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Originally, according to the task setup, they had to wear two hats: attract customers while serving them. Now that Xia Xi had booked the whole venue, there was naturally no need to solicit customers, leaving them with only one job—serving the guests.

There was nothing unusual about that. The task had always been like this. Because the restaurant had limited seating, they had to stop bringing in customers once it was full and focus on serving the current batch. Over several seasons, it had become perfectly normal for the guests to act as waiters together.

But this season, there was someone whose whole vibe was completely different from everyone else's.

While the other guests ran back and forth, busy carrying plates and pouring water, Xie Ran sat leisurely in an elegant booth on the restaurant terrace, chatting and laughing with Xia Xi and her two friends.

Xia Xi was a middle-aged woman with red hair. Unlike the unkempt artist image people generally imagined, she herself was remarkably elegant and poised.

The two friends sitting with her were equally well dressed and articulate.

Although Xie Ran wore the restaurant's standard custom-made uniform, he was tall and straight, with handsome features and cold, sharp eyes. His bearing carried an innate air of noble composure, making him seem even more like someone in a position of power than the others.

Not only were these people striking in appearance, but the topics they discussed were also increasingly sophisticated. Besides the frequent professional terminology, they occasionally mixed in words from other languages. It was practically a meeting between social elites, leaving the others staring in bewilderment.

Midway through, Xia Xi finished the water in her glass and raised a hand. "Excuse me."

"I'll do it." Xie Ran stood, picked up the glass pitcher on the table, and was about to refill it when a figure suddenly rushed over from the side.

"I'll do it, I'll do it." Zhu Chuanjia snatched the pitcher from his hand. "How could I let you pour the water yourself?"

Xie Ran's hand was suddenly empty. He glanced at Zhu Chuanjia and asked in confusion, "Is there a problem? I'm a waiter too."

Zhu Chuanjia fell silent for a moment, then involuntarily shed tears of weakness. "I'd already forgotten about that if you hadn't said it."

Xie Ran's presence was simply too overwhelming. Without realizing it, everyone had forgotten that he was also a waiter at the restaurant. It seemed as though he had been born to sit there and be served by others.

It was truly impressive that Xie Ran himself still remembered the role he was supposed to be playing.

"Then do it yourself." Zhu Chuanjia sorrowfully stuffed the pitcher back into Xie Ran's hand before continuing on to serve the other guests.

But he had barely walked a few steps before Jiang Wei stopped him. Jiang Wei seemed somewhat disapproving. "Why didn't you pour them water? You even made President Xie do it himself?"

Zhu Chuanjia gloomily retorted, "Do you remember that President Xie is a waiter too?"

Jiang Wei: "...Fuck, I forgot!"

"This isn't your fault." Zhu Chuanjia patted his shoulder in deep sympathy and sighed. "To be honest, when President Xie was greeting customers this morning, I felt a little uneasy. It felt like that wasn't something he should be doing. Now I can finally relax—this is his proper way of doing things."

Jiang Wei thought about it, then said tragically, "You're right."

As the two spoke, Fang Huiwang was walking past with a tray in hand. Hearing Zhu Chuanjia's lament, his steps unconsciously paused, and he turned to look in Xie Ran's direction.

Night had fallen, and the lights had just begun to glow.

The warm yellow light softly enveloped Xie Ran, dulling some of his sharpness and adding a touch of the gentleness Fang Huiwang knew so well.

Yet his bearing as someone above others, along with the topics he discussed, were things entirely unfamiliar to Fang Huiwang—things that seemed forever beyond his reach.

Fang Huiwang unconsciously tightened his grip on the tray.

"...The photographs you took truly shocked me." Xia Xi was still immersed in her surprise. "You completely recreated the images of 'New and Old Xi'—from a realistic standpoint, that is something no one has ever been able to do. It's utterly unreasonable that the art appreciation world doesn't even have your name in it."

Xie Ran did not become excited at Xia Xi's praise. He merely nodded slightly and said neither humbly nor arrogantly, "Sorry, I actually couldn't do it either. The machine did it."

Xia Xi was puzzled. "A machine?"

"Yes." Xie Ran lightly tapped the sofa armrest with his index finger. "My AI."

Meng Feixuan's true circumstances were not suitable for disclosure, so Xie Ran merely explained the machine's algorithmic logic and the concept of Deep Learning to them.

Xie Ran was undoubtedly an excellent speaker. In the past, he had often introduced his company's profound product concepts to the public. Now, he simply spoke with ease, turning those obscure concepts into something immediately clear and understandable. Even an artist like Xia Xi, who had little knowledge of science and engineering, could understand.

When he finished, Xia Xi suddenly understood. "So that's how it is."

Xie Ran nodded. "Unfortunately, the truth is different from what you thought. I may have disappointed you."

"How could you have?" Xia Xi showed no disappointment whatsoever. "On the contrary, I think what you just described is extraordinary. Although I don't understand the specific principles, teaching a machine to learn human art... I believe you clearly possess a higher level of aesthetic sense. It simply isn't expressed in a form familiar to us."

"An ordinary appraiser can teach humans how to appreciate art. That actually isn't difficult, because human emotions are connected. But you taught a machine, which is obviously far more difficult." Xia Xi looked as though she regretted not meeting him sooner. "I'm not the sort of painter who thinks herself above everyone else. Art comes from life, while technology can create life. I think that the ultimate technology is, in fact, also the ultimate art."

It seemed to be the first time Xie Ran had heard such an argument, and he was briefly taken aback.

Meanwhile, Meng Feixuan had already laughed smugly in his earpiece. "Sir, the great painter has recognized my achievement. Does that mean I count as an artist now?"

His system really did get carried away far too easily.

Xie Ran pretended not to hear him. He merely gave Xia Xi a faint smile and said meaningfully, "Thank you. My machine is very happy."

At long last, the dining period finally ended. Xia Xi's friends bid farewell and dispersed one after another. In the end, only Xia Xi and those two friends remained. They seemed to have reached a topic that interested them, and, still unsatisfied, they stayed where they were and continued talking without pause.