166: Chapter 166 Automation is not about layoffs, but about making people more valuable.

By the time the investment promotion event ended, night had completely fallen.

Outside the temporary exhibition center in the Chengbei Industrial New District of Beining City, streetlights lit up one by one, making the glass curtain wall, which had looked so futuristic during the day, appear even more transparent. Cold white light strips stretched along the edges of the building, as if someone had brought a small piece of the future into this old industrial city ahead of time.

The impact of the "showcase" during the day was even more dramatic than anyone had anticipated.

The local businesses that had originally come with a wait-and-see attitude all had a different look in their eyes by the time they left.

Those in the catering industry were calculating how to grab the first-mover advantage for automated fast food and automated pizza; those in transportation eyed the trial routes for autonomous shuttle buses; while those in property management and commercial supporting services were already pondering which site or street block could be handed over fastest to the new company soon to be jointly owned by Guanghui Technology and the Beining municipal government.

At the end of the day, as long as something like "the future" remains stuck in PPTs and concept videos, no matter how beautiful it is, it's just an imagination.

But once it is actually placed right in front of you—

You can eat it, ride it, make money from it, and replicate it.

People will instinctively rush forward.

Because everyone knows that being a step late might not just mean making a little less money, but missing out on an entire era.

At the entrance of the exhibition center, the Executive Vice Mayor of Beining City personally escorted Lu Li and Su Qingxue to their car.

"President Lu, President Su, thank you for your hard work today."

The obvious excitement on his face couldn't even be suppressed by the night, and his handshake was a bit firmer than when they first arrived.

"Today's meeting has truly set the hearts of the people here in Beining City on fire."

Lu Li, still holding his unfinished iced coffee, merely nodded lazily at his words.

"As long as they're on fire."

"If there really had been no reaction at all, I would have had to hold another one, which would be even more tiring."

Executive Vice Mayor: "..."

He blanked out for a moment, then couldn't help but laugh.

This President Lu still didn't play by the rules when he spoke, as always.

Yet, the more one interacted with him, the more genuine he felt.

Su Qingxue, standing beside him, glanced at Lu Li and smoothed things over for him a bit.

"What he means is that the goal of today's event has been achieved."

"Next, as long as the Chengbei District demonstration line is implemented as quickly as possible, the subsequent investment promotion and resource integration will go much smoother."

"Yes, yes, exactly."

The Executive Vice Mayor nodded immediately, following her lead.

"Tomorrow, we will organize a special task force to first sort out the sites, licenses, pilot qualifications, and related supporting facilities."

At this point, he seemed to remember something else and added with a smile:

"The city has arranged a reception dinner tonight. It's nothing extravagant, just a casual meal for everyone to sit down and eat."

"President Lu, President Su, surely you must give us a chance to show our hospitality as hosts?"

Lu Li instinctively wanted to decline.

But before he could speak, Su Qingxue nudged him by stepping lightly on his foot.

Lu Li: "..."

He turned his head and glanced at her.

Su Qingxue's expression was perfectly normal, but there was an unquestionable look in her eyes—

We're already here, so don't cause trouble.

Lu Li had no choice but to swallow his words of "I don't like socializing" and changed his tune:

"Alright then."

"But let's make one thing clear first: don't make me go up and give a speech."

The Executive Vice Mayor was taken aback and almost laughed out loud again.

"Rest assured, President Lu."

"Today is just for eating; we won't do any of that formalism."

"That's fine then."

Lu Li nodded, finally satisfied.

The reception dinner arranged by Beining City was held at the municipal government guesthouse.

Indeed, as the Vice Mayor had said, it wasn't extravagant, and there was none of that fancy, superficial drinking culture.

There was a large round table with about ten people. Most of the dishes were local flavors: stews, steamed dishes, a few noodle dishes with northern characteristics, and two cold platters that clearly took a lot of effort to prepare. It was steaming hot and full of a cozy, down-to-earth atmosphere.

As soon as Lu Li sat down, he found the setup much more pleasing to the eye.

At least it wasn't one of those banquets where everything was just for presentation and the food was gone after two bites.

