Chapter Summaries

Key plot points

• At a technology dinner, Seek Him Technology founder Li Yan argues that AI’s future will be built around applications and platforms. Han Luyi privately doubts this: applications can only deliver dependable value if their underlying models are powerful enough, and he believes Seek Him’s Dragon Carving model remains far behind leading competitors.
• Li challenges Han to name the future gateway for AI applications. Han argues that mature AI will let people state their goals directly, making the model itself—not a collection of apps or an Agent platform—the gateway.
• Li counters that platforms will still need to understand users’ needs and dispatch services, potentially restoring Seek Him’s role as an information-distribution hub. Han recognizes that Li is imagining an AI version of search: Agents replacing search results, with service providers competing for placement.
• Han identifies a tension at the heart of Seek Him’s strategy: the company wants AI to create new opportunities but may also fear that AI will undermine its existing business. He asks whether an Agent should serve users or its platform, and presses Li on whether it should choose the better service or the more profitable one.
• Li argues that platforms must balance user experience, service quality, commercial partners, and revenue. Han agrees that monetization matters but says users should pay for results, not for access to a channel. They end the debate with a toast, agreeing that their disagreement can wait.
• The conversation shifts to the coming National Major Artificial Intelligence Project. Li presents AI as a matter of national importance requiring long-term investment, safety, controllability, and practical deployment. As he again glances toward Han, someone asks whether Han’s company, Source Intelligence, will apply.

Character developments and interactions

• Han Luyi moves from quietly analyzing Li’s claims to openly challenging them. He shows confidence in his vision of AI as a direct, user-centered interface and exposes what he sees as Seek Him’s unresolved conflict between serving users and monetizing traffic.
• Li Yan presents himself as an advocate for AI applications and platform ecosystems, but Han’s questions reveal how closely his vision remains tied to Seek Him’s legacy role in directing traffic. He stays composed, though his warmth fades when challenged on commercial incentives.
• The dinner guests largely respond positively to Li’s platform vision, and some hope to join Seek Him’s ecosystem. Their attention shifts to Han and Li during the debate, then returns to Li when the national AI project is raised.

Significant themes

• Model capability versus application value: AI applications cannot be reliably useful unless their underlying models meet a high capability threshold.
• The changing meaning of a “gateway”: AI may make traditional apps and platforms less necessary by allowing users to express goals directly to a model.
• User interests versus commercial incentives: An Agent’s choice between the best service and the most profitable one raises questions about trust, advertising, and platform accountability.
• Old business models in new technology: Seek Him’s approach may carry the habits of search-era traffic distribution into the AI age.
• AI as public infrastructure: The discussion of the national project frames AI not merely as a commercial product but as a strategic technology requiring sustained investment and responsible deployment.

Key plot points and events

• At dinner, Han Luyi dismisses the national “Source Intelligence” initiative as premature for his young company, saying its priority is to strengthen its product. Li Yan responds encouragingly but continues promoting his vision of an AI Agent platform.
• Han believes the industry’s immediate priority should be improving foundational model capability; practical applications matter, but the technology still has room to advance.
• Jiang Jiusi, a former cancer doctor who founded a medical AI company, approaches Han and Zhao Wenyuan to discuss possible healthcare collaboration. His company works on structuring medical records and assisting with clinical pathways, while hoping eventually to develop early cancer screening.
• Jiang explains that hospitals’ old, disconnected systems leave medical records largely as scans or inconsistent free text. AI could make these records usable for analysis, but existing models—including Dragon Carving and Dingsheng’s Kun Yuan—produce errors and hallucinations at scale. Human review and added safeguards would make the work too costly.
• Jiang says his startup may have to abandon the work if Glutinous Rice Ball cannot meet its needs, since the company cannot raise another funding round. Zhao offers to exchange contacts and explore potential applications once Han’s Beijing research institute is established.
• After Jiang leaves, Zhao recognizes that Li Yan’s problem is not a lack of interest in AI, but reluctance to accept that his company must catch up technologically. Han concludes that the era needs new leaders.

Character developments

• Han Luyi remains confident in his judgment and committed to model research over premature commercialization. He is open to future healthcare work, but insists on caution in a high-stakes field.
• Zhao Wenyuan moves from technical skepticism to a sharper understanding of Li Yan’s mindset. He also takes initiative in pursuing a possible partnership with Jiang.
• Jiang Jiusi is portrayed as idealistic but financially and technically cornered: despite identifying a genuine need, he may have to give up because current models are not reliable enough.
• Li Yan appears polished and influential, but Zhao sees his past success as a source of pride that makes it difficult for him to accept the need to catch up.

Significant themes

• Model capability versus commercialization: Strong applications depend on reliable underlying models; deploying AI too soon cannot compensate for weak foundations.
• Reliability and accountability: In healthcare, hallucinations can cause serious harm, making accuracy and clear responsibility essential.
• Technology’s limits and timing: A real need may still be impossible to address until the technology is mature enough.
• The passing of leadership: Past achievements do not guarantee relevance in a new era; new people may be needed to lead technological change.

Character interactions

• Han and Li exchange views on company priorities: Li encourages patience, while Han privately rejects Li’s emphasis on building an Agent platform before models reach their potential.
• Jiang explains the practical obstacles in healthcare AI to Han and Zhao, prompting Zhao to ask whether existing models can handle the work.
• Zhao offers Jiang a possible path to collaboration; Han approves, while stressing that healthcare applications must be approached carefully.
• Han and Zhao discuss Li afterward. Their conversation reveals Zhao’s disillusionment with his former technological idol and Han’s conviction that leadership must pass to a new generation.

