Liu Chen walked out of the laboratory, taking off her lab coat to reveal a white halter-neck tank top and denim shorts. She wore the now-popular wedge flip-flops, her fair, long legs standing straight by the window.
The owner of these beautiful legs was currently shading her eyes with one hand, blocking the gift of midsummer from the window. Under the scorching sun, Liu Chen could even see the rubber track on the sports field smoking.
"Phew... It's only early June, why is it so hot?"
Thinking about the classes ahead, no matter how much Liu Chen disliked the heat, she dutifully put on the sunscreen jacket provided by the system and also held up a sun umbrella from the system. With both precautions, when Liu Chen stepped out of the laboratory building, she still felt the power of the blazing sun.
Her toes even felt a little burnt.
It had been almost a month since that impostor Sun Jin was taken away. The National Security department was very secretive about their operations, and she hadn't heard a single word.
However, Liu Chen wasn't one to just gossip. She was also very busy. For the past half month, she had been working on new products in the laboratory under the guise of Professor He Long's guidance.
The school was aware that new products from the "Mei Mei" brand originated from the school's laboratories. But with He Long as a consultant and the laboratory usage fees paid, the school didn't say anything.
Of course, by Liu Chen's usual standards, a month was sufficient for her to develop new products.
Holding the sun umbrella, Liu Chen, with the formula in hand, sat in the classroom, watching her classmates sweat profusely in the stuffy, low-pressure classroom.
The teacher at the podium was writing on the blackboard when suddenly, the dazzling white light next to the blackboard vanished. Liu Chen blinked. Not only did the dazzling white light disappear, but the light in the classroom also seemed to dim.
Liu Chen looked up at the sky outside the window.
The sky, a crayon-like blue, was now covered with layers of clouds drifting in from somewhere. The edges of the topmost layer were pure white, but the lowest layer of clouds was tinged with gray.
Gradually, the clouds drifted over the area of Shui Mu University. The weather, which had felt stuffy moments ago, now had a gentle breeze.
But before Liu Chen could fully savor the rare breeze, the sky darkened as if it were six or seven in the evening, followed by a thunderclap from nowhere.
"Rumble!"
The sound was so loud that the teacher on the podium couldn't help but turn his head to look out the window. At that moment, a heavy rain began to fall outside.
The heavy, fast-falling raindrops pattered against the ground, moistening the surface that had been smoking under the scorching sun.
The teacher on the podium withdrew his gaze, turned back, and continued with his lecture.
-
A sudden downpour disrupted the plans of the people in Haidian District. After class, Liu Chen looked at the downpour and realized it wouldn't stop anytime soon. She had no choice but to hold up her sun umbrella and walk in the heavy rain in her flip-flops.
In the afternoon, she was going to file the patents for the two new products, Mei Mei Milk Candy and Mei Mei Milk Chocolate. This was to ensure comprehensive intellectual property protection, and of course, after the domestic patent applications were submitted, there would be international ones.
As the names suggested, these two new products were sweets, chosen by Liu Chen from recipes she had previously drawn.
Yes, because the market in "Pretty Country" hadn't opened up much, Liu Chen decided that with the weather warming up, it was time to launch a promotional campaign there!
But first, she needed to introduce new products under the Mei Mei brand tailored to the taste of Pretty Country.
A black Mercedes G-wagon was already parked at the entrance of Shui Mu University. The passing students were no longer as curious as they were at first, as everyone at Shui Mu University knew it was the car of the genius girl Liu Chen.
Liu Chen held onto the door handle, lifted one foot, and placed it on the car mat inside. Then, she shifted her entire weight onto that foot, leaned her upper body in, retracted her back foot, and settled comfortably onto the single seat in the second row. With a slight push, she closed the rear door.
Seeing Liu Chen was seated, Xia Tian handed Liu Chen a large hard-shell paper bag with both hands.
"Boss, this is what you wanted."
Liu Chen glanced at it, then pulled a ring from the footwell and lifted it upwards, hooking it onto the ceiling. This way, the view from the front seats was blocked.
