After breakfast, Xiong Kexuan, carrying her daughter Nuonuo as she prepared to head to work, passed Li Zhou's front door. She waved over one of the security guards, signaling for him to come closer.
"President Xiong, were you looking for me?"
Xiong Kexuan glanced at Li Zhou's silent house.
"Yes. What are you doing? Why are so many people gathered here?"
"Sorry, President Xiong. Without Supervisor Zhou's authorization, we can't disclose anything. If you truly wish to know what's going on, please contact Supervisor Zhou."
Xiong Kexuan didn't care that much anyway. The boss was probably just sleeping in.
At ten o'clock, when Xiong Kexuan arrived at Future Technology's headquarters, the employees had already been at work for half an hour.
As Xiong Kexuan reached the entrance and was about to take her access card out of her bag, she discovered that the doors had opened on their own.
Seeing the puzzled expression on President Xiong's face, the young guard at the entrance explained.
"President Xiong, it seems the chairman upgraded the company's system. The building has been made intelligent and can automatically recognize identities, so access cards are no longer needed."
Upgraded? How did I, the chief executive officer, not know about this?
With her head full of question marks, Xiong Kexuan walked toward the elevator.
As she passed the reception desk, the receptionist greeted her.
"Good morning, President Xiong."
"Good morning."
Xiong Kexuan smiled and returned the greeting.
When she reached the elevator, Xiong Kexuan was surprised to find its doors opening at just the right moment. At first, she thought someone had come up in it, but after looking inside, she found it empty.
The moment she stepped in, the button for -10F lit up on its own. As the doors closed, the elevator descended smoothly underground.
"Good morning, Ms. Xiong Kexuan! A new workday has begun. Weixi would like to remind you that hot water is more suitable for you than strong tea."
Xiong Kexuan raised her head in surprise and looked toward the speaker in the elevator's corner. That voice had come from there.
Even little Nuonuo in Xiong Kexuan's arms stared curiously at the speaker in the corner.
"Mommy~~ Voi~~ voice~~"
"Weixi? Who are you?"
By then, the elevator had reached -10F.
Still full of questions, Xiong Kexuan had just entered her office and was about to ask Wang Fei what was going on when—
The voice from earlier sounded again, this time in surround sound.
"Hello, Ms. Xiong Kexuan, chief executive officer of Future Technology! It is a pleasure to meet you."
Xiong Kexuan looked up and discovered that, sometime during the previous night, four speakers had been installed in the four corners of her office.
Seeing Xiong Kexuan, the chief executive officer, frown, Wang Fei came over and picked up Nuonuo. "The Security Department came over this morning and installed them. They said it was the chairman's order. Not only here—this kind of speaker and camera has been installed throughout the entire building."
"What's going on with this Weixi?"
Wang Fei shook her head at Xiong Kexuan, indicating that she did not know either.
Just as Xiong Kexuan and Wang Fei were confused, Weixi spoke up again on its own.
"Hello, Ms. Xiong Kexuan, chief executive officer of Future Technology! I am Future Technology headquarters' brain—Weixi. Following the boss's instructions, I am formally reporting to you and taking over all of Future Technology's electronic data."
Xiong Kexuan stared at the camera in shock, and a cry escaped her lips.
"You're Artificial Intelligence?"
"You may see me that way. By humanity's definition, I do indeed belong to Artificial Intelligence."
"However, compared to the term Artificial Intelligence, I would prefer you to call me Weixi!"
"Weixi?"
"Yes! Weixi!"
At that moment, Xiong Kexuan felt her mind turn a little chaotic. Artificial Intelligence! Without making a sound, the boss had developed genuine Artificial Intelligence.
It was too sudden. Xiong Kexuan had not been mentally prepared at all.
"Ms. Xiong Kexuan, if you need anything, you may call for Weixi through the cameras at any time."
After saying that, Weixi's voice completely disappeared from Xiong Kexuan's office.
Once she had calmed down, Xiong Kexuan glanced at her phone, picked it up, and directly dialed Li Zhou's private number.
"Hello, President Xiong. This is Zhou Song."
Xiong Kexuan frowned and looked at her phone.
That was right. She had clearly called Li Zhou's number.
"Where's the chairman? Why are you answering his phone? I need to speak to him. Have him answer."
In the courtyard, Zhou Song turned and glanced toward a room on the third floor.
"President Xiong, if it isn't urgent, please call again after two this afternoon. The boss didn't go to sleep until after five this morning. He's sleeping soundly right now, and I don't dare disturb him."
After hanging up, Xiong Kexuan did not know what to do for a moment.
And Li Zhou really was sleeping, just as she had guessed. She had no idea what he had done last night to stay up until after five. It was nothing like the Li Zhou who always talked about not staying up late.
It was not until three in the afternoon that Li Zhou leisurely wandered over to the company.
As soon as Li Zhou arrived, he first went to Xiong Kexuan's office.
Inside Xiong Kexuan's private office, Li Zhou and Xiong Kexuan looked at each other.
"That's the general situation. As for how to arrange things, that's up to you."
Ten minutes earlier, as soon as Li Zhou arrived at Xiong Kexuan's office, he had laid out everything about the Photonic Computer. As for Artificial Intelligence, he was not considering releasing it to the public for the time being.
But even the Photonic Computer alone was enough to astonish Xiong Kexuan.
She had thought Boss Li Zhou had come to explain the Artificial Intelligence matter. Who would have thought that he would directly tell her the Photonic Computer had been successfully developed and that a prototype had been completed?
Li Zhou's company had been researching Photonic Computers, yet she had not caught even the slightest hint of it.
Xiong Kexuan stood and paced back and forth around the desk. As the chief executive officer, what she needed to consider now was not the research itself, but how to operate it and maximize the profits.
Xiong Kexuan stopped. "Has it been tested?"
"Of course. Weixi runs locally on a Photonic Supercomputer. Otherwise, even current electronic supercomputers couldn't handle Weixi."
"What about the cost? How does it compare with existing computers?"
Li Zhou grinned.
"Actually, if we mass-produce them, the cost of a Photonic Computer would be under 1,500."
That low cost thrilled Xiong Kexuan. Low costs meant high profits!
"Can the performance of the Photonic Computer be limited?"
Li Zhou stared at Xiong Kexuan in shock. What an evil capitalist! As the boss, he had never even considered that issue. He had only thought the higher the performance, the better.
Li Zhou said somewhat bashfully, "It's not impossible. It can be done through reduced specifications. Besides cutting specs, it can also be restricted through the system."
With confirmation from Li Zhou, the developer, Xiong Kexuan was overjoyed.
"Wonderful! This way, we can divide the Photonic Computer plan into multiple generations and release an upgraded model every so often. That way, the company's profits can multiply several times over."
"Cough, cough~"
Li Zhou pretended not to hear Xiong Kexuan muttering to herself.
He truly was a conscientious entrepreneur. Too bad the company's chief executive officer had so many tricks.
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