Key plot points and events

• After a tense dinner with Li Yan of Seek Him Technology, He Yunshen apologizes to Han Luyi for arranging the introduction. Han accepts, saying the clash was inevitable and may have been useful.
• He Yunshen warns Han that state funding for the Major Artificial Intelligence Initiative could limit a company’s control over commercialization. He also explains how overseas-listed firms can participate through special subsidiaries.
• Han reveals that his chip venture has hit a bottleneck in inter-chip communication. He Yunshen offers to connect him with a Chinese Academy of Sciences team specializing in high-speed protocols.
• At the hotel, Zhao Wenyuan reflects on his former admiration for Li Yan. He now sees Li’s Agent platform as a reworking of the search-and-advertising model rather than a genuine break from it. Han suggests Li is trapped in a bubble of flattering information and may try to recruit Zhao.
• Zhao resolves that he did not leave Google to join another search company. The next morning, Han introduces Zhao to investor Lu Zhengping, who welcomes him to Beijing and promises support.
• Lu confirms that results for the national AI initiative will be announced the following Monday. He hints that Source Intelligence is being invited directly into the project, rather than having to apply through the standard competitive process.

Character developments and interactions

• Han Luyi stays composed through the conflict with Li Yan, treats the encounter as a natural part of competition, and prioritizes building Source Intelligence’s future. He also supports Zhao without pressuring him to respond to Li’s possible recruitment.
• Zhao Wenyuan confronts the gap between Li Yan’s inspiring public story and his current business thinking. His admiration gives way to independent judgment, and he affirms his commitment to Han’s company.
• He Yunshen tries to repair the awkward dinner arrangement and demonstrates his value as an investor by offering a key technical connection. He remains a strong ally to both Han and Zhao.
• Lu Zhengping offers Zhao encouragement and practical backing in Beijing, while giving Han a carefully phrased preview of Source Intelligence’s likely role in the national initiative.
• Liu Yu quietly supports the team, waiting at the hotel in case Han or Zhao needs help.

Significant themes

• Outgrowing idols: Mentors and role models can inspire a generation, but followers may eventually have to move beyond them.
• Innovation versus repetition: Li Yan’s Agent concept appears to reproduce familiar search-platform logic, while Han argues that past success can trap leaders in old ways of thinking.
• Power and information: Li’s company is portrayed as an environment where filtered feedback may shield him from reality.
• Networks and opportunity: Personal connections help unlock technical partnerships, funding support, and access to major projects.
• Independence and control: State-backed research can bring resources but may constrain a company’s timetable and commercial freedom.

Summary

• The author celebrates reaching 10,000 average subscriptions and thanks readers for their support.
• The July monthly-vote bonus story will focus on Han Luyi’s college years and include a few Easter eggs.

Characters and interactions

No story events or character interactions are described; Han Luyi is only mentioned as the bonus story’s subject.

Themes

The announcement emphasizes reader appreciation and offers a glimpse of a character’s past.

Key plot points

• Seek Him Technology’s PR team prepares celebratory announcements ahead of the national AI initiative results, expecting approval in several areas.
• CEO Li Yan learns the company applied in five areas: its enterprise Agent platform is approved as the lead project, and it joins a separate AI-assisted-driving project. Three applications—including its Domestic Computing Power Cloud proposal—fail.
• Li is pleased that the Agent project will strengthen the company’s platform, but the computing-power rejection stings: reviewers judged Seek Him’s proposal too focused on engineering integration and insufficiently innovative.
• The winning domestic accelerator-cluster project is led by Source Intelligence Technology, founded by Han Luyi, whom Li met recently. Li is startled to learn that Han’s company has also acquired an accelerator-card startup.
• In a WeChat group from that dinner, members congratulate Li on Seek Him’s success. Jiang Jiusi then posts the two approvals won by Han’s companies, shifting the group’s attention to Han.
• Remembering that he had patronizingly advised Han to build products and wait for his opportunity, Li leaves the group in frustration. Seek Him’s PR team, sensing his mood, postpones its announcement.

Character developments and interactions

• Li Yan moves from confidence in Seek Him’s prospects to irritation and embarrassment. He recognizes that he underestimated Han and is especially unsettled by Han’s success in the area where Seek Him failed.
• Han Luyi, though absent, emerges as a formidable competitor: his companies win projects in both enterprise agents and domestic AI computing infrastructure, backed by university and industry partners.
• Seek Him’s staff are initially confident and eager to publicize their results, but Li’s reaction leaves them uncertain about how to proceed.
• Li and Han’s contrast is reinforced by Li’s earlier condescending advice and the group’s public congratulations to Han, turning the dinner’s networking into an uncomfortable reminder of Li’s misjudgment.

Significant themes

• Overconfidence and misjudgment: Seek Him’s size and preparation do not guarantee success, and Li’s assumptions about a startup prove wrong.
• Innovation versus implementation: The failed cloud proposal illustrates the distinction between integrating existing technology and making core technological breakthroughs.
• Recognition and rivalry: Government project approvals confer credibility and competitive advantage, making public praise and status especially consequential.
• Irony: Li’s well-meant-sounding advice to Han becomes awkward in light of Han’s rapid success.

The chapter itself is unavailable, so there’s no story content to summarize. From the title alone, it appears to concern Jiaotong University’s first AI-themed hackathon in 2017, but the plot, characters, interactions, and themes can’t be determined without the chapter text.

Key events

• Source Code Technology begins its third move in less than a year, relocating from Qiantan to a new, government-supported building in Zhangjiang. The rapid move reflects the company’s expansion and plans to hire.
• Han Luyi tells Su Niannian that Riding the Wind, Source Code’s agent product, has been selected to participate in a national major AI initiative. It will compete with Seek Him Technology, which is proposing an enterprise-agent demonstration.
• Han plans to return to Haicheng that night and, the following day, meet Icecore’s representative—a connection arranged by Mr. Lu. Su offers to pick him up, but he declines because he intends to go straight to the meeting.
• In Beijing, Han briefs Zhao Wenyuan on the research institute’s priorities: recruit AI specialists, explore collaboration with the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Inter-Card Interconnect team, prepare for work with Shuimu Forum, and continue Operator Adaptation.
• Han delegates a meeting with State Grid Investment to Zhao. They will consider adapting the Glutinous Rice Ball model for the power industry, possibly through a private deployment using the company’s L100 hardware, software, model, and knowledge graph.

