Chapter 1 The Idea

The idea for the fully automatic intelligent bickering machine actually came from Pei Qian.

It started because Otto Technologies wanted to launch a smart speaker for their phone's AI system, riding the wave of AI assistant popularity.

Currently, there were several AI speakers on the market, mostly priced around two to three hundred, with the highest not exceeding five hundred yuan.

Pei Qian considered that Otto Technologies' request to make an AI speaker was reasonable, and he couldn't find a good reason to refuse, so he agreed.

He just tried to steer it slightly off course: requiring it to be integrated with the fully automatic bickering machine and priced at 2588 yuan, clearly differentiating it from other smart speakers.

That way, surely no one would buy it, right?

In fact, Pei Qian already found it quite magical and incomprehensible that so many fully automatic bickering machines had been sold previously.

This time, the price was several times higher, and it integrated Aeeis, which specialized in arguing with people. Considering that people who had already bought a bickering machine would definitely not buy another one that only bickered...

Surely it wouldn't sell this time, right?

Although he was very confident, Pei Qian cautiously clicked into the product details page to check.

Seeing the pathetic single-digit sales and the empty comments section, Pei Qian couldn't help but feel relieved.

Good, good, the world was finally normal!

He knew no one would buy it.

But... Chang You didn't seem to be deliberately promoting this bickering machine either, just put up a splash ad in the Otto phone store?

Considering that Otto phones didn't sell very well, the effect of this splash ad was negligible.

Afraid that there was some trickery involved, Pei Qian quickly called Chang You.

"Hello? President Pei, have you seen the stable version system update? Any instructions?" Chang You asked.

Pei Qian nodded and said, "Yes, I saw it. All the contents of the system update are very good, completely meeting my requirements. But don't be complacent, our pursuit of user experience is endless."

Chang You quickly said, "I understand, President Pei, don't worry!"

Pei Qian's intention was to have Chang You continue to work on these minor details, lest he have too much energy and come up with some new and unnecessary features, stabbing him in the back.

"I see that the fully automatic intelligent bickering machine is also on sale, but you haven't spent too much money on promotion, right?" Pei Qian asked casually.

Chang You quickly replied, "Ah, yes, President Pei. Because we didn't specifically promote the previous bickering machine, we didn't this time either, and we're still waiting for your instructions. If you think we need to promote it..."

"No need!" Pei Qian quickly interrupted, "You're doing great, the fully automatic intelligent bickering machine doesn't need any promotion."

"However, promotion is one thing, stocking up is another. Although we don't need to promote it, we still need to hurry up and stock up."

Chang You didn't ask any more questions, "Okay, President Pei."

Pei Qian gave a few more simple instructions, such as that everyone had worked hard for so long, it was about time to give the employees a vacation to rest, and then start new work again next month, etc., and then hung up the phone.

After making the call, Pei Qian felt much more at ease.

Chang You was great! Very good at understanding his intentions!

This time, by not promoting the fully automatic intelligent bickering machine, he reduced the possibility of this broken thing being sold.

Hurry up and stock up, pile them all up in the warehouse, so that another large sum of money could be spent.

This machine costs 2588 yuan, just hoarding a few hundred of them would spend millions, much faster than the initial version of the bickering machine.

He couldn't consider what would happen later for the time being, but it shouldn't be a problem to spend a sum of money before the end of the month, right?

Pei Qian couldn't think that far ahead for the time being, he would deal with the settlement of this cycle first.

He had already finished lunch. Pei Qian ordered a cup of coffee and comfortably basked in the sun next to the floor-to-ceiling windows of the Mo Yu Internet Cafe.

"Hmm? That's not right."

"I still have to see what the users' comments are like!"

As the saying goes, once bitten by a snake, ten years afraid of a well rope. Countless backstabs had created Pei Qian's cautious character. Although he was already convinced that the fully automatic intelligent bickering machine would definitely not sell, and he had seen the pathetic sales in the store, Pei Qian still felt uneasy.

He began to check the users' comments on the forum about this system update of Otto phones.

"Otto phone system has a major update! They didn't even hold a press conference, just silently pushed the update notification!"

"There are so many updates this time, shouldn't other mobile phone manufacturers hold a press conference to boast about it? I was still waiting for Chang You to do a crosstalk show, but they didn't hold a press conference at all?"

"This system animation is so smooth, good review! Domestic mobile phones are finally as smooth as Pineapple phones, this silkiness is completely unstoppable!"

"Not just domestic mobile phones, other foreign Aizhuo phones can hardly do this level either, Otto Technology is really thoughtful."

"This spirit of constantly polishing details is really worth learning for other mobile phone manufacturers. In fact, linear animation is not that difficult to do, it just depends on whether you pay attention to it and whether you are willing to invest enough time and manpower."

"The camera system update is also very good, I took a few photos, the algorithm has obviously improved greatly."

"There is a voice assistant, and the name is quite foreign, but why does it feel like it doesn't treat me like a human? Is there a problem with this attitude?"

The vast majority of the comments focused on the basic system functions and linear animation, because these were the most direct changes for most users: the smoothness was improved, and it was more comfortable to use the phone.

