Reborn in 2010, the AI ​​in my mind is too powerful.

Chen Yiran was sitting in his study adjusting the gradient descent parameters of DeepFlow as instructed by Jasmine when several alarms beeped.

A soft alarm signaled that someone had parked their car in front of the house. Hannah had just gotten home and hadn't ordered takeout. Chen Yiran quickly checked the security camera footage.

TED stepped out of his dark gray BMW, waving somewhat helplessly at the surveillance camera. He already knew from his last visit that the place had been turned into a bunker, and Chen Yiran's study even contained crossbows and knives and axes.

Chen Yiran opened the door for TED and even checked the security camera to see if anyone was following him. She didn't go out to greet him, since TED already knew how to get to the study.

Ted entered the room and sat down. Without exchanging pleasantries, he delivered a devastating blow to Chen Yiran: "Oracle made an offer this afternoon, fifty million US dollars."

Chen Yiran almost dropped the can of cola in her hand.

Fifty million.

Fifty million.

Fifty million!

In her past life, Chen Yiran worked as a parallel car dealer in Los Angeles, earning a maximum of two to three hundred thousand US dollars in her best year. Even after returning to China in her thirties, she could hardly be considered very successful, basically relying on her parents' real estate holdings.

Although I have a strong sense of self-worth and am confident that Jasmine No. 1 can sell for at least 50 million.

But when someone actually offered a price, Chen Yiran was still a little dazed.

Your heart rate is a bit fast, and your body temperature seems slightly elevated as well.

Ignoring Jasmine, Chen Yiran took a swig of her iced cola and then asked TED, "Why is it Oracle Bone Script? Did you go looking for them too?"

"No, I don't know how they noticed it, but their first offer was so sincere. But it doesn't matter, it's beneficial to us anyway. Google should be making moves too, but Oracle is faster. Oracle directly told Larry Ellison that they were interested."

"Larry Ellison?"

"Yes, at Oracle, Ellison's word is absolute authority, so they can act much faster."

"What are your thoughts? Although I've said before that my expectation is fifty million US dollars, wouldn't it be too much of a loss if we agree right away? This is just the first bite; we should be able to continue negotiating, right?"

TED nodded and said, "It's impossible to agree to that. First of all, don't assume that these billionaires are absolutely rational animals. This is Silicon Valley, and most of the billionaires here are not rational. Ellison is the most famous example of a rebellious teenager. He is extremely disgusted with Microsoft, and he would do anything to disgust Microsoft. It's absolutely impossible to agree to 50 million now. Our expectations should at least double."

Chen Yiran took a deep breath, trying to calm down. One hundred million US dollars! One hundred million US dollars! One hundred million US dollars!

That way, I can send money back home to buy a house for my parents. Before, my mom bought houses for school districts, career advancement, or easy rental—they were either small apartments or shops. This time, I'll let them buy a top-of-the-line house for themselves, and then let my dad retire quickly. What's the point of his meager pension? Let's save the country some money.

TED didn't say anything, just watched as Chen Yiran's expression changed several times, from happy to relaxed to shocked. He wasn't the first person to mentor a startup, and he knew that when people first encountered numbers of this magnitude, it was already a sign of composure if they didn't jump up in shock.

Chen Yiran scratched his head and said, "Then I'll have to trouble you. Should we proactively contact Microsoft and talk to all parties involved first?"

TED shook his head and said, "In my experience, there's no point in us talking to them. We're just going to watch the fighting happen twice. I've already agreed to Oracle's request for a meeting the day after tomorrow, but when I get back, I'll message Microsoft first. Microsoft already sent a message, so we can reply now."

They weren't particularly interested in the product technology but wanted to arrange a meeting. We replied that the patent holder had entrusted the entire matter to our law firm, and a meeting was possible. However, our firm was quite busy; we needed to meet with Oracle the day after tomorrow, followed by Google, and then Microsoft next week or the week after.

Chen Yiran laughed; the reply was rather sarcastic.

TED calmly stated, "Startups and individual developers have to rely on the big companies fighting each other."

"Okay, then it's up to you guys. But you always come so directly; what if I'm out and we have to wait a long time? Or how about we do what they do in the movies and buy one of those disposable SIM cards or something?"

"You were shrouded in secrecy back then. First of all, I'm happy to wait; I'm happy to have paid leave. By the way, while I'm waiting here, one of the company's tech assistants and two administrative assistants are also paid. Secondly, regarding this acquisition worth hundreds of millions that we're discussing now, are you willing to gamble that the IRS won't find out? That's thirty million in taxes."

"Fine, fine, I'll just give you the money and make you wait."

"There's something else I think you need to consider now, because your F1 status is too restrictive. I suggest that after this patent sale, you can apply for a green card. This will make it easier for you to start your own business later."

