Chapter 19 - Memories: You're alone again.
Fu Qingli was a little worried because she hadn't heard Lin Xi speak, but there were no suitable parking spots along this stretch of road, so she could only observe her out of the corner of her eye during any lulls in the traffic.
She kept her head down, so her expression couldn't be seen, but thankfully her body didn't seem to be reacting strangely, so I tried to talk to her: "Xiaoxi, what's wrong?"
Lin Xi snapped out of her reverie and shook her head: "No, it's just..."
Seeing her hesitation, Fu Qingli gently guided her, almost coaxing her, "But what? Can you tell me?"
Lin Xi stopped hesitating and said in a low voice with obvious guilt, "It's just that Nan Qing's house is empty now, and you're all alone again."
Fu Qingli's throat tightened, and even her eyes began to sting.
Sadness and heartache intertwined in my heart.
Even though it took her a long time to accept the reality of her father's death, even though she endured six lonely years alone, even though she suffered so much injustice, she never blamed him for the suffering he brought her, and even felt sorry for him being homeless again.
The girl he cherished, despite experiencing separation and hardship brought by fate, still retained her kind and sincere heart.
Unable to suppress it, he recalled the scene of their first meeting.
When he was seven years old, he was taken home by Lin Fengyuan, who had rescued his mother.
As soon as the door opened, a snow-white little dumpling rushed over, hugged Lin Fengyuan's leg, and called out in a childish voice, "Daddy!"
Lin Fengyuan was in a hurry to get back to the hospital. Without even changing his shoes, he squatted down to be at eye level with Xiao Linxi and said, "Xiaoxi, this is Brother Qingli. His mother is sick and hospitalized. She needs to stay at our house for a while. Can you help Dad take good care of her?"
The girl nodded emphatically: "Don't worry, Dad, Xiaoxi can do it."
"good!"
Lin Fengyuan affectionately patted his daughter's head, gave them some instructions, and then left to rush back to the hospital.
At that time, Fu Qingli was immersed in worry about his mother and inexplicable anger, exuding an aura that kept strangers at bay. Even the doctors avoided him at the hospital.
The girl in front of him seemed unafraid. She took small steps and slowly shuffled towards him, tilting her head and searching for his gaze with her clear, bright eyes, while smiling sweetly at him.
Fu Qingli had no interest in dealing with the five-year-old child and coldly looked away.
Suddenly, he felt a warmth in his hand. He looked up in surprise and saw the chubby little girl trying to squeeze her soft little hand into his palm, barely managing to hold his thumb and forefinger.
"Brother Qingli, I'll take you to Aunt Yao's house for a meal. If you're well-fed, you'll have the energy to take care of Mom, and then Mom can rest easy!"
As she spoke, she forcefully pulled him toward the door with her small hands.
Perhaps because she lost her mother at a young age and Lin Fengyuan was too busy with work to spend much time with her, Lin Xi was well-behaved and sensible from a young age, very considerate of others, but rarely showed her sadness in front of others.
Just then, she came to a red light and stopped. Fu Qingli took a deep breath and suppressed the myriad thoughts in her mind.
Reaching out, just like Lin Fengyuan had done in the past, he gently ruffled Lin Xi's soft hair: "I'm not alone, I still have you. Even though Uncle Lin is gone, we will always be family."
Little Stream, you won't be alone!
I was afraid to come close before, but now that you've stepped forward, I won't let you leave again!
*
After finishing the pre-exhibition preparations, Lin Xi went to the Qingyuan exhibition area to pick up Gun Gun as agreed.
From afar, one could see the tall and slender Fu Qingli accompanying the organizers and more than a dozen tech company executives at the entrance of the exhibition area, watching Zhao Mingyuan demonstrate the functions of L1.
Without disturbing them, she bypassed the crowd and quietly went to a corner of the exhibition area to wake up the panda.
"drop--"
The crisp sound of the machine starting up was drowned out by the noise of people and went unnoticed.
Gun Gun opened its eyes and saw Lin Xi; its large, dark eyes instantly sparkled with joy.
Before it could speak, Lin Xi put her index finger to her lips and shushed it, then waved to signal it to follow her.
