Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
In the afternoon, Chen Jin and Brother Lei found a restaurant in Wuzhen where they savored the local delights, including braised mutton, chicken in soy sauce, whitewater fish, sister-in-law biscuit, Dingsheng cake, etc. Chen Jin was not a fan of sweets, but he really liked the authentic chicken in soy sauce. It was said that the chicken was raised on the grounds. The chicken was roasted whole and then added into a mixture of soy sauce and mulled rice wine to cook. The food was easy to keep and very delicious. He gave a very high review of the food after the meal was over.
It was Brother Lei who footed the bill, expressing that he would be treating him these few days. He would bring him to meet many VIPs and Chen Jin should just enjoy the food and drinks.
“Ok!” Chen Jin nodded. Brother Lei may seem rather silly and naive, but he was certainly the most popular person in the internet business circle. He was a top scholar whose senior high school entrance examination score in 1987 topped even those of the elites from all over the country. However, he did not go to a university in the capital, but instead chose to go into computing studies at Wuhan University. He chose Wuhan university because it was the first university in the country to implement a credit system. A student could graduate once he had achieved full credits for his course. Brother Lei used two years to get all of his credits and graduated in advance.
What provided the most talk for the students in Wuhan University was Brother Lei’s perfect score in assembly language. It was the second perfect score in the university’s 20-odd years of history. Brother Lei also swept up nearly all the scholarships from the university. In addition, the legend of Brother Lei did not begin in the capital. He was already a millionaire before he arrived at the capital. And that was in the 90s to boot. A million in that era was a very huge number.
Hence, Chen Jin did not take a character like Brother Lei lightly. He dare not make a display of his little bit of know-how. Other successes were built on their real talent and hard work. As for him? He was not too bad as he did learn a lot in the months during the development of the Wa-wah robot and the Little Star learning machine. He could be called a professional in some areas, but for many areas, he was still an amateur. He still had to maintain an air of humility and learn more from his seniors.
…
In one of the free discussion forums held in the afternoon, Brother Lei introduced a good friend of his to Chen Jin; the President of Baidu Corporation, Li Yanhong. Li Yanhong was also a legendary character. The three big internet leaders of Z country were represented by the acronym “BAT.” The “B” stood for Baidu. It was the first letter of the acronym not because it was the biggest company of the three, but because it was the first that was established and the first that rose to success. It had taken a large share of Z country’s search engine market. However, Baidu’s bidding for rank mechanism had caused many tragedies and widespread criticisms, leading to a hotbed of public opinions. Its growth stagnated. In order to find new ways of increasing their performance growth, Baidu had turned their strategy of development away from the search engine and towards artificial intelligence. They had nurtured thousands of AI experts who were the best in the world. With a deep pool of talents, Baidu was able to create many outstanding results, putting the standard of Z country’s AI sector on par with Merica’s. In this area, Baidu could claim full credit for their contributions, which could not be easily ignored.
In addition, Baidu was the first company to introduce a company insurance plan called “Qing Song Plan” in the internet business world. Parents of all employees who were working in the company for at least two years would be entitled to hospitalization and medical insurance nationwide. The plan had no restrictions on age, social securities, or health statuses. It also provided a high rate of compensation against the costs of self-funded medications and treatments, in addition to providing higher annual coverage and setting a lower deductible amount. The introduction of the “Qing Song Plan” did not change the negative image that netizens had of Baidu. However, this plan had eliminated the future worries that many employees had for their family. Hence, the loyalty that employees felt towards Baidu increased exponentially.
Chen Jin also thought well of this plan and implemented it in Xing Hai Technologies as part of the workers’ welfare. Indeed, it provided a great boost to the morale of the company. The annual employee turnover rate was reduced to less than 0.1%.
This meeting was initiated by Li Yanhong, who wanted to speak with Chen Jin. He was interested in the collaboration of the two companies. “President Chen, the technician from my company, Song Bojun, seems to have been poached by your company? If only I knew about it earlier… Anyway, I won’t let you poach anymore of my employees.” Li Yanhong shook his head and gave a bitter smile. He had a vague impression of Song Bojun. He was a genius in the field of speech recognition, but Li Yanhong never thought that he was also a genius in intelligent learning. Baidu had lost a one-of-its-kind treasure; he felt like he lost a piece of flesh. How wonderful it would be if Song Bojun never left! Perhaps the Little Star learning machine would have become a product under the Baidu Corporation. It was worth trillions!
