Chapter 158: Chapter 159: Are You an AI?
Silas Cheney only landed in Coronet the next afternoon.
Thea Lynch and the deputy manager went to pick him up at the airport.
There was no particular reason; Silas had been busy with Stratus affairs abroad.
"What’s the situation?" Thea asked.
The deputy manager, Old Gao, was driving, and the two sat in the back.
Silas handed her a document, "Take a look. The foreign Deer Group wants to cooperate with us, they’re very interested in our current chip. They’re offering a very high price, even above the market."
Thea glanced through it quickly, skimming the content.
A few minutes later, she nodded and said, "The price is indeed high."
"What, tempted?"
Silas glanced sideways at her.
Thea smiled at his words, "How could that be possible."
Facing Silas’ gaze, she asked, "Which one of us is really tempted? Are you sure it’s me?"
It’s the kind of thing only Thea would dare to say; Old Gao, in the front, wouldn’t dare to chime in.
Afraid of saying the wrong thing.
Silas took the document back and casually tossed it onto the table opposite. "No way, I’m not interested."
"Money is just a means to an end. You can never earn it all. How much is enough?"
"This number does look appealing, but as a person, you still need to have a bottom line."
Thea raised an eyebrow, "We can cooperate with them without affecting our partnership with Valiant. There’s a best-of-both-worlds solution."
Of course, Silas knew she had a way, but also knew she wouldn’t do it, she was just joking.
"You’ve been busy with just this these days? You can’t have been hesitating all this time?"
"How could that be." Silas sat up straight and handed her his phone, "There’s a smart conference over there next week, we’re invited to attend."
"I think it’s pretty good, so see if you’re interested."
"Although we can’t reach a deal with Deer this time, we can still promote our other chips. And a few earlier models of our smart robots."
Thea looked at the list, "Will Dilitech be attending?"
"Yes. Currently, only Dilitech has confirmed their attendance domestically. They even called us specifically, inviting us to exhibit."
"Let the deputy manager go." Thea handed the task to Old Gao.
"I’m likely unable to." Old Gao genuinely didn’t want to go, he truly couldn’t. "My wife is due next week, I need to be at the hospital with her during those days."
"That’s indeed an important matter."
Thea thought for a moment and asked Silas, "Who do I go with?"
Silas discussed with her, "With my little niece. You take your assistant, and select one more person, then it should be enough. Foreman Chandler should stay, right?"
"Foreman Chandler has to stay." She and Foreman Chandler are group leaders of the same department; one must stay, avoiding traveling at the same time as much as possible.
"Then I’ll bring Foreman Leigh, I’ll ask him later if he’s available."
"Okay." Silas wasn’t too concerned about her choice; after all, he didn’t interfere much with the R&D department’s affairs, Thea had the say in them.
"By then, I’ll check the time, if possible, I’ll join you guys."
"Let’s talk business. How are things going recently with Big Brother?"
Thea’s mouth twitched slightly, "How is this business..."
"It’s because I’m worried Sarah Sullivan might stir up trouble." Silas turned slightly, knowing she cared about face, so he asked Old Gao to raise the partition, and spoke to her in whispers.
"You’ve taken such a hard-won step forward, and Big Brother finally has some hope. But it can’t be because of my issue that you retreat again."
"Otherwise, I might just have to atone with my life."
"..." It’s not as serious as he says.
"It’s not a big deal." Sarah’s presence didn’t even make her angry, just left her speechless.
"Really?"
"Really."
Silas scrutinized her, then smiled after confirming again, "Sean Bell told you earlier, didn’t he? How did you feel when you heard Sarah was going to meet Big Brother?"
"Jealous?"
Thea raised her eyes, frowning at him, looking helpless.
"You’re so gossipy now, Silas."
"I’m not gossiping about others, just concerned about you."
Thea: "..."
"No." She replied with a cold face.
"Lies."
"No." It was still those two words.
"Okay, if you’re lying to me, the Valiant project will be delayed."
"..."
Thea choked, "It’s your money that will be lost if it’s delayed."
"I don’t care." Silas spread his hands, starting to act cheeky.
Completely indifferent.
He successfully winded up Thea.
After a moment of hesitation, she closed her eyes, gritting her teeth, and said, "A little."
Seeing this, Silas laughed heartily, "I knew it."
"Satisfied now?"
"Little sister, little sister." Seeing she was angry, Silas quickly coaxed her, "Hey, I didn’t mean to embarrass you, I absolutely didn’t."
"I just want you to face your feelings directly."
"Jealousy is just jealousy; what’s so unspeakable about it?"
"When you were little, you always played with Second Brother, treated him as a real brother, and I got jealous every day."
Thea felt he was talking nonsense, but had no evidence.
How could this be considered the same?
"Whether you like it or not, we should express it. Why hide it."
Silas felt that Thea still had issues with her current psychological state.
Since Uncle and Aunt Lynch left, she seemed to have changed. Initially, her world revolved around herself; she was bright, sunny, open, and confident.
It was only after the sudden family change that she became sensitive and liked to hide everything inside, not expressing it much.
Even if she seemed no different from before now, he thought she still had shadows.
She was like a clam, not good at expressing any emotions.
Shy and timid, as if afraid of something.
Honestly, seeing her take an initiative step, he was really happy for her.
But still, there was a huge gap compared to back then.
"Thea dear, what are you afraid of?"
"Is saying you like someone that embarrassing?"
Hearing his words, Thea was silent for a moment. She lowered her head, her face emotionless.
"Look at you, like this again." Silas raised his hand and poked her arm with a ’hate-the-iron-for-not-turning-into-steel’ look, "What’s up with you? AI? Robot?"
Thea was at a loss, "No. I’m just digesting your words."
"What’s there to think about."
Silas identified the root of the problem.
He snapped his fingers, startling Thea, making her shoulders twitch.
"What?" She looked at him blankly.
"I finally figured out what your problem is."
Thea: "...What?"
"You’re too rational."
"Isn’t that a good thing?"
Thea didn’t think it was a problem.
"Then what’s the difference between you and the AI I mentioned earlier?" Silas tilted his head looking at her, smiling. "We’re humans, with flesh and blood, and our own emotions."
"Just like last time you opposed Second Department’s proposal, you said robots could never compare to humans, because humans have their own thoughts, are emotional. Emotions usually triumph."
