madnovel Chapter 153 Door-to-Door Service
Chapter 153 Door-to-Door Service
Chapter 153 Door-to-Door Service
Shanghai outside the window struggles to wake up in the morning light.
When Jiang Yu woke up in the suite, he glanced at the leaden gray skyline and clicked his tongue softly.
"The weather is the same color as that cup of cooled Pu'er tea in the office yesterday."
He rolled out of bed, stepped barefoot onto the soft, thick carpet, and did a few stretching exercises.
After taking a cold shower and changing into his workout clothes, he went alone to the rooftop gym of the hotel.
At this time of day, the gym is completely empty.
He put on his headphones, picked out a high-energy electronic song, and stepped onto the treadmill.
Forty minutes later, as he finished his last set of core training and walked to the French windows with a towel, the sky seemed to brighten a bit, and the clouds parted a few cracks, sparingly letting in a few strands of gold.
"Boss, you're really punctual." Wang Wei's voice came from behind.
She had changed into a well-fitting light gray business suit, and was holding a laptop and a steaming cup of black coffee.
"President Zhou and his team's flight has landed and they are on their way to the hotel. The World Expo organizers have also confirmed that Deputy Director Chen Gang will personally receive them at 10:30."
Jiang Yu took the coffee and took a sip. The bitter aroma awakened his taste buds: "Is Zhou Mu leading his turtle-shell expeditionary force again?"
"6
Wang Wei smiled and said, "President Zhou's assistant just sent a message saying that everyone on their team is carrying a mobile data center," and they were almost detained as suspicious individuals during security checks.
"That's more like him." Jiang Yu shook his head and chuckled.
Zhou Mu is a person with maxed-out technical talent, but his life skills are always in a state of "Schrödinger's online state".
During the final rehearsal before the opening ceremony of last year's Olympics, this chief scientist was so engrossed in debugging a piece of particle effects code that he almost missed his car and ended up riding a bicycle into the Bird's Nest. This incident later became a well-known anecdote within the Light and Shadow Digital Studio.
Breakfast was delivered to the suite.
A simple breakfast: millet porridge, steamed buns from the City God Temple, and fresh fruit.
While eating, Jiang Yu listened to Wang Wei report on the detailed arrangements for the day.
"Besides the World Expo negotiations, I'm going to Suzhou at 3:30 this afternoon. Also, I heard from Los Angeles that director Roland Emmerich wants you to see the final rough cut of '2012,' as he's still debating a few special effects."
"Got it." Jiang Yu was slicing the fried egg, his mind already processing multiple streams of information simultaneously.
9:40 a.m., hotel lobby.
Zhou Mu and Wang Jian emerged from the two minivans almost simultaneously, their styles so contrasting it was as if they had traveled from two parallel universes.
Zhou Mu's side is a standard "tech geek expedition team".
He had hair that was obviously messed up from sleeping on the plane, his black-rimmed glasses were a little crooked, and he was wearing a wrinkled dark blue T-shirt.
Behind him were five or six engineers of the same style, each carrying a bulging backpack; inside were either computers or all sorts of oddly shaped peripherals.
"Old Jiang!" Zhou Mu's eyes lit up the moment he saw Jiang Yu, and he jogged over. "The third round of stress test data for Virtual Production 2.0 at the Huairou base is simply incredible! Latency has been reduced by 47%, not 40%! I recalculated it on the plane last night! If the World Expo uses it, I guarantee those old men at the Bureau International des Expositions will think they've traveled to 2020!"
Year!"
He spoke rapidly, pulling a heavy, military-grade rugged laptop from his bag as he spoke, ready to turn it on and demonstrate it on the spot.
Wang Wei quickly stopped him: "President Zhou, President Zhou, the meeting room is ready. Let's go up and take a look. There are too many people and too much attention in the lobby."
On the other hand, Wang Jian's team is an elite technical team.
Wang Jian himself is nearly fifty years old, with graying temples, a tall and straight posture, and a well-tailored shirt. He has both the temperament of a scholar and the demeanor of a manager.
Behind him, his team members carried uniform aluminum alloy equipment cases bearing the logo of Light and Shadow Cloud, their expressions focused.