She then blocked the rear windows in the same manner and changed her clothes inside the car.
When she got out of the underground parking lot of the State Intellectual Property Administration again, Liu Chen was already dressed as a young female boss in a professional suit.
Liu Chen could have handed over the two recipes to Shen Hong for application assistance, but recently Ren Yu and the others seemed to be busy with new game development, and she could see his dark circles during their video calls. Thinking of this, she decided not to bother Shen Hong.
Liu Chen, in her black flats, moved through the administrative hall. After the preliminary review of the two recipe applications was approved, Liu Chen also requested immediate public announcement in the "Invention Patent Gazette."
The service officer who received Liu Chen at the counter was quite surprised by this request. She looked up and glanced at Liu Chen.
Upon seeing her, the officer's face showed a look of confusion. After a moment of deep thought, the officer said curiously, "Do we know each other?"
Liu Chen was stunned for a moment, then looked closely at the officer's face. Assured they didn't know each other, she replied, "Hmm? We probably don't."
The officer then withdrew her gaze, processed the paperwork, and murmured, "That's strange. We don't know each other, but why do I feel like she's so familiar?"
After submitting the request for early publication, Liu Chen was holding the document bag and about to leave when she heard a surprised cry from the officer's window:
"Ah! It's you! Weibo!"
Liu Chen heard this, turned around, and looked at the young officer, putting a finger to her lips.
"Shh, keep it a secret for me, okay!"
The officer was overjoyed! She was a loyal fan of the Mei Mei brand. To be honest, if it weren't for her fear of gaining weight, she could have eaten Mei Mei sausages for lunch every day! Drank Mei Mei milk! Bitten Mei Mei dried pork!
"Yes! Yes! I will!"
The officer whispered her rapid and brief promise, determined not to fail her idol's trust and to keep the secret of the successful development of Mei Mei's new products!
She wouldn't even spill the beans to her dog, Xiao Huang!
-
After finishing her business, Liu Chen bought two packs of toast from a nearby bakery before returning to school.
That afternoon was laboratory class for the sophomores. When Liu Chen walked into the experimental classroom wearing a slightly formal shirt and suit pants, everyone instinctively looked at her.
Then they quickly averted their gaze. Cough, cough, after all, when Liu Chen's boyfriend, senior Ren Yu, got into a fight, he was too fierce!
Liu Chen also felt the rapidly averted glances. How to put it? If she had known that Ren Yu fighting would have such an effect, she should have supported him earlier.
During the lab class, whenever Liu Chen conducted experiments, she would observe her sophomore classmates during breaks.
After all, in the second semester of their junior year, these classmates would start looking for internships.
And graduating from Shui Mu with classmates she knew well would naturally make them good candidates in Liu Chen's eyes for internships at her factory.
Among them, the one Liu Chen had the highest hopes for, Seed Number One, had just added the additive to the reagent bottle according to the teacher's instructions.
Then, she couldn't help but frown and take a breath.
"Ah, A-choo! That's weird? It's raining heavily, and I've caught a cold?"
Taking out a tissue, she rubbed her nose. Seed Number One glanced hesitantly at the wide-open laboratory window. In the end, she didn't reach out to close it. After all, everyone had been hot for a long time and finally got some coolness.
After the lab class, everyone gathered in small groups, sharing an umbrella as they hurried from the laboratory building to the cafeteria.
Due to the heavy rain, some of the bricks on the pavement outside the school were uneven. If one wasn't careful, stepping on them would be like stepping on a mine, and the rainwater that splashed onto the ground would mercilessly leave its mark on their trouser legs.
When Liu Chen opened her sun umbrella, no one tried to squeeze in. It was too small, making people doubt if it could even cover Liu Chen herself.
In fact, it couldn't.
Holding a sun umbrella that supposedly had a cooling effect in a downpour felt a bit like lifting a rock to smash one's own foot. By the time Liu Chen walked back to the dormitory, the lower part of her suit pants was soaked, clinging uncomfortably to her calves.
