Solving Middle Age Crisis by Intelligence System

Early the next morning, Qi Yun received a call from Zhong Rui. Thinking that he had nothing planned for the day, he decided to join Zhong Rui in attending the bidding event.

The two of them met at the entrance of the Bird City New District Public Security Bureau, where Grand Software had also sent several project managers and architects.

There were a total of four companies bidding today. Besides Qi Yun's group, the other two were companies brought in by Grand Software just to fill seats, while the remaining one, Huaying Technology, Zhong Rui didn't know much about.

The group entered a spacious conference room, verified their identities, and quietly waited for the bids to begin.

From the corner, Qi Yun turned to Zhong Rui and asked, "Who are the people from Huaying Technology?"

He felt inexplicably uneasy about this sudden participant.

Because in this ecosystem, usually no one would come just to hang around unless they had their own avenues...

But judging from Zhang Dayong's previous attitude, he should have absolute authority on this project...

Zhong Rui scanned the room and, without drawing attention, pointed to a group on the right front side, "It should be them."

Qi Yun looked in that direction. A middle-aged man opposite seemed to sense his gaze and gave him a meaningful smile.

Just then, the door of the conference room swung open again, and several judges filed in, signaling the official start of the bidding.

Staff members placed the bids from each company on the table for the judges to meticulously review.

The entire room was so quiet that only the rustling sound of paper turning could be heard.

After about ten minutes, a staff member from the bidding agency stepped onto the stage and said, "Will the representative from Yunqing Technology please come forward to present your project proposal?"

A technical lead from Grand Software, sitting to Qi Yun's right, stood up and walked to the podium.

In fact, for projects like this, especially government ones, the technical requirements aren't particularly high. Most of them reuse mature frameworks from a few years back, with minor modifications.

In contrast, systems aimed at individual users might not be on the cutting edge but at least aren't lagging far behind newer foreign technologies.

The explanations from the subsequent two seat-filler companies and the competitor, Huaying Technology, were all quite similar.

After all four companies had explained their technical proposals, the judges retired to an adjacent small meeting room to begin the evaluation.

During this time, Qi Yun intentionally observed the group from Huaying Technology at the right front, noting that they all appeared relaxed and confident, as if victory was assured.

After waiting about an hour, the judges returned to the stage, and the agency staff began the bid announcements.

"Dingsheng Technology, bid 6.38 million, overall score 81.

Changxiang Software, bid 6.35 million, overall score 82.

Yunqing Technology, bid 5.98 million, overall score 92.

Huaying Technology, bid 5.95 million, overall score 93."

"The winner of the Bird City New District Public Security Bureau Data Collection System Upgrade Project is Huaying Technology!"

Following the announcement of the results, the conference room fell into a silence akin to a pin drop.

The expressions on the faces of the Grand Software team were filled with disbelief.

Zhong Rui gaped slightly, staring blankly at Qi Yun.

The people from the two seat-filler companies appeared indifferent, quickly gathering their documents to leave.

The middle-aged man from Huaying Technology glanced over and smiled while slightly bowing his head towards Qi Yun.

Although Qi Yun was full of doubts inside, he maintained a calm demeanor on the surface, offering a faint smile in return.

It seemed like the other party had formidable connections; no wonder they seemed so assured before the bidding.

Even though Qi Yun was eager to go to the office and ask Zhang Dayong about the situation, his rationale told him that would not be the right move.

Rushing to question them right after losing the bid would somewhat resemble coming to settle scores.

Given their relationship, he believed Zhang Dayong would take the initiative to explain the reason.

"Let's go."

He stood up, patted Zhong Rui on the shoulder, and then said to the leader of the Grand Software team, "You all worked hard today. You can head back; I'll explain the situation to President Huang later."

"Alright, President Qi."

After leaving the conference room, Qi Yun retrieved his phone from the locker and found a message from Zhang Dayong, sent as he had entered the conference room.

It simply read "Circumstances have changed."

Qi Yun pondered for a moment, chose not to reply, and led Zhong Rui towards the parking lot.

Just then, a black Range Rover abruptly stopped in front of them.

The window of the driver's seat slowly lowered, revealing a familiar face.

It was Re Lijiang, who had suffered a silent loss at Qi Yun's hands last time.

Re Lijiang grinned mischievously, scrutinizing Qi Yun up and down, "Mr. Qi, we meet again."

At this point, Qi Yun understood fully well what was happening; Huaying Technology was clearly brought in by this guy.

Although I don't know what price this guy paid to snatch the speaking rights originally belonging to Zhang Dayong, at least it proves one thing: the opponent's influence in Bird City is not insignificant.

Qi Yun gave a faint smile, said nothing more, and walked towards his BMW 5 Series.

Defeat is defeat, there will be another chance to win next time; only the incompetent choose to talk big at such times.

