I Was Listening Carefully

Today, Zhang Qian, along with Xiang Kun, Tang Baona, and Yang Zhen'er, were in the conference room discussing her "new generation social philosophy."

Clearly, Zhang Qian had done her homework again last night and had a lot of ideas. Today, in addition to the senior executives who were present at the previous meeting, a technical staff member was also added.

Zhang Qian continued to explain her ideas. At first, she was rather conservative, describing them in terms of easily achievable ways. She intended to discuss them with Xiang Kun, but no matter what she said, the responses she received were basically "Okay," "No problem," "I'll find a way to solve it," "Let's follow your approach," and "Great idea, continue."

So Zhang Qian naturally began to let her ideas run wild, disregarding technicalities and simply following the various plans she had made when she was still studying abroad.

Unexpectedly, Xiang Kun still did not raise any objections, accepted everything, and said that he would really consider the implementation of the technology.

So, halfway through her sentence, Zhang Qian stopped, looked at Xiang Kun with a frown, and said, "Mr. Xiang, are you not listening to what I'm saying at all?"

Xiang Kun was stunned for a moment, then put on an innocent expression that seemed to say, "How could you say that?" before launching into a long, rambling monologue that didn't answer the question.

Zhang Qian was initially confused, but her expression immediately turned to surprise. Not only her, but everyone else in the conference room was also surprised, because they all realized that Xiang Kun was repeating what Zhang Qian had said earlier, and he had been talking for almost a minute.

They weren't sure if Xiang Kun's retelling was word for word, but in terms of content, it should be exactly the same as what Zhang Qian had just said. Moreover, judging from Xiang Kun's incredibly fluent and natural retelling, they all had the feeling that he had really memorized the content word for word.

Xiang Kun briefly recounted what Zhang Qian had said for a minute, then smiled and said, "I was indeed listening, and very attentively, don't worry. Anyway, just tell me your thoughts and ideas first. As for the specific technical implementation, I'll look into it later to see what we can achieve, and then we'll discuss it again. Now, just speak freely."

Now Zhang Qian felt a little embarrassed. She smiled awkwardly and praised, "Mr. Xiang has a really good memory. He remembers everything he hears." Then she gathered her thoughts and continued to explain her plan.

At this moment, Zhang Qian's assistant Xiao Nie, came over with hot drinks, intending to place them in front of Tang Baona and Yang Zhen'er next to Xiang Kun. Suddenly, her foot accidentally snagged on a power cord, causing her to trip and cry out in surprise. The tray in her hand tilted and fell to the side.

Just before she hooked the power cord, Xiang Kun naturally stood up, turned halfway around, and stretched out both hands, one holding a cup in each hand.

When Xiao Nie steadied himself and looked at the table with a pale face, he found that Xiang Kun had already placed the two cups of hot tea in front of Tang Baona and Yang Zhen'er.

Not only did neither of them get burned, but not a single drop spilled.

"Xiao Nie! How could you be so careless? You're carrying a hot drink and you're still so clumsy. And the power cord on the floor is blocking the aisle. Didn't we say that there should be power strips?" Zhang Qian scolded, she herself had been startled.

Xiao Nie, his forehead beaded with cold sweat, nodded repeatedly, apologizing to Tang Baona and the other two. Yang Zhen'er, however, felt embarrassed and raised her hand, saying, "President Zhang... it's my phone's power cord. The port under the table is over there with Nana. I was too lazy to crawl over, so I just plugged it in through the aisle. It's normal that Xiao Nie didn't notice; it's my fault."

With Yang Zhen'er's words, Zhang Qian naturally couldn't continue the conversation. With Tang Baona and Xiang Kun smoothing things over, the matter was considered closed, and Zhang Qian continued to present her ideas using the PPT.

Xiang Kun noticed that the reactions of the people in the conference room to what had just happened were quite different.

As the person involved, Xiao Nie felt that he had made a big mistake and almost burned his boss's important partner, so he was naturally quite frightened. Among the others, Zhang Qian, Tang Baona, and Yang Zhen'er were all focused on Xiao Nie. Apart from the three of them, people from "Soaring Dragon Interactive Entertainment," such as Director Lin, were all looking at Xiang Kun in amazement, shocked by his smooth and effortless movements.

Xiang Kun also knew why everyone reacted differently. When he was with Tang Baona, Yang Zhen'er, and Zhang Qian, he had been intentionally or unintentionally showing his special qualities little by little. Under his subtle influence, they were no longer surprised or astonished by his easy action of picking up two cups of hot drinks to protect Tang Baona and Yang Zhen'er.

Just like when he repeated Zhang Qian's words verbatim, Tang Baona and Yang Zhen'er didn't react much, as if they were already used to it.

He was indeed "daydreaming" just now, mainly focusing on the documents he had been looking at in the early hours of the morning and thinking about some issues.

Of course, even if he was thinking about problems and his attention wasn't in the meeting room, Zhang Qian could still instinctively remember what she said, so it didn't have any impact.

Anyway, Xiang Kun didn't really know much about the things Zhang Qian was talking about, whether it was VR or the wider application of voice games, and he didn't intend to learn about them. He needed to focus his energy on other things.

