Chen Lin set down his teacup. His gaze swept over the three restless business titans before settling on the robot beside him, which was still diligently fanning him.
He smiled.
"Friday."
Chen Lin's voice was languid, with a hint of teasing.
"These three big bosses want to pay a fortune to buy you, or rent you and take you back to slice you up for research."
"What do you think?"
Just like that, he tossed the ball into Friday's court.
Friday, who had remained as silent as a statue, paused.
The red light in its mechanical eyes flickered with startlingly human expressiveness, as though a program module labeled "mockery" had just been activated.
The palm-leaf fan stopped.
Friday slowly turned its metal head, its cold mechanical eyes locking onto Yu the Big Mouth first.
Its normally flat, synthesized voice now carried an unmistakable hint of amusement.
"Mr. Yu, my database shows that over the past three years, you have said 'far ahead of the competition' in public a total of one hundred and eight times."
Friday tilted its metal head, its joints making a faint clicking sound, as though imitating human puzzlement.
"If your technology is so far ahead that you need a telescope to see your competitors, why are you here trying to buy a 'local country specialty' like me?"
"That does not fit your logical framework."
"Could it be that your so-called 'lead'... is merely in how fast you advance your PowerPoint slides?"
Pfft-!
Yu the Big Mouth's face instantly turned a deep purplish red. His silver tongue failed him; his mouth opened and closed, but he could not squeeze out a single word.
The battle cry he took the most pride in had become a razor-sharp boomerang, striking him right where it hurt.
Beside him, Lei could