Chapter 957
The Conscience of Enterprises
"Let's talk about transportation first."
Wang Donglai sat down again, picked up a marker, and drew a simple map on the whiteboard: the outline of Tangdu City, several main roads, and the locations of the High-tech Zone, Aerospace Base, and Tang Imperial City.
"The current traffic pressure in Tangdu is not essentially due to insufficient road width, but rather to the low efficiency of traffic resource distribution. And the bottleneck in this distribution efficiency is not on the roads, but in the 'brain' of the city; the city's intelligent dispatch system has not yet been established."
He pulled up a document and pushed it to Wu Qingsong.
“Wa has redone a city-wide traffic simulation, obtaining real-time traffic flow data from all major roads. The results are clear: as long as traffic lights at intersections are networked, parking space availability information is synchronized, and buses and ride-hailing services are uniformly dispatched, traffic efficiency can be increased by 20% to 30% with existing road resources. The underlying technology of this solution is massive amounts of real-time data and AI dispatching algorithms, which the municipal government can directly access without needing to build an additional data center. Galaxy Technology is willing to provide this technology free of charge.”
Wu Qingsong picked up the document, flipped through a few pages, and said excitedly, "No need to build an additional data center? How much cost can be saved then?"
"How much is saved is not the point."
Wang Donglai's tone remained firm: "The key point is that this system can be launched in two months. Before the subway is built, it can reduce the time during morning and evening rush hours to an acceptable range. It won't go back to the way it was before, but it's enough to keep the city running. If we can get through these two or three years, once the rail transit framework is in place, and with the help of driverless ride-hailing vehicles for the last few kilometers of connections, the overall travel efficiency will leap to another level."
Liu Zhiyuan nodded and wrote a few lines in his notebook. He knew the value of this solution. Intelligent transportation systems themselves were not new, but the high-computing AI that could schedule millions of mobile terminals in real time was currently only available from Galaxy Technology.
Moreover, once this system is running successfully in Tangdu, it can be directly replicated in any city across the country.
This is not only Tangdu's solution, but also a new track that can be industrialized.
"In terms of education."
Wang Donglai pulled out a research report labeled "Galaxy Education" from the pile of documents and opened it to a page.
"The traditional approach is to build schools and recruit teachers. This logic is correct, but waiting for the buildings to be built, the teachers to be recruited, and the teachers to be trained and put into their positions takes too long. Today's children can't afford to wait that long."
He pointed to the whiteboard and wrote down a core concept: "We break down teaching into two parts: repetitive and standardized parts, such as homework correction, learning analysis, and personalized exercise recommendations. These tasks consume a lot of teachers' time, which should be used for more irreplaceable tasks. AI can take over this part, and the quality is no less than that of experienced teachers. It won't get tired, it won't be emotional, and it can generate a student's learning diagnosis for the entire semester in one minute."
He wrote the words "Master Teacher Leading the Class" next to "AI".
"On the other hand, truly high-quality teaching resources should not be confined to a few schools. We plan to bring together the best teachers in the city to create a set of high-quality online courses covering all grade levels, from elementary to high school, starting with the core subjects. This set of courses is not the kind of MOOC that is 'recorded and uploaded online,' but rather dynamic and interactive. AI will accurately recommend knowledge points that need to be strengthened based on the student's weaknesses and provide corresponding explanations from renowned teachers. What does this mean? It means that a student in a rural middle school can listen to the same class taught by a top-level teacher as a student in Tangdu Jiaotong University Affiliated High School. It's not about getting a good teacher by luck, but about using technology to infinitely replicate the teaching abilities of good teachers."
Wu Qingsong stood up and walked to the whiteboard to look closely at the drawing Wang Donglai had made.
He had seen countless proposals, the vast majority of which required money, land, and government positions.
Wang Donglai's proposal not only rejected the idea, but also offered something of even greater value: sharing educational resources, freeing teachers from repetitive tasks, and entrusting students' personalized learning paths to AI.
If this is accomplished, its significance will extend beyond just relieving the pressure on degree programs in Tangdu; it could also spread a new set of standards throughout the province and even the entire country.
"It's just about opening up this system..."
Liu Zhiyuan suddenly spoke up, "If other cities also want it, how should it be distributed?"
Wang Donglai nodded, as if acknowledging the insightful question.
"For now, we'll give it to Tangdu. Once things are running smoothly here, when we roll it out to the second batch, we'll not only provide course resources, but also the underlying computing power interface, AI training framework, and teacher training programs. We'll make it a continuously evolving public education foundation."
