(Today I saved a whole 520 yuan. Was I proud of myself? Well, thanks to readers 160211090247419 and 20171214135333077 for their monthly votes. Readers are true love.)
Yuan Jingsong looked at Li Zhou, who was smiling at him, with mixed feelings.
"Artificial Intelligence and the Photonic Computer are matters of great importance. I need to seek instructions from my superior."
After saying that, Yuan Jingsong glanced at Weixi beside him.
Yuan Jingsong's meaning was obvious: he wanted to speak with his superior somewhere outside Future Technology headquarters' surveillance range.
Li Zhou shrugged indifferently. "Go ahead. I'll wait here."
Yuan Jingsong nodded and headed straight for the elevator.
After Weixi controlled the elevator and sent Yuan Jingsong upstairs, she turned around and looked at her boss, Li Zhou, with a grin that revealed her little tiger teeth.
"Boss, do you want Weixi to sync over the call audio?"
Li Zhou shot Weixi a glare. Even if some things could be done without anyone knowing, there was simply no need to do them.
Li Zhou had more or less guessed who Yuan Jingsong's superior was, though he was not entirely sure which person it was.
Sometimes, people still deserved the respect due to them.
"No eavesdropping!"
In a patch of woods three kilometers from Future Technology headquarters, Yuan Jingsong dialed a special phone number.
To avoid being monitored by Weixi, Yuan Jingsong had borrowed Future Technology's business vehicle and come to these woods.
Unfortunately, Yuan Jingsong had no idea that Artificial Intelligence could monitor every move through a phone connected to the internet. It was only because Li Zhou had not given permission that Weixi had chosen not to do so.
"Yes! Yes, that's right. I just came out of Future Technology headquarters."
"Alright! Understood! I won't let Li Zhou suffer a loss."
After hanging up, Yuan Jingsong broke out in a cold sweat from a single remark his superior had made.
That was right. Artificial Intelligence was practically a god on the internet, and his phone was connected to the internet.
Fortunately, his superior's words put Yuan Jingsong much more at ease.
"The young man won't eavesdrop."
Yuan Jingsong looked at the phone in his hand with a complicated gaze. For some reason, he felt a little afraid of the coming age of Artificial Intelligence.
When Yuan Jingsong returned to the basement, Weixi woke Li Zhou, who had fallen asleep in a genuine leather chair.
"Ahh-ha!"
Li Zhou opened his mouth wide in a yawn and rubbed his eyes, which could barely stay open.
"Old Yuan, you're back?"
Yuan Jingsong wore a solemn expression. Without wasting a single word, he went straight to the point.
"The country needs an Artificial Intelligence, as well as a Photonic Supercomputer like the one before us. Whether the country pays in money or other resources, as long as it's within reason, the country can accept it."
Li Zhou's eyes lit up, and he instantly became wide awake.
"Old Yuan, if you put it that way, then I won't hold back."
"First, I hope you won't publicly disclose that Weixi is a special Artificial Intelligence.
Second, I hope you'll get Weixi an ID card, recognize her as a legal citizen of our country, and grant her the same protection as any other citizen."
Hearing that she was going to get an ID card, Weixi blinked her happy little eyes nonstop.
Li Zhou held up three fingers.
"Third, those are the terms for the Artificial Intelligence. As for the Photonic Supercomputer, it must be purchased with money. After all, I spent a huge amount on researching it. Friendship price: 2.5 billion per supercomputer."
Worried that Yuan Jingsong might not accept the price, Li Zhou continued.
"Don't rush to refuse. This supercomputer is absolutely worth 2.5 billion. It uses plenty of cutting-edge technology. To say nothing else, ordinary supercomputers require an enormous amount of space for storage. Look at mine—you can't feel it at all, because it uses a new storage technology. And that's only one of its technologies. What do you think?"
Yuan Jingsong listened to Li Zhou without changing expression. Yet upon hearing Li Zhou's terms, he was ecstatic inside.
The upper limit he had been given was 5 billion, but now he had secured it for half that price. How could Yuan Jingsong not be happy?
However, he absolutely could not show it in front of Li Zhou.
As for the first two conditions, those were trivial matters—nothing more than a small favor.
Seeing Yuan Jingsong's expressionless face, Li Zhou felt a little uneasy and began doubting himself. Had I asked for too much?
After all, the actual cost of building a Photonic Supercomputer was no more than one million.
"Alright. But when can we take delivery of the Photonic Supercomputer?"
At that moment, both of them were old hands. Their faces remained calm, but inside, both were so delighted that they felt as if they were floating.
Li Zhou tried his best to keep his expression under control. He gave a light cough.
"Cough, cough."
"Well, now that we have experience building the first Photonic Supercomputer, if we work overtime, you can come pick up the second one in a week."
"Alright. I'll come collect it in a week."
"No problem. Are you planning to take the Artificial Intelligence away now, or take it together with the supercomputer when you collect it? Personally, I suggest taking them together then. Without hardware support, no matter how powerful the software is, it won't be able to show its full potential."
Yuan Jingsong weighed the matter and decided to follow Li Zhou's advice. After all, Li Zhou was the professional.
After seeing Yuan Jingsong off, Li Zhou raised his hand to check his watch and discovered that it was already five o'clock. No wonder the sky was beginning to brighten.
He yawned, feeling completely drained and without a shred of strength.
"Weixi, I'm going home to sleep too. Tomorrow morning, after Xiong Kexuan starts work at nine thirty, go report to her. Tell her that from now on, you'll monitor and review all of the company's business information. Especially the company's finances—you must keep a close eye on them. If anything unusual happens, don't alert anyone. Report directly to me. I don't want some people in the finance department to make a little 'oversight' and give outsiders an opening to cause trouble for the company."
Weixi pondered her boss's words. "Is this what humans are like? Human hearts really are complicated."
"I'm off!"
Li Zhou waved his hand and took the elevator out of the laboratory.
Li Zhou had made up his mind. Before the afternoon, no matter who came to wake him up, he would not get up.
If he did not get enough sleep and went bald, who would he complain to then? How would he find a pretty young lady to marry?
Although Li Zhou's bed was broken, there were still quite a few guest rooms. After returning home, Li Zhou went up to the third floor, picked a guest room at random, and collapsed into bed.
Before long, snores could be heard from the guest room.
Li Zhou had truly exhausted himself over the past two days. Normally, he never snored in his sleep.
As Li Zhou's personal bodyguard, Zhou Song could also sense Li Zhou's fatigue.
After Li Zhou fell asleep, Zhou Song called over more than a dozen brothers and had them surround the villa, preventing anyone from disturbing his boss's rest.
At a villa one hundred meters from Li Zhou's home, Xiong Kexuan, who had just gotten up that morning, discovered more than a dozen security guards surrounding Li Zhou's house for some unknown reason.
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