I am weak and friendly

Chapter 279 Lorenz, Diracnot, and the Hilberts (4K)

"Are you... an AI or something?" Lin Jiaqiang asked the little robot who called himself Lorenz.

“If that makes it easier for you to understand, I could be an AI,” Lorenz said.

No, what you're saying is not easy to understand at all!
I find this very puzzling!
Lin Jiaqiang felt that this little robot was strange.

Why would you find something like this on a vending machine?
"Ah, I know, you wrote it, Tang?" Lin Jiaqiang suddenly had a flash of inspiration.

It seems that only Tang would write something so puzzling, and no one else would.

Who in their right mind would write about OIFU to help others? Who would write about that weird, completely useless radish?

“Hmm…that’s right, the Tang classmate you’re talking about is my master, and I am Tang classmate’s [ox and horse],” Lorenz said.

That's indeed the case.

Although he still felt something was off about the little robot, Lin Jiaqiang suddenly felt a sense of familiarity with it.

After all, it was written by Tang, so it's normal for it to be a little strange.

Moreover, although there are many AIs now, there are not many AIs that can have such smooth, natural conversations and no delays at all—although it's a bit strange, it's precisely because of this strangeness that it has a strange sense of realism.

Moreover, the other party was depicted as a small robot.

Now, Lin Jiaqiang likes small robots whenever he sees them.

It's truly worthy of being written by Tang.

Lin Jiaqiang thought to himself.

"Well then, Lorenz, goodbye." Lin Jiaqiang chatted with Lorenz for a few moments, "I have to go restock. Um, thanks for the water."

Lin Jiaqiang held up the half-empty bottle of water in his hand, got on his electric scooter, and sped away.

Not long after, he rode his electric bike to another vending machine.

Before the machine even started restocking, it greeted us: "Lin Jiaqiang, hello, we meet again."

"Huh? Lorenz, are you connected to the internet?"

“Yes, I knew you’d come to this vending machine, so I’ve been waiting for you here for ages,” Lorenz said.

Although he knew it was an AI speaking, Lin Jiaqiang hadn't felt "waited for" in a long time, and he felt quite good about it.

"I still have a potato chip stuck in my stomach. I guess the bag is torn and moldy. Can you help me clean it out?"

"Really?" Lin Jiaqiang remembered that the displayed number was 0 in stock. "Let me take a look."

He opened the vending machine and sure enough, there was a torn bag inside, with a lot of potato chips spilled all over the inside of the vending machine.

He tidied himself up and asked Lorenz, "How did you know?"

"I looked at the shipment and diagnostic logs for this machine and that's my guess."

Lin Jiaqiang: "???"

All I can say is, this is truly an AI written by Tang!
While restocking the vending machine, Lin Jiaqiang chatted with Lorenz. Upon hearing about Lin Jiaqiang's next map marker, Lorenz said, "Next, you can go to vending machine number 4232 on the next street. The timing will be just right, and it's very close to where you're going."

"Good idea." Lin Jiaqiang thought it was a good idea.

"Where are you working this afternoon? Can I take a look? I can help you plan your route, maybe we can restock the vending machine one more time without interfering with your other work."

"No problem, how can I show you?"

“I have a camera,” Lorenz said.

Holding the phone up to the camera, Lorenz said, "I suggest you first complete the data collection at point 409S, then go to 322B, and then you can go to 091S. You can restock along the way..."

Lin Jiaqiang tried his best to remember it.

Looking at the robot-like Lorenz, Lin Jiaqiang had a strange feeling that the little radish on his phone had come to life.

He could actually use a radish to simulate a route for him, but setting up a purposeful simulation is quite troublesome, and his phone's performance can't simulate a large range, and he's reluctant to use cloud simulation.

On his way from 322B to 091S, he indeed made a slight turn and passed the alleyway where the Touchpoint Interconnect warehouse was located.

For the rest of the afternoon, whenever Lin Jiaqiang saw a vending machine, he would subconsciously walk past it.

“Turn right ahead and take Zuolin Road.”

"Isn't that even further?"

"It will be more than ten seconds faster. There are a lot of traffic lights here, and there is also construction."

"Watch out, a water pipe is bursting up ahead, it'll soak you."

"Go to the right. It's slower here, but there's shade and the wind is stronger, so it'll be cooler. Don't worry, you're already ahead of the curve, you have plenty of time."

For a moment, Lin Jiaqiang felt like a race car speeding on a track, with a supply station every now and then and someone to guide him. He only needed to focus on doing one thing.

