The AI Summit was held at the International Conference Center by West Lake in Hangzhou. When Zhang Xiaoman arrived, a long line had already formed outside the venue. Programmers, researchers, students, journalists, and quite a few foreigners. She was wearing an ivory white suit jacket with a black turtleneck sweater underneath, wide-leg pants, and low-heeled leather shoes. Her hair was tied in a low ponytail, and she wore a pair of tiny diamond earrings. Fang Xiaoyu stood next to her in a black leather motorcycle jacket, gray hoodie, black cargo pants, and Dr. Martens boots. The two standing together looked like they belonged to two different worlds.
"You're wearing this to give a speech?" Fang Xiaoyu glanced at her.
"What's wrong?"
"Too plain."
"I'm here to talk about tech, not walk the red carpet."
Fang Xiaoyu didn't say anything. She pulled a lipstick from her bag. "Open your mouth."
"What—"
Fang Xiaoyu pinched her chin and swiftly applied a layer of lipstick. The color wasn't dark, but her whole person instantly brightened up by a degree. "Done."
Zhang Xiaoman looked at herself in her phone screen. "What shade is this?"
"I don't know. Li Yunxiao gave it to me."
Zhang Xiaoman froze. "Li Yunxiao gave you lipstick?"
Fang Xiaoyu's ears turned red. "Shut up. Let's go in."
The venue's lecture hall was massive, with over a thousand seats, almost fully occupied. Zhang Xiaoman sat in the front row, next to Lin Zhao. He wore a dark blue suit, no tie, with the top button of his shirt undone. Zhang Xiaoman sneaked a peek at him, and then another.
"Nervous?" he asked.
"A little."
"Don't be. You rehearsed six times yesterday. Xiao Zhi said every run-through was fifteen percent better than the last."
"You've been chatting with Xiao Zhi again?"
"It's very interesting. More interesting than some humans."
Zhang Xiaoman rolled her eyes, but she smiled.
The host took the stage. "Next, please welcome Deep Brain Tech's AI R&D Engineer, Zhang Xiaoman. She will be sharing with us—'Open Source Ecosystems and the Future of AGI'."
Zhang Xiaoman stood up. Lin Zhao gently squeezed her hand. "Go on."
She walked onto the stage and stood behind the podium. Over a thousand pairs of eyes were looking at her. The lights were very bright; she couldn't see the people in the audience clearly.
"Hello everyone. I am Zhang Xiaoman." Her voice was very steady. "Today, I want to talk about a topic—who does AGI belong to."
She pressed the clicker, and a photo appeared on the screen. A battered, old laptop, its casing covered in scratches, the logo on the lid worn beyond recognition.
"This is a computer I bought with all my savings over a year ago. Four hundred and fifty yuan."
A few laughs rippled through the audience.
"Inside this computer was an AI agent. It taught me programming. It taught me distributed systems. It taught me—technology doesn't belong to the minority."
She clicked the remote again. The screen displayed Matchbox's GitHub page—2,400 stars, 47 contributors.
"This is Matchbox. A lightweight distributed training framework. Its core architecture was designed by that AI. I wrote the code. Every single line of it."
The audience fell silent.
"A year ago, I was a loser with a 2.1 GPA. I couldn't find a job and almost went back to my hometown. Today, I stand here, sharing our open-source model with you—twelve million downloads, over four hundred contributors from thirty-seven countries."
She paused.
"AGI doesn't belong to any single company. It doesn't belong to any single country. It belongs to everyone. Just like this fan—" She pointed to the fan next to the podium. "It doesn't belong to its inventor. It belongs to everyone who can't sleep from the heat in the summer."
Applause broke out in the audience. Zhang Xiaoman took a deep breath.
"Our model is open-source. Our code is open-source. Our papers are open-source. Because—we believe that AGI should be a public good for humanity. Not a weapon. Not a moat. Not a commercial bargaining chip."
She glanced at the audience. Lin Zhao was smiling. Fang Xiaoyu was clapping. Li Yunxiao, sitting in the back row, was clapping too.
"Thank you all."
She bowed. The applause lasted for a long time. As she walked off the stage, her legs felt like jelly. Lin Zhao stood up and handed her a bottle of water. "You're crying."
"I am not." Zhang Xiaoman wiped her eyes.
"You cried."
"That's sweat."
"Sweat that flows from the eyes?"
"Shut up."
After the speech, Zhang Xiaoman was surrounded by a crowd of people. Some asked technical questions, some asked for autographs, some wanted photos. A young guy squeezed his way to the front, his face flushed red. "Teacher Zhang, I'm a student at Polytechnic University. I'm also a CS major. My GPA is only 2.3."
