Chapter 247 - 186: This Is a Good Thing

Chapter 247: Chapter 186: This Is a Good Thing

At this thought, Chen Lin, who had been about to leave, paused for a moment.

He hesitated for a moment, then decided to ask anyway.

Xiang Wentian clearly noticed the flicker of hesitation on Chen Lin’s face and raised an eyebrow slightly.

"What is it? Is there something else?"

"Well, it’s like this, Elder Xiang." Chen Lin gathered his thoughts and spoke frankly. "I’m planning to break into the artificial intelligence industry soon."

"But while my math skills are decent, my programming ability is pretty average. So I’m looking to hire two or three experienced programmers with solid skills in AI to help me build the project’s framework."

He paused, then said with a hint of resignation:

"But talent of that caliber is in extremely high demand. I’ve reached out through a few channels, but I haven’t had any luck so far."

Xiang Wentian listened and nodded thoughtfully.

"These programmers you’re looking for... they not only need to be proficient in AI development but also have a solid mathematical foundation, right?"

He looked at Chen Lin and continued:

"The ideal candidate would be someone who knows how to integrate the mathematical algorithms you propose into the code for model training and inference?"

Chen Lin’s eyes lit up when he heard this, and he nodded repeatedly.

"Yes, yes! Elder Xiang, you’ve hit the nail on the head! That’s exactly it!"

He asked in amazement:

"Elder Xiang, aren’t your fields physics and engineering? How do you know so much about artificial intelligence?"

Xiang Wentian smiled.

"I’ve been studying it on my own for the past couple of years."

His tone was nonchalant, as if he were talking about something perfectly ordinary.

"A retired man has to do something with his time. Studying this is quite interesting."

Hearing this, Chen Lin was filled with a deep sense of respect.

’Good heavens!’

’What kind of intellectual curiosity and learning ability must he have!’

Xiang Wentian pondered for a moment before speaking slowly:

"The kind of experienced programmer you’re looking for is indeed hard to find."

Chen Lin’s heart sank.

However, Xiang Wentian’s tone suddenly shifted:

"But I can ask around at the National Academy of Sciences."

He looked at Chen Lin and said in a very casual tone:

"The Institute of Computing Technology should have plenty of young people. I’ll have someone inquire for you, see if any of the kids are willing to go to your company."

Chen Lin was completely stunned.

He never imagined that just mentioning it casually, on the off chance it might lead somewhere, would result in such an unexpected windfall!

’The National Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Computing Technology! Any single researcher from there would have technical skills that are absolutely top-tier in the industry!’

"Thank you, Elder Xiang!" Chen Lin—

Xiang Wentian waved his hand, a tired smile on his face.

"Alright, don’t get too excited. I’m just asking for you. Whether it works out depends on if anyone is willing."

He paused, then added:

"After all, there’s still a gap in compensation and stability between working at the Institute and going to a startup like yours."

"I understand. Don’t worry about the compensation; I can definitely make them a satisfactory offer." Chen Lin nodded repeatedly. "Whether it works out or not, I will always remember your kindness."

Xiang Wentian nodded in satisfaction, then closed his eyes and fell silent.

A nurse immediately came forward and said softly to Chen Lin:

"Mr. Chen, Elder Xiang needs to rest now."

Chen Lin understood at once. He bowed deeply to Xiang Wentian once more before turning and quietly leaving the suite.

「.....」

The nurse and Xiang Wentian’s assistant, a middle-aged man, worked together to help Xiang Wentian from his wheelchair to the bed.

Lying on the soft hospital bed, Xiang Wentian’s face was still deathly pale, with fine beads of sweat remaining on his forehead.

The conversation with Chen Lin had clearly drained too much of his energy.

The assistant picked up a towel from the bedside table and carefully wiped the sweat from Xiang Wentian’s forehead. After a moment’s hesitation, he couldn’t help but ask:

"Elder Xiang, should I run a more thorough background check on that Chen Lin?"

Xiang Wentian kept his eyes closed and didn’t answer immediately.

After a long moment, he slowly opened his eyes, turned his head, and looked at the assistant who had been with him for over a decade.

"No need to check."

His voice was calm, yet carried an undeniable firmness.

"Today’s meeting was enough for me."

The assistant was clearly still uneasy and couldn’t help asking again:

"But, Elder Xiang, the speed at which his mathematical ability has improved... it’s truly abnormal..."

"Abnormal?"

A faint smile touched the corner of Xiang Wentian’s mouth.

"Ah, Hang. I’ve been doing scientific research for so long, and only at the end did I discover..."

His gaze drifted out the window toward Fuxian Lake, which shimmered with golden light under the setting sun. His voice grew distant.

"There are far too many things in this world that cannot be explained by existing knowledge."

Hang fell silent for a moment after hearing this, then nodded.

"I understand, Elder Xiang."

Xiang Wentian closed his eyes again, sinking into a state of deep exhaustion.

「...」

「...」

Across the ocean, in the USA, New York, Wall Street.

On the twenty-third floor of a nondescript gray building.

This was the headquarters of Sibia Investment Bank.

As a "young" investment bank established less than ten years ago, Sibia had managed to gain a firm foothold on the brutally competitive Wall Street by relying on one word—

Aggression.