“President Li, your words are not entirely accurate.” Chen Jin smiled as he explained, “The Little Star learning machine is born from the combined efforts of thousands of technicians in our company. It can’t be attributed to the efforts of one genius. Song Bojun’s capability is outstanding and he has accomplished all the tasks I set for him perfectly. For this, I have to thank your company for putting in the effort to train and nurture him.”
Actually, without the technological information and materials that he had brought over from the Base of Operations, even 1,000 Song Bojuns would not be able to come up with Little Star. However, he would never say this.
Li Yanhong quickly recovered. Setting aside his ego, he said, “Apologies for losing my composure. Talents in the internet business frequently come and go. I used to get resentful about it, but I’ve since adapted to the situation. Moreover…” Spreading his hands, he said, “My company is primarily involved in smart robots, self-driving cars, medical treatments, finance, etc. I did dip my toes into the educational market, but I’ve never thought about making a learning machine. I do not possess the powerful technological capabilities to do so. Your company actually came up with the learning machine, much beyond my expectations. Your courage and drive are admirable.”
He looked at Chen Jin with great respect. The VIPs in the science and tech circle had recently been discussing the learning machine and they all came to the consensus that it had been a blind spot. A blind spot that all of them missed. However, there was someone who threw 10 billion into the project and developed an intelligent learning machine that was a must-buy for everyone. With this, he had 200 million ready consumers in the student population who were in need of a learning machine… It was a market with a potential of two trillion. If he had the foresight, Baidu would even throw up to 10 billion into developing a “Baidu intelligent learning machine” with similar functions.
There was nothing he could do to lessen the sting of missing out on the first opportunity. There would be no point for Baidu to enter the market now. Not only did Baidu have to invest heavily in product development, but its product also would not be particularly competitive either. He could only look on in envy at Xing Hai Technologies, who were probably rolling around in their profits. At the same time, he wanted to ask if they could collaborate in other areas. He wanted two strong companies to join forces.
“Collaboration?” Chen Jin sank into silence and considered it. “Big data, cloud computing, and medical treatments are the strong suits of your esteemed company. Xing Hai Technologies is willing to start a collaboration with your company. In addition, my company is working on a big project; I wonder if you are interested?”
“What project?”A look of intense interest appeared on Li Yanhong’s face and he unconsciously leaned closer.
“A domestically produced independent operating system.”
Li Yanhong almost out the water he was drinking. Coughing a few times, he said, “It’s good that young people have dreams. But this has already been done before, and they have all failed. Moreover, it’s such a tremendous and mature ecology of systems. It’s virtually impossible for one company to overthrow the current system of doing things. Even a nation may not have this power.”
Chen Jin said with all seriousness, “What if I said that I have 100% confidence in its success?”
Cough, cough, cough!
Li Yan Hong merely coughed and changed the topic. “President Chen, let’s collaborate in areas that both of us are good at.” Obviously, he did not look positively upon the independent operating system project by Xing Hai Technologies. In the end, both parties only agreed to an intent to collaborate in areas of big data, cloud computing, supercomputing, and medical treatments, etc. At least, there were some gains for both sides.
…
In the evening, brother Lei took Chen Jin along to a grand banquet. The one hosting the dinner was the big boss of Teng Xun, Xiao Mage, as well as other VIPs in the Teng Xun business empire such as Brother Xi. Other banquet guests included the founder of Laiping Duo, Huang Qiang, and Wang Xin from Mei Group, along with a slew of other VIPs. This banquet was the “Wuzhen Banquet” that caused many enthusiastic discussions from the netizens.
When they took their seats, Chen Jin was shocked by the attention showered on him by Xiao Mage. He even told Chen Jin to sit directly to his left, which was a seat of honor. As they made headway into the banquet, Xiao Mage repeatedly put food on his plate and asked him many questions. “Little Chen, how old are you this year? Do you have a partner now? Young accomplished fellows like you are a rarity nowadays. Teng Xun wasn’t even established when I was 26! Here, here, eat more.” During the banquet, Xiao Mage was very warm towards him. Chen Jin felt somewhat overwhelmed by all the pampering.
When the banquet ended, Xiao Mage pulled him into a private room. Leaning closer to his ear, he said, “Little Chen, you said that you are currently single. It just so happens that I know of a very excellent girl who I can introduce you to.”
“Um, who is it?” Chen Jin was even more surprised. Xiao Mage was taking the initiative to be his matchmaker?
“Well, it’s like this…” Xiao Mage’s face turned red and he spoke into his ear in a low voice. “My daughter really admires you. And she is still unmarried.”
Ah!
Chen Jin was so shocked he took a step back and looked at Xiao Mage with an astonished expression.