The richest man started taking advantage of loopholes after joining Alibaba.

CCTV, Studio One, VIP Lounge.

It's very quiet here.

The heavy soundproof door completely shut out the noise from outside.

Lin Che sat in the main seat of the leather sofa.

He wasn't wearing makeup.

At his level, he doesn't need to wear makeup when appearing on television; that's for entertainers.

He only needs to sit there, and that is the shape of power.

"Mr. Lin, is the tea temperature alright?"

The director of "The Showdown of the Century" stood bent over beside the coffee table.

Sweat beaded on his forehead, despite the air conditioning being blasted in the room.

"Can."

Lin Che didn't even look up, his fingers swiping across the iPad.

The screen displays data just transmitted back from Weiguang Cloud—Tencent Video and iQiyi urgently leased 300G of bandwidth from Weiguang Cloud for the live broadcast of this human-machine battle.

This rental fee alone covers the sponsorship of tonight's program.

This is the joy of arms dealers.

"Knock knock".

Someone knocked on the door.

"Go in," the director called out.

The door opened.

Gao Song walked in, still waving his signature folding fan.

Old Nie followed behind.

Upon seeing Lin Che, Gao Song's previously tense face instantly softened like melting wax, revealing a broad smile.

"Oh, Mr. Lin!"

Gao Song took two quick steps and stretched out his hands.

"It's an honor to meet you. I saw you once from afar at the Wuzhen Internet Conference, and I was deeply impressed by your demeanor, Mr. Lin."

Lin Che stood up, shook hands politely, and then let go.

"You're too kind, Professor Gao. Tonight's ratings will depend on your persuasive skills."

"Not at all, it's all thanks to Mr. Lin's money."

Gao Song laughed heartily, then sat down on the sofa to the side and fanned himself twice with a folding fan.

It sounded like a compliment, but the underlying sourness was unmistakable.

In his eyes, Lin Che was just a nouveau riche who got rich by sheer luck.

What do they know about Go? What do they know about culture? They're just cash cows for this show.

"President Lin."

Old Master Nie sat very steadily, his voice low and deep.

"I heard that Weiguang Cloud sponsored 200 million yuan this time? It's a good thing that young people support traditional Chinese culture. However, Go is a game with a high barrier to entry. If the discussion on stage gets too deep later, Mr. Lin, just smile. We'll take care of the professional aspects."

There was a barb in those words.

It means: You provide the money, we provide the brains, and you just need to be a mascot on the sidelines and not say anything that makes you look foolish.

Lin Che picked up his teacup and blew away the foam.

"Thank you for your trouble, Elder Nie."

He took a sip of tea, his eyes indifferent.

"But since I've already paid for it, I'd like to hear some feedback. If we have differing opinions later, you two don't need to give me any face."

Gao Song's eyes lit up.

He's just worried about not having any topics to hype up.

Since the sugar daddy has offered himself up, then don't blame him for climbing over the sugar daddy to get ahead.

"President Lin is so generous!" Gao Song snapped his folding fan shut. "Then let's see who's the best on stage!"

……

……

Ten minutes later. Recording begins.

The stage lights were all on.

Lin Che sat in the very center, in the C position.

On the left is Gao Song, and on the right is Elder Nie.

The host's opening remarks were passionate and engaging, quickly heating up the atmosphere.

"Okay, let's make a prediction about tomorrow's match."

The host looked at Gao Song.

Takamatsu immediately went into battle mode.

He not only wanted to win, but to win beautifully, to demonstrate to the national audience what it means to be a "cultured person with integrity".

"5 to 0".

Gao Song spoke to the camera with unwavering conviction.

"Lee Sedol represents the culmination of five thousand years of human wisdom. Go is the way, it is yin and yang, it is a realm that only the soul can touch. Machines? They are just cold electric currents. To ask electric currents to understand 'qi' (vital energy) and 'strategic vision' is simply ridiculous."

The audience erupted in cheers.

Takamatsu thoroughly enjoyed the applause.

He turned his head and looked at Lin Che with a half-smile.

"Of course, business people may value 'technological progress' more. Mr. Lin, as a sponsor, you must hope that the machine can win a round, right? After all, it is the symbol of your industry."

That's a very insidious statement.

They directly put Lin Che on the stake of being a "businessman who doesn't understand culture."

The camera zooms in on Lin Che.

