Don’t Covet the Beautiful System!! - Chap 76
The whole picture shook with the cameraman’s retreating action and a low ‘f*k’ came from outside the screen.
In the suddenly blurred and out-of-focus frame, the jelly robot in a cap looked strange and interesting. However, before the audience could see it again, a static play button popped up in the center of the screen.
This was the end of the video.
Another netizen whose mind hadn’t returned after watching this video tapped out a line on his phone.
[Why is it over???]
After posting the comment, he scrolled down. The comment area of the video titled ‘Interview video of Pei Qingyuan, top student of the college entrance examination in Province A (Part 1)’ was full of unending question marks and ridicule, mixed with hahahaha.
[Help. I clicked in after reading the text interview and I never thought it would be so funny. Hahahaha.]
[What about the follow-up? I want to see the follow-up!]
[I heard the terrified swearing of the cameraman, hahaha. I laughed so much that I wanted to die.]
[Is it a human thing to stop here? Li Yayi, quickly release the next episode!]
[I’m asking out of curiosity, who is Li Yayi?]
[She is the female reporter who wrote the interview and the one who appeared in the video. Both the interview and video have her name.]
[Li Yayi, what are you doing? Come out and post the video! It has been five minutes. I want to see the follow-up to this ‘amazing’ robot!]
—
Looking at the new comments popping up on the screen as well as the congratulations sent by her colleagues in the chat software, Li Yayi still had an unreal feeling like it was a dream.
The interview with the top champion, which couldn’t cause a splash, turned out to be really popular.
In front of the screen, Li Yayi took a deep breath. She ran to the bathroom and washed her face with cold water to keep herself calm. Then once she returned to the computer, she couldn’t help once again opening the blog post that had been called the source of all evil by the netizens.
[@Strange Events Collection Box: Read this article first and then watch this video. You will definitely come back and leave a series of hahahaha/salutes.]
This blog post was published by a well-known entertainment account and was accompanied by a seemingly ordinary news report and interview video.
A week ago, the provincial champion interview written by Li Yayi was published in local newspapers and websites. As she expected, this plain and dignified news report didn’t cause much waves.
In order to avoid the consequence of the ‘college entrance examination champion becoming famous due to his appearance’ which might bring about adverse public opinion, Li Yayo didn’t even put a close-up photo of Pei Qingyuan. She used a distant view photo of him during a basketball game that was provided by the 2nd High School. It was used to express the good mentality of the provincial champion who insisted on combining work and rest usually.
Yesterday, she posted this video of the interview that she had been working on with her editing colleagues for several days onto the official Weibo of the newspaper that had few fans.
It had been edited for a long time but the content of the interview hadn’t changed much. Only some scenes that might reveal personal privacy had been cut off. The conversation between her and Pei Qingyuan had basically been preserved. In addition, only subtitles were added and there weren’t any special effects. It seemed like an authentic documentary.
After this video was released, there weren’t many comments at first. Most of them expressed ‘Why is the atmosphere of this interview a bit funny’, ‘Why is there only half a video?’, ‘the champion of Province A is so handsome!’, ‘What is that last thing? I don’t understand,’ and things like that.
This was until a comment appeared.
[After being caught by his handsomeness, I went to search for other reports about him and almost died of laughter. Once I looked up the name, it was actually an interview done by the same reporter. I can only say that reporters don’t have it easy…]
Different netizens responded one after another.
[What is it? I’ll stick a hand in this!]
[I also went to search when I saw this and I laughed until my phone smashed into my face. Hahahaha. Help, it hurts so much QAQ.]
[Is this real? I will also search.]
[Squatting. Is there a class representative?]
[I came back from my search. Now I just want to say… Li Yayi, where is your next episode?!!!]
Immediately afterward, the popularity soared. Some people spontaneously submitted it to various well-known accounts of an entertainment nature. Among which, the one released by the Strange Events Collection Box was the most widely circulated.
It was because there was an enthusiastic class representative in the comment area who put up a video/text version comparison.
#On the broad and profound language art# #Journalism is a really amazing career# #Learning to write with Li Yayi#
In the interview:
“…Despite achieving excellent results in this year’s college entrance examination that set a provincial record, Pei Qingyuan’s performance was quite calm. His joy was filled with restraint and humility that are rare for young people.”
