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

That afternoon, Li Xiao didn't rush back to Jianye. With things settled in Jiangyang, he sent Zhou Yanhuai and Chen Qiming back to the industrial park first, while he had Lao Zhang drive the car back to the Li family's manor.

Zhao Xiulan hasn't seen her son for several months.

Li Xiao got out of the car, saw Zhao Xiulan's posture, and said with a smile.

"So you still know how to come back? I thought you'd ruined your family by going to university in the provincial capital."

Zhao Xiulan stepped forward, patted his arm, her eyes reddening slightly. She looked him up and down several times before finally managing to say, "You've lost weight. Didn't you eat properly in the provincial capital?"

"Eating it just means more trouble."

Li Xiao followed her into the house, taking off his coat and handing it to Aunt Liu as they went. Upon hearing the words "troublesome," Zhao Xiulan began to grumble:

"Your dad said you set up some kind of data center in Jiangyang. I said you two are really good at making trouble. The older one has been building houses in the county town for decades, and now the younger one has come back to build some kind of computer room. As your mother, it's harder for me to see you than to see the county magistrate."

Aunt Liu cooked dinner, and the table was full of Li Xiao's favorite dishes.

When Li Jianguo returned, Li Xiao was watching TV with Zhao Xiulan in the living room. Li Jianguo took off his coat, hung it up, walked over, patted his son on the shoulder, and called out, "Old Zhang, open that bottle of Moutai."

For the first time ever, Zhao Xiulan didn't stop him, only telling him to "drink less."

At the dinner table, Li Jianguo poured a glass for his son, then filled his own glass and clinked them together.

He didn't say anything, just tilted his head back and downed the drink. Li Xiao followed suit.

Neither the father nor the son mentioned the inspection team, Zhou Bingsheng, or Jiangyang Industrial Park. They were just like two ordinary fathers and sons who had been busy outside for a year, each finishing their drinks.

After dinner, Zhao Xiulan went to the yard to tend to her flowers and plants, leaving only the father and son in the living room. Li Jianguo sat on the sofa, lit a cigarette, and squinted at his son: "So, what are you planning to do with that centering annotation?"

Li Xiao knew his father could guess, so he wasn't surprised. He simply recounted what he had discussed with Chen Qiming a few days ago while looking at the factory in Jiangyang.

After listening, Li Jianguo nodded.

"This may not sound like a big deal, but its advantage lies in its low barrier to entry and low requirements for employment. Jiangyang may lack other things, but it has plenty of people. The county vocational high school graduates more than a thousand students every year, and we're worried about where to send them. I'll have someone go to the vocational high school and the labor bureau to connect you with employment training."

Li Jianguo took another drag of his cigarette, the smoke slowly dissipating in the warm light of the living room.

"The government likes this kind of project because it immediately boosts employment and makes the industrial park look better. You provide the equipment and standards, and I provide the connections and the land. It's a clear division of labor."

Li Xiao knew his father was backing him up, so he poured Li Jianguo a cup of tea.

"Dad, this has always been my idea. It's pointless for Xinglan to focus on technology and platforms and involve too many people, but these supporting, arduous tasks still need to be done by someone. You're not only my dad, but also the person in Jiangyang who knows this place best. I plan to take over those standardized factory buildings in the industrial park and turn them into an industrial park. I'll outsource them from Xinglan first, and then gradually take on external orders."

Li Jianguo nodded, stubbed out his cigarette, and suddenly smiled:

"Alright, I won't steal your thunder. You play with your high-tech stuff, I'll manage the people for you. But let's make it clear, don't let your mom know about this. If she finds out you're going to throw money into Jiangyang again, she'll nag me for a week." Li Xiao chuckled, and the father and son clinked their teacups, acknowledging that their words were indeed true.

Back in his room, Li Xiao started thinking about what to do next.

He drew a circle in the middle with a pen, wrote the three characters "Xinglan Technology", and then drew three branches below, labeled "Computing Power Base", "NLP Engine" and "SaaS Service" respectively.

The framework of Xinglan has been established.

He drew a new circle on the right side of "Xinglan Technology" and wrote "Xinglan Intelligent Manufacturing".

Then, a line is drawn from the "computing power base" to "Xinglan Intelligent Manufacturing" and labeled "real-time scheduling data"; another line is drawn from outside the "Xinglan Technology" circle, passing through "SaaS services" and pointing directly to "Xinglan Intelligent Manufacturing" and labeled "orders and inventory".

Next, he drew two thick branches below "Xinglan Intelligent Manufacturing", one labeled "Xingfeng AGV Mass Production" and the other labeled "Overall Solution for Unmanned Warehouse".

The structure on the paper suddenly became clear.

Xinglan Technology is responsible for generating data, controlling order entry points, and managing the decision-making center; Xinglan Intelligent Manufacturing is responsible for providing hardware and logistics execution.

The two are complementary: upstream, they focus on data asset operation, and downstream, they focus on physical warehousing. Add to that the physical park in Jiangyang High-tech Zone and the soon-to-be-launched annotation center, and the entire industry chain, from underlying data to top-level applications, from algorithms to machinery, can almost all be completed within Li Xiao's own small domain.

Li Xiao put down his pen and closed his eyes.

But blueprints alone are not enough. Xinglan Intelligent Manufacturing's hardware solution is excellent, but it has not yet been truly born.

The clustering algorithm, mechanical structure, sensor selection, and battery management system of Xingfeng AGV all require a team that truly understands intelligent manufacturing and robotics to implement.

Zhou Bingsheng's logistics empire won't give way on its own; it needs a sufficiently strong iron fist. Li Xiao isn't used to waiting; he's used to having his moves planned before others have even seen through the game.

He re-immersed his consciousness into the system. The virtual panel, visible only to him, unfolded once more, a deep blue light screen floating in the center of his sea of ​​consciousness.

The happiness points in the lower right corner have increased again in the past few months – the live broadcast of the board meeting made Xinglan Technology a household name in Jianye and even the whole province. The system has obviously given a considerable reward for this increase in social influence and business momentum.

Without hesitation, Li Xiao opened the [Industrial Ecosystem] page and found the key item he had looked at two days ago but had not yet redeemed: "Cross-domain Engineering Manufacturing Mindset Coordinator".

The name sounds a bit awkward, but its description pinpoints Li Xiao's biggest weakness at this moment:

Grants a host's technical team a twelve-month collective R&D boost in the interdisciplinary engineering and manufacturing field, applicable to multiple sub-fields such as robot control, embedded systems, industrial design, and supply chain engineering.

The exchange rate is 2,800 Happiness Points.

"System, redeem." Li Xiao silently chanted in his mind.

[Ding—2800 Happiness Points deducted, remaining balance: 318 points.]

[Special Item: Cross-Domain Engineering Mindset Synchronizer (One-Time Use) successfully redeemed. Please select and bind your team.]

"Bind Xinglan Intelligent Manufacturing Preparatory Group. Scope of application: All engineering and technical employees currently employed by Xinglan Technology."

[Already bound. The bonus will automatically activate after the host officially establishes Xinglan Intelligent Manufacturing and will last for twelve months.]