Wang Xuewei rolled her eyes again upon hearing this, and said, "Don't you know that photography is an art? And what is art? It originates from life but transcends it. If the photographed result is exactly the same as her in real life, then what kind of art is it?"
"Uh..." Zhou Ziwei was stunned by Wang Xuewei's words. So this is art... Is art about making a perfectly good person look like a mannequin? He really couldn't understand how Liu Xiaofei became the president of the Zhou Group. When he brought Liu Xiaofei home, he did intend for her to gain some experience at the Zhou Group, but because he left in a hurry, he hadn't had time to arrange these things.
Moreover, Liu Xiaofei was a police officer by training and had never studied business management before. So even if Zhou Ziwei personally arranged things for her, at most he would only let her gain experience in a deputy manager position in a department before considering her for a senior position at Zhou's Group. But... unexpectedly, she has not only joined Zhou's Group, but has also become its president and a world-renowned figure. This... is truly unimaginable...
Zhou Ziwei was confused for a while, then shook his head vigorously, trying not to think about these things for the time being. Anyway, once he finished dealing with things here and returned to Dangyang, everything would naturally come to light.
"Hehe... Not bad... I didn't expect that in such a short time I was away, they would have managed my Zhou family business so well. It seems that I, the one who just left things to my own devices, am quite fortunate..."
Zhou Ziwei laughed smugly, then turned to face Hong Gang, Minister Ma, and the others. His expression suddenly darkened, and he said with a cold smile, "However... how much money my company makes is my own business. What does that have to do with today's events? These things were brought back from another dimension at great personal risk. It's fine for me to donate the main resources and profits to the country, but can't I profit from them myself? What kind of logic is that? I think you might not understand. I didn't enter the mysterious cave in Kashgar Mountain in the first place, but entirely in my personal capacity. I never intended to risk my life to make a significant contribution to the country. If you had said from the beginning that all profits obtained from there must be donated to the country without compensation, and that I couldn't keep even a little bit for myself... then why would I have taken such a huge risk?"
Zhou Ziwei's words left Hong Gang and the others speechless once again... If Zhou Ziwei were a soldier, things would be much easier. He would have to obey any order, whether he wanted to or not. If he disobeyed, he could be sent directly to a military court.
However... Zhou Ziwei's title of "section chief" is just a nominal one. He has never even received a military uniform, let alone officially taken office. If you use such a title to demand that he fulfill the duties of a soldier, I'm afraid this kid will not buy it at all.
"Alright... all of you stop arguing. I'll make the decision!" The old commander finally stepped forward and stated, "Director Zhou's contributions to the country are real and substantial, and I don't think his demands are excessive. However... a 30% share of the annual decomposition catalyst production seems a bit too much. If the Water Sprites could be cultivated on a large scale in a natural environment, it would be fine, but if they can only be cultivated in a laboratory, the annual catalyst production might not even be enough for the country's military projects. So... I think Director Zhou, you should only take 10% of the share. I hope everyone will agree?"
Zhou Ziwei shrugged and said, "Alright! Since the old commander has spoken, I'll give you face and 10% will do."
Zhou Ziwei secretly rejoiced. In fact, his desire for a share of the decomposition catalyst was merely a pretense. The exact share the government would grant him was not important; what mattered was that he was given the exclusive right to develop civilian products.
As for the share of the catalyst... it would be better to get more, but it wouldn't matter if the country only gave him one percent.
Zhou Ziwei isn't stupid; of course he wouldn't hand over all the water sprite seeds. Once he has the franchise rights, wouldn't he cultivate water sprites on his own in private?
If he were to rely entirely on the state's share of supply to meet his production needs, wouldn't that be tantamount to handing over his lifeline to others?
After the old leader spoke, Hong Gang and the others couldn't really refute him anymore. However, they were unwilling to let Zhou Ziwei swallow this big cake alone, and they couldn't help but feel anxious.
Vice Chairman Liu's eyes lit up when he glanced at Chu Qiutang, who was sitting quietly next to Zhou Ziwei. He quickly said, "Alright! I have no objection to giving Director Zhou the rights to develop civilian products and the share of the decomposition catalyst. However, it's not good for the Zhou family to monopolize this project, is it? Our country's anti-monopoly law is about to be introduced. We can't make an exception just because of Director Zhou, can we? I think it would be better if we did this... This time, the successful return from the interdimensional exploration wasn't just about Director Zhou, and the functions shouldn't all be attributed to him alone, right? Hmm... Miss Wang and Director Zhou are husband and wife, so we won't count that... But Lieutenant Chu has no relation to Director Zhou, so we can't be biased... How about this... I think we should also give Lieutenant Chu a share of the civilian development license for water decomposition technology, and give him 5% of the 10% water decomposition catalyst. What do you all think of this allocation?"
