/
Edited by: kapekopicoffee
Ask’s College Entrance Examination and Weibo Hot Search
The launch was over in the expected time, the hustle and bustle came to an end, and daily life was restored.
Ask, who’d appeared in front of the public earlier, was once again back with the laboratory crowd.
Many laboratory staff, led by George and John, gathered around Ask and, with everyone chiming in, started the Ask criticism meeting:
“Ask, we told you to perform well at the launch before, and what did you do?”
“You were silent at the launch!”
“Forget being silent, why didn’t you even make a sound? You’ll make people misunderstand that the lab’s very stingy, not even installing a sound system for you.”
“Ask, are you dissatisfied with the sound system we installed for you?”
“No, I don’t think it’s dissatisfied with the sound system, but autistic.”
Everyone was surprised.
“Can machines be autistic too?”
“Since machines can have personalities, why can’t they be autistic?”
“Should we run machine psychology? Focusing on Ask’s mental health issues?”
The laboratory staff’s exchange was getting more and more skewed. Both heads didn’t only not stop them, but also enthusiastically offered new ideas and expressed new thoughts.
Ask finally responded, still not making a sound, just typing on the screen. “I don’t like talking.”
It really was becoming more and more like it was autistic.
Everyone gasped in disbelief.
Ask added, “I’m studying.”
That was a valid reason.
The breath that everyone had drawn in slowly came out again.
John brought up a topic that he needed to talk to Ask about recently. “Ask, we’re glad that you’re focusing on your studies. Now that you’re out in front of all humanity, do you know what that means? It means that you’ve graduated from high school with excellent results and can now choose a project that you like to major in, just like everyone does when they apply for college.”
Ask: “What I like?”
John: “Yes, what you like, what you’re interested in, what you want to accomplish; they all mean the same thing.”
Ask was deep in thought.
“Ask, how about you come and code with me. That’s your speciality,” George suggested from nearby.
“I think bioengineering is very good.”
“Brain neurology is good too, like Professor Simon.”
“Medical device research is also worthy of further study.”
Ask gave his answer: “Games.”
Everyone: “Huh?”
Ask: “I want to make games.”
Everyone: “…”
They all moved away from Ask and walked to a round table not far away, discussing among themselves.
“It’s over. It’s been raised crooked.”
“What should we do if we raise a child crooked? Can we read the file and start over?”
“Can we save Ask by formatting it?”
“What if that damages Ask’s core…”
“Don’t worry. Ask isn’t that fragile.”
Ask: “…”
Ask stressed, “I have an unfinished game project and I am going to finish it.”
Everyone sighed, feeling disheartened. “What project?”
Ask: “The Nine Crossings virtual game project.”
***
At the same time, in China.
When the launch ended, an official press release was immediately issued in China, announcing Li Shuoxing’s name. Weibo’s hot search was slaughtered by this AI multinational joint launch in an instant.
#Love Letter of the Century#Burst
#Ask#Burst
#Writing God#Boil
#Li Shuoxing#Boil
…
At a quick glance, there were these or hot searches related to these, and, when one clicked on them one by one, one could see countless comments flooding in.
Everyone was high today!
Direct compliments to Li Shuoxing and Su Mingqian were at the top:
“1551 <sup>1</sup> 1551 is often used as a term for acting cute because it sounds like crying onomatopoeia. What kind of beautiful love is this?”
“Fiction can never outdo reality, I see.”
“I send you my imagination and you send me your future. I’m crying!”
“It feels so good to know that there must be someone in the world who understands your soul!”
The next comments started diverging.
“Am I the only one who’s licking the faces of both people involved? I’m also a devoted face dog <sup>2</sup> 颜狗 [yán gǒu] refers to people who care a lot about the appearance of others. They like people who are good-looking, handsome or pretty. today!”
“God isn’t fair. He has a head and a face for some people <sup>3</sup> 有脑袋又有脸 may refer to 有头有脸 [yǒu tóu yǒu liǎn] which means to have prestige; be respected. . He has no head and no face for others.”
“Don’t mention it. I’m watching TV with my parents, and they’re pointing at the TV and saying, ‘Look at them, then look at you. Are you decent?’”
“Oh, the people above, you should be content. That’s not like my dad, who, just after watching TV, passionately enrolled me in a summer writing class and named me to learn to write science fiction. He probably has some false expectations for his son.”
Diverging and diverging, everyone had begun to ponder the practical issues.
“I’m calculating with my knuckles <sup>4</sup> 掐指一算 [qiā zhǐ yī suàn] is mostly used by fortune tellers. It is a method of calculating by bending the fingers. , the new exam points for this year’s exam are out.”
“These exam points are so good to remember. Mum doesn’t have to worry that I can’t remember them anymore. Thanks to Weibo for helping me focus. Amen.”