"Mr. Jiang, the humidity in Shanghai is a challenge for server heat dissipation."
Wang Jian shook hands with Jiang Yu with a firm and steady handshake. "However, we brought a mobile demonstration unit specifically optimized for high humidity environments, with three times the redundancy of the usual commercial version. Even if the Huangpu River floods into the data center, our cloud services can continue until the last diesel generator shuts down."
His words were delivered with a dry humor that was both serious and witty. Even Zhou Mu, who was tying his shoelaces nearby, looked up at him and muttered, "Old Wang, you still love setting up flags—"
Jiang Yu was amused by the contrast between the two: "Alright, you two great masters, the rooms have been arranged, please put your luggage down first."
We set off in ten minutes, chatting in the car. "Zhou Mu, tie your shoelaces properly, don't trip over them later. Our 'virtual Earth' hasn't even been shown yet and we're already stumbling over like a real person."
A suppressed chuckle rippled through the crowd.
Zhou Mu looked down at his shoes, scratched his head sheepishly, and squatted down to clumsily tie his shoelaces, his concentration no less than when debugging a piece of core code.
The business vehicles that went to the Expo Bureau in Pudong were extended versions, large enough to accommodate the core team.
Zhou Mu and Wang Jian sat on either side of Jiang Yu, like two great protectors; one was a fanatical "technology missionary," and the other was a calm "strategist."
As soon as the car started, Zhou Mu couldn't wait to reopen his "ammunition box" notebook.
The screen lit up, and the complex software interface and dazzling test video instantly attracted everyone's attention.
"Old Jiang, look at this," Zhou Mu said, pointing to a real-time rendered scene on the screen. It was an extremely realistic digital city "growing" under the sunlight. "This is a real-time simulation of the World Expo site generated by our new algorithm. Based on GIS data and countless photo scans, the accuracy can reach the centimeter level."
He tapped a few keys, and the screen switched to display another dazzling stream of data. "Most importantly, we can achieve millisecond-level synchronization between 100,000 levels of dynamic light and shadow particles and the movements of live actors! The error is no more than 3 milliseconds! The human body simply cannot perceive it!"
He grew increasingly excited, gesturing wildly: "We can go all out with the opening ceremony! For example, turn the entire venue into a giant LED screen? No, that's too ordinary! We're going to make the venue disappear!" Using holographic projection and real-time rendering, we'll take the audience directly to the deep sea, into space, and into a burgeoning future forest! The performers won't just be on stage; they'll be forest spirits, astronauts in space, and bioluminescent creatures from the deep sea! The audience will see a completely different enhancement layer through our simple AR glasses or a mobile app—"
Zhou Mu's description was wildly imaginative, interspersed with a lot of technical terms such as "photon mapping," "neural radiation field," and "dynamic occlusion culling," leaving Wang Wei and the other non-technical staff members in a daze.
Jiang Yu understood. Not only did he understand, but he was also able to quickly grasp the core of the commercial and artistic value in Zhou Mu's crazy ideas.
"That sounds great, Zhou Mu." Jiang Yu nodded. "We need to consider a few practical issues: First, cost. How much is the hardware investment for this 'virtual-real fusion fantasy show'? Second, reliability. The Olympics are four hours long; the opening and closing ceremonies of the World Expo might be even longer. How long can your system last without errors? Third, the message and cultural expression. No matter how dazzling the technology, it can't deviate from the World Expo's theme of 'Better City, Better Life,' and it needs to convey the message China wants to convey."
Zhou Mu adjusted his glasses, his expression shifting from fervor to the seriousness characteristic of a technical expert: "The cost is higher than traditional large-scale LEDs..."
The solution is 30% faster, but the visual improvement is orders of magnitude. Reliability—our system for the Olympics underwent a 48-hour stress test with no continuous failures.
He pulled up another video showing how a virtual "future Shanghai," filled with green plants and clean energy equipment, grows from a seed into a towering tree.
"As for thematic expression, technology serves creativity. We have prepared dozens of theme templates, which can fully accommodate any whimsical ideas from the director team."
At this moment, Wang Jian cleared his throat and took over the conversation.
