This made Song Heping feel that in the future, the company couldn't rely only on an operational department; it also had to establish administrative, intelligence, business, and other departments.
Relying solely on the few core members would make it difficult to expand and strengthen the company.
A few hours later, Ferrari reported all the details to Song Heping, and it had to be said that Ferrari was quite skilled in administration and financial management.
The documents needed to sign the contract with the military had all been processed, just waiting to be signed at General Peter's in three days.
At last, Ferrari handed Song Heping over a dozen resumes, telling him these were the candidates who had applied to join the core operations team in recent days.
"I've looked at them, and they are all competent. You decide how many you want, mark them and let me know, I'll handle it."
"Alright, thanks for your hard work, Ferrari. Once the contract is signed, rewards will be given based on merit, and your bonus won't be short!"
Song Heping's words made Ferrari beam with joy.
Working hard wasn't an issue as long as the pay was good.
As long as the money was plenty, boss, I'm yours.
As long as the money was sufficient, boss, there was no need to treat me as a person.
By the time Song Heping emerged from the meeting room, the time was already dusk.
The sunset had long since fallen to the west side of the Green Zone, leaving a golden silhouette atop the trees.
The sky had already grown somewhat dim, and the scent of lamb wafted from the kitchen.
In Illiguo, aside from sheep, it was quite hard to find cattle.
After all, at this point in time, cattle were also productive tools in Illiguo.
The long lines of job applicants at the company's entrance had disappeared, the office area was empty, and when Song Heping stepped out to the courtyard, he saw the cook sitting alone on a stool by the flower bed, his silhouette seeming somewhat lonely.
"Cook."
Song Heping went over and sat down beside the flower bed.
"Where are the others?"
"They went out to wander around," said the cook. "White Bear and his spouse have gone to the commercial street in the Green Zone to shop, Grey Wolf said he's going to Harvey's to buy a good gun, as he doesn't want to use the AKM anymore. Hunter and Disaster Star said they have nothing to do tonight, they won't come back for dinner, they'll go somewhere to have a good meal..."
"Why didn't you go?"
Song Heping sensed that the cook seemed troubled.
Indeed, the cook didn't immediately respond to Song Heping's question.
"Is there something that can't be resolved?"
After a good while, Song Heping spoke again, "Speak up if you have difficulties, the brothers will help you solve them."
"I'm fine," said the cook. "I've already troubled the brothers enough this time, accompanying me to South America and taking a risk. We almost lost our lives."
Song Heping said, "It's also for the company's business."
The cook shook his head and then fell silent again.
After a long time, he finally said, "Lao Song, I'm thinking of leaving."
"Leaving?" Song Heping was slightly startled. "Where to?"
He vaguely remembered the cook mentioning this idea before.
But he thought it was just a momentary sentiment.
After all, the company had just gotten on track, and wealth was within reach. Talking about leaving didn't seem reasonable.
The cook gazed at the distant sunset, reflecting, "When I brought White Bear and the others to Illiguo, I didn't have many thoughts, just wanted to find a place to make some quick money, each of us saving up a couple hundred thousand US dollars, and then going back to Russia to do some business or something. I could have never dreamed our company would grow to what it is today..."
At this point, he suddenly laughed.
"I now have nearly twenty million US dollars. If I spend sparingly, I'll never have to worry for the rest of my life."
Song Heping said, "Cook, you don't seem like a person content with a small fortune."
Without an immediate response, the cook seemed to be pondering something; after a moment, he spoke, "Lao Song, I've learned a lot from you, truly."
He turned his head to look at Song Heping.
Song Heping felt somewhat embarrassed by his gaze and said, "What's with you today? You're as sentimental as a woman."
The chef continued, "If it wasn't for you, I believe our company might not have made it to where it is today, but..."
The words stopped there.
The silence began again.
Song Heping had a vague feeling and tentatively asked, "How about it, you want to take the role of the legal person?"
The chef snorted, "What kind of person do you think I, Yevgeny, am? I know very well who's the most suitable to be the boss of the company. I just want to leave that's all..."
As a parting thought, he added, "My leaving is not entirely because of you. Of course, to say it's not because of you would be a lie. Two tigers cannot share the same mountain. You are naturally a leader, and I am not content to be second to anyone. Let's not mince words, one of us has to go, or the company will surely run into trouble in the future."
Song Heping was left speechless.
He wanted to say something.
But suddenly, he felt that perhaps the chef was making a lot of sense.
The chef was naturally not content with being second, and with his arrival, the chef's limelight had been completely overshadowed, which was understandably upsetting.
"I've earned enough too. If you feel that we can no longer work together, I can go back to China. I have enough money to last me a lifetime," Song Heping said.
The chef waved his hand, "That's exactly what I was about to talk about. Why would you go back? Someone like you, a natural-born warrior, going back with no battles to fight, enlisting again? Is that interesting? Is it not better to be the boss of a defense company? Will your ventures back home earn you as much as you've made here?"
Song Heping was speechless again.
He once more accepted the chef's words as the truth.
"I have a friend who invited me to go back to Russia. He asked me before, but I've delayed it until now because of Ivan's matter," said the chef. "He said there's an opportunity over there now, asking me if I want to seize it. He can introduce me to a VIP, and if I grab this opportunity, I will certainly rise to great heights in the future."
Song Heping asked, "Opportunity? What kind of business?"
The chef smiled, "Going back to open a restaurant, be a chef."
Song Heping was astonished, "Are you kidding me? Are you really going to open a restaurant?"
"Hmm," the chef pondered and then said, "There are some things I can't comfortably speak of, but it really is about opening a restaurant, however... forget it, I'm not going to talk about it anymore. I feel it's worth going back to give it a shot."
Song Heping still wanted to persuade him, but then he suddenly thought that going back to open a restaurant was an honest profession, wasn't that good?
After all, who could say that living through constant strife and bloodshed like he did was the life of a normal person?
"Opening a restaurant... that's not bad, your cooking skills are excellent," Song Heping said. "Maybe you could create the biggest food group in Russia, who knows? Is your friend also in the food industry? If you make it big in the future, you'll have to host me when I visit Russia, with all the food and drink on you!"
"No problem, I'll keep this satellite phone number active, you can find me anytime," he said.
The chef looked at Song Heping, his eyes reflecting a strange brilliance again, as if he had much to say but couldn't speak it.
FInally standing up, he patted Song Heping's shoulder, "My friend isn't in the food industry. He's a former KGB, now with the Federal Security Bureau."
"Former KGB?!"
Song Heping was dumbstruck.
Damn, that's intelligence agency personnel.
The notorious KGB.
"I'm leaving tomorrow morning. Don't tell anyone about this, I'll send them a message after I leave. I won't take White Bear and the others with me either; they won't have much to do if they follow me back to Russia. Should I ask these former paratroopers to go wash dishes in my kitchen? I'll leave them to you, they are all old brothers. You have to treat them well. Maybe we'll have the chance to meet again in the future... but..."
He paused again.
"I still hope..."
With that, the chef once again chose to keep silent.
He didn't say anything else and turned back to his room, leaving Song Heping completely baffled.
What had gotten into the chef?!
He couldn't grasp what was happening at all and didn't understand what had occurred.