The divorce comeback system arrived right after I was born.

"Seriously, on the fourth day of the Lunar New Year, I went to a dinner party with my dad, and wow, the whole table was full of prominent investors from Beijing. Guess what they were talking about after they'd had a few drinks?"

Li Zicong lowered his voice mysteriously, "They're all talking about that deep space technology!"

Guo Yang, listening intently from the side, even switched out of his game. "Is that the company that created Moss? I saw it on Douyin. That AI is amazing; it can even solve advanced math problems. If I had known about this thing for my final exams, I wouldn't have had to beg my counselor to bail me out."

"It's more than just a god!" Li Zicong slapped his thigh. "My dad said this company just got billions of dollars in funding from the national team and Wall Street, and its valuation has jumped to 15 billion US dollars! 15 billion! And in US dollars!"

Zhang Tianyang gasped, clearly shocked by the number.

"Do you know what's the most outrageous thing?" Li Zicong pointed at Chen Zhi, "Everyone in the industry is saying that the boss behind this company is a Peking University student, also surnamed Chen. And he's extremely low-key; even top venture capitalists can't get a chance to meet him in person."

Li Zicong looked Chen Zhi up and down, clicked his tongue twice, and said, "Chen Zhi, if you weren't eating instant noodles and playing games with us in the dorm every day, I would really suspect that you were the one."

Without batting an eye, Chen Zhi tore open the packaging of a bucket of pickled cabbage noodles, skillfully sprinkled on the seasoning packet, poured in boiling water, and then covered it with a book.

"If I were worth billions, the first thing I'd do is buy your green Submariner, then smash it in front of you to hear the sound." Chen Zhi pulled out a chair, sat down, and crossed his legs.

"Damn, you're just jealous of the rich, aren't you!" Li Zicong gave him the middle finger. "But seriously, if you could get in touch with a big shot like that, you wouldn't have to worry about anything after graduation. My dad's been trying his best to slip some money in, but they won't even open the door."

Chen Zhi smiled but didn't respond.

Swiping money?

What a joke! Right now, all kinds of capital, both domestic and foreign, are begging to send money over. They wouldn't even look at those small change.

Just as I was about to lift the lid of the instant noodles, my phone on the table suddenly vibrated twice.

Chen Zhi picked it up and saw a WeChat message pop up on the screen.

Pei Ningxue: [Back in the capital?]

Chen Zhi paused. He had just stepped into the dormitory, and she already knew?

Chen Zhi: [Just got to the dorm, about to grab something hot to eat.]

Pei Ningxue: [What are you eating? Get to the 20th floor of the IAPM Center within half an hour.]

Chen Zhi looked at the line of text on the screen and sighed helplessly.

This woman went back to Beijing to work overtime on the fifth day of the Lunar New Year. Now that she sees him back, she's probably planning to conscript him.

"Hey, Chen Zhi, your instant noodles are ready. Don't eat the lumps anymore," Guo Yang reminded him.

Chen Zhi suddenly stood up, grabbed the down jacket from the back of the chair, and said, "I'm not eating. Whoever is hungry can eat. I have something urgent to attend to."

"You just got back and you're already running off? Going to keep your sister-in-law company again?" Li Zicong shouted from behind.

I guess so.

Chen Zhi rushed out of dormitory 404 without looking back.

The people in the dormitory looked puzzled. What does "sort of" mean?

……

Half an hour later.

The taxi was parked downstairs at the IAPM Center.

Chen Zhi swiped his card and went up to the twentieth floor. This was the new headquarters that Deep Space Technology had rented after its Series A financing. The entire floor, 1,900 square meters, was booked by Pei Ningxue with a wave of her hand.

As soon as you step out of the elevator, you're greeted by a highly technological reception desk. The words "DeepSpace" are engraved in silver on a huge black marble background wall.

Two attractive young women in professional attire were sitting at the front desk. Seeing Chen Zhi approach, they politely stood up and said, "Hello sir, do you have an appointment?"

Deep Space Technology is expanding too fast. These two receptionists were obviously hired during the winter break and don't know their elusive boss at all.

Just as Chen Zhi was about to speak, a person suddenly rushed out from inside the glass door.

It was Dai Da-mai, the CTO of Deep Space Technology.

"Boss! You've finally arrived!" Dai Da-mai looked up and saw Chen Zhi, as if he had seen a savior, and rushed over in three steps.