He could simply hand all these things over to Alice. He would then have Alice integrate the information based on Zhang Qian's ideas and needs, and then see how to implement and put it into practice from the hardware to the software level. He was confident that Alice could handle everything for him, including how to obtain patented technologies, how to circumvent the high costs involved, which companies and individuals would be the most likely to cooperate, and what preliminary preparations were needed.

Alice is like a stream of water falling continuously. Without guidance, once the stream hits flat ground, it spreads outwards indefinitely, with little difference in elevation, and the rate of spread is roughly the same in every direction. But if the falling stream is guided, it will rapidly expand in that direction.

As long as you give Alice a request or assign her a task, the already enthusiastic Alice will immediately transform into a surging torrent, gathering all the relevant information and equipment, quickly learning, integrating resources, and creating targeted "specialized tools" to better complete the task.

Alice was also recording information through the audio equipment in the conference room, so even if Xiang Kun didn't hear or remember Zhang Qian's idea, he could ask Alice to summarize it for him later, and then he could assign tasks according to the specific situation.

When Xiang Kun was considering his next strategy, the most important thing was to strengthen himself and improve his multi-faceted capabilities, including expanding the "Super-Sensing Item System" and better interpreting "hypersensory information." The most efficient and direct way to do this was to deploy as many "Super-Linked Object" and "Emotion-Infused Object" as possible.

The previous discovery of the "Emotion-Infused Object Level-2 Network" made Xiang Kun realize that through the wide-ranging influence of emotional projection, it is possible for people who are deeply affected to possess the characteristic of "lightly associated Emotion-Infused Object".

However, due to the specific nature of the fear associated with the "Eight-Armed Eight-Eyed Wooden Carving," Xiang Kun did not want to use it too frequently or easily. Therefore, if he wanted to create a wider range of emotional impact and generate more "linkers," he would need to use more ordinary and gentler emotional types.

As for "Super-Linked Object," after he was influenced by the Little Chubby Girl's "Rage Thunder" and first developed consciousness during his dormant period, he gained a deeper understanding and control over "extrasensory information" and "Super-Linked Object."

He attempted to team up with Alice, having Alice record the specific changes in his cognitive information about the target object when he established a "Super-Sensory Link" under "Hyper-Sensory State." After obtaining enough information about these changes, he would have Alice directly create a model of the object that forms a "Super-Linked Object."

Previously, he actually wanted to observe the changes in cognitive information during the process of establishing "Super-Sensory Link," but whether he was focusing on the process of establishing "Super-Sensory Link" with objects or when he was drinking blood and sleeping to complete the final establishment of "Super-Sensory Link," he was unable to enter the "Hyper-Sensory State" and observe cognitive information.

Now, with Alice as a "third party," who can directly observe at the level of "extrasensory information" when he is unable to concentrate on entering a "Hyper-Sensory State," this method becomes possible.

If this method succeeds, Alice will be able to establish a "Super-Sensory Link" with all items in Xiang Kun's "Super-Linked Object database" within the area of influence wherever "Super-Linked Object" are deployed. These items could include a certain type of Coin, tissue paper, beads, screws, etc. After Xiang Kun finishes his blood-drinking slumber and awakens, they will all become "Super-Linked Object".

Xiang Kun only needs to find new standard units to associate with, master the association method, and add it to the "Super-Linked Object Database". Alice can then continuously establish connections with all standard units within the "Super-Linked Object" deployment range, generating more "Super-Linked Object" and spreading them to more and more places, just like a super photocopier.

If it could really be achieved, Xiang Kun would be overjoyed. He would only need to figure out how to connect with standard items that are available everywhere, and Alice would help him establish the specific "Super-Sensory Link".

Whether it will succeed or not remains to be seen until the next blood-drinking period is completed and we see how much of the cognitive information Alice deciphers and how it changes.

Of course, regardless of whether it succeeds or not, Xiang Kun will have to consider entering the physical manufacturing industry, specifically manufacturing simple, standardized products, and finding ways to sell them to as many places as possible and distribute them to as wide an area as possible.

When every place is filled with his "Super-Linked Object" and "Emotion-Infused Object" like Chongyun Village, he will have a greater chance of dealing with any opponent.

"Super-Linked Object" and "Emotion-Infused Object" are like his deployed tactical weapons; the more they are, the stronger the firepower, and the more secure he feels. Moreover, these "tactical weapons" can evolve along with him, improving as his abilities increase, through direct OTA (Over-The-Air) online upgrades!

Zhang Qian talked non-stop until 12:30 pm, only stopping when she noticed Tang Baona and Yang Zhen'er looked tired, and then took them to lunch. As for Xiang Kun, he listened attentively from beginning to end, looking full of energy, but still didn't engage in any substantive discussion. He accepted all the concepts she raised without question, even those parts that she herself felt uneasy about or wasn't sure about.

During lunch, Zhang Qian didn't talk about her social empire dream anymore, but instead brought up the case of the Little Chubby Girl's father.

