After a 140-minute flight, the plane landed at Qiaohong Airport in Shanghai City.
The moment he turned off airplane mode, a call from Guo Siming came through.
"Brother Chuan, Brother Chuan, my God, I finally got through to you. I have a few issues here that I hope you can help me look over," Guo Siming said.
"Have you compiled the issues?" Chen Mengchuan asked.
"I have, Brother Chuan. I sent them to your email two hours ago. You hadn't replied, so I called you," Guo Siming said.
"I just got back from Xi'an and got off the plane. I'll reply after I check my email later."
"Okay, Brother Chuan. Thank you, Brother Chuan. You get busy, Brother Chuan. Goodbye, Brother Chuan..."
Hanging up on Guo Siming with a face full of black lines, Chen Mengchuan turned to Zhao Wanyu. "Where do you live?"
Zhao Wanyu froze slightly, looking a little embarrassed.
Chen Mengchuan realized there was something wrong with how he had phrased that. He coughed twice. "I mean, where are you staying? I'll take you home, then find myself a hotel."
Zhao Wanyu rolled her eyes at him with a smile.
"Forget it. Everything I say sounds weird. I'll take you home," Chen Mengchuan said helplessly.
After picking up their luggage, Zhao Wanyu said to Chen Mengchuan, "I have several apartments at Shimao Binjiang."
Shimao Binjiang? Several apartments? Chen Mengchuan was taken aback.
"I couldn't tell. You're quite the little rich woman."
"I'm doing all right. Come to my place," Zhao Wanyu said openly.
Since she put it that way, Chen Mengchuan did not refuse.
An hour later, Zhao Wanyu dug out her keys and opened an apartment on the twenty-sixth floor. Once she turned on the lights and they entered, even Chen Mengchuan was stunned. He really had underestimated Zhao Wanyu.
The apartment came with a luxurious open terrace and was at least three hundred square meters. The outdoor balcony alone was nearly a hundred square meters.
"After seeing this mansion of yours, I feel like my place in Su City is practically a doghouse... Why don't you just keep me? I'll stay in your house every day and eat and drink off you," Chen Mengchuan joked.
"Sure," Zhao Wanyu said. "I'll keep you. You just have to tidy the balcony every day, clean the rooms once, and make me breakfast and dinner. How about it?"
"Haha, forget it. If I cleaned this place from end to end, my arms would probably break. And I can't take care of all those flowers and plants on the balcony."
"You can either rest or work, whatever you want. I'm going downstairs to buy some daily necessities and vegetables. We'll make do with something for dinner tonight," Zhao Wanyu said, setting down her handbag and luggage.
Chen Mengchuan felt a warmth in his heart. Smiling, he said, "I'll come along and carry the bags for you."
"Won't that delay your work?"
"No."
After putting their things away, they went downstairs again. They bought some daily necessities and a huge pile of ingredients at the supermarket across from the residential complex before heading back.
Back at Zhao Wanyu's home, Chen Mengchuan helped her prepare the ingredients in the spacious kitchen. After an hour of work, they made three dishes and a soup. Like a young married couple, they sat across from each other and had dinner together. There was a strange sense of harmony that Chen Mengchuan could not put into words.
After dinner, he politely offered a few times to wash the dishes, but Zhao Wanyu chased him out. Chen Mengchuan then opened his laptop in the living room and began seriously looking into Xu Shuwei and Toni Chen Miantang—their résumés, papers, projects, product achievements, and so on...
When Zhao Wanyu came out after washing the dishes and saw how focused Chen Mengchuan was, she did not disturb him. She grabbed her phone and earphones, poured herself a glass of juice, curled up on the sofa, and started playing a mobile game.
After losing several matches, Zhao Wanyu angrily pulled off her earphones.
"You're actually pretty good," Chen Mengchuan suddenly said from behind her.
"Whoa, you scared me."
"So girls play shooting games too," Chen Mengchuan said with a smile as he sat beside her.
Zhao Wanyu smiled. "Chicken Dinner Battlefield, published by Tencent, has lots of female players. But there are too many cheaters. I can never beat them, so I've been stuck at Diamond."
"I rarely play games. I've only occasionally seen my coworkers play this one," Chen Mengchuan said with a smile.
"Come on, I'll teach you," Zhao Wanyu said with a laugh.
Chen Mengchuan smiled, intrigued. He took out his phone. "All right."
After downloading the game, Zhao Wanyu leaned beside Chen Mengchuan and patiently taught him how to move, aim and shoot, as well as the rules of the game, what the poison zone meant, and the functions of firearm attachments.
After playing for over two hours, the two of them finally got a chicken dinner!
After tossing aside their phones, Zhao Wanyu poured two glasses of apple juice, and they walked to the edge of the terrace.
"I didn't expect you to know so much," Chen Mengchuan said with a smile.
Zhao Wanyu knew he meant the things in the game. She pouted prettily. "I've just played for a long time, that's all. It's nothing. You're the real experts."
"You mean Artificial Intelligence?" Chen Mengchuan asked.
Zhao Wanyu nodded. "Yes. Through all kinds of algorithms and programming, you make robotic arms move, recognize things precisely, and work precisely. Do you know how I felt the first time I entered Ke University's factory? It was like being inside some futuristic warehouse full of robots."
"Hahaha, robots and Artificial Intelligence are two different things. Ke University's Artificial Intelligence may be very impressive, but it is mainly concentrated in industrial manufacturing, such as your robotic arms. It is weaker in many civilian fields. Of course, some of Ke University's medical equipment applications are pretty good too," Chen Mengchuan said with a smile.
"Aren't those the most direct applications of robots?" Zhao Wanyu asked with a smile.
"Artificial Intelligence is different. True Artificial Intelligence should be capable of independent thought, able to judge right from wrong, imagine the future, feel emotions, and like and love..."
Zhao Wanyu was somewhat stunned. "How would that kind of Artificial Intelligence be any different from humans? That only exists in television and movies, doesn't it? So many top Artificial Intelligences around the world can't even pass the Turing Test."
"Of course there's a difference. Artificial Intelligence that reaches that level would be far smarter and more rational than humans. It might not surpass humans in creativity and imagination, but once it becomes humanity's assistant, it will be an exponential combination," Chen Mengchuan said.
"An exponential combination? That's the first time I've heard that phrase," Zhao Wanyu said.
"It's a metaphor. Say a person is a hundred, and a robot is also a hundred. Their combination isn't just one hundred plus one hundred, nor is it one hundred times one hundred. It's one hundred to the hundredth power," Chen Mengchuan explained with a smile.
Late at night.
Long after the lights had gone out, Chen Mengchuan lay in bed, still thinking about tomorrow's meeting, when the doorknob made a faint sound. In the darkness, the door was quietly pushed open.
A gentle presence approached the bed.
It was Zhao Wanyu. Why had she come into his room instead of sleeping? Chen Mengchuan closed his eyes and pretended to be asleep.
After confirming that Chen Mengchuan was asleep, Zhao Wanyu hesitated for a moment before finally lifting the blanket with practiced ease and slipping inside.
Chen Mengchuan's heart raced wildly...
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