At the start, I had to choose one of four options, and I immediately picked the Brahmin from the cou

Cao Weidong had spent most of his life working within the system and had seen it all. He had seen far too many companies that rented entire floors in luxury office buildings to fraudulently obtain government subsidies and policy benefits, creating a lavish and impressive facade with fake data dashboards, when in reality even the core code was outsourced—these were just PPT presentations.

But the crowded and messy office area in front of him gave him an unprecedented sense of reality. Even Chen Qiming's slightly awkward movements became, in Cao Weidong's eyes, the shining points of a pure technical person's naivety.

This is the place where you really do scientific research and tackle the toughest challenges.

"Dr. Chen, don't be nervous."

Cao Weidong patted Chen Qiming on the shoulder, his tone as kind as a caring old leader, "People who work in technology should focus on code. All that fancy stuff, the welcoming ceremony and all that fluff, is now obsolete in our Jiangyang High-tech Zone!"

Chen Qiming was taken aback, clearly not expecting the county party secretary to be so approachable. He nodded somewhat stiffly and stepped aside to make way for him: "Secretary Cao, this way please. General Manager Li is already waiting for you inside."

Cao Weidong strode into the office area, the camera lens following him closely. He deliberately slowed his pace and stopped in front of a whiteboard covered with derivation formulas for "dynamic attention mechanism." Although he couldn't understand the complex mathematical symbols on it at all, he could feel the intellectual density that almost overflowed the whiteboard.

At the far end of the office area, Dr. Chen's slightly larger desk, which originally belonged to him, was temporarily cleared out and covered with a red velvet cloth, on which were two bound joint operation agreements.

Li Xiao stood behind the table. Today he wasn't wearing a suit, but a high-quality black turtleneck cashmere sweater paired with dark casual trousers. He exuded an air of composure and authority that was impossible to ignore.

"Secretary Cao." Li Xiao stepped forward, extending his right hand, his tone calm yet firm, "Welcome to the 'starting phase' of Xinglan Technology."

"Mr. Li, you've given me a huge challenge, but also a wonderful surprise!"

Cao Weidong gripped Li Xiao's hand tightly and laughed heartily. He turned to Sun Zhengming, the county party committee office director accompanying him, and said, "Zhengming, look! The conditions may be simple, but this is a golden opportunity! Those companies that only know how to ask for policies and land should really come and see what real strength looks like!"

After exchanging pleasantries, Chen Qiming was required to give a brief technical report, as per procedure.

Chen Qiming walked to the tower server used for load testing and connected it to the large screen. Without saying any nonsense, he directly pulled up the load test log of 120 milliseconds.

"Secretary Cao, this is the core achievement of our V2.0 system." Chen Qiming adjusted his glasses. "Under extreme testing with 100,000 concurrent users, the semantic matching latency between resumes and job titles stabilized at 120 milliseconds. This data not only passed the initial review by the expert group of the Provincial Department of Science and Technology, but also earned an A-level rating for three core patents."

Cao Weidong lacked a clear understanding of "120 milliseconds," and he frowned slightly: "Dr. Chen, where does this data stand in the industry within our province?"

Chen Qiming was a pure tech geek, and just as he was about to explain with a bunch of technical jargon, Zhou Yanhuai took over the conversation at the right moment.

"Secretary Cao, let me give you a very direct analogy," Zhou Yanhuai said with a smile, stepping forward and speaking clearly throughout the room. "The highest-valued HR company in the province, which has secured Series C funding, has a test data of 800 milliseconds for the same scale. Xinglan Technology, on the other hand, is almost seven times faster. This means that once our system is officially launched on the market, the HR SaaS market in the province will no longer have any competitors, only Xinglan Technology and other companies. This is an absolute game-changer."

Cao Weidong's smile suddenly froze.

A sharp glint suddenly flashed in his deep-set eyes. As the top official in charge of the region, he knew all too well what "absolutely number one in the province" meant politically. This was no longer simply "meeting the mandatory targets for attracting investment"; it was practically a golden opportunity bestowed upon him by heaven!

How could Jiangyang County, a small agricultural town with virtually no presence, have incubated a unicorn company that has reached the top of the province's high-tech sector?! Once the provincial science and technology department issues its official document next week, city leaders will probably all have to come to Jiangyang to inspect and learn from its experience!

Cao Weidong took a deep breath, suppressing the surging joy in his heart, and turned to look at Li Xiao, who stood calmly to the side.

At this moment, Cao Weidong finally understood why, just half a month ago, this young man dared to casually exchange two plots of land on the outskirts of the county committee office for the absolute core of the high-tech zone, and even obtain three years of full tax exemption rights.

Because Li Xiao's bargaining chips are large enough to overturn the entire foundation of Jiangyang County's political achievements!

"Great! A perfect 120 milliseconds!" Cao Weidong exclaimed twice, his voice brimming with barely concealed excitement. The scrutiny he once held for Li Xiao was gone, replaced by a pure, level gaze, even tinged with a hint of reliance. "President Li, you previously mentioned using Xinglan Technology as a joint operator for our High-tech Zone's incubation platform. It seems Jiangyang County has been overreaching."

"Secretary Cao, you flatter me. It's a win-win situation." Li Xiao smiled faintly and gestured for them to proceed. "It's about time. Since the provincial targets have already been exceeded ahead of schedule, let's get the formalities done."

Cao Weidong didn't hesitate any longer. He pulled out his pen and signed his name on the joint operation agreement, his handwriting even more forceful than when he was in the county party committee office last time, the nib almost digging into the paper. Sun Zhengming handed him the official seal, which he stamped himself, the red ink glistening moistly under the light.

The exchange of agreements was complete. Cao Weidong straightened up, his gaze sweeping across the office area—the tower server running the stress test, the whiteboard covered in formulas, the row of figurines on Xiao Zhou's desk—before finally settling on Li Xiao. He didn't say any more of the usual bureaucratic pleasantries, but simply extended his hand and gave it a firm shake.

"Mr. Li, once the official document from the Provincial Department of Science and Technology arrives next week, the High-tech Zone will be officially established. If you need any assistance from the county, just have Director Sun handle it directly; there's no need to go through the usual procedures."

"About the tax exemption period—"

"Full payment for the first three years, half payment for the fourth and fifth years, that was already agreed upon last time." Li Xiao took over the conversation, his tone calm, but he skillfully blocked Cao Weidong's unspoken probing. "Secretary Cao, rest assured, Xinglan's revenue data and tax declarations will be submitted to the county finance bureau every month, without a single discrepancy."