Seeing this, Re Lijiang didn't say much either, rolled up the window, and drove towards the gate.

Back in the car, Qi Yun took out his phone and dialed Huang Juncai's number.

Once the call connected, without waiting for him to speak, Huang Juncai on the other end said first: "Hehe, President Qi, I just heard from my people about the situation, it's alright, we'll have another chance to work together next time."

"Thank you President Huang for understanding. It is indeed a pity this time that there was unexpected competition." Qi Yun said with a bit of helplessness and apologetically.

Huang Juncai laughed heartily on the phone: "Business is like a battlefield, such situations are all too normal."

"Hmm." Qi Yun nodded, not dwelling further, and instead said: "Your company also incurred some costs this time, since the project didn't go through, these expenses should be on me."

Designing the project plan, finding a company to accompany the bid, and bringing so many people to participate in the bidding all required money. Qi Yun didn't want to take advantage of the other side.

Upon hearing this, Huang Jun quickly said: "President Qi, there's no need for that, it's too formal. The accompanying bid companies are all from friends, and we can count as friends too, so no need to worry about these minor details."

Hearing the sincerity in his voice, Qi Yun didn't insist: "Then thank you, President Huang. Call me when you have time, my treat, let's get together."

Huang Juncai laughed heartily: "Alright, once this busy period is over, I'll contact you, and we can find a good place to have a chat."

"Okay, goodbye."

After hanging up, Qi Yun let out a long sigh, adjusted his mindset, then turned to Zhong Rui and asked: "How are things with Yuan Hua?"

Zhong Rui quickly straightened up and replied: "We got him a room upstairs, he moved in last night."

"In addition, we also specifically set aside an office for him; the server has been purchased, and the telecom people will come in the afternoon to set up the network."

Qi Yun nodded, patted his shoulder, and said: "From now on, your work will no longer be just about managing finances, you'll also be responsible for some daily chores."

Zhong Rui nodded: "Alright boss, I will handle whatever tasks you assign me seriously."

"Alright, starting this month, your salary will increase to ten thousand." Qi Yun showed a satisfied smile and started painting a bright picture, "Work hard, and once the company grows stronger, I'll make you the vice president."

Upon hearing this, Zhong Rui's eyes instantly gleamed with joy, and his face was full of excitement.

He quickly said: "Thank you boss! I will definitely work hard and not let you down."

"Alright, you can take a taxi back yourself."

...

After Zhong Rui left, Qi Yun picked up his phone again and dialed a stranger's number.

The phone rang a few times before it was finally answered, and a slightly hoarse voice came from the other side: "Hello, who is this?"

Qi Yun was startled, asking: "Why does your voice sound like that?"

On the other side, deep in a forest wilderness.

Qiu Jiahao was also dumbfounded; the voice from the receiver sounded somewhat familiar to him.

But he just got this number the day before yesterday, and few people knew about it.

He didn't answer the question, instinctively touching his still slightly sore throat, recalling an unpleasant experience in the park, a shiver ran through his heart.

"Who are you? Speak, or I'll hang up."

"It's Qi Yun."

Qi Yun clicked his tongue, thinking that this guy had it rough in the park, his voice sounded worse than a duck's call.

Hearing it was Qi Yun, Qiu Jiahao was slightly stunned, then his voice carried a bit of complex emotion: "Qi Yun? How did you get this number? What do you want?"

Qi Yun didn't waste time with idle talk and said straightforwardly: "Do you have a batch of jadeite that you want to sell?"

Upon hearing this, Qiu Jiahao was so shocked that his phone almost slipped out of his hand, he stammered and asked, "How... how do you know?"

He indeed had a batch of jadeite; he and another person from Yunnan Province had risked great danger to escape from the park, but the park people hadn't let them go and were still hunting them down.

They had no choice but to keep running. Later, the other person from Yunnan Province was unfortunately shot; although Qiu Jiahao managed to get him to a village doctor to treat the wound, the person still bled out and died.

Before dying, the Yunnan Province person told him that he was a jadeite trader and had hidden a batch of jadeite near the border, giving them all to him.

Qiu Jiahao fled all the way and finally found that batch of jadeite, but afraid that those people were still looking for him, he didn't dare to sell it openly, planning instead to find a black market to sell it if possible.

"Don't worry about how I know." Qi Yun's tone was flat as he continued, "Just tell me if you have it, I'll pay for it."

Qiu Jiahao steadied himself, still shocked at how the other party seemed to know everything about his situation, but at present this was indeed an opportunity for him.

He took a deep breath and replied: "I do have a batch of jadeite, all unprocessed materials."

"Where did the materials come from?" Qi Yun continued to ask.

"They were given to me by someone else," Qiu Jiahao replied truthfully.

Qi Yun was a bit surprised to hear this; materials worth eight million could just be given away?