Huayu 2021: Isn’t he in the technology field?

Chapter 24 Guidance
In early May, the capital city became increasingly hot.

The sweat from the basketball court three days ago had long evaporated. Jiang Qing, sitting in a taxi, looked particularly refreshing in his jeans, white round T-shirt and white shirt.

The program team suddenly informed everyone that they could take a two-day break. It was probably because after a few days of recording, they found that the current program content was too messy and had no core at all.

In the end, are these people just vacationing in Taohuawu and eating, drinking and having fun, or are they building Taohuawu and actually helping this place become a better place? They need to strike a balance and can't continue like this aimlessly.

Of course, Jiang Qing doesn’t care what they do, it’s good to maintain the current state.

He did not go to find Yang Wei, but went to meet another old friend.

There was no way, his whereabouts were accidentally exposed by Zhao Quan.

Zhao Quan, the oldest roommate in their university dormitory, currently serves as the deputy general manager of their company.

Thinking of the old friend whom he hadn't seen for a long time, Jiang Qing's lips curled up slightly.

He must be extremely anxious now, right?
I really should talk to him. After all, the advantage of rebirth is that I can predict certain events.

About ten minutes later, Jiang Qing arrived at the destination of this trip - Xiaomi Technology Park.

At two o'clock in the afternoon, the glass curtain wall reflected dazzling light under the scorching sun. When Jiang Qing pushed open the revolving door, the cool breeze from the central air-conditioning blew in his face, which slightly lifted his spirits although he was feeling a little sleepy.

"Jiang Qing!"

Lei Jun's voice penetrated the lobby, his unique tone filled with genuine joy.

He waved his hands at Jiang Qing from a distance and quickened his pace.

Following behind him were seven core executives of Xiaomi in suits and ties. When they saw Jiang Qing, they all waved in a friendly manner and showed familiar smiles.

"Boss Lei, long time no see. You seem to be more handsome now."

"As expected, he is the most handsome guy among Xiaomi."

Jiang Qing took a few quick steps towards him and joked with a smile.

"If you join Xiaomi, I will give you the title of the most handsome guy."

The force with which Lei Jun put his arm around his shoulder was as strong as it had been on that snowy night in the 798 Art District three years ago.

At that time, Xiaomi's intelligent voice assistant team suffered a major setback in recognition. Jiang Qing knocked on the door late at night with his original neural convolution algorithm, and his frozen red fingertips drew a prairie fire on the touch screen.

"Forget it then. A gentleman doesn't take away what others like. How can I steal your reputation, Mr. Lei? What if I get bullied later?"

"To be on the safe side, I'd better not take the risk."

Jiang Qing raised his brows slightly and rejected it very smoothly.

Without him, only familiar with Seoul.

"You kid, you always refuse so straightforwardly."

Lei Junxu held his shoulders and shook his head helplessly.

He truly admired Jiang Qing.

"I'm still a consultant for our intelligent voice assistant team. Mr. Lei pays me tens of millions a year. In a sense, I'm working for you, Mr. Lei, right?"

Jiang Qing turned his head to look at Lei Jun, who was almost the same height as him, and said with a smile.

"I actually hope that one day you, the consultant, can become a full-time employee. I can give you the position of consultant. Unfortunately, you are not only Jiang Qing now, but also Mr. Jiang."

Thinking of his right-hand man who had just left Xiaomi, Lei Jun's expression darkened.

"I'm not as hardworking as Mr. Zhou. I guess if I really officially join Xiaomi, Mr. Lei might kick me out after a while."

"And Mr. Lei doesn't know that I've already retired early."

Jiang Qing knew the impact of Zhou Shouzi's departure from ByteDance on Lei Jun, so he changed the subject.

"Jiang Qing... No, President Jiang."

"Others might believe you retired early, but do you think I would believe that?"

Lei Jun glanced at Jiang Qing with an expression that said, "Do you think I believe it?"

"Mr. Lei knows that I'm participating in the recording of a variety show."

Jiang Qing shrugged slightly and showed a lazy smile.

"Just pretend. When it comes to retirement, I have more experience than you. I also played for several years after Kingsoft went public."

"Okay, let's go sit down in the office and talk. It's not appropriate to be stuck here all the time."