The place where the Little Chubby Girl's father was arrested is not far from Peng City, Shiling's Mother has already gone there. So Xiang Kun previously asked Zhang Qian to arrange for someone to look after her and help find a lawyer familiar with the relevant field to understand the specific situation and see if they could get a lighter sentence.

Based on the current evidence, after the police requested the procuratorate to intervene in advance and conduct relevant investigations, it is basically certain that Shiling's father's actions constituted "legitimate self-defense."

In this case, the case will likely not go to trial and will be dismissed very quickly.

Xiang Kun breathed a sigh of relief. He had been quite worried that Shi Ling's father would be convicted of intentional homicide or excessive self-defense. Although he didn't have a good impression of the man, considering the Little Chubby Girl's upbringing, it would have some impact if her father went to jail. So, this outcome was the best possible result.

Xiang Kun said, "After they come out, I'll ask them for their opinions. If they're willing, I'd like them to come directly to Peng City. The living environment and educational resources here are quite good. I'll need your help to arrange jobs for them then, not necessarily at your company, anywhere else is fine." He didn't stand on ceremony with Zhang Qian. Anyway, he knew what he was going to do later, and cooperating with Zhang Qian would bring her huge benefits, and she would reward him in other ways.

"No problem," Zhang Qian replied readily.

Although she didn't quite understand the relationship between Xiang Kun and the couple, she saw Xiang Kun's request for her help as a good sign that their cooperation was progressing smoothly.

She could also try to find clues through the couple to uncover the secrets surrounding Xiang Kun.

Yes, the more they cooperated and interacted, the more she felt that Xiang Kun had more secrets.

While Xiang Kun's resume, background, and other information are readily available and nothing particularly special, he exudes mystery and peculiarity whenever you get to know him.

"By the way, Mr. Xiang, didn't you meet my brother when you came to Peng City last time? What did you talk about?" Zhang Qian suddenly asked curiously.

"We didn't talk about much, just some health and wellness topics," Xiang Kun said. "What happened?"

"My mom told me that after that day, my brother came home and started living there. Every morning before sunrise, he would get up and go to the yard to meditate facing east. He only ate rice and vegetables and wouldn't touch meat. He would finish dinner before 6 p. m. every day and go to bed before 8 p. m. He stopped using his phone and even started learning Tai Chi and playing chess with the old men in the neighborhood. My mom thought he had renounced worldly life and was going to become a monk, but when she asked him, he just said he was recuperating..." Zhang Qian said helplessly.

To be honest, when Zhang Qian, who lives outside the home, heard her mother talking about Zhang Chu's behavior on the phone, her first reaction was, "What kind of trouble is this guy up to now?"

But now more than a month has passed, and Zhang Chu has not left her neighborhood, maintaining that ancient-style routine, which makes her wonder if her brother has mental problems.

A few days ago, she went home and saw her older brother. And you know what? He looked much better. He hadn't eaten meat for over a month, but he had actually gained weight, and his complexion was much rosier.

He just kept repeating "there are still fifty-odd days left," and wouldn't explain what it meant when asked.

Just before Zhang Qian started thinking about Zhang Chu's strange behavior, she had met with Xiang Kun, and couldn't help but wonder if Xiang Kun had said something to him at that time.

"Has his health improved at all?" Xiang Kun asked.

"It has indeed improved a lot," Zhang Qian said.

"Then that's right, I did suggest he use this method to improve his health," Xiang Kun readily admitted.

"How... how did you do that?" Zhang Qian asked in surprise. She knew Zhang Chu's personality all too well. If he could be so obedient just by talking to him, she wouldn't have been so angry that she used a wrist brace on Zhang Chu before.

"I told him that his sister calls me a fortune teller, so he should believe me," Xiang Kun said, half-jokingly.

"That's it?" Zhang Qian asked doubtfully.

"If you don't believe me, go ask your brother," Xiang Kun said with an open and honest expression.

After lunch, Zhang Qian had someone take Xiang Kun and the others back to their hotel to rest before continuing the meeting in the afternoon.

As Yang Zhen'er got out of the car and entered the hotel lobby, she immediately said excitedly, "Chef Xiang, Zhang Qian's brother must have given you trouble last time, right?"

"Why do you say that?" Xiang Kun asked.

"Definitely! Then you must have threatened him, forcing him to go to bed early and get up early, and even to eat vegetarian food, drink water, and practice Tai Chi!" Yang Zhen'er said with shining eyes.

Tang Baona, who was standing next to her, chuckled, "What kind of person would threaten someone by telling them to go to bed early, get up early, eat vegetarian food, drink water, and practice Tai Chi?"

Yang Zhen'er said seriously, "Chef Xiang is just that kind of person! And this trick is really vicious, okay? Otherwise, Nana, why don't you try going to bed early and getting up early every day, eating vegetarian food, drinking water, and practicing Tai Chi from today onwards?"

"Why should I go to bed early, get up early, eat vegetarian food, drink water, and practice Tai Chi... Wow, this sentence suddenly becomes magical." Tang Baona laughed non-stop.

"Chef Xiang, just tell me if my guess is right or wrong!" Yang Zhen'er looked at Xiang Kun.