RBCT Chapter 345 Could it be... that I was really deceived?
Chapter 345 Could it be... that I was really deceived?
The days passed quickly.
Inside that very high-end office building in downtown Seoul.
Li Menghan's AI large-scale model company is still operating.
These past few days, whenever Li Menghan doesn't have classes at school, he comes to the company to stay.
He was sitting in the very spacious boss's office.
Although he didn't actually understand anything, he was completely baffled by the dense code on the computer screen.
However, he felt that as a big boss, he had to come to the company every day to inspect the work in order to appear professional and responsible.
This afternoon, Li Menghan came to the company again.
He had only been sitting in the boss's chair for a short while.
Wang Lei walked in with a stack of documents in his hand and a big smile on his face.
Wang Lei walked to the desk and gently placed the document on it.
He looked at Li Menghan, his tone extremely excited, and loudly reported to the leader:
"Boss Li! Great news! Incredibly great news!"
Upon hearing the good news, Li Menghan immediately sat up straight and asked expectantly:
"Oh? What good news? Has our large-scale AI model been successfully created?"
Wang Lei nodded repeatedly, gesturing exaggeratedly with his hands in the air:
"That's right! Mr. Li, thanks to our technical team's tireless efforts over the past few days, the core infrastructure of our large-scale model has been fully completed!"
"We have now successfully entered the most crucial testing phase!"
Wang Lei became more and more excited as he spoke, his voice trembling:
"Boss Li, you have no idea how amazing our model is!"
"As soon as our testing is complete and the product is launched, I guarantee we'll see revenue within a month!"
"By then, the companies lining up to buy our technology will have worn down our doorstep!"
"Our future is absolutely bright! A market capitalization of several hundred million or even billions is a very conservative estimate!"
Li Menghan sat in the boss's chair.
As he listened to Wang Lei draw these big, round cakes, he felt excited.
He could almost see himself becoming a real boss, making countless dollars.
He was already thinking that once he made money, the first thing he would do was buy a few more expensive sports cars.
Then he drove his sports car to his sister and Huo Qian to show off.
Let them know just how good Li Menghan's judgment is, and how strong his business acumen is!
"Good! Well done!"
Li Menghan slapped the table with great satisfaction and praised loudly:
"Wang Lei, you've worked hard. Once the project is successful, you'll definitely receive a bonus!"
When Wang Lei heard about the bonus, his smile became even brighter.
but.
He didn't leave immediately, but stood there, rubbing his hands together, a somewhat embarrassed expression on his face.
He looked at Li Menghan, lowered his voice slightly, and tentatively said:
"Um... Mr. Li, although our project is progressing very smoothly..."
"However, we are now facing a very urgent problem."
Li Menghan frowned and asked:
"What's the problem? Just tell me."
Wang Lei swallowed hard and said very carefully:
"Mr. Li, as you know, large AI models require extremely large amounts of computing power during the testing phase."
"The servers we bought before are now completely insufficient."
"If we don't immediately purchase more top-of-the-line supercomputers, our testing simply can't continue. All our previous efforts will have been wasted!"
Wang Lei looked into Li Menghan's eyes, his tone becoming very sincere:
"Boss Li, in order for our project to succeed smoothly, so that we can make a lot of money right away..."
"I still need some investment. Once that money arrives, I guarantee I can get the product out there immediately!"
Li Menghan heard that another investment was needed.
He did a quick mental calculation.
He had already transferred 120 million yuan to Wang Lei.
This is no small sum.
However, when Wang Lei said that the project would be successful soon and that they would make a lot of money immediately.
Li Menghan's burning desire for success completely overwhelmed her reason.
He looked at Wang Lei and asked very generously:
"Okay, since it's equipment we absolutely need, then let's buy it."
How much more money do you need?
Wang Lei took a deep breath, held up five fingers, and said very loudly:
"Five hundred million!"
"Boss Li, with just 500 million, we can buy the world's most advanced equipment! Our project can take off immediately!"
Five hundred million.
Li Menghan's heart skipped a beat when she heard the number.
He currently has just over 700 million yuan left in his black card.
If Wang Lei were given 500 million yuan, his allowance would be completely depleted.
There are only a little over 200 million left.
but.
Li Menghan did not hesitate.
He felt that how could one be afraid to spend money when doing big business?
You can't catch a wolf without risking your cub.
If we can make this project a success, what's five hundred million? We'll make back five billion, five hundred billion!
Li Menghan readily took out her phone.
"Okay! Five hundred million it is! I'll transfer it to you right away!"
In less than a minute, a huge sum of 500 million yuan was transferred directly to the company's account.
Wang Lei looked at the payment notification on his phone.
He was so excited that tears almost streamed down his face.
