Chapter 50

The accent remained authentic, but the content of the speech was filled with a cold, condescending tone.
Qin Rui immediately frowned. For this topic, choosing to stand on the side of the endangered plant required more "empathy." Both the patients with rare diseases and the endangered plant had pitiable roles. However, Su Momo, or rather, the Academic Genius System's speech, lacked empathy. The view that patients with rare diseases were a nuisance would undoubtedly make humans uncomfortable. But under the watchful eyes of everyone, he couldn't remind her and could only frown and continue listening.
Tao Shushu looked at Su Momo with surprise, intuitively certain that this was not Su Momo answering the question.
When pronouncing certain specialized terms, Su Momo's tone would shift slightly, becoming more mechanical and precise.
Tao Shushu, who had been intently listening to her opponent's speech, noticed it.
This could only mean that Gu Lanchun had never encountered these vocabulary words. This also aligned with Gu Lanchun's preference for humanities and history, with little exposure to science and engineering subjects.
As for Su Momo, it was even less likely that she had come across such terms.
Therefore, if she could use them without prior exposure, it could only be the system speaking.
When it was Tao Shushu's turn to speak, she decisively changed her strategy.
She heightened the emotional appeal of her speech, abandoning complex sentences for debate in favor of simple yet rhythmically brisk short phrases, repetition, and rhetorical questions, immersing all listeners in the perspective of the human side.
On the opposing side, the Academic Genius System, hearing the thunderous applause and cheers, along with the tears of some excited students, realized something it had overlooked: the impact of emotions in a debate was greater than it had anticipated.
It finally recognized that Tao Shushu was playing the emotional card, she portrayed the human predicament as desperately in need of plants and described the use of plants in scientific research and medicine in an incredibly touching way. Even the plants themselves would feel proud if they heard it.
This made its initial arguments appear cold and heartless.
Using Su Momo's eyes, it observed the subtle facial expressions of the two teaching assistants.
The topic had been set by Tao Shushu's foreign teacher, a member of an environmental organization, who was now frowning thoughtfully, as if questioning whether his previous views had been too narrow-minded.
The other assistant was Su Momo's teacher, who had initially favored Su Momo as her own student. Now, she was lowering her head, with those thick eyebrows and big eyes, she probably didn't want her student to lose face.
Within a few seconds, the Academic Genius System made a decision.
It would also play the emotional card.
After briefly searching data to refute the arguments, it began to appeal that plants were pitiful, with their living spaces shrinking rapidly due to humanity's rapid development.
However, only a handful of students in the audience responded.
Having just heard the human side's speech, Su Momo, representing the plants and accusing humans, now seemed to be arguing unreasonably. Moreover, from a debate perspective, this sudden shift in tactics was not skillful.
By all accounts, it had lost.
The teacher who set the topic voted for Tao Shushu: "I have always been an extreme environmentalist, but today, Tao Shushu changed my mind. In the context of my topic 'patients with rare diseases,' I found Tao Shushu's arguments more persuasive."
Qin Rui was the second to vote. He hesitated, there were still two AI judges left, and while Tao Shushu had convinced him and the first foreign teacher, AIs weren't human, and there was still Su Momo's teacher who hadn't voted yet. Su Momo should be able to win.
Besides, he couldn't vote for Su Momo every round, that would be too obvious. According to his plan, he should actually vote for Tao Shushu every time, regardless of the outcome, to subtly guide others to notice the nuance. But due to Su Momo's defeat in the first round, he had to abandon his perfect plan.
After some calculation, Qin Rui followed his heart and voted for Tao Shushu.
Unexpectedly, both AIs also voted for Tao Shushu.
Tao Shushu’s chosen AI, "Xun," silently played news reports about patients with rare diseases unable to find treatment options, moving some students to tears on the spot.
The other AI, "Qianyan," gave its reasoning: "No data was retrieved supporting Su Momo’s claim at minute 1.37 second mark regarding the extinction status of bamboo subfamily plants. Fabricating data to undermine an opponent in a debate is not acceptable."
The Academic Genius System’s mini-thesis contained a wealth of data, filled with long and complex technical terms. Most people listened without critically evaluating the accuracy of the information.
But AIs were different, their emphasis on logic and data support also reflected their commitment to data authenticity.
If the Academic Genius System could manifest physically, its code would probably glitch in frustration. The reason the data couldn’t be retrieved was that these AIs could only access publicly available papers, outdated, low-level world AI.
The Academic Genius System didn’t consider this a big deal, but in a laboratory far from the scene, someone was already asking, "Alex, did you record the screen? Rewind to that segment. Our paper hasn’t been published yet, why does her data match ours? Rewind it now; I need to listen again."
In any case, the second round was still won by Tao Shushu. Under the best-of-five system, she only needed one more win to secure victory.
Qin Rui glared at Su Momo. How unreliable, it seemed he still couldn’t enjoy a pure, unadulterated competition, nor could he savor the match or the voting process.
Su Momo also stared at Qin Rui. They were supposed to be on the same side, so why had he suddenly switched his vote to Tao Shushu?
Even without his vote, Tao Shushu would have won. But at least she wouldn’t have lost so embarrassingly.
Su Momo couldn’t resist saying, "You’re not that impressive either, you ended up with only one vote."
The Academic Genius System: "..."
The third question was posed by "Qian Yan." This time, the Academic Genius System proved reliable, Qin Rui, the two foreign teachers, and Qian Yan all voted for Su Momo.
But to the Academic Genius System’s slight surprise, "Xun" voted for Tao Shushu.
The fourth round happened to be "Xun’s" turn to set the question.
As soon as the question was announced, Su Momo’s expression shifted slightly.
