What It's Like Being a Vampire

Zhang Qian turned back to look at Director Lin: “Is he the tech prodigy you were talking about?”

Director Lin was also surprised, and questioned: “Director Zhang, you know Mr. Xiang?”

Zhang Qian’s brow furrowed slightly, seemingly unsure how to respond. Noticing this, Xiang Kun naturally intervened: “Director Zhang and I know a mutual friend who is doing a postgraduate degree in this city. We met when Director Zhang returned to China.”

“Oh, so that’s how it is. What a serendipitous occasion, haha!” Director Lin suddenly understood. The mutual friend Xiang Kun was referring to was someone he had heard of, because Zhang Qian had specifically sought this friend when she came over.

After briefly introducing Zhang Qian’s identity, and the assistant with a stoic expression, Director Lin addressed Xiang Kun’s primary curiosity.

“Mr. Xiang, in fact, a classmate of mine has mentioned your name many times before.” Director Lin mentioned a name while speaking.

This very name was Xiang Kun’s former boss whom he had served for seven years.

Because Zhang Qian was still around, Director Lin didn’t say much about Xiang Kun’s former boss, only mentioning the complimentary words his classmate had for Xiang Kun.

Xiang Kun could already imagine the complimentary words. Over the past seven years, he had devoted himself to the company, throwing himself body and soul into his work. But it wasn’t that he was altruistic and focused on the common good; rather, he was determined to help his boss get the company listed, so that he could achieve financial freedom and a social leap through his shares.

It was precisely because of this that, when the company was in trouble and had clearly taken the wrong direction, Xiang Kun acknowledged something was amiss, but convinced himself that there was still a chance and a fight left. His dream was shattered only when his boss personally announced the downfall of the company.

From the employer’s perspective, Xiang Kun was the epitome of an excellent employee over the past seven years.

Even at the end when the company went under, unlike others, he did not pester his boss for the remaining wages and severance pay. This was because he knew well that there was no hope of getting it.

Next, Director Lin introduced Xiang Kun to their project — their needs, projected budget, development timeline and other specifics.

Most of the time, it was Director Lin discussing with him. Zhang Qian and the assistant seldom interrupted, only occasionally when Director Lin would pause and ask Zhang Qian for directives.

If it was the old Xiang Kun, his attention would be solely on the project Director Lin mentioned, only thinking about technical implementation and related issues.

But now, even without actively observing, his brain was continually collecting all kinds of information from the surroundings. Thus, he quickly gathered from the attitudes, words, and narration styles of Director Lin, Zhang Qian, and the assistant, and what his old buddy had previously said on QC). a rough judgment:

The company where Director Lin worked had its primary business offline, operating direct stores in several coastal provinces. His previous “superior,” the financial backer that outsourced work to Xiang Kun and the old netizen on the forum, intended to steer the company towards internet and mobile application development.

After some exploratory trials, likely at Director Lin’s suggestion, the backer was prepared for an extensive venture into online platforms. They even intended to establish their own R&D department to vigorously develop online business.

However, at this juncture, the “backer” was replaced for unknown reasons. The “air-dropper” to succeed him was Zhang Qian, a young beauty just back from abroad.

Combining the background check he did on the way, Xiang Kun Imew that hotel was backed by a large family enterprise. Zhang Qian’s “air-drop” was not merely based on her competence; her blood ties played a primary role.

Generally, new bosses are not particularly keen on their predecessor’s plans. It was apparent that Director Lin was somewhat worried that the “grand plan” would be killed by Zhang Qian, which was why he seemed to be ingratiating towards her in his speech. While introducing the project and specific requirements to Xiang Kun, he was, in fact, indirectly describing the benefits and prospects of the project to Zhang Qian, aiming for the new boss to continue supporting it.

According to Xiang Kun’s observation, Zhang Qian seemed indifferent towards the project. She was neither opposed nor supportive. Ever since the project introduction began, her attention had always been on Xiang Kun.

Of course, Xiang Kun wouldn’t think that he had attracted the beauty. He could guess that Zhang Qian was curious about his identity, and thought about the bar’s earlier “stunt” of the paper. Yang Jie might have told her about their coincidental encounter at the bar, which would undoubtedly lead to more curiosity about him.

“So, the situation is like this, Mr. Xiang. Not only dd my old friend frequently mentioned you, and we’ve cooperated before, but I also often visit several technical forums and have read many articles by ‘Reverse Qiankun.’ So I have great confidence in your ability. I hope that you can go to Peng City to help me put together this development team. You can rest assured about the treatment; our company has always had a good reputation in this respect.” Director Lin said, a little parched, and after taking a sip of water, he eagerly awaited Xiang Kun’s reply.

Actually, when Xiang Kun heard him introduce the project, he already had an idea in mind. He had pondered on taking advantage of this project to try out some of his thoughts, and find a way to develop his own “Al Assistant”.

However, working in Peng City was out of the question he took a moment and said: “I’m sorry, but I’m not ready to leave this city just yet, so I can’t work in Peng City. However, if you accept outsourcing, I can help you design the entire system architecture and a few core functions, and you can find a team to complete the follow-ups…’

He didn’t expect that they would agree. It could be possible for small projects with lesser complexity, but for larger projects, the aftercare, expansion, and security would pose problems. If Xiang Kun couldn’t lead a team directly, they might as well find a large outsourcing company. They could locate someone responsible for potential issues, or find another capable person to form a team. As long as money was invested, talent was not hard to find. There were many who seemed more competent than Xiang Kun, at least on the surface.

Director Lin also believed this, so reluctantly he nodded, folded up the PAD used to showcase some content, and said: “If Mr. Xiang changes his mind, I hope you can contact me. My contact number is…”

Just then, Zhang Qian suddenly interrupted: “We’re going with your plan.”

Xiang Kun and Director Lin were both stunned. Xiang Kun looked towards Director Lin, implying that maybe he could explain as Zhang Qian might not be very familiar with project development or understand potential complications involved.

Just as Director Lin began speaking, Zhang Qian directly interrupted: “Director Lin, Assistant Chen, why don’t you two go up and rest? I’ll have a private chat with Mr. Xiang.”

What’s going on?

Director Lin looked surprised at Xiang Kun, who returned the sentiment.

Although he had been subconsciously collecting sensory information about Zhang Qian, he never expected her to make such a decision.

Isn’t she the boss? When dealing with “business” with subordinates, shouldn’t professional matters be handled by professionals?

What do the two of them have to chat about? She doesn’t know anything about

software engineering..