Chapter 65: A Visitor from the Military?
Chapter 65: A Visitor from the Military?
Hearing the knock on the door, Xiaoyu hurriedly got up from Chen Mo’s embrace, straightened her nightgown which had been mussed by Chen Mo, let out a soft hum, and ran back to her room with a red face.
Chen Mo shook his head with a smile and stood up from the sofa.
As soon as he opened the door, he saw a middle-aged man in a suit standing at the doorstep, smiling at him. The man had dark skin, but his eyes carried an imposing aura. His presence was sharp, and he didn’t seem like an ordinary person.
“Hello, you must be Mr. Chen Mo,” the middle-aged man said before Chen Mo could even ask, quickly introducing himself. “My name is Li Chengzhi. I’m very sorry to disturb you so late.”
“What can I do for you?”
Chen Mo looked him over, sure he had never met this man before. He felt slightly on guard, especially since these were troubled times.
The other party knew his address, which meant he must have paid special attention to him.
“Can we talk inside?” Li Chengzhi smiled. “Don’t be nervous, I mean no harm. I came alone—just to discuss business.”
“Chen Mo, we have a guest. Aren’t you going to invite him in?” Just as the two were sizing each other up, Xiaoyu came out of her room after changing clothes.
“Sorry, I don’t want to discuss business right now. If it’s possible, please visit my company tomorrow.”
After saying that, Chen Mo was about to close the door.
“Wait.” Li Chengzhi stopped Chen Mo’s movement and took a credential out of his pocket, presenting it to Chen Mo. “Actually, I didn’t want to disturb you so late either, but the matter is quite special.”
“A soldier?”
Chen Mo took the credential and glanced at it, his expression turning serious.
In the country, anything involving the military was no small matter. He hadn’t expected that higher-ups would send someone to see him. There was no need to say it—it was definitely about the technology of his Smart Assistant.
“May I come in and sit?” Li Chengzhi smiled.
“Come in,” Chen Mo said after a moment’s thought.
“Have some water.” As soon as Li Chengzhi sat on the sofa, Xiaoyu brought over a cup of plain water.
“Xiaoyu, go to bed first. I need to talk with him about something.”
“Okay.”
Xiaoyu nodded without asking further and went back to her room. Chen Mo turned his attention back to Li Chengzhi, his expression still calm.
“She’s a very nice girl. You’re quite lucky, Mr. Chen Mo,” Li Chengzhi said after Xiaoyu left. “This visit is mainly for two things. The first is to invite you to join the Academy of Engineering.”
“And the second?”
Chen Mo’s face showed no emotion. He still hadn’t confirmed whether the other’s identity was real or fake, so he was just listening. After all, there were plenty of cases of forged credentials, and it wasn’t impossible for bold individuals to take such a risk.
“The second is to make a trade with you—to exchange for your company’s Smart Assistant technology. It’s a fair deal. You can state your conditions.” Li Chengzhi’s attitude was very humble, just as he said—he was here for business.
Chen Mo wasn’t surprised. From the moment the other revealed his identity, he had guessed his purpose.
The origin of Siri was the CALO project announced by the United States Department of Defense’s Advanced Research Projects Agency—a plan to help the military simplify handling complex tasks, with a digital assistant capable of learning, organizing, and cognition.
The civilian software derived from this project was Siri. Eventually, Siri Company was acquired by Apple Inc. for two hundred million dollars, becoming the built-in phone assistant Siri in Apple products today.
The domestic military definitely had similar plans, but they just hadn’t been publicly announced.
The Smart Assistant was more advanced and powerful than Siri, and its technology met the military’s needs. If they could obtain the Smart Assistant’s technology, progress in this area of research would surely accelerate greatly, and the country’s research in Artificial Intelligence would also speed up.
Some time ago, the country had already incorporated Artificial Intelligence into its national development strategy. The emergence of the Smart Assistant had certainly drawn the state’s attention to his existence.
