Chapter 96 The night rain fell even harder, pattering on...
The night rain fell even harder, pounding against the glass curtain wall like countless indifferent fingers tapping out a rhythm. Inside the office, however, it remained stifling, with breaths mingling, the sound of the rain becoming the only cover.
Ye Yuying only slowly opened her eyes when the first bolt of lightning struck outside the window, instantly illuminating their overlapping figures.
She turned her head to look at her reflection in the glass, a moment of disorientation in her eyes—it was a strange woman, smiling, as if she had finally grasped something, yet also as if she might let go at any moment.
Her arms were still wrapped around Cheng Mingdu's neck, her fingertips trembling slightly, and a strange desolation suddenly welled up in her heart.
“Cheng Mingdu…” she called softly.
He buried his face in her neck and shoulders, his breath hot, whether he could hear him or not.
As the rain fell, the moisture in her eyes deepened, but the corners of her lips curved into a cruelly tender smile.
*
The weekend is Cheng Mingdu's day off, not Ye Yuying's day off.
The afternoon light was gradually dimmed by the clouds, and the air in the office felt quiet and dense.
Ye Yuying didn't rush to approach the screen; she simply stood at the door, leaning on her cane, and quietly watched him.
Ye Yuying smiled faintly, as if she had both approved and expected it. She walked to his side and pushed another stack of documents in front of him.
"There are more, take your time to look at them."
The thick stack of documents contains test data on the application of neural interfaces in rehabilitation populations. The channel feedback, electromyography curves, and error ratios marked on them are all raw, unprocessed results.
She made no attempt to hide the most crucial experimental data from him.
Cheng Mingdu remained silent for a moment, then consciously reminded, "These should only be shown to core R&D personnel."
“Yes,” Ye Yuying responded softly, her gaze fixed on him. “But you might be able to spot the flaws faster than they can.”
She spoke with such certainty, as if she had already predetermined his role, as if she were driving him, or as if she were seeking his help.
Cheng Mingdu's heart tightened, and he looked up to meet her gaze: "What are you doing?"
She paused for a moment, then smiled. "I just need your help."
“You’re very good at these things, aren’t you…” Her voice was soft, helpless and calm as she analyzed herself, “I’ve been working non-stop since I returned to China, trying to delegate some power, but I don’t trust anyone except you.”
As soon as she finished speaking, her gaze met Cheng Mingdu's eyes.
Eight years later, Ye Yuying's eyes became even more enigmatic, and he found himself unable to see through her in more and more ways.
He opened his mouth, but when he saw the deep weariness in her eyes, the words caught in his throat.
She seemed really tired.
Ye Yuying turned and leaned against the French window. Her back looked slender and lonely in the scorching sunlight. She had given a convincing answer and handed over a portion of her power.
The files were piled up in front of Cheng Mingdu, and the code was still flashing.
Time is passing by faster and faster every day.
Cheng Mingdu turned to the next page, his brow furrowing.
The paper contains a set of electromyographic signal acquisition data, densely packed waveform images, like lotus leaves and stalks of varying heights at the bottom of a lotus pond.
"Is this the primal signal of the quadriceps?" he asked.
Ye Yuying nodded, "We're using surface electromyography (EMG) for acquisition, and the frequency is high enough, but once it enters the filtering stage, the delay increases."
She stated the facts, but her gaze inadvertently followed the changes in his expression. These days, she always enjoyed watching him, unwilling to miss any detail or angle.
Perhaps these will be her only solace when she lies in a hospital bed in the future.
Cheng Mingdu lowered his eyes, his fingertips slowly tracing the line of formula: "Your noise threshold is set too high... causing the effective signal to be filtered out as well."
"So you think it should be lowered?" Ye Yuying asked softly.
"At least more fault tolerance should be left for the system."
*
Two days later.
The laboratory was brightly lit, and most of the team members had already left, leaving only Ye Yuying and Cheng Mingdu.
She stood beside the control panel, leaning on her crutches; the interface displayed real-time electromyography (EMG) motion recognition curves.
The red line represents algorithm predictions, while the blue line represents the user's actual actions. The red line is always a step behind, like a slow-reacting shadow.
“We’ve hit a dead end with pattern recognition,” Ye Yuying said, raising her eyes. “We’re using SVM, but it’s not working well in fast gait prediction.”
Cheng Mingdu stared at the curve and spoke without hesitation: "Have you tried RNN? Using a recurrent neural network to capture time series features might converge faster than SVM."
...
After calibration, the red line started to follow the blue line closely, and the average latency dropped from 68 ms to 41 ms.
Ye Yuying looked at him quietly, a slight smile playing on her lips. "So, you actually considered this possibility from the beginning, right?"
He did not deny it.
Ye Yuying almost saw the light at the end of the tunnel, and even regretted letting Cheng Mingdu enter at this critical juncture.
Furthermore, he later argued that the Kalman filter was too conservative and offered new suggestions for achieving model predictive control.
Finally, one day, their experimental results came close to the target line in the rehabilitation scenario.
The transfer of technology happened naturally and slowly, and then, the process continued.
*
Early in the morning, an email quietly appeared in Ye Yuying's inbox.
Subject: Invitation Letter for a Special Lecture by Alumni to Celebrate the 90th Anniversary of Laishan Middle School
The school expressed its sincere and earnest hope that she could return to her alma mater to give a public lecture during the school's anniversary celebration. The topic was open, but it would be best if it were related to technology, dreams, and growth.
Ye Yuying stared at the screen for a long time. Laishan Middle School was her most unforgettable school memory from when she first stepped into Chengdu.
