Superstar Start

Dai Damai stared at the slowly rotating particle palm on the screen, his Adam's apple bobbing with difficulty. As an expert, he knew better than anyone the true value of this code.

"How about it, senior?"

Chen Zhi pulled out the USB drive. "Ready to admit defeat?"

Dai Damai snapped back to reality.

He took a deep breath. The arrogance and confidence in his eyes had vanished, replaced by a fanatical thirst for knowledge.

"Was this code really generated by that model?"

"100% authentic."

Chen Zhi pocketed the USB drive. "And this is just the tip of the iceberg. Right now, it's still just a child that hasn't grown up yet."

A child that hasn't grown up?

A child could write an algorithm in a few minutes that completely crushed a PhD student like him? When it grew up, how was anyone else supposed to survive?

The surrounding students didn't even dare to breathe, terrified of missing this historic moment.

Suddenly, Dai Damai pulled out his phone and dialed a number.

The call connected quickly, and a polite female voice came through: "Hello, Mr. Dai. I'm HR from ByteDance. Regarding your onboarding compensation package..."

"I'm not going," Dai Damai interrupted her.

"Huh? Mr. Dai, if you're not satisfied with the salary, we can still negotiate. A million-yuan annual salary plus options..."

"It's not about the money." Dai Damai looked at Chen Zhi, who was wearing a wicked smirk, and gritted his teeth. "I've found something much more interesting. That's all, hanging up now."

Beep—

The call ended.

The entire lab was in an uproar.

This was a damn million-yuan offer! And for a core algorithm position at a tech giant like ByteDance!

And he just rejected it like that?

Dai Damai put away his phone and walked up to Chen Zhi.

He was slightly shorter than Chen Zhi, looking up at him now with burning eyes. "I tore up the offer. I'm your man now."

That sounded a bit weird.

Chen Zhi took a half-step back and crossed his arms over his chest. "Hold it right there. I have a family. I sell my skills, not my body."

"Cut the crap." Dai Damai was completely won over by the AI. "Where's this sweatshop you mentioned earlier? Take me there."

Chen Zhi chuckled.

This senior was alright.

"Alright, since you're being so straightforward, senior, I won't hide anything either."

Chen Zhi threw an arm around Dai Damai's shoulders and lowered his voice. "But let's get the ugly truth out of the way first. My temple is small—no AC, no snacks, and no social security benefits. In the startup phase, I might not even be able to pay your salary."

"Do I look like I lack that little bit of money?" Dai Damai snorted disdainfully. "What I want is what's in your USB drive. As long as you let me study that architecture, I'd even pay you to let me work for you."

"Deal!"

These days, a top-tier workhorse who brought his own rations, had cutting-edge skills, and didn't even want a salary was impossible to find even with a lantern!

...

Ten minutes later.

The two walked out of Science Building No. 2.

The sunlight outside was a bit blinding. Dai Damai squinted, looked at Chen Zhi beside him, and finally asked the most crucial question.

"Boss, what's our company called? Where is our office? How many people are on the team?"

Since he had boarded this pirate ship, he at least needed to know where it was sailing.

"As for the company name..."

Chen Zhi thought for a moment.

In his previous life, OpenAI had sparked a frenzy, and DeepSeek had become the pride of domestic tech.

Since he was reborn, he had to do something even grander.

"Let's call it DeepSpace," Chen Zhi said vaguely. "Our journey is the sea of stars, and AI is just the first step."

"DeepSpace..." Dai Damai mulled it over and nodded. "And the office location?"

Chen Zhi pointed to the dormitory building not far ahead.

"Over there."

"The dorms?" Dai Damai paused and looked around. "Which building? Is it the university's startup incubator?"

"No, just my dorm room," Chen Zhi said righteously. "Yuanpei Dormitory, Room 404. Free water and electricity, super fast internet, and bunk beds. When you're tired, you sleep; when you wake up, you keep coding. It perfectly matches our 007 corporate culture."

Dai Damai: "..."

He suddenly regretted hanging up that phone call so hastily. Was it too late to call the HR back and say his phone had been hacked?

"What about the team?" Dai Damai asked, refusing to give up hope. "Besides the two of us, who else is there?"

"Right now, it's just us."

Chen Zhi patted his shoulder. "You are the CTO, and I am the CEO. You are the Chief Architect, and I am the Chief Bullshitter... ah, no, Chief Strategy Officer. We have a flat management structure, so communication efficiency is extremely high."

Dai Damai's mouth twitched twice.

"Don't give me that look." Chen Zhi saw his hesitation and started painting a rosy picture. "Think about it. Bill Gates started Microsoft in a garage, and Steve Jobs started Apple in a garage. We're starting DeepSpace in a Peking University dorm room. This isn't called poor conditions; this is a damn superstar opening."

"Plus, we hold the key to the future world."

Chen Zhi patted the USB drive in his pocket. "As long as we implement this thing, never mind a million-yuan salary, you'll be the grandmaster of the AI world. By then, let alone ByteDance, even Google and Microsoft will have to call you 'Sir' when they see you."

He was a STEM guy, after all; who didn't have a dream of changing the world?

Going down in history and becoming a tech god. This was much more lethal to him than money.

Dai Damai sighed, accepting his fate.