A few people were commenting on the new camera system and complaining about Aeeis, the AI voice assistant, and almost no one was discussing the fully automatic intelligent bickering machine.

"Everyone's evaluation of this system update is so high?"

"But it's okay, the parts that everyone likes don't make money, and the parts that make money no one is paying attention to."

Seeing that no one cared about the Aeeis fully automatic intelligent bickering machine at all, Pei Qian was relieved.

Obviously, the enthusiasm for the bickering machine had passed for most people. Those who liked it had basically already bought the first-generation product, and those who didn't like it wouldn't buy the new intelligent bickering machine.

Pei Qian breathed a sigh of relief, it seemed that his worries were a bit redundant.

The fully automatic intelligent bickering machine definitely wouldn't sell many units this month, so he could confidently mass-produce it.

...

...

January 10th, Tuesday.

After coming out of the examination room, Pei Qian first went to Mo Yu Internet Cafe to have lunch, and then picked up his notebook and went straight to the study room.

He had an open-book exam this morning and a closed-book exam tomorrow morning. After finishing both, the semester would be over.

As for the result of this morning's exam...

It was hard to say, but he should have written enough words.

Considering how seriously he had written, he should get some credit for his effort, right?

Anyway, the exam was over, so there was no point in thinking so much about it. The most important thing was to sharpen his sword at the last minute this afternoon and do well on tomorrow's closed-book exam.

Arriving at the study room, Pei Qian, as usual, put his phone on silent and placed it out of his reach.

However, just as he was about to put his phone away, he saw a news push pop up on the screen.

"Another internet celebrity restaurant declared failure! The legend of Leng Mian Gu Niang ends, Meng Chang becomes a person subject to enforcement!" (Leng Mian Gu Niang = Cold Noodles Girl)

Pei Qian would have ignored a normal news push, but seeing this news, Pei Qian couldn't help but be stunned.

Leng Mian Gu Niang was finished?!

He quickly clicked to view it.

"Recently, Meng Chang, the founder of Leng Mian Gu Niang, was placed on the list of untrustworthy persons subject to enforcement by the court because he failed to pay more than one million yuan in payment to suppliers, and this should only be the tip of the iceberg of Leng Mian Gu Niang's debts. According to industry analysts, Leng Mian Gu Niang's debts may have reached several million yuan and are basically unable to be repaid."

"As an emerging internet catering brand, Leng Mian Gu Niang has attracted the attention of countless consumers since its inception. One marketing event after another has deeply linked 'Leng Mian Gu Niang' with the concept of roasted cold noodles, making it fashionable for people to eat roasted cold noodles. It has also attracted investors to chase after it, setting off a wave of internet catering brands, receiving multiple rounds of investment in just a few months, with a peak valuation of over 300 million yuan."

"However, this internet celebrity catering brand seems to have collapsed overnight. According to reporters, the Leng Mian Gu Niang stores in the capital have been closed, with a sign saying 'Closed for renovation', but there have been no signs of opening for several days. And Meng Chang, the founder at the center of the storm, has not responded to the public after the incident."

Pei Qian looked at this news repeatedly two or three times in disbelief.

It was indeed solid news, not hearsay!

Leng Mian Gu Niang and Meng Chang had both become untrustworthy persons subject to enforcement. This kind of news must have real evidence, and the closure of the Leng Mian Gu Niang stores and Meng Chang's lack of any public response further confirmed this.

Pei Qian's impression of Leng Mian Gu Niang was still stuck from the week before last.

At that time, rumors of Leng Mian Gu Niang's bankruptcy appeared on the internet and were condemned by Meng Chang as rumors.

As a result, only a week or so had passed, and the so-called "rumors" had come true, and the demise had been exceptionally swift.

In fact, if Pei Qian had paid attention earlier and inquired about the news from He Desheng or President Li, he would have been able to know these things sooner, but he had been focusing on the IOI Global Finals in Los Angeles in the past week, so the information was delayed.

Pei Qian came to the outside of the study room and called He Desheng.

"Leng Mian Gu Niang is bankrupt?" Pei Qian asked directly after the call connected.

He Desheng said, "Yes, President Pei, I was just about to report this to you. Leng Mian Gu Niang should have run out of money, but they can't get more financing, so the capital chain has been broken, and there are several supplier debts that can't be repaid."

"President Li just came to me this morning to ask about your attitude. President Li's idea is that if you are still interested in Leng Mian Gu Niang, you can take the lead in organizing a meeting with all the investors as soon as possible..."

Pei Qian thought for a while, "Okay, then tomorrow afternoon."

"You go and inform President Li and the other investors, and let those investors who are not in Jingzhou also come to Jingzhou to discuss the issue of Leng Mian Gu Niang."

He Desheng didn't know why President Pei chose tomorrow afternoon, and he didn't know what the specific plan was, but he didn't ask any more questions and readily agreed.

After hanging up the phone, Pei Qian returned to the study room again.

In fact, there was no special reason for choosing tomorrow afternoon, simply because he had a closed-book exam tomorrow morning.

Even if there was a big deal, he couldn't delay the exam, otherwise, all the studying during this time would be in vain!