Spin-off Impact

For a period of time after that, there was one more happy person in the world, but also one sad country.

— —

Professor Zhou Shuiyi, as usual, rode his vintage ‘er ba da gang’ bicycle through the Xia Bei University campus. This type of bicycle didn’t belong to this century at all, but he had a special fondness for things that exuded a sense of history.

If you looked closely at his attire, you would find that the clothes he wore didn't use plastic buttons, but old-fashioned cloth buttons.

Though only in his forties, a black and white goatee, about ten centimeters long, hung from his chin, and his face always showed traces of smoke and fire.

He was just missing a pole with a fortune-telling sign, and his demeanor would be indistinguishable from a wandering sorcerer.

The entire Xia Bei University knew about him, this mascot, and even many students who had graduated years ago, when recalling their four years of university life, would involuntarily recall several images of Professor Zhou Shuiyi.

Students at Xia Bei University couldn't say how many national feature majors their alma mater had, but no one didn't know Professor Zhou Shuiyi.

He was like a lazy old cat, always occupying the den that was Xia Bei University.

So why could such a person still be a professor?

Who told Professor Zhou Shuiyi to study liberal arts? (To be precise, Professor Zhou Shuiyi majored in Computer Science for his undergraduate degree, and traditional philosophy for his master's and doctoral degrees.)

In earlier years, many students at Xia Bei University were indignant about this. They felt that the existence of someone like Professor Zhou Shuiyi was the greatest insult to knowledge.

They had protested, but in an era when the internet was not well-developed, no matter how much they protested, it wouldn't make much of a splash.

Many former students, even at graduation, would still say: “Information will always become more and more developed in the future. Professor Zhou Shuiyi cannot hide here forever; he will be exposed sooner or later.”

Many years have passed since then. Well, information has indeed become more and more developed. But everyone's perception of Professor Zhou Shuiyi has changed again.

Aside from holding the title of professor, Professor Zhou Shuiyi cared about nothing else.

Not only would he not compete with colleagues for quotas, but he was also very good to his students—almost no one failed a course under him. As a result, students liked to enroll in his elective courses.

Professor Zhou Shuiyi mainly taught traditional philosophy related to the I Ching and other Daoist teachings. He emphasized the Daoist principle of 'qing jing wu wei' (purity, tranquility, and non-action)—students could come or not. Coming was fate, and not coming was also fate.

Consequently, Professor Zhou Shuiyi gradually became the de facto mascot of Xia Bei University. If all Xia Bei University alumni were to vote to re-elect a logo, they would definitely vote to put Professor Zhou Shuiyi on it.

The world is like this, constantly changing.

As students increasingly read about the world through the internet, they became more tolerant of Professor Zhou Shuiyi.

So much so that at alumni gatherings, Professor Zhou Shuiyi was the most frequently invited teacher to attend. There was no one else.

Students later gradually heard a rumor: it was said that Professor Zhou Shuiyi's father was afraid he would starve to death, which is why he secured a teaching position for him.

Of course, this process was completely legal and compliant in terms of procedure, without any flaws.

Many students returning to campus years later couldn't help but apologize to their Professor Zhou in their hearts, apologizing for their impulsive recklessness back then. Because in this era where even 'shit, piss, and farts' can be used to write poetry, Professor Zhou is definitely a rare breath of fresh air.

On this day, Professor Zhou Shuiyi arrived at his office as usual.

Unexpectedly, a group of teachers from the Computer Science Department of his university were waiting for him.

The eyes of the gathered people showed a fervent intensity, forming a stark contrast with Professor Zhou Shuiyi's indifference.

“Professor Zhou, you've gone viral!”

“What Professor Zhou,” someone immediately retorted, “It’s Professor Zhou.”

Soon, someone held up a phone to show Professor Zhou Shuiyi a piece of news.

Professor Zhou Shuiyi's pocket contained an old-fashioned phone that could only make calls; he had no interest in today's mobile internet.

To not disappoint everyone's enthusiasm, Professor Zhou Shuiyi adjusted his glasses and focused his gaze on the phone screen in front of him.

【Professor at Longguo University Applies Feng Shui to AI Field, Receives Strong Retweet from Musk!】

“Professor Zhou, when did you get to know the world's richest man?”

“Yes, you actually combined Feng Shui and AI, that's amazing! Hurry and tell us about it.”

.

.

Professor Zhou Shuiyi looked blank, thought for a long while, “Who is Musk?”

“Huh?” Everyone was puzzled, “We all saw your paper. It's that paper you published several years ago, where you first proposed the combination of Feng Shui and AI. Wasn't it you who sent that email to Musk?”

“I don't know what you're talking about.”

Professor Zhou Shuiyi found everyone very noisy. After enduring for a long time, he turned and fled the office.

After returning to his residence, he opened his laptop and found the paper he had casually published many years ago.

A rare smile appeared at the corner of his mouth. Because finally, someone had realized the significance of Feng Shui to this world.

He had almost forgotten that his undergraduate major was Computer Science, and the original intention of writing that paper was to try to interpret Feng Shui using computers from an AI perspective.

But Professor Zhou Shuiyi obviously didn't manage to explain himself clearly.

However, now someone had picked up the fragmented pieces from the corner of his memory. So, naturally, he was very happy.

— —

After Musk posted that update, and after everyone realized that the Feng Shui AI model's Feng Shui parameters naturally considered astronomical factors, people's curiosity became insatiable.

So, naturally, people started searching through various international academic databases, and thus, they logically stumbled upon Professor Zhou Shuiyi's obscure paper.

The paper's readership in the years after its publication was not as high as its readership in one minute at this moment.

Because Professor Zhou Shuiyi's paper was the first to mention Feng Shui and AI, he naturally gained attention.

Many young people in Longguo are waiting to publish papers. This topic, which was personally endorsed by a leader in the tech world and is currently experiencing explosive traffic, naturally gained everyone's attention.

Many teachers at Xia Bei University now hoped that Professor Zhou Shuiyi could help recommend their papers.

Anyway, what the paper actually said was secondary; gaining attention was the main thing.

Just like the storm of ChatGPT earlier, the AI community on the other side of the Pacific is now brewing a second storm related to Feng Shui.

And within Longguo's AI community, some even shouted a slogan—