Lost Contact

Xin Hai City.

After the news conference, the invited CEOs were taken to a wine reception.

The steak was cut into many cubes. After choosing the smallest piece and cutting it into even smaller pieces, Chen Yuheng gave it a taste. Despite how juicy it was, he still did not have much of an appetite.

Putting down the cutlery, he walked toward the buffet table and saw the caramel pudding lined up neatly at the dessert area.

Chen Yuheng picked up one of them.

"In a bad mood?" Pei Lijun unknowingly appeared beside him.

Seeing her, Chen Yuheng smiled and stuck out his free hand. "Congratulations. Your news conference was very successful."

Pei Lijun smiled as she stared at his outstretched hand. After a moment, she slowly reached out and shook it. "You aren't upset because of this, right? Men shouldn't be so petty."

Chen Yuheng grinned back. "Of course not. Only with competition can we improve. I am glad to have you as an opponent."

Pei Lijun blinked at that, her eyes falling onto the pudding in his hand. She joked, "Do you think after all these years, I wouldn't know about your habit of eating caramel pudding whenever you are feeling unhappy? Say it. Did something happen in the company? Even though I am no longer in RK, the company is where it is today partially because of my efforts. I wouldn't wish for RK to shut down before we got to officially cross swords."

"It's just some private matters," Chen Yuheng answered simply as he absent-mindedly ate a spoonful of pudding, "When is your new robot model going to be officially released into the market?"

Smiling, Pei Lijun replied, "That is a trade secret. Why? Are you trying to avoid our product release date? Afraid that it would affect RK's sales figure in the next quarter of the year?"

Chen Yuheng smiled. He held back his gaze, his long, slim fingers holding onto the silver teaspoon as he scooped up a portion of the soft and smooth pudding, placing it in his mouth serenely. He pursed his lips languidly and nonchalantly.

"I am interested in purchasing a batch," he responded.

Pei Lijun was taken aback for a moment. She maintained her smile, "What kind of joke are you pulling? It's not like RK doesn't have their own companion robot products."

Chen Yuheng shook his head gently. "But they are not as good as what you envisioned. The aging population is on the rise. Dual income and unmarried individuals are also very common. There will be more people who will be worried about not having someone to rely on when they get older. The persona-implant robot that you announced during your news conference, from health care nursing to the cultivation of relationships, will largely satisfy the needs of these people. I believe that the future will trigger the trend of companion robots."

He paused for a moment before sharing a half-truth, "Ultimately, this is still our Ms. Lijun's first leading work. Buying a batch back as a memento is also a good thing. Moreover… Who knows if they might be of use when I'm old?"

Hearing this, Pei Lijun stared fixedly at him for a long while. Finally, she asked, "I've always wanted to ask you about this. Two years ago, RK had already begun developing companion robots. Even though the system was upgraded every year, we always stopped at basic daily activities and simple conversations for them. We clearly… clearly could do better. Why didn't we?"

Chen Yuheng remained silent.

He ate the pudding mouthful by mouthful till he was almost done with it before speaking, "It's because I couldn't cross the boundary I set for myself."

Pei Lijun raised her eyebrows slightly as she looked at him confusedly.

Chen Yuheng continued, "I always believed that a normal person should never entrust his or her emotions onto a lifeless object. If we made it too perfect, being able to mimic expressions, speech, bodily reactions that are indistinguishable from real humans, people will end up investing all of their emotions into these robots. Taking them as their own parents, children, partner, or even a pet that had unfortunately passed away. Receiving the emotional pleasures from their interactions with these robots is abnormal and wrong. Robots do not have lives, nor emotions. But to be able to evoke emotions within people, it will be no different from deception."

With that, he took out his cell phone and waved it in front of Pei Lijun. "The biggest value of robots is that they are tools. For example, a phone. Will anyone ever fall in love with their own phone?"

Pei Lijun was stumped. She stared at him for a long time, thinking about something, before she laughed and sighed. "Chen Yuheng, you are truly a hundred percent, old-fashioned man."

Chen Yuheng grinned. "That's why you can quickly defeat this old fogey. Let me see how advanced robots can be."

"It won't be so easy to defeat the legend in the industry. Right now, our product has not even been released and it is already being reviewed as a form of deception by Director Chen."

"This is just my personal opinion, that's all. Everyone has their own views…"

"Ms. Pei—" Qin Yu walked over slowly with a wine glass in her hand. Glancing at Chen Yuheng, she asked with a smile, "Director Chen is here as well. I hope I am not interrupting anything?"

Pei Lijun found the other party familiar, but she couldn't recall who she was.

Chen Yuheng introduced her on her behalf. "This is Feng Hong Corporation's current chairman, Qin Yu. Ms. Qin is also RK's new business partner."

Hearing this, Pei Lijun instantly understood. She had heard of the news about the collaboration between RK and Feng Hong. She just didn't know… that Director Qin of Feng Hong was so beautiful…

Qin Yu made a toast to Pei Lijun. "The presentation during the news conference was spectacular. Congratulations."

Pei Lijun smiled and tapped glasses with her, but didn't exchange further conventional greetings. "Thank you. We at Huaxin could also really use a strong business partner like Feng Hong. Please, do chat amongst yourselves. I still have something on, so excuse me."

Qin Yu followed Pei Lijun with her eyes as she left. Puzzled, she asked Chen Yuheng, "Did I say something wrong? Why did Ms. Pei seem to not like me very much?"

Chen Yuheng finished the last scoop of his pudding before shaking his head, smiling. "You didn't say anything wrong. If there was something wrong, it's probably because you look too beautiful."

Being friends for ten years, how could he not know that Pei Lijun hated beautiful women the most?

With the empty plate in his hand, he walked toward the buffet table to hunt for more food, brushing shoulders with Qin Yu.

Qin Yu stared at Chen Yuheng's back in a daze… Did he just compliment her for looking beautiful?

She smiled all of a sudden, her peachy face as beautiful as a flower.

One could never be full at such a wine reception. Despite the variety of delicacies at the buffet table, every step Chen Yuheng took, he would be stopped by some insider in the industry. Some would just share a simple greeting, some held wine glasses to toast with him, while others would just hold onto him and chatter his ear off… About the trends in the industry, the circumstances in the stock market, or their intentions of collaborating…

Pei Lijun was nowhere to be seen. As a talent in technology, she had always hated such events.

But Qin Yu was the complete opposite. She constantly had different male partners following her, while still maintaining an appropriate distance from one another. There was no ambiguity or awkwardness. It was natural and unforced as they moved around as they pleased.

After finishing his last glass of wine, Chen Yuheng raised his hand to look at his watch. It was about time for him to leave.

He took out his phone to have a look, furrowing his eyebrows at the lack of messages he had received.

His phone had been exceptionally quiet today. Lu Lu hadn't called or text any malfunction reports. Even Shen Xinran, who constantly bothered him, had disappeared without a single phone call as well.

He couldn't help but feel… that something was off.