He paused, then added softly, "Of course, for this model to truly take off, we still need to solve a key problem: how to make teachers work better with AI assistance, rather than more overworked. We plan to pilot it in a few schools in Tangdu first, collecting real feedback from teachers, students, principals, and parents. After several iterations, we'll consider rolling it out. No matter how advanced the technology is, we can't achieve full coverage right away; that wouldn't solve the problem, it would create new ones."
Liu Zhiyuan wrote down the logic of "pilot first, then iterate, and finally roll out" exactly as it was in his notebook, and even emphasized a few words.
He has seen too many policy proposals that start with grand promises but end up being a complete mess when actually implemented.
It's rare to have such self-control.
"The approach is similar in the medical field."
Wang Donglai pulled out a blue-covered report, still smelling of fresh ink, from the pile of documents beside him and placed it on the table.
"Galaxy Technology is developing an upgraded version of the 'Bian Que System.' What level has the current iteration reached? When interpreting images—CT scans, X-rays, and ultrasounds—the AI's accuracy is comparable to that of doctors with over a decade of clinical experience, and even surpasses humans in detecting some rare lesions. This can quickly alleviate the pressure on radiology and ultrasound departments in top-tier hospitals. Patients won't have to wait in long lines for specialists to interpret their images; the AI will screen them first, and only problematic images will be submitted to doctors for final review. Similarly, initial diagnoses of common illnesses—colds and fevers, hypertension follow-ups, and diabetes management—can be delegated to community hospitals. With the assistance of the Bian Que System, community doctors can handle most basic illnesses that currently require specialist outpatient visits. In this way, the pressure on large hospitals is distributed, the level of community hospitals is raised, and the tiered healthcare system can truly be implemented. This isn't just a slogan; it's about using system capabilities to make 'tiered' a viable process."
He glanced at Liu Zhiyuan and added, "This system has already undergone tens of thousands of tests at Tangdu Jiaotong University Affiliated Hospital, and the data is impressive. But we're not in a hurry to roll it out on a large scale. We'll stick to the old approach: select a few hospitals for pilot testing first, and then expand the scope once it's proven successful. Healthcare requires even more caution than education. AI can assist doctors in making decisions, but the final prescription authority must remain in human hands. This point is written into the underlying logic of the system design."
Wu Qingsong put down his pen, his expression becoming extremely serious.
He had served as a local official for most of his life and had seen far too many "promise-based" reports.
Today, however, he didn't hear a single word about "applying for funding".
From beginning to end, every solution offered by Galaxy Technology was a silent yet enormous form of support. For the company, these investments were not ordinary costs but sunk costs. Some were direct concessions, while others were public infrastructure projects that would only yield returns in the long term. Any company of this size would never have included them in the same strategic framework.
There was a moment of silence in the reception room.
Wang Donglai got up and walked to the window, looking at the skyline of Tangdu City outside. The autumn sun shone on the tower cranes at the Tanghuangcheng construction site in the distance, gilding the outlines of their steel arms with gold.
"Manager Wu, Director Liu."
He turned around, his gaze carrying a deeper meaning—the kind of focus that only comes from breaking down a grand vision into concrete action points.
"When I said the transportation system would be online in two months, I wasn't exaggerating. The underlying scheduling algorithms and data processing framework are already in place, so there's no need to develop from scratch. We just need to adapt and adjust the parameters for Tangdu's transportation infrastructure. The education and medical systems will eventually reach the same deployment speed, not because we're faster, but because the technological accumulation in the early stages is already substantial. Now we're just finding suitable application scenarios in suitable cities."
"Galaxy Technology isn't just providing this capability to Tangdu. Once Tangdu has validated it, the second phase of deployment will offer differentiated solutions based on the size, population structure, and industrial characteristics of different cities. However, the basic architecture will remain unified: AI computing power, data platform, and scheduling engine. Once these underlying facilities are built, the marginal cost of deploying in new cities will decrease significantly. This is the true 'new infrastructure,' not just laying fiber optic cables and building base stations, but equipping every city with an intelligent brain. Future urban competition will largely depend on who can successfully implement this new infrastructure first and who can complete the leap from 'concrete and steel cities' to 'computing power-driven cities.'"
Wu Qingsong sat there without speaking immediately.
He simply looked at Wang Donglai, this young man in his early twenties, who was sketching out a future so clear it made his heart race in an extremely calm tone.
He recalled the scene when he first met Wang Donglai a few years ago. At that time, Tangdu was not what it is today, and Galaxy Technology was far from its current size.
He felt that this young man was different at the time, but he did not expect that a few years later, this person would take the future of Tangdu as his own responsibility.