Character developments and interactions

• Su Niannian responds to the national-project news with surprise, then quickly shifts into a competitive, determined mindset. She promises Han she will “get even” with Seek Him’s Li Yan after hearing about their earlier clash. Despite teasing Han for being a workaholic, she is eager to organize the company’s next steps.
• Han Luyi demonstrates confidence in both companies’ prospects and delegates substantial responsibility. He reassures Zhao that he trusts him to manage the Beijing operation, while balancing research goals with commercial opportunities.
• Zhao Wenyuan initially feels uneasy at Han’s imminent departure, but settles into his responsibilities. He enthusiastically recognizes the profit potential of a complete private-deployment package for State Grid.
• Han and Su share a warm, teasing exchange about their work habits. Han and Zhao interact as mentor and executive, with Han offering trust and clear direction.

Significant themes

• Rapid growth and institutional support: Government backing and the new premises signal Source Code’s transition from startup to expanding enterprise.
• Competition and ambition: Selection for a national initiative brings prestige but also a direct contest with a rival company.
• Delegation and trust: Han’s departure forces Zhao to take greater ownership of the Beijing institute and key partnerships.
• Commercialization alongside research: The companies pursue major AI research initiatives while seeking practical, profitable applications, especially through customized systems for sensitive industries.

Key plot points and events

• Dingsheng’s Agent Project Team learns it has failed to win a national Major Artificial Intelligence Initiative project. Vice President Liu Bo prepares excuses before reporting to CEO Zheng Xiaobo.
• Zheng does not blame Liu. He dismisses Seek Him Technology’s public victory as mostly a matter of prestige and argues that Source Code Technology—not Seek Him—is the real competitor.
• Zheng identifies Source Code’s weakness as its lack of an ecosystem. Dingsheng can integrate its agent with its own cloud, finance, HR, and consumer services, giving it access to tools and trusted enterprise systems that an outside agent may struggle to reach. He directs Liu to keep developing the product and promises cooperation from Dingsheng’s other divisions.
• At Source Code Technology, Jiang Yixin presents the company’s newly awarded initiative projects: expanding the use cases for its Riding the Wind agent and advancing domestic AI technology through Source Intelligence and Glutinous Rice Ball. Su Niannian instructs staff to organize project teams.
• Jiang Songran tells the Infrastructure Team that Source Intelligence’s domestic adaptation is part of the national initiative. The engineers initially show little reaction, but Fan Xiaotian asks Glutinous Rice Ball what the initiative means and becomes excited by the answer.

Character developments and interactions

• Liu Bo moves from dread and defensiveness to renewed confidence. Zheng’s broader strategic perspective helps him see that Dingsheng’s ecosystem could be a decisive advantage.
• Zheng Xiaobo shows a calm, long-range leadership style: he avoids punishing Liu for the failed application and redirects the team toward a more valuable competitive strategy.
• Jiang Yixin and Su Niannian communicate Source Code’s plans and turn the newly won projects into concrete staffing and preparation tasks.
• Jiang Songran passes along the initiative news, while Fan Xiaotian reacts with pride after learning its significance through Glutinous Rice Ball.

Significant themes

• Ecosystem versus product quality: A capable agent is not enough; access to integrated tools, data, and services may determine its usefulness.
• AI as reinvention: Zheng frames the AI era as an opportunity to remake existing apps and scenarios, not merely to compete for official recognition.
• Prestige versus practical impact: The initiative title matters less than the ability to reach users and embed AI in everyday workflows.
• Changing ambition and urgency: Source Code celebrates national recognition, while Dingsheng treats its setback as motivation to compete on a larger strategic front.

Key plot points and events

• Han Luyi arrives at Pudong Airport, where Su Niannian has come to pick him up. He startles her from behind, catches her falling laptop, and earns a playful scolding. Their teasing continues as he carries her bag and she leads him to the car.
• Su Niannian suggests dinner at a Sichuan restaurant near the company’s new office. On the drive, she shifts the conversation to work and presents her team’s proposal for the Tangyuan chatbot: move from the web beta to a mobile launch, with conversation-data collection as the main objective.
• Han Luyi agrees that user interactions can provide valuable data, but rejects maximizing conversation volume as the goal. He worries it would encourage manipulative, drawn-out exchanges rather than useful answers.
• He defines his objective for Glutinous Rice Ball: it must know when it does not know. The chatbot should admit uncertainty instead of confidently inventing answers, earning users’ trust. The team will begin with prompt engineering and accuracy testing, then use collected data to improve the Tangyuan Model through collaboration between product and engineering.
• They reach the new Zhangjiang office, marked with the names Source Code Technology and Source Intelligence Technology. Su Niannian asks about Han’s preparations for his meeting with Icecore the next day; he says he is ready.

Character developments and interactions

• Han Luyi is playful and affectionate with Su Niannian, but becomes focused and principled when discussing the product. His priority is building a trustworthy AI assistant, not merely boosting engagement metrics.
• Su Niannian is warm beneath her mock sternness and shows strong product judgment. She has already researched the chatbot market, developed a data-focused proposal, and responds to Han’s disagreement with curiosity rather than defensiveness.
• Their comfortable banter—nicknames, teasing, and small acts of care—sits alongside a professional partnership in which they openly challenge and refine each other’s ideas.