Lei Jun looked around and found that their movements had attracted many employees to stop, so he greeted them.

Jiang Qing readily agreed, and after greeting a group of Xiaomi executives led by Lu Weibing, he followed Lei Jun into the elevator. A group of Xiaomi executives surrounded them and stood aside.

"Try the ripe Pu'er I just got."

After sitting around the tea table, Lei Jun began to boil water and brew tea skillfully. "We have to try it."

Jiang Qing moved his nose and smelled a faint scent of tea.

Lu Weibing and others had already found various excuses to leave before entering the office. They knew that Lei Jun valued Jiang Qing, and they also knew that this person, who was known as the most talented person in the technology circle in the past three years, was a target that major Internet companies in the industry were both wary of and wanted to recruit.

Even though his own company has become a highly-anticipated new technology company in the industry, neither Ali Penguin nor Xiaomi has ever given up on the idea of ​​acquiring their company.

Obviously, Lei Jun wanted to have a private chat with Jiang Qing and had informed them in advance.

Lei Jun poured tea into the white porcelain cup in front of Jiang Qing, and the steam instantly blurred his vision.

"What do you think about building a car?"

He asked casually with his usual friendly smile.

Since announcing his plan to build a car at the end of March this year, he has asked the same question to many people.

Jiang Qing gently stroked the rim of the cup with his fingertips, his eyes slightly narrowed.

Through the steaming heat, he seemed to see the dust raised when Tesla broke ground in Shanghai in 2018, the roller coaster ride of NIO, Li Auto and Alibaba’s stock prices in 2021, and the solid-state battery revolution that swept the entire industry in 2023.

"Has Mr. Lei ever thought about..."

He paused slightly and took a sip of the mellow tea.

"When traditional automakers complete their electrification transformation and the brand halo built by new forces with huge investments fades, where will the real battlefield be?"

The smart curtains in the office sense changes in sunlight and automatically adjust the light transmittance.

"You mean..."

Lei Jun's eyes suddenly became sharp.

"Intelligent driving system?"

“To be more precise, it’s the in-vehicle intelligent ecosystem.”

Jiang Qing put down the teacup and tapped the table lightly with his fingertips.

"According to my estimate, in three years, the car's central control screen will become the most important smart terminal after the mobile phone."

"And Xiaomi's AIoT ecosystem..."

Jiang Qing paused and didn't continue.

Lei Jun leaned forward, and the cuffs of his suit were stained with tea.

The man who once led Kingsoft's IPO and created the Xiaomi miracle now seemed to have returned to his thirst for knowledge when he first entered the Wuhan University Library.

"Jiang Qing, keep talking."

"Instead of fighting traditional car companies in the quagmire of vehicle manufacturing, it is better to focus on building the brain of smart cars."

"The computing power gap of automotive chips will surge from the current 10TOPS to 1000TOPS, but 90% of algorithm companies are still patching things up using mobile phone architectures."

Jiang Qing's voice suddenly became cold, and the smile on his face gradually faded.

"Mr. Lei, do you know why Apple hasn't succeeded in making cars in 6 years?"

"Because they're too eager to recreate a closed iOS empire, but electric cars need more than just an operating system; they need a neural network that connects everything."

Lei Jun stood up suddenly, and the sandalwood chair made a harsh sound as it scraped against the ground.

"So Jiang Qing, what is your suggestion?"

Lei Jun stared at him with burning eyes, his face showing a hint of excitement.

"Use MIUI Auto to connect the human-vehicle-home ecosystem and open up the in-vehicle intelligent platform."

Jiang Qing slowly outlined the industrial map for him, his fingertips moving constantly, which sounded like he was giving orders.

"Let BYD make the car body, CATL provide the battery, and Xiaomi only needs to control the core smart cockpit and cloud brain."

Lei Jun sat down slowly, picked up the teacup and drank it down in one gulp.

When Lei Jun looked up again, Jiang Qing saw the familiar fire in his eyes.

That was the light when Jiang Qing led their intelligent voice assistant team to break through dialect recognition three years ago, and the enthusiasm when the first generation of MIX concept phone came out.

"Jiang Qing, ah Jiang Qing!"

Lei Jun smiled and shook his head, his eyes full of admiration.

"Are you really not considering being acquired by me?"

(End of this chapter)