February 22, 2004.
On this day, a vast number of media outlets from around the world converged in Lucheng. It was the most media Lucheng had ever hosted, both domestic and international. Their sole purpose for coming to Lucheng was to attend Jiangnan Group's press conference and to see who this individual was who had solved a bounty worth 100 million US dollars.
And how did he solve this bounty?
According to the media present, this person had already surfaced. His name was Zuo Sicheng, and he was coincidentally a local resident of Lucheng. Just two days prior, Jiangnan Group had already delivered 100 million US dollars to his home.
However, regarding the detailed information about this person, most reporters were completely in the dark. Only a few local reporters had managed to gather some basic facts.
For instance, his name was Zuo Sicheng, and he was only 17 years old by traditional Chinese reckoning. Furthermore, he had spent four years in the hospital, reportedly having awoken from a vegetative state.
These leaked experiences alone were enough to grab attention, being described as super explosive news. This made all the media even more curious about Zuo Sicheng, with everyone eager to interview him beforehand.
Unfortunately, Zuo Sicheng had vanished without a trace the next day. It was estimated that he had already been placed under protection by Jiangnan Group. But it didn't matter; everyone believed they would see this remarkable 17-year-old youth at today's press conference.
So, would Zuo Sicheng appear today?
At 2 PM, the press conference commenced on schedule. The first to appear were Huang He and other Jiangnan Group technical executives like Ni Guangnan.
"Thank you all very much, reporters, for attending our press conference today..." This was the customary opening platitude, which we shall omit entirely.
Then, Huang He began to explain the significance of this bounty for Jiangnan Group. For the first time, Huang He revealed that Jiangnan Group had discovered a composite compound possessing natural semiconductor properties, far surpassing the computational density of any current man-made chips. However, its structure was too peculiar for Jiangnan Group to develop, hence their need for a genius to solve the architecture problem.
Huang He even presented a sample of such a chip on the spot. It was a small, golden-yellow disc, indistinguishable from single-crystal silicon. The media reporters then erupted into a frenzy of photography.
It's worth noting that some of the reporters were using the latest high-pixel cameras. These weren't digital cameras but optical ones, boasting an astonishing 32 million pixels, capable of capturing the surface of a grain of rice with exquisite detail.
These individuals, who brought such high-value cameras worth millions of dollars, were not there for the news itself. Their intention was to capture high-definition photographs and take them back to their own laboratories for analysis, hoping to glean more intelligence.
However, the reporters had little interest in these opening remarks, as this intelligence had already been quite thoroughly explained in the posts. What they truly desired to know was how the person who had claimed the bounty had solved this puzzle.
"Alright, I know everyone must be extremely curious about how such an architecture can be realized. Therefore, we have invited Mr. Zuo Sicheng today to personally elaborate on his ideas and concepts!" Huang He said with a slight smile, as the hall filled with stirring music. All lenses turned towards the backstage exit, awaiting a photograph of the 100-million-dollar prize winner.
Then, a man pushed open the door and walked in with steady steps. This was Zuo Sicheng himself.
He sat expressionlessly on the main stage. Huang He smiled and handed the topic over to him. Zuo Sicheng, without introducing himself, directly began explaining his five-进制 (quintimal) approach to composition.
Zuo Sicheng’s explanation was remarkably concise. He presented the answer exactly as he had written it on the test paper, and today he was explaining it to all the reporters. Thus, his thought process was quickly and completely revealed.
Most of the reporters present did not understand what quintimal meant, but they felt it was incredibly impressive. However, a small number of professionals were so shocked that they dropped their notebooks onto the floor.
"A quintimal architecture, and there's such a thing!!" they all shouted inwardly.
The same scenario unfolded in the homes of all professionals watching the live broadcast. They all gaped in astonishment, having never imagined that the answer they awaited would be like this.
"This is simply a preposterous joke!" a Chinese scholar couldn't help but exclaim, and most other scholars shared a similar sentiment.
This was because all of them had been thinking about how to construct the architecture based on the binary system.
Whether due to a lack of imagination or a fixed mindset, they had never considered approaching the problem from a quintimal perspective.
As a result, when the answer was presented to them, they all found it utterly ridiculous. It was so simple that even a student who had only been studying architecture for two years could understand it at a glance.
It was an answer that presented no difficulty. Originally, they had been curious about how a 17-year-old youth could have solved a bounty that had stumped countless people. Now, it seemed that with the right early education, even a 10-year-old could have provided this answer, let alone a 17-year-old.