Live footage:
(At first, the reporter’s tone was full of expectations.)
“Can you talk about your current mood?”
（The champion expresses joy with an expressionless face.）
“I am very happy.”
(At this point, the reporter waited for the champion to continue but there was only a long silence in response.)
(A minute later, under the puzzled eyes of the champion, the reporter changed the topic a bit bluntly.)
“Cough. Then is it convenient to reveal which college you chose in the end?”
②In the interview transcript:
“As a prospective college student who obtained the qualification for the artificial intelligence major of Jiangyuan College, Pei Qingyuan still chose to participate in this year’s college entrance examination and he frankly said that after facing some competition from various famous schools, he still felt that Jiangyuan College was the best choice. This consistent ambition that has gone through a baptism of ups and downs will definitely allow Student Pei to make a more solid step on the road to the future.”
Live footage:
(The reporter’s tone gradually became apprehensive.)
“…Can you tell me why you still chose Jiangyuan?”
(The champion continues to be expressionless.)
“It is the most suitable place.”
(The reporter pressed strongly.)
“Where is it suitable?”
(The champion remains cold.)
“Everywhere.”
③ In the interview transcript:
“Student Pei Qingyuan not only has excellent grades, but also pays attention to developing extracurricular activities. He is a main member of the school’s basketball team and also often reads books of different fields. This allowed him to broaden his horizons, increase his knowledge and appreciate a wider landscape.
Live footage:
（The reporter’s tone carries a vague sense of despair.）
“…What else do you do in addition to studying?”
（The champion continues to be cold.）
“Play basketball and read books.”
(The champion is really handsome but can you show some expression? Wu wu wu.)
(The reporter is dying.)
“ What type of books does Student Pei read?”
(The champion steadily outputs two word answers.)
“A lot.”
(The video falls into wordless silence again. Then we hear the reporter say to the photographer in a tone filled with the vicissitudes of life, “Stop for a moment.”)
(Next, we’ll have the climax in the first half of the episode.)
④ In the interview transcript:
“…In addition, Student Pei was noticed by the artificial intelligence department of Jiangyuan College before he was ranked first in the country for the college entrance examination. In high school, he already started to learn relevant knowledge in this field by himself and has shown extraordinary talent. The author found a small robot made by Student Pei in his home. It is very amazing. I believe that in time, he will become a rising star in the field of artificial intelligence.”
Live footage:
(The cameraman brother seems to have spotted something good. The camera slowly moves toward the suspected desk,)
(High energy warning ahead.)
(A strange robot wearing a cap with an oval body, short hands and long legs comes into view. We can hear the cameraman brother asking a naive question to the reporter next to him.)
“What do you think this thing is?”
(A second later, a lively light flashed on the robot. A polite-sounding mechanical female voice was suddenly heard.)
“Hello, are you calling me?”
(The picture shakes violently and moves backward, accompanied by a clearly audible curse from the cameraman.)
[Interview transcript: Very amazing.]
[Live foot: Frightened blur.]
[Thanks for reading. The first episode is over.]
—To be continued—
At the end of this text commentary, there was even a serious ‘to be continued.’
This magical news commentary, which was excavated and summarized by netizens themselves, received tens of thousands of forwards in half a day and there was a growing trend.
[Unexpectedly, in my lifetime, I can actually see a pair of antonyms more outrageous than a buyer and seller show: the interview transcript and live footage.]
[I want to know how this reporter managed to make the content of the interview and the transcript so different while still completely expressing the same meaning… teach me, teach me, teach me!]
In the initial comments and forwards, apart from some playful one-liners, one half consisted of laughter and the other half consisted of protests at the video’s abrupt end.
Later, more and more netizens had their interests aroused. Some people went to the newspaper’s official Weibo to urge Li Yayi to hurry up and release the next episode. Some people tried to find out more public information related to this Province A champion.
Soon, someone found the news that the 2nd High School’s basketball team won an excellent ranking in the city and provincial leagues.
[I thought ‘member of the school basketball team’ was a type of implicit glorification and it actually referred to the champion who is focused on studying and occasionally playing after school.]
