Chapter 262 - 165: Beach Park
The entire research base was located in the northwestern part of Zheng Island, what could be considered the very edge of the city.
There were virtually no residents around the park; any that might have been there had been moved elsewhere due to prior urban planning.
This made the road leading to the park exceptionally quiet, with hardly any cars to be seen.
"Whoa, this road is actually a three-lane, two-way street!"
Su Chen hadn’t expected the infrastructure work for this industrial park to be so thorough. The roads alone deserved a perfect score.
Soon, the park’s buildings came into view. The five greyish-white, mid-rise buildings at the front were the most eye-catching.
As the car reached the main gate, it was stopped by security personnel.
Xiao Peng, sitting in the passenger seat, quickly explained, "It’s a rule we set earlier. Everyone who enters or leaves the park gets checked, and that includes us, the people in charge. It’s to make sure no one can exploit any loopholes."
Su Chen nodded slightly upon hearing this.
’Prevention is better than cure. This concept needed to be deeply ingrained in every security officer from the very beginning. That was the only way to avoid mistakes in the future.’
"’Captain, I actually have something to report.’ The guard on duty was one of the ten team leaders. He had been planning to tell Chen Fei about something that had come up at work, but then he caught sight of Su Chen in the back seat and froze."
Coming to his senses, he straightened up and quickly saluted. "Hello, Mr. Su!"
Su Chen nodded and looked at him. "You said you had something to report? Go on, what is it?"
The team leader glanced at Chen Fei and said hesitantly, "I wanted to request some electric patrol carts. The main reason is that the park is just too big. If we’re only on foot, a single patrol round takes at least three hours."
"And if there’s an incident inside the park, we won’t be able to get there in time!"
Su Chen didn’t say anything, just quietly watched Chen Fei and Xiao Peng in the driver’s and passenger seats, wanting to see how they would handle it.
"Alright, I understand," Chen Fei said after a moment’s thought. "Have the team leaders summarize everything you’ve all noticed recently. Come to my office later to go over it in detail."
"Yes, Captain!" The team leader nodded quickly and waved toward the guard post.
The main gate slowly slid open.
’I’m so unlucky,’ he grumbled internally. ’All I wanted was to report our recent findings to the captain and request some equipment.’
’I never expected to run right into the big boss like this. I wonder if the captain will make my life difficult later because of it.’
Chen Fei slowly drove into the park, his eyes periodically flicking to the rearview mirror to check Su Chen’s expression.
How could Su Chen have missed Chen Fei’s subtle movements? He spoke, annoyed, "What the hell are you looking at in the rearview mirror, kid? If you have something to say, just say it. What kind of man acts all timid and hesitant?"
"Heh heh... I was just afraid you’d chew me out, Mr. Su!" Chen Fei said, a bit sheepishly.
"Chew you out? Why would I do that? The park is just getting up and running. It’s completely normal that some things haven’t been thought of yet. The whole point is to discover problems during day-to-day operations and solve them promptly."
"Now, if you discovered a problem and *didn’t* solve it, *that’s* when you’d deserve a chewing out."
Su Chen paused, then continued, "The person who just reported that issue, and anyone else who identifies a problem in the future—they should be given some kind of reward. It’ll incentivize people to spot shortcomings in their work."
"Understood, Mr. Su!" Not just Chen Fei, but Xiao Peng beside him also nodded in agreement.
The office building complex was U-shaped. The building at the very front was the park’s current administrative headquarters.
Su Chen stood in the general manager’s office on the thirteenth floor, gazing out at the research base located behind the office complex. A flicker of excitement glinted in his eyes.
"It’s a miracle. To build a research base this large in less than a month... it’s incredible just thinking about it!"
"Ahem... Mr. Su, this is the cost report for the research base. It still needs your signature." Xiao Peng didn’t want to spoil Su Chen’s mood, but he had no choice. After all, the construction team was a government entity; you couldn’t just keep them waiting for payment.
Since Xiao Peng had taken over, the other party had already inquired twice, hoping they would pay the relevant fees as soon as possible. After all, they had fronted the costs for both materials and labor.
"Cost report?" Su Chen paused for a moment. He took the file from Xiao Peng and glanced through it, only then understanding what he was talking about.
’So it was the construction costs for the research base.’ A quick look showed that materials, labor, and various facilities totaled one hundred and twenty-five million!
Su Chen signed off on it without hesitation. He didn’t forget to add, "Get this money transferred to them as soon as possible. It’ll be more convenient to work with them again if we need more construction done in the future."
"Understood, Mr. Su!" As he spoke, Xiao Peng produced another document from somewhere and handed it to Su Chen.
"This is for the procurement you arranged earlier. We’ve finished purchasing everything through both domestic and international channels. The shipments should arrive on Zheng Island within a week at the latest."
Su Chen glanced at the list. It was mostly scientific instruments and raw materials, all in preparation for the chip research.
This was all stuff Su Chen had decided on with Professor Wu back when he was in Xi’an. The goal was to be able to dive into the research as soon as possible.
"Hmm. Coordinate with Professor Wu on all this once he arrives. Also, try to satisfy any other requests they might have. If there’s anything you can’t handle, call me immediately." Su Chen glanced at the procurement file. The cost wasn’t that high; the bulk of the expense was in the raw materials.