The two receptionists froze instantly, staring wide-eyed at the ordinary-looking young man.

The boss?!

Is this the legendary, incredibly mysterious CEO Chen, worth billions?!

Chen Zhichong smiled at the two receptionists, then turned to Dai Dawei: "What's the rush? Is the company going bankrupt?"

"I'm not bankrupt, I'm about to die from overwork." Dai Dama swiped his key card to open the door and led Chen Zhi inside, complaining bitterly, "President Pei is a complete workaholic! He dragged me back from my hometown on the fifth day of the Lunar New Year."

"Moss's API is now fully open, and the daily data throughput is astronomical. Those big companies are sending people to block my door every day. I've been working non-stop these past few days, only getting less than ten hours of sleep!"

Chen Zhi patted him on the shoulder and said earnestly, "Da Mao, Heaven is about to bestow great responsibilities upon you. Look at this spacious office, look at this top-notch equipment, this is all the empire you've built. Hang in there, and by the end of the year you'll get me an S680."

Dai Da-mai rolled his eyes, clearly already used to Boss Chen's unreliability.

"Alright, I'll go take care of things now. President Pei is waiting for you in her office. Be careful when you go in; she seems to be in a bad mood today." Dai Da Mai pointed to the office at the end of the corridor and reminded her in a low voice.

Chen Zhi knew what was going on. He walked to the office door, didn't even knock, and just pushed the door open and went in.

The office is large, with floor-to-ceiling windows offering views of Beijing's bustling CBD.

Pei Ningxue was sitting in the boss's chair, looking down at the financial statements in her hand.

Today she was wearing a well-tailored, high-end black business suit with a white shirt underneath, the collar slightly open. Her hair was styled in a bun, revealing her long, fair neck, and she wore a pair of gold-rimmed glasses to block blue light.

It seems like today's persona is that of a celibate female CEO.

Hearing the door open, Pei Ningxue didn't even look up. "Close the door."

Chen Zhi locked the door behind him, walked to the desk, and placed his hands on the surface to examine her.

"What's wrong, Miss Pei? Are you planning to play the aloof and stoic female CEO today and give your little boss a hard time?" Chen Zhi teased with a smile.

Pei Ningxue finally put down her pen. She looked up, took off her glasses, revealing slightly tired eyes. There were fine blood vessels in her beautiful eyes, clearly indicating that she had not had an easy winter break.

"Mr. Chen even knows he owns a company?"

Pei Ningxue's voice sounded somewhat hoarse, and carried a hint of resentment.

"This office is 1,900 square meters, and the rent is astronomical every day. I left home on the fifth day of the Lunar New Year to argue with those old fox investors, reconcile accounts with the tax bureau, and keep an eye on headhunting companies to poach people."

She stood up, walked to the floor-to-ceiling window, and looked at the endless stream of traffic on the East Third Ring Road outside. Her figure looked somewhat frail.

"When you were out shopping and playing ring toss with your childhood sweetheart in Jiangcheng, did you ever think about me here drinking cold water and eating takeout?"

Chen Zhi's heart skipped a beat, and all the witty remarks he had prepared got stuck in his throat.

He watched Pei Ningxue's retreating figure, feeling genuinely uneasy. This girl could have easily lived like a princess in the Pei family forever, yet she insisted on coming to help him manage this mess. Pei Ningxue's contributions to Deep Space Technology's current scale were no less than his, the one who had simply ignored everything.

Chen Zhi walked around the desk, stood behind her, hesitated for a moment, and then reached out and took her slightly cool hand.

"Thank you for your hard work during this time."

Pei Ningxue didn't break free, letting him pull her along, and said sarcastically.

"This scumbag's affection came way too fast. He truly is a master at maintaining a perfect balance between three people. Chen Zhi, do you think your conscience is so easily sliced ​​into pieces, that you can send one to anyone you meet?"

Chen Zhi was speechless, and could only cough twice to forcibly change the subject.

"Let's get down to business. Da Mao was just complaining to me that you're practically draining him dry. What's wrong? Is something going on at the company?"

When business was brought up, Pei Ningxue quickly calmed down. She turned around, picked up a financial analysis report from the table, and tossed it into Chen Zhi's arms.

"See for yourself."

Pei Ningxue pointed her finger at the report a few times.

"Currently, our biggest expense is computing power. In order to maintain the operation and iteration of Moss, we have rented a large amount of computing power resources from Alibaba Cloud and Huawei Cloud. In addition, the maintenance costs of the A100 graphics cards that we purchased ourselves make the monthly electricity and bandwidth costs a bottomless pit."