He screamed wildly in his heart:
"What an absolute idiot! So easy to fool! I'm going to be rich this time!"
Wang Lei bowed repeatedly to Li Menghan and loudly promised:
"Boss Li, don't worry! I'll get on it right away! I definitely won't let you down!"
After Wang Lei finished speaking, he took the documents and was so happy that he almost jumped up and ran out of the office.
The next two days.
Li Menghan arrives at the company on time every day.
He wanted to see what the supercomputer he bought for 500 million yuan actually looked like.
I also wanted to see if the company had become busier.
but.
What he found very strange was...
He came for two consecutive days and found that the situation in the company was exactly the same as before.
There were no newly purchased computers, nor any super servers.
Even the company's employees were still just Wang Lei and a few students.
Not a single newly recruited professional or technical personnel has been seen.
Fan Xi still sits at the front desk every day playing on her phone, yawning from boredom.
This afternoon.
Fan Xi saw Li Menghan walk out of the office.
She quickly stepped forward, grabbed Li Menghan's arm, and complained with great grievance:
"Menghan, when are you finally going to arrange a job for me?"
"Wang Lei completely ignores me. I sit here every day like a wooden doll. I'm practically growing mushrooms."
Li Menghan heard Fan Xi's complaints.
He also felt that something was very wrong.
He led Fan Xi directly to Wang Lei's desk.
Li Menghan looked at Wang Lei, who was browsing the web on his computer, and her tone became serious as she asked loudly:
"Wang Lei, what exactly is going on?"
"I just gave you 500 million two days ago! What about those supercomputers? Why haven't you bought them back?"
"Also, why is there only a handful of you in the company? Why aren't you hiring more people? Why aren't you giving Fan Xi any work?"
Wang Lei heard Li Menghan's question.
He wasn't flustered at all.
He stood up, his face beaming with smiles, and explained with practiced ease:
"Boss Li, please don't be angry, let me explain."
"Those supercomputers are all imported from abroad, the procedures are very complicated, and the transportation takes a long time. How could it be that the money was paid the day before yesterday and it can be delivered today? That doesn't make sense."
Wang Lei continued:
"As for hiring, Boss Li, we're working on a cutting-edge high-tech project. Ordinary programmers simply can't handle it. We need to find top-tier experts."
"These kinds of experts are extremely hard to find. We're still trying to contact them through various channels. Better to have none than a bad one, right?"
Finally, Wang Lei pointed at Fan Xi and continued to deceive her:
"We haven't forgotten about Fan Xi's work. It's just that our company's core business is currently confidential. Before the administrative management system and confidentiality agreement are fully established, if we let her handle the work casually, the losses could be huge if secrets are leaked."
"We are currently working overtime to finalize the company's detailed rules. Once all these rules are finalized, we will immediately begin to teach her how to do things step by step."
"Boss Li, don't worry. Everything is going according to plan, there will be absolutely no problems."
Wang Lei's explanation was well-reasoned and sounded very logical.
After hearing this, Li Menghan's anger subsided slightly.
He nodded and said to Fan Xi:
"What he said makes some sense; high-tech companies do have more rules."
"Just be patient and wait a few more days. Once the system is finalized, you'll definitely be busy."
Although Fan Xi still felt something was off, since Li Menghan had said so, she could only nod in understanding.
"Alright then, I'll wait a bit longer."
Li Menghan turned and walked back to her office.
He sat in the boss's chair.
Although Wang Lei's explanation sounded reasonable.
However, the uneasy feeling in Li Menghan's heart grew stronger and stronger.
More than 700 million yuan has been poured in.
So far, apart from renting this office and buying these desks and ordinary computers, all I've done is rent this office.
He didn't even see a trace of a real product.
There wasn't even a decent progress report.
Aside from listening to Wang Lei spout nonsense every day, he knew nothing of substance.
Li Menghan took out her phone.
He looked at the two hundred million yuan that remained in his bank account.
He suddenly felt a little flustered.
"Could it be... that I've really been deceived?"
"Are Dad and my sister right all along?"
Once the thought popped into my head, I couldn't suppress it anymore.
Li Menghan dared not ask her sister, much less her father.
He was afraid of being laughed at and losing face.
He searched through his phone's contacts for a long time.
Finally, his finger stopped on a name.
Lu Wenzhou.
Lu Wenzhou is a real big businessman, and he had previously warned him that this project was unreliable.
Li Menghan gritted her teeth.
He decided to put aside his pride and go to Lu Wenzhou to get to the bottom of things.
He needed to hear Lu Wenzhou's thoughts.
If even Lu Wenzhou says it's a scam, then his 700 million yuan will truly be wasted.
Li Menghan dialed Lu Wenzhou's number.