They used to prowl the fabric-conditioner aisle. And they were, frankly, terrifying. But now, they are kind of out of a job, or a hobby, or something. For technology has stepped in to attempt instead to vend us of, believe it or not, sausages. In Nanjing’s dear-old Suguo.
他们常常在织物调理剂的货架上徘徊。坦率地说，它们很可怕。但现在，他们失去了工作、爱好或其他东西。不管你信不信，技术已经介入，试图向我们出售香肠。在南京亲爱的老苏果。
The Nanjinger yesterday, 10 October, had just popped in for some cheese (it was pizza night), but, low and behold, was slightly taken aback with the robot and its three shelves of pre-packed mini sausages. We’ve had those guys deliver bottles of water to our hotel room before, but this one is a “travelling salesman”.
昨天，即 10 月 10 日，《南京人》刚刚来吃一些奶酪（那天是披萨之夜），但你瞧，机器人和它的三架预先包装好的迷你香肠让他有点惊讶。我们以前曾让那些人送瓶装水到我们的酒店房间，但这个是“旅行推销员”。
That term in China used to mean a man who walks around your community crying out for you to come and have your kitchen knives sharpened. Times have indeed changed.
在中国，这个词过去指的是一个人在你的社区里走来走去，大声叫着你过来磨刀。时代确实变了。
This not-so-little fella (about 1.8-metres tall) is a product of the Shuanghui Group, now headquartered in Hong Kong, but native to Henan Province, that purchased Smithfield Foods in 2013. That was then the largest acquisition to date of an American company by a Chinese firm.
这个不那么小的家伙（身高约 1.8 米）是双汇集团的产品，该集团现总部位于香港，但原产于河南省，该集团于 2013 年收购了史密斯菲尔德食品公司。那是迄今为止中国公司对美国公司的最大一笔收购。
And is by now obvious, the Shuanghui Group, often referred to in English as the WH Group, is one of China’s more-innovative food producers. Even this very publication not-so-long ago awarded it the number 3 spot on its list of top whole-wheat, sliced-bread producers (it wasn’t a long list; that was the bottom position, but give them a break).
现在显而易见的是，双汇集团（通常英文称为WH Group）是中国最具创新性的食品生产商之一。即使是这份出版物不久前也将其评为顶级全麦切片面包生产商名单中的第三名（名单并不长；那是垫底的位置，但让他们休息一下）。
Adorned with a pair of Chinese flags for National Day, this is in fact one of those examples of AI actually being a good thing. The robot silently glides past, in stark contrast to its considerably-older human colleagues.
国庆节上装饰着两面中国国旗，这实际上是人工智能实际上是一件好事的例子之一。机器人静静地滑过，与年长得多的人类同事形成鲜明对比。
They became somewhat synonymous with Suguo a decade or more ago, for their decidedly-aggressive sales’ tactics. Fabric conditioner was their favourite, but they would also branch out to milk powder, for example. Woe betide those who did not make a purchase.
十多年前，由于其绝对激进的销售策略，他们在某种程度上成为了苏果的代名词。织物调理剂是他们的最爱，但他们也会扩展到奶粉等领域。那些没有购买的人有祸了。
The reality now, however, is those seniors have been on the way out (well, let’s face it, they are now retired or worse) for quite some time. COVID also put an enormous dent in Suguo’s footfall, to the extent many larger branches now feel like they are mere warehouses for the not-so-many folk who have ordered their wares online.
然而，现在的现实是，这些老年人已经离开（好吧，让我们面对现实吧，他们现在已经退休了，或者更糟）已经有一段时间了。新冠疫情也对苏果的客流量造成了巨大影响，以至于许多较大的分店现在感觉它们只是那些在网上订购商品的人不多的仓库。
Hence, the deployment of Shuanghui’s Robot makes sense on another level, to perhaps bring some more physical shoppers back into the store, if only to take photos of it, accompanied by the few-remaining, somewhat-senior and now-silent, frowning fabric-softener promoters in the background.
因此，部署双汇机器人在另一个层面上也是有意义的，或许可以吸引更多的实体购物者回到店里，哪怕只是为了拍张照片，背景中还有几名仅存的、有些资深、现在已经沉默的、皱着眉头的衣物柔顺剂促销员。
