When the meeting ended, Wei Yuan glanced at the time as he walked out of the conference room. It had lasted three hours and nine minutes. Mike's speech had been so impassioned that there was no longer any need for anyone to voice their commitment.
Many people were jogging as they rushed out. The meeting had run an hour over schedule, which meant they would have to work an extra hour of overtime today. That alone was bad enough, but worse still was that many deadlines would not be extended on account of it.
Yet Wei Yuan suddenly recalled something and pushed back into the conference room against the flow of the crowd.
On the podium, Mike was still basking in the afterglow of his speech, watching the people surge toward the exit like sardines. Yet one little fish was swimming against the school, heading straight toward him.
Wei Yuan stopped in front of Mike, his breathing still uneven, and said hurriedly, "Your speech just now was brilliant! It provided tremendous guidance for the viral genes I'm designing. However, I now need to examine the original genetic samples for reference, so I would like to request access to the genetic engineering laboratory. I hope you can approve it!"
Mike reached out and tapped Wei Yuan's badge. It projected a light screen displaying all of Wei Yuan's personal information.
Mike gave Wei Yuan a searching look and said, "A bit clever, aren't you? But I like people who dare to create opportunities—and have the courage to seize them."
He swiped his hand through the air, bringing up another light screen, and tapped on it a few times. The screen cast a beam of pale green light across Wei Yuan's face, registering his information.
Mike dismissed the screen and said, "I've granted you access to the Thor Gene Lab. Go to the Security Department on the 101st floor in ten minutes to pick up your pass. Keep up the good work!"
"Thank you, sir!" Wei Yuan gave a bow and quickly left the conference room.
Beside Mike, his female assistant remarked, "You didn't actually believe him, did you?"
Mike shrugged. "I just saw an intensely ambitious kid who wants to seize every chance to climb the ladder. As for technical guidance? Heh, I don't know a thing about technology. What could he possibly glean from my speech? Let's go. The next meeting starts in five minutes, and I don't want to be late."
Standing in the express elevator, Wei Yuan watched the floor numbers rapidly climb. He suddenly thought that if the elevators reserved for regular employees had even half this speed, he would not have been late today.
As for why he had approached Mike, it could only be said that half was pure instinct, while the other half came from a drive whose origin he could not trace. Wei Yuan did not recall ever being so bold as to approach someone as high up as Mike directly on such a grand occasion.
Wei Yuan looked at his badge. The 'P1' following his name was glaringly obvious. In the company, P2 was already considered rookie tier, and P1 was just fresh fodder.
The elevator finally stopped on the 101st floor. As the doors slid open, it felt as though Wei Yuan were stepping into a heavily fortified military fortress; even the corridor walls were plated with armored steel.
Two fully armed soldiers stood at the elevator lobby exit, making Wei Yuan feel as though he had stepped into a base on some alien battlefield.
Having verified his identity, Wei Yuan finally entered the 101st floor. This was the Security Department's lowest level, as well as the place where various access credentials were processed. But it was so vast that he lost his way in no time.
Just then, a pair of shapely, slender, fair, and toned legs came to a halt in front of Wei Yuan. Her miniskirt barely covered what lay beneath. Wei Yuan felt that even crouching to tie his shoelace would be a criminal offense.
"Lost your way?"
Wei Yuan looked up to find a tall beauty in uniform standing before him. In high heels, she was nearly as tall as he was. At that moment, her large, watery eyes gazed at him with keen interest.
Wei Yuan quickly looked her over. A snug white blouse, a crisp pencil skirt, hair pinned up, wire-rimmed glasses, and a wisp of hair dangling by her temple—a practically textbook classic look that prompted a thought in Wei Yuan's mind: *Vulgar, utterly vulgar!*
"Yes. I'm here to pick up a new access card." Wei Yuan instinctively looked toward her name badge, feeling an urge to tap it and check her name. However, the foundation beneath that badge was clearly not very solid and could not bear much weight.
The woman chuckled softly, reached out to tap Wei Yuan's badge, and after scanning his information, pointed ahead. "Turn left at the end. It's just past two security checkpoints."
"Thank you." Before Wei Yuan could ask for her name, another glamorous female employee walked over, obvious hostility in her eyes, and told the woman, "The President wants you in the office."
The woman flashed Wei Yuan a rather meaningful smile, then turned down a side corridor. The sharp, rhythmic clicking of her high heels against the floor seemed to strike right at a young man's heartstrings.
Wei Yuan watched her go, seeing the skin-tight skirt sway all the way into the office at the end of the corridor. Then the double doors closed, their superior acoustic insulation ensuring that not a whisper of sound would leak out.
Wei Yuan felt a bit dazed and suddenly wondered: if an executive saw her, wouldn't they also tap her badge to look at her profile? In that moment, he found a reason to work hard.
Following her directions, Wei Yuan obtained his access card without trouble, whereupon the remaining time he was permitted to stay on this floor dropped to ten minutes and began counting down.
As he left, Wei Yuan passed by that corridor again and instinctively glanced down it. At the far end stood two tightly shut doors, grand and luxurious. The company strictly regulated the offices of each rank, right down to the doors. Such imposing double doors were reserved exclusively for the President of a Business Division Group.
Next to the door was a small information display, and Wei Yuan could vaguely make out the character "Ji."
By now, it was time to clock out. Wei Yuan glanced at the work system; today's tasks were all complete. An item had already been automatically added to tomorrow's schedule: report punctually to the Thor Gene Lab at seven in the morning. A special reminder noted that the drive from Wei Yuan's residence to the lab was fifty minutes; to avoid traffic jams, the work system had thoughtfully scheduled his arrival before the morning rush hour.
The corner of Wei Yuan's mouth twitched. A sweet, cute face popped up on the screen, smiling. "You're welcome."
Wei Yuan packed up his things and headed home.
He lived not far from the company, in a high-rise apartment complex over a hundred stories tall. Reaching his room, Wei Yuan pressed his hand against the scanner, and the door slid open automatically.
Behind the door was an exceptionally cramped room of only ten square meters, though remarkably it included a kitchen and private bathroom. Within a one-hour commute of Umbrella Company, an independent, private space like this cost half of Wei Yuan's monthly salary in rent alone.
After taking a shower, Wei Yuan threw himself onto the bed and let out a contented sigh. In this city, just being able to lie in a bed like this without smelling roommates' body odor or hearing their snoring was already the first step toward success.
Wei Yuan closed his eyes. All through the night, his dreams were filled with analyzing that genetic structure. Great protein macromolecules, one after another, seemed to hold the mysteries of the entire universe within them.
Before dawn broke, Wei Yuan was already out the door. As he hailed a taxi, he encountered a group of young men and women returning from a bar. Clinging to one another and talking and laughing loudly, any single article of clothing on them cost a month of Wei Yuan's salary—and a full year's wages for an ordinary person.
Stone-faced, Wei Yuan steered clear of the youngsters, who looked eager to cause trouble, and got into the taxi. Before six o'clock had even struck, he was standing before the gates of the Thor Lab.
Whenever he set out into the pre-dawn darkness, or clocked out in the morning just as the sky grew bright, Wei Yuan felt an extraordinary sense of fulfillment, knowing he was one step closer to his dream.
He had no idea where such a bizarre mindset had come from, but it was certainly effective.
After clearing all security procedures, the heavy gates slowly opened before Wei Yuan, revealing the true face of the research base.
The world behind the gates was colossal. Massive buildings resembling stadiums stood in neat alignment, each bearing the company emblem and a huge number, looking just like a military installation.
Wei Yuan took a deep breath. His entire future lay within this base.
Chapter 781