Lin Che leaned back in his chair, his posture relaxed.

He didn't even flinch at Gao Song's provocation.

"Not just winning a game."

Lin Che spoke into the microphone, his voice as calm as if he were discussing tomorrow's weather.

"It's 4 to 1."

"The machine wins."

The air in the room froze for half a second.

Old Nie, sitting next to him, frowned, clearly thinking that this layman was talking nonsense.

Gao Song opened his mouth wide in an exaggerated manner and then let out a light laugh full of superiority.

"Mr. Lin, you're really funny. 4 to 1? Do you know what that means? It means that humans are completely outmatched intellectually by an algorithm. Do you think that's possible? Do you understand the amount of computation involved in Go?"

Gao Song became more and more excited as he spoke, leaning forward and beginning to intellectually suppress the "nouveau riche" in his eyes.

"The possible variations in Go are 10 to the power of 170! More than the number of atoms in the universe! Can a computer calculate that? Mr. Lin, doing business is all about precise calculations, but Go is all about the art of strategy. Your business logic won't work here."

A low chuckle came from the audience.

The audience was clearly more willing to believe the famous commentator and the national athlete than this young capitalist.

Lin Che looked at Gao Song's mouth, which was spitting everywhere.

He suddenly felt very bored.

It's like a modern person traveling back to ancient times and watching a group of great scholars arguing about whether the Earth is flat.

"Teacher Gao."

Lin Che interrupted him.

The sound wasn't loud, but it had an undeniable penetrating power.

"You just said that Go is about a state of being."

Lin Che tilted his head slightly, his gaze sweeping across Gao Song's face like a scalpel.

"But in the eyes of AI, Go is just a probability graph."

"The human brain processes 60 bits of information per second. It gets tired, becomes emotional, and its judgment is interfered with by so-called 'dignity' and 'fear'."

"But machines don't."

"It has no dignity, no fear, and it doesn't need something as vague as 'realm' to cover up its incompetence. It only needs to calculate the point with the highest winning probability."

"This..." Gao Song was momentarily speechless, then retorted, "This is sophistry! This is a desecration of human civilization!"

"civilization?"

Lin Che smiled.

That was the first time he smiled during the entire recording.

It was a kind of pity when you watched a child wielding a wooden sword and shouting, "I will defy the heavens!"

"Professor Gao, since you are so certain that civilization can overcome computing power..."

Lin Che reached into the inside pocket of his suit jacket.

All eyes in the room followed his hand.

He took out his checkbook and unscrewed the pen.

His movements were elegant and fluid, exuding a composure born of long-standing authority.

"Zila."

The sound of tearing up a check was amplified countless times through the microphone.

Lin Che held the paper between two fingers and gently placed it on the table in front of Gao Song.

"That's 100 million."

Lin Che looked at Gao Song with a cold gaze.

"I bet the machine will win, dare to take the bet?"

The studio fell into a deathly silence.

The audience, who had been making a fuss just moments before, all fell silent.

All the cameras were pointed at the check.

One followed by eight zeros.

That's enough money to buy Takasaka for ten lifetimes.

Gao Song's face instantly turned a deep liver color.

His folding fan froze in mid-air, unsure whether to accept it or not.

"Take it? He doesn't have that money; if he loses, he'll be bankrupt."

Not answering? All that impassioned "theory of civilization" just now instantly became a joke.

This is the violent aesthetics of capital.

I won't debate philosophy with you, and I won't talk about ideals with you.

I'll pay you to shut up.

"What? Professor Gao's faith in humanity isn't worth a hundred million?"

Lin Che casually added insult to injury.

Fine beads of sweat appeared on Gao Song's forehead.

He was trembling.

This person... he genuinely believes that machines will win.

"snort."

Gao Song forced himself to save face and awkwardly withdrew his hand.

"Mr. Lin is rich and powerful, but this kind of gambling... is disgraceful to scholars. We scholars do not gamble."

The entire audience erupted in uproar.

Anyone could tell that this meant admitting defeat.

Lin Che took back the check, didn't even glance at it, and casually folded it up and stuffed it into his shirt pocket.

"It's good that you don't gamble."

He stood up, without even waiting for the instruction to finish recording.

"Then let's just watch the game."

Lin Che straightened his suit and turned to walk backstage.

"Get ready for a new world, everyone."