"Fine, I've boarded your pirate ship." He shook his head helplessly. "But working in the dorm definitely won't do; there are too many people and prying eyes. How about this: I'll go talk to my advisor and help us apply for a lab in the startup base. I still have that much face."

Chen Zhi's eyes lit up: "That couldn't be better! I knew you were reliable, senior!"

"Don't rush to praise me."

Dai Damai suddenly became serious and stared at Chen Zhi. "I can solve the venue problem, but there's a more fatal issue. How is our company's computing power right now? How many computing cards do we have? Do we have A100s? Even V100s would do."

Chen Zhi fell silent for two seconds.

"..."

"Don't tell me we don't even have one." Dai Damai was shocked.

"Ahem, well about that..." Chen Zhi gave a tactical cough. "You go solve the venue problem first, and I'll handle the computing power. Don't worry, I'm the CEO; getting resources is my strong suit."

Dai Damai cast a suspicious glance at him.

No matter how he looked at him, this kid seemed like a massive con artist.

But since things had come to this, he could only treat a dead horse as if it were alive.

"Alright, I'll go find my advisor first. You hurry up and secure the computing power. Without cards, we won't even be able to run HelloWorld."

In 2021, influenced by the crypto mining boom, graphics card prices skyrocketed. To run a large model of Moss's caliber, an ordinary 3090 simply wouldn't cut it; they absolutely needed enterprise-grade computing cards.

Those things cost hundreds of thousands for a single card, and they were incredibly hard to buy.

Just as Chen Zhi was worrying, a faint blue system pop-up suddenly appeared before his eyes.

[Triggered Task: Do Not Bully the Middle-Aged for Being Poor]

[Task Description: Not only have you established a relationship with your childhood sweetheart, but you also have an underground affair with your ex-girlfriend, and even have an ambiguous relationship with your elementary school classmate. Wandering among three girls and living off them as a kept man, you are an out-and-out scumbag.]

[In order to get rid of the stereotype of "living off women," please work hard to start a business, build your own business empire, and give these girls who love you a home to shelter them from the wind and rain!]

[Task Reward: Extraordinary Fertility (Active Skill)]

?

Chen Zhi looked at the reward, and a question mark slowly popped up on his forehead.

Extraordinary Fertility?

What the hell is this?

"Lil' Sys, be serious," Chen Zhi complained in his mind. "I want to develop AI to change the world. Can you change this reward to something practical?"

The system didn't react at all, acting extremely aloof.

Chen Zhi sighed.

Alright, although this reward sounded indecent, the task still had to be done.

After all, giving the girls a home was indeed his current goal.

It was just that this home might have to be a bit large, big enough to fit three people.

...

Back in the dorm.

Li Zicong and Guo Yang were playing games together.

"Go, go, go! Fatty, where is your ultimate? Are you saving it for the New Year?"

"Don't rush me, don't rush me! I'm channeling it right now! Holy shit, how did this Lee Sin get over here!"

The two were in the heat of a fierce battle and had no time to pay attention to Chen Zhi.

However, Zhang Tianyang, who was studying advanced mathematics on his computer, looked up when Chen Zhi came in and asked, "You're back?"

"Yeah."

Chen Zhi nodded and threw his bag on the bed.

He didn't bother his roommates but took his phone out to the balcony, closed the door, and sent a video call invitation to Lin Wanwan.

A few seconds later, the video connected.

A charming and beautiful face appeared on the screen.

However, this face looked a bit miserable right now.

Lin Wanwan was wearing a camouflage training uniform, and her originally fair little face was flushed from the sun. There was a cooling patch on her forehead, making her look pitiful.

"Chen Zhi~"

As soon as Lin Wanwan saw Chen Zhi, she pouted, "I miss you~"

Looking at her, Chen Zhi felt both heartache and amusement.

"What's wrong? Didn't you go to participate in a show?"

"Don't even mention it!"

Lin Wanwan said angrily, "The company didn't tell me that the show I was participating in was military training. I have to get up at six every morning to run, and I have to stand in military posture. The sun is so strong, I'm almost peeling!"

She leaned her face closer to the camera. "Look, look, did I get darker? Boohoo, my peerless beauty!"

Chen Zhi held back his laughter. "It's fine, being a bit darker is healthy. Besides, you have a good foundation. Even if you get darker, you'll be a black pearl."

"You're the black pearl!" Lin Wanwan snorted. "If I had known it was military training, I wouldn't have come! I thought I could avoid the school's military training, but I ended up suffering here. What a huge loss!"

Chen Zhi looked at the silly girl on the screen and finally couldn't hold it in, bursting into laughter.

Silly child.

Did you think that after you finished training in the show, you wouldn't have to train when you went back to school?

But seeing Lin Wanwan's miserable look, Chen Zhi decided to be a decent person and not tell her this cruel truth.

"Alright, just bear with it," Chen Zhi comforted her. "When you win the championship and become a big star, this little bit of hardship won't be anything. At that time, I'll put sunscreen on you every day and raise you to be fair and tender."

"Really?"

"Really."

The two acted lovey-dovey for a while longer until someone called for assembly over there, and Lin Wanwan reluctantly hung up the phone.

Chen Zhi looked up at the sky. There was still a long way to go in the future, not only for his feelings with the three girls but also for his newly started career.