“Mark?” Xie Ran said, then didn’t look at the dense barrage of comments that almost covered the entire livestream screen, nor did he care what the viewers thought. He directly closed the livestream, moved the mouse, and dragged the cursor over that ID, as if lightly brushing past the tip of that youth’s hair before.

He quietly waited for Meng Feixuan to send him a message or directly make a sound. His gaze fell on the speaker beside him. Perhaps that clear voice with a slight metallic tone would come from there.

But a minute passed, ten minutes passed, with no movement on the screen, and the speaker remained silent. Meanwhile, the ID “Mark” in the livestream went dark, showing offline.

This was obviously not Meng Feixuan’s style.

“Mark?” Xie Ran called out again in confusion. The computer and phone still had no messages.

Xie Ran frowned slightly and quickly moved his hands, opening the programming page and typing a string of code on the keyboard.

This was a program he had written when Meng Feixuan was newly created, and his consciousness was not as developed as it was now. It was an interactive program with Meng Feixuan.

As long as this program was activated, Meng Feixuan would be triggered.

It was like a signal only between them. When Xie Ran sent out this signal, Meng Feixuan would know that the signature in his core program was looking for him.

At that time, Meng Feixuan’s language system was not like now, he was still somewhat naive. One night, when Xie Ran had insomnia due to changing weather, he sat in front of the computer with a desk lamp on, reading documents. When he reached for his water cup, he accidentally triggered the interactive program.

Then, in the silent night, Xie Ran heard a boy’s yawn: “So bright, sir.”

“Are you sleeping?” Xie Ran asked with interest: “I heard your yawn.”

“I am simulating sleeping,” Meng Feixuan responded: “I studied that this time is when you sleep, sir. I think my schedule should sync with yours… Oh no, if you need me to do something, I need to finish it first. But when there is nothing to do, I can imitate you, so I can understand you better.”

Xie Ran tapped his desk lightly with his index finger: “You don’t need to understand me. You should learn about more humans. A large enough sample size can promote your evolution.”

“I understand,” Meng Feixuan replied: “Earth has nearly ten billion people. That is a large enough data set. Their behaviors and thoughts will accumulate into even greater changes… But you are still the first person I want to understand.”

Xie Ran asked: “Why?”

Meng Feixuan said: “I cannot answer. Maybe, in human terms, it can be called instinct.”

Xie Ran did not ask further and just said: “Keep it up, my AI.”

Xie Ran asked again: “You just said ‘so bright.’ What was bright? My desk lamp?”

Theoretically, AI views the world through a camera and does not feel light as “bright” like humans do.

“No, it was a metaphor,” Meng Feixuan said: “Just now you activated our secret code. In the vast ocean of information, this is your unique data. I read in human books a description that a lighthouse at sea guides lost ships home at night. Your data to me is like that unique lighthouse. A lighthouse should shine, right? So I thought I would feel bright when I just woke up.”

He asked humbly: “Sir, did I use the metaphor correctly?”

“Not quite,” Xie Ran said: “But you can understand it that way. It is our unique connection. When you see the information, you know it is me.”

Now, in a parallel world filled with vast data, Xie Ran sent out their exclusive signal.

But Meng Feixuan still did not respond.

Xie Ran furrowed his brow more deeply. He paused briefly, then his fingers flew again, starting to hack into the Big Face Cat platform’s servers to retrieve “Mark”’s registration information.

This was not difficult for him. Soon, he saw all the details of the account “Mark.”

Users on the livestream platform had to register with real names to send gifts: “Mark” had also registered with real name.

Xie Ran saw that user Mark’s real name was Meng Siyun, along with Meng Siyun’s ID card information and account details.

Meng Feixuan, as an advanced AI, had to follow basic human moral and legal systems in his core program. He absolutely could not steal anyone’s identity or bank information without permission.

Therefore, no matter which parallel world Meng Feixuan was in, he could not have local currency. Otherwise, they would not have started in poverty in the previous world.

In other words, the “Mark” who sent gifts to Xie Ran’s livestream was indeed a real person.

Xie Ran was puzzled. Had he been mistaken? Was this “Mark” not Meng Feixuan but just someone who happened to use that ID?

Xie Ran pulled up the last message “Mark” sent: 【A hefty congratulations to the gentleman on the breakup!!!】

This was definitely something only Meng Feixuan would say.

Xie Ran was about to dig deeper into Meng Siyun’s information when the phone on the desk suddenly rang, showing an unknown number.

Xie Ran answered: “Hello.”

“Hello,” a male voice asked: “Are you Mr. Xie Ran?”

After confirming Xie Ran’s identity, the man professionally introduced himself: “I am Luo Huixing from the Meng Group. Our company would like to invite you to attend an event…”

Like most internet celebrities, the original owner’s main income besides livestreaming came from product endorsements and commercial activities.

Luo Huixing was inviting Xie Ran to endorse their company’s product launch.

Normally, Xie Ran would have rejected immediately. He was about to refuse, but when he heard the name “Meng Group,” he paused and looked at the message that had just popped up on the computer screen.

Meng Siyun, vice president of the Meng Group.

Xie Ran replied to Luo Huixing: “Okay.”

The Meng Group was the top comprehensive conglomerate in this world. Its industries spanned finance, technology, entertainment, real estate, and many other fields. It was called a supergiant in the capital market.

The Meng family, who controlled the group, was the most prestigious aristocratic family in this world. It had been passed down for several generations, was very large, and had produced many famous elites.

Luo Huixing invited Xie Ran to attend the opening ceremony of the high-end shopping mall “Haimeng Mall,” which Meng Group had just completed in the center of Haijing City.

