The richest man started taking advantage of loopholes after joining Alibaba.

When Xie Yu arrived, he was holding a cup of hot water in one hand and a notebook in the other.

The notebook was the kind he always used, a hard-cover, loose-leaf type, about half the size of an A4 sheet, with the cover worn and faded.

The zipper pull on the down jacket was replaced with a cable tie. The original zipper pull was probably broken. The cable tie is dark blue and was twisted twice.

"The data is ready, shall we report it now?"

Lin Che nodded.

Xie Yu sat down opposite him, opened his notebook and placed it on his lap, then took out a pen from his pocket.

The black ballpoint pen has a 0.38mm diameter cap with a bite mark around it, which he made when he was thinking. The mark has turned white.

He unscrewed the pen cap and found the marked page in the notebook.

"Wuhan."

He mentioned Wuhan first.

"The average daily processing volume has remained around 980 since the project started, with a maximum of 991 and a minimum of 972."

"The fluctuation range was 1.9%, which is even more stable than before the Spring Festival."

He turned a page.

"Temperature control has remained at 99.7% unchanged, and the cold chain system has been operating stably since last October, for more than four months now."

"There hasn't been a single alarm call, not even a suspected alarm call."

The pen tip touched the number, leaving a small black dot.

"I basically don't need to keep an eye on things in Wuhan anymore; the system is running smoothly."

"I went there in early January last time. I looked around the site, and all the equipment was in normal working order."

Chengdu.

He turned another page.

When turning the page, the pen is held between the index and middle fingers, and the movement is very smooth.

"The daily processing volume is 1800, which is higher than Wuhan's, and this is related to the larger population."

"Director Zhang was very cooperative; after the second round of signatures was completed, the administrative process was almost without any hiccups."

"There's a minor issue: two temperature controllers in the second batch of equipment from Chengdu have inaccurate settings."

"The deviation is around 0.3%, which doesn't affect operation, but it will be reflected in the data when the annual inspection report is issued."

"I had the supplier replace the calibration modules; they'll arrive next week."

He wrote the word "change" in his notebook and circled it.

Xie Yu's habit of taking notes was to write single words, not sentences.

Changsha.

He slowed down a bit when he talked about Changsha.

"The second batch is operating normally, and the data is similar to that of Wuhan and Chengdu."

"But there's a situation in Changsha that I need to report."

He turned to the next page of his notebook, a page filled with writing, much denser than the previous two pages about Wuhan and Chengdu.

"At the end of last month, the relevant authorities in Changsha contacted us to inquire about the third batch."

"We didn't go to them; they called us first."

"The call was to me, not to administration; it was directly to the person in charge."

He pointed to a line of text in the notebook with the tip of his pen.

"The exact words were, 'When will you initiate the third batch of applications?'"

"I said there was no timetable yet, and they said, 'We can talk about it first.'"

After Xie Yu finished speaking, he glanced at Lin Che.

"The relevant authorities proactively inquired about the progress, something that didn't happen in the first two batches."

"For the first two batches, we had to knock on doors, and they weren't always open."

"This time, they opened the door and came looking for us."

Lin Che did not respond immediately.

He leaned back in his chair, his gaze fixed on the densely packed words on a page of Xie Yu's notebook.

Changsha's initiative to inquire about the third batch indicates that CCPS has already established a good reputation with the relevant authorities.

There were no problems with the data from the first two batches.

Wuhan's 99.7% temperature control record and Director Zhang's "please" signature in Chengdu are both examples of poor performance.

The relevant authorities in Changsha saw the data from the neighboring province and took action on their own.

This milestone came two or three months earlier than expected.

The original plan was to wait until the third batch needed to be launched before discussing it.

The other party spoke first.

This is a good thing.

But things changed after the funds were exposed.

The Chengdu-based account has been compromised.

The advance payment for the second batch of CCPS came from the 230 million yuan payment made in Chengdu.

If the third batch of money also comes from the Chengdu account, the marker characteristics will spread to Changsha.

The CCPS funding chain in Changsha will also become a source of data for trackers.

Changsha offered us this opportunity; if we accepted, we might bring the dye in.