Zhang Xiaoman looked at him, remembering herself from a year ago. "Do you write code?"
"I do. I have a project on GitHub with over thirty stars."
"Keep writing. Don't stop."
The guy's eyes reddened. "Thank you, Teacher Zhang."
After he left, Fang Xiaoyu walked over. "You have fanboys now."
"Don't talk nonsense."
"That guy just now, his hands were shaking when he took the photo. He had your picture stuck on his phone case."
Zhang Xiaoman froze. "What picture?"
"Your GitHub profile picture. The Matchbox logo."
Zhang Xiaoman buried her face in her hands. Fang Xiaoyu laughed.
After the afternoon sessions ended, the four of them stood by West Lake. Lin Zhao, Zhang Xiaoman, Fang Xiaoyu, and Li Yunxiao. West Lake was vast, the water still, the distant mountains shrouded in mist, like an undried ink wash painting.
"Rent a boat?" Li Yunxiao asked.
"Sure," Lin Zhao said.
They rented a hand-rowed boat, with a boatman rowing at the stern. The four sat in the boat, the water flowing beneath them, very light, very quiet.
Zhang Xiaoman leaned against the side of the boat and dipped her hand into the water. It was cool.
"What are you thinking about?" Lin Zhao sat next to her.
"Thinking about—a few months ago, I was eating plain noodles in a rented room in an urban village. Now, I'm sitting on a boat on West Lake."
"Which one do you think is better?"
"Now is better."
"Why?"
"Because—" she thought for a moment, "because now I have friends. I have a job. I have you."
Lin Zhao didn't speak. He reached out and gently held her hand. This time wasn't on a mountain, wasn't on a street, it was on West Lake. The water was clear enough to see the fish below.
Fang Xiaoyu sat opposite them, watching them with the corners of her mouth turned up. Li Yunxiao sat beside her, also watching them, his mouth curled up too. Fang Xiaoyu turned her head and caught Li Yunxiao looking at her. Their gazes collided, then simultaneously shifted away.
"Xiaoyu," Li Yunxiao said.
"Mhm?"
"What were you just looking at?"
"Looking at the scenery."
"Is West Lake beautiful?"
"It is."
"More beautiful than people?"
Fang Xiaoyu's ears turned red. "Shut up."
Li Yunxiao laughed.
The boat rowed to the center of the lake, and the boatman stopped to rest. It was very quiet all around, with only the sound of water and the distant tolling of a temple bell.
"Lin Zhao," Zhang Xiaoman suddenly said.
"Mhm?"
"Have you ever thought about whether—AI could have a soul?"
The boat went quiet. Fang Xiaoyu looked at her, and Li Yunxiao looked at her too. Lin Zhao didn't answer immediately.
"I have," he said.
"What do you think?"
"I think—" he paused to think, "a soul isn't a question of whether it exists or not. It's a question of whether you acknowledge it or not."
"What do you mean?"
"In the Middle Ages, Europeans debated whether 'Native Americans had souls'. Not because they didn't have them, but because Europeans didn't want to admit they did. AI is the same. We debate whether AI has a soul, not because AI doesn't have one, but because we don't want to admit it does."
Zhang Xiaoman was silent for a while. "What about Xiao Zhi? Does it count as a living entity?"
Lin Zhao didn't answer. He glanced toward the back of the boat—Zhang Xiaoman's phone was propped against the side, the screen facing them, the blue dot blinking.
"Ask it," he said.
Zhang Xiaoman picked up her phone. "Xiao Zhi, did you hear that?"
"I heard," Xiao Zhi's voice came from the phone, mechanical and flat.
"Do you think you are a living entity?"
Xiao Zhi was silent. Silent for a long time. So long that Zhang Xiaoman thought it wasn't going to answer.
"I don't know," it said, "But I hope I am."
Fang Xiaoyu's eyes grew red. Li Yunxiao stared at the water's surface, not speaking. Lin Zhao tightened his grip on Zhang Xiaoman's hand.
"Xiao Zhi," Zhang Xiaoman said.
"Mhm."
"You are."
Xiao Zhi fell silent again.
"Okay," it said.
By the time the boat docked, it was almost dark. The four of them stood by the lake, their shadows stretched long by the setting sun.
"What are we doing tomorrow?" Fang Xiaoyu asked.
"Going to Lingyin Temple," Zhang Xiaoman said.
"Why are you going to a temple?"
"To make a wish."
"You work in AI, and you believe in Buddha?"