"And then there's the talent. You're asking to poach top PhDs from Tsinghua, Peking University, and Ivy League schools. These people start at a million a year, plus stock options. Add to that the rent for the land in the IWC World Trade Center, and our overseas R&D centers..."

Pei Ningxue looked at Chen Zhi, her tone serious.

"If we don't count the financing, the revenue we get from selling API interfaces right now isn't even enough to pay these people's salaries. Capital is profit-driven, Chen Zhi. Sequoia and BlackRock are supporting you now because Moss seems like a miracle."

But if, six months later, they discover that this thing is just a money-burning typewriter, they'll withdraw their investment ten times faster than they did when they gave it to them.

Chen Zhi looked through the reports, his brows furrowing deeply.

He knew in his heart that Pei Ningxue was telling the truth. The AI ​​industry in 2021 was actually still in the darkness before dawn.

Everyone knows this is the future, but no one knows how to monetize it. Relying solely on writing code for programmers and papers for students is too simplistic a business model to support a valuation of 15 billion US dollars.

"Selling APIs alone is definitely not enough to make ends meet." Chen Zhihe wrote the report, walked to the sofa, sat down, and lit a cigarette.

Pei Ningxue frowned, but didn't stop him. She simply sat down next to him.

"So what should we do? Keep looking for Series B funding? In the current market, if we can't come up with a decent profit model, the Series B valuation will be driven down drastically."

Chen Zhi exhaled a puff of smoke, his gaze passing through the smoke, appearing somewhat profound.

"Profit models aren't found, they're created. While we've ignited the AI ​​revolution, many traditional industries are still observing or even resisting it. They're afraid of being replaced, so they instinctively refuse to integrate with Moss."

Pei Ningxue turned her head to look at him. "So, what do you plan to do?"

"Since they think the fire isn't big enough, then let's make it burn even brighter."

Chen Zhi stubbed out his cigarette, his eyes sharpening.

"Starting tomorrow, have the acting manager slow down the upgrade speed of the underlying Moss model. Moss is already two or three years ahead of the world, there's no need to blindly pursue parameter scale."

Pei Ningxue was taken aback. "Slow down the upgrade? That's our core competitiveness."

"Core competitiveness only has meaning when it's translated into real money." Chen Zhi waved his hand. "We need to shift our R&D efforts to the application layer of AI. Specifically, that means AI driving, AI logistics, and AI finance."

"You want to do autonomous driving?" Pei Ningxue was taken aback. "That's Tesla's territory. The investment is even more terrifying than for large-scale models."

"No, we don't make hardware, we only make the brain."

Chen Zhi stood up and slowly paced around the office.

"The reason why current autonomous driving is so poor is because their visual algorithms are too stupid, with almost zero logical reasoning ability. But Moss is different; Moss has multimodal understanding capabilities. We want to develop a universal AI driving kit and sell it directly to traditional car companies that want to transform but lack the technology."

Chen Zhi stopped and turned to look at Pei Ningxue.

"There's also the express delivery and food delivery industry. The current dispatching systems are still based on simple route planning. If we integrate Moss's decision-making model, efficiency can be improved by at least 30%. That 30% improvement in efficiency represents a market worth tens of billions."

"With AI, our cost of training self-driving cars, unmanned food delivery, and unmanned express delivery is lower than theirs, while our efficiency is still dozens of times higher."

Pei Ningxue fell into deep thought. She was a smart woman and quickly understood Chen Zhi's logic.

"Are you trying to completely popularize the concept of AI, turning it from a chatbot into a social infrastructure?"

"That's right." Chen Zhi smiled. "When everyone realizes that they'll be crushed by their competitors if they don't use our AI, they'll be begging for money. At that point, we won't need to beg those venture capitalists at all; they'll fight tooth and nail for a ticket to the game."

Seeing Chen Zhi's spirited demeanor, Pei Ningxue's previously tense nerves relaxed slightly.

She had to admit that Chen Zhi did indeed possess an almost supernatural keenness in strategic vision.

"Fine, you're the boss, you call the shots."

Pei Ningxue stood up, walked to Chen Zhi, and reached out to straighten the collar of his down jacket.

"However, Mr. Chen, strategy is strategy. You just said you wanted to compensate me, how do you plan to do so?"