His style is completely different from Zhou Mu's, leaning more towards grand systemic narratives and cool-headed data analysis.
"President Jiang, the scenario described by President Zhou will generate massive amounts of data."
Wang Jian opened his tablet and pulled up a carefully prepared PowerPoint presentation. "Assuming we follow President Zhou's plan, with tens of millions of audience members attending the two-hour opening ceremony, and each person generating an average of 500KB of interactive data per second through AR devices, the total data flow would be astronomical. This doesn't even include the data from the backend real-time rendering cluster, media distribution, security monitoring, and other systems."
He presented a complex architecture diagram: "In order to cope with such instantaneous peaks, traditional data center models must configure hardware according to the maximum possible load, which means that a large portion of resources are idle most of the time, which is a huge waste."
He switched slides to demonstrate a dynamically scaling resource pool model, explaining, "Our Light and Shadow Cloud Platform can achieve elastic allocation of computing and storage resources. It automatically reduces capacity when demand is low, saving energy and costs; when demand surges, it can mobilize resources from global backup nodes within minutes for instant expansion."
Wang Jian's laser pointer moved across the chart: "More importantly, our proposed 'free trial' program is not simply charity. First, this is the first full-scale practical application of cloud computing technology at a top-tier global event; the value of a successful case study is immeasurable. Second, the process of serving the World Expo itself is the best test of our platform under extreme pressure, exposing problems and optimizing the system—this 'tuition' is worthwhile. Third..."
He looked at Jiang Yu, his gaze profound, "If successful, when we negotiate smart city and digital government projects with governments in Shanghai and across the country, the World Expo will be our most shining calling card. This is equivalent to opening the door to a future market worth hundreds of billions with a single concentrated investment."
As Jiang Yu listened, his fingers unconsciously tapped lightly on his knees.
Zhou Mu and Wang Jian, one charging forward from the perspective of technological excellence, and the other flanking from the perspective of ecological strategy, cooperated tacitly. Although their styles were very different, their goals were the same.
This chemistry between top talents is exactly the effect he has been pursuing by investing heavily in building his team over the years.
"Regarding the cost issue that Mr. Wang Jian mentioned," Jiang Yu began, his voice steady, "the hardware depreciation during the one-year free period, bandwidth..."
The group can cover the electricity and manpower costs. But this investment needs to yield a clear strategic return. Besides the demonstration effect you just mentioned, I need you to do two things: First, all operational data during the World Expo, after being anonymized, must become the core fuel for our algorithm optimization and the development of next-generation cloud products. Second, take this opportunity to embed our technical standards and interface specifications into the World Expo infrastructure as much as possible, forming a de facto industry standard. Can you do that?
Wang Jian's eyes sharpened: "Technically, it's entirely possible. We've prepared a complete set of APIs and protocol stacks that conform to mainstream international standards while incorporating our unique optimizations. Once the World Expo adopts it, subsequent maintenance, upgrades, and expansions will be very difficult to bypass us. This is what's called vendor lock-in; we'll package it as best practice" and a "smooth evolution path."
"Very good." Jiang Yu nodded in satisfaction, then looked at Zhou Mu. "As for you, Zhou, the great scientist, I have complete confidence in your technical implementation. But remember, this is a national project, not our own laboratory. Communication, coordination, and processes—these mundane tasks might be more mentally taxing than writing code. I will have Wang Wei coordinate and draw a PM team from the group with experience in large-scale government projects to assist you. Your task is to ensure the technology amazes the world, and their task is to ensure all processes are compliant and smooth. Can you manage this division of labor and collaboration?"
Zhou Mu scratched his head, somewhat embarrassed: "Old Jiang, I know I'm sometimes—not very good at talking. Last time at the technical review meeting with the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television, I think I confused one of the senior experts, and he later complained that I was using 'official documents' to fool people—I'll definitely be more careful this time! I brought a notebook to write down all the non-technical questions I might encounter and practice my answers beforehand!"
A burst of good-natured laughter filled the car, and even the usually serious Wang Jian's lips curved into a smile.
At 10:25 a.m., the convoy arrived at the modern office building of the World Expo Coordination Bureau.
.
