On that day, Xia En held a long meeting with Bernie in the conference room.
Ultimately, they agreed that Xia En would serve as the CEO (Chief Executive Officer), while Bernie would take the role of COO (Chief Operating Officer).
She would have full authority over the company’s operations, with Xia En primarily serving in a supervisory capacity.
The position of CTO (Chief Technology Officer) was assigned to the man Bernie had brought along, a fellow named Jack.
In the future, Jack would handle the technical development and later maintenance of the Skylark drones.
Xia En would have to hand over all technical documentation for the Skylark drones and provide technical guidance whenever Jack faced difficulties.
The role of CLO (Chief Legal Officer) was given to the other woman who had come with Bernie.
As for the remaining positions like CHRO and CMO, Bernie would arrange those.
Once the basic company affairs were settled, Xia En happened to receive a call from Smith.
“Hi!
Some great news.
Our CFO has successfully found our future headquarters.”
As soon as he hung up, Xia En turned to Bernie and the others with a smile.
He began gathering the various signed documents and issued a request to Bernie.
“Let’s go, Miss Bernie!
Let us go witness our future starting point together and verify our CFO’s capabilities at the same time.”
Saying this, Xia En was the first to walk out of the conference room and into his office.
He placed all the important documents into the safe, grabbed his coat, and returned to Bernie’s side.
“The office building isn’t far.
I’ll lead the way in my car; you guys just follow me.”
After speaking, Xia En looked at Bernie.
“Would you like to ride with me, Miss Bernie?
I believe we still have much to discuss.”
Bernie looked at Xia En with a smile.
“Why not?
It’s an efficient suggestion.
I believe you must be a man who respects time, Mr.
Xia En.” This chapter was copied from g.com without permission.
“Exactly.
Nothing is more precious than time.”
Hearing Bernie’s words, Xia En smiled with satisfaction.
He gestured for Bernie to get into his pickup truck and opened the door for her with gentlemanly flair.
Although Xia En’s truck was quite dilapidated, Bernie showed no sign of disdain and sat inside quite naturally.
Along the way, Xia En continued to discuss the future construction of the company with Bernie.
Even though the subsequent management of the company would have little to do with Xia En, he still had to put in a significant amount of effort into the company’s initial setup.
As the conversation flowed, the group soon arrived at the office building.
The office Smith had rented for Xia En was a Grade C building located in Brooklyn, not far from the New York Industrial City.
Due to funding constraints, Smith hadn’t rented the entire building.
Instead, he had leased three floors in the middle of the structure.
According to Smith’s report, the lease was paid quarterly.
Every quarter, the Skylark company would pay the landlord approximately $2.2 million.
Of course, that was the price on the contract.
The actual price was definitely not that high.
Everyone knew that there was bound to be a discrepancy between the actual price and the contract (check) price.
If there were no discrepancy, where would the kickbacks come from?
As for what the actual price was, Xia En didn’t know, nor did he want to know.
He only needed to know that at some point in the future, a sum of money from another source would enter his private account.
After touring the office building and introducing Smith and Bernie so they could begin their handover, Xia En led the group away for a business dinner.
During the meal, Xia En entrusted Smith with the office renovation and the procurement of office supplies.
He delegated the tasks of finding drone component manufacturers and handling product sales to Bernie before leaving the restaurant.
Subsequent matters would be decided by them.
Xia En only needed to wait for updates.
For now, he had to return to continue the development of the Hummingbird Drone.
He required himself to max out the progress on the Hummingbird within the next month and then trigger [Flash of Inspiration] to activate his next project.
A month quickly slipped away.
Once the first installment of the investors’ funds arrived, the company’s construction proceeded at a rapid pace.
Although Xia En didn’t participate much in the construction process, relevant information was sent to his email every day for confirmation, so he was well-informed about the company’s current state.
For instance, Bernie had successfully opened up sales channels in the New York area, signing order agreements with several large-scale farm owners.
She had also found component manufacturers for the Skylark drones, sent them the relevant technical specs, and signed various multi-year manufacturing agreements. The source of this chapter is NovelPing.
There were also advertisements, the setup of company servers, and other important but—to Xia En—uninteresting matters.
So what did Xia En care about?
He only cared about the renovation quotes, the office supply procurement lists, and so on that Smith sent over.
In fact, Xia En had wanted Smith to meddle in the order quotes sent to various manufacturers and other profitable ventures.
But clearly, Bernie and her team weren’t fools.
Compared to that kind of continuous cash flow, they kept a very tight watch on fixed expenses like office rent, renovations, and supply procurement.
Even though he couldn’t touch those revolving funds, it was enough for Xia En.
After all, as long as the Skylark company developed rapidly and fiercely, the value of his shares would naturally rise.
So he wasn’t too disappointed.
Moreover, over the past month, he hadn’t come away empty-handed.
At the very least, his private laboratory had been established.
All the money for it had come from Smith’s “contributions.”
Because the company had accepted financing, the factory he had originally rented and the equipment inside had been listed on the company’s asset inventory after the funding round.
They were now fixed assets of the company.
That meant they no longer had anything to do with him, so he had been kicked out of the factory floor.
That factory was now the domain of the CTO, Jack.
Although the man didn’t think much of the place, the production data and databases for the Skylark drones were there.
Even if he disliked it, he had to stay there for the time being.
After being moved out, Xia En rented two apartments in Manhattan—one for living and one to build his laboratory.
Since the apartment was in Manhattan, it wasn’t far from the future site of Tony Stark’s Stark Tower.
If that tower were truly built, he would practically be able to see the famous Avengers Tower just by opening his window.
However, that building didn’t exist yet.
After all, the Avengers Tower was built in 2010, and it was currently 2007.
But everyone knew it was only a matter of time.
“It’s a good thing this place is just a rental.
If I were buying a house, I’d never buy in Manhattan.
Who knows if this place will actually get hit by a nuke in the future.”