Jiang Ye waited in the office.
Su Yueming and Liu Jizi were also waiting. Liu Jizi was wearing slippers and cracking melon seeds in her pocket, exuding a rather nonchalant air. Su Yueming was more reserved, sitting quietly.
A knock sounded, and the office door opened. Hua Qing, with a flushed face, skipped in.
"Come in, let me introduce you. This is Hua Qing, our new weapons expert. I just discovered she's a wine immortal," Jiang Ye said. "These two are my secretaries, Su Yueming and Liu Jizi. Many things pass through their hands; they are my left and right arms. If you can't find me in the future, you can report to them."
"Hello, Secretary Su! Hello, Secretary Liu!" Hua Qing ran over to shake hands.
"Hello. I'll be responsible for familiarizing you with the work these next two days," Su Yueming said.
"The commander said you drank a lot of wine," Liu Jizi said, sniffing her hair in confusion. "You really smell strongly of alcohol! Commander, does the office need ventilation?"
"No need, it doesn't smell bad," Jiang Ye chuckled.
The three girls chatted further, exchanged contact information, and then Su Yueming and Liu Jizi left. Hua Qing and Jiang Ye were the only ones left in the office.
Hua Qing sat opposite the desk. Being small, she lowered her chair several times until she was at a height where she could look at Jiang Ye on an equal level.
"Before you came, you helped a lot with the screening of weapons experts, and you did a great job," Jiang Ye said.
"Thank you for the compliment, Commander!" Hua Qing replied politely.
"Tomorrow you officially start your work. Do you have any plans for your future work?" Jiang Ye asked.
"Yes! I plan to spend about a week familiarizing myself with the existing weapons experts on Jiang Ye Star, Bi Rong Star, and Exile Star, understanding their levels and capabilities. I'll meet with those I need to meet and talk with them. Actually, I already have a list in mind; I stayed up for several nights before coming to review their resumes and data," Hua Qing began, counting on her fingers.
"At the same time, this week I need to familiarize myself with the systems of Jiang Ye Star, Bi Rong Star, and Exile Star, especially the workflows of the research institute, military weapon supply, and universities," Hua Qing continued. "If possible, I might need to appoint a few people to assist me, that is, my subordinates. It's unrealistic for me to manage thousands of researchers alone."
"You can pick whomever you want. Just make sure you talk to them first," Jiang Ye agreed. "If there's anything you need me to do, call me directly, or you can email me. I'll add your account to the priority list, and your emails will be at the very top."
"Thank you, Commander!" Hua Qing nodded and continued, "After a week, when I'm basically familiar with the relevant information of the three planets, I can start my work and deploy personnel to carry out tasks. As for what specific tasks, I will follow your orders, and also seek the opinions of the experts."
"Very good. I have something to assign you, which you will start doing in a week," Jiang Ye said.
Hua Qing put on an expression of attentive listening.
"All three planets have established new weapons departments in their companies. You need to coordinate these departments as soon as possible to come up with manufacturing plans for new weapons, determine what each region and production line can produce, and provide me with detailed cost and projected profit breakdowns, as well as weapon parameters and manufacturing schedules," Jiang Ye spoke rapidly, having already considered these matters.
"I'll give you three more contacts: Che Zhen, Wei Hongyang, and Huang Bingyan. These three are all high-ranking military officials," Jiang Ye said. "You communicate with them, and they will assign experienced senior officers to liaise with you. You will discuss what is needed for the upgrade of the military's combat system, and the weapon manufacturing must meet the needs of the troops' upgrade."
"There's one more contact, a delegation I've requested from the Galactic Empire's military. The job of this delegation is to help the armaments of each planet complete their upgrades..."
"The Crane Group?" Hua Qing asked.
"That's right. You've heard of them?"
"I'm very familiar with them," Hua Qing nodded and smiled.
"Did you note down everything I just said?" Jiang Ye asked, worried that he had spoken too quickly and the information was too much for her, potentially leaving her confused while still tipsy.
"I noted it down!"
"Recite it back."
Hua Qing paused for a moment, then immediately began to recite, repeating almost word-for-word what Jiang Ye had just said.
"Very good," Jiang Ye said with a pleased expression. "We're done with official business. Now, let's talk about you personally."
Hua Qing froze, blinking. "Me? What... what is there to talk about?"
"We've already signed the contract, and you've been paid," Jiang Ye said. "But I have a question."
"Please, go ahead."
"You have the education, the ability, and the qualifications in the Galactic Empire's military, even the support of your family. In your previous position, you could have developed very well with unlimited future potential," Jiang Ye said. "Why did you give up such a good position in the military to come here? The benefits you requested in the contract, to be honest, were not very high."
"Not high?" Hua Qing blinked in surprise. "Then can I ask for more?"
"Once you achieve results, your benefits will be increased," Jiang Ye smiled. "What I want to know now is your reason for coming."
Hua Qing blinked. "Actually, the reasons that lead a person to make a major decision are always numerous, not just a single reason."
Jiang Ye nodded, gesturing for her to continue with his eyes.
"The first reason is that the Galactic Empire's military is a massive system, and the weapons research and development system under the military, which was my former system, is also unimaginably vast. It's like a tree, with its roots in one part of the universe and its branches in another, connecting countless star seas," Hua Qing said.
"Such large organizations have both advantages and disadvantages. The benefits are many, such as finding shade under a big tree, or the strength of many people. The disadvantages are also present; the larger the organization, the more monolithic it becomes, with fierce competition and brute force. It's difficult for an individual's small strength to stand out."
"Although my resume shows I am excellent, there are many excellent people among my colleagues. Among them, I had to work very hard just to move up a little, like a small flower seed under a rock," Hua Qing pouted.
"The most crucial thing is that different influential figures, different technical departments, and colleagues of different age groups are frequently engaged in disputes. Some disputes are positive, like you breaking a record and improving performance by 120%, and I break a record and achieve 150%, and we compete in R&D. Some disputes are malicious and very frightening."
"I saw many negative aspects," Hua Qing said. "So I wanted to change places."
"If you wanted to change places... perhaps Jiang Ye Star wasn't the best choice?" Jiang Ye asked. "Surely many planets would be looking for talents like you?"
"No, Jiang Ye Star is the best choice," Hua Qing said firmly. "Commander Jiang, before you knew me, I had already looked at a lot of your information. I think you are a very capable person, and I admire you a little. I believe that following you will lead to a brighter future!"