Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
During lunch, Li Runze reminded Su Yang, “On top of that, you need to think about your server’s bandwidth and specs.
“In the early stage, a small server might be enough to handle the small number of part-timers, but if the number of users increases and you want to add more pictures or video into the app, your server cost will spike.”
He ate a mouthful of rice and continued, “In the age of the internet, the traffic and server are the biggest expenses for those big companies other than their employees.
“When your business grows bigger, you still need to get a better service and UI (User Interface). I might have optimized your app, but there are some UI that remain simple. You need to fix them too.”
Su Yang memorized everything Li Runze told him. He was a total amateur at the technical stuff, but thankfully, he had Deeny by his side.
On the other hand, Wang Dong had also been busy taking care of the company. With Su Yang’s resources, the company started off great. After a rough calculation, Wang Dong realized that after being fired for a month, his current income was even higher than his previous salary, much to his surprise.
His girlfriend had warned him about the high risk of a start-up. The company might earn a lot for the first month but might suffer a huge drop in the following months. Therefore, he should not invest himself wholly in the company just because of a little profit.
Besides, Su Yang treated him well enough by giving him the company shares. The company seemed to be on the right track and the future was bright. Su Yang told him to try for six months or a year first, and when the company finally stabilized, he could leave if he still wanted to have his own career.
Wang Dong found Su Yang’s words practical enough, and when Su Yang went to him with the app, he realized that the latter had great plans for the company instead of just earning some extra income with the group of part-time students.
As a result, Wang Dong then could rest assured.
Su Yang let him test the app. Wang Dong’s feedback was great and Su Yang told him that the app would become the main project of the company.
After the app was fully optimized, Su Yang would hire another person to promote the app.
Unlike how the other companies promoted their app, which was by pushing the app to the top of the download ranking in both the Play Store and the App Store, or even internet advertising, he wanted to promote the app physically!
The app would be physically promoted to the students from the three universities in Shanghai City.
The campus singing competition was around the corner, hence the students from all three universities would get together. He wanted to use this opportunity to promote his app to the three universities and secure the first batch of users so that his company could grow bigger.
Su Yang did not tell Wang Dong about his personal reasons though. He viewed this campus singing competition as a big opportunity to get his app out and it would be the key to his success and the important step to complete his Silver Mission.
If he could steer his way to success, he would be able to secure a stable source of income. The income source would be used to fund his future projects for the company. After all, the projects he had in mind were expensive just like what Li Runze told him during lunch.
Without sufficient cash flow, he could not even hatch his idea.
Su Yang talked to Wang Dong until evening and it was this conversation that made them realize that with only two pairs of hands, it would be difficult for them to cover so many things. Maybe it was time for them to rent an office and recruit new employees.
After the meeting with Wang Dong, Su Yang walked home. When he was nearby the campus, his phone rang. It was Chu Xia.
‘Chu Xia?’ Su Yang’s heart skipped a beat before his mind went blank. ‘Sh*t! I got held up by my company’s stuff and forgot about the date with her this afternoon! No, wait, it’s a promise, not a date!’
Su Yang answered the phone and Chu Xia’s sweet voice came through. “Su Yang! Finally! Why didn’t you answer my call?”
Confused, Su Yang asked, “You called me?”
‘But my phone didn’t ring the whole afternoon.’
“Yeah, I called you for the whole afternoon but I couldn’t get through,” said Chu Xia.
Surprised, Su Yang said, “Hmm, what happened?” He was clueless about what happened, so he simply came up with an excuse, “Maybe it’s the signal.”
“Thank goodness it’s the signal. You scared me for a while there,” she said. She grunted and added, “Are you avoiding me just because I asked you to accompany me to the campus singing competition?”
Nervous, Su Yang explained, “No, no it’s not like that. I had some stuff going and I totally forgot about that. I just finished my stuff. I’m really sorry.”
A little pause later, he realized that he was not being sincere enough. “Where are you now? I’ll buy you dinner to make up for my mistake. Take it as a token of apology for standing you up.”
Chu Xia giggled. “That’s more like it. I’m at the lecture building. I’ll wait for you here.”
After the phone call, Su Yang sprinted into the campus. He somehow realized that he had become a workaholic who would even forget about the time when he was busy with work.
‘Speaking of which, why didn’t I receive any call from Chu Xia in the afternoon?’
With that in mind, he took his phone out and tapped on the screen. “Deeny, someone called me in the afternoon. Why didn’t the phone ring?”
Live footage popped up on the phone: it was Deeny squatting down in a corner with her head down, looking all depressed.
“Master, I’m depressed. I didn’t want to answer the call.”
‘What the...My phone is depressed and doesn’t want to answer calls? I wonder who would believe me if I told them.’
Su Yang asked, “Why?”
Deeny looked at him with a troubled look, “Master, I realized I’ve been bested by a human being. Am I stupid?”
Su Yang cleared his throat awkwardly but failed to come up with a reasonable explanation.
She continued to look depressed. “I’ve read a lot of novels and watched a lot of movies recently, and I found out that the A.Is in the stories are so powerful. They can be everywhere and can do everything. They can hack banks, fleets, satellites, and even nuclear weapons! They are gods on the internet but I...I feel stupid. I feel empty...”
Su Yang said as he made his way to Chu Xia, “Deeny, you might have misunderstood your own identity. You are a phone, so strictly speaking, you aren’t a real A.I. Think about it this way. The A.I. in movies can transfer their data to every corner on Earth as a backup, and as long as the internet lives, they are immortal. Can you do that?”
Deeny shook her head. “No.”
He continued, “What about this? An A.I. can control people’s computers and use millions of computers to assist its calculation. It can use other computers like its own limbs. Can you do that?”
She shook her head again. “No.”
“Right? You are actually no different than a human being. It’s just that your body is the phone and the phone’s chip is your brain and you have higher specs than other phones,” said Su Yang.