I'm in the county town, and you say I'm a big shot?

Chapter 704 Dreams may seem unattainable, but at least we have dreams.

The train clattered rhythmically through the somewhat desolate fields of Jiangnan. A thin layer of dust and condensation covered the train windows, blurring the view outside.

The two of them squeezed into the hard-seat carriage. The air was warm and mixed, with the smells of instant noodles, sweat, and faint cigarette smoke all mingling together.

They came to attend the Wuzhen Internet Conference, but they were not invited guests, nor even ordinary attendees—they had not received invitations or admission tickets; they were there to "crash" the conference!

One of them, wearing glasses and looking like a frail scholar, seemed unaffected by the noisy environment. His face was beaming with excitement. On the small table was a laptop displaying the cover page of a PowerPoint presentation with the title in bold black letters: "Laikago Next-Generation General-Purpose Humanoid Robot Platform," below which was a somewhat rough sketch.

"Old Chen, look at this architecture diagram," the frail young man said in a low voice, but spoke quickly as he slid his finger across the touchpad and opened a page filled with boxes and lines.

"I have re-optimized the closed-loop logic of perception-decision-control, emphasizing the cost and performance advantages of our self-developed joint module... Although we only have simulation data now, it makes perfect sense logically!"

Old Chen isn't old at all; in fact, he's just as young as him.

One of them is named Wang Xingxing and the other is named Chen Li.

The two were classmates at Zhejiang University of Science and Technology and were admitted to Shanghai University to pursue master's degrees at the same time. However, after graduation, one went to DJI and the other went to Hikvision.

Just a month earlier, Wang Xingxing suddenly resigned from Dajiang, took a set of blueprints to Chen Li, and said that she wanted to quit her job and start her own business to make robot dogs.

"I want to make a robot dog that is more advanced than Boston Dynamics' SpotG!" Wang Xingxing said firmly.

Chen Li knew that Wang Xingxing wasn't just boasting. His friend had loved mechanics since childhood and enjoyed making small inventions like model airplanes. While pursuing his master's degree, he even invented XDog, a high-performance quadruped robot with full degrees of freedom driven by an external rotor brushless motor.

Dreams may seem unattainable, but at least we have dreams.

So Chen Li also resigned from Hikvision, and the two prepared to start their own business.

First and foremost was funding. The two set their sights on the upcoming Wuzhen Internet Conference, which not only showcased the most advanced internet technologies and facilitated the exchange of ideas, but more importantly, attracted many angel investors!
This is their real purpose in coming to Wuzhen.

Chen Li sat next to him, his body swaying slightly with the movement of the carriage. He seemed calmer than Wang Xingxing. His gaze swept over the exquisite illustrations, futuristic robot concept renderings, and the words "disruptive" and "billion-dollar market" highlighted in large, bold font on the PPT, finally settling on the almost invisible small print: "Note: The illustrations are conceptual effects; the product is under development."

“Old Wang,” Chen Li sighed, “Investors aren’t engineers. They probably won’t scrutinize your control loop bandwidth. They’ll be more likely to ask, where is the prototype? When will it be running? Even if it can only take a few steps.”

He paused, then added, "And all we have is this." He pointed to the computer screen.

“You have to eat one bite at a time!” Wang Xingxing retorted, but his voice unconsciously lowered. “Algorithms are the soul, and hardware is the body. If we build a solid framework for the soul, are we afraid of not finding materials to build the body? Wuzhen is now full of money looking for projects. As long as we tell a good story and let them see the future…” His tone carried the confidence of a tech geek, a confidence in the self-consistency of logic.

Chen Li didn't speak again, turning to look out the window. The train was slowly passing through a town, the weathered walls of the old factory buildings contrasting sharply with the brand-new residential complexes in the distance. Unlike Wang Xingxing, a tech enthusiast, he worked in overseas sales at Haiweikangshi. He knew perfectly well that what they currently possessed was merely a blueprint woven from theory and passion, a pile of data simulated by software, and a few 3D-printed joint component models. The real robot existed only in Wang Xingxing's mind and in the PowerPoint presentation on this computer!
There is no train service to Wuzhen, so the two of them had to take a bus and, after several twists and turns, finally arrived in Wuzhen.

As the two stood at Wuzhen Bus Station, breathing in the damp, cold, and unfamiliar air, dusk was approaching.

As dusk falls on Wuzhen, the ancient water town scenery is crudely embedded with a dense array of internet elements: billboards, slogans, young people dressed in various company uniforms... A wave of heat, a mixture of anxiety and longing, washes over you.

Wang Xingxing immediately perked up again, pointing to the bustling crowd and conference signs in the distance: "Look! Old Chen! That's it! The future is right there!"

Chen Li silently slung his backpack, which contained his laptop and a few printed PPT slides, over his shoulder, and patted Wang Xingxing on the shoulder: "Hurry up, we haven't booked a hotel yet, we need to find a place to stay quickly, otherwise we'll be sleeping on the streets tonight."

Fang Qingye certainly didn't have any accommodation problems. He and Chen Danlu also took a car to Wuzhen and, through the organizing committee, had already booked rooms and checked into the Tong'an Inn.

Located in the core area of ​​Wuzhen West Scenic Area, adjacent to the main venue (Wuzhen Internet International Convention and Exhibition Center), it is a typical Jiangnan Ming and Qing style architectural complex.

Open the window and you can see the awning boats moored on the Xizha River, with white walls and black tiles reflected on the water. It is evening now, and the setting sun has dyed the entire river into a golden hue, with the sounds of oars and Suzhou storytelling intertwined.

"Not bad. The environment is quite nice." Fang Qingye praised the scenery. "I just wonder if there's a place to fish?"

Chen Danlu, standing behind him, couldn't help but chuckle upon hearing this. He was now unaware of Fang Qingye's deep passion for fishing.

When others come to Wuzhen, they think about giving speeches, building connections, and discussing investment and cooperation, but he thinks about finding a place to fish!

"Come on, President Chen, call Yue Kai, let's go eat, let's try some steamed white fish!" Fang Qingye said with a smile.

We ate at the Tong'an Inn, a place with a rustic and elegant ambiance built along the water. The private rooms offered views of small bridges and flowing water from the windows. The cuisine was mainly Jiangzhe local dishes, including braised mutton and lichen scrambled eggs. Of course, there was also the steamed white fish that Fang Qingye had mentioned.

Wang Xingxing and Chen Li were at a fast food restaurant not far away. They found a place to stay at the Shuixiangyi Youth Hostel nearby. Although it was like a dormitory in a university with bunk beds, it was still 60 yuan cheaper per night.

The two are eating boxed lunches now. Wang Xingxing still has her laptop with her everywhere she goes, using the fast food restaurant's free Wi-Fi to seriously look at her PowerPoint presentation.

Chen Li sat opposite him, eating while pondering other issues.

“Old Wang, the information I found online shows that angel investors like Shen Nanpeng from Sequoia Capital China, Xiong Xiaoge from IDG Capital, and Xu Xiaoping from ZhenFund are all here. Our goal is to find one of them and talk to them for just five minutes!” Chen Li said.

(End of this chapter)