Significant themes

• Trust over engagement: Raw usage numbers can be misleading; genuine usefulness and reliability matter more.
• Honest AI and uncertainty: A capable assistant should distinguish what it knows from what it does not, avoiding confident hallucinations.
• Data and product purpose: User data is valuable, but the objective guiding its collection determines whether a chatbot serves people or simply prolongs conversations.
• Collaboration: Achieving reliable AI requires product, engineering, and model teams to work together.

Plot points and events

• Han Luyi visits Icecore’s co-CEO Cao Jun to seek more than routine manufacturing for Ximing’s L100 accelerator cards. He wants Icecore’s engineers involved in designing the next-generation L200 so it can be adapted to Icecore’s seven-nanometer process and packaging.
• Cao Jun initially offers only ordinary production support. Han presents the L100’s specifications and explains that the Tangyuan Model already runs on it, but Cao still declines joint development.
• Using Sight, Han sees that Cao’s reluctance reflects real concerns: Icecore lacks capacity and engineering resources, faces difficult yield and technology challenges, and wants to avoid external risks. Cao candidly explains that Icecore is already stretched keeping its own roadmap on track.
• Han accepts the refusal without pressing, thanks Cao, and invites him to visit Source Intelligence. Cao promises only to arrange standard tape-outs and whatever limited support is possible.
• The receptionist mistakes Han for a job applicant and later asks whether he passed his “interview.” Han jokes that he did not. Outside, he tells Su Niannian the meeting failed, then suggests that Icecore has another CEO he can approach.

Character developments

• Han Luyi shows strategic patience and social awareness. He recognizes Cao’s explanation as genuine, respects his constraints, and leaves the door open rather than pushing a doomed proposal. His final remark reveals that he intends to continue pursuing Icecore through its other co-CEO.
• Cao Jun is portrayed as experienced, courteous, and burdened by Icecore’s pressures. Though he admires Han’s achievements and domestic-technology goals, he prioritizes the company’s limited capacity and existing commitments.
• The receptionist is charmed by Han and assumes he is interviewing for a senior engineering position, providing a light comic counterpoint to his high-level business meeting.
• Su Niannian is concerned about the outcome, while Han remains composed and forward-looking.

Significant themes

• Ambition versus practical limits: Technological self-reliance is an inspiring goal, but progress depends on scarce engineering talent, production capacity, and uncertain yields.
• Strategic partnership versus ordinary business: Han needs deep collaboration, not simply a place in Icecore’s production queue.
• Responsible risk-taking: Cao’s refusal reflects the difficult balance between pursuing breakthroughs and protecting a company already under immense pressure.
• Persistence and adaptability: Han treats rejection as a setback, not an endpoint, and looks for another route forward.

Character interactions

• Han and Cao exchange respectful, candid views: Cao declines the partnership but offers limited practical assistance, while Han acknowledges the decision and preserves the relationship.
• The receptionist’s mistaken interview assumption adds humor and highlights the contrast between Han’s modest appearance and his business ambitions.
• In his call with Su Niannian, Han reports the failure casually and immediately points toward the next possibility: Icecore’s other co-CEO.

Chapter Summary: “Leave Your Talent Here”

Key plot points and events

• Zhao Wenyuan arrives at Source Intelligence’s newly established Beijing research office, a modest rented floor with basic furnishings but strong internet and plans for dedicated servers.
• He reviews ongoing work, including integrating the Heavenly Craft model as an expert component of Tangyuan Model. He is also handling the detailed technical handover of accounts, infrastructure access, and experiments.
• Most of the former Source Code research team intend to relocate to Beijing, partly from concern that staying in Haicheng might limit their access to research projects.
• Zhao interviews Zhang Wenduo, a newly defended computer-science PhD whose research focuses on World Models. Zhang’s résumé omits some important details, but Zhao discovers that he has several first-author NeurIPS papers under Academician Zhuang Zhi.
• Zhang arrives expecting Han Luyi to interview him and is initially unimpressed that Zhao is conducting the interview. Zhao tests his expertise with questions about World Models, black-box evaluation, and preventing an evaluation metric from becoming a training target. Zhang answers the research questions well but struggles with the practical, large-scale training problem.
• Asked why he returned from abroad, Zhao explains that he worked at DeepMind after earning his Stanford PhD, but came to recognize that Chinese researchers can face limits as they rise within overseas institutions. He urges Zhang not necessarily to join his company, but to keep his talent in China.
• Zhang leaves deeply affected by Zhao’s appeal, still reflecting on it as the next candidate arrives.

Character developments

• Zhao Wenyuan appears confident in the company’s prospects and capable of managing both technical operations and research hiring. His own experience abroad has shaped a strong conviction that Chinese researchers should help build domestic AI rather than remain within foreign systems.
• Zhang Wenduo is academically accomplished and knowledgeable about World Models, but inexperienced with industry-scale research and initially overly focused on credentials and senior figures. Zhao’s perspective unsettles his assumptions as he weighs overseas offers against contributing at home.
• Liu Yu supports Zhao with practical office and interview arrangements, though Zhao remains somewhat uncomfortable directing someone temporarily assigned to him.

Significant themes

• Keeping talent at home: The chapter’s central theme is Zhao’s appeal for promising researchers to contribute to China’s growing AI sector.
• Academic expertise versus industry experience: Zhang demonstrates strong theoretical understanding, while Zhao’s questions expose the additional challenges of deployment, iterative training, and large-scale systems.
• Credentials and status: Zhang’s attention to Zhao’s academic lineage and Han Luyi’s absence contrasts with Zhao’s view that citations and prestige matter less outside academia.
• Building from modest beginnings: The bare office and unfinished operations show a young institute still being assembled, while its ambition and computing resources suggest larger plans.
• Opportunity and belonging: Zhao recognizes the value of foreign research environments but describes a personal sense that he did not fully belong within them.

