It has been a week since the hospital incident with Han Lingshi, at this moment, Hao Ren had just come back after delivering food to his wife. The relation between the two of them has reached a new high. They would spend time talking to each other whenever they had nothing to do. Han Lingshi was often worried if someone from her family discovered Hao Ren's tracks by sneaking up.
So, Hao Ren asked Xiao Mei to alert them as soon as someone looked for them and disguise the data. That done, Hao Ren concentrated the rest of his energy to his work. He solved the accommodation crisis for the employees and they were all happy working here.
At this moment, Hao Ren was sitting in his cabin with his eyes closed. Someone knocked the door, and Hao Ren saw his R&D head, Hymn Klaus. Hao Ren waved his hand to call the guy inside. The latter said, "Boss, the numbers are in."
Hao Ren nodded and asked, "How is it looking?"
A week ago, after Han Lingshi left for her work, Hao Ren came to the office of Thunder Tech and they released the new Operating System at public domains. They waited for a week before assessing the results. Hymn Klaus reported with a smile, "10,000 users are on board."
Hao Ren looked at his excited expression and said, "Do you think this is a big number?"
His words poured down a bucket of cold water on Klaus's enthusiasm. Hao Ren stood up and looked outside the window of his office as he said, "When the the Byte OS came out, it had seventy thousand downloads in a week. The singularity OS had nearly a million downloads. Yet, you are happy with just a measly ten thousand? You need to think big Klaus."
Hymn Klaus understood that Hao Ren wanted to take on the big shots. If it was somebody else, he would have said that it was impossible and that they were reaching for the stars, however, in case of Hao Ren, and the Horizon OS. It was indeed possible to reach for the stars and capture them.
He asked, "Boss, what should we do?"
Hao Ren waved his hand and said, "You can go and focus on the development of the new product, I will handle this matter."
Hymn Klaus left after placing the report on the table. The cabin was small but it had all the basic facilities. Hao Ren waited for the door to close before he said, "Xiao Mei, find me some brilliant prospects for a marketing head and a few talented students from the grassroot level who graduated with marketing major. Also find me a group of people who specialize in public relations."
Xiao Mei replied, "Getting to it right away, Boss."
Now that Xiao Mei had been downloaded inside the server, she was growing stronger and faster at a tidal pace. It took her five minutes to look for the talents. Hao Ren sat down on the chair and screened the data on his screen. After a few minutes, he said, "Give me an extensive history of their personal beliefs about how the business should be run? If you find anyone who is tired of their old job and wish to change the market, highlight them."
Xiao Mei replied positively and the investigation began. The speed was fast and the results were efficient. She said, "Boss, only one of them fit the description."
Hao Ren asked, "Who?"
Xiao Mei replied, "Markus Bourne, age forty-six. Currently workings in Byte Han Nation Headquarters. He is a marketing head of the region, but he has been unsatisfied with the way Byte has been working for the past few years. However, he has applied in Singularity for a job but they don't hire anyone from Byte."
Hao Ren asked, "Why not try in other companies? He is just a marketing head, can he not sale anything else?"
Xiao Mei replied, "He was an engineer, and took liking to the tech, but after an employed academic pursuit of marketing, he became a market head. He did try to run his own business but never succeeded due to his lack of a direction. However, he achieved great results in his job and thus his present designation."
Hao Ren nodded and said, "Lets have a meeting with this Mister Bourne, shall we?"
Xiao Mei asked, "Boss, where shall I schedule an appointment?"
Hao Ren chuckled and said, "Xiao Mei, do you think a man in his position will give appointment to someone who has just started walking, easily?"
The AI replied after a few seconds and said, "You are right, Boss. What shall we do then?"
Although Xiao Mei is an advanced AI, but she is still growing and also, she does not have the authority to make any decision on her own. Hao Ren said, "Can you send him an email with our OS file in it?"
Xiao Mei replied, "E-mail sent."
Hao Ren nodded and said, "Get me a secure line to his office telephone, let me have a conversation with him. Ensure that you are not tracked."
Xiao Mei replied, "Don't worry boss, I have come up with a security protocol, they won't be able to track me, since I will not be disrupting anything."
Hao Ren nodded, and placed his phone next to his ear.
...
Markus Bourne was sitting in his office going through some documents when he received an email. He checked the sender and found it to be anonymous. Just when he was about to discard the email in the spam folder, the telephone on his desk rang. He pressed the hands-free button and said, "Hello."