Chen Yiran was prepared for this; he had obtained a green card in his previous life, but the method he used was somewhat shady—not as low-level as a sham marriage, of course. He applied for the green card by working under a friend's name at their company.

He'd always thought about developing his career in the US, and a green card was essential. But now that he had a green card and didn't need an F1 visa, he felt he could completely let loose. He felt even less likely to get the diploma his parents wanted.

TED noticed Chen Yiran's hesitation. Although he didn't know what Chen Yiran was hesitating about, in order to make his law firm's story even more perfect, he added, "If you get a green card, you can buy a gun, right?"

"Okay, let's do it then, EB1, right? How long will it take? Is it complicated?"

"We're Fenwick & West; this is a piece of cake for us. Besides, the EB-1A only requires meeting 3 out of 10 criteria. After this successful sale, you've met all the criteria: media coverage, original contributions, high salary, and business success. You've exceeded expectations."

"And this is the US, a multi-million dollar acquisition case. The adjudicator will likely increase the value of your application when they see the documents. You can enter the adjustment of status phase in a week. I'll get your work permit first, then you can start your business. The official green card will probably take three or four months. If you're in a hurry, I can expedite it for you; it should be ready in a month or two."

What an ugly face of capitalism! In my past life, Chen Yiran waited more than two years for her green card.

"When can I buy a gun?"

"Uh. So you think your bunker isn't secure enough, huh? Getting the green card is fine, but the paperwork isn't complete yet. Fine, I'll do my best to expedite it for you later, okay?"

After finishing his business, TED left in a hurry, as he still needed to return to Microsoft to reply to their message.

Chen Yiran stared blankly at the screen.

You probably won't be able to continue debugging today.

"Indeed, I've let down the reborn people. I'm already a little dazed with just this little bit of money."

[That's normal. It's not my fault. Usually, reborn characters have even more amazing cheat codes. In the novels you read before, the protagonists were all much more powerful than you, relying on their own efforts and a little bit of help from their cheat codes.]

"Alright, alright, let me catch my breath. My brain is completely blank. What time is it in Beijing?"

7:00 AM.

"Give me some peace and quiet, and then remind me to video chat with my parents in two hours."

Should I wait until I get the money before bragging to my parents?

"No, we have to do it today. They'll probably be up by 7 o'clock anyway, so we have to do it now."

But they have to go to work on Friday mornings.

"Their precious son is going to earn hundreds of millions of dollars, can't they even take a day off?"

Chen Yiran hurriedly called his parents, asked his mother to turn on the computer, and after logging onto the video, he began to swagger around.

"It's not confirmed yet, but Oracle initially offered $50 million, which I didn't agree to. I think it should be at least $100 million. The lawyer was shocked; he'd never seen anything like it. Now, following my instructions, they're going to talk to Microsoft. I think it's easier to persuade Microsoft, so they should offer more than Oracle."

Chen's father's first reaction wasn't happiness, but rather a bit of worry. He hesitated slightly and said, "You can make so much money just by writing that program? You didn't do anything illegal, did you?"

Chen's mother slapped Chen's father and said in a harsh tone, "You big idiot, you can't just transfer a hundred million US dollars by committing any crime. You can't even get that by stealing or robbing. Our son is really something else. I told you we should send him abroad. Luckily, he can still earn US dollars there. He could probably only get into a second-tier university in China, but he suddenly became very clever after going abroad."

Chen Yiran felt a little ashamed. In her previous life, she had never really figured things out and basically just drifted along. In the end, she couldn't stand it anymore and felt tired, so she chose to return to China to become a landlord.

While Chen's mother was still excited, she said, "You need to plan this money carefully. I knew you could make it if you said you wanted to learn programming and go to Silicon Valley. But I've been reading a lot of books about that place lately. You can't spend all this money; you need to save some. In case you fail in your next business venture, you don't want to be poor, you know?"

Mr. Chen nodded and said, "Yes, yes, how about buying a house or something?"

Mom patted Dad on the shoulder again: "What do you know? Houses in the US have property taxes, so it might not be the right choice. You have to diversify your investments. Buy some stocks, buy some real estate, you have to combine them."

"Let's not talk about the configuration for now. I'll buy you two a house in China later, a nice one, so you can just retire."

Mr. Chen nodded and said, "Sure, sure, I've wanted to quit this lousy class for a long time."

Chen's mother firmly objected: "No, no, buying a house is fine, but not working is not okay. Not working is boring. If you don't work, you'll just go back to playing chess. What's so great about that? You'll just be feeding mosquitoes outside all day."

Then the three of them started looking at a map to figure out where to buy things, and Chen Yiran was very excited.

For two lifetimes, my parents have always been the ones who built houses for me. This time, I can finally buy one for them.

Chen Yiran was very excited, but the scene at Microsoft headquarters, which received the news, was quite different.

Ballmer gave direct instructions: stop with the formalities and start the bidding immediately, starting with a bid of $7 million.