Among Xu Zifan's four assistants, Ji Yawen now earns twice as much as the others and has recently gained increasing favor from Xu Zifan, effectively becoming his rightful first assistant. The other three assistants all had their suspicions, given that Xu Zifan and Ji Yawen spent far more time together than any of them combined. The surveillance footage of Xu Zifan grabbing Ji Yawen before losing consciousness and Ji Yawen struggling to support him until the ambulance arrived made it impossible not to speculate.
If there wasn't something fishy going on, why did Xu Zifan immediately shield Ji Yawen when the headlights went off? And why did he hug Ji Yawen before losing consciousness? From their observations, Xu Zifan and Ji Yawen didn't seem to have any romantic involvement in their daily interactions, so they didn't dwell on it. They were all professional assistants, and they respected Ji Yawen's abilities; whether she had a relationship with the chairman or not was none of their business. But with this suspicion in mind, Ji Yawen's position became slightly more secure, and she always received excellent feedback when tasks were assigned to her.
Ji Ya-wen has been busy getting Dr. Chen a new research lab and finalizing all the details. She had a gut feeling that her boss wouldn't suddenly become interested in science fiction without publicizing it; it must be something he values highly. Since it was entrusted to her, she was determined to do it well. She handled everything personally, encountering many problems along the way, which she quickly resolved. In the end, she gained a lot of valuable experience.
With the establishment of the new research lab, the first project naturally had to begin. After reviewing Dr. Chen's proposal, Xu Zifan met with Dr. Chen again. He had had close contact with the system that day, which gave him a general direction and made the problems clearer.
"Dr. Chen, I'd like to ask, can mental power influence physical objects in reality? And can mental power unleash a person's innate potential?"
Dr. Chen thought for a moment and nodded. "Actually, there are already relevant reports on international research on mental power. The data in the reports show that human consciousness can interact with relevant instruments, causing the instruments to generate regular data. However, this can only be discovered through extremely meticulous statistics and calculations. In other words, the combined mental power of all mankind has a negligible impact on reality, so this discovery cannot play any substantial role for the time being. As for the human brain, it is extremely mysterious. Whether mental power can stimulate a certain field and unleash human potential is uncertain. Theoretically speaking, I think it is possible."
Xu Zifan had been analyzing the system's skills these past few days, and most of them seemed to be related to mental power. If mental power was so strong that it could affect physical objects, was the falling headlight that day also done with mental power? If so, then the system must be a spiritual entity, possessing super-strong mental power that could do some seemingly magical things.
Xu Zifan then asked, "Dr. Chen, everyone has good and bad luck. Can this luck be materialized, and how can it be absorbed?"
Dr. Chen adjusted her glasses, slightly struggling to keep up with Xu Zifan's pace. However, given her years of research experience, she possessed a broad knowledge base and had read numerous global academic papers. After careful consideration, she replied, "I'm not very knowledgeable in this area, but some believe that every living organism possesses a life magnetic field. This magnetic field is influenced by many aspects of the world, making it extremely complex. Consequently, the strength, quality, and even the integrity or incompleteness of each person's magnetic field vary. I recall someone using a special camera to photograph different people, capturing their skeletal structures and the aura surrounding them. That aura represents the energy field, and the color or concentration of their energy fields differed."
Dr. Chen searched for images of energy fields on his phone and showed them to Xu Zifan. "That's how it is. So luck can also be explained by magnetic fields. For example, some people's magnetic fields are attracted to a certain place, so they have good luck there, and they are repelled by another place, so they have bad luck there. Another example is that a normally clever person suddenly becomes very stupid in front of someone else; this is because they are influenced by that person's strong magnetic field. There's also the saying 'one is influenced by one's surroundings,' which means that being near a clean or polluted magnetic field will gradually affect one. As for absorption... perhaps one can change the magnetic field by absorbing electromagnetic waves. Whether it has anything to do with luck is still a difficult question to study, and I'm not a professional in this area, so I can't answer that for you. If you're interested, I can introduce you to an expert in this field."
Xu Zifan nodded. "I'm very interested. I'd appreciate it if Dr. Chen could introduce me. I'd like to invest in a research lab that specializes in the relationship between magnetic fields and luck."
Ji Yawen listened intently and suddenly realized the truth behind her being completely outclassed by her boss: it must be his powerful aura that influenced her. This was a great thing! With such a capable boss, she was definitely being influenced by him; no wonder her work skills had improved recently—amazing! She was determined to be influenced by her boss and become as capable as him in the future!
