Chapter 933

Chen Jingli's reaction was too intense, which made Li Wanchang's heart tighten, and a sense of foreboding suddenly welled up.

But he still spoke with forced calmness and a sneer: "It's just one deputy engineer who left. Do you need such a big reaction?"

"Chairman..." Chen Jingli raised his head abruptly, his steps staggering as he stepped forward. He handed the stack of resignation letters in his hand to Li Wanchang with trembling hands, his voice carrying uncontrollable panic: "It's, it's not just Guo Gong who left. It's the entire core R&D team, twelve people, all of them have submitted their resignations!"

"What?!"

Li Wanchang was like being struck by lightning. His heart shook violently, and he was so shocked that his eyes widened and the veins on his forehead jumped. He snatched the resignation letters from Chen Jingli's hand, his fingertips turning white from the force, and flipped through every page quickly. The signatures on them were all clear and powerful, definitely not a joke.

"Rebellious! Truly rebellious!" Li Wanchang was so angry that he gritted his teeth, his roots trembling, and the last trace of feigned calmness on his face shattered completely. He raised his eyes abruptly and roared sternly at Chen Jingli: "What are you still standing there for?! Why don't you hurry up and stop them? Do you really want to let them all leave?"

Even if he didn't take employees seriously, he knew what it meant for the group for the core team to resign all at once!

Chen Jingli gave a start and quickly responded, running to chase after them.

Li Wanchang clenched his fists, his knuckles cracking, the indignation and panic in his heart intertwined, almost swallowing him whole.

The AI department had finally shown some improvement, and now such a mess had happened. The successive setbacks were simply torturing him to the point of exhaustion.

On the other side, Guo Shangyong returned to the R&D department, calmly packed his things, put his laptop and personal documents into a cardboard box one by one, and walked out of the office slowly holding the box.

As soon as he went out, he saw the other eleven core members already packed up. Everyone was holding a heavy cardboard box, standing together, waiting for him with firm gazes—no hesitation, no reluctance, only a sense of determination.

The collective resignation of the entire core team was extremely rare, not to mention in the Li Group, but in the entire industry.

Other employees watched from afar and couldn't help but whisper, but everyone in the department knew what the fuse was.

Performance didn't meet standards, they didn't give up; they stayed up late to tackle problems and gritted their teeth to persist, just to keep the foundation of the department. Financial reports continued to lose money, they didn't get discouraged; they actively reduced expenses and optimized plans, hoping the company could see their efforts. The company cut salaries one after another, they endured it too; even if life was tight, they still stuck to their posts.

But in the end, that Chief Engineer Liu Chang, who parachuted in, finally became the last straw that broke the camel's back.

The whole department was unconvinced, but the small employees didn't have the confidence to resign. The Li family was a big tree after all; it was already not easy to get in, and no one was willing to leave easily.

But right now, the twelve members of the core R&D team decided to leave together, as if they had discussed it. This couldn't help but make everyone curious: how could things develop to such a step?

"Are you all packed?" Guo Shangyong asked.

Everyone nodded, each expression determined, without a hint of hesitation.

Seeing this, Guo Shangyong hooked his lips into a smile of relief: "Then let's go."

Saying that, he took the lead and walked out first, and the others followed one after another. The formation looked somewhat exciting and blood-boiling, making the onlookers subconsciously hold their breath.

And just at this moment, Liu Chang heard the news and rushed to the front to block their way.

Everyone stopped. Liu Chang scanned their faces in shock, his voice wrapped in obvious panic: "What are you doing? Are you leaving collectively?"

"We have already submitted our resignations and are no longer employees of the Li family, so there's no need to report to you, the Chief Engineer, about what we are doing, right?" One of them couldn't help but speak out.

Liu Chang suppressed the emotions in his heart and said as calmly as possible: "I know you have complaints about me parachuting into the position of Chief Engineer. You can be unconvinced or look down on me, but given the current situation of the department, how can you have the heart to leave this mess behind and just walk away?"

"Heh." Someone couldn't help but sneer upon hearing this: "Why wouldn't we have the heart? I haven't wanted to stay in this bird place for a long time. The company doesn't take us seriously, so we won't serve them either!"

"Everyone, calm down!" At this moment, Chen Jingli finally arrived late.

He thought they had already left the company. He chased all the way to the gate downstairs before realizing no one was there, and only then did he turn back.

He was sweating on his forehead, panting, and didn't even have time to take a breath. He quickly persuaded them with good words: "Everyone, listen to me. I will go and help everyone apply for compensation from the company, really!" Chen Jingli's tone was urgent, carrying a plea, "It's not that the company doesn't care about you, it's just that these things need to go through a process. Everyone, give the company a little more time, okay?"

"Chen Jingli, you don't need to make excuses for the company anymore. We aren't entering the Li family for the first day."

"Exactly. For so many years, we know how the company treats us. Compensation? Is that the compensation we want?"

Everyone spoke without showing any appreciation, sneering at the compensation Chen Jingli mentioned.

Chen Jingli opened his mouth, but before he could speak again, Guo Shangyong preempted him softly: "Chen Jingli, since the company values the new Chief Engineer Liu so much, not hesitating to give him an annual salary that the twelve of us combined don't even reach, then it shows that in the eyes of the company, his value alone is far higher than the twelve of us."

He paused, his gaze sweeping over Liu Chang, and continued: "Since that's the case, then please let Chief Engineer Liu show his skills, turn the tide, and lead the AI department out of the predicament early. As for the twelve of us, the resignations have already been submitted. Whether the company agrees or not, we are leaving, so don't bother wasting your breath."

Chen Jingli was really about to cry: "Guo Gong, I beg you. Even if you do it for my sake, don't leave, okay? And where can you go if you leave? You have non-compete agreements. You have to plan for the future. You can't be angry!"

"That's not for you to worry about. Anywhere we go is more comfortable than staying here."

This was the last sentence Guo Shangyong said. After the words fell, he took his eleven partners and left without looking back, no matter what Chen Jingli said, it was of no avail.

"Oh my, this, this, how could it become like this!" Chen Jingli stomped his feet in despair, panicked for a moment, not even knowing how to explain it to the Chairman.

And Liu Chang was also dumbfounded. He knew very well what these twelve people meant to the department. Now that they were gone, would he, a Chief Engineer, be left to take over this already broken mess?

He wasn't an immortal!