"How are Wu Sen and the others?" Qin Yun asked.

In the toothpaste laboratory, there were four people: Zhou Qiang, Wu Sen, Lin Jieyang, and others. Zhou Qiang was just taking the lead, but the other three also had decent abilities.

"Wu Sen and Lin Jieyang didn’t leave," Qin Xiaotao replied upon hearing Qin Yun’s inquiry.

Nodding, Qin Yun said, "Now, we’re drafting new contracts and starting to sign with Wu Sen, Lin Jieyang, and Li Kahe."

In fact, this research institute was more of a hobby for Qin Yun; he didn’t pay much attention when it was initially established.

So, the contracts were much more lenient.

If something was discovered, great, but if not, Qin Yun wasn’t too concerned.

However, the recent events clearly served as a wake-up call for Qin Yun.

He could make a mistake once, but it was not possible to make the same mistake twice.

Under the new contracts, if there’s still betrayal, the consequences would be unbearable!

"Furthermore, have the company’s legal department sue Zhou Qiang!"

Qin Yun harbored an extreme loathing for someone like Zhou Qiang. Even if it didn’t harm him much, Qin Yun wanted to make him suffer.

Qin Xiaotao nodded and quickly went to make arrangements.

As for Qin Yun, he arrived at the laboratory.

"President Qin."

Seeing Qin Yun arrive, Wu Sen, Lin Jieyang, and the others called out urgently.

At this moment, they felt quite uneasy. They hadn’t expected Zhou Qiang to leave the lab directly, and it was possible Qin Yun would vent his anger on them.

Looking at the people in front of him, Qin Yun did not get angry; instead, he inquired about their research progress.

In the four-person lab, they were all clearly aware of the research progress on the toothpaste. The major breakthroughs were mainly Zhou Qiang’s work, but Wu Sen and Lin Jieyang also had the necessary abilities.

If they didn’t have the ability, Qin Yun wouldn’t have recruited them.

"Just focus on your research; don’t worry about anything else," Qin Yun said.

"Yes, President Qin!"

Upon hearing this, Wu Sen and Lin Jieyang quickly nodded, slightly relieved.

They also felt disdain for Zhou Qiang, who betrayed them without a second thought.

The key issue now was Zhou Qiang’s departure, which left them in an awkward position. Thankfully, Qin Yun didn’t pursue the matter.

As he watched the three continue their research, Qin Yun took a deep breath.

"Let me see, Zhou Qiang, what can you actually develop?"

Thinking silently, a hint of coldness flashed in Qin Yun’s eyes.

The laboratory he managed was entirely covered with an invisible layer of mysterious markings on its surface, forming the Wealth Gathering Array!

Under this Wealth Gathering Array, everyone’s luck would increase slightly.

In research, sometimes all that’s missing is a bit of luck, that flash of inspiration, akin to breaking through multiple bottlenecks in cultivation. Though training before a bottleneck isn’t difficult, breaking through it is the real challenge.

And the Wealth Gathering Array acts to ease those bottlenecks ever so slightly.

After breaking through, one can continue to make significant progress until encountering the next bottleneck, at which point the Wealth Gathering Array would continue to ease it again. This was why they could research Celestial Fortune Shampoo so smoothly before.

Previously, Zhou Qiang and others all researched under the assistance of the Wealth Gathering Array. Now, Zhou Qiang had left and joined the Procter & Gamble Company, which did not have such benefits from any Wealth Gathering Array.

...

While Qin Yun was contemplating this, Zhou Qiang was at a laboratory, which was remarkably large — at least several times larger than Celestial Fortune, with many more personnel, at least a dozen.

"Mr. Zhou, this will be your research area from now on."

A man looked at Zhou Qiang with a smile and said, "If you have any problems, feel free to ask. We will solve everything for you, so you can concentrate on your research."

"Okay," Zhou Qiang nodded.

Soon, everyone else left the room, leaving only the research personnel.

"Group Leader Zhou," the people in the lab looked at Zhou Qiang and called out.

"Alright, let’s begin our research then,"

Zhou Qiang smiled as he gazed at the equipment and materials provided here per his request, and started giving out orders.

However, over half of the people still awaited task assignments from Zhou Qiang.

For now, Zhou Qiang did not assign them but started working.

"With such favorable conditions, my research progress should be faster, right?" His face was full of smiles, his heart brimmed with confidence.

The progress of research and the conditions of the laboratory sometimes had a significant effect; working in a large lab would feel more pleasant.

At this moment, Zhou Qiang felt that he could conduct his research more quickly here.

He began to advance the progress, hoping to bring it up to the step he had reached previously in his research.

Like the shampoo, the primary ingredients of this toothpaste are traditional Chinese medicine; they need to extract some components from it.

After just ten minutes of extraction, Zhou Qiang’s expression changed slightly.

"Failed extraction?"

He frowned slightly, as his extractions at the Celestial Fortune lab had always gone smoothly, typically succeeding four out of five times.

But did the extraction fail on the first try this time?

For a moment, Zhou Qiang’s confidence wavered, feeling slightly anxious.

He wasn’t sure why he felt this anxiety and continued with the extraction.

However, the second and third attempts also failed, and it wasn’t until the fourth extraction that he succeeded.

By now, Zhou Qiang’s confidence was clearly not what it was before.

He continued experimenting, pushing the progress, but what he once knew by heart took him two full days to finally reach the step he had achieved previously at the Celestial Fortune lab.

"Haha, Group Leader Zhou, the effects are indeed strong. If it’s successfully developed, it will definitely have a massive impact on whitening teeth and removing plaque!"

"Right, we might develop a product that surpasses any toothpaste in the world!"

"Group Leader Zhou is so amazing!"

Inside the lab, many researchers were very excited, looking at Zhou Qiang with admiration.

With a smile on his face, Zhou Qiang said, "It’s too early to say any of this now."

"Group Leader Zhou, you’re too modest."

"If you ask me, other toothpaste labs are just for fun, but the real skills lie with Group Leader Zhou."

One researcher after another flattered him.

They were all professional talents, and if their current research results succeeded, it could change much of the world’s toothpaste industry.

With Procter & Gamble’s capability, they could definitely roll it out swiftly, seizing a large market share.

Zhou Qiang remained humble, smiled, although inside, he felt a wave of anxiety.

Because, all of a sudden, he felt trapped by a significant bottleneck. Although he had pushed the progress to what he had achieved at Celestial Fortune, he was unsure what to do next.

"What’s going on? Why has my train of thought disappeared?" Zhou Qiang felt a wave of panic inside.

At Celestial Fortune’s lab, it felt like a fish in water, working seamlessly; but now, he had suddenly lost that fluidity.

It’s like doing a problem you think you have a firm grasp on, progressing according to your own logic, only to suddenly find yourself unable to proceed without a crucial step.