“Fair trade. Your conditions, as long as they are within our capabilities, we will do our best to meet them. Of course, if you’re unwilling to make the trade, we won’t force you.”
Li Chengzhi watched Chen Mo, lost in thought, and felt a bit anxious. If Chen Mo refused, the next steps would be difficult. After all, based on their investigation, Chen Mo was a genuine genius with an immeasurable future.
“How can I confirm the authenticity of your identity?”
Chen Mo showed little emotional fluctuation. This matter was of great importance; if the identity wasn’t confirmed, the consequences could be very serious.
“This is my credential.” Li Chengzhi took out his credential from his pocket and handed it to Chen Mo.
“I already looked at it earlier. I can’t prove whether it’s genuine or fake.”
Chen Mo had to be cautious about this. He deeply respected the people’s soldiers, but he had never been in contact with high-level military personnel before—this was the first time.
Li Chengzhi wasn’t angered by Chen Mo’s question; instead, he smiled. His gaze toward Chen Mo held even more appreciation.
“That really is hard to prove. How about this: you tell me your conditions first, and I’ll report back. I’ll come see you tomorrow,” Li Chengzhi said.
“Once you prove your identity, I’ll state my conditions. Come find me at my company tomorrow.” Chen Mo replied.
“Okay, until next time then.” Li Chengzhi didn’t hesitate either, and got up to leave.
After Li Chengzhi left, Chen Mo closed the door securely and went into the room.
Xiaoyu was leaning against the headboard wearing earphones and playing on her phone. Seeing Chen Mo come in, she put down her phone. “Let’s sleep.”
“Mm.”
Chen Mo climbed onto the bed and hugged her from behind. “Xiaoyu, let’s move to the other place this weekend.”
Li Chengzhi’s visit today made him realize a problem. His identity was no longer that of an ordinary person. If competitors wanted to cause him trouble, this place wasn’t very safe.
In a high-end residential area, many wealthy people lived there, and the security would be better.
“Okay, whatever you say.” Nestled in Chen Mo’s arms, Xiaoyu nodded.
“You agreed? Aren’t you going to ask why?” Chen Mo had been thinking that just moments ago, Xiaoyu had asked him to stay here a bit longer, but now she agreed without question.
“You don’t change your promises to me easily. Since you’re changing it, there must be a reason. Why should I ask so much? Moving isn’t a big deal anyway, no need to oppose it. I just think that house is too big—cleaning it will wear me out. If I had known you were buying it, we would have chosen a smaller one,” Xiaoyu said.
“I’ll help too.”
…
Their whispers at the bedside gradually quieted down, and the night passed without further conversation.
The next day, after Chen Mo finished breakfast, he took Xiaoyu to the company. As soon as they arrived, they saw the employees around looking cheerful, chatting and laughing with each other.
This kind of atmosphere had been rare recently.
“Good morning, Chairman.” Two employees quickly greeted Chen Mo and Xiaoyu when they saw them.
“Did something good happen at the company today?”
“Chairman, haven’t you heard? This morning, all the rumors online that were smearing our company disappeared. I heard the people in charge of those troll armies were arrested. There are rumors online that the person who bribed the troll armies to smear us was also arrested.”
“Oh?”
Chen Mo was surprised too; it all seemed to happen too suddenly.
“Get back to work.”
“Okay.”
After saying goodbye to Xiaoyu, Chen Mo returned to his own office area.
“Ink Girl.”
“Brother Mo, Ink Girl is here.”
“Help me look up a military officer’s credential, the number is…” As soon as he turned on the computer, Chen Mo recited the number of Li Chengzhi’s military credential that he had memorized yesterday.
The sudden disappearance of the online smear campaigns against Army Ant made him first think of Li Chengzhi’s visit last night.
He had to personally confirm Li Chengzhi’s identity like this, because matters involving the military required caution. If the other’s identity was fake, he would be in trouble.
“Brother Mo, the information has been found.”
As soon as Ink Girl’s childish voice faded, a file immediately popped up on the computer desktop.