In the plaza in front of the building, a huge bright red countdown clock for the World Expo stands out, and the blue silhouette of the mascot "Haibao" is everywhere.
The group was led to a spacious and brightly lit conference room.
Chen Gang, deputy director of the World Expo Bureau, was already seated at the oval conference table.
He was around fifty years old, with his hair neatly combed, wearing a light-colored shirt of high-quality material, without a tie, which made him look capable yet approachable.
Beside him were Li Ming, the head of the technology department, a middle-aged man wearing thick glasses; Zhao Fang, the director of the opening and closing ceremony operations center; a woman with a neat and efficient demeanor; and several consultants and experts from universities and research institutes.
"Director Chen, hello. I apologize for bothering you in your busy schedule." Jiang Yu stepped forward first, with a polite smile and a firm handshake.
"President Jiang! Welcome, welcome!"
Chen Gang stood up to greet him, his smile warm and enthusiastic. "Your Light Chaser Group is really famous now! My kid was mesmerized by the Avatar trailer and keeps asking me if I know anyone from that company. And the Olympics, you've truly brought glory to our country!"
After exchanging pleasantries and taking their seats, the staff quietly served tea.
After a few pleasantries, Chen Gang quickly got to the point: "President Jiang, you must have some in-depth ideas about the technological support for our World Expo, especially in the areas of digital vision and information technology, since you've brought a team here this time. We are indeed looking for something that can reflect international standards..."
A partner that can also showcase China's innovative capabilities.
Jiang Yu nodded slightly, gesturing to the two key figures beside him: "Director Chen, distinguished leaders, experts. These two beside me are the core leaders of our group in their respective fields. Zhou Mu, Chief Scientist of Guangying Digital, was the chief technical director of the digital special effects for the opening and closing ceremonies of last year's Olympic Games. Zhu Jian, CEO of Guangying Cloud, leads the team of the only cloud computing platform in Asia currently deployed on a large scale for commercial use."
Zhou Mu and Wang Jian stood up to greet each other. Zhou Mu seemed a little nervous and subconsciously tried to push up his glasses, but then put his hand down halfway through.
Wang Jian, on the other hand, was much more composed. He bowed slightly and calmly met the gazes of everyone present.
"We are deeply honored to have the opportunity to participate in such a national event." Jiang Yu's tone was sincere and confident. "We believe that the 2010 Shanghai World Expo should not only showcase the latest global scientific and technological achievements, but also become a benchmark for demonstrating China's cutting-edge innovation capabilities in the digital age. We have prepared two preliminary plans, and we welcome your criticism and suggestions."
Zhou Mu was the first to take the stage. With Wang Wei's assistance, they quickly connected the equipment and dimmed the conference room lights.
The huge projection screen lit up.
There was no lengthy introduction; instead, it was a breathtaking five-minute visual feast.
The video begins with footage of the Expo site, which is still under construction.
Then, the camera zooms out, and the CGI-generated building "grows" out of the ground as if it were alive. The China Pavilion, "Oriental Crown," shimmers with a jade-like warmth and a metallic chill under the sunlight, its surface flowing with dreamlike light and shadow as if it came from Pandora in Avatar.
The camera moves between the various venues, and the futuristic buildings seem to come alive, breathing and changing colors slightly in rhythm with the background music.
Then, the scene switches to a simulated opening ceremony stadium.
Tens of thousands of seats were filled to capacity. Suddenly, the entire stadium floor, walls, and even the sky were "swallowed up" and replaced by a boundless deep-sea scene.
A giant virtual whale slowly swims across the "seabed," scattering glowing scales.
Live dancers, dressed in specially made costumes, perform swimming movements on stage, surrounded by schools of tropical fish made of light particles. Their movements are perfectly synchronized, as if they were one with one body.
The scene changes again, leaping from the deep sea into space.
The Earth's curves unfold beneath your feet, and stars cascade down like a waterfall.
The actors transform into astronauts, dancing gracefully in "weightlessness," and the "planets" they touch ripple with dazzling waves.
The most stunning scene appears at the end: all the virtual images recede like a tide, and the stadium returns to its original state.