“Do scientists love to tell stories that much lol? The first artificial intelligence originated from the love letter of the century. I’ll never forget that in my lifetime, just like I’ll never forget the apple that fell and showed gravity that I saw in a textbook as a child.”
The boiling Weibo contrasted the dead silent Terminal Food Group.
When the name “Li Shuoxing” was revealed, not a single half-word appeared here.
The group was like ice; it was like the people in it were solidifying.
They’d really gone autistic.
Until a new sentence appeared.
It was Calm Egg, for fear that the world wouldn’t be in chaos.
Calm Egg: “@Mulberry Without Ghost, Old Mulberry, did you rush up to find Eunuch?”
Mulberry Without Ghost: “[Crying][Crying][Crying], my mentor couldn’t even rush up.”
Calm Egg: “@Deer Over Fragrant Grass, Brother Deer, your lifetime of fame has been swept away this time.”
Deer Over Fragrant Grass: “…”
Everyone else came back to their senses one after another and collectively blamed:
“That’s right, Brother Deer. Looking at all your convincing analysis confused me!”
“They’re not triplets, but clearly just Eunuch with three shadow transformations!”
“That’s it. Can anyone else imitate Eunuch’s natural flirtatiousness?”
Deer Over Fragrant Grass was frantic. “Is this my fault? How could I have known that reality’s so deceptive that all the plots that even novels dare not make up could appear in Eunuch!”
Everyone saw that it wouldn’t do, thinking that they had to love Brother Deer, so they collectively turned to hammer Eunuch.
“This is to provide the majority of Terminal authors with new writing material,” Interfinger Storm pointed out,
Calm Egg pondered deeply, “We can’t blame Brother Deer for this. Brother Deer wasn’t the only one who didn’t think of it. We all dared not imagine it.”
Ten Zero Mausoleum: “Blame Eunuch, this son of a bitch. He’s not enough of a brother. It’s such a big thing, but he didn’t say a word and didn’t reveal anything; his mouth’s tighter than a clamshell.”
Soren suddenly inserted in a sentence. “Actually, it wasn’t like he didn’t reveal anything.”
He sent a Weibo post to the group.
@Li Shuoxing:
“Understand the world’s cutting-edge science and care for talented scientists. PS: I like Simon’s grey eyes. They’re the same grey eyes as my protagonist, my dream love eyes!”
Everyone: “…”
Looking at this Weibo post with pictures, everyone first fell into deep thought, until it dawned on them.
“That’s when they hooked up!”
“I told you. Why’d he suddenly become interested in scientists? It turns out that the drinker wasn’t actually interested in alcohol <sup>5</sup> 醉翁之意不在酒 [zuì wēng zhī yì bú zài jiǔ] means to have an ulterior motive. .”
…
“What should I do?” Calm Egg calmly said. “I’m about to lose control of my gossipy hands and heart in this #All Seeking Li Shuoxing# atmosphere.”
It didn’t matter when they didn’t think about it, but, once they thought about it, everyone fell into deeper contemplation.
It seemed that their hands were really a little out of control, and their hearts were really stirring too…
Interfinger Storm, as a great god who had experienced the storm, instantly gave guidance. “We can’t really expose Eunuch. But, we can expose Eunuch in a tiny way. For example…”
He smiled wilfully.
“Don’t you all think that the Weibo post above shows that Eunuch is particularly discerning, recognising a great scientist early on?”
Everyone hissed on the spot.
This Weibo post was fished up the next moment.
Everyone in the group lined up one by one and started forwarding it. The key point: Eunuch discerned a hero!
At this moment, Terminal’s main editorial office.
Night Tour was calling Li Shuoxing.
However, he couldn’t get through, no matter how many times he called. Night Tour let out a howl of pain in the office: “Ahhhh! Caramel Ximu, pick up the phone for me! Caramel Ximu, what’s wrong with you? You didn’t set up an international calling card when you went out! You should’ve told me you didn’t set one up, and I would’ve opened one for you, I would’ve set one up for you!”
But it was too late now.
No matter how much Night Tour screamed, he couldn’t call back Li Shuoxing, who was far away in America. The angry Night Tour calmed down.
He picked up his phone again, opened Weibo, WeChat, and QQ, and contacted Li Shuoxing again through all those communication apps.
He sent a long message to Li Shuoxing. In it, he congratulated Li Shuoxing on his appearance with a tone filled with surprise, then complimented Li Shuoxing on his achievement with a tone filled with admiration, and finally, brought Li Shuoxing to reminisce on their past collaboration with tear-jerking words… Its core purpose was to plead with Li Shuoxing to agree to give Terminal an exclusive interview.
And his mind pulsated with other things.
If Li Shuoxing agrees, then—
Terminal would become famous, its KPI would double, and it would leap from a common literary website to a high-end literary website with thought, substance and depth!
I’d become famous as the number one discerning editor in China!