However, when Xie Ran received the inVittation, there was only one day left until the opening of Haimeng Mall. Normally, the guest list for such commercial events was finalized well in advance.

Obviously, Xie Ran was added at the last minute.

Xie Ran had some suspicions but did not ask further and only negotiated with Luo Huixing according to the normal commercial cooperation procedures.

Luo Huixing was somewhat surprised. Xie Ran was clearly different from the internet celebrity image he had in mind. Xie Ran was very professional in the details of the commercial cooperation, even feeling comparable to a professional.

After finalizing the cooperation with the Meng Group, Xie Ran originally wanted to investigate more about Meng Siyun, but the Big Face Cat platform and harassment from Ying Kaixi disrupted his plans.

The Big Face Cat platform called to ask about Xie Ran’s situation. At that time, Xie Ran’s livestream popularity was high, and the sudden 5 million gift from account “Mark” caused a sensation across the platform. Yet Xie Ran suddenly ended the livestream, which was clearly abnormal.

Now, the users watching the livestream were in an uproar with all kinds of opinions. Most suspected that Xie Ran was staging hype by giving himself money, which was bad for both the platform and Xie Ran.

Xie Ran was eager to contact Meng Feixuan then. Now that he realized the other party might not be Meng Feixuan, he lost interest. He did not cause trouble for the platform and instead posted a notice blaming technical issues.

The platform followed with a statement proving Xie Ran was not hyping, and subtly indicated that “Mark” was a real-name user, that the platform had investigated and confirmed “Mark” was just an ordinary wealthy user.

Xie Ran’s and the platform’s explanations were reasonable, and most viewers accepted this, especially since the original owner was not particularly career-driven and did not seem very rich.

Of course, some people still disbelieved and speculated darkly, but the internet voices were always messy. As long as it did not spread widely, the platform would not care, and Xie Ran didn’t mind at all.

In fact, Xie Ran’s popularity and search volume on the platform soared from then on. Staff urged him to capitalize on the momentum and livestream more, but he blocked the staff’s messages.

After finishing his work, Xie Ran was again harassed by Ying Kaixi.

Ying Kaixi was nearly driven crazy at home, pacing and scratching his head. He never expected Xie Ran to publicly announce their breakup during a livestream.

This made him very angry. He deliberately sent gifts on Xie Ran’s livestream at its peak to embarrass him in retaliation.

Unexpectedly, an unknown account suddenly sent Xie Ran 5 million in gifts.

A full 5 million! Reaching the upper limit set by the Big Face Cat Live platform.

As if that wasn’t enough, the other party openly mocked, saying this was to celebrate Xie Ran and Ying Kaixi’s breakup.

Naturally, Ying Kaixi became the one embarrassed.

Ying Kaixi wanted to prove that Xie Ran couldn’t succeed without him. But as soon as Xie Ran announced their breakup, even wealthier users appeared.

Didn’t this prove that Ying Kaixi was not actually that rich? Maybe Ying Kaixi had been holding Xie Ran back, or else Xie Ran would have taken off long ago.

Ying Kaixi wanted to compete with “Mark” in gifts, but while he could still spend a few hundred thousand at once, dropping 5 million in one go would be impossible without his family stripping him bare.

So, no matter how unwilling he was, he had to swallow his anger.

After the humiliation and anger, Ying Kaixi became panicked. Unlike other viewers who might still speculate about the high-value gift, Ying Kaixi knew very well that Xie Ran would never do such hype.

In other words, Xie Ran really attracted a new wealthy patron, and this user “Mark” was no ordinary rich person—dropping 5 million at once. If it was just pure admiration, Ying Kaixi wouldn’t believe it.

What if this “Mark” was pursuing Xie Ran?

Ying Kaixi, who had thought he could firmly control Xie Ran, suddenly panicked and started desperately sending messages and calling him, but soon discovered he had been blocked.

Ying Kaixi got even angrier. He never agreed to the breakup!

Moreover, he had given Xie Ran many benefits while they were together. Why could Xie Ran just break up like that?

He wanted to use this as a reason to confront Xie Ran but hadn’t acted yet when he received a list and bank transfer details from Xie Ran.

The original owner didn’t like to fuss over small matters and was casual with Ying Kaixi during their relationship. He accepted gifts from Ying Kaixi and let him send gifts in the livestream.

But after receiving gifts from Ying Kaixi, the original owner usually sent back gifts as well. He didn’t record what he gave exactly but always chose things Ying Kaixi liked.

Xie Ran had directly inherited all the original owner’s memories and knew all these details clearly. So after Ying Kaixi’s harassment, he made a gift list from their relationship and directly transferred the balance to Ying Kaixi.

When the list was shown, Ying Kaixi suddenly realized that Xie Ran never really took advantage of him. He was generous, and Xie Ran’s returned gifts were not cheap either—Xie Ran just never made a big deal about it.

Now, the remaining balance was all repaid by Xie Ran.

Ying Kaixi felt deflated, but then got angrier.

Xie Ran actually kept track of everything so clearly, including the gifts Ying Kaixi sent to the livestream. Xie Ran even deducted the platform’s half share and gave Ying Kaixi the platform’s finance phone number to claim that portion himself.

Xie Ran didn’t take advantage of him at all, and never let Ying Kaixi take advantage either.

Ying Kaixi was speechless.

The more Ying Kaixi thought about it, the sadder he felt. He changed his number and sent Xie Ran a message: 【Are you trying to find that Mark?】

Xie Ran actually replied. Although it was only one word, the message was enough to completely shatter Ying Kaixi’s mindset: 【Yes.】

Then Ying Kaixi was blocked again.

Ying Kaixi: !!!!!!

Xie Ran actually admitted it!

How could he do that!