She endured countless acts of bullying and malice, but resolved them all two years later when she graduated from junior high school.
Now, she has been invited back as a tech entrepreneur, but she feels empty inside. She feels that everything is hidden in the past, and it's like the blood that flowed from the corners of her eyes has nothing left but inconspicuous scars. She even doubts whether it was all a dream.
She slowly exhaled and sent a reply of thanks and agreement.
The place she once most wanted to escape from, she has now returned to after a period of pain and despair.
On the day of the school anniversary celebration, Cheng Mingdu accompanied her.
Laishan Middle School has been expanded, but the school gate remains unchanged. Red banners flutter in the wind, and the school is decorated with flowers everywhere, creating a lively and solemn atmosphere.
Ye Yuying leaned on her cane and slowly walked through the old passage. The blue bricks and stone steps were almost unchanged, only the years had etched deeper lines on them.
Her lecture was scheduled for the afternoon, and in the morning, the school staff gave her a tour of the campus.
There were also some other alumni, but she didn't recognize any of them.
Because of her leg injury, she went to rest after visiting the laboratory building, and Cheng Mingdu helped her walk slowly.
As she looked around at everything familiar, her mind was filled with endless speculations and girlish thoughts about Cheng Mingdu from back then.
She liked him; it had been a long time.
"When did you first realize that I liked you?" Ye Yuying asked, tilting her head as she walked.
Cheng Mingdu also seemed to have a hard time answering, "It was probably when you were in your second year of high school. Before that, I always treated you like a child."
Ye Yuying smiled understandingly, tilted her head and nuzzled his shoulder slightly, "Much earlier than that, I'm much more mature than you think."
"How early?" Cheng Mingdu's voice became unusually serious.
Ye Yuying knew the story was long, so she briefly recalled it and said, "I'll tell you when I have time later."
"But here's a hint: a child's true feelings may be completely opposite to their behavior."
Ye Yuying finished speaking with a smile, but a hint of bitterness flashed in her eyes.
Cheng Mingdu glanced at her sideways, his lips tightening, but he didn't press her for details. He keenly sensed that she seemed to be intentionally avoiding certain unpleasant details.
The two decided to go to the beef noodle shop at the school gate to relive the taste of Ye Yuying's junior high school days. When they passed the security office, the security guard was still the same one from back then, but now he was an old man. He stubbornly told them that they also had to register with their real names when leaving the school.
Ye Yuying took it, filled it out, and put it back. The security guard slowly put on his reading glasses, looked at Ye Yuying's name, said "That sounds familiar," and then nothing more.
After the lecture in the afternoon, Cheng Mingdu and Ye Yuying left early to avoid crowding after the event.
They passed the security office again, and Ye Yuying took the initiative to pick up a pen to fill in the information. The security guard, who was just returning from relieving himself, quickly called out to their backs, "Ye Yuying, wait a minute!"
Ye Yuying was deeply surprised, seemingly not expecting that her name would suddenly be called out by a stranger.
The security guard quickly got up and rummaged through the drawers and cabinets. A metal cabinet creaked open, revealing several old letters and yellowed papers inside.
He carefully took out an envelope with yellowed edges, on which was written crookedly, "To Ye Yuying, Class 2, Grade 9".
"Look, this letter has been under the cabinet for over ten years, hasn't it? I only found it by chance when I replaced the cabinet recently. I didn't know if you would ever show up again. I only remembered you when I saw your name."
The guard handed it over with a smile, saying, "It's been so many years, it probably doesn't mean much to you, but you can keep it as a souvenir."
She initially thought it was an insignificant incident. Ye Yuying didn't have many friends back then, but occasionally some people would strike up a conversation with her and send her birthday wishes or something like that, which she didn't pay much attention to.
Ye Yuying reached out and took it, her fingertips trembling slightly. It was a handwriting that was both strange and familiar—she recognized it.
There was no signature, but she could recognize Ji Zi's neat handwriting from back then.
Her heart was suddenly gripped.
She silently clutched the letter in her palm, thanking the security guard repeatedly, but hesitated to open the envelope immediately.
She didn't open it until she got back to her car.
The paper had long since yellowed, but the writing remained clear.
[Yu Ying, I had a nosebleed again today.]
My parents initially thought it was because I was being bullied, but actually, I was probably sick.
There are always people who target young people with illnesses. This illness comes on suddenly, and its cause should be traced back to a long time ago. I am very fortunate that this is not retribution for my betrayal of my friends.
I often think that if I were really sick, that would be great, a terminal illness in exchange for your forgiveness. But... I overheard snippets of conversation between the doctor and my parents today, and it seems I really am sick, and... it might be very serious.
It's so serious that it might be rare in real life, but it's very common in novels, full of clichéd tragic romanticism.
I didn't dare ask; their smiles at me seemed so forced.
I only heard the word chemotherapy, which seemed very close to me, but it felt incredibly foreign to me.
Yu Ying, if I really get sick, will you forgive me?
Will you ever think of me again and stop hating me?
If that's the case, I really hope I'm sick so I can ask for your forgiveness.
That day, when they forced me to take your love letter, I was trembling all over.
I know that's the most important thing to you, but I'm even more afraid they'll turn around and target me.
I am cowardly, despicable, and shameful—but in that instant, I didn't have the courage to stand by your side.
Later, under your gaze, I didn't even dare to speak. I really wanted to explain, but I couldn't utter a single word.
I wanted to reach out and take your hand, but you turned and walked away.
sorry.
These are the only three words I can write, and they are also the words I've always wanted to say but haven't been able to.
I hope I'm not really sick, and I hope I can go back to school. I owe you an apology in person.
—Ji Zi
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