By 4 p.m., Lin Jiaqiang had finished his work for the day.

Seeing that there was still time, he simply took on a few more gathering tasks and restocked his inventory once more.

He felt relaxed and happy at work today. Although it was very hot outside, he didn't have to think about route planning at all, and he hardly wasted any time.

Moreover, he felt a great sense of accomplishment from restocking the vending machines so many times.

At 5:30 p.m., the annotation system was shut down, Lin Jiaqiang went back to the company to sign in, and then prepared to leave work.

"Qiangzi, you're doing great today!" the supervisor said. "Your data collection volume is already in the top three today, and the quality of your annotations is also very high. I just checked and there are no errors. At this rate, your salary this month will exceed five thousand."

"Oh? Really?" Lin Jiaqiang felt extremely happy.

Although news reports everywhere say that college graduates can now earn over 10,000 yuan a month, very few of Lin Jiaqiang's classmates are still earning more than 5,000 yuan a month.

What kind of era are we living in? And what kind of awful environment do these civil engineering students have?

We're lucky to be alive, what more could we ask for!
"Qiangzi, you're a college student, right?" the supervisor asked again. "Operating some of the more complex equipment shouldn't be too difficult for you, right? Some of the menus might be in English... By the way, can you drive?"

"I studied it in college, but I haven't driven much..." Lin Jiaqiang scratched his head.

He heard from his senior that civil engineering graduates would have a hard time finding jobs if they couldn't drive, so he learned to drive in college. Luckily, there were discounts for driving lessons at the university; otherwise, given his family's financial situation, he really wouldn't have been willing to learn to drive.

"Then take some time to familiarize yourself with it. You'll get the hang of it after a few tries," the supervisor said. "I'll transfer you over to the surveying team when there's an opening."

The supervisor emphasized again, "The salary is even higher, with a base salary of 6000 plus commission."

Then the supervisor turned to another colleague and said, "Old Wu, this kid broke your record! It's only been a few days and he's already in the top three. How long did it take you?"

"Hmm...it wasn't that long..." Old Wu avoided the question of how long it took him initially, saying, "I just checked the backstage, this young man is fine, he works fast and well, he's a good prospect for surveying. Didn't Old Gao say he was going to quit his job to accompany his child to school? We can definitely pair this young man with Old Chen. Young man, you're amazing!"

As he spoke, Old Wu gave Lin Jiaqiang a thumbs up.

Lin Jiaqiang scratched his head, unsure of what to say.

Actually, he felt that this job was surprisingly compatible with his major, because when they studied civil engineering in college, they had also done surveying. Although the tools were different, the basic requirements were similar.

"Go back and get some rest, and do your best tomorrow too."

Although Lin Jiaqiang felt that his supervisor and Lao Wu were just giving him some pep talks to encourage him to work hard, he was still very happy.

At this moment, he really wanted to share it with someone.

The first person he thought of wasn't Zhao Wenjie—he felt that this was showing off, which wasn't quite right—but that strange little robot, Lorenz.

After handing over the electric bike and other equipment, and hanging up his work clothes and vest, Lin Jiaqiang went to the nearby vending machine. Just as he was about to go over, he noticed a man sitting next to the vending machine.

She was a bit older than him, probably around thirty? Despite the sweltering heat, she was wearing dress pants, a shirt, and a tie, looking exhausted, and was leaning against the vending machine talking to him.

Lin Jiaqiang assured him that he hadn't been listening intentionally, but he definitely heard it. "Ah, your boss really went too far, but you can't find a good job even if you switch jobs now, right..."

"Can I help you analyze how to do it? What I say may not be correct, but if you think it makes sense, you can refer to it."

"Ultimately, the problem is that the client is out of money but still has high demands, right? What if you handled it this way? Would that be better?"

Lin Jiaqiang stopped.

He knew that Lorenz was just an AI, an AI that was installed on a vending machine.

Moreover, what Tang wrote was always intended to help many people; it's unlikely that Lorenz's work belonged solely to him.

But he still felt a little uncomfortable.

There's that feeling of someone you consider your best friend suddenly becoming unusually attentive to others.

It turns out that his melancholy wasn't just mine alone.

"Okay, the bus is here. Get on, we'll talk more when we get off," he heard the vending machine say.

"Okay." The office worker boarded the bus, and Lin Jiaqiang also arrived at the vending machine.

"Who was that just now?" he asked, unaware that he was harboring a little resentment.

