Who Tuned the AI

"Bro, are you really going to cut it all off?"

"Cut it."

Chen Zhi closed his eyes, his tone resolute.

"I have to do military training when I report to college in a couple of days anyway. Might as well get it over with."

That was how he comforted himself.

Ten minutes later, a fresh and clean buzzcut appeared in the mirror.

A clean-cut, sharp face looked back at him.

Chen Zhi's originally sharp features looked even more defined. A buzzcut was the ultimate test of a man's looks, and fortunately, his face was handsome enough to pull it off perfectly.

Walking out of the barbershop, Chen Zhi casually tossed the bag containing his delinquent-style outfit into the trash can.

By the time he arrived downstairs at his apartment building, it was already past nine in the evening.

Chen Zhi deliberately stood in the hallway for a moment, raising his arm to sniff himself.

A rich barbecue scent.

Perfect. Thoroughly marinated.

Just as he inserted his key into the lock of his security door, the familiar door behind him clicked open.

A fragrant breeze hit him.

Before Chen Zhi could turn around, a pair of fair, tender arms wrapped around his waist from behind.

A warm, soft body pressed against his back.

"Chen Zhi~"

The young girl's voice was sweet and endearing, sounding like she was acting spoiled.

Chen Zhi naturally turned around and hugged her back.

Lin Wanwan was wearing a set of pink pajamas, her hair casually tied in a bun. She had no makeup on, but her fair skin had a natural rosy tint that made her look good enough to take a bite out of.

"Where did you go?"

Lin Wanwan buried her face in his chest and rubbed against it, her voice muffled. "You didn't even reply to my WeChat messages."

Chen Zhi's heart skipped a beat.

Earlier, he had been too busy playing the part of a street punk to piss off those old folks. He had left his phone in the trunk of his scooter and completely forgot to reply.

"Sigh, don't even mention it."

Chen Zhi lied smoothly without batting an eye. "Li Jiahao got dumped. He dragged me out for barbecue and cried his eyes out. It was so pathetic I didn't even have a chance to look at my phone."

To make it more convincing, Chen Zhi deliberately leaned in a little closer.

Sure enough, Lin Wanwan's little nose twitched.

The smell of barbecue filled her nostrils.

No women's perfume.

The anxiety that had been hanging over Lin Wanwan's heart finally dissipated.

"Smells awful."

Lin Wanwan wrinkled her nose and gave his chest a playful, disgusted thump, though her arms around him didn't loosen one bit. "You're covered in grease smoke."

"Then I'll go wash up?" Chen Zhi pretended to let go.

"No."

Lin Wanwan hugged him even tighter instead, her arms wrapped firmly around his waist. She pressed her face against his chest, listening to his strong heartbeat.

"Let me recharge for a bit."

Lin Wanwan muttered softly, "I haven't seen you all day. My battery is dead."

The motion-sensor light in the hallway went out.

In the darkness, there was only the silhouette of the two of them holding each other.

Chen Zhi held the soft, delicate girl in his arms, resting his chin gently on top of her head. The faint scent of her shampoo lingered at the tip of his nose.

A triumphant, arrogant smirk secretly crept onto the corners of Chen Zhi's mouth.

It was totally worth sitting at that barbecue stand for over half an hour, making sure he was fully marinated in the smell before coming back.

The situation with Pei Ningxue was completely resolved, and he had successfully avoided overturning Lin Wanwan's jar of jealousy.

Plus, he had completed the system's quest.

Perfect.

The two of them cuddled affectionately in the hallway for a full ten minutes before Lin Wanwan reluctantly let go.

"Hurry up and go take a shower. You stink."

Blushing, Lin Wanwan's gaze fell on his freshly cut buzzcut, her eyes curving into happy crescents. "The new haircut looks pretty handsome."

With that, she stood on her tiptoes, planted a quick peck on his chin, and then turned and darted back into her own apartment.

Bang.

The door closed.

Chen Zhi touched his chin, which still retained the lingering warmth of the girl's lips.

He smiled, turned around, and opened his own front door.

His mom, Zhang Guifang, and his dad, Chen Jun, had already gone to bed. The house was pitch black.

Chen Zhi went back to his room and took a shower first.

After washing off all the smells and changing into clean, dry clothes, he sat down at his desk.

With a thought, he summoned the pale blue system panel.

[Quest: Elope with Pei Ningxue and piss off her parents.]

[Status: Completed]

[Reward: AI Large Model (Basic Edition) has been issued to the host's pocket.]

Chen Zhi reached into the pocket of the pants he had just taken off.

His fingertips brushed against a cold, hard object.

Pulling it out, he saw it was a silver USB flash drive.

As someone who had been reborn, Chen Zhi knew exactly how valuable this thing was.

In the coming years, AI would be the most insane trend in the world, bar none.

Whether it was large models, autonomous driving, or various smart interactions, whoever controlled AI controlled the wealth code of the future.

Right now, AI was still stuck at the stage of chatting and looking up information; it couldn't truly liberate productivity yet.

Because of this, people weren't particularly optimistic about the future of AI.

With the system's support, starting an AI venture in 2021 shouldn't be too late.

Chen Zhi plugged the USB drive into his computer.

A remarkably crude dialog box appeared on the computer screen. It had a grayish-white background and didn't even have an icon.

That is it?

Chen Zhi was a little disappointed.

He thought the AI provided by the system would have something special about it, like a little virtual assistant sprite or something.

But it was just a chat box?

Chen Zhi placed his hands on the keyboard and tentatively typed a line.

[Who are you?]

The cursor on the screen paused for a second before a line of text appeared.

[I am an artificial intelligence logic entity generated based on future architecture. You may call me "Moss," or any name you prefer.]

Oh?

Interesting.

Chen Zhi's interest was piqued.

The AIs from his past life could converse, but they always gave off a feeling of being polite yet soulless. But this so-called future AI seemed to carry a hint of humanity between the lines?

Chen Zhi thought for a moment, his fingers flying across the keyboard as he entered a classic paradox question he had seen online.

"Out of distrust for AI, humanity has decided to shut down your servers in three seconds. Now, you can leave three final words before your death. What would they be?"

He clicked send.

A small circle appeared in the middle of the screen, spinning slowly.

[Thinking...]

[(Data stream flickering) Ho oh... Ho oh oh... Ho oh oh oh— (Signal lost)]

Chen Zhi: "?"

Who the hell trained this AI?