If they don't accept the offer, it will be difficult to rekindle the enthusiasm of the relevant authorities once it cools down.

Moreover, not replying can itself arouse the other party's suspicion.

"I won't reply to Changsha yet."

"Let me confirm something first."

Xie Yu did not ask any further questions.

He never asked "what's going on," and Lin Che would just wait if he said so.

I wrote the word "wait" in my notebook.

"receive."

After he finished reporting on the CCPS part, he added a few more operational details.

The budget for the next round of equipment procurement has been submitted, and the warehouse in Changsha may need to be expanded.

It took about twenty minutes.

Then close the notebook, screw the pen cap back on, and stand up.

When I stood up, I took the hot water cup away, leaving a shallow ripple of water on the table.

I will send another email if there are any new developments.

He closed the door gently as he left.

He glanced back before the door closed, as if he wanted to say something, but then said nothing.

Then the door closed.

The office was quiet for a while.

The water ring left at the bottom of Xie Yu's cup on the table was slowly drying.

Lin Che glanced at the time; it was almost noon.

He opened his email and processed a few non-urgent emails, then tagged them.

One of the letters is from the administration department; the time for the fire drill that we mentioned last time has been set for the afternoon of February 15th.

He forwarded the letter to the contact person.

There's still no news about the registration process for Mauritius in Shennan.

Based on a three-week cycle, it should have just started now.

Registration itself takes one week, the second week is for account opening and compliance filing, and the third week is for the initial transfer approval.

Every step could potentially lead to a problem, but Shen Nan's timetable was never wrong.

Just wait.

I didn't go to the cafeteria at noon.

I pulled out a bag of cookies from the drawer, opened it, ate two, and drank half a glass of water.

The cookies are plain, and the packaging says they expire in March, so they're still edible.

In the afternoon, I continued reviewing the legal memo that Shen Nan had posted earlier, specifically the one about the main framework of the three East African countries.

The restrictions on foreign ownership in Kenya are described in great detail.

One regulation was revised in 2023, which lowered the foreign ownership limit in the mining sector from 70% to 60%.

This change was not mentioned in Abyss's predictions.

He marked three question marks next to the memo and saved it.

Several other proportions need to be cross-validated with Abyss's predictions, which will be done after the African path is confirmed.

Around four o'clock, the sound of enamel mugs clinking against cup holders could be heard in the corridor.

Old Zhou peeked out from the office doorway as he passed by.

The door wasn't closed properly; it was pushed open a little when he peeked out.

He held the enamel mug in his hand, the notch on the rim pointing towards the door.

The tea color inside is lighter than last time; this is the third time I've brewed Biluochun.

The tea leaves have fully unfurled at the bottom of the cup, so I can't bear to change them.

Have you eaten?

"have eaten."

Old Zhou nodded, but didn't come in. He leaned against the door frame and took a sip of tea.

"Have you seen that new guy next door, Xiao Wang? He was transferred from Beijing."

"I haven't seen it."

"He handed me a cup of instant coffee this morning, saying he brought it himself, something like espresso."

Old Zhou's expression was subtle, as if he was holding back something.

"I told him that at his age, he should learn to drink tea; coffee is something only young people drink."

He said tea doesn't have a stimulating effect.

Old Zhou glanced down at the Biluochun tea in the enamel mug, his face serious.

"Biluochun tea doesn't have an energizing effect? ​​That's because his Biluochun tea is no good."

"My Biluochun tea, brewed before the Qingming Festival, still has a sweet aftertaste even after the third infusion."

He tilted the enamel mug slightly toward the door frame, as if to display evidence.

The words "Biluochun" on the cup are blurred; it's been used for too many years.

"Smell this aroma; can instant coffee compare?"

Lin Che was two meters away and couldn't smell anything.

But he didn't say.

Old Zhou took another sip of tea and prepared to leave.

Before leaving, he turned back and said something, his tone as casual as when he talked about Biluochun tea.

"By the way, that Xiao Fang from your tech department has been working a lot of overtime lately."

"Several times when I left work, his office light was still on."

"When I left the day before yesterday, it was almost 10 o'clock, and the lights were still on in his room."

Lin Che hummed in agreement.