Gun Gun happily spun around twice, not even glancing at Fu Qingli, and followed her footsteps with great pleasure.
I thought everything had happened quietly.
Lin Xi was afraid that Fu Qingli would worry, so she took out her phone to let him know, but his message popped up first.
[Ting: No need to worry about watching over the pup; it's very agile and won't get hurt.]
Lin Xi subconsciously turned around and saw Fu Qingli, who was still dazzling in the crowd, looking at her phone with her head slightly lowered, seemingly oblivious to everyone else.
Her phone vibrated again, and she snapped out of her reverie and opened it.
[Ting: Just take good care of yourself.]
When they parted in the morning, Fu Qingli suggested that Gun Gun come with her.
She was naturally delighted, but worried that she wouldn't have the energy to take good care of it before the event started, so she suggested that she come to pick it up when she had more free time after the event.
Fu Qingli repeatedly emphasized that the pandas are very agile and have sufficient self-protection capabilities.
But Linxi was still worried.
What if someone accidentally steps on such a tiny little thing?
As if knowing what she was thinking, Fu Qingli sent another message before she could reply.
[Ting: Rolling is a machine, it doesn't feel pain, and even if it gets bumped or scratched, it can be repaired.]
She knew, of course, that the rolling thing was a machine, but to make it so realistic, it must have cost a fortune.
[Murmure: But the repair cost must be very high.]
[Ting: It's not expensive. Besides, the purpose of a panda's existence is companionship. But if its companionship becomes a burden, then it has no reason to exist.]
[Murmure: You make a very good point.]
[Murmure: But I still feel a little sorry for her.]
Fu Qingli couldn't help but smile when she saw the message.
It's rare to see someone who's usually aloof smile like this, like a spring breeze after the snow has melted, bringing warmth and gentleness.
The president of the science and technology association was giving a passionate speech when Fu's smile made him forget his words, and he couldn't help but feel a little apprehensive: "President Fu, did I say something wrong?"
Qingyuan is a world leader in artificial intelligence technology, and its patents can advance the industry for at least five years.
The breakthroughs he mentioned earlier were utterly insignificant compared to what he had learned from Fu Qingli; he was afraid of revealing his ignorance.
Fu Qingli's smile faded, her usual calm demeanor returning, and she simply replied, "No."
"Then you..."
Fu Qingli gave a nonchalant smile: "I just feel unworthy of Chairman Yao's praise. Qingyuan still has a long way to go."
“Not at all,” Yao Hongtu wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. “We domestic technology companies are all looking forward to reaching in-depth cooperation with Qingyuan and ushering in a new era of artificial intelligence.”
"Oh?" Fu Qingli raised an eyebrow but didn't respond.
Zhao Mingyuan, with his keen insight, took over the conversation, but his words were not very polite: "President Yao, Qingyuan has just returned to China and its development pace is not quite in line with that of the domestic market. It will probably take some time to adjust before we can reach a cooperation agreement with everyone."
Yao Hongtu could easily see through his veiled sarcasm and remained silent for a moment.
If it's top-down compatible, why would it need a period of adjustment?
What urgently needs to be worked out is how companies with outdated technology can avoid being eliminated in the process of technological innovation.
The fact that Qingyuan brought its patents back to China means that the original balance in the domestic market has been disrupted, and the industry's market share will be redistributed.
Large companies eager to enter the international market, such as Yao Hongtu's Hongyun Technology, are focused on how to quickly establish cooperation with Qingyuan.
Ambitious and well-capitalized industry leaders are only a minority at the very top of the pyramid.
Companies located at the bottom of the pyramid are unwilling to give up their hard-earned territory, so they want to take advantage of Qingyuan before it can gain a foothold and suppress it.
However, due to Fu Qingli's status as the heir of the Fu family, everyone only dared to secretly try to win him over.
Unexpectedly, a week ago, Fu Wenxun met with several of the most vehemently opposed CEOs and publicly expressed his support for them.
The Fu family's downfall has intensified the crackdown on Qingyuan.
Companies that were originally interested in facilitating cooperation are now taking a wait-and-see approach and are hesitant to take any further steps.
This brought Qingyuan's development in the country to a standstill for a time.
A note from the author:
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