But the next second, countless tiny, glowing "seeds" drifted down from the sky and landed on the audience seats.
Through the AR perspective, viewers can see these "seeds" take root and sprout in their hands, instantly growing into miniature botanical gardens representing different countries and cultures, eventually connecting to form a vibrant "world garden".
The image freezes on a line of text: "Cities make life better; digital empowerment, the future is here."
The lights came back on.
The conference room was completely silent; you could hear a pin drop.
Several experts stared, their mouths agape, unable to close them.
Li Ming, the technology minister, didn't even notice that his glasses had slipped down to the tip of his nose.
Zhao Fang, director of the opening and closing ceremony center, had an incredibly bright eye, her fingers tapping on the table as she quickly considered the possibilities and artistic effects.
Deputy Director Chen Gang took a deep breath, slowly exhaled, and his face showed undisguised amazement: "Was this really made with a computer? Or was it just live footage with post-production?"
Zhou Mu had now entered "technical explanation mode," his tension vanished, leaving only a fervent pride in his own technology.
"Director Chen, it's all a combination of real-time rendering and pre-rendered CGI. In the demo video we just played, 70% of the footage was generated in real-time by the engine; only the most complex panoramas used pre-rendering. If we were given enough server clusters and a live optical tracking system, we could replicate 80% of the effects in the video at the opening ceremony! The error would be within the range that the naked eye can perceive!"
He stood up, walked to the curtain, and began to explain the core technology in relatively simple language: "The core of our system is based on our self-developed 'Zhulong' real-time rendering engine and 'Fuxi' intelligent motion capture system. The 'Zhulong' engine is five to eight times more efficient than traditional commercial engines in processing large-scale scenes and particle systems. The 'Fuxi' system, on the other hand, can use ordinary cameras placed around the venue to perform sub-millimeter-level motion capture on hundreds of actors without the need for wearable equipment, and drive virtual characters or special effects in real time—"
He got so excited that he even pulled out a palm-sized motion capture sensor from his bag and demonstrated how to control a virtual Chinese dragon on the screen to perform actions such as circling, soaring, and breathing fire through subtle hand gestures.
The dragon was incredibly lifelike, with its scales reflecting light and its muscles moving with incredible realism, leaving the leaders and experts present in awe.
"Regarding costs," Zhou Mu concluded, his tone serious, "we've calculated it carefully. If we adopt the highest-spec solution, including hardware, software, on-site deployment, technical support, and an on-site team, the total cost will be approximately this amount."
He brought up a number on the tablet and showed it to Chen Gang and the others.
Minister Li Ming adjusted his glasses, examined the number carefully, and raised an eyebrow: "It's at least 25% lower than the quotes from several top international special effects companies we contacted before. And the effect demonstrations they provided were nowhere near as stunning."
Director Zhao Fang asked directly, "How reliable is the technology? The Olympics only lasts a little over four hours, and the World Expo opening ceremony may be more complex and longer. There can be no mistakes."
Zhou Mu immediately pulled up another document: "This is the full-cycle operation log and fault-free time report of the Olympic Games system."
We conducted a continuous 120-hour stress test, achieving a system stability of 99.999%. For the World Expo, we plan to adopt a triple-redundancy architecture: the core servers, network links, and even the power supply will be three independent systems operating in parallel. If any one system fails, the other two can seamlessly take over, without the audience or performers noticing anything.
Chen Gang exchanged a few words of advice with Li Ming and Zhao Fang in hushed tones, nodding frequently.
Clearly, the technical strength, proven track record, and highly competitive pricing demonstrated by Light & Shadow Digital have impressed them.
Next, it was Wang Jian's turn to take the stage.
His presentation style was completely different from Zhou Mu's visually striking approach; it was more like a logically rigorous and data-driven academic report.
The first page of the PPT features a concise and powerful title: "Cloud Empowerment, Smart Expo, Light and Shadow Cloud Full-Stack Solution".
"Distinguished leaders," Wang Jian's voice was steady and clear, "President Zhou has painted an extremely brilliant picture of the future for us. However, the amount of data that needs to be processed to realize this future is unprecedented."