From the other side, he heard an unfamiliar voice, "Hello, Mister Bourne, good evening to you."
Markus Bourne furrowed his brows and asked, "Who are you?"
Hao Ren replied, "I am the person who sent you the e-mail just now. Don't disconnect the call, I know this is a bit abrupt but I also know that you are a man of science yourself. The e-mail is just a copy of a new Operating System my company developed. You can scan it with your anti-virus if you want to. I will call you back in ten minutes. I would like to hear your opinion on it."
Then Hao Ren disconnected the call. Markus Bourne was perplexed, he did not expect something like this to happen. He looked outside the glass wall to see if any of the employees were pranking him. He even called his secretary to check. His gaze would move to the e-mail in his private inbox.
As a person who has seen the thick and thin of the business world, he knew it very well that if someone could find his private e-mail address, and even call him on an office intercom without triggering anyone, this person was either a genius or a reckless fool. Anyhow, after lightning up a cigarette, he clicked on the e-mail, and ten minutes later, his eyes were sparkling as if he had seen a treasure.
He stubbed the cigarette in the ashtray, and suddenly the intercom rang again. Markus was stunned and picked up the receiver. He said, "Hello."
Hao Ren spoke, "Hello, again. What do you think, Mister Bourne? Is my product interesting?"
Markus replied, "It definitely is interesting, however, I still have trouble believing if this is true."
Hao Ren said, "You can look for us on the public forums where people upload their inventions and look for Horizon OS. You can easily find the copy."
Markus did not wait to disconnect the call and quickly searched on his computer. Sure enough he got the files listed on forums. He asked, "May I know who you are?"
Hao Ren introduced himself. Markus asked, "Mister Hao, what do you want from me? Why are you showing me this information?"
Hao Ren replied honestly, "I want to hire you as my Marketing Head. I do not have much to offer but 20000 per month and two percent share in the annual profit. I know that you have been tired with Byte and their approach to tech and that's why I came to ask you. However, philosophy aside, you are on the top and my offer may sound like a joke to you. But fortune favors the bold."
Markus chuckled and said, "You sound like an interesting person Mister Hao, but since you have posted this file on public forums, I can see that you do not want to charge any money for it, am I right? What is the point of this conversation then?"
Hao Ren replied calmly, "It is true that I would not charge a penny for this version of the OS, however, tech is all about moving forward. I have many ideas that I wish to cash on, also, Thunder Technologies will not stop at making software programs. I have a clear direction of what I want to do, I wonder if you have the direction too."
Markus was surprised, he checked Hao Ren's information on his computer and it all verified, he did not expect this young man to be so clear and speak so resolutely. He asked, "What if I am still not convinced?"
Hao Ren replied, "Then it was nice talking to you, thank you for your time. If you are interested, you can come and find me on the address I sent to your e-mail. Have a good evening."
Hao Ren did not wait for the other person to answer and disconnected the call. He was looking for an employee and not a friend. He didn't want Markus to think of himself as a vulnerable desperate person.
...
Xiao Mei asked, "Boss, why did you disconnect the call? Will he agree?"
Hao Ren smiled and asked, "Did he stop using our product?"
Xiao Mei replied, "No, he is still exploring."
Hai Ren replied confidently, "He will come. That is how humans work. You ignite their curiosity and they come over by themselves."
Xiao Mei asked, "So, humans think similar to cats?"
Hao Ren chuckled at this before they began to look for other people to create a small Marketing team, and a Public relations team. He frowned all of a sudden and said, "Won't this be easy if I had a manager and could rest easy?"
In his mind he was thinking how other protagonists would hire a manager before they even start the business, but Hao Ren knew it was not that easy. Even if he had the system, he was just an average guy at the bottom. Luring Markus Bourne was his best for the moment. He sighed as he decided to go back to work when, Xiao Mei said, "Boss, someone named Lynn Carter sent an e-mail."
Hao Ren was confused as this name did not ring any bells to him, and asked, "Who is this person?"
Xiao Mei replied, "She is a colleague of Markus Bourne, she is 32 years old, and works as the regional manager in Golden Flakes."
Hao Ren raised his brows and mumbled, "Am I really so lucky to have found a manager without even looking for her? Xiao Mei, find her details."
Hao Ren began to head hunt to create a structure for his company. Suddenly, Xiao Mei said, "Boss, what if I handle this? You are getting late for your date."
Hao Ren checked the watch before he picked up his keys and phone to rush out of the office. He was having a movie date with Han Lingshi tonight and almost forgot about it.