Chapter 180: Chapter 181: The Number You Have Dialed Is Temporarily Unavailable
At three in the afternoon, Thea Lynch received a message from Ian Preston.
He was afraid of disturbing her work, so he didn’t call, instead sending a WeChat message.
Ian Preston: "I’ve arrived at the airport."
Thea Lynch happened to be coordinating with colleagues back home and saw the message. She replied before returning to her work.
Soon, she was once again immersed in her tasks.
This exhibition wasn’t just about showing others Stratus and letting them understand it. Thea Lynch also had a task of observing and learning from other companies’ technologies.
Of course, the information that could be obtained visually wasn’t much, but at the very least, she could understand how far competitor companies had optimized their products.
At four thirty in the afternoon, Thea Lynch returned from the other companies and exchanged information with Foreman Leigh and Foreman Warren.
"FK really surprised me this time."
Thea sipped some water and asked, "Are you talking about their robot, Kate?"
Foreman Warren nodded, "There hadn’t been much news before. Those kids quietly did big things."
"I saw it yesterday." Thea placed her thermos back, "The appearance of their robot isn’t eye-catching, but I saw the demonstration yesterday, and it was quite strong."
"Exactly." Foreman Leigh, who had also seen the scene with Foreman Warren earlier, couldn’t help but marvel, "It lifted a box weighing several pounds. Although there are still issues, overall, their technology is globally advanced."
"FK’s robot is one of the highlights of this exhibition. It has likely caused quite a stir both domestically and internationally, and still has substantial room for improvement."
Foreman Leigh responded, "Indeed."
The three of them sat down in their chairs, wanting to chat further.
"Its flexibility is too poor." Thea casually drew a diagram on paper to show them, "When I watched yesterday, it wasn’t smooth from bending over to standing up, then picking up the box and walking. The programming is still stiff."
"Yes, it’s still a semi-finished product." Foreman Warren also noticed, "To achieve smooth operation, just this technology alone might take several more years of research."
Foreman Leigh: "I’m really curious to see if their robot will succeed."
Foreman Warren glanced at him, "Why watch them? We should do our own research. Maybe we could overtake them on the curve and do even better."
"That’s not exactly our department’s strength." Foreman Leigh shrugged, glancing at Thea, "Department Two, keep it up."
Foreman Warren rolled his eyes, "Though I hate to admit it, I think your department has its strengths too. We could try collaborating later on."
As he said this, he kept his eyes fixed on Thea.
The suggestion was quite pointed.
The latter looked up at him briefly, curling her lips, "In this area, I’m not interested for now."
Thea echoed Foreman Leigh, "Department Two, keep it up."
"..."
Foreman Warren took a deep breath, no, don’t get mad. There’s no point in getting angry with those who don’t understand practical work.
"Is it raining outside?"
The noise from the ceiling continued, and Thea thought it was rain.
She had checked the weather forecast earlier, which showed no rain at this time; the weather really changes unexpectedly.
"It’s not rain, it’s hail." A passing foreigner pointed outside, gesturing, "It’s so big, our parked car outside, the roof got dented."
"No wonder, I kept hearing noises. I thought it was heavy rain." Foreman Leigh said.
Foreman Warren snapped back, "Damn, is our car okay?"
The two were pondering over the car, while Thea remained silent.
The two were debating whether to go out and check, finally deciding to seek an opinion from the "big boss."
"Foreman Lynch..."
"What are you looking at?"
Thea moved her gaze from her phone, shaking her head, "Nothing."
"What did you just say?"
"I was saying to Foreman Warren, should we go check on our car?"
As soon as he finished, both Foreman Warren and Foreman Leigh looked at Thea, waiting for her response.
One second, two seconds... a minute went by without any reaction from Thea.
"?" Foreman Warren nudged her shoulder.
Foreman Leigh frowned, "What’s wrong with you?"
Thea just seemed dazed for a moment, then snapped back to look at the two of them, "Sorry, you...?"
Foreman Warren was speechless, "We asked if you want to go check on the car! Our car! There are still some equipment inside."
"Okay." Thea rubbed her temples and got up: "I’ll go take a look."
"..." He didn’t mean for her to go, just to ask for her opinion.
Seeing her get up and walk out, Foreman Warren was dumbfounded.
"Hey, no, I... should I go?"
The figure up front walked out without turning back, as if she hadn’t heard his words.
Foreman Warren turned his head in surprise to Foreman Leigh, "I didn’t say anything harsh, did I? What’s her deal?"
"Something seems off..." Even Foreman Leigh found it odd, putting down what he was holding and getting up: "I’ll follow and see."
Seeing this, Foreman Warren couldn’t sit still and followed suit.
Under the eave, Thea couldn’t move.
She thought the person’s words earlier were exaggerated, but now coming out, she realized they weren’t.
It was her first time seeing hail the size of eggs, some on the ground were as big as her fist.
"Oh wow." Foreman Warren was also taken aback stepping out, "We’re not going home tonight."
Forget the car and equipment, getting home safely was a problem itself.
"Forget it, let’s just head back."
Thea nodded, "You guys go ahead, I need to make a call."
Foreman Leigh had something to say, but was tugged back by Foreman Warren.
After stepping inside, Foreman Leigh asked what he meant.
"You saw her, she must have something on her mind. Let her finish her call, then we’ll talk."
On hearing this, Foreman Leigh thought it made sense.
It’s just that...
He eyed Foreman Warren up and down, finding it somewhat miraculous. "You’re actually caring for people now huh."
Especially since that person is Thea.
Foreman Warren averted his eyes, "I just don’t like chatting with you people."
As long as he knew it himself, why bother saying it out loud?
Isn’t it annoying?
——
At the entrance, Thea stepped back, turned around, and dialed Ian Preston’s number.
By this time, Ian Preston should already be on the plane.
But with this weather, the flight might not take off.
The ringtone kept ringing until it automatically disconnected. Thea frowned, trying to call again.
From initial anticipation to nervousness and helplessness.
It took less than three minutes.
Worried that he might be on the plane, Thea contacted others, obtaining Ian Preston’s assistant’s contact details.
No way both of them wouldn’t answer the phone...
"The number you dialed is temporarily unavailable..."
Hearing this, Thea felt a jolt in her heart. She remained calm outwardly, but her hand dialing the number was unconsciously trembling.