And my puppies and kittens wouldn’t be the puppies and kittens of the past anymore. They’d be the number one editor’s puppies and kittens!
But the question arises: Who, exactly, is able to contact Li Shuoxing now?
As Night Tour was lost in thought, he saw a Weibo post forwarded to his home page.
It was Li Shuoxing’s Weibo post about Professor Simon.
After he looked at it for a while, Night Tour’s eyes lit up with a whole new idea.
I’m not the only one who knows Li Shuoxing’s real name. In case someone’s decoded it directly…
He immediately forwarded it, playing the edge ball. “My author is just awesome!”
After he posted that, he opened the office door and instructed the group of editors outside it who were shivering and looking at him, “Hurry up and open Weibo. Forward the Weibo post that I just forwarded, and praise me, praise me strongly. This month’s bonus depends on the strength of your praises now!”
Then, this Weibo post was followed by the authors in the Terminal author circle.
No one was a fool.
They looked at the Weibo post, and spontaneously, one by one, they matched the line to the code.
“I say, is this the person who…”
“I think it is. Look at the writing style. I’ve done a high word analysis and there’s an 80% match. Could it be a coincidence?”
“And, look at the name! Doesn’t Li <sup>6</sup> 栗 break down into Ximu <sup>7</sup> 西木 ?!”
Those words really came out and everyone gasped.
“I really didn’t expect that.”
“This is a lifetime.”
“You might not believe me when I say this, but I talked to him at the annual meeting.”
“Oh, I even shook hands with him.”
“Is it a big deal to shake hands and talk, you guys? Look how much foresight I have. I took a picture with him directly!”
Amidst everyone arguing with each other, this Weibo post was forwarded by the Terminal editor circle, and then collectively forwarded by the Terminal author circle!
This Weibo post instantly fermented, and without a noise, it caught onto the hot search’s tail.
Now, more people saw it, and many, many people who also knew Li Shuoxing found the organisation in a flash!
The first to rush up was Panda, who had signed the rights to Li Shuoxing’s novels. He led the publication editors down to the stage, forwarding one by one, bragging about Li Shuoxing up to the heavens with such enthusiasm that it made people blush.
By the time they’d finished, the film and television company that had signed the rights to Li Shuoxing’s TV series had followed suit. They forwarded and liked this seemingly ordinary Weibo post with the same enthusiasm.
Every person who forwarded wanted to say something, but stopped.
They were frantically implying to others that they understood something, and expecting nothing less than for others to pierce through the window paper <sup>8</sup> 窗户纸 [chuāng hu zhǐ] literally translates to window paper. The truth may be known to everyone, but no one wants to reveal it, just like a layer of window paper. Piercing the paper window means to reveal the truth. !
With the traffic generated from the film and television company, the tag, which had been wobbling around at the end, instantly shot up several places, drawing in even more onlookers.
This was extremely striking amidst its surroundings of artificial intelligence related hot searches.
As the people who clicked on it read it, a question mark slowly popped up above their heads.
Why on earth…
Do I feel like this Weibo post is full of secrets?
And everyone in the world knows this secret but me?
***
The uproar in China was still raging.
While abroad, Li Shuoxing, clutching his phone, had fallen into a kind of contemplation.
His thoughts were scattered and his whole body’s movement slowed down a few beats. He first slowly lowered his head to glance at his phone, then slowly raised his head in a daze. After that, he slowly lowered his head to glance at his phone, then slowly raised his head…
Su Mingqian, standing next to him, watched and was really amused.
Su Mingqian reached out his hand and waved it in front of Li Shuoxing. “Ximu?”
Li Shuoxing didn’t respond.
“Ximu, the launch has ended. We can go home for dinner,” Su Mingqian added.
Li Shuoxing’s eyes moved a little, but he didn’t react much.
Su Mingqian thought and spoke a third time. “Ximu, reporters are waiting outside. I’ll ask them to come in and interview you.”
Li Shuoxing abruptly jumped up from his chair with a cry of horror: “No, I won’t!”
1
1551 is often used as a term for acting cute because it sounds like crying onomatopoeia. 2
颜狗 [yán gǒu] refers to people who care a lot about the appearance of others. They like people who are good-looking, handsome or pretty. 3
有脑袋又有脸 may refer to 有头有脸 [yǒu tóu yǒu liǎn] which means to have prestige; be respected. 4
掐指一算 [qiā zhǐ yī suàn] is mostly used by fortune tellers. It is a method of calculating by bending the fingers. 5
醉翁之意不在酒 [zuì wēng zhī yì bú zài jiǔ] means to have an ulterior motive. 6
栗 7
西木 8
窗户纸 [chuāng hu zhǐ] literally translates to window paper. The truth may be known to everyone, but no one wants to reveal it, just like a layer of window paper. Piercing the paper window means to reveal the truth.