Chapter 47
"The class monitor is very capable and a very good leader." As Cheng Shi and An Zheyuan walked quickly through the maze-like Guomao Hotel, An Zheyuan said to Cheng Shi, "But to be honest, I'm a little angry with him lately. After all these years, he's managed to bury your talent like this!"
After saying that, An Zheyuan lowered his head and smiled slightly at Cheng Shi.
“Uh, I don’t think so, Mr. An… oh no, Forrest,” Cheng Shi didn’t know why, but she couldn’t help but smile shyly at An Zheyuan. “You’re really too kind to me.”
At the same time, Cheng Shi was imagining how he would describe his true thoughts to Huang Ruoyu when he got home that night. He thought he would defend himself to Huang Ruoyu by saying, "What the hell can I say? When a big boss is praising you like this, how are you supposed to respond?"
As she spoke, Cheng Shi quickened her pace so as not to fall behind An Zheyuan's long strides.
Although Cheng Shi was the center on the school basketball team, he was still shorter than Gao Zheyuan, who was over 1.90 meters tall, and therefore his legs were shorter as well. Because he was walking so fast, Cheng Shi had to use one hand to hold down his tie and badge to prevent them from dangling precariously. This made Cheng Shi suddenly realize that his flustered appearance made him look like a sycophant. He felt very uncomfortable about it, but there was nothing he could do about it.
"What do you think of this place?" As he spoke, An Zheyuan led Cheng Shi directly to the 79th floor presidential suite in the elevator. "I usually arrange for VIP guests to stay here."
Upon An Zheyuan's arrival, the uniformed waiters quickly ushered them into a private room that had been prepared in advance. After providing the necessary service, the waiters discreetly withdrew, presumably because the breakfast had already been arranged.
After An Zheyuan and Cheng Shi settled into the large private room, Cheng Shi took a sip of ice water and looked around, wondering: Was this the same place where he had lunch with his father and that man named Cai Daosheng more than 20 years ago? Cheng Shi wasn't entirely sure, because more than 20 years had passed, and even the same private room would have been renovated countless times. Besides, there were quite a few private rooms of this caliber in the area. Who could guarantee that this was the same room he remembered? However, Cheng Shi still felt it was very likely that it was this private room, and the possibility was so great that he could laugh at such an absurd coincidence.
“Is there anything more disgusting than this?” Cheng Shi thought he could complain to Huang Ruoyu like this tonight. “It’s the same private room, the same decor, and even the same dishes we ordered. It’s like a dream. I’m sitting in the same spot I used to sit in, and I feel like I’m still that 10-year-old kid. And the leaders at Haosikai haven’t made any progress at all.”
Regardless, being able to sit down finally brought Chengshi a sense of relief, because now An Zheyuan no longer seemed so tall and imposing—the tall and strong Chengshi was used to looking down on everyone, and having to raise his head to talk to people made him feel really stifled and frustrated. What made Chengshi even more at ease sitting down at the table was that when An Zheyuan spoke, he could secretly pick at his fingers under the table.
As usual, An Zheyuan asked a lot of questions, just like he was conducting an interview, such as: Are you married? Do you have children? How many? Where do you live?
“Oh, I know Central Park. It’s not close. Someone suggested I buy a house there. I heard there’s a really interesting sculpture in your complex that says ‘The economic base determines the superstructure’?” After hearing Cheng Shi say he lived near Central Park, An Zheyuan smiled and then pondered for a moment. “Living in the suburbs with kids is definitely a good choice, the environment is nice. But can people handle commuting like this every day?”
Cheng Shi stammered and managed to get through it. But he suddenly realized that An Zheyuan in front of him was very similar to Cai Daosheng back then. It was also in this private room that Cai Daosheng seemed to have asked him questions like whether he liked school and football, as if he were conducting an interview with a 10-year-old child.
"Do you know what impressed me most about that mini-program you made?" An Zheyuan asked, swirling the wine in his glass.
The slender wine glass looked extremely fragile in An Zheyuan's strong, large hands.
"It's the meticulous logic and clear expression. You can hit the nail on the head and make the truth clear without too many fancy words. In my opinion, it's not just a simple mini-program. It feels like a person is telling me about the 'rejuvenation' product and philosophy."
Cheng Shi lowered his head and said, "Uh, actually, I made this mini-program while talking to myself. It was somewhat of an accident. Our department was only supposed to provide and monitor the use of text and images. The content presentation was supposed to be done by an outsourced advertising company, but there were some problems with the outsourcing company we hired that time. However, that company has already been removed from the cooperation list by Lu..."
