I Found A Planet

The 1st of September was the first day of school. Xing Hai Technologies announced their “Answers For All” program and made the “Bite-sized Videos” platform available on the internet. They extended a public invitation to everyone to answer the questions, with rewards provided.

“After the updates have been carried out on both generations of Little Star, the function ‘Human Answering Service’ will be available online from today onwards. We encourage children to ask the questions that are burning in their hearts. The first three months are free of charge, there are no limitations placed on the number of questions that they can ask. Children who ask the most number of useful and beneficial questions will receive a special prize. We also encourage the vast number of intellectuals to answers the questions asked by the children and to provide relevant answer materials. The ‘Bite-sized video’ that you’ve submitted must pass our review before they are published. Every subscription by a student (the service will be forever free for the student after subscription) will earn you 10 cents. For the first three months of this activity, our company will reward you with an additional 10 cents! So, that means that if there are 100,000 views on your video during this promotion period, you will earn a profit of $20,000. Our big data systems are opened. You can check the ranking for the frequencies of the questions asked by students anytime and download the relevant answer materials provided. What are you waiting for? Children, start asking your questions! Intellectuals, start making your Bite-sized video!”

This series of announcements by Xing Hai Technologies caused a huge reaction. Interest sparkled in the eyes of the parents. This function was good. They did not have to worry that there was no one to answer any doubts that their child had.

“Can we ask anything?” The children held their Little Star learning machines with curiosity in their eyes. Nodding, they thought, Since it’s like that, then I’ll start asking. They opened the app “Answers For All” and asked their questions. Selecting the “submit” button, their questions were uploaded.

In a moment, the database in Xing Hai Technologies received and gathered millions of questions. As some of these questions had similar meanings, the system’s intelligence merged them together. In reality, there were only about 10,000 questions. They were displayed on the ranking chart based on their frequency.

…

In the capital, Li Yongle was a mathematics teacher and a physics teacher. He taught both subjects concurrently and was able to achieve the title of “Double Excellence Mentor” given by the school. He was the alumni of a university in the capital and graduated with a double degree. After which, he was admitted as a postgraduate in Jinghua University. He was definitely a top scholar. He then became a senior high school teacher. With a teaching style that was humorous, comical, yet thought-provoking, as well as his many talents, he became very popular amongst the students.

In addition, he was an internet celebrity. The series of short videos on popular science that he created and co-distributed via Watermelon Videos and Pop Science in Z Country had spread like wildfire across the nation. The central news media and newspaper published articles about his videos with high praise, calling it the pioneer that started the trend of using short videos to impart knowledge to the masses. On Watermelon Videos, Li Yongle had accumulated 1.1 million fans, and his videos on popular science were viewed a total of 45.71 million times. He had more than 200,000 fans following him on Bilibili. He had also received more than 30 million hits on the 300-plus videos on popular science that he had uploaded onto the video platform.

The production costs of these popular science videos were not high. He only needed a blackboard, a piece of chalk, and a number of Powerpoint slides. With his talent, he could produce quite a few videos in one day. His rate of production was terrifying. These videos brought him huge amounts of income. With the tokens from fans on Watermelon Videos and the Incentive Plan For Original Content on the Bilibili site, it was a piece of cake for him to earn millions annually.

But, what was most important to him was not money, it was the enjoyment that he got from the process of sharing his knowledge. When his students learned new knowledge, or the vast numbers of netizens cultivated their scientific learning, he felt extremely energized and rewarded by the process. Others’ growth was his growth too.

Recently, Xing Hai Technologies was promoting an activity called “Answers For All,” which attracted his attention.

To be more accurate, it had attracted not only his attention, but the vast number of content creators of popular science videos as well. As distributors of knowledge with higher IQs, they had a sharper sensitivity and better insight into the long term. They discussed the topic intensely in private.

“Why don’t we develop our careers in Xing Hai Technologies”Bite-sized Videos’ platform?”

“Every hit (with a subscription) makes 20 cents for the video creator. This is a ‘knowledge payment’ that other platforms have never been able to achieve. Xing Hai Technologies could really achieve this.”

“It’s getting harder to make anything from short knowledge videos these days. The competition is too intense. The very practical video I made based on real technical know-how received millions of hits, but I only earned $7,000 to $8,000 from it. Sometimes, I really feel like I can’t persevere anymore. Many good friends have already switched to another profession.”

“The Little Star learning machine is certainly the next big thing for us!”

“Yes, Little Star has powerful functions. In the future, all students will have one. It is a huge market with 200 million consumers. Even if everyone only subscribed once and each subscription earns 10 cents, that’s 20 million!”

“You’re dreaming too much. Currently, the total number of both generations circulating in the market is only about 10 million units. This market is still in its starting stage.”

“All the more reason for us to get in it as soon as possible! If you enter the game late, the high-frequency questions will have all been answered, and you’ll have to pick from the leftovers.”

“Um, I need to do something; got to go.”

“Ah, I need to cook dinner. You can continue chatting.”

Giving the excuses that they were “busy,” all the members of the group went offline. In reality, they were going to create their Bite-sized Videos.

Li Yongle exited the chat too and opened his browser. He went into the official site of Xing Hai Technologies and found the query link to the big data system in the announcement for the activity, “Answers For All.” He clicked on the link and went to check just kind of questions this data system had collected from the students. The page hung slightly in the middle of loading. A data table was displayed. He was immediately amused as he scanned the table from top to bottom a couple of times. Usually, his expression was slightly stern, but he could not hold back his laughter as he continued looking at the data.

Interesting; this was really too interesting! The questions with the highest frequencies were ranked at the top of the list:

Why should I study? (392,480 times)

Why should I do so muvh homework? (275,043 times)

Why don’t my parents allow me to play games? (264,510 times)

Why are my parents always trying to control what I do? (257,621 times)

Why is it so tiring to study? (231,019 times)

I don’t want to go to school anymore; what should I do? (201,530 times)

What should I do when I like a girl in my class? (172,166 times)

…

After the top ten questions were revealed, the parents were in an uproar. They questioned what were their children thinking; how could they ask such strange questions? However, the majority of students commented that these were the questions that they most wanted to ask. They were a good representation of what they wanted to express in their hearts. The melon-eating netizens had a good laugh over it. They called the top 10 questions, “10 questions by the brats” and hoped that there would be someone who could give a good answer to their doubts.

After laughing with the netizens, Li Yongle felt a sudden comprehension dawning. When he saw the top question “Why should I study?”, his gaze rested on those words for a long time. Mumbling to himself, he said, “In these few years, I’ve made hundreds of videos on popular science and spread much knowledge on that subject. But that is only knowledge. Only a minority of the population are able to digest that vast and complicated knowledge. I never knew what the real questions were that the students had on their minds. I only did my videos based on my own interests, not even solving the most basic problems that the children were confused about.”

He shook his head. “Why should we study? This question is very simple, yet there is no simple answer to it. A five minute video will not allow a student to understand the value of knowledge and the real significance of learning. It’s very hard to answer this question in a way that will let them understand the importance of knowledge; especially when they have not entered the working world or applied their knowledge in reality, when they have not even realized the value of knowledge. Nevertheless! I will try my best with what I have learned in my lifetime, and put in my full efforts to give my best shot in answering this question!”

Li Yongle clenched his fists. An inner light shone through his eyes, reflecting his determination, faith, and the radiance of an advocate.