Character interactions

• Zhao and Zhang’s interview begins with a quiet contest of credentials and expectations: Zhang wants Han Luyi, while Zhao asserts his own authority and tests Zhang’s abilities.
• Their technical exchange establishes mutual respect for Zhang’s research, while revealing a gap between academic theory and practical training challenges.
• Zhang’s question about Zhao’s return turns the interview into a personal conversation. Zhao’s candid account and direct advice leave Zhang introspective, though the interview ends before he can ask more.

Key plot points and events

• After several promising interviews, Zhao Wenyuan sets aside Zhang Wenduo’s résumé as unusually memorable, then cancels his afternoon interviews to visit a chip-interconnect team recommended by He Yunshen.
• At Hanlian Microsystems, Zhao explains that Source Intelligence’s Ximing L100 accelerator cards work adequately in clusters of up to 500, but communication problems make larger clusters unreliable.
• Hanlian’s researchers identify the issue as a likely mismatch between the cards’ network topology and protocol stack—not simply a lack of bandwidth. They explain that improving interconnects requires coordination across chip design, packaging, routing, controllers, drivers, and software.
• A quick fix for the existing L100s appears nearly impossible without access to TSMC’s confidential packaging and implementation details. If those parameters can be obtained, however, Hanlian believes it can reverse-adapt the interconnect and support clusters of at least 1,000 cards.
• For the next generation, the outlook is much better: designing the interconnect in collaboration with Icecore from the start could enable systems reaching 10,000 cards. Zhao reports the proposal to Han Luyi, who agrees to help obtain the L100 parameters. He also says negotiations with Icecore went well, though final agreement is still pending.

Character developments and interactions

• Zhao Wenyuan is proactive and technically curious. He pushes for concrete answers, recognizes the strategic value of early hardware collaboration, and is willing to seek help from Han Luyi when a solution depends on access beyond his control.
• He Yunshen serves as Zhao’s guide and connector, bringing him to Hanlian and making introductions while letting Zhao decide how much company information to disclose.
• Shen Zhonghe and his researchers demonstrate deep expertise but remain cautious: their technology is promising, yet they doubt Source Intelligence has an immediate need for it because the company has not fully solved single-card software adaptation.
• Han Luyi remains quietly supportive, accepting responsibility for pursuing the confidential parameters and indicating that Icecore talks are advancing.
• The visit shifts from exploratory discussion to a preliminary partnership plan involving Source Intelligence, Hanlian, Ximing, and potentially Icecore.

Significant themes

• Systems thinking: High-performance computing depends on coordinating hardware, packaging, networking, and software—not merely increasing bandwidth.
• Collaboration and strategic independence: Domestic companies may need to work together from the design stage to build alternatives to restricted foreign technology.
• Limits of reverse engineering: Existing hardware can be difficult to improve when key manufacturing and packaging details are proprietary.
• Commercial uncertainty: Hanlian has valuable expertise but worries that its specialized technology may remain a “dragon-slaying art” without customers able to use it.

Chapter Summary

Key plot points and events

• At Siheng Law Firm, Gu Siyue works late and misses dinner while handling two technology-related contracts. Her mentor, Shen Yuwei, checks on her, scolds her for neglecting meals, and worries that Gu is repeating her earlier habit of working herself to exhaustion.
• After Shen leaves, Gu messages Han Luyi to remind him that he promised to buy her dinner. He replies by inviting her for a late-night meal and asks her to pick him up at his office. Gu cheerfully gets ready, tells the remaining staff to go home if they have finished their work, and drives to meet him.
• Han takes Gu to a busy night market. They share Taiwanese food, and Gu samples his unusual grilled sausage despite her reservations.
• Han’s attention shifts when an elderly couple arrives. Gu makes room for them and chats with the woman in English. To put them at ease—and apparently to help Han—she invents a story portraying him as her overworked, stubborn boyfriend who left a big company after a supervisor took credit for his work.
• The elderly man recognizes that Han deliberately waited there to meet him. Han introduces himself as an entrepreneur from Source Intelligence Technology. The man is revealed to be Liao Botao, a celebrated semiconductor leader known as the “god of semiconductors.”

Character developments

• Gu Siyue remains intensely conscientious, but her interactions with Han bring out a warmer, more playful side. She takes care to look presentable, eagerly accepts his invitation, and helps him approach Liao by steering the conversation.
• Han Luyi appears casual and youthful, yet his focus on Liao reveals a serious professional purpose. He is direct when confronted and makes no attempt to hide why he is there.
• Shen Yuwei continues to act as a caring, exasperated mentor, watching out for Gu’s health while balancing her own personal life.
• Liao Botao is introduced as an influential semiconductor figure. His attentiveness and ability to read Han’s intentions suggest he is perceptive as well as accomplished.
• Liao’s wife is affectionate and playful, and her warm exchange with Gu gives the meeting an intimate, welcoming tone.

Character interactions

• Shen’s scolding reflects a familiar mentor–mentee dynamic: she worries because Gu’s work habits have previously harmed her.
• Gu and Han’s meal is marked by subtle romantic tension. Gu teases him about using her as a chauffeur, while her nervousness and careful appearance suggest she is pleased to spend time with him.
• Gu and the elderly couple quickly establish rapport. She adapts to the wife’s limited Mandarin by speaking English and playfully presents herself as Han’s girlfriend.
• Han and Gu work together indirectly: Gu smooths the conversation, while Han waits for the right moment to identify himself and address Liao.

Significant themes

• Work and self-neglect: Gu’s dedication is admired but also shown to be potentially unhealthy, prompting concern from Shen.
• Trust and partnership: Gu supports Han in a high-stakes professional encounter, even before she knows exactly how it will unfold.
• Credit, integrity, and ambition: Han’s past conflict with a supervisor who allegedly claimed his work helps explain why he chose to build his own company.
• Unexpected connections: A casual night-market dinner becomes the setting for a meeting with a major figure in the semiconductor industry.
• Romance through small gestures: Their shared meal, teasing, and Gu’s attentiveness hint at growing closeness without either openly naming it.

