Chapter 393: Special Treatment
Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
Lu Zhou thought that he wouldn’t have a place to stay in Beijing since he didn’t have many relatives or friends here. However, what he didn’t know was that everything has already been arranged for him.
Their destination was an elegant small hotel surrounded by a small man-made lake. There was nothing extravagant about the hotel’s decor itself, but the hotel was located next to Old Summer Palace, making it extra special.
However, Lu Zhou felt like this place should be a retirement home.
The old people could look at the plants and rocks near the lake or listen to the water flowing. It would be as if time was slowing down.
Ma Gaoyang took Lu Zhou to his room and asked, “What do you think, Professor Lu, is this place good?”
Lu Zhou smiled and replied politely, “It’s very nice… You’re too kind.”
Ma Gaoyang smiled. “Of course! Given that you’re our national treasure, this is the least we can do! If there are any issues, you can contact the manager here, and he’ll forward the issue to me.”
The lobby manager who was behind Ma Gaoyang smiled.
“If you need anything, Professor Lu, just ask me.”
Lu Zhou smiled. “Thanks.”
Normally, a national treasure wouldn’t enjoy such treatment or be personally escorted by the head of the Ministry of Talent. However, Lu Zhou was no ordinary national treasure. He was the catalyst for the government’s energy initiative!
If it wasn’t for his modified PDMS material and HCS-2 material, it would be a lot more difficult for the Chinese government to achieve an energy density of 350Wh/kg by 2020.
If Lu Zhou merely solved the Goldbach’s Conjecture and won the Crafoord Prize, then he wouldn’t receive this kind of treatment.
But the situation now was that he had also solved the lithium-sulfur battery problem…
Therefore, he received the highest level of special treatment.
Lu Zhou ate dinner at the hotel. Although the food was nothing fancy, it was still quite healthy and delicious.
Lu Zhou thought that Director Ma would talk to him about attracting outside talent. After all, that was Director Ma’s job.
Lu Zhou didn’t expect to only talk about interesting international news stories. After their dinner, Director Ma said goodbye and left.
Since Lu Zhou had nothing else to do, he walked along the man-made lake behind the hotel.
To be honest, living here was comfortable.
In comparison, Princeton was like a monastery; researching there was like practicing spirituality.
Actually, although Director Ma didn’t say anything when he left, Lu Zhou could tell that the old man wanted him to “stay” here.
Whether it was due to orders from the higher-ups or purely out of Director Ma’s own heart, Lu Zhou could tell Director Ma was treating him nicely.
However, now was not the time.
Lu Zhou wasn’t materialistic, but he still hoped and craved for something more.
It was getting late, so Lu Zhou cast one last look at the lake before he walked back to his room.
When it was eight o’clock at night, Lu Zhou unpacked his luggage before he gave his family a call.
The call connected almost immediately.
Lu Zhou: “Dad, what are you up to?”
Old Lu: “I’m watching TV with your mom. Does this phone number mean that you’re back in China?”
Lu Zhou had two phone numbers; a Chinese one and an American one.
Lu Bangguo immediately knew that his son was back in China.
Lu Zhou replied, “Yeah, I’m in Beijing right now.”
“Beijing? Why are you in Beijing?”
It was his mom who spoke this time. It seemed like they were on speaker.
Lu Zhou smiled as he explained, “I have a meeting in Beijing, so I might stay here for a while. I’ll come back to Jiangling at the end of January… How are you guys?”
Old Lu smiled. “Good, how are you? Are you exercising?”
“I’m in good shape; I’ve been running at night. Oh yeah, Dad…”
“What’s up?”
Lu Zhou hesitated for a second before he said, “How about… you retire now? I’ve made a lot of money.”
“Don’t give me that,” Old Lu said as he interrupted his son. He then continued, “Why would I retire? So that I can become a farmer? I know you’re earning big American dollars, but just live your own life, you don’t have to worry about me!”
Fang Mei said, “Yeah, don’t worry about us. Your dad might as well be considered to have retired since his job is nothing demanding. But I’d still prefer to have him go to work than be bored at home. Otherwise, he’d be running around with a fis.h.i.+ng pole all day.”
Old Lu wasn’t happy, and he retorted, “What do you mean I’m basically retired? The boss moved me from the front line to the second line! Although my job is easier now, I’m still contributing. I’m only giving the young people an opportunity.”
Fang Mei rolled her eyes and said, “Yeah, right. What kind of young person would want to work at your factory? They should just shut it down and save the taxpayers’ money. Ever since you were transferred from the technical department to the logistics department, all you’ve been doing all day is drinking tea and eating sunflower seeds. Look at how much weight you’ve gained.”
Lu Zhou could imagine the sight of his parents arguing, and he couldn’t help but smirk.
Being in good shape was the most important thing.
Lu Zhou was relieved to hear that they were healthy.
Lu Zhou chatted with his parents for a while before he ended the call.
As he laid on his soft bed, he yawned and was about to go to sleep.
However, the phone in his hand suddenly flashed. A line of text popped up.
Xiao Ai: [Master, what is a parent? :^) ]
Lu Zhou looked at the line of text and paused for a second.
It was such an obvious question.
However, he quickly realized that there was no easy answer to this question.
Lu Zhou thought for a bit before he typed.
[Parents, the people that created you.]
Xiao Ai: [Then, master, do I have parents? (๑•.•๑)]
Lu Zhou looked at the line of text and went silent. After a while, he sighed softly.
[I think you do?]
Xiao Ai: [What a cursory answer.]
Is this…
Artificial r.e.t.a.r.d becoming smarter?
Lu Zhou recalled that he had never talked about such a deep topic with Xiao Ai.
The relations.h.i.+p between AI and ethics was a very profound proposition. Lu Zhou wasn’t well versed in the social sciences and couldn’t think of an answer.
However, Lu Zhou was curious about something else.
Xiao Ai’s parents… Do they exist in this universe?
Maybe one day, he would meet Xiao Ai’s parents… or rather, its creator…
Lu Zhou couldn’t imagine what that would be like, but he felt like that day would soon come.
While he was thinking about this problem, his phone flashed again.
It was another notification from Xiao Ai.
[Master, you have mail!]
Artificial r.e.t.a.r.d is back.
Lu Zhou looked at the notification. Using a finger, he swiped across his screen and opened the email.
The mail was from Connie.
A few months ago, Lu Zhou sent him to the Ma.s.sachusetts Inst.i.tute of Technology as a visiting scholar to study the topic of superconducting nanomaterials with Professor Herrero.
It’s been a while. Lu Zhou wondered how Connie was doing.
He opened the email and read it.
Then…
Lu Zhou froze.
There was only a short line of text that ended with three exclamation marks.
[We did it!!!]