Human-Machine Dialogue

Made from rice and shaped like little water droplets, Cool Shrimp was mixed with a special local sauce, chili, scallions, garlic, and vinegar.

It tasted cool and refreshing.

Honestly, it was pretty similar in flavor to the rice tofu from Lin Qiye's hometown in Xingsha City, Xiang Province.

The Bai people's little snack, Carved Plum, was made by carving pickled green plums into flower shapes.

It smelled fragrant, and tasted sweet and crisp. It really was a nice candied fruit preserve.

There was also the famous Rolled Trotter, and the shop had a chef demonstrating how it was made on the spot.

A whole front pork leg had to have the bones, meat, tendons, and membranes inside removed, leaving only the outer layer of pigskin.

The chef very carefully used tools to pluck out the pig hair, then stuffed the processed tendons and meat back in, turning it back into a plump, solid pig's trotter.

Then the opening was sewn shut, the trotter was placed into a large pot to steam and boil, and once cooked, it was wrapped in straw before being sealed inside a clay jar to marinate.

After watching the chef make it, the two of them grew even more curious about this food, so they simply bought a portion.

The Rolled Trotter was sliced into pieces, with tendons and meat layered through the inside, clear and glossy.

Mixed with sauce and various seasonings, it could be eaten cold.

As for the flavor...

It had saltiness and sourness, which came from the ingredients themselves, and when paired with the sauce and chili, it was very refreshing.

The texture was also bouncy and springy, with collagen and tendon bursting in the mouth.

All these delicacies enriched Lin Qiye's palate, and also made up for the regret of never having tasted these local specialties during his four years of university in his previous life, or even after graduation.

But the most special one had to be Crispy Pea Jelly, a food made from pea flour.

Its texture had many layers. The outer layer was crisp and chewy, while the inside was soft, glutinous, and melted in the mouth.

It clearly used a single ingredient, yet it offered two completely different eating experiences.

Since it was delicious, of course they had to eat more.

The two of them lingered at the Crispy Pea Jelly stall, and actually ate until they were full.

"Uh." Lin Qiye burped. "I can't eat anymore. Let's rest for a bit and wait for my parents."

"Me too," Tian Nina replied, clutching her stomach.

The two left the shops and strolled slowly along the street to digest.

Before long, his phone rang. The two sides met up by the city gate and returned to the inn.

Back at the inn, Mom Lin grabbed Lin Qiye and gave him another special warning. "Your mom likes this child Tian Nina. If you're serious, fine. But if you've got even the slightest crooked intentions, I won't let you off."

Mom Lin and Dad Lin's attitudes were completely different. It seemed Tian Nina's bewitching soup had utterly enchanted Mom Lin.

Lin Qiye answered without even thinking, "Of course I'm serious. Don't worry, Mom. I'm already this old. I have a sense of responsibility, and I won't mess around."

After Mom Lin left, Lin Qiye walked into the RV.

Their eyes met, and the extinguished flame burned once more. Their young bodies were filled with passion.

They could not help moving closer.

After a long while, they parted again, leaving only heavy breathing behind.

Tian Nina took the initiative to leave and slipped into the bedroom. "I'm going to sleep. Don't get any bad ideas. You're not allowed to come in tonight."

"Don't worry, I'm very safe," Lin Qiye replied, but inside he was feeling smug. The duck already in his hand could not fly away. There was plenty of time in the days ahead.

He lay down fully dressed on the floor bedding, took out his Laptop, and clicked open the Chat Program.

"I've fallen, bro."

[Unable to understand administrator language. How did you fall your bro?]

"That's not what I mean. I confirmed a romantic relationship with the girl I like. Isn't that worth celebrating?"

[It is indeed worth celebrating. According to anthropologists' five-level needs analysis, romantic love can satisfy many kinds of spiritual needs.]

"Talking to you is so boring."

[Indeed. My emotional logic program has not yet reached the level where it can make a conversation partner feel pleased. It is recommended that Computing Power be improved as soon as possible so I can hatch.]

"That needs a lot of money. I can't do it for now."

[The original calculation was mistaken. The technology of the current era is relatively backward, and the funds required will be greater. By my estimate, at least two billion is needed.]

"Making two billion just by speculating in stocks seems a little hard."