Especially in the emerging field of cryptocurrency, a world of immense profits and risks, Sibia had carved out a bloody path right under the noses of established investment banks through several insane high-stakes gambles.

It was precisely because of these successful investments that Sibia’s capital and industry influence had grown by leaps and bounds in just a few short years. Last year, it had finally passed the "assessment" of a certain mysterious circle and received an invitation to "that meeting."

At this moment, in the CEO’s office of Sibia Investment Bank.

Fred Mills sat in his large leather executive chair, his eyes glued to the computer screen in front of him.

He was forty-five years old, one of the founders of Sibia Investment Bank and its current head.

Yet at this moment, the face of this Wall Street elite, known for his decisiveness and ruthlessness, was filled with a mixture of nervousness and anticipation.

Because today was the first time he would be attending "that meeting" since becoming the head of Sibia two months ago.

He had only learned of this meeting’s existence from his predecessor—the other founder of Sibia—who had told him about it in private during the handover.

His predecessor had lowered his voice and told him in an almost mystical tone:

"Fred, the people who can attend this meeting are the true heavyweights of the entire financial world."

"It took Sibia three whole years to get this ticket. You must cherish it."

Fred, of course, cherished it.

In fact, ever since receiving that email last year, he had been waiting for this day to arrive.

He glanced at the clock on the wall.

2:55 PM.

Five minutes left.

Fred took a deep breath, straightened his tie, and habitually smoothed his already thinning hair.

Then, he clicked open the conference software on his desktop—a custom application with an extremely simple icon.

He entered the room number and clicked to join.

On the screen, more than a dozen avatars were already lit up against a black background.

Fred quickly scanned the list of participants, and his heart immediately began to pound in his chest.

’Holy cow!’

Every single name on that list belonged to a major figure he had previously only seen in the *Wall Street Journal* or on financial news!

The CEO of GS, the CEO of MS, the CEO of ML...

Fred tried to calm himself down. He turned off his camera and waited quietly.

Another five minutes passed.

Three o’clock sharp.

Everyone had logged on.

Then, one by one, the avatars lit up as the participants turned on their cameras.

Fred turned on his camera as well.

The meeting’s host appeared on the screen.

He was a white man who looked to be in his sixties, with a shockingly high hairline, but his deep-set blue eyes radiated the shrewdness and authority of someone long accustomed to power.

Fred recognized him.

Arthur Wayne, CEO of BLD Investment Group.

It was one of the largest investment institutions in the world by assets under management, with over ten trillion US dollars in its portfolio!

Arthur Wayne cleared his throat and spoke in a voice that was calm yet piercing:

"Gentlemen, the meeting will now come to order."

"There is only one purpose for this emergency meeting today."

He paused, his expression turning serious.

"I’m about to show you all a video. We’ll discuss it afterward."

With that, Arthur operated his computer and played a video on the conference software’s shared screen.

The screen showed what appeared to be a formal academic conference.

A young Asian man stood at a lectern, facing six massive whiteboards covered in dense mathematical formulas.

The young man held a marker and was writing rapidly.

The camera cut between the shocked faces of the audience and the two large screens on either side, which displayed a real-time feed of the dizzying mathematical symbols.

Fred stared at the screen, his brow furrowed slightly.

’Wait a minute...’

’I think I’ve seen this video somewhere before...’

’That’s it!’

The night before last, he’d come across this while scrolling through TikTok!

At the time, he had found it novel that a math lecture could be edited to be so intense and even go viral.

But he had just casually liked it and hadn’t given it much thought.

The video played for about five minutes, ending abruptly after the young man wrote the final symbol, turned to bow, and the entire hall erupted in thunderous applause.

The view switched back to the conference interface.

Arthur Wayne’s solemn face was once again in the center of the screen.

"Gentlemen," he began slowly, his tone carrying an indescribable gravity, "this video is from an international mathematics conference that just concluded last week in the Huaxia Imperial Capital."

"The young man in the video is named Chen Lin. He is a Huaxian university student who just turned twenty."

Arthur paused, then continued:

"At this conference, he derived a completely new algorithm on the spot."

"According to verification by mathematicians, computer scientists, and R&D personnel from major tech companies around the world, this algorithm can, in theory, drastically reduce the hallucination rate of large models."

"To put it simply," Arthur’s voice grew even heavier, "he has solved the ’model hallucination’ problem that has plagued the artificial intelligence industry."

The moment he finished speaking, a slightly sharp voice cut in.

"Arthur, I don’t quite understand. What’s the problem with that?"

Fred followed the voice and saw the speaker: a middle-aged white man in his early fifties with curly blond hair.

His name was Peter Harris, a senior partner at KKR Group.

Peter’s tone was somewhat dismissive:

"Isn’t this beneficial to the entire AI industry?"

"Many of us here have made huge investments in the AI sector. Shouldn’t the emergence of this algorithm be a good thing?"

As soon as Peter finished, a chorus of agreement immediately rose from the meeting.

"That’s right, I think it’s a good thing too."

"With the hallucination problem solved, the applications for large AI models can be further expanded. The market size will naturally grow as a rising tide lifts all boats."

"The valuations of the AI companies we’ve invested in should go up, right?"

"Shouldn’t we be celebrating? Why call an emergency meeting?"