The commotion died down again. Everyone's eyes were on Zhao Min—they could tell what came next was going to be important.
After all, it wasn't common for a company to openly admit shortcomings during a product launch.
Zhao Min remained calm as she clicked to the next slide in her presentation.
"There is no perfect product in the world, and the smart assistant is no exception. First, compatibility. Currently, the mobile smart assistant is only compatible with the Marching Ant system and Android. It is not compatible with Apple's iOS—there's no iOS version of the app."
The moment those words left her lips, a wave of murmurs rippled through the crowd. Not compatible with iOS? That was a big deal. Apple held a huge share of the smartphone market—was Marching Ant Company deliberately excluding them?
If Xiaodie was as powerful as advertised, being unavailable on Apple devices could shift consumer preference. That kind of blow to Apple would be massive.
The audience collectively thought the same thing:
Why doesn't it support iOS?
Zhao Min anticipated the question.
"Smart assistants must interact deeply with a phone's operating system. Android is open source, which allows compatibility with Xiaodie. Apple's system is closed—apps can't control system-level features. Moreover, Apple already has Siri. Integrating Xiaodie without full access would strip away its key functions. So, for now, there is no iOS version."
A hush fell across the room. Even critics had to admit—her explanation made sense. This wasn't a snub. It was a limitation of the ecosystem itself.
But the audience didn't seem to care much. Many weren't Apple users, and even those who were often had a secondary Android phone.
"I feel like Apple just shivered a little."
"This small ant might just take a bite out of the Apple."
"I've got two phones anyway. One can be for Xiaodie."
"All that matters is the price. If it's free, Apple's gonna sweat."
The livestream comments were just as wild, bursting with speculation, memes, and admiration.
Zhao Min, still poised, moved on.
"The second limitation is language. Currently, Xiaodie only supports Chinese and English. We're working to add multilingual capabilities, and in the future, we aim to cover all major global languages."
That didn't concern most people—especially those in China, where the product was being launched. The crowd nodded, still focused.
Then came the final reveal.
"And the last issue—pricing. I know many of you have been wondering. Xiaodie will be available at 20 yuan per month. The first 10 minutes each month are free."
There was a buzz in the media section. At 20 yuan a month, for an AI assistant of this caliber, the pricing was more than fair. For most people, it was less than the cost of a meal.
More importantly, the Android user base was massive. Even if only 1 in 20 users subscribed, the revenue potential was staggering.
Xiaodie wasn't just a product—it was a gold mine.
With her announcements complete, Zhao Min handed the session over to the media for a Q&A. Fans and attendees began flooding the product experience zone, eager to test the smart assistant firsthand.
In the experience area, demo units showcased Marching Ant's future concepts—smart office software, computer operating systems, intelligent robots, cloud platforms, and big data solutions.
Most of these were still in early R&D stages, with few working prototypes. But the smart assistant station? That was swamped.
Videos of Xiaodie in action quickly made their way onto social media, shared by fans and reporters alike. The Marching Ant Company and Xiaodie surged to the top of trending searches across multiple platforms.
The product had barely launched, and it was already reshaping the conversation.
"A Marching Ant Leaves the Nest." – People's Daily
"How Close Are We to True AI?" – Global News
"Hello There, Humanity." – Squirrel Headlines
Every major domestic outlet jumped on the Xiaodie wave, publishing deep dives, analyses, and hype pieces. Artificial intelligence was once again dominating public discourse.
"Why didn't they embed Xiaodie in their next-gen phone?"
"They're collecting usage data now—refining it. Once the assistant matures, they'll embed it into future phones. That's when they'll flip the market."
"Just came back from the event, downloaded Xiaodie, and now I'm eating snacks and watching dramas—hands-free! This is too cool."
Back at company HQ, the excitement was anything but settled. Zhao Min returned from the theater and headed straight for the technical department.
She stood behind a team of technicians, watching them monitor the back end of the official website. She had seen the online reaction—exactly as she'd expected. The response to Xiaodie had already surpassed that of the Marching Ant system, not just because of marketing—but because of the AI.
Unlike the saturated OS market, the smart assistant space was a relatively untouched frontier. And now, Marching Ant Company was the first to stake a real claim.
"President, we've passed one million visitors," said a technician, not even looking up.
"Any server issues?" Zhao Min asked.
"None. After the last cyberattack, we upgraded everything. Millions of simultaneous visits? We're solid," Lao Luo responded confidently.
"Good. Put Xiaodie on the shelves," she ordered.
Meanwhile, in his office, Chen Mo was quietly watching the website backend. The launch had gone smoothly. The media storm was just beginning. But his eyes weren't on the hype.
He was watching something else.
The moment Xiaodie went live, a voice echoed in his ears.
"Merg brother, there are hackers attempting to breach the company's servers."
It was Ink Girl.
Chen Mo's eyes sharpened.
The real test had begun.