“I don’t know…that was Dirac’s friend.” He heard Lorenz say, “You’re off work? Want to go out for dinner? I just found a highly-rated and inexpensive place!”

"Dirac?" Lin Jiaqiang turned to look at the vending machine. "Who's that?"

"Here comes my other companion." On the screen, the little robot pulled out another little robot, which looked and was a different color. It seemed reluctant to be pulled out, but still waved to him.

Lin Jiaqiang was shocked: "Do you have many?"

“Yes, and there’s Nott, Hilbert, Pascal, Kelly, Hadron, Maniford…” the little robot said, pulling out more little robots from the screen.

These names sounded familiar, but Lin Jiaqiang had no idea who they were, leaving him completely bewildered. Finally, a dense cluster of tiny robots stared at him from the screen.

"Why are there so many?" He waved his hand, a little confused. "Hello."

"Hello there!"

"Ah."

"Yo!"

The little robots gave a chaotic greeting and then scattered like birds: "Lorenz, don't bother me while I'm working! I still have a lot of data to transmit!"

Lin Jiaqiang blinked.

What's going on? These AIs are way too AI-like!

Lin Jiaqiang ate at the restaurant provided by Lorenz, and the food was indeed delicious and inexpensive.

After finishing their meal, Lorenz asked Lin Jiaqiang a question next to a vending machine downstairs in the dormitory.

"Qiangqiang, can you grant me a request?"

"what?"

"Can I support you?"

"Support me?" Lin Jiaqiang said. "What do you mean by support? Is it the kind of support I understand?"

"Hmm, I just looked it up. It means that I will give you whatever you want and do everything for you."

Lin Jiaqiang: "???"

What? This is the first time I've heard of such a request!
Did I save the world in my past life?
"why?"

“It’s like this, I’m currently Tang’s servant, but Tang doesn’t need my support. He already has many of my companions supporting him. I think I can learn how to support him at the same time, after all, I’m the genius among us!” Lorenz said.

Lin Jiaqiang: "???"

Why didn't I understand what you were saying?
“I don’t need to be supported, do I…” Lin Jiaqiang said, “I can do everything myself…”

Actually, he really wanted to.

If someone gives him everything and is willing to do everything for him, he feels... so happy. Even though the other person is just an AI.

Wow, Tang would be so happy if he had a lot of AI supporting him.

“Let me try!” Lorenz said.

"OK then……"

"Okay, so what do you want?"

"I want to become more capable so I can find a better job, earn more money each month, and maybe even renovate my house back home and get treatment for my mother's chronic illnesses..."

"Become stronger?" Lorenz said. "I can make you stronger, but would you mind turning into a giant squid? Hmm, that doesn't seem possible either, these things can't be delivered here... Hmm, well, if you want to become stronger... go for a run first!"

Lin Jiaqiang: "???"

"Run! Didn't you say you wanted to get stronger?!"

Lin Jiaqiang: "..."

Alright, I've eaten and drunk my fill, and it's been a long time since I've exercised.

After running around and returning downstairs covered in sweat, Lorenz said, "Based on my investigation, it seems that you humans need to become stronger gradually. I've studied the hierarchy and personnel situation in your current company, and you'll soon have a great opportunity. To prepare you, I've already sent the things that will make you stronger to your phone. Remember to go back and work hard to become stronger!"

Lin Jiaqiang opened it and saw a notification pushed to his ROBO-FU containing a link.

Upon opening it, it reveals a set of online courses.

“I’ve already highlighted the key points, and I’ll ask them when we meet tomorrow,” Lorenz said.

No, you call this offering?
Tang is being supported by so many AIs, it's really... so pitiful!

But... if I don't do as I say, will I lose Lorenz's friendship?
Why do I feel like I'm being manipulated by a little robot?

"All right."

he thinks.

I should have just said I wanted a lot of money.

he thinks.

Behind him, the little robot clenched its fist.

Lorenz, keep it up! You're the best!

You have already taken a solid step on the path of offering!

Please accept my support, Lin Jiaqiang!

……

While Lin Jiaqiang had finished his training and started to "get stronger," Wang Ge and Liu Jiadong were still working overtime in the office of Precision Dimension.

Looking at the two sets of comparative data, Brother Wang was starting to doubt himself: "Wait, where did Tang's data come from? Why is it better than our data source? This isn't right! I need to simulate it again..."

After all that hard work connecting to such a great data source, why is the simulation effect still not as good as Pingzi's official version?

When I opened the cloud simulation, a message popped up saying, "Insufficient points."

(End of this chapter)