[In fact, ‘a main member of the school’s basketball team’ means: it is a shameful downplay. Actually, the champion led the team to 1st place in the city league and 2nd place in the provincial league in his spare time. He was repeatedly named as MVP of the games (P.S the court photo is really handsome, ahhh)]
[I thought I just watched a silly video showing a handsome guy. I never expected that after watching the video with a silly smile, I actually knelt down to watch the comment area…]
[Reporter Li! How many secrets are you hiding in your pretending to be calm interview script? I want to see a complete champion! Let the cameraman brother hand over the memory card of the camera!!]
[Am I the only one curious about the strange little robot at the end of the video? It was actually made by the champion himself.
[Curious +1. After being brainwashed and looping the video several times, I found that the arrangement of the champion’s house is so cute. Oh, it looks completely incompatible with this silent appearance. The stereotype isn’t good but I really can’t imagine why this cool male high school student would design such a robot…]
[Ahh, I noticed that too! There is a black and white ceramic cat ornament in the corner of the sofa where he is interviewed. It flashed in a few shots. It was so cute that I took a screenshot to search for it. I didn’t find the same model. It should be made by himself?]
[An indifferent god who doesn’t like to talk + hidden sports department + manual expert who likes a cute style. What a complex combination of attributes.]
[He isn’t indifferent. I see people on their school forum saying that he is usually very enthusiastic. He will help students answer questions and push everyone to improve their grades. Their school’s overall score this year is particularly good.]
[D*mn, it is obvious that his high score of 737 points alone is enough to catch people’s attention. Why are there so many mysterious highlights in addition to the results?]
[Thousands of words merged into one sentence: Li Yayi, hurry to work!!]
[I want to watch the next episode!! Next—episode—]
The contrast between the official press release and the actual interview, as well as the elusive contrasts that naturally existed in Pei Qingyuan’s body, stacked up and completely detonated public opinion.
The news report had been ignored for a week after it was first published and the interview video exploded after it was accidentally discovered by netizens. This made many netizens who personally participated in the ‘step-by-step discovery process’ have a strong willingness to spread the word.
It was because they were the ones who thoroughly brought this excellent high school student who should shine into the public eye.
The first person to experience this feeling was the reporter Li Yayi.
After discussing it with the leaders of the newspaper, Li Yayi was about to release the second half of the video while it was hot. Then she noticed that the number of topics related to it had reached 60 or 70 million and it was continuing to rise.
It was the first time for her to deal with such hot news and she was excited in her heart. She couldn’t help remembering the conversation with Pei Qingyuan more than a week ago.
Once the interview officially ended that day, Li Yayi had asked for Pei Qingyuan’s opinion. “I plan to release the interview video at the same time as the text manuscript. After the video is cut, I will send it to you in advance for you to see. Do you think it is okay?”’
She expected the provincial champion, who seemed to have little interest in most things, to simply answer yes or no.
Unexpectedly, Pei Qingyuan gave the third answer.
“Release the transcript first and then release the video slowly.”
His tone was flat when he said this there was an unquestionable air in it.
Li Yayi was first shocked by this indescribable determination. Then she had a flash of inspiration and thought about the benefits of doing so.
The news release that would appear in the newspaper must be serious and rigid while the video itself had a humor and narrative that was difficult to express clearly in words. Such a sharp contrast combined with the time difference of the dissemination in the two media might mean excellent topicality and communication potential.
Thus, she agreed without hesitation.
At that time, she hadn’t thought much and was complacent of the trick she thought about temporarily.
But in the face of this type of communication that exceeded expectations, Li Yayi suddenly came up with a strange idea.
Did Pei Qingyuan already anticipate this moment when he answered her sentence?
After a brief trance, Li Yayi took a deep breath and pressed the send button of the video blog post.
She didn’t know the answer and she wasn’t going to confirm it with the person.
The power of the news report came from a certain truth but the charm of character stories came from the uncertainty caused by the appropriate blanking of subjective intentions after many events were presented objectively.
She wanted to be like many other ordinary netizens and look for her favorite answer in this interview with a character who should be plain but was actually full of novelty, contrast and complex emotions.
The latest video titled ‘Interview video of Pei Qingyuan, top student of the college entrance examination in Province A (part 2)’ appeared on the homepage of many netizens.
Countless people were looking forward to the click of the play button.