He presented a dynamic chart: "According to the preliminary estimates of President Zhou's plan, the peak core interaction and rendering data generated by a single opening and closing ceremony may reach hundreds of TB per second. This does not include the ticketing system and the data generated by 70 million visitors throughout the event, such as visits, consumption, location, and multimedia uploads. Traditional data center models require huge upfront investments in building ultra-large-scale server rooms to cope with such instantaneous massive concurrency and long-term data accumulation. However, after the World Expo, these resources are likely to be largely idle, resulting in a huge waste of financial and social resources."
He switched slides to demonstrate the elastic architecture model of the Light and Shadow Cloud: "Our cloud platform can pool and dynamically allocate computing, storage, and network resources. During the World Expo, we allocate only what is needed. During peak periods, we can instantly mobilize backup resources located in data centers in Shanghai, Suzhou, and even Guizhou, and aggregate them to the World Expo site via a high-speed private network. During off-peak periods, resources are automatically released, saving energy. According to our simulations, adopting the cloud model can reduce overall IT investment by more than 40%, energy consumption by 60%, while significantly improving the system's flexibility, scalability, and resilience."
He then showcased security solutions (multi-layered encryption, off-site disaster recovery, and end-to-end monitoring), green and energy-saving solutions (self-developed liquid-cooled servers and intelligent temperature control systems), and several highly attractive application scenarios: "For example, we can generate personalized digital Expo passports for each visitor," recording in real time the pavilions visited, activities participated in, and photos taken, automatically generating exquisite digital souvenir albums. We can establish an AI-based crowd prediction and management system to provide early warnings of congestion and optimize tour routes. We can build an ultra-high-speed Wi-Fi 6 network covering the entire park, ensuring visitors can seamlessly access all digital services anytime, anywhere."
Finally, Wang Jian unveiled his long-prepared trump card, speaking solemnly: "In order to fully support the Shanghai World Expo and demonstrate the determination and capability of China's cloud computing industry, Guangying Cloud is willing to provide the World Expo with a year of free platform infrastructure services, including core resources at the IaaS and PaaS layers, as well as top-level technical support throughout the entire process."
"Free?" Director Zhao Fang couldn't help but repeat in surprise.
Minister Li Ming also frowned, his eyes filled with scrutiny.
When commercial companies offer free services, in our experience with government projects, it often means hidden bundled consumption, data risks, or immature technology.
The atmosphere in the meeting room became subtle.
Jiang Yu took over the conversation at the opportune moment.
He leaned forward slightly, placed his hands crossed on the table, and looked frankly at Chen Gang: "Director Chen, esteemed leaders, I understand your concerns. 'Free' sounds like a marketing gimmick. But please allow me to explain our true considerations."
His voice was soft, but every word was clear: "First, this is indeed a strategic investment. If the World Expo successfully utilizes our cloud platform, it will become a milestone event in the history of global cloud computing development. The brand value brought by this benchmark case..."
The industry influence and subsequent business opportunities far outweigh our short-term service revenue. Secondly, as Mr. Zhu Jian stated, serving a project as large-scale and high-concurrency as the World Expo is the ultimate test and refinement of our platform's capabilities. Exposing and solving problems will allow Guangying Cloud to mature faster and serve a wider range of customers more stably. This learning experience is crucial to our own growth. Thirdly, and most fundamentally…”
He paused, his gaze sweeping over everyone present: "Since its inception, Chasing Light Group has been rooted in China. All our achievements are inseparable from the opportunities and support provided by this land. Our entire group, from management to engineers, feels incredibly honored and excited to have the opportunity to contribute to this nationally significant and globally watched event held on our doorstep. It is both a responsibility and an honor. Therefore, we are willing to undertake more upfront investment in exchange for an opportunity to participate in its construction and jointly create history."
These words not only clarified the business logic but also expressed a sense of national sentiment, striking a perfect balance.
Chen Gang's expression softened considerably, and his eyes revealed approval.
Jiang Yu continued, "Of course, 'free' refers to basic platform resources and services. Any customized development beyond the standard service scope, additional security audit requirements, or extra hardware and bandwidth consumption due to special needs will be calculated at a cost price far below market standards. All cost details will be completely transparent and open to audit and supervision by the Expo Bureau and any third-party institutions. Our goal is to create a World Expo that is technologically advanced, offers the best experience, and operates with the most intelligent technology, not to seek short-term improper gains."
