Chapter 282 - 217: Smell the Flowers, Bask in the Sun

Chapter 282: Chapter 217: Smell the Flowers, Bask in the Sun

"What’s the good news?" Bai Qian asked.

"I finished all my data cleaning last week," Pan Si said. "As of this week, my model has officially entered the training phase."

"The current training dataset contains fifty million high-quality Chinese and English corpus entries, covering all sorts of fields."

Pan Si paused and looked at Bai Qian.

"Dr. Bai, if you need it, I can share this dataset directly with you. That way, you won’t have to spend time cleaning data all over again, which should save you a huge amount of time."

Hearing this, Bai Qian’s eyes immediately lit up.

"Really? That’s fantastic!"

He excitedly grabbed Pan Si’s hand.

"Dr. Pan, you’re a real lifesaver!"

"Don’t mention it." Pan Si smiled and waved his hand. "We’re all part of the same company. We should be sharing resources."

Seeing the two of them getting along so harmoniously, Chen Lin felt a sense of relief.

Although Bai Qian and Pan Si had almost had a falling out over their different technical approaches at the beginning,

it now seemed they were both doing a fantastic job on their respective projects, and they were even able to support and cooperate with each other.

This was exactly the kind of team atmosphere Chen Lin wanted.

"Then it’s settled," Chen Lin declared. "Dr. Bai, you will now focus all your efforts on validating the 1.5B parameter small model."

"Dr. Pan, you continue to move forward with your project."

"My work is at a good stopping point for now," Pan Si said. "I’ll assist Dr. Bai next. Just let me know if you need help with anything."

Chen Lin paused, then added:

"As for Sun Yu and Shen Yan, you two will continue assisting Dr. Pan. Once Dr. Pan’s project enters a stable phase, we’ll re-evaluate and adjust as needed."

"Understood, President Chen!" everyone replied in unison.

Just then, Bai Qian suddenly spoke up.

He looked at Chen Lin, his eyes gleaming with an almost fanatical light.

"President Chen, I have a request."

"Go on."

Bai Qian took a deep breath and said solemnly:

"Starting today, for one full month, I want to go on a 007 schedule. I’ll live at the office to push the project forward with everything I’ve got!"

The moment the words left his mouth, Chen Lin’s brow furrowed.

"No."

His tone was calm, but it held an unquestionable firmness.

Bai Qian was taken aback. "President Chen, why?"

"Because it’s against company policy."

Chen Lin stood up, walked over to his computer, and opened a folder.

Inside the folder was a PDF document: the company policy manual, meticulously prepared by Huang Yiyi.

Chen Lin opened the document, flipped to a specific page, and turned the screen toward Bai Qian.

"See for yourself."

Bai Qian leaned in for a closer look. A line of bold, enlarged, red text on the screen immediately caught his eye:

[Chapter 3: Work Hours and Rest Policy]

[Article 17: The company shall strictly abide by legal regulations and implement a standard work-hour system. All employees must strictly adhere to clock-in and clock-out times. Unnecessary overtime is prohibited.]

[Article 18: The company promotes the philosophy of efficient work and a healthy life. All work systems that violate labor laws, such as 996, 007, or any other similar arrangement, are strictly forbidden.]

After reading it, Bai Qian was completely stunned.

"But... but President Chen," he said, getting flustered. "I’m doing this to push the project forward! This should count as ’necessary overtime,’ right?"

"It doesn’t," Chen Lin said, shaking his head.

He looked over at Pan Si, who was standing to the side.

"Dr. Pan, didn’t you also want to work overtime before?"

Hearing this, Pan Si nodded with a wry smile.

"Yes, I did bring it up. And you turned me down, President Chen."

Hearing this made Bai Qian even more indignant.

"Then why is it that if Dr. Pan can’t work overtime, I can’t either?"

"Our project deadlines are both tight!"

Chen Lin looked at Bai Qian’s face, which was filled with frustration, and sighed.

He walked over to Bai Qian and patted him on the shoulder.

"Dr. Bai, do you know what Yanhai Company’s ultimate goal is in developing large AI models?"

Bai Qian faltered. "Is it... to create the most effective model possible?"

"Not entirely," Chen Lin said, shaking his head.

"One of my ultimate goals in developing AI is to free people from tedious, low-value work."

"A great man once said that we fight for eight hours of work, eight hours of rest, and the other eight hours for ourselves. We should use that time to smell the flowers and feel the sun on our skin."

As Chen Lin spoke, his tone grew more and more solemn.

"If Yanhai Company, in the name of developing AI, makes its employees work 996 or 007, staying late every night, even living in the office..."

"...wouldn’t that be incredibly ironic?"

"We’re shouting about using AI to liberate humanity, yet at the same time, we’re exploiting our own employees using the most primitive, inefficient, and unhealthy methods."

"Isn’t that a complete contradiction?"

Hearing these words, Bai Qian was completely dumbfounded.

He opened his mouth, wanting to argue, but found he couldn’t say a word.

Because what Chen Lin said... made too damn much sense.

In the office area, everyone else had also stopped what they were doing and was quietly watching the scene unfold.

A complex emotion flickered in Pan Si’s eyes.

Sun Yu and Shen Yan glanced at each other, both with thoughtful expressions on their faces.

Yunqing’s eyes, however, were sparkling as she gazed at Chen Lin, a slight smile playing on her lips. ’That’s my boss,’ she thought, ’isn’t he amazing!’

Huang Yiyi stood to the side, a gratified smile on her face, her gaze toward Chen Lin filled with admiration.

The silence lasted for several seconds.

Finally, Bai Qian let out a long sigh and pushed up his glasses.

"President Chen... you’re right."

His voice carried a hint of relief.

"I was getting too hung up on it."

Bai Qian paused, then continued:

"When I used to work at the Institute of Automation, I’d often live in the lab for days on end to meet project deadlines, getting less than four hours of sleep a night."

"Back then, I thought that was just how it was supposed to be. That’s what it takes to do research, right?"

"But now..."

Bai Qian looked at Chen Lin, a flash of gratitude in his eyes.

"President Chen, after hearing what you just said, I realize now that my old way of thinking was actually flawed."

"Research is important, of course, but a person’s health and life are just as important."

"Besides," Bai Qian said with a small laugh, "you’re right. If we all start living like machines ourselves, then what’s the point of developing AI?"

Hearing this, a satisfied smile spread across Chen Lin’s face.

"I’m glad you see it that way."

He patted Bai Qian’s shoulder.

"Dr. Bai, I’m confident that with your abilities, you can do a great job on the project even without working overtime."

"Besides," Chen Lin’s tone shifted, "don’t underestimate the effect a normal schedule has on your work efficiency."

"If you get enough sleep, eat regular meals, and get some proper exercise every day, your brain will be able to maintain its peak condition."

"At that point, one eight-hour day of efficient work might be more effective than three days of pulling all-nighters on a 007 schedule."

Hearing this, Bai Qian nodded thoughtfully.

"I understand, President Chen."

"Good." Chen Lin smiled and patted his shoulder again. "Then it’s settled. Starting today, you’ll stick to normal office hours."

"Leave at 5:30 PM, and take weekends off."

"It’s okay if the project’s progress is a little slower. What’s important is that you maintain your physical and mental well-being."

"Understood, President Chen!" Bai Qian nodded emphatically.