The video began with the shot where the cameraman brother finally calmed down.
Li Yayi, who was still in shock, remembered Pei Qingyuan’s recommended major and immediately asked, “Is this an intelligent robot?”
After she asked this sentence, she quickly recovered her professional smiling posture. The cameraman brother next to her seemed to also be concentrating on recording the image without incident.
Pei Qingyuan replied, “Yes.”
Li Yayi felt that she had seen the light and quickly asked, “Is this a robot you made yourself?”
“Yes.”
The provincial champion’s answer evolved from two words to one word. Li Yayi gritted her teeth and decided to boldly start with this strange robot.
She was afraid that the AI wouldn’t be able to recognize it so she purposely said in a clear tone, “Hello, what function do you have?”
The response speed of the jelly bean robot wasn’t fast but her voice was smooth. “I have many functions.”
This answer had the style of the maker.
Li Yayi observed the rather precise long legs and tentatively asked, “Can you dance?”
“Yes.”
Li Yayi’s eyes lit up and the cameraman brother skillfully zoomed in. “Can I see you dance?”
As a result, the jelly bean robot refused in a serious manner. “No.”
The female reporter and the cameraman brother hadn’t expected to get an answer and looked at each other again. Then she asked with a bit of uncertainty. “…Why?”
“Because the password isn’t entered.”
After saying this sentence, the colored light flickering on the elliptical body dimmed and seemed to enter a dormant state.
Li Yayi was stunned. She looked to the left and right. She couldn’t find a place on this robot to manually enter the password. “Isn’t this already able to talk normally? Why does it still need a password?”
The cameraman brother next to her cleared his throat and couldn’t help trying a classic voice-activated password. “Open sesame?”
Li Yayi: “……”
Fortunately, the robot was motionless and didn’t give any reaction.
…Why did she want to say ‘okay?’
Under the blank stares of the two people, the provincial champion finally took the initiative to explain. “The password is her name. It is only after accurately reporting the password that she will enter the unlimited free interaction mode. Right now, she is only in standby mode.
Li Yayi was a bit moved to hear him finish this long sentence.
She couldn’t wait to interact with the specially conceived robot. “Then what is her name?”
“I’m sorry, I can’t tell you.”
The emotion that Li Yayi had just felt was shattered in the blink of an eye.
Seeing her melancholy look of wanting to ask the reason but knowing that she definitely wouldn’t be able to, Pei Qingyuan explained it to her. “This is a one-to-one intelligent communication robot. After the owner sets the name for the AI, the program will automatically activate these two modes, using the name of the password to achieve the one-to-one concept. I can’t tell you the name that the owner gave her without authorization.”
Li Yayi couldn’t react for a moment. “Aren’t you the owner?”
“No,” Pei Qingyuan said. “I gave her to a friend.”
“Did you build another robot for yourself?”
“No, it is the only one.”
At the end of the break, Li Yayi stared at the word ‘friend’ circled in her notebook and continued the interview in high spirits.
It was incredible that a high school student who hadn’t experienced systematic professional teaching could independently create this rather exquisite intelligent robot.
The even more incredible thing was that he actually gave this hand-made robot to a friend, or at least, he handed over the essential naming rights to others.
From this brief contact, Li Yayi had outlined her initial impression of the newly promoted college entrance examination champion: extremely high IQ, excellent talent but a cold personality, lack of interest in many people and things. It was very in line with the definition of a genius in ordinary people’s cognition.
She judged that this friend would be an entry point into the heart of the person being interviewed.
During the ensuing interview, Li Yayi asked some questions about school, family and friends according to the usual outline while quietly focusing on the friend.
Even though the length of the interview script made it unlikely that anyone else would be mentioned, she still wanted to ask.
This was due to her personal curiosity about the high school student in front of her.
She also really wanted to know the name of this strange little robot and what type of dance was possible.
There was a desire to explore as Li Yayi constantly recorded something in her notebook.
Pei Qingyuan didn’t talk much but he still answered her every question cooperatively.
Then after Li Yayi collected more and more answers, her mood became complicated and difficult to distinguish.
Sure enough, it was as she expected. It was only when his friend was mentioned that Pei Qingyuan’s answer would be longer.