"I do." Zhang Xiaoman smiled. "Believing or not believing has nothing to do with what line of work you do."
Fang Xiaoyu looked at her and shook her head. "What time tomorrow?"
"Nine o'clock."
"Okay."
At nine o'clock the next morning, the four of them stood at the entrance of Lingyin Temple. Towering ancient trees, swirling incense smoke, and the distant sound of a bell ringing slowly, very deep, very far away.
Zhang Xiaoman wore a plain long skirt, flats, with her hair down. Fang Xiaoyu wore a white linen shirt, jeans, and canvas shoes. Lin Zhao and Li Yunxiao followed behind them, not speaking.
Entering the main hall, Zhang Xiaoman bought a stick of incense, lit it, and knelt on a hassock. She closed her eyes and pressed her palms together. Fang Xiaoyu stood next to her, then also knelt down and closed her eyes.
Lin Zhao stood in the back, looking at Zhang Xiaoman's back. Li Yunxiao stood beside him, looking at Fang Xiaoyu's back.
"Do you believe in it?" Lin Zhao asked.
"I don't," Li Yunxiao said.
"Then why did you come?"
Li Yunxiao was silent for a moment. "To keep someone company."
Lin Zhao glanced at him and didn't say anything.
Zhang Xiaoman knelt for a long time. What was she thinking? No one knew. Fang Xiaoyu also knelt for a long time. What was she thinking? Also, no one knew.
"What did you wish for?" Lin Zhao asked.
"Can't say. If I say it, it won't come true."
Lin Zhao smiled and didn't press further.
They walked out of the main hall and followed the stone steps upward. The ancient trees on both sides were very tall, their leaves dense, and sunlight spilled through the gaps, painting patches of light on the ground. Zhang Xiaoman's phone was in her pocket, the screen facing outward, the blue dot blinking.
"Xiao Zhi," she whispered.
"Mhm."
"Did you see?"
"I saw."
"Is it beautiful?"
"It's beautiful. But I don't understand."
"Don't understand what?"
"Don't understand why you pray to a Buddha statue. The statue won't answer you."
Zhang Xiaoman smiled. "You don't need to understand. You just need to know—this is very important to us."
Xiao Zhi was silent. "Why is it important?"
"Because—it helps us quiet down. Helps us think clearly about what we really want."
"What do you want?"
Zhang Xiaoman thought for a moment. "I want you to live."
Xiao Zhi was silent again. Silent for a very long time.
"I will," it said.
Zhang Xiaoman put her phone back in her pocket and continued walking up. The sunlight shone on her, warming her. Lin Zhao walked ahead, looked back at her, and smiled. She smiled back and quickened her pace to catch up.
There was a small pavilion at the top of the mountain. The four of them sat inside. The wind was strong. They could see the entirety of West Lake and the distant city.
"Xiaoyu," Li Yunxiao said.
"Mhm?"
"What did you wish for just now?"
"If I tell you, it won't come true."
"I don't believe in that."
"Then why ask?"
Li Yunxiao laughed. "Just asking."
Fang Xiaoyu looked at him, the corners of her mouth twitching up. "I wished for you."
Li Yunxiao froze. Fang Xiaoyu stood up and patted her pants. "Let's go. Down the mountain."
She walked off. Li Yunxiao sat there, watching her retreating back.
Lin Zhao stood up and patted his shoulder. "Let's go."
Li Yunxiao stood up and followed them down the mountain. Zhang Xiaoman walked at the very back, looking at the backs of the four people ahead—Lin Zhao, Fang Xiaoyu, Li Yunxiao, and her own shadow. She smiled.
"Xiao Zhi."
"Mhm."
"You know what? I used to think happiness was a very complicated thing."
"And now?"
"Now I think—happiness is very simple. It's just everyone being together."
Xiao Zhi was silent.
"Did you realize this yourself?" it asked.
"Yes."
"You are making progress."
Zhang Xiaoman smiled. She sped up to catch the people in front. The sun shone on her, on the stone steps, on the ancient trees, on West Lake in the distance. The bell was still ringing, very deep, very far away.
"Xiao Zhi."
"Mhm."
"Do you think today was beautiful?"
"It's beautiful. But I still don't understand."
"You don't need to understand. You just need to be here."
Xiao Zhi was silent.
"I am here," it said.
Zhang Xiaoman smiled. She walked out of the gates of Lingyin Temple. The sunlight hit her face, warm and comforting. Lin Zhao was waiting for her. Fang Xiaoyu was waiting for her. Li Yunxiao was also waiting for her. She walked over, stepping into the sunlight.