The answer was so simple that it truly required only a flash of inspiration; there was no other difficulty involved.
This quickly led to all the scholars watching the live broadcast to pound their chests in anger. They were utterly dismayed that the final answer turned out to be so simple.
Even more so, they were furious that this answer, which they felt anyone could have conceived, had actually earned a massive prize of 100 million US dollars, a prize that had nothing to do with them.
Thinking of their own painstaking efforts for nearly a month, which had caused them to lose a significant amount of hair, making their already thinning hairline even more prominent, it was simply soul-crushing!
Next, Zuo Sicheng explained how he discovered the answer. He frankly described his self-study on the internet and learning programming online.
Then, he received the bounty from his online teacher. Since he had no prior knowledge of this bounty and the problem itself seemed quite simple, he never considered it to be a difficult task.
As a result, he thought of the answer in just one night and submitted it.
Fortunately, at that time, He Tianlong was attending class and did not watch this news broadcast. Later, he heard that someone had solved the bounty but did not pay much attention, as he was engrossed in online education and had no more time to follow this news.
Furthermore, Zuo Sicheng only mentioned an online teacher without revealing the person's real identity or online username. Thus, He Tianlong only discovered the truth many years later.
But the scholars who were watching this press conference were even more depressed. What in the world was this? This 100-million-dollar answer was discovered in such a bizarre manner? It was simply ludicrous!
However, someone soon commented that this was not surprising at all. The more experienced people were, the more deeply they were entrenched in the binary system. They simply could not break free from binary to consider the problem from a quintimal perspective.
Only someone completely new like Zuo Sicheng, who knew nothing, could think of anything and directly approached the problem from a quintimal standpoint, thus solving it.
Therefore, although the whole story sounded quite bizarre, it perfectly aligned with the logic of things, leading them to believe that the story was true and that Zuo Sicheng was just a lucky little calf.
This explanation was immediately met with widespread agreement and acceptance. They unanimously agreed that Zuo Sicheng was merely a fortunate young fellow. While he might possess talent and aptitude, it was nothing extraordinary.
This was also a way to defend themselves, the experts and scholars, as losing to a mere 17-year-old youth was too embarrassing.
After explaining how he discovered the answer, Zuo Sicheng put down the microphone and remained silent. Huang He then announced that the company had fulfilled its promise and awarded Zuo Sicheng the 100 million US dollars.
Concurrently, Zuo Sicheng would become a specially appointed scholar at Jiangnan Technology, joining the company directly to continue his scientific research.
By this point in the press conference, many people were already preparing to close their live broadcasts, as the answer was rather uninteresting and had deeply hurt the hearts of the vast majority of expert scholars.
But at that very moment, Huang He continued, "However, while quintimal is the answer to this problem, it is not the only answer. We still eagerly await someone to find a completely new and different answer based on binary architecture!"
"Therefore, on behalf of Jiangnan Group, I promise that the previous bounty remains valid. Jiangnan Group is still seeking the answer to this problem. However, this answer must be achieved through binary computation. Any answers derived from other principles will not be recognized. The prize money remains 100 million US dollars. Thank you for your support!" Huang He declared.
"Oh! There's such good news!" The scholars and experts who had not turned off their televisions immediately beamed with smiles. It turned out the bounty was still active, and their previous efforts and hard work had not been in vain.
"This is perfectly normal. I suspect this quintimal answer has thoroughly disgusted Jiangnan Group, as this answer is of no use to them. Only a fool would start from quintimal and deduce the entire computer system from scratch; it would be more comfortable to commit suicide than that."
"Therefore, this answer is of no use to Jiangnan Group, yet it has cost them 100 million US dollars. Hahahaha, this is hilariously funny! I see Huang He still smiling, but he must be cursing internally!" someone posted online, mocking.
"Indeed. However, I must say I have a high opinion of Jiangnan Group. They actually acknowledged this result and paid 100 million US dollars. Just for that, I will support Jiangnan Group for life. They are more honest than any company I've ever seen. After I graduate, I will join this company. Just based on their attitude towards science and technology and their integrity, I believe they will eventually change the world!" Someone else stated.
At this moment, the press conference was nearing its end, and Huang He, accompanied by his team, was preparing to conclude it.
"Mr. Huang!" A reporter suddenly stood up, holding a microphone, and asked loudly, "Is your company interested in developing quintimal chips?"
"There will only be one kind of person in this world who researches quintimal chips!" Huang He replied, holding the microphone and smiling. "That would be the great God. So, let's leave this question for God to research. It's better for humans to be down-to-earth!"