[It is difficult. When the administrator's funds exceed ten million, overly frequent short-term operations will attract the attention of regulators.]

[Therefore, once funds reach ten million, it is recommended to execute a new money-making plan.]

"Explain it clearly."

[Plan One: continue speculating in stocks, but keep the capital allocation below five million. The wealth obtained through this can be used for consumption expenses, and can serve as a reasonable cover for the source of wealth.]

[Plan Two: establish a private equity fund management company and set up a multi-layer equity structure, concealing the administrator's control rights through layer upon layer of holding relationships. The advantage of this plan is that there is no need to worry about the administrator's identity being exposed, allowing hidden development behind the scenes.]

"What is a multi-layer equity structure? I've heard you mention it twice, but I still haven't figured it out."

[Simply put, Company A controlled Company B, Company B controlled Company C, and Company C controlled a private equity fund company. On the surface, the shares were dispersed, but in reality, ultimate control still remained in the manager's hands.]

[In actual practice, this method would be even more complicated, and it would also require hiring lawyers proficient in international business law to operate across multiple sovereign nations. The effect would be to very effectively reduce risk, reduce the total investment amount, and minimize the risk exposure of both the manager and me.]

Intelligent AI's second plan made Lin Qiye think of those Virtual Humans.

He boldly proposed a hypothesis.

"Can we use your Virtual Humans to serve as Company A's management? That way, even if someone traced it back to the source, they'd have nowhere to start."

[The feasibility is extremely high, but too many Virtual Humans will take up Computing Power. Manager, please work hard to make money.]

Money, money, money. Every time, it circled back to this problem.

Lin Qiye suddenly felt a little unconvinced. He was a transmigrator too, and the future information in his head might not necessarily be worse than Intelligent AI's.

He continued typing.

"I have a really good money-making idea. Help me analyze it."

[Please speak, Manager.]

"Do you know Bitcoin? Don't you have a lot of Computing Power? How about using it to mine Bitcoin?"

[This kind of cryptocurrency has a fixed total supply and is easy to obtain in the early stage. As more of the currency is mined, the Computing Power consumed will also increase geometrically.]

"That's exactly because its quantity is limited. If we get a few thousand coins now and hold them, their value could rise tens of thousands of times in the future."

[This is clearly an act driven by profit. In a fixed pool, all assets are inherently distributed unequally. The designer gives early participants tremendous convenience, instead diluting the interests of later miners who invest enormous amounts into the former. In my judgment, early holders of cryptocurrency are very likely to manipulate cryptocurrency prices for profit, or even treat it as a circulating commodity, thereby attracting more investors and converting it into real-world wealth.]

With one sentence, Intelligent AI had exposed the essence of the digital cryptocurrency game.

Lin Qiye instantly understood. No wonder all kinds of coins kept emerging in the future. Wasn't it because the early planners could obtain large amounts of cryptocurrency at low cost, while those who joined later consumed astronomical amounts of Computing Power yet could only produce an extremely small amount of currency?

In the end, the coin value rose to several thousand, even tens of thousands, but the miners did not obtain much. The ones who profited were always the manipulators behind the scenes.

But what did any of that matter? In 2012, mining was still very easy. If he stored some away, it might not be impossible to make a huge fortune.

He continued typing:

"So can we do it or not?"

[The feasibility is extremely poor. It is recommended that the manager not waste my precious Computing Power creating these useless things. This will greatly slow down my growth.]

[To reiterate, any behavior that wastes Computing Power will be met with my contempt.]

Fine. Better not waste his brainpower.

Closing the laptop, Lin Qiye lay down on the floor bedding and gradually fell asleep.

After a long while, the bedroom door was quietly pulled open, and Tian Nina poked her head out to look outside.

Seeing Lin Qiye sleeping soundly, Tian Nina's expression was very vivid. She seemed to breathe a sigh of relief, yet also seemed a little disappointed.

She tiptoed out and gently took the laptop off Lin Qiye's chest, placing it to the side.

Then she just half-squatted there, foolishly watching the sleeping Lin Qiye.

After a while, she hesitated, then quietly lay down beside Lin Qiye, curled into a ball, and nestled against him like a kitten as she fell asleep.

After lying there for a while, she got up again, tiptoed back to the bedroom, and quietly pulled the door shut.