Spoiled by Eight Uncles (Lily)

Max opened the door, and upon seeing the people outside, he was momentarily stunned. “Mr. Martin? What brings you here?” Mr. Martin had a smile on his face and sniffed the air. “Hey, what smells so delicious!” Max replied, “I just cooked...” Mr. Martin and the others took the opportunity to enter the house. The shoe cabinet automatically dispensed disposable slippers, and a sweet voice chimed in, “Master, you have a guest, should | show them in?” Max was about to say something, but suddenly, he recalled what Blake said the previous night.

“No need, Stacy, take Lilly back to her room.” Unexpectedly, Lilly shook her head. “No, Lilly doesn’t want to go back to the room.” Stacy looked at Lilly and suddenly felt rebellious. “Master, | don’t want to go back to the room either.” There was a hint of defiance in her tone.

Mr. Martin observed the scene, his gaze shifting from Lilly to the dishes on the table, his eyes hiding a peculiar glint.

Max did not have the smell of cooking oil on him, and there was only a child in front of him. A child could not prepare such an exquisite meal.

The only possibility was that the impressive dishes before them were made by Stacy! Mr. Martin felt an immense excitement welling up within him.

“Very well, Max. | didn’t expect your research on virtual assistants to be this great! You truly are the leader of our laboratory... Let me give it a try!” Before Max and Lilly could react, Mr. Martin seated himself, picked up the cutlery, and took a bite of the pork.

The aroma... it was difficult to put into words, but it carried an indescribable warmth.

Delicious! With facial expressions, a range of emotions, a distinct personality, and the ability to engage in conversation just like a real person... and now, the virtual assistant could even cook such delicious food.

If the virtual assistant was introduced to the market, there will undoubtedly be enormous support, and their technology group will transform. The prospects were promising, and they could potentially become the world’s richest individuals like Tony Stark.

“It's delicious! Absolutely delicious!” Mr. Martin exclaimed with delight. “Come on, Mr. Young, you have to try this too!” Josh, Hannah, and Zachary had just woken up and were still in their pajamas, looking groggy. Drake, already dressed, was taken aback when he saw the two strangers in his house.

Max frowned slightly. It was somewhat impolite for them to come to his house and start eating without permission. However, considering that they were the CEO and vice president of the technology group that invested in their laboratory, it was not easy to drive them away after just a few bites.

Besides, he should not be concerned with such formalities.

Lilly smiled and spoke up, “Sirs, we haven't had a single bite of the food we just cooked, and you sat down and started eating without even asking if it was okay. Do you have manners at all?” Josh, realizing that Lilly was annoyed, quickly chimed in, “That's right, | was shocked. Do you think this is your house?!” Hannah, on the other hand, was more straightforward. “l was so scared! How can a grown-up like you have no shame at all? Didn't your parents teach you manners?” Drake paused, crossed his arms, and calmly remarked, “A gentleman holds benevolence and propriety in high regard. The benevolent person loves others, while the polite person respects others. You, on the other hand... are an impolite lunatic!” The term “lunatic” was used in ancient times to scold someone and can be roughly understood as “son” or “boy.” It implied that during a specific era, the person being scolded was considered lowly, like a slave.

Mr. Martin and Mr. Young could not hide their displeasure. As top executives, it was the first time they had been scolded like this, and by a group of children no less.

Mr. Martin glanced at Lilly and asked, “Max, is this your child? When did you have a child?” Considering that this room was filled with advanced technology and would serve as a prototype for future development, was it worth letting a few children ruin it? Max, not addressing their comments, went straight to the point and asked Mr. Martin, “Why did you come here all of a sudden? What's the matter?” Mr. Martin, following suit, cut to the chase and replied, “I heard that you have been working diligently on developing a virtual assistant that can communicate flawlessly with humans... Once it is launched in the market, it will bring about a tremendous change! Your efforts are commendable!” Max's expression turned sour. “Mr. Martin, this is a project | have been working on personally, and | never had any intention of commercializing it.” He believed that the technology was still too new and lacked rigor. Building the infrastructure for these intelligent operations alone would require a substantial investment of at least 100 million dollars.

The costs were too high, and launching virtual assistants alone would be a trap for ordinary people.

Mr. Martin waved his hand dismissively. “Ah, you youngins really don’t understand. This is a technological revolution that will benefit all of humanity. How can we keep it hidden?” He glanced at Mr. Young, who promptly added, “That's right. After thorough discussion in the high-level meeting, it was decided to officially incorporate your research and development into the company’s research division. This is also a recognition of your successful work...” “Don’t worry, the company has taken your hard work into consideration. You will be provided with one million dollars in funding, which will be paid to you directly.” Max understood their intentions.

How shameless! He crossed his arms, smiled faintly, and spoke with a calm yet resolute voice, “Mr. Martin, do you know how much | spent on building this entire house?” Mr. Young asked, “How much did you spend?” Max responded coldly, “It takes at least 100 million dollars to build the infrastructure for a comprehensive virtual human system.

This includes the necessary space and specialized engineers. The total cost would easily exceed 200 million dollars.” He continued, “Mr. Martin, you mentioned promoting virtual assistants in the market. How do you expect ordinary people to afford such a system with a price of 200 million dollars? Are we only targeting the wealthy? In that case, how is it any different from the voice assistants currently available on mobile phones?” Mr. Martin and Mr. Young exchanged glances.

Two hundred million dollars?! Their initial thought was that Max was asking for 200 million dollars.

Their second thought was that it would be unaffordable for ordinary people. After all, there are only a few wealthy individuals in the world. Only the rich could enjoy it, but what about the rest? “We'll take your comments into consideration,” Mr. Martin said with a touch of displeasure. “After our discussions, we have decided to incorporate the virtual assistant project into the laboratory's research and development management. However, your demand for 200 million dollars is excessive.” Max's expression remained unchanged.

He had spoken to them about the potential harm and ethical considerations, but they accused him of being greedy.

Their perspectives were completely misaligned.

Max said coldly, “There is no room for discussion on this matter. Please leave.” He ushered them out.

Stacy, who had already learned to read facial expressions and emotions, wore a professional smile and made a gesture of invitation. She said, “Please, sirs. My master has no intention of entertaining you any further. Please yourselves the embarrassment. There's no need to make a scene.” Mr. Martin became furious.

Mr. Young held him back and spoke sincerely, “How about this, the company will apply for an additional subsidy, which will be disbursed over five years... 100 million dollars, and we can’t go any higher.” They considered this before coming. Based on the information provided by Darwin, the value of Max's virtual assistant project was estimated to be at least 500 million dollars.

However, they were offering a price of 100 million dollars, which they believed was already their limit.

Mr. Martin could not hold back and exclaimed, “Don’t be too greedy, young man!” Max remained silent.

Lilly thought to herself...

Don’t these two dummies realize that Uncle Max isn’t short of money?