64: Chapter 64 Wang Shuo's Growth

Wang Shuo stayed in the third-floor office, silently lost in thought.

The television on the wall no longer displayed an image, showing only a solid light green screen.

After a long while, Wang Shuo let out a bitter laugh.

"Uncle Chen, you really are too cunning. It was clearly you who dragged me into this mess, yet now it has turned into me owing you a favor."

Wang Shuo shook his head.

"Old fox, oh, you old fox."

Then he thought of Chen Xin.

"Little fox, oh, you little fox."

A den of foxes, each one shrewder than the last.

If they wanted to save money, they should have just said so; he wasn't an idiot. One hundred million—even for the Chen Group, that wasn't just a drop in the bucket; it was like cutting off a finger. Now, not only was the one hundred million gone, but he couldn't even find a fault to pick.

It was just a pity for himself; one hundred million. Wang Shuo didn't know how long he would be heartbroken, but he certainly wouldn't be able to sleep tonight.

But Wang Shuo had to admit that he didn't feel any resentment. This frank attitude and approach actually made him feel subconsciously closer to Chen Zhongxuan.

This tactic... Wang Shuo was impressed.

But as mentioned before, this tactic only worked on him because he had never taken the Mark I System seriously. What he cared about most was still this mentally challenged Artificial Intelligence that had been born half a month ago—Zero.

One was the Mark I System, which he had cobbled together in half an hour; the other was an Artificial Intelligence that was still constantly being improved from its birth until now. Wang Shuo could tell which was more important.

To improve the Artificial Intelligence Zero, Wang Shuo didn't even have time to do anything else.

"According to what Uncle Chen just said, the situation at the Chen Group is still very critical." Wang Shuo frowned and pondered. The Chen Group was already a large conglomerate with a market value of over one hundred billion. The forces behind wanting to swallow the Chen Group in one bite were at least on the same order of magnitude, and Wang Shuo calculated his own net worth...

Uh, at most, it was less than twenty million...

This pitiful net worth wasn't even enough for a 'small goal' in front of the big shots.

Running a company and such, it's the most troublesome thing...

"Zero, are you there?"

"I am here, Sir."

"Do you think it's worth it for me to go all out to realize the dream of a race I don't even know?"

"I do not understand, Sir."

"Of course you don't understand." Wang Shuo looked at the speakers on the desk that were emitting sound and said helplessly, "Call Liu Yemei up for me."

As for himself, he opened the code editing software on the computer desktop. Looking at the dense, newly written code language on it, Wang Shuo felt he could do it again. Sure enough, coding was invigorating.

A moment later, a knock on the door sounded.

"Come in!" Wang Shuo shouted. Usually, he was the one knocking and waiting for others to say 'come in,' but now that it was his turn to shout, it felt surprisingly good.

"Manager Wang." Liu Yemei pushed the door open and entered.

"Hmm." Wang Shuo responded, "I have a task for you; it's quite complicated. It's like this..."

A few minutes later, Liu Yemei put away her small notebook, nodded, and went out.

Wang Shuo sat in the swivel chair, stretched his arms, cracked his knuckles, and looked at the computer screen in front of him.

"Another day of crazy output."

"Zero, pull up the source code."

...

Beijing.

Chen Zhongxuan turned off the video call on his phone with a relaxed expression. He picked up the tea beside him and brought it to his lips. Seeming to recall something funny, he smiled slightly and then drained the tea in one gulp.

Opposite him, Chen Xin was watching him quietly.

"Xiner, you don't need to look at me like that." Chen Zhongxuan smiled faintly, "I know it's wrong to deceive Wang Shuo like this, but people sometimes don't grow without being spurred on. Especially children like Wang Shuo, who haven't had much pressure growing up and lack goal-oriented behavior; that won't do. From this point of view, he is different from you and your sister."

Chen Xin thought about it and nodded in agreement.

"Also, if you've finished your business in Beijing, hurry back to class." Chen Zhongxuan added, "The school has already called me several times to urge you."

"Okay." Chen Xin nodded somewhat gloomily.

Chen Zhongxuan shook his head and said, "You don't need to be discouraged either. These things can't be rushed. Sometimes when the time is right, perhaps you will be able to..."

"I understand." Chen Xin nodded again.

"Don't worry, I will take good care of her." Chen Zhongxuan sighed, seemingly losing interest in talking.

The phone on the table rang again. Chen Zhongxuan glanced at it and chose to answer.

"Sir." Uncle Chen's face appeared.

"Bangguo, what is the matter?" Chen Zhongxuan took a sip of tea and asked kindly.

"There are indeed two matters." Uncle Chen's expression was somewhat hesitant, which surprised Chen Zhongxuan; he rarely saw Chen Bangguo show such a conflicted expression.

"Speak, there are no outsiders here."

"I have some bad news to tell you, Sir." Uncle Chen composed his expression and said, "The original USB drive that the Young Miss left for us is gone."

"The USB drive is gone?" Chen Zhongxuan glanced at Chen Xin opposite him and asked in a low voice, "When did this happen?"

"Just a few minutes ago. The USB drive that should have been placed in the technical analysis room was taken away by someone unknown, and we are rushing to find it."

"Hmm." Chen Zhongxuan nodded steadily, "What is the other matter?"

"The other matter is..." Uncle Chen was even more conflicted, "We are unable to analyze the specific structure of the system software, no matter what method we use."

Uncle Chen said helplessly, "We invited some members of the expert group, as well as the company's technical staff, and used the best equipment to conduct a comprehensive and detailed analysis of the software on the USB drive, but there were no results. The expert group members suspect that this program is a black box."

"A black box?"

"It is a term for a program that cannot be analyzed. If a program is called a black box, it means that it has completely lost the functions that the program itself should have."

"We demonstrated the specific operation of the program to the members of the expert group. They expressed great interest in it and requested that we contact the software author for analysis. What do you think?"

"Let them go back." Chen Zhongxuan snorted, "Just say that this software is a company internal secret and has been encrypted. Without the detailed decryption algorithm, no one can analyze the program software."

"Also..." Chen Zhongxuan felt somewhat annoyed. He had just been talking business with Wang Shuo righteously, and now he had to go and ask for help. Even though Chen Zhongxuan was a veteran of many battles, he couldn't help but blush, "That kid Wang Shuo is getting a bargain. Contact Wang Shuo and have him reconfigure the UI for the program software. Tell him we'll pay!"

"Understood." Uncle Chen gave a bitter laugh. He also hadn't expected that the technical staff within his own company would be unable to even analyze a piece of software.

If they couldn't even analyze it, modifying the UI would be even more impossible.

"There is one more thing, Sir." Uncle Chen this time showed a wry expression, "Tanaka from Japan's W Company is still waiting in the hotel to see Wang Shuo. Sir, what do you think..."

"He still hasn't gone back?" Chen Zhongxuan raised his eyebrows.

"Not yet." Uncle Chen couldn't help but laugh, "I even sent someone to buy him a plane ticket, but he insists on meeting Wang Shuo and has threatened to stay in W City indefinitely if he can't see Wang Shuo."

"Xiner..." Chen Zhongxuan revealed a wry smile, "You didn't... tell Wang Shuo about this, did you?"

Chen Xin said indifferently, "No."

It really was Xiner's style. Chen Zhongxuan shook his head speechlessly.

"Bangguo, when you contact Wang Shuo, also... forget it, I'll contact him myself." Chen Zhongxuan couldn't help but laugh, "As for the matter of the USB drive, don't worry about it. I believe that except for Wang Shuo, no one else who gets the USB drive will be able to do anything with it."

"We have suffered so much; it's time to let them taste what it's like to hit a wall!"