Plot points and events

• Gu Siyue recognizes that Han Luyi has arranged the night-market dinner to meet Liao Botao, an influential Icecore figure, and quietly gives him the opportunity to make his case.
• Han argues that Icecore’s future depends on partnering with a company whose fast-growing AI needs will push semiconductor technology forward. He presents Source Intelligence’s Ximing L100 benchmark results, its use in serving the Tangyuan model, plans for a custom chip interconnect, and its role in a national AI-computing initiative.
• Liao Botao is initially reserved, wary of choosing which industries represent the future. But Han’s evidence and ambition persuade him. He agrees to speak with Icecore’s Boss Cao and invites Han to Icecore headquarters the morning after tomorrow.
• After the meal, Gu Siyue teases Han for owing her thanks, then asks whether he has avoided seeing her because of a personal question she previously raised. Han cannot answer, and she tells him not to keep postponing his thoughts.

Character developments and interactions

• Han Luyi proves himself a bold, prepared negotiator: he backs his confidence with concrete achievements and frames the proposed partnership as mutually beneficial. His uncertainty around Gu Siyue reveals a personal hesitation that contrasts with his decisiveness in business.
• Liao Botao shifts from apparent indifference to genuine engagement. Han’s vision reminds him of his own younger ambition, and he agrees to advocate for the partnership despite Boss Cao’s earlier refusal.
• Gu Siyue acts as a subtle facilitator, then returns to playful yet emotionally guarded teasing. Her final question shows that unresolved feelings or concerns remain between her and Han.
• Liao Botao’s wife observes quietly, allowing the business discussion to unfold.

Significant themes

• Demand drives innovation: ambitious customer needs can force technological breakthroughs.
• Long-term vision and risk: Icecore must choose which emerging field can sustain its next stage of growth.
• Shared ambition: Han and Liao recognize kindred boldness in one another and the possibility of pursuing breakthroughs together.
• Personal avoidance: Han’s professional confidence sits alongside his reluctance to address Gu Siyue’s personal question.

Key plot points and events

• Han Luyi settles into a larger office furnished by Su Niannian and confronts a technical challenge from Zhao Wenyuan: finding the L100’s high-speed interconnect parameters.
• Using Sight, Han learns that Hanlian’s proposed PCIe protocol patch does not require copying TSMC’s CoWoS manufacturing technology. It needs the L100’s underlying physical limits, which TSMC keeps internal.
• Sight reveals specific packaging and signal-integrity parameters. These could let Hanlian develop the patch, remove a bottleneck in large training clusters, and enable post-training for Glutinous Rice Ball.
• Han recognizes that passing along the data could expose him to trade-secret allegations. He decides to keep the information within Source Intelligence rather than involve outside parties.
• Han calls Zhao, hears that recruitment in Beijing is progressing well, and learns that doctoral student Zhang Wenduo joined Source Intelligence—turning down OpenAI because of his interest in Glutinous Rice Ball.
• Han ends the call by instructing Zhao to buy Hanlian.

Character developments

• Han Luyi uses Sight strategically, but remains wary of the legal and practical consequences of relying on information he cannot legitimately document. He shifts from solving the technical problem to controlling its risks through business ownership.
• Zhao Wenyuan is busy building the Beijing institute and recruiting talent; he takes Han’s serious request in stride and appears ready to involve Lu Zhengping before Han reveals his real plan.
• Zhang Wenduo, previously introduced as arrogant and challenging, is shown to be strongly motivated by Glutinous Rice Ball and willing to reject an overseas opportunity to work at Source Intelligence.
• Su Niannian is shown supporting Han through the practical task of furnishing his new office.

Significant themes

• Power and responsibility: Advanced knowledge can create breakthroughs, but using it may carry serious legal risks.
• Money as leverage: When technical access and evidence are problematic, Han turns to acquisition as a way to bring the relevant work under his company’s control.
• Innovation and infrastructure: The chapter emphasizes that AI progress depends not only on algorithms, but also on hardware, networking, and data-transfer limits.
• Trust and containment: Han believes limiting who sees sensitive information can reduce the chance of exposure.

Character interactions

• Han reflects on Liu Yu’s versatility and considers asking him for help with the coffee machine, while noting that Liu is temporarily assisting Zhao in Beijing.
• In his call with Zhao, the two discuss recruiting, and Zhao updates Han on Zhang Wenduo’s decision to join.
• Han then turns the conversation from staffing to Hanlian, surprising Zhao—and the reader—with his blunt acquisition proposal.

Key plot points

• Icecore’s response to Source Intelligence’s proposal: Professor Liao Botao confronts co-CEO Cao Jun over the rejection of a joint chip-development proposal. Cao argues that Icecore must focus on capacity, yields, and profitable existing orders—and points out that the company lacks EUV equipment. Liao counters that Icecore will fall further behind if it avoids difficult R&D, and proposes a one-year collaboration with Source Intelligence.
• Icecore agrees to reconsider: Liao invokes his willingness to resign, prompting Cao to agree to contact Source Intelligence. Liao takes responsibility for defending the decision to the board, shareholders, and investors, and credits Source Intelligence with creating a valuable opportunity.
• Nvidia reassesses the L100: Jensen Huang reviews a detailed report on Source Intelligence’s L100 accelerator. Its hardware appears powerful and well designed, though its software is weak and has received no public updates. Jensen suspects Source Intelligence may be developing the card primarily for its own use.
• Jensen plans a political strategy: He calls a meeting with hardware, competitive-analysis, and government-relations leaders, saying Nvidia’s congressional-hearing materials must change. He intends to present the Chinese chip as a potential threat to persuade Congress that allowing Nvidia to sell its advanced products to China is preferable. He also plans to reassure investors afterward that Nvidia’s ecosystem remains secure.