Minister Ma and Hong Gang were the first to agree, and the others had no objections either. After all, as those in power, no one wanted to see a strongman emerge from the common people who could control the lifeline of the domestic economy.
If Zhou Ziwei obtains the exclusive development rights for civilian products using water decomposition technology, then in a few years, he might actually possess the ability to influence the national economic lifeline single-handedly.
However, if half of this exclusive operating right were given to Chu Qiutang, the result would be completely different. The difference between a monopoly and a non-monopoly is absolutely enormous. Moreover, Chu Qiutang is a member of the military. If this privilege is temporarily granted to her now, wouldn't it be easy for her to completely take over the reins of the business after a single order?
Volume 2, The Assassin's Nightmare, Chapter 435: We're Not Taking Out Today
Chu Qiutang never expected that the matter would eventually involve her. She hadn't offended anyone; she had just been watching the show from the sidelines.
Chu Qiutang had always been a good girl since she was a child. She listened to her parents at home, her teachers at school, and her superiors in the army. So when Chu Qiutang first saw Zhou Ziwei, the leader of the independent combat group, who was full of vigor and confidence, she could hardly believe her eyes. She couldn't understand how Zhou Ziwei had such a big heart to bang his fist on the table and glare at these big shots in the domestic military and political circles.
However, when Chu Qiutang later recalled Zhou Ziwei's godlike abilities during his adventure in the pilot dimension, she understood that a person's courage naturally comes with their abilities. Or perhaps, in Zhou Ziwei's eyes, these people, who were surrounded by countless halos and were seen as high and mighty by ordinary people, were nothing more than ordinary mortals.
Upon hearing Vice Chairman Liu say that he would share half of the benefits that originally belonged to Zhou Ziwei with her, Chu Qiutang immediately and instinctively objected. She didn't care much about material things to begin with, and she had almost no concept of how much money she had. Moreover, she was worried that if she really accepted the leader's arrangement, it would give Zhou Ziwei a bad impression of her, which would be more painful than killing her. Therefore, this golden goose that could obviously lay eggs held almost no appeal for Chu Qiutang.
However, just as Chu Qiutang was about to refuse, she inadvertently saw Zhou Ziwei wink at her secretly.
Although it was just a blink, for some reason, Chu Qiutang seemed to immediately understand the complex meaning contained in Zhou Ziwei's glance. She nodded immediately, and then, under the pressure from the big shots, she agreed with a mixture of reluctance, helplessness, and secret joy.
Thus, the distribution of profits was finally settled. Zhou Ziwei and Chu Qiutang shared the development rights of the civilian water splitting technology equally, and each of them received 5% of the total annual production of water splitting catalysts in the country.
The country must not disclose any technology related to the water splitting project to the outside world for at least five years, nor can it lose a single seed of the water sprite.
This means that even if water sprites can be planted on a large scale in the natural environment, the planting area will definitely not be very large. This is because in order to prevent this thing from being lost, it can only be cultivated strictly in a few controllable areas. Otherwise, if it is planted everywhere like radishes and cabbages, how could it not be lost?
Fortunately, the amount of this water-splitting catalyst used is really very small. Even just the powder from a tiny seed is enough for a spacecraft to use several times. And the petals of the water sprite are even more remarkable. A single petal is enough for a spacecraft to operate continuously for more than ten days.
So... even if water sprites can't be planted on a large scale, they should be enough for short-term use.
After all, the country has only obtained a rudimentary water splitting processor, but it does not have a matching engine or other technologies that can be used in other fields. These all need to be developed from scratch, and all of this will take time.
After Zhou Ziwei and his two companions finished negotiating with the group of bigwigs, the atmosphere finally eased a bit. Then everyone sat down again, and the old leader asked Zhou Ziwei to give a detailed account of everything he had seen and heard during his trip to the other dimension.
Of course, Zhou Ziwei wasn't foolish enough to tell everything honestly. He tried to downplay and obscure the various amazing things he had done in that pilot plane, but he did tell you everything about the geography, celestial wonders, and people in that plane without any concealment.
When the bigwigs heard Zhou Ziwei say that they had only stayed in that so-called alternate dimension for three days from beginning to end, and that after returning to Earth, it was already three years later... In addition, when the beam of light that appeared in the temple of Xianjing City revealed the concept of the TX-3 pilot plane, everyone was stunned into silence.
