All the decorations were luxurious and high-quality, with fully equipped appliances and furniture, freeing the engineers, technicians, and R&D experts from any domestic concerns. They were provided with the utmost convenience and the most comfortable environment, allowing them to focus solely on their work and research without being distracted by their personal lives.

Their compensation packages were also top-tier, designed to match and even surpass those in Silicon Valley. These people had come to work and conduct research in their home country, naturally fueled by a degree of patriotic passion. However, passion wanes over time; it is impossible to remain in a perpetual state of excitement. Only by providing the best living conditions and salaries—the most tangible rewards—could the company retain such talent for the long term.

These measures also served to attract other talented individuals who were still overseas and hesitating to return. Among the repatriated staff, many surely had friends, colleagues, and classmates still working in Silicon Valley, and they were bound to keep in touch. When those overseas learned of the generous living environment and lucrative compensation their peers were enjoying back home, some would inevitably be tempted to return and contribute to their country.

HuaXin Company was just getting started. Its current staff of engineers and researchers was far from sufficient, so there was still a pressing need to attract a large number of overseas talents.

When Liang Song heard that Yi Anguo had arrived with several carloads of New Year's goods to greet the staff, he hurried out to welcome him. Regardless of anything else, Yi Anguo was an investor and the boss. Liang Song was more than just a tech-focused scientist; he understood such courtesies. Moreover, Liang Song was genuinely grateful to Yi Anguo for giving him this incredible opportunity to showcase his abilities.

He found working at HuaXin much more relaxing than his time at BaoDao. He felt completely unburdened and free of pressure, able to design and create according to his own vision. Although the company had not yet begun mass production, Liang Song was already brimming with ambition. Yi Anguo had asked about orders, but Liang Song had bluntly told him there was no need to worry.

The domestic market alone, he explained, was large enough to absorb their entire output, let alone the international market. Once their technology and process precision improved, competing on the global stage would not be a problem.

Yi Anguo was only asking casually, as he had faith that Liang Song could deliver. If not for his intervention and the establishment of HuaXin, Liang Song would have been headhunted by Stick Country. Within two years, he would have advanced their chip fabrication process from 28 nanometers all the way to 14 nanometers. He would have also helped them snatch a massive number of orders from BaoJi Electric, enraging the latter to the point of taking Liang Song and the Stick Country company to court. BaoJi Electric accused Stick Country of violating its technology patents and Liang Song of stealing company secrets. They ultimately forced Liang Song to leave Stick Country and banned him from working in the industry for several years.

Yi Anguo subtly reminded Liang Song to be careful to avoid patent infringement. He suggested they could afford to move a little slower, starting from the low-end market before considering the high-end. It was better to satisfy the domestic market first before looking abroad. After all, the high-end semiconductor chip market was dominated by major international corporations, while China's domestic market primarily consisted of low-end chips. Even smartphone chips were mostly imported from large international firms, including several from BaoDao.

Liang Song suggested gathering everyone in the large conference room so Yi Anguo could conveniently address them all with a few words. Yi Anguo told him not to bother with such formalities. Instead, he asked Liang Song to accompany him on an inspection of the workshop, where he could extend his greetings along the way.

Liang Song had no objection and escorted them into the factory, explaining the situation in the various workshops as they toured the plant. The factory was vast, with numerous departments. Though it was a bit cold outside, the workshops were comfortable. The enclosed cleanrooms were maintained at a constant temperature year-round by a central air-conditioning system.

Even though they were still in the debugging phase, not yet in mass production, and without a large number of assembly-line workers, the machinery was being strictly calibrated under normal operating conditions. Entering the cleanroom required changing into a cleanroom suit and shoes. Liang Song had prepared a new, unworn set for Yi Anguo.

Yi Anguo was no stranger to the procedure and changed quickly. Turning his head, he saw his young assistant, Zhou Mengdie, fumbling clumsily with her suit and couldn't help but laugh.

"Did you take off your jacket? Wearing a cleanroom suit over your jacket... only you would think of that. You're going to be boiling in there!"

He then turned to the other woman. "Ding Jing, you're quite sharp. No one told you, yet you knew to take off your jacket first."

"It's not cold in here at all, so of course you wouldn't wear a jacket! I've been a top student my whole life. Did you think I wouldn't be smart?" Ding Jing said smugly.

Zhou Mengdie looked hurt. "Am I the only one who's dumb? I graduated from a prestigious university too."

"You *only* graduated from a prestigious university. Ding Jing here has a Ph.D. in Finance from a renowned American university and a master's in law. By comparison, you are indeed a bit slow," Yi Anguo said with a chuckle.

"Boss! Aren't you just a middle school graduate?" Zhou Mengdie muttered under her breath.

Hearing this, Ding Jing couldn't help but laugh. "That's right! Someone who only finished middle school has the nerve to call someone from a prestigious university dumb."

Yi Anguo shot Zhou Mengdie a glare. "The New Year is just around the corner, and I was thinking of giving you a very generous bonus. It seems you don't want it, daring to call your boss dumb."

"Boss! I was wrong! Can the bonus you give me be even more generous?" Zhou Mengdie quickly bowed her head and apologized. This is all for that big year-end bonus! It's tough being a wage earner!

"That depends on your performance, and on my mood. If I'm in a good mood, I might give you tens of thousands more," Yi Anguo said, nodding in satisfaction.

"Then, Boss, what would it take to make you *very* happy?" Zhou Mengdie asked with a smile. "I hope I can make you extremely happy, so you can give me hundreds of thousands more."

"What? Tens of thousands isn't enough for you? Now you want hundreds of thousands?" Yi Anguo was surprised by his little assistant's boldness today.

"If you being a little happy is worth tens of thousands, then you being extremely happy should be worth hundreds of thousands, right? Did I say something wrong? Is my math incorrect?" Zhou Mengdie asked with an innocently cute expression.

"Right! You're absolutely right. I'll give you hundreds of thousands more when the time comes. Satisfied now?" Yi Anguo said with a sigh of resignation.

This girl is really learning to press her advantage! I just said she was a little slow, and now she's extorting me for hundreds of thousands!

It was just a small joke, of course. Yi Anguo wasn't petty enough to dock his assistant's bonus over something so trivial. He also knew that Zhou Mengdie was just kidding around with him. It was normal for a boss and their employee to joke around and tease each other occasionally. It was nothing serious and no reason to make a big deal out of it.

After they finished changing, they all entered the cleanroom to look around. Before entering, however, they had to wash their hands, put on rubber gloves, and don face masks. They were covered from head to toe, with only their eyes visible, making it difficult to tell them apart. Then, they had to use a lint roller on their suits and pass through an air shower, where powerful jets of air blew away any remaining dust, ensuring they were truly particle-free before entering the workshop.

Inside the cleanroom, they saw dozens of engineers calibrating the already-running equipment. It was Yi Anguo's first time seeing a workshop for producing integrated circuit chips, and he observed everything with great interest. Liang Song explained things as they went, but Yi Anguo only grasped half of it.

Finally, Liang Song introduced Yi Anguo to the engineers and technicians, explaining that the boss had come to visit them and had brought gifts and cash-filled red envelopes. Everyone welcomed this news warmly. Yi Anguo gave a brief speech, encouraging them to work hard and assuring them that the company would treat them well.

Afterward, they visited several other cleanrooms and a few of the R&D departments. This was especially true in the smartphone R&D department. Unfortunately, they had yet to produce a prototype and were still in the process of developing the phone's user interface, storage solutions, internal components, and external design.

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