"If you had a golden finger that allowed you to freely steal others’ achievements and thus achieve fame and success, would you restrain yourself?"
The question was too pointed.
Qin Rui also scrutinized "Xun." Its on-screen image was unremarkable, no different from other AIs on the market or "Qianyan" on the adjacent computer.
Su Momo’s face darkened. The AI had been analyzing "Xun’s" consistent votes for Tao Shushu, and at that moment, it felt it had stumbled upon something crucial.
But it was too late. The protagonist’s halo was no longer effective and could no longer cloud the judgment of the two professors.
More importantly, if Su Momo lost, they would forfeit even more advantages, losing the ability to influence the students in the audience.
Tao Shushu had already begun presenting her argument.
She wasn’t naturally skilled at debating, but thanks to recent drama rehearsals, she had mastered her pronunciation and emotional delivery.
Her stance was a firm "no," and she articulated it entirely from the victims’ perspective.
The question itself was cleverly designed, choosing the right viewpoint could easily sway the audience.
However, Tao Shushu was well aware that she needed to sway two judges and two artificial intelligences.
With pointed implications, she broadened the scope to unfair voting influenced by personal relationships, essentially leveraging the "social connections" cheat to claim credit for others' efforts.
Su Momo's foreign teacher could no longer maintain his composure. He had indeed wanted Su Momo to win, but Su Momo had only performed strongly in the third round. In the first two rounds, he had voted for her against his conscience and at the cost of his reputation, how would the other teachers view him now?
This time, no matter what, he would vote for Tao Shushu, so that even if she lost, she would have nothing to complain about.
Qin Rui gazed deeply at Tao Shushu. He hadn't expected her to come up with such a move, leaving him momentarily unsure whether he should continue helping Su Momo.
But before Qin Rui could agonize over it, Tao Shushu had already secured three votes.
The two foreign teachers and "Xun."
When Tao Shushu and Su Momo, who was using Gu Lanchun's language proficiency, were pitted against each other, their English skills weren't vastly different.
Neither Su Momo nor the Academic Genius System could fully utilize Gu Lanchun's language abilities. Only the person who truly learns the knowledge can integrate and apply it seamlessly. Others can only scratch the surface at best.
It was precisely for this reason that Tao Shushu's reaction speed surpassed Su Momo's, allowing her to win the first round.
Her second and third victories stemmed from her passionate longing for life, justice, and universal truths, which moved the two professors. These were things the lofty Academic Genius System could never grasp.
Whether Qin Rui voted for Su Momo or not would not affect the final outcome.
The international class foreign teacher wiped the sweat from his forehead. His questions had been heavily biased toward Su Momo, all five selectable topics were ones he had previously discussed with the class. Fortunately, by this point, Tao Shushu had already won three out of four rounds, making the fifth round unnecessary. Had the questions been revealed, combined with Tao Shushu's earlier arguments, some would undoubtedly have questioned his impartiality.
Without regard for decorum, the international class teacher hastily retrieved his questions from the selection box, crumpled them up, and stuffed them into his pocket.
But no one paid attention to his actions anymore. The moment Tao Shushu was declared the winner over Su Momo, something had fundamentally shifted.
At the Gu residence, Gu Lanchun suddenly burst into tears.
She had heard her cousin mention that the girl competing had never interacted with foreign teachers before, yet her accent was flawless. She knew her cousin was trying to comfort her, who had lost her ability to speak foreign languages, but Gu Lanchun's heart felt as if it were being sliced by a knife.
She had gone abroad as a young child, from being bullied and not understanding the insults hurled at her, foolishly smiling back and earning more ridicule, to eventually bargaining at flea markets, retorting when salesclerks mocked her, and comprehending her teachers' discussions.
Listening, speaking, reading, and writing repeatedly, ever since she confirmed translation as her life’s ideal, she had worked step by step, studying word roots, exploring the stories behind languages, reading literature, and consulting mentors. Finally, she became a qualified translation trainee. Every step was soaked in sweat; she hadn’t been born knowing multiple languages.
Yet, all that knowledge was now gone.
Gu Lanchun hadn’t wanted to see this supposedly highly talented girl.
But then she saw someone else. That person supported her in the dimly lit auditorium, telling her that she would help her. She remembered that person was named Tao Shushu.
But how could she help?
Still, Gu Lanchun paused for a few seconds because of it.
It was after those few seconds that she felt she heard herself speaking.
She had repeatedly listened to her own pronunciation, correcting it over and over. She was intimately familiar with the flaws in her articulation and the unique characteristics of her speech. Even though she couldn’t understand English anymore, she could still recognize her own habitual intonations. If not for the difference in voice, she might have thought the talented person on stage was herself.
Gu Lanchun almost broke down on the spot.
She desperately tried to understand but couldn’t grasp a single word.
A dozen seconds later, she logged into the school forum using her cousin’s Huiwen account. She saw that the topic was about whether one should use someone else’s "golden finger" to achieve their own success.
Gu Lanchun read the real-time translation: "A golden finger doesn’t mean it’s handed to you for free. Perhaps that person spent a long time working hard to master a skill to the level of a golden finger. So, I won’t tolerate anyone taking away someone else’s golden finger."
Gu Lanchun burst into tears.
Then she heard another speech that closely resembled her own vocal traits. The arguments were so flimsy they were almost laughable. Gu Lanchun could no longer recall the evidence she had learned from numerous foreign texts, but even in Chinese, the reasoning felt weak and forced.
In the end, without any suspense, Tao Shushu won.
At that very moment, Gu Lanchun suddenly realized she could understand English again.
Not just English, every language she had painstakingly learned suddenly returned to her mind in that instant.