Chapter 34

When Jing Ming got back to the dorm, no one was there. Li Wei and Zhu Tao were in the lab, and judging by his absence, Zhang Ming must have gone to study.
He didn’t bother with the lights, just dropped himself at his desk and slumped into the chair, head thrown back, staring at the ceiling.
City lights seeped through the window, dull, solitary.
Lost in thought, his eyes fixed on nothing. Suddenly, his gaze pulled into focus, eyebrows furrowing, and with a jolt, he jumped to his feet and kicked the poor chair with all his pent-up frustration.
The innocent chair went skidding across the floor, crashing into the desk before wobbling to a stop.
Silence fell again.
He sucked in a steadying breath, clenched his jaw, turned on the desk lamp, and started changing to head out to the lab. Taking off his denim jacket, he reached into the pocket for his keys, and accidentally fished out two shredded ticket stubs.
His frown deepened. He crumpled the hard paper into a tight ball, lobbed it in the trash. The jacket landed in a heap on the bed; he yanked a random baseball hoodie out of the closet, slamming the door with a bang.
Keys in hand, he stalked out without a backward glance.
At the lab, the team was prepping the tactical model for the upcoming entrepreneurship expo.
Jing Ming circled the model field, checking for any last-minute issues.
Stopping at the corner, he studied it intently.
Nearby, Li Wei was chatting with Wan Zi’ang.
Wan Zi’ang: “Did you see it?”
Li Wei: “Saw it. The inertial measurement module she built is freakishly accurate.”
Wan Zi’ang: “Man, if only our class had someone as talented as Du Ruo. We should poach her to help us.”
Li Wei sighed. “Sigh, how’d we let her join Orbit anyway?”
Jing Ming: “…”
Jesus, can’t catch a break about her anywhere!
When Du Ruo got back to her own dorm, all three roommates were home.
Xia Nan was mid face-mask, Qiu Yuchen was binging British drama, and He Huanhuan was on her bed, snacking.
Huanhuan saw her come in. “Where’d you go? Never saw you at the library.”
“Went out with a senior,” Du Ruo replied.
Huanhuan shrugged, unbothered, but Qiu Yuchen perked up immediately, pausing her laptop. “Come here, little savage.” She yanked Du Ruo’s chair over. “Sit, story time.”
“What’s up?”
“Trying to get the scoop on a guy from your class.”
Du Ruo lounged on the back of her chair, grinning. “You mean Li Wei?”
“How’d you know?”
She stuck out her tongue. “Wild guess.”
“That’s him. You’ve been in the same class for ages, what do you think of him?”
“Didn’t you guys just prep for that debate together? You’ve seen what he’s like.”
“I’ve only really known him for a few days,” Qiu Yuchen complained. “Come on, give me the lowdown. What’s he like?”
Off to the side, He Huanhuan snickered, “Xiao Ruo, go easy on him, use only the best words.”
Qiu Yuchen shot her a look. “Eat your chips.”
Du Ruo thought carefully before answering: “He’s sharp, super smart, really easygoing, honest, principled, everything he does, he takes seriously.”
At that, Qiu Yuchen lit up. “Knew it! Just what I thought!”
“So, you like him?”
“Yup.” Qiu Yuchen didn’t even try to hide it; she arched an eyebrow. “I’m gonna go for it!”
Du Ruo looked at her with admiration. “You’ve got guts.”
Xia Nan was half-muffled under her sheet mask, mumbling, “Of course. If you like someone, go for it, otherwise, what if someone else nabs him first?”
Du Ruo: “But what if he turns you down?”
Xia Nan: “Still better than keeping it bottled up and never knowing.”
“Exactly!” Qiu Yuchen was fired up. She jumped in front of the mirror, did a little spin. Standard height, solid figure, average looks, nothing some makeup couldn’t elevate.
She checked herself from every angle, while He Huanhuan lounged at the end of the bed, howling: “Love makes people beautiful! I wanna fall in love too!”
Last year, these two were in total agreement as they daydreamed about romance on the bleachers at the sports meet. But now…
Du Ruo shrugged, not the least bit interested. “Honestly? Relationship life is not on my radar right now. I’m loving things just the way they are.”
He Huanhuan pointed at her dramatically. “Hmph! Alliance betrayed!”
Du Ruo burst out laughing. “Good luck with that, bye!” With that, she rolled her chair back to her desk and pulled out a tall stack of Orbit project files to review.
Next week, their university AI startup exhibition was coming up. Orbit’s automatic braking system was a headline project, she needed to get back to grinding.
After the weekend, the 28th rolled around.
Their university, one of the country’s top stem schools, was famous for training seriously skilled, innovative students. Every two years, the student venture project expo drew investors, companies, and big-league firms from all over China, sometimes even abroad. The event had become an incubator for countless high-tech startups.