Hong Gang and several others who already disliked Zhou Ziwei immediately expressed serious doubts about his words, feeling that Zhou Ziwei must be misleading them for some purpose. So they turned their attention to Chu Qiutang.
They had considerable trust in the loyalty of soldiers, and Chu Qiutang's past records in her file satisfied them greatly. Otherwise, they wouldn't have forced the big piece of cake that they had managed to snatch from Zhou Ziwei's mouth into Chu Qiutang's hands.
Chu Qiutang was a well-behaved girl, so she naturally wouldn't lie about such things. Under the interrogation of the big shots, she recounted the events from her own perspective. Although what she said was generally similar to what Zhou Ziwei said, she always put Zhou Ziwei first in the details, highlighting without any attempt to hide the irreplaceable role he played in this adventure.
After hearing Chu Qiutang's explanation, those big shots had no choice but to believe her... Even if they didn't believe her, they had no choice but to go there themselves or send someone else to explore the place again.
However, the time difference of one day equaling one year truly astonished everyone. Even if they could successfully traverse that black hole space using some advanced methods and reach a certain pilot plane... which pilot plane they could reach was still unknown. From Zhou Ziwei and the others' words, it was not difficult for them to guess that the black hole space must lead to multiple different spaces, because after Zhou Ziwei and the other two fell out of one of the white lights, they did not see any of the explorers who had disappeared there before, which meant that they had not taken the same path at all.
Even if someone manages to reach the pilot plane that Zhou Ziwei mentioned, it's unknown where they will be randomly dropped off. If, in that world, only Xianjing has a dimensional portal that allows them to return to Earth, then those who go there will be in serious trouble.
Because one day in that world is equivalent to one year in this world, even if they prepare here for one or two years before entering that pilot dimension, they will only have spent one or two days in that pilot dimension. However, after Zhou Ziwei opened the dimension portal last time, the robot No. 006 said that the next time the dimension portal would be opened would be at least fifteen years later... Good heavens, fifteen years there is equivalent to thousands of years on Earth... I'm afraid that by the time the people who went to that world return to Earth, everything here will have changed.
The thought of this terrifying time difference is enough to give anyone a headache.
They have now deduced that the expedition team that entered the black hole space with Zhou Ziwei and the others may not have been completely wiped out. At least a considerable number of them may have survived. However... if each pilot plane in that black hole space has such a large time difference from Earth, it is unlikely that those people will be able to return in the short term.
Surviving in a strange world is difficult enough, but finding a dimensional portal back to Earth requires immense luck and opportunity. Zhou Ziwei and his team stumbled upon the portal's opening robot in just three days – what incredible luck that must have been! And the other expedition members probably had no one with such good fortune.
Originally, although these big shots were resentful about sharing so much of the benefits with Zhou Ziwei, they didn't care too much. This was mainly because they believed that since Zhou Ziwei and his group had successfully and unharmed traversed the alternate dimension, they could send more people to explore that mysterious cave again and dig out more valuable things in the alternate dimension.
If they could succeed just once more, they wouldn't have to care about the small amount of profit they lost from Zhou Ziwei. But now... they hardly dare to have any hope for it anymore.
Even if they disregard the lives of those people and send large numbers of people to try their luck at the black hole, and even if someone does manage to enter another pilot dimension and return in a short time... it will still be at least several years later. After all, finding a dimension passage within three days is a kind of luck that not everyone can obtain.
After learning about the difficulties of going to the pilot plane, Hong Gang and the others looked at Zhou Ziwei with even more hatred in their hearts. However, since the matter had already been settled and the old leader was here to preside, they could not go back on their word. They could only accept the fact helplessly, and were just thinking about how to get back Chu Qiutang's share of privileges and quotas.
However, Zhou Ziwei did not give them any more chances. After quickly giving him a look, Chu Qiutang immediately understood and then publicly asked the old commander to leave the army and return home.
When Chu Qiutang participated in that expedition as a military medic, she originally had two years left in her service term. However, after spending three days in that cave, her service term had already ended. Therefore, she can now legitimately request to be demobilized.
Minister Hong Gang and others were still planning to use their status as military leaders to snatch the operating privileges and the share of water decomposition catalyst from Chu Qiutang, a mere second lieutenant. They were all taken aback when Chu Qiutang suddenly asked to be discharged from the military. They then began to express their strong opposition.
