Free Web NovelChapter 168: Chapter 151: The Source Code Went Viral
The plane landed at Zhengyang Airport.
As Zhao Yi, Lin Xiaoqing and a few others stepped out, they saw the driver who had come to pick them up. Just as they were about to follow him, they heard a shout from the side, "Yi! Over here!"
It was Zhao Zhenxi and Liu Jing.
As the couple approached, Zhao Zhenxi couldn’t help but complain, "I knew you’d be back at this time, but couldn’t get through to you on the phone."
Meanwhile, Liu Jing was casually making small talk with Zhao Hongjuan.
Zhao Yi planned to take a taxi home with them, but when he saw his parents, he decided to say goodbye to Lin Xiaoqing and Zhao Linlin.
After getting in the car, Zhao Yi immediately regretted it. fгeewёbnoѵel.cσm
Liu Jing had eagerly come to the airport to pick up their son, but the real reason for their visit was that Zhao Zhenxi had just gotten his driver’s license. freewёbn૦νeɭ.com
There was a big ’New Driver’ sticker at the back of the car.
Zhao Zhenxi’s driving was frightening, stalling the car several times by painful gear shifts and revving too much.
Zhao Yi started worrying about his safety. His driving was so bad that Zhao Yi felt his reincarnated life was about to be snuffed out. He tried to offer some driving advice, but it seemed to make things worse.
Fortunately, the other drivers on the road were skilled, and while the drive was slow and somewhat dangerous, there weren’t any accidents.
"Dad, did you really learn this at a driving school?" Zhao Yi asked, emphasizing the question.
Zhao Zhenxi took a wrong turn twice and changed lanes incorrectly. If traffic regulations had been as strict as they were a decade later, he would have lost his license just driving home from the airport.
"I definitely studied, alright!"
"Seriously?"
"What study," Liu Jing shot a look at Zhao Zhenxi and complained, "He’s always so busy that he didn’t have time for driving lessons. So, he just paid an extra 1,500 for someone to help get it. All he had to do was take the test twice."
"That’s possible? That’s so corrupt! Driving schools should actually teach. If it’s only you... ahem, anyway, next time I’m not riding in your car. It’s too terrifying."
As soon as Zhao Yi got out of the car, he asked sarcastically, "By the way, Dad, where did you study? Is there a place where I can get a license without even taking the exam?"
"I also want to sign up."
Both of them looked at him.
Liu Jing covered her mouth and giggled, "You’re shameless, just like your father!"
Zhao Zhenxi totally disagreed and muttered under his breath, "When did I ever act like that!"
It was the third day of the New Year.
The family didn’t have many relatives, so they had visited everyone by the second day. With nothing to do on the third day, Zhao Yi stayed at his old home for a couple of days to spend some time with his parents
He didn’t go back to his other house until the fifth day.
The winter camp of the Mathematical Olympiad competition had ended two days before the New Year, but the results hadn’t been declared yet. Throughout the New Year holidays, Sun Liang had been worried about the results. Since the teachers were also on vacation, the results wouldn’t be published at least for another half a month.
When Zhao Yi saw Sun Liang, he asked him, "How did the exam go?"
"I don’t know."
"You don’t know?"
"The questions were quite difficult. I think I’ve barely passed, but I’m not sure about my rank."
Zhao Yi chuckled, "As long as you’re within the top sixty, remember to treat us!" He gave Sun Liang his gift while saying this.
He had forgotten last time.
But this time, Lin Xiaoqing and Zhao Linlin reminded him.
While the three of them were shopping, they picked out a beautifully made ’Future Series’doll as a gift for Sun Liang.
Upon receiving the doll, Sun Liang’s face contorted into a forced grin. He gritted his teeth and shot back, "Do you take me for a five-year-old?"
"Ultraman?"
He almost threw the Ultraman doll to the ground.
Zhao Yi spread his hands in innocence, "It’s not my fault, you know. I didn’t think Ultraman was a good choice either. But when we were at the toy stall, Xiaoqing and Linlin insisted on choosing a magical girl doll for you."
"I said boys would probably like Ultraman."
"And so..."
Listening to his story, Sun Liang gritted his teeth in frustration. He knew Zhao Yi was doing this on purpose. Despite venting his displeasure at the gift, he still took the doll with him.
On the same day.
Zhao Yi waited for Xu Chao to arrive.
Xu Chao returned to his hometown in Guangxi for the New Year. After staying for a week, he returned to the capital. Since, Nanjiang is located midway between Guangxi and the capital, he decided to make a detour to Zhengyang to discuss some startup issues with Zhao Yi.
The pair got straight to the point.
Zhao Yi pulled out the ’Dongdong’ robot and demonstrated its features to Xu Chao.
The first feature was setting coordinates and automatic navigation.
The ’Dongdong’ robot was equipped with GPS navigation, so it could be programmed to find a location and move towards it. They didn’t take it to the main gates, but let it move around inside the residential complex.
There were quite a few people in the complex.