Character development and interactions

• Liao Botao emerges as a forceful advocate for long-term innovation. He challenges Cao directly, accepts accountability for the proposal, and is willing to risk his position to advance R&D.
• Cao Jun is cautious and commercially minded, focused on near-term profitability and Icecore’s technical constraints. Though initially resistant, he yields to Liao’s argument and leverage.
• Jensen Huang is strategic and politically astute. He recognizes the L100’s possible significance but also sees how the threat can serve Nvidia’s interests in Washington.
• The exchanges between Liao and Cao center on a clash between immediate business priorities and long-term technological development. Jensen’s discussion with his assistant reveals his habit of turning competitive intelligence into corporate and political leverage.

Significant themes

• Short-term profits versus long-term innovation: Icecore’s debate highlights the danger of prioritizing current orders over developing future capabilities.
• Competition and technological self-reliance: The L100’s potential and Icecore’s constraints show how new entrants can challenge established chipmakers.
• Technology as political leverage: Jensen plans to use the Chinese chip’s perceived threat to influence U.S. policy.
• The value of collaboration: Source Intelligence’s proposal may give Icecore a chance to learn by tackling technical problems alongside a customer with ambitious needs.

Plot points and events

• Xue Zhaoheng and his assistant, Xiao Luo, fly from Pengcheng to Haicheng for a business visit to Icecore, arranged at short notice by their new boss, Han Luyi.
• Xue expects that securing an earlier production slot for Ximing’s L100 chip would be a realistic success. He doubts Icecore will offer the deeper design collaboration reserved for its most important customers.
• On the flight, Xue explains that manufacturers such as Icecore can assign experienced engineers to guide a major customer’s design and tape-out process—but doing so is costly and unlikely for a company of Ximing’s size.
• After landing, they are met by Source Intelligence’s administrative staff. As the car enters a technology park, Xue realizes they may be heading straight to Icecore rather than meeting Han first.

Character developments and interactions

• Xue Zhaoheng is practical and experienced, preparing carefully for negotiations and keeping expectations low. Though his rank fell after Ximing’s acquisition, he recognizes that Source Intelligence has improved his working conditions and access.
• Xiao Luo begins excited by the chance to visit Icecore and dreams of meeting its famous president, Liao Botao. Xue rebukes him and later tempers his hopes by explaining the realities of high-level manufacturer support.
• Xue and Xiao Luo’s exchange highlights their different perspectives: Xiao Luo is enthusiastic and curious, while Xue is blunt, cautious, and willing to mentor him.
• Xue also reflects on the new relationship between Ximing and Source Intelligence, while Xiao Ma, the company’s driver, takes pride in headquarters’ new office.

Significant themes

• Industry hierarchy and access: Major manufacturers reserve close technical partnerships for customers powerful enough to justify the investment.
• Realism versus ambition: Xue’s practical expectations contrast with Xiao Luo’s excitement, though even a production slot would be meaningful progress.
• Changing fortunes: Ximing’s acquisition has improved its resources and opened doors that were previously out of reach.
• Expertise as a scarce resource: The chapter emphasizes the value of experienced engineers and the opportunity cost of assigning them to customer support.

Key plot points and events

• Xue Zhaoheng arrives at Source Intelligence’s impressive new headquarters with Xiao Luo, expecting a routine business visit to Icecore.
• He learns that Source Intelligence’s founder, Han Luyi, has arranged a meeting with Icecore co-CEOs Cao Jun and Liao Botao. Xiao Luo is left behind, while Xue prepares to present the L100’s technical materials.
• At Icecore, Cao acknowledges that he previously underestimated Source Intelligence’s strategic value. Icecore agrees in principle to collaborate with Source Intelligence and Ximing on the next generation of accelerator chips.
• Icecore will reassess production scheduling for later L100 batches and form a cross-functional team, led by Liao, to participate early in the next product’s design.
• Xue identifies the key technical need: designing the next generation for large-scale deployment, supported by clear manufacturing constraints. Han proposes jointly defining constraints and validating the technology, with Source Intelligence guaranteeing orders.
• The meeting quickly establishes a broad framework for cooperation. Liao invites Xue to tour Icecore’s production areas and speak with its process and packaging staff.
• On the walk back, Han cautions that this is only a beginning. Xue’s team may need to relocate to Haicheng to bring the L100 onto Icecore’s lines and begin the next design. Han also mentions a possible new high-speed interconnect protocol, an upcoming TSMC shipment, and concern that someone may be monitoring them. He decides to assign someone else to collect the shipment and summons Zhang Biao for new duties.

Character developments

• Xue Zhaoheng moves from nervous disbelief to excitement and renewed purpose. He is impressed by the speed and scale of the deal, then turns his attention to the demanding technical work ahead.
• Han Luyi demonstrates strong strategic vision and composure. Though he secures a major partnership, he remains focused on practical limits, future technology, logistics, and potential risks.
• Cao Jun openly revises his earlier assessment of Source Intelligence and becomes receptive to a deeper partnership.
• Liao Botao takes an active technical role, asking about Xue’s design priorities and offering access to Icecore’s production specialists.
• Xiao Luo is eager but inexperienced; he is disappointed to miss the high-level meeting, yet trusts Xue’s judgment.

Significant themes

• Strategic cooperation: The agreement connects design, manufacturing, packaging, validation, and deployment into a more complete accelerator-chip development chain.
• Ambition grounded in constraints: The characters pursue large-scale computing products while recognizing that Icecore’s resources and production pace are limited.
• Vision and execution: Han’s broad planning creates the opportunity, but Xue and his team must turn it into working products.
• Opportunity alongside risk: The partnership is a major breakthrough, yet shipment logistics and the possibility of being watched suggest growing external pressure.