Sitting next to him, Su Qingxue noticed out of the corner of her eye that his brow had visibly relaxed when he looked at the dishes, and the corners of her mouth couldn't help but curl up slightly.

She knew this guy all too well.

To Lu Li, whether a gathering was comfortable had little to do with how high-status the attendees were.

It mainly depended on three things—

whether the food was edible, how much talking there was, and when it would end.

During the meal, the Executive Vice Mayor indeed kept his word, not asking Lu Li to go up and make a statement, nor forcing him to speak about any grand visions.

Instead, most of the time, everyone just chatted casually, line by line, taking advantage of the relaxed atmosphere of the dinner.

The boss of a Chinese group catering business approached with his glass, his face full of eagerness to try.

"President Lu, I was too embarrassed to ask more during the day."

"If that automated fast-food equipment can really stabilize, can we directly cut more than half of our kitchen manpower?"

Lu Li picked up a piece of rib with his chopsticks, not even raising his head.

"It's not cutting."

"It's restructuring."

The boss was stunned for a moment.

Only then did Lu Li slowly add:

"The part that can be replaced by standardization was never worth continuing to waste human brains on anyway."

"What's truly valuable is operations, supply chain, category R&D, and exception management."

"In the past, you kept ten chefs because you had no choice."

"In the future, if Robots can help you eliminate seventy percent of the repetitive labor, you shouldn't be thinking about 'how many people to lay off.' You should be thinking about 'how to make the remaining thirty percent of people more valuable.'"

The whole table fell silent for a few seconds.

The boss looked thoughtful at first, and then his eyes lit up bit by bit.

"I understand."

"President Lu, you are reshaping the way I do business."

Lu Li took a sip of warm water, his tone remaining flat.

"The significance of automation has never been just about saving labor costs."

"It is about liberating people from low-value, repetitive labor."

"If you only treat it as a tool for cost reduction, then your vision is still too narrow."

As soon as these words were spoken, the expressions of those at the table who had originally held a wait-and-see attitude suddenly became much more serious.

They suddenly realized that what Lu Li wanted to do was not sell a few sets of Robot equipment at all.

Rather, he was rewriting the underlying logic of entire industries.

The official in charge of transportation took the opportunity to chime in.

"What about the public transit sector?"

"Once it's truly rolled out, what will happen to the drivers?"

"Reassignment."

Lu Li answered quickly.

"The first thing urban shuttle buses will replace won't be all drivers, but rather the fixed routes that are the most standardized, have the highest repetition, and require the most precise margin of error."

"Human drivers still have value, but they won't always be the only solution."

The official fell silent for a moment and couldn't help but sigh with emotion:

"President Lu, I think I finally understand now why you dare to call this a smart city."

"It doesn't have to be called that."

Lu Li leaned back against his chair, his expression still lazy.

"In any case, the essence is just one thing—

"To make this city a little less inefficient and a little smarter."

After saying this, his fingertip paused gently on the rim of his cup.

The usual casualness in his eyes also rarely faded a bit.

An efficiency revolution is never without a price.

When textile machines first appeared, not everyone was overjoyed either.

When assembly lines first swallowed up handicrafts, people were similarly left behind on the ground.

Old jobs will be folded, and new ones will be spawned. What truly determines the pain is never whether there is "change or no change," but whether the new efficiency and new supply can sweep away the old order quickly enough.

As long as the cost of goods and services is pushed down low enough, and as long as the marginal cost of city operations is shaved off layer by layer by technology—

Only then would the blueprint in his mind, which he had never fully explained to the outside world, truly begin to grow its skeleton.

But he didn't plan to talk about these things right now.

So in the next second, Lu Li put his cup back on the table, his tone returning to that half-serious, half-perfunctory manner:

"To put it simply, it's just to make everyone's lives a bit easier."

The table fell silent first, followed by another round of laughter.

Even Su Qingxue turned her head to glance at him, a hint of laughter in her eyes that she couldn't quite suppress.

This guy was terrifyingly serious when he was being serious, yet when he wasn't, he could always bring the tone right back with a single sentence.