The ’Dongdong’ robot drew a crowd. Even Lin Xiaoqing heard the commotion and came down to watch Zhao Yi playing with the robot.
"Let me introduce you. This is Xu Chao. You can call him Brother Chao. We’re good friends."
"This is my classmate, Lin Xiaoqing."
After Lin Xiaoqing and Xu Chao exchanged greetings, they began watching the ’Dongdong’ robot.
’Dongdong’ robot found its path automatically. It would avoid obstacles in its path ahead of time and selected broader paths. When two children came near and surrounded it, ’Dongdong’ became a little chaotic as it deemed the children ’obstacles’. With the children constantly moving around, the robot had to continuously adjust its path, causing it to just move around in circles.
"This is still something that needs to be improved - when it encounters moving obstacles, it can’t precisely avoid them," Zhao Yi said somewhat regretfully.
They both returned home.
Zhao Yi went on to demonstrate the next main feature: image analysis and recognition.
In short, if you input a picture, the robot can remember what’s in it and accurately identify it when it sees the same thing in reality.
This technology is not yet mature.
Zhao Yi mainly relies on color recognition; he remembers the color distribution of objects in the image, so if the robot encounters something with the same color distribution, it may make a mistake.
"So the recognition is mainly based on color?" Xu Chao caught onto the main point.
Zhao Yi responded as if this was obvious, "Recognizing colors and sizes are fundamental, aren’t they?"
Xu Chao frowned, "Are you using the encryption package I gave you? That encryption package is from the lab. If you want to monetize your technology, you need to have all the source code."
"No."
"Huh?"
Zhao Yi smiled, "The encryption package you provided was good, but there were a lot of bugs, and the color differentiation was unclear. I spent a long time cracking the key parts, and then I designed a set of color recognition code myself."
"..."
Xu Chao opened his mouth, unsure of what to say.
How much time has passed?
Even though the input and output parts of the encryption package might reveal some content, the color recognition of dynamic images is a top-notch graphics recognition technology. With no references, cracking it would be difficult.
However...
This guy cracked it alone in less than two months and even created a better set? And he’s saying ’it took a long time’?
Are we living in the same time dimension?
Xu Chao spat out a few comments in his mind, but his faith in Zhao Yi’s abilities and the technology inherent in the robot increased.
He asked about the key point, "If we... I mean, if I join... what about... the salary..."
Scholars don’t talk about money!
When it came to discussing his salary, Xu Chao hesitated, and Zhao Yi immediately enthusiastically shook hands with him, as if an agreement had already been reached. "We’re brothers!"
"Of course!"
"No problem at all!"
Meanwhile...
At Universe Interactive Technology Company in the capital.
Zhang Zhen took a few days off for the New Year and returned to the company to handle things as early as the fourth day of the New Year. He was responsible for the matters of the technical department and had to keep in touch and manage Yuan Zhongchen’s team.
He also had other things to do.
For example, the domestic operation of the Rubik’s Cube calculator software and the possible sale of the source code.
Zhao Yi had entrusted all this to him.
To Zhao Yi, the Rubik’s Cube calculator’s source code was basically useless. Selling the source code directly for profit was a good choice.
As soon as Zhang Zhen got into the office, the front desk passed on a call saying it was about the Rubik’s Cube calculator. He returned the call and heard that the Computer Application Research Institute was interested in the source code of the Rubik’s Cube calculator and wanted to inquire about the price.
"Professor Zeng, of course, code containing top-notch algorithms like this should definitely be sold to domestic companies!"
"We do hope to sell it!"
"Zhao Yi and I are friends. He’s entrusted everything to me. To be honest, Professor Zeng, a lot of companies, both domestic and foreign, are interested in this code. Apple offered two million dollars before the New Year, and I turned them down straight away. Why? If we are to sell, we can’t sell it abroad!"
Zhang Zhen spoke with enthusiasm, and finally gave an offer, "Six million!"
On the other end of the line, Zeng Wenjun nearly choked.
Previously on South Island, when Zhao Yi quoted a price of two million, Zeng Wenjun felt it was too expensive and absolutely unacceptable. But once he got back home and gave it some thought, he regretted it.
Two million could still be negotiated!
If they could buy the source code for one million, Hai Tian Science and Technology would be satisfied.
That would still be worth it.
However...
How did it become six million at Universe Interactive?
Zeng Wenjun didn’t even want to negotiate the price anymore. He knew right away that the person on the other end of the line was a seasoned pro, much more experienced than him. It was impossible for six million to be bargained down to one million.
Zhang Zhen put down the phone and was a bit puzzled.
Why didn’t he even try to negotiate the price?
In fact, if he could sell it for two or three million, it would already be great. How could he have expected the other party to only offer a pitiful one million?
This was just a little incident that Zhang Zhen didn’t take to heart.
But then the next day, and the day after that, people kept calling to inquire about the Rubik’s Cube calculator’s source code.
At that point, Zhang Zhen began to feel that something was off.
He stopped giving prices on the phone and simply let the caller make an offer.
Soon...
He realized the source code was in high demand.
