Did the world end today?

Chapter 36 The Mysterious Disappearance

"shareholder?!"

Jiang Xingye was stunned after hearing Lin Xu's description.

Good heavens, I said before that Lin Xu could move very fast, but now, he's ascended to the heavens in one step?!
Clearly, according to the chairman's description, Sky Dome Technology plans to establish a new subsidiary and directly appoint Lin Xu as its head.

This is certain, as can be clearly seen from Ren Jian's description that Lin Xu was in charge of "procurement and personnel recruitment".

But why so fast?!

"No, are you sure it's a shareholder, and not a legal representative?"

Jiang Xingye asked with a hint of doubt.

"Can't you wish me something good?"

Lin Xu helplessly shrugged.

"The legal representative is himself, not me."

"To be honest, I also feel that something is a little off."

"Especially his attitude towards me, it felt like, how should I put it, he treated me as an equal."

"No, are intellectuals really treated that well now?"

"It always feels like I'm back in 70 years."

"It's outrageous, but also reasonable."

Jiang Xingye sighed.

"It's probably because these two documents are so important, and you're the only contact person, so the company has to bet on you."

"Hey Mr. Lin, from now on there will be a formidable barrier between us."

"Can I still invite you out for late-night snacks in the future?"

"Before, asking you out for a late-night snack might have been considered workplace sexual harassment at most, but now, asking you out for a late-night snack is practically a sexual bribe, isn't it?"

"Sometimes I really don't know how your brain works."

Lin Xu raised his hand as if to slap Jiang Xingye, but the latter huddled up in front of his chest, deliberately putting on a pitiful look, his eyes darting around as he said:
"Mr. Lin, be gentle."

"cough cough"

Lin Xu nearly choked on the water he had just drunk. He glared at Jiang Xingye and said:

"Please, be normal."

"No problem, Mr. Lin."

Jiang Xingye sat up straight in an instant.

"Seriously, only the two of us know about this for now, right?"

"Yes."

Lin Xu nodded.

"Then you should keep this a secret for now. To be honest, this matter could be a big deal or a small deal."

"If it leaks out in advance, it may cause some unnecessary jealousy."

"I know—do you really think I'm an idiot?"

"Hey"

Jiang Xingye sighed.

"I should have struck when you were at your dumbest when you first joined the company. Now it's too late."

"Let's go, let's get off work now. There's a Home Inn right next door, let's go have a three-hundred-round battle."

"President Lin! How could you do this!"

Jiang Xingye was greatly surprised.

"Who are you? How can you take me to a Home Inn?"

"It should at least be Bulgari, right?"

"Bulgari my foot."

Lin Xu glanced at the time and put away his computer.

"I really have to go home now; I still need to go to the National Library to look up information."

"After I finish checking the information, I still need to go and talk to Xu Jin to share today's information."

"What do you say? Are you off work?"

When the conversation turned to serious matters, Jiang Xingye finally returned to normal.

"I'm not going. There's still some finishing work to be done on the third test ship."

"I was going to ask you the same question: are you still going to do your job in the future?"

"If we don't do it, I'll have to ask the HR department to hire people right now."

"It needs to be done."

Lin Xu answered decisively.

He absolutely could not let go of the flight control system in his hands, because he had to maintain a strong connection with Star Traveler-1.

"But you should hire someone if you can. My workload is too heavy right now. Once the Star Travel No. 1 project starts, I won't be able to handle it all by myself."

"Understood." Jiang Xingye nodded.

"When the person arrives, you'll meet with me. He'll be your assistant, and you can also choose one yourself."

"Can you hire someone better-looking?"

Lin Xu blinked and asked.

"I think you really want to die. Do you think everyone in this line of work is as naturally beautiful as me?"

"I was just saying that."

"gone."

"Go ahead, drink more goji berry tea when you have time. Look at your face, it's so yellow, you look so weak."

"One day I'll show you who's really the weakling."

Lin Xu picked up her bag and stood up, while Jiang Xingye returned to her workstation to continue the work she hadn't finished.

As Lin Xu walked out of the company gate, he kept thinking about what he needed to do when he got back.

He didn't notice that someone was sitting on the sofa in the reception area outside the company office, glancing in his direction every now and then.

As soon as Lin Xu stepped into the elevator, the other person immediately stood up and put down the interview registration form that he hadn't finished filling out.

But he did not follow into the elevator.

He simply walked down the fire escape stairs, lowering his voice as he spoke:
"I've already locked onto it."

"Yes, consistent with the previous intelligence, he's just an ordinary employee."

"The background is clean, yes, definitely clean."

"It doesn't seem like his personal behavior at the moment, but rather a strategic move by Sky Dome Technology, with him merely acting as a spokesperson."

"They may be heading in the direction of developing their own materials, and somehow they obtained information about Xu Jin's research, so they're betting on him."

"No, there are no signs of malice at present."

"Do we need to arrange a meeting? We can contact the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC) to handle it."

"Are you sure you don't need it? What's Old Xu's opinion?"

"Okay, okay, I understand."

"Then I'll stay put for now and keep an eye on things. I also need the Economic Investigation Department's cooperation to monitor Sky Dome Technology's movements."

"Yes, they are professionals in this area, and they can provide timely warnings if there are any problems."

"It seems Xu Jin won't suffer any losses right now, but if necessary, we can also protect him."

That's it. Over.

Back home, Lin Xu was completely unaware of the "official attention" he had attracted. As soon as he got home, he turned on his computer and began searching for clues about the "Zhurong".

Xu Jin was obsessed with this thing. Although he didn't know if it was related to his father, he really wanted to bring the detector back.

Moreover, it is clear that what he wants is not what the detector discovers, but the detector itself.

So what's so special about this detector?

Lin Xu entered the keyword "Zhu Rong Hao" into the search box, and the results immediately popped up.

However, most of the information was just ordinary news reports.

Successful research and development, successful launch, successful landing, and successful transmission of the first image of Mars.
Of course, there's also the report Jiang Xingye mentioned earlier about the recently discovered, suspected half-metallic hydrogen.

This is quite a discovery.

The problem is, it has no direct connection to the motive of "bringing back the Zhurong".

Lin Xu frowned deeply.

He clicked on the longest news article and read it word by word.

The news report used the discovery of half-metallic hydrogen as a starting point to review the entire history of the Zhurong ship.

Most of the content is actually nothing special; it mainly describes the hard work of the staff and the great significance of the probe's launch to the country's space program and space exploration.

But among a bunch of ordinary information, Lin Xu still found an anomaly that seemed "not quite right".

The launch of the Zhurong was not entirely smooth sailing.

After successfully leaving Earth orbit for Mars, just 160 days before landing, the Zhurong spacecraft experienced a 56-day period of no contact.

At that time, almost everyone thought that the Zhurong had been destroyed in space.

But unexpectedly, 56 days later, after the Zhurong spacecraft entered Mars orbit, the ground command center received its signal again.

The report defined the loss of contact as an accident caused by the complex cosmic radiation and electromagnetic environment, as well as the obstruction by celestial bodies, which also proved the reliability of the Zhurong spacecraft.

But Lin Xu instinctively felt that things weren't that simple.

The blackout during launch could be explained, but it's been flying for several months now, so why is it still out of contact?
He wanted to investigate the specific circumstances of the disappearance, but to no avail.

It's still not decrypted?

It should be declassified in twenty years, right?
Information that you can't find here, you can definitely find in the bracelet.

Time-based pincer movement!

Lin Xu lay down on the bed and gently touched the bracelet.

And his consciousness was once again drained.
(End of this chapter)