Inside the dormitory, it was pitch black. Qin Cancan was currently preparing for her graduation defense. In fact, Liu Chen felt that Qin Cancan's graduation defense should go smoothly, as she had previously supported half of the Jiang Demin Laboratory's operations.
Returning to her room, she took a thorough bath, filling the small bathroom with steam. Satisfied, Liu Chen emerged with a face mask on and sat down at her desk, opened her laptop, and began typing.
"Pretty Country Marketing Plan"
-
Friday night.
Liu Chen's marketing plan had been revised to its fifth version. The intellectual property rights for both new products had been registered and publicized. Liu Chen, dragging a small suitcase with Xia Tian and Dong Tian, returned to C City. She wanted to oversee the first production of the new products from the assembly line.
The launch of two production lines was not a secret. Everyone in the Mei Mei factory knew that they had opened two new production lines, and Mei Mei brand was going to launch one or two new products.
Therefore, the employees transferred to the new production line shifts were particularly excited today. They wanted to know what kind of novel products "Mei Mei's Light" would bring!
As Liu Chen walked into the production workshop, she was met with intense attention. However, Liu Chen showed no reaction. To put it bluntly, she was already accustomed to being the center of attention.
At 9:30 PM, the first production line began to operate. Ten minutes later, Liu Chen received the first Mei Mei Milk Candy.
To reinforce the characteristics of the Mei Mei brand, the packaging of Mei Mei Milk Candy remained fuchsia, the same color as the previous packaging. Each pack contained twelve milk candies, with half transparent and half fuchsia outer packaging.
Eye-catching, yet revealing the sincerity packed inside.
However, the employees on duty today were somewhat disappointed. Milk candy was nothing new, and its market share was even limited. Given that C City preferred spicy food, its tolerance for sweetness was slightly lower.
In the eyes of the native C City residents, this milk candy was likely to fail.
Thinking this, some employees couldn't help but show their inner thoughts on their faces. Liu Chen saw it but was not worried.
Because in this world, besides money, nothing could please everyone. Therefore, she had clear target consumers for her investment and aimed to satisfy them. Everything else was a minor issue.
Chewing on a Mei Mei Milk Candy each, the crowd then surrounded Liu Chen and headed towards the second newly opened production workshop.
Consequently, the employees who remained in the first new production workshop couldn't help but ask:
"Boss is going to the second workshop too, does this mean we have two new products this time?"
"I guess so. Didn't you see the boss wasn't in a hurry at all?"
"Then, is our new product just a placeholder?"
"Not necessarily, though? I just tasted this milk candy, and it's delicious! I'll definitely buy some for my little one when it's launched."
"Eating too much candy will cause cavities in children, so you have to watch what they eat!"
"Of course!"
-
The boss they were talking about was now watching the second new production line start up.
Compared to the previous production line, this one was slightly more complex, but only slightly. When the first batch of milk chocolate came out, the department managers standing behind Liu Chen looked confused.
They had assumed that the new product on the second production line would be the main highlight. But now, looking at the white chocolate, and then at the fuchsia-packaged milk candy in their hands.
They felt that these two new products would likely be equally matched in sales in the future.
Had their genius boss run out of ideas?
Liu Chen turned around and saw her management team looking as if they wanted to comfort her. Seeing them like this, Liu Chen raised an eyebrow.
"Why are you all looking like the factory is about to collapse? I ask you, is the milk candy delicious?"
Although these managers didn't have a sweet tooth, they had to speak with sincerity at this moment.
"Delicious."
"Is the milk chocolate delicious?"
Everyone nodded.
"Delicious."
"So, if it's delicious, what's with that expression?"
Yu Bing glanced at her colleagues. Seeing that no one dared to speak, she sighed slightly and stepped forward to explain.
"Boss, we are just a little surprised that the new products are sweet."
Liu Chen waved her hand, indicating her indifference. She turned back and looked at the milk chocolate production line diligently operating after startup, and couldn't help but make a bold statement.
"Just you wait! I dare say that in a month, these two production lines won't be able to keep up with my sales!"