Most of them might be vague answers like ‘taught me a lot’ and ‘helped me a lot’ without revealing any information related to the identity of his friend, but Li Yayi could hear the seriousness of his words.
She found that the parents who weren’t at home were also completely absent from Pei Qingyuan’s words.
She realized that there weren’t two pairs of slippers belonging to his mother and father at the entrance and that she and her colleague were obviously wearing new slippers for guests.
Before this interview with ups and downs came to an end, Li Yayi seriously looked around at this warm living room again. She had a completely different feeling when she saw the cute decorations that could be seen everywhere.
During the interview, she had secretly confirmed that Pei Qingyuan himself didn’t have any special preferences for these objects. He just quietly allowed these things to stay around him.
The dancing jelly bean robot was his gift to a friend.
Would those gadgets similar in style to the jelly bean robot be gifts from his friend?
Who was the one who reached out first?
In this home where the owner and furnishings seemed contradictory yet harmonious, Li Yayi was immersed in all the seemingly unrelated details and fragments and gradually pieced together an answer that she understood.
At one point, she almost abandoned her identity as a reporter and asked purely out of curiosity, in the tone of a witness. “Do you like the name your friend gave the robot?”
“Yes.”
The always distant and calm champion gave her an answer with a faint smile for the first time.
Thus, Li Yayi decided on the final question in an instant.
“In your opinion, what role has this friend played in your life so far? Or what is the meaning of this friendship to you?”
Once these words came out, Li Yayi and her colleague instinctively held their breaths, waiting for his answer.
In the suddenly quiet room, Pei Qingyuan still calmly looked directly at the camera in front of him. Outside the transparent lens, he saw countless golden dust moving in the light-filled room. He saw the gradually passing past and the flickering future.
This question reminded him of the days when the story began.
Pei Qingyuan always remembered what Ji Tong said to him when they first met.
—You live in a novel. At first, you have an unsatisfactory life experience, but with my help, you will change your destiny and reach the peak of life step by step…
He lived in a novel world and had a set trajectory of destiny. This should be a terrifying thing.
But he was grateful for the sudden appearance of that little figure in the beginning and forgot to be afraid. After that, the bits and pieces of getting along gradually filled his empty and pale life. He could no longer distinguish the boundary between fiction and reality.
Therefore, Pei Qingyuan accepted everything that Ji Tong told him and also accepted all the fate that had come and would come.
He liked these vivid and real days of his life.
The only difference from others was that as a character who carried the fate of counterattacking, he was destined to be seen by more and more people.
He wasn’t a person who liked being watched and speculated on by strangers.
Still, Pei Qingyuan thought that this might be the price for the good luck that brought him out of the quagmire.
He accepted this as well.
At the very least, he had free thinking and could actively choose when and how to be seen.
Pei Qingyuan chose this moment.
The interview was coming to an end. After this, everything would flow into an uncertain unknown. He could guess what type of things people would be attracted to but he could never guess what type of emotion and colors would fill their eyes.
He didn’t want to guess how others would see him and he didn’t care much about the disturbances that might arise from it.
He was just answering every question in the way he was used to, honestly presenting his true self and everything around him in this moment.
It was a home that slowly took shape after meeting Ji Tong.
It was also a Pei Qingyuan who only existed since then.
In this seemingly long silence, Li Yayi lost the anticipation and bewilderment from the beginning of the interview and just waited quietly.
She thought that this was probably a difficult question to answer.
What did the association with that friend mean to the interviewee who sat him alone and didn’t speak a lot?
The spacious balcony brought sunlight into the room and the living room was filled with light everywhere. Li Yayi was a bit fascinated by it. She saw the ballpoint pen in her hand reflecting an oblique shadow on the notebook page. The light and shadow were scattered and shining. She also saw a small black and white ceramic cat on a soft sofa piled up with furry dolls, which was illuminated brightly.
She saw the bright black and white falling into the interviewee’s eyes. This made him stop looking at the camera. He lowered his eyes and his eyelashes fluttered. He seemed to be carefully locking onto a secret that no one else could ever see.
The long-awaited answer still contained a familiar indifference, but in a trance, Li Yayi seemed to hear countless hidden and surging emotions in this voice.
“It was one of the luckiest things in my life.”
