The biggest trouble with hacking 2

When they left Good Group, the Group Vice President and the Zijin Branch General Manager saw them off all the way to the elevator entrance in the underground garage.

As soon as Professor Zhang turned around with Lin Yuan, he put away the smile that had been plastered on his face for the entire interaction.

And once they got into the car and the door closed, Professor Zhang’s first words were, “When you give them the technical documents, hold back a little. It’s like dealing with OCR, you need to reveal some things and hide others.”

“Huh?”

“Commercial companies have no bottom line, especially companies in the internet industry.”

“But I thought those two just now seemed quite friendly.”

Professor Zhang was busy backing up the car and did not immediately answer Lin Yuan. Only after the car started moving forward did he say softly, “Sometimes, it’s not up to them. Commercial companies have their own rules. Think about Tencent, how many small businesses it has killed.”

Lin Yuan suddenly realized, he felt like a child who had suddenly stepped into a dark forest.

Lin Yuan was not a complete novice without any social experience; he had already imagined that Good Group might not act honorably. But now, hearing it from his mentor and seeing his mentor’s expression, it was clear that the potential risks were much greater than he had imagined.

“I, as your mentor, don’t like to do research behind closed doors, and I’m not the type who can endure solitude. So, I’ve dealt with various companies quite a bit. I’ve witnessed the development of our country’s internet over the past two decades with my own eyes.

Although impressive achievements have been made, the various dangers behind these achievements are beyond what a young person like you can imagine. You see it rise to great heights, and you see it collapse.

The internet is deeply intertwined with personal daily life, public opinion control, and finance. In short, it’s a big dyeing vat, a huge mishmash…”

Lin Yuan interjected at the right time, “Well, I have my mentor to advise me anyway.”

“Eh, I’m not interested in those things in companies. I’m just sitting there with you so they don’t purely bully you like a child.

Let’s not talk about this anymore, we’ll take it one step at a time.”

“I think so too.” Lin Yuan’s original intention was very simple: to get rich. But what the future would hold, who knew?

Many things Lin Yuan hadn't thought of beforehand. For example: his mentor specifically accompanied him on this trip. It wasn't about whether his mentor was willing to come with him, but rather the necessity of his mentor accompanying him.

Previously, Lin Yuan naively thought: he would submit his algorithm, then Good Group would take it seriously, then they would give him a part-time job, and after promotions and salary increases, his living expenses for graduate school would be secured.

Lin Yuan’s original intention was that simple—first, solve his immediate financial difficulties, and worry about other things later.

But if his mentor hadn't given him this push, his algorithm might have been submitted and ended up becoming the work product of the Good Group Zijin Branch’s technical department.

So complicated!

The current real world suddenly gave Lin Yuan a sense of confusion similar to when he faced the system. Lin Yuan had the system, but regarding the system’s rules, he had always been in a state of partial understanding. It was the same when facing the real world; he felt he understood a lot, but when he encountered new things, he found he still didn’t understand many things.

‘No wonder some people say: confusion and chaos are the truth of the universe.’

“Oh, right,” Professor Zhang’s voice came again, “I really didn’t expect your algorithm draft to attract so much attention from them. Using algorithms to produce algorithms, this sounds unreliable at first, but commercial companies are all about profit. They must have smelled the commercial value behind your algorithm.

Your mentor is also very curious about the technical details behind your algorithm. Tell me about it when you have time. Don’t hold back from your mentor,”

Lin Yuan immediately responded, “Of course I won’t, I will tell you everything I know.”

“Don’t worry, if I truly loved money, I would have had plenty of opportunities to make it over these decades. My personality also isn’t suited for starting a business. I’m purely curious about the technical details.”

“Mentor, what are you talking about? How could I think that of you?” This was not just a polite remark from Lin Yuan. If it weren’t for the algorithm using the system’s cheat, he would have been very willing to share it unreservedly with his mentor. Even if it were just out of reciprocity, he would do so.