An Zheyuan nodded, chewing on his food as he spoke, “Let me tell you about my plan. In the future, I plan to create a series of similar mini-programs. Frankie, I don't care who's in charge of supervision, who's in charge of production, or whether it's outsourced or not. I'm only interested in one thing: how to sell our products to everyone in China. Frankie, many people look down on traditional sales models, saying that future sales won't require human intervention. But let me tell you, when I first entered this industry, a very, very outstanding senior colleague told me something I'll never forget: ‘Forrest, the essence of the world is sales. If no one buys or sells things, then the world is doomed. You don't understand? Let me put it this way: if your dad hadn't sold himself to your mom, how the hell do you think you came into this world?’”
“I was sitting there almost drunk, and I kept thinking: What does this guy want from me?” Facing the rambling An Zhewan, Cheng Shi started to think again, rehearsing his conversation with Huang Ruoyu that night. “Of course, none of this matters to me, but he has indeed piqued my curiosity—someone like An Zhewan, who seems carefree and unconcerned with details but is actually shrewd, does have a certain personal charm.”
“Of course, things are different now than before. If you want to do well in sales, you need to consider many things at the same time and bring together resources from all sides, especially when you're selling a concept rather than just a product. Take our company, for example. What we're selling to our customers is a lifestyle concept, a health concept. Damn, that means you need market researchers, advertising staff, content creators, and what was that... oh, public relations staff. What you have to do is mobilize them all and integrate them into a comprehensive sales force, with everything serving the sales. I like to think of it as a bridge-building process,” An Zheyuan squinted, stretching out his hand to arrange the serving chopsticks between the two plates, forming a bridge. "It's a bridge of understanding, a bridge of communication, a bridge between professional and practical business management. Now, let's take our Haoskai as an example. Our company is very... very old, therefore slow-moving and very conservative. Actually, I don't need to say much, you must have already seen it. All our company's energy is spent selling those traditional health products, cosmetics, and some miscellaneous peripheral products, all old things that have been sold for decades. It's not that the products are bad, it's just that there's no progress, and we have to deceive ourselves by saying that we are updating and improving every year. To be honest, many of the old guys in the company still think that we are still in the early days of reform and opening up. However, on the other hand..."
An Zheyuan stretched out his hands, revealing the cuffs of his shirt. The understated yet luxurious limited-edition watch on his wrist appeared before Cheng Shi's eyes. Then, his massive body suddenly leaned against the table, his eyes bulging, and he continued breathlessly, "On the other hand, the AI era has arrived, the artificial intelligence era has arrived! Frankie, we must face this reality!"
Next, An Cheon gave Narumi a series of examples about the impact of AI on reality. Narumi tried her best to concentrate and keep up with him, but he had indeed drunk quite a bit, making it difficult for her to focus.
After a long while, An Zheyuan finally finished speaking, then picked up the towel beside him and wiped his forehead. With a serious expression, he emphasized to Cheng Shi, "This is the problem, this is the reality we have to face!"
An Zheyuan stared anxiously and cautiously at the wine in his glass for a while, gradually calming down. He then continued talking, eating, and drinking, but his tone became much more peaceful and polite than before. He began using words like "obviously" and "besides," and never again uttered phrases like "damn it" or "old man." His eyes no longer bulged outwards. The eloquent nouveau riche from before had suddenly vanished; now, standing before Cheng Shi, was once again the composed and proper company executive.
"Frankie, have you seriously considered how significant the impact AI will have on future business and life?" An Zheyuan said firmly, "This is a thought-provoking question."
Then, An Zheyuan humbly admitted that he did not understand the specific technology very well, and said that he was not qualified to speak like an expert. He also made no attempt to hide the fact that he lost his way in his own linguistic maze and lost his coherent speech. At this moment, An Zheyuan was more like a liberal arts student than Cheng Shi, and he exuded a romantic aura caused by his lack of understanding of technology.
Chengshi looked at An Zheyuan, trying again to listen attentively to what he was saying, but then realized that the red wine he had drunk was taking effect. The soft background music in the private room now turned into a huge cacophony, assaulting his eardrums; moreover, his vision was constantly shrouded in a haze of darkness, and he could only see what was directly in front of him: the food on his plate, the bubbling iced water, the red wine in his glass, and An Zheyuan's tireless mouth. So Chengshi could only concentrate intently on An Zheyuan's eating posture, wondering if he would accidentally knock over his wine glass or drop his chopsticks. To Chengshi's relief, in his drunken state, An Zheyuan made no mistakes.
After several rounds of drinks and dishes, An Zheyuan finally stopped talking about those abstract grand ambitions and started chatting with Chengshi about some personnel gossip in the company. Chengshi felt it was time to bring up the question that was on his mind most.
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