news, but it couldn’t outweigh the torturous process of having to work with Lin Qi.

Right now, all Dong Wenlong wanted was to get away from Lin Qi.

But unfortunately, as his direct superior, Liu Weicai would never agree to that.

In Liu Weicai’s eyes, Lin Qi was the real talent who needed to be nurtured.

As for Dong Wenlong? He was a pillar of the company, a very useful workhorse.

...

Upon entering the H4 Skyscraper, just as he stepped onto the first floor, Lin Qi saw a surprising scene.

The entire interior of the first floor was filled with holographic projectors.

Their content was simple: a single logo for United Pharmaceutical.

He had originally thought the H4 Skyscraper was a multi-tenant office building, but it turned out to be the dedicated tower for the new company, United Pharmaceutical.

This was a privilege usually reserved for a major corporate branch.

Liu Weicai followed close behind Lin Qi into the H4 Skyscraper and paused for a moment, also taken aback by the scene.

Then, he remarked to Lin Qi, "As expected of a new company founded by Director Liu Xuan. They’re certainly ambitious."

As a true insider, Liu Weicai was well aware of United Pharmaceutical’s current personnel composition.

The only real core members were from the original Pharmaceutical Department of Liu’s Heavy Industries.

There were about one hundred and ten people in total. Besides himself, there were only two A-level Researchers—Lin Qi and Dong Wenlong. The rest were all L-Class and M-Class researchers.

But a company couldn’t consist solely of researchers; it also needed legal, operations, and management positions.

Going by the personnel ratios at Liu’s Heavy Industries, researchers typically made up about ten percent of the total staff, which was already a high proportion for a company.

For other major corporations in the Asian Administrative Region, the researcher-to-staff ratio was usually around seven percent.

Liu Weicai patted Lin Qi’s shoulder and said, "Don’t just stand there gawking. I’ve already taken care of the onboarding for the company’s A-Class personnel. Let’s go straight upstairs. Top-floor conference room. Chairman Liu has an important company policy to announce today. It should be good news for you."

’He’s already taken care of it?’

This was indeed Liu Weicai’s style. For anyone he had high hopes for, he would always consider every related matter with extreme thoroughness.

Lin Qi glanced around, seemingly looking for someone, but didn’t find them in the end.

’I wonder if there’ll be any more chance encounters at the new company.’

Unlike back at the Weapon Research Institute, none of the employees there knew Liu Xuan’s or Liu Li’s true identities.

But at this new company, Liu Xuan was the center of attention—the chairwoman and founder of United Pharmaceutical.

"What are you looking for?"

Liu Weicai, who had already walked to the elevators, looked back at Lin Qi.

Lin Qi waved his hand. "Nothing."

He walked over to Liu Weicai, and they waited for an elevator to arrive on the first floor.

The two of them entered the elevator one after the other.

Just as the elevator doors were closing, Lin Qi saw Dong Wenlong enter the company with a melancholic expression, heading toward the front desk.

At the front desk, many L-Class and M-Class researchers, along with employees from other departments, were interfacing with the company’s smart system to complete their onboarding process.

Inside the elevator, Lin Qi asked, "Did you not handle Elder Dong’s onboarding paperwork?"

Liu Weicai feigned a thoughtful expression, then said, "Oh, I did. Did I not tell him?"

Lin Qi shook his head. If Elder Dong had known, there was no way he would have wasted his time running to the front desk.

Elder Dong was someone who would never waste a single moment of prime slacking-off time.

Liu Weicai was silent for a moment. It seemed he really had forgotten to tell Elder Dong.

After all, with Lin Qi right there, who would pay any mind to an unremarkable, run-of-the-mill A-level Researcher who was obsessed with retirement?

Liu Weicai said, "It’s fine. When he tries to complete the procedure, he’ll get instructions from the company’s smart system. He’ll make his own way upstairs."

Lin Qi nodded and said no more.

He quietly waited for the elevator to move.

Soon, the elevator stopped at the top floor.

He followed Liu Weicai all the way into a conference room.

The conference room was massive, large enough to hold a hundred people.

In the center of the room was a massive, ring-shaped conference table.

In the middle of the ring-shaped table was a lift platform, likely the spot for giving presentations during meetings.

At that moment, holographic projections appeared on the tabletop in front of each seat, displaying the name and position of every attendee.

Lin Qi activated his Spiritual Vision and immediately located his seat.

It was right next to Liu Weicai.

[Name: Lin Qi]

[Position: A-level Pharmaceutical Researcher]

[Note: Key Development Track]

At the same time, Lin Qi saw Liu Weicai’s information for the first time.

[Name: Liu Weicai]

[Position: Level 8 Manager, A-level Pharmaceutical Researcher]

[Note: Liu Clan Member]

Simultaneously, Lin Qi used his Spiritual Vision to scan the information of everyone in the room.

Most were managers like Liu Weicai, but the majority were only Level 7.

There were only two researchers participating in the meeting: Lin Qi himself and Dong Wenlong.

Lin Qi sat down in his chair and waited quietly.

Most of the attendees had not yet arrived, as they were likely still completing their onboarding procedures.

If it weren’t for Liu Weicai’s help, Lin Qi would have also been stuck on the first floor for half the day.

After waiting for a long time, Lin Qi saw Dong Wenlong.

Elder Dong looked miserable. He entered the conference room without a word and sat down in his seat, also without a word.

It was clear that Elder Dong was not in a good mood; in fact, he seemed even worse off than he had been outside the building.

After a long silence, Dong Wenlong looked at Liu Weicai. "Old Liu, I think you’ve changed."

Liu Weicai turned to him, puzzled. "How have I changed?"

Dong Wenlong glanced at Lin Qi, then back at Liu Weicai, but ultimately said nothing.

’You’ve had a change of heart!’

Dong Wenlong said this in his heart, not daring to voice it in front of Liu Weicai.

He was afraid that if he said it out loud, Liu Weicai would find a way to make his life difficult.

Dong Wenlong now had only one pure thought in his mind.

’None of the higher-ups in this company are good people!’

’When I still had value, it was "Old Dong" this and "Old Dong" that in the department all day long!’

’Now that my value is about to be squeezed dry, a new genius shows up—a genius with connections, no less—and my treatment plummets.’

’They didn’t even bother to clearly tell me about something as simple as the onboarding procedure.’

’I had to wait in line for ages on the first floor with a bunch of M-Class and L-Class personnel.’

Dong Wenlong felt a bitter taste in his mouth, especially at the thought that he would have to cater to Lin Qi for a long time to come...

"Sigh..."

Dong Wenlong let out a long sigh, but no one paid him any mind.

Soon, the entrance to the conference room grew lively.

The sounds of conversation rose and fell.

"You got transferred to United Pharmaceutical too? What’s the deal with this company? I feel like most of the employees were transferred from Liu’s."

"I don’t know, but we can’t change the company’s decisions. I just hope the compensation doesn’t go down."

"I heard the chairwoman is presiding over today’s meeting. Once we see who the chairwoman is, we might be able to guess this new company’s background."