Xu Zifan keenly sensed that Assistant Ji seemed to be in a better mood. He turned to look at her, thinking it was probably because he was going to invest in the research lab again, and she would likely be able to take charge of the project alone, so naturally she was happy. He had developed his career in various worlds many times and had many capable subordinates, but he had never met one as hardworking, ambitious, and highly capable as Ji Yawen. In her, he seemed to see his younger self; that ever-striving tenacity was very similar to his own.
He suddenly felt he should give Assistant Ji more opportunities; perhaps she really could achieve something extraordinary. He decided to entrust the investment project for this new research lab to her.
Ji Yawen was ecstatic to receive this project; the project leader gets a commission! She desperately hopes the research lab can quickly develop something marketable—the more expensive it is, the higher her commission! She's having the best year ever, she's really struck it rich!
After her initial excitement, Ji Yawen suddenly remembered that her good fortune had started from spending more and more time with her boss recently. Sure enough, her boss's aura was influencing her better and better. Even if she started her own business in the future, she would rent an office next to her boss's and never leave the range of her boss's aura for the rest of her life!
After meeting with Dr. Chen, Xu Zifan set the research lab's current research projects as "Interfering with and Shielding Mental Power" and "Primitive Brain Development." He requested that the lab quickly develop an instrument capable of interfering with others' mental power, with the aim of defending against the influence of others' mental power on oneself. Simply put, it's like turning a television into a static-free state.
Although Dr. Chen found Xu Zifan's ideas strange, as he seemed to care too much about mental power, she was the one who provided the funding. She assigned half of the researchers to specialize in this area, while the other half continued to develop the rudimentary form of the AI based on her years of research. Xu Zifan's investment was substantial, and being a private investment, it could be increased as long as it was used for the project. All the researchers were highly motivated and threw themselves into the research with great enthusiasm.
After Dr. Chen introduced Xu Zifan to an expert in magnetic fields, Ji Yawen set up a second research lab. The research projects were "absorbing magnetic fields," "not being absorbed by magnetic fields," and "methods to prevent the human body's magnetic field from being affected by external factors." Xu Zifan wanted to test whether he could absorb the system's magnetic field and also wanted to research something that could be popularized so that everyone would not be absorbed by the system's magnetic field. Ideally, there would be an energy shield that could block the system.
These things are very difficult to research successfully, but it should be possible to develop simple products with minimal effects first. If one expert can't do it, then two experts will; if one research lab can't do it, then ten or a hundred research labs will. If we pour all our resources into the research, we will eventually succeed.
During this time, Xu Zifan also learned about psychology. He had previously taught himself methods of stimulating others' emotions and using psychological suggestion, but his knowledge was superficial; he was still a beginner. After the "love at first sight" technique made him respect medical staff, he suddenly realized that he could study psychology to strengthen his psychological defenses. This way, he wouldn't be easily swayed by emotions or psychological suggestion, and when faced with techniques like "love at first sight," he might be able to easily resolve the situation rationally, without being so passive.
Ji Yawen noticed that Xu Zifan was reading psychology books several times when she entered the office, and later she discovered that there were more and more such books on the bookshelf. She couldn't help but wonder, had her boss suddenly developed a new hobby? Was he so busy with work every day that he needed to study psychology on his own? Or was psychology somehow helpful for his work?
Since deciding to learn from her boss, she paid even closer attention to his every move. She bought a book he was currently reading, but after reading a third of it, she couldn't find any connection to work. In her mind, her boss was a workaholic and wouldn't do anything unrelated to work, so she finally couldn't resist asking, "Chairman, do you think psychology is helpful for work and management?"
Xu Zifan looked up and saw that his assistant's eyes were full of curiosity. He immediately smiled and said, "It won't be of much help, but if you learn it well, you might be able to handle various interpersonal relationships better, and even observe who is telling the truth and who is lying. I'm looking at these things because I'm particularly interested in something. I want to study whether a person's mental fortress is strong enough to prevent them from being affected by mental power."
Is it psychic powers again? Has the boss been poisoned by science fiction? Our world isn't that advanced yet! Also, the boss has a really handsome smile, too bad I can't have my eye on him.
Ji Yawen smiled and said, "I see. It seems that psychology is a very useful subject. I'll learn more about it too." Following the boss's lead is always the right thing to do. More knowledge means more opportunities. If the boss can do it, so can she.
"Well, after you understand, select a few well-known psychological experts to contact. I want to invest in a research lab to specifically study methods for building psychological fortification."
"Yes, Chairman." The boss is indeed a big shot; investing in the research lab is like buying cabbages. Ji Ya-wen was envious and longing. She truly hoped that one day she could be as successful as her boss! Then she could research whatever she wanted, even those unrealistic transmigration/rebirth stories from novels. She'd also have a space, a system, and a personal grandpa—all for the sake of happiness!