These words completely dispelled Minister Li Ming's last concerns. He nodded and looked at Chen Gang.
Deputy Director Chen Gang pondered for a moment, then lightly tapped the table with his fingers, finally revealing his first truly relaxed smile of the day: "General Manager Jiang, General Manager Zhou, General Manager Wang, thank you so much! Thank you so much for your brilliant proposal and this heartfelt sincerity!"
He glanced around at his colleagues and advisors: "The technology of Light and Shadow Digital has shown us that China has reached a world-class level in high-performance computing and digital vision, and has even taken the lead in some aspects. The concept of Light and Shadow Cloud is very cutting-edge and addresses the core pain points we face in the informatization construction of mega-events: how to balance peak performance, long-term costs, and continuous operation. In particular, the concepts of 'elastic scaling' and 'intelligent operation,' as well as the 'digital Expo legacy' concept mentioned by General Manager Jiang, are all extremely strategic and forward-looking."
His tone shifted to a more pragmatic one: "However, the World Expo project involves the national image, has a long decision-making chain, and requires comprehensive evaluation. Regarding digital visual effects, the general director team for the opening and closing ceremonies is still refining their creative concepts. We need to arrange for your technical team to work closely with the directing team to conduct technical feasibility studies and brainstorm creative ideas. As for the cloud computing platform, for the 'free' model, we need to bring in the National Information Technology Security Research Center and a third-party testing agency designated by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology to conduct a comprehensive technical security audit and risk assessment. At the same time, we also need to communicate and coordinate with some existing IT service providers."
"Understood, completely understood." Jiang Yu responded immediately, his attitude positive and cooperative. "We fully respect and are willing to cooperate with all necessary procedures. Zhou Mu's team is ready at any time to conduct any in-depth technical discussions with the production team. As for Wang Jian, we have prepared all the technical white papers, architecture documents, security certification materials, and the testing environment required for third-party evaluations, which can be submitted at any time. We also welcome and fully cooperate with any form of audit and evaluation."
"Great!" Chen Gang stood up, extended his hand to Jiang Yu, "That makes for a very successful start! We will initiate the internal processes as soon as possible and arrange the next steps for coordination. I personally look forward to it very much and am very optimistic about the prospects of our cooperation! I hope that we can join hands to present the world with an unforgettable science and technology expo and a people-oriented expo!"
Jiang Yu, Zhou Mu, Wang Jian, and others also stood up and shook hands with Chen Gang and the others again.
It was 12:30 pm when I left the Expo Bureau building.
Before anyone knew it, the clouds had completely dispersed, and the long-awaited bright sunshine shone on the brand-new streets of Pudong. At the Expo site, tower cranes stood tall, creating a bustling scene.
"I feel like—it's going to be a big deal! And a really big one!" As soon as he got into the van, Zhou Mu pumped his fist, as excited as a child who had just received a new toy. "I noticed the look in Director Chen's eyes when he looked at the virtual forest growing at the end—he was definitely smitten! Director Zhao even secretly asked me if we could try incorporating her idea, the digital representation of the Silk Road, into the demo!"
Wang Jian appeared much calmer, but his eyes betrayed his excitement: "Technical review and third-party evaluation are tough battles, especially since we're threatening the interests of those few IT service providers with whom we have close ties. They won't give up easily. However, the value we offer is a game-changer. As long as the process is open and transparent, we are confident."
Looking out the window at the Shanghai Tower construction site gleaming in the sunlight, Jiang Yu said leisurely, "There will definitely be obstacles. But the World Expo aims for success, brilliance, and unforgettable moments; it aims to showcase China's latest achievements on the world stage. Our technology is robust enough, our solutions are innovative enough, our approach is humble enough, and our costs are attractive enough. These are our biggest advantages. Next, Zhu Jian, you and your team need to prepare for a tough battle, ensuring that the technical details, security plans, and compliance documents are watertight and impeccable. Zhou Mu, your creative collaboration needs to be fast, proactive, and flexible. You need to come up with creative ideas and implementation capabilities that the directing team will feel are indispensable to you."