Character interactions

• Han warmly welcomes Xue and Xiao Luo, then assigns Xue responsibility for technical communications with Icecore.
• Xue’s nervous deference contrasts with the CEOs’ direct, respectful engagement with him, especially Liao’s handshake and technical questions.
• Han and Cao negotiate the partnership collaboratively: Cao sets limits on Icecore’s investment, while Han offers guaranteed orders and shared technical validation.
• After the meeting, Han tempers Xue’s excitement by emphasizing the work and risks still ahead.

Key plot points and events

• After a successful visit to Icecore’s factory, Xue Zhaoheng and Xiao Luo report that the company is ready to begin its chip-design partnership. Han Luyi asks Xue to organize a core team for a temporary assignment in Haicheng, with the company covering accommodation.
• Han runs into Su Niannian as he leaves work. She wonders whether he has been avoiding her, but he hurries off to a dinner with his old university friends.
• At One More Skewer, Han and Ma Xiaofei wait for Zhang Haoran. Han begins to raise a personal concern, but Zhang’s arrival interrupts him.
• Zhang announces two major developments: he has been promoted to vice president overseeing technology and digital transformation at Xinglong Bank, and he and his wife are expecting a child. He credits his promotion partly to a habit inspired by Han’s advice: he first analyzes workplace interactions himself, then uses Glutinous Rice Ball to identify what he missed.
• Ma explains that his tech-review account is struggling amid competition and his limited capacity as a solo creator. Zhang says a bank loan would be difficult without collateral and stable cash flow. Han instead offers to invest two million for a 20% stake, and Ma accepts.
• Han leaves the gathering without sharing the personal matter he had meant to discuss. He promises to send Ma an investment agreement and urges him to have a lawyer review it.

Character developments and interactions

• Han Luyi continues delegating work according to people’s strengths and supports Xue’s technical team. He also demonstrates practical faith in his friends’ abilities by offering Ma a formal investment rather than a casual loan.
• Zhang Haoran has grown more capable at reading workplace dynamics. His promotion reflects both his own disciplined learning and support from senior colleagues. He is also excited about becoming a father.
• Ma Xiaofei remains joking and irreverent, but admits his creator business is faltering. He accepts Han’s investment and is touched by Han’s confidence in him.
• Su Niannian notices Han’s apparent distance, leaving a hint of unresolved tension between them.
• The friends tease one another affectionately, while Han’s advice and investment show a deeper, supportive bond.

Significant themes

• Learning through reflection: Glutinous Rice Ball is most effective when used as a learning aid rather than a substitute for personal judgment.
• Friendship and practical support: Han helps his friends through advice, celebration, and investment, while insisting that financial arrangements be handled professionally.
• Growth and changing fortunes: Zhang’s career and family news contrast with Ma’s business difficulties, while the group’s friendship remains steady.
• AI’s limits and uses: The chapter highlights AI’s value in analyzing workplace interactions, while noting its weakness in creative work.

Key plot points and events

• Lu Mingzhou collects his daughter from coding class. She is more concerned about missing his cooking than missing him, and he leaves her with her mother at her grandmother’s house before flying to Beijing.
• On the flight and at his hotel, Lu reviews Hanlian Microsystems’ background. Founded by researcher Shen Zhonghe under a national reform that lets researchers own or use the rights to their work, Hanlian is nearing the end of Shen’s three-year leave from his university post. Its future is at a critical point.
• The next morning, Lu meets Zhao Wenyuan and Liu Yu. Though Lu presents himself as confident, he has several possible strategies and intends to choose among them after assessing Hanlian directly.
• At Hanlian, Zhao announces that Icecore has agreed to include Hanlian in early-stage research and development for the interconnect solution for its next-generation domestic AI accelerator cards. Hanlian would help define requirements from the outset, rather than merely adapt to a finished design.
• The proposed work would involve coordination across chip interconnects, cards, boards, drivers, and scheduling software. Ximing, the customer proposing the requirements, would also be involved, with Source Intelligence, Icecore, Ximing, and Hanlian jointly defining the card.
• Shen is surprised and impressed by how quickly Source Intelligence has made progress. As Zhao presents the proposal, Lu recognizes that he is beginning to “lay the bait” for the strategy he has planned.

Character developments and interactions

• Lu Mingzhou appears affectionate and playful with his daughter, while privately approaching the acquisition with careful preparation and uncertainty. He prefers working alone during travel and is alert to the strategic implications of Zhao’s presentation.
• Zhao Wenyuan takes the lead in presenting Source Intelligence’s proposal and demonstrates that the company has secured a significant opening with Icecore.
• Liu Yu supports the team as Zhao’s assistant and offers to assist Lu, though Lu expects Liu will eventually be able to return to Haicheng.
• Shen Zhonghe moves from cautious hope to genuine surprise as he learns that Hanlian may be included early in Icecore’s design process. His reaction reflects both the opportunity’s importance and Hanlian’s previous lack of influence.
• Zhao and Shen’s professional exchange is cordial but consequential: Zhao brings concrete progress, while Shen probes how much access Hanlian will receive and what role Ximing will play.

Significant themes

• Turning research into practical value: Patents and technical achievements matter most when they can be used in real products.
• Institutional reform and innovation: Giving researchers rights to their work can help valuable technologies escape bureaucratic limbo and reach the market.
• Strategic negotiation: Lu’s “hunter disguised as prey” framing signals that the acquisition may depend on presenting an opportunity while pursuing a larger objective.
• Early collaboration and influence: Hanlian’s potential shift from adapting to others’ designs to helping define them marks a major change in its role and prospects.