The old commander gave the group of old men a meaningful glare, then sneered, "Since her military service is over, she naturally needs to be demobilized. Besides... since we've already granted her the development rights for civilian products related to water splitting, you can't let her run her own business as a soldier! What would that look like? Nobody should say anything more... This matter is settled. I'll have someone handle the demobilization procedures for her immediately. From today onwards, Lieutenant Chu, you are... oh... of course, before the official demobilization, Lieutenant Chu's rank should be promoted. With such a great achievement, how can there be no military reward? Hmm... you'll be demobilized with the rank and benefits of a major!"
So, because of that one sentence from the old commander, Chu Qiutang was promoted three levels in a short time, and then quickly removed from the military. This speed... was really too fast...
Hong Gang and the others were dumbfounded, but there was nothing they could do. The old leader's authority was not to be violated, and since the old leader had made the decision himself, they could only listen to him.
Fortunately, they all believed that based on Chu Qiutang's past performance, even if she had changed careers and was no longer a soldier, she would still obey the orders of military leaders. Therefore, they did not give up the idea of taking that big piece of cake from Chu Qiutang.
It wasn't until later, when they learned that Chu Qiutang had already become Zhou Ziwei's woman and that the so-called Chuwei Group she ran was essentially a branch company opened by Zhou Ziwei, that they regretted making such a foolish move.
It would have been better to simply hand over all the privileges to Zhou Ziwei in the first place. That way, after the Anti-Monopoly Law was officially passed, they could use the law to forcefully participate in Zhou Ziwei's group's production projects, or even shut down Zhou Ziwei's company.
But because of their blunder, Zhou Ziwei's development rights for civilian-use water splitting technology are no longer a monopoly, leaving them with no excuse to use...
Having finally managed to outwit and outmaneuver those bigwigs and secure the benefits he expected, and even more surprisingly, having heard that the Zhou family had actually grown into a leading enterprise in the country within the past three years, Zhou Ziwei felt refreshed and in high spirits, as if he had just eaten a hundred ginseng fruits.
Having settled everything, Zhou Ziwei was eager to return home. He couldn't stay in the capital for even a day longer and immediately wanted to ask his old superior for another military plane to fly home himself.
The old commander once said that as long as he made a contribution, he could even be given the opportunity to experience a space shuttle, so this mere military aircraft would naturally be no problem at all.
To be honest, the military helicopter wasn't that fast. Zhou Ziwei preferred the military fighter jet that had been sent to them last time; that one was much more exciting to fly at. However, it was unlikely that the old commander would give him a fighter jet to fly around the world for fun, so he had no choice but to accept the use of the latest model helicopter.
After saying goodbye to Chu Qiutang, Zhou Ziwei and Wang Xuewei boarded the helicopter they had been in earlier and left Beijing to pick up their helicopter from the garrison in the suburbs.
Before parting, Chu Qiutang pulled Zhou Ziwei into a small dark room for a private talk for a while, somewhat worried. She didn't know what Zhou Ziwei had promised her or what he had done to her in the dark... In any case, when they came out of the dark room, the worried look on Chu Qiutang's face had completely disappeared, replaced by a confident and spirited appearance.
Wang Xuewei, who was very observant, noticed that Chu Qiutang always had a happy and shy smile on her face.
On the way to retrieve the plane in the suburbs, Wang Xuewei whispered in Zhou Ziwei's ear, asking him what he had done to Chu Qiutang. At first, Zhou Ziwei just gave some vague answers to brush it off, but later Wang Xuewei got impatient and bit his ear with her pearly white teeth. Left with no other choice, Zhou Ziwei had to confess under duress, admitting that he had indeed done some shady things with Chu Qiutang in that dark room.
However, due to time constraints... they didn't have time to savor it properly, so he simply... had sex with Chu Qiutang's little mouth once...
Hearing Zhou Ziwei shamelessly utter such blatant words in front of his legal wife, Wang Xuewei's pretty face immediately turned bright red. She couldn't help but bite down on him and even rubbed her little teeth hard against Zhou Ziwei's earlobe twice.
Unfortunately, Zhou Ziwei was thick-skinned and tough, and this level of attack posed no threat to him at all. On the contrary, Wang Xuewei's little mouth touched Zhou Ziwei's sensitive nerves. His little brother, which had just been comforted by Chu Qiutang, was surprisingly vigorous again after this round of caresses and made a comeback.
Zhou Ziwei couldn't help but let out a soft moan, then grabbed Wang Xuewei's small hand and pressed it hard between his legs...
Zhou Ziwei originally wanted to take advantage of the noise on the helicopter and the fact that the pilot was too busy to pay attention to them, so that he could have Wang Xuewei give him a handjob and experience what it felt like to reach orgasm in the air.