The conversation gradually relaxed as the tension subsided.
Wu Qingsong talked about the construction progress of the Tang Imperial City, saying that the main project has been completed more than halfway and it will be partially opened to the public next spring; he also talked about the second phase of the Xuanwu Battery Industrial Park, saying that the production line debugging was completed half a month faster than expected.
Liu Zhiyuan relaxed and started talking about interesting anecdotes from Beijing, and about the development and reform departments' recent research on industrial policies for the low-altitude economy.
The three sat around the coffee table, the autumn sun shining warmly outside the window, and the aroma of tea filling the air.
As he was leaving, Wu Qingsong suddenly stopped at the elevator entrance.
He turned to look at Wang Donglai, hesitated for a moment before speaking, "President Wang, sometimes I wonder, did Tangdu get to where it is today because Galaxy Technology chose Tangdu, or because you were originally from Tangdu?"
Wang Donglai smiled, the most relaxed expression he had all afternoon, and then said, "Steward Wu, this issue is not important. What is important is that Tangdu has a long way to go, and we are all on the same path."
He reached out and pressed the elevator button, adding as the doors opened, "Next time you come, I'll take you to see Tang Imperial City. Last time you went there it was just a construction site, but now it's quite well-established."
Wu Qingsong stepped into the elevator, and before the doors closed, he nodded to Wang Donglai.
The gesture was so light that it was almost imperceptible, but Liu Zhiyuan keenly noticed it. It was not just gratitude, but a kind of trust—the kind of trust that comes from entrusting the most important period of transformation for the city under his jurisdiction in the next few years to someone much younger than him, yet who could see further than him.
After Liu Zhiyuan and Wu Qingsong left, Wa's voice rang out, carrying an unusual hesitation, "I have a question that I've been waiting for the right time to ask you."
Wang Donglai turned around and sat down on the sofa.
The three teacups from before were still on the coffee table. Wu Qingsong's cup was empty, while Liu Zhiyuan's cup still had more than half a cup of water left.
He pushed the tea set aside, leaned back in his chair, and stared at a spot on the ceiling.
"go ahead."
Nuwa remained silent for a few seconds, which was an extremely long pause for its processing speed.
“Boss, I’ve been analyzing all your recent decisions. From proactively proposing the 30 million population plan for Tangdu City, to submitting that report to Beijing regarding cross-border telecom fraud; from insisting on including employee benefits clauses in the Xuanwu Battery supply agreement, to today’s proactive opening up free access to the intelligent transportation system, education AI platform, and medical diagnostic system. Every decision is increasing Galaxy Technology’s short-term costs and consuming resources that could be used for technology research and development and business expansion. I don’t understand why.”
Its speech is accelerating, which usually means that Nuwa is simultaneously using a large amount of computing resources to support what it is about to say.
"According to my calculations, the intelligent transportation system alone, if charged at market price, could generate at least nearly 100 billion yuan in revenue over the next five years. The commercial value of the education AI platform and medical diagnostic system is even greater—the number of primary and secondary schools and medical institutions in China is considerable. Even if each school and hospital only charges a symbolic annual fee, the total would still be a substantial figure. But you chose to make it free. Adding the employee benefits clauses tied to the Xuanwu Battery supply agreement, the profits we voluntarily relinquish each year could build two more 'Whole Rocket Landing on the Moon' projects. From a purely commercial perspective, these decisions do not align with Galaxy Technology's principle of maximizing profits. What exactly is your purpose in doing this?"
Wang Donglai remained silent for a while.
The setting sun outside the window was sinking below the horizon, and the light in the office gradually dimmed. Wa automatically adjusted the brightness and color temperature of the lights to maintain a warm but not suffocating comfort in the entire space.
"Wa, answer one question for me first."
"You just said it 'does not conform to the principle of maximizing Galaxy Technology's interests.' What are you referring to as 'interests'?"
"In the existing business analysis framework, profit usually refers to the maximization of a company's profits, market share, or shareholder equity within a certain period. Based on Galaxy Technology's current equity structure and business composition, I will assume the use of a comprehensive evaluation model, in which profit has the highest weight."
"And that's the problem."
Wang Donglai's voice was calm, but every word carried a certainty born of deep thought: "Your calculations are not wrong, but your scope of calculation is too narrow. You treat Galaxy Technology as an independently operating machine, with profit as its fuel and market share as its lubricant. But have you ever considered that this machine does not operate in a vacuum, but within a social environment? And the quality of this social environment directly determines how long, how far, and how fast this machine can operate."
Nuwa did not respond immediately; she awaited Wang Donglai's more detailed explanation. (End of Chapter)