“I emphasize these things to you because I want to tell you that you must be wary of others. In the future, if your senior brothers ask you about your algorithm, you’d best consider it carefully. You cannot just blindly consider the bond of fellow disciples. Alas, they are at an age where they need money.”

Professor Zhang did not elaborate further, but Lin Yuan already understood.

Alright, now Lin Yuan finally got his wish: he successfully attracted the attention of Good Group’s top management, and computing resources would soon be allocated from the headquarters. The computing resources obtained for free from OCR, even at his mentor’s deliberate instigation, were about to become Lin Yuan’s private piggy bank.

Based on Lin Yuan’s understanding of his mentor, his mentor must have had other considerations, which was why he urged him not to cut ties with OCR. As for how to deal with the profits obtained for free from OCR, Lin Yuan felt awkward asking his mentor, “Should I split it with you?” because excessive politeness would imply estrangement.

Lin Yuan recalled his mentor’s complaints about 3YC: like squeezing toothpaste, new technologies were hidden away.

Then, when he made a lot of money, he would buy his mentor a new car. However, this idea was clearly a bit too grand for Lin Yuan, who couldn't even support a wife at the moment.

After getting what he wished for, troubles followed one after another.

When a cheater turns on the cheat, he first has to worry if the cheat will work. After it works, he has to worry about how to hide the fact that he's cheating.

Lin Yuan now needed to find a logically self-consistent excuse for his algorithm.

The phrase “letting algorithms produce algorithms” might work for bluffing people in the early stages, but if it came down to reproducing every step of the implementation process, it definitely wouldn’t pass his mentor’s scrutiny.

Even when he had dinner with Xia Ye that day, Lin Yuan was still in low spirits because of this trouble.

And Xia Ye was also downcast because of her impending semi-unemployment.

“What’s wrong? Is delivering food too tiring?”

“I’m a bit dizzy from studying for the exam.” Lin Yuan found a random excuse.

“Oh? You’re really preparing for graduate school?”

Lin Yuan had previously told Xia Ye that he was preparing for graduate school at Zijin Aviation School.

“Yes.”

“I haven’t been in the mood to study recently, I’m almost broke.”

Looking at Xia Ye’s aggrieved expression, Lin Yuan found her somewhat cute, so he reached out and pinched her little face. Xia Ye just sat there, letting him pinch her several times.

This made Lin Yuan feel much better, “Did your good friend give you any more bad ideas?”

“Xiao Xiao? She’s busy lately, let me show you.” Xia Ye opened DY and showed Lin Yuan Song Xiaoxiao’s personal account.

“Wow, two thousand followers! That’s fast.”

“She’s thinking about how to become an internet celebrity all day now.”

“That’s good too, at least she won’t have the energy to give you bad ideas anymore.”

“I really want to follow you to deliver food.”

“I was joking with you then, how could I really let you follow me to deliver food? When my salary for this month is settled in these two days, I’ll give you some support. You should continue your original life. It’s good to have some free time, rest, and go dancing at school. There’s no need to be so tired.”

“No. It’s not easy for you to earn money delivering food.”

Good Group had just sent Lin Yuan a part-time contract via email.

It hired Lin Yuan as a technical consultant for one year. The working hours were flexible, with a monthly salary of 22K. Other incentives would be discussed based on the algorithm test results.

In addition, a one-time bonus of 100,000 yuan was promised to commend Lin Yuan’s outstanding work results during his one-month internship.

As long as Lin Yuan signed the contract tomorrow, the bonus would be credited to his account on the same day.

Therefore, Lin Yuan could now afford to support a wife.

However, this salary is actually not much in the internet industry. Good Group maintained the usual characteristic of commercial companies—they don’t show their hand until they see a clear benefit. The real big money lay in subsequent incentives.

But even so, for Lin Yuan and Xia Ye, it was already a significant amount of money.