However… considering they were currently on an airplane, masturbating now… that wouldn’t be a good omen. Reluctantly, he had to hold back for now. He first pinched Wang Xuewei’s alluring buttocks hard, then whispered menacingly in her ear, “Hmph… for our safety, we won’t masturbate today. You wait… when we get home, see how I torment you.”
Wang Xuewei was genuinely startled by Zhou Ziwei's words... Both Wang Xuewei and Chu Qiutang had a deep understanding of Zhou Ziwei's abilities in that area. Although they had never had such experiences with other men before, even those who haven't eaten pork have heard sows grunt... With the internet so readily available these days, what kind of knowledge can't they learn?
Therefore, they all know that when a man is doing that, he is considered quite strong if he can last for about half an hour, and those who can last for one or two hours are the masters among masters.
But how long could this guy last? A full ten hours... God... Wang Xuewei really couldn't imagine whether she would still be able to get out of bed if Zhou Ziwei were to torment her again.
Volume 2 The Assassin's Nightmare Chapter 436 My Husband is Mine
Wang Xuewei just couldn't understand how Zhou Ziwei could be so skilled in that area... It lasted for more than ten hours... It was truly unimaginable.
Every time Wang Xuewei thought about it, she felt that Zhou Ziwei was not human. If he were a normal person, how could he fight for more than ten hours straight without feeling tired? Moreover... didn't the ancients say, "Where there's a will, there's a way"? How come that guy's tools of crime not only didn't get ground into needles, but instead seemed to be getting thicker and thicker?
Wang Xuewei, of course, had no idea that the main reason for this was Zhou Ziwei's supernatural abilities, or that for other men, controlling the duration of such a thing would be quite difficult.
However, for a freak like Zhou Ziwei, who can use his soul power to precisely control every nerve in his body, the duration of the battle is entirely up to him.
If Zhou Ziwei is about to reach that highest level, but doesn't want to end it immediately, he only needs to draw a portion of the soul power from the nerve lines in that area, making the sensation there dull, and then he will immediately become as energetic as when he first started.
If he doesn't want to continue, he only needs to inject several times more soul power into the nerve endings in that area, making it exceptionally sensitive. Then even just a few ordinary frictions will be enough to bring him to the peak of ecstasy.
Of course, Zhou Ziwei was also made of flesh and blood. No one could withstand the continuous friction of that thing for more than ten hours. However, fortunately, Zhou Ziwei's soul power had an unparalleled effect on healing physical damage. As long as he felt a little discomfort in that area, a wisp of soul power would be injected into his skin, and he would be completely healed and could still fight for another three hundred rounds.
When Wang Xuewei recalled that night, she felt a mix of love and fear. A woman's first time is usually like this, a journey filled with both pain and joy.
Wang Xuewei's feelings were obviously countless times stronger than those of other women... How could any woman's first time be subjected to such intense pleasure for over ten hours straight? Fortunately, Zhou Ziwei occasionally channeled a wisp of his soul power into their bodies to help treat and alleviate the pain in that area. Otherwise, if Wang Xuewei were to recall that night's experience, she would likely only have endless fear and no happy memories whatsoever.
Wang Xuewei didn't know if Zhou Ziwei always took this long whenever he needed to. Last time, she and Chu Qiutang had taken turns enduring Zhou Ziwei's stormy onslaught, which still left her with lingering fear. If she were alone at home this time, then... Wang Xuewei couldn't even imagine how she would be tortured. However, because her heart had now been completely conquered by Zhou Ziwei, no matter how scared she was, she would rather die than refuse him if he ever needed her.
Oh right... isn't Liu Xiaofei there? If the two of us come together... I think that should be enough to satisfy him!
Thinking of this, Wang Xuewei suddenly felt happy.
But then she was startled by her own thoughts...
What's wrong with me? He's my husband... How could I... Why does it seem like I'm welcoming another woman to share my husband with me? My husband is mine... Liu Xiaofei is a third party, why should I let her share my husband?
Wang Xuewei began to feel somewhat humiliated, angry with herself, and even a little...
But then she thought about it again and felt discouraged.
So what if she's Zhou Ziwei's legal wife? Last time, Zhou Ziwei brought Liu Xiaofei back, which is why he proposed divorcing his nominal wife, whom he'd been married to for over a year but had never even slept with.
This shows that Liu Xiaofei's position in Zhou Ziwei's heart must be quite high, at least no lower than Wang Xuewei's.
Now, Liu Xiaofei has become the president of the Zhou Group, and has turned the Zhou Group into a leading enterprise in China, even possessing the potential to challenge Coca-Cola.