Chapter 194 - 192: Project Test
Reginald Jennings was also quick to act, immediately stepping to one side to make a call.
Randall Jennings picked up his napkin and wiped his mouth, then looked at Cecilia Sterling and said gently, "I noticed you barely ate just now. There’s no rush. Eat your fill here before you go. Nothing is more important than having a proper meal."
Cecilia Sterling nodded with a slightly sheepish smile. Just then, Randall Jennings slowly rose to his feet. She moved to stand as well, but Randall Jennings raised a hand, gesturing for her to remain seated. "You keep eating. I need to get some rest. I have a lot to take care of this afternoon. You can coordinate with Vice President Jennings on the next steps."
This was his habit. No matter how busy his day was, he would always take an hour-long nap at noon to recharge.
"Goodbye, Mr. Jennings."
"Goodbye, Director Jennings."
Cecilia Sterling stood up anyway, and she and Timothy Rowe politely said goodbye to Randall Jennings.
After Randall Jennings left, and before Reginald Jennings had returned from his call, Timothy Rowe finally let his excitement show. His eyes sparkled as he looked at Cecilia Sterling. "Cecilia, we’re going to partner with the Jennings Group!"
Cecilia Sterling was both happy and surprised. She was happy that things had progressed so smoothly, but surprised that it had been *too* smooth.
’Mr. Jennings is completely different from what I imagined. He didn’t show a single trace of resistance to my team or the project from beginning to end. The debt of gratitude to my mother must be a factor, but I’m still sincerely grateful for this.’
Timothy Rowe couldn’t wait to share the good news in the group chat. The moment everyone saw it, the chat instantly blew up.
Seeing everyone’s joyful messages in the chat, Cecilia Sterling felt a surge of happiness, but also a sense of relief. To be honest, taking a hard stance with the Goodman Group today had put a lot of pressure on her.
She had been worried it wouldn’t be easy to find another company willing to trust them and give them a chance.
But now with the Jennings Group, everything was back on track.
"Timothy, you barely ate anything either, did you? Go on, have something to eat."
Timothy Rowe nodded. He had been too reserved and nervous while talking with Mr. Jennings earlier, so he hadn’t had much of an appetite. Now, however, he was indeed starting to feel a bit hungry.
"Cecilia, thank you for all your hard work." Timothy Rowe said sincerely after sitting down. "What you said at our team meeting really motivated us, but I never imagined you’d deliver on all your promises, let alone so quickly."
"Whether it was the Goodman Group or the Jennings Group... honestly, without you, I don’t think we would have ever had a chance to even get a meeting with corporations of this scale. An opportunity like this for the project is a massive leap forward. It’s all thanks to you."
"We’re a team. There’s no need to say all that. Everyone has worked really hard. As long as we can secure this partnership, we all stand to benefit."
Timothy Rowe nodded, visibly moved. "Still, I just want to say thank you."
Cecilia Sterling shook her head with a resigned sigh. "Please stop. You’ve said it so many times. Message received."
Just then, Reginald Jennings returned. He casually pulled out a chair and sat down. Meeting the hopeful gazes of Cecilia Sterling and Timothy Rowe, he announced quietly, "I’ve made the arrangements. We can proceed with the test this afternoon."
Cecilia Sterling and Timothy Rowe exchanged a joyful glance. It was finally happening.
Reginald Jennings then elaborated, "The Jennings Group’s AI division is still in its early stages, so our current products are relatively unpolished. The categories we’ve dabbled in are mostly mass-market items, like smart speakers, robot vacuums, and voice-reading pens. To be honest, compared to similar products from major corporations, ours don’t really have a competitive edge."
They’re just too basic.
He looked at Timothy Rowe with unconcealed admiration. "However, your product provides the greatest improvements for basic, low-level code. The more foundational the code, the more it needs to be upgraded and optimized—that’s the core function of your product. The more advanced the code, the less room there is for improvement, and the smaller the impact of your product. Therefore, our products are actually the perfect testbed for your project, allowing it to perform at its best and achieve maximum results."
Reginald Jennings was clearly an expert in this field, having already formed his own analysis and insights based on what Timothy Rowe had explained earlier.
Timothy Rowe nodded eagerly. "You’re absolutely right, Vice President Jennings. That’s exactly how it works."
"I’m really looking forward to it," Reginald Jennings said with a hint of excitement. "I hope the test is a success."
At the same time, Estelle Goodman sent Cecilia a message on WhatsApp.
"Court is in recess for an hour and a half. We’ll resume in the afternoon."
Cecilia quickly replied to ask about the progress: "Is it going well?"
Estelle: "It’s a total steamroll. Lawyer Quincy is a god in the courtroom. He has the other side retreating at every turn. We’re definitely going to win."
Cecilia: "That’s great. I’m tied up here for now."
Estelle: "No worries. Mr. Lawson said he’s treating everyone to a celebration dinner tonight after the divorce is finalized."
Cecilia smiled at her phone screen and replied with an "OK" hand gesture emoji.
Her faint, unconscious smile was truly beautiful. The midday sun, streaming through the floor-to-ceiling windows, gilded her cheeks and hair in a soft halo. Reginald Jennings’s gaze was instinctively drawn to her, and he heard himself ask, "What should I call you?"
Cecilia instinctively looked up. Seeing Reginald Jennings looking at her, she quickly replied, "Cecilia Sterling. You can just call me Cecilia."
"Forgive me for asking, but I’m a little curious. How do you know our chairman?"
At his question, Cecilia put down her phone and slowly recounted the past events to Reginald Jennings.
Reginald Jennings understood halfway through her story. When Cecilia finished, he sighed in mild surprise. "So it was your mother who saved him that time."
’Though the Old Master was never told, the rest of the Jennings Family was aware of it. It had been a truly nerve-wracking incident.’
’No wonder my second brother was willing to meet this young woman, even during the lunch hour he prefers to spend alone. It’s just like him to go out of his way for her to repay that debt of gratitude.’
After the meal, Cecilia and Timothy rode in Reginald Jennings’s car directly to the Jennings Group.
Having been notified by Reginald Jennings, the Artificial Intelligence department had already begun preparations. Before long, Maverick and Paige arrived on-site with the test machine and a backup.
The department was new, but it was well-organized. Cecilia and her team waited less than an hour before being notified that they could begin the test.
Cecilia took out the key and handed it to Timothy Rowe. Although she didn’t understand the technical side, she leaned in to watch. Now that things had reached this stage, she was surprisingly calm, her expression placid as she stared at the dense wall of code on the screen, which looked like complete gibberish to her.
After the key loaded the 154-digit super-password, the two projects began to converge and integrate. Whenever a column of code merged successfully, a green check mark would appear at the end of it.
Cecilia knew that a check mark meant no errors had occurred, but she had no idea that integrating a program could take so long.