"Understood!" the two replied in unison, their fighting spirit high.
"Boss," Wang Wei, in the passenger seat, turned around, "as you instructed, I've booked a private room at a quiet restaurant nearby. We can discuss the details while we eat."
"Hmm." Jiang Yu rubbed his temples, his rapidly working brain switching channels.
Lunch was held in a private room at an elegant local restaurant. During the meal, Zhou Mu and Wang Jian had a lively discussion about some technical intersections.
"Old Wang, if the rendering pressure on my 100,000-level dynamic particle system is too great, could you split a portion of it and move it to your cloud for distributed rendering? We'd only do the compositing and output on-site?" Zhou Mu asked, his mouth full of braised pork, his words muffled.
Wang Jian sipped his soup elegantly, pondered for a moment, and said, "It's theoretically feasible, but it requires a dedicated network link with extremely low latency. Moreover, the algorithms for data synchronization and task scheduling need to be deeply customized. After dinner, we can have both teams meet up and do a simple preliminary technical study."
Jiang Yu listened to their discussion, occasionally interjecting a word or two to guide the conversation.
After dinner, on the way to the airport, Jiang Yu gave Zhou Mu and Zhu Jian some final instructions.
He said to Zhou Mu, half-jokingly and half-seriously, "Great Scientist Zhou, you're the technical master for this World Expo project, so just ask for any resources you need. But remember, you're not just an engineer now, you're also the technical lead for this national project. Communicate frequently with your newly assigned PM team, make sure every step of the process is followed and every detail is reported. Mastering the technology is a skill, ensuring the project is successfully launched is a responsibility."
Zhou Mu solemnly pulled out his notebook and wrote down: "Got it, President Jiang! Communicate more, follow the procedures, and have a smooth journey!"
Jiang Yu's tone was more serious as he addressed Wang Jian: "President Wang Jian, our move in cloud computing is a game of chess that will impact the industry for the next decade. The World Expo is the most crucial piece in this game, and it must be played well. Don't skimp on the initial investment; our vision should extend beyond the World Expo to the ocean of smart cities. If you need support at any level within the group, contact Wang Wei or me directly, 24/7."
Wang Jian nodded steadily: "Understood. Safety is the 1, and everything else is the 0. Without the 1, everything is zero. Don't worry."
Pudong Airport, International Departure Terminal.
Zhou Mu and Wang Jian's teams will return to Beijing, while Jiang Yu and Wang Wei will embark on their journey to Suzhou.
At the security checkpoint, Jiang Yu shook hands firmly with the two generals.
"I'm leaving the World Expo to you." Jiang Yu's gaze lingered on the two men's faces for a moment. "Make the World Expo project a new milestone for our group."
"Don't worry, Mr. Jiang!" the two said in unison, their eyes filled with determination.
Once seated in the car, Jiang Yu felt his tense nerves relax a little.
He took out his phone, and there was an unread message on the screen from a familiar profile picture.
I opened it, and it was a message from Liu Yifei, sent just ten minutes ago:
[I heard that General Manager Jiang's "show-off skills" in Shanghai this morning were a great success? Did he dazzle the leaders with your "digital globe"? (playfully sticking out tongue) I just finished a night shoot and urgently need General Manager Jiang's head massage service. When will it arrive?]
The text was followed by a crooked animated emoticon of her rubbing her head, which she had made herself.
Jiang Yu couldn't help but laugh out loud, his fatigue seemingly dissipating considerably. He quickly replied:
The leaders are very clear-headed, but they're quite impressed with our "magic." A big deal is expected. Don't push yourself if you have a headache; getting enough rest is most important. The head massage service has been expedited by "Chasing Light Airlines" and is expected to arrive at Los Angeles International Airport on the 10th of next month. Door-to-door service is available; please check your mail.
The message was sent and received a reply almost instantly:
[Hmph, you're smart to know what's good for you. (Cute emoji) I'll try to hold on a little longer. Remember to think of me.]
Jiang Yu looked at the screen with a gentle gaze.
His simple "Mm" contained a thousand words.