The whole thing was held in the sparkling new gym. Huge, bustling, entry after entry, every department showing off their students’ best and brightest projects.
This year’s focus: artificial intelligence.
Du Ruo walked into the exhibit hall and felt like she’d been transported to the future, VR experiences, robots, facial recognition, natural language AIs… Stuff for everything from factories to households. Every direction, there was something wild and fascinating.
She wanted to linger at every project, but she didn’t have the time, she had to hurry to Orbit’s booth.
Just as she reached their area, she spotted Jing Ming striding toward her. He wore a black shirt today, his whole vibe sharp and cool as ice.
He kept up a brisk pace, head turned in conversation with Li Wei. His gaze grazed hers, expression unreadable, chilly as always. In the next second, he looked away and disappeared into Team Prime’s exhibit.
Du Ruo blinked, a little thrown, but didn’t dwell on it. She turned and kept moving.
Orbit’s automatic braking system and Prime’s autonomous driving project were the crown jewels of both their department and the school, smack dab in the center of the exhibition.
The two showcases stood on opposite sides of the main corridor, facing off like rivals in an arena.
But the atmosphere on each side? Couldn’t be more different.
Yi Kun’s team was military-level prepared, everyone suited up, all crisp lines and confidence. Their booth was layered, elaborate, models and shiny gadgetry artfully arranged. Even the promo pamphlets had style.
The backdrop was equally impressive: at the center, a gleaming braking system, with spokes radiating out to highlight all the industry sectors, transport, manufacturing, space…
Jing Ming’s crew, on the other hand? Other than color-matched black shirts, they had no uniform at all.
Three sides of their booth were sky blue. No slogans, no posters; just a white, soaring Prime logo that looked fresher than summer air, simple to the point of starkness.
No artful displays, either,
Just one giant model in the middle, so big it ate up three-quarters of their floorspace, leaving only a slim path for visitors.
The sandbox was a miniaturized city, buildings, trees, overpasses, winding roads. Little driverless cars zipped all over this “urban” grid, circling through narrow alleys and six-lane highways alike.
It was so hands-on and captivating, the Prime exhibit was instantly swamped, students, angel investors, entrepreneurs all elbowing for photos and animatedly discussing what they saw.
Du Ruo was dying to get a closer look at that sandbox, but stopped herself.
The odd moment earlier with Jing Ming had put her on edge, maybe he was in a mood, maybe not. Either way, no need to poke the bear.
Orbit’s end of the exhibit was packed too, so Du Ruo quickly got sucked into demoing for inquisitive executives:
“Orbit’s automatic control and braking tech is accurate, safe, and highly efficient. Here, let me show you a simulation, plus the prototypes and a finished model…”
“You specialize just in the control and braking systems?”
“That’s right. We pour everything into perfecting this one thing, so our tech is really top notch. And we can customize the design for any collaborator’s needs.” Du Ruo explained smoothly, “Whether it’s transportation, manufacturing, production lines, auto industry, anywhere you want to automate, we can help. May I ask what sector your company is in?”
She handled each question with patience and clarity. Nearby, Yi Kun glanced over at her, clearly surprised at her preparation and poise, for an assistant, she was something else.
Li Qinghe said, “She’s always thorough and dedicated.”
Yi Kun just nodded, eyes lowered, deep in thought.
Li Qinghe added, “She wasn’t on the core project team, but she wasn’t idle, she’s helped us fix a bunch of sensors. I checked out her custom IMUs, not bad on precision, either.”
“She’s got real talent,” Yi Kun agreed, glancing at Wu Zhengbo beside him. “I think we should strongly consider letting her join Orbit’s main team.”
Wu Zhengbo looked startled, then chuckled. “She’s doing great as lab assistant. Let her stick with that for now, once you’re back from Germany, we can put it to a proper vote.”
“Sounds good.”
Wu Zhengbo checked his watch. “Almost noon, don’t you guys have a flight to catch?”
“Yeah.”
Yi Kun and Li Qinghe didn’t linger; they left by 11:30.
Du Ruo and the rest of the team stayed on the grind.
The crowd peaked from 9:30 a.m. to 1 in the afternoon before finally tapering off.
By a little after 4, the guys were slumping, stiff backs, parched throats. And Du Ruo, after a day in heels, could practically feel her feet mutinying.
Still, it was all worth it.
Tons of investors and industry people left their cards, interested in future deals. The details would get hammered out in the coming rounds of follow-up and negotiation.
By five, there were only a few stragglers left wandering the hall.
With the pressure off, a few Orbit seniors headed over to check out the sandbox across the way.
Du Ruo took a peek, Jing Ming and Li Wei were nowhere to be seen, just two or three guys hanging back in their absence, no visitors in sight.
She’d been curious all day, couldn’t resist, and sneaked over herself.
The moment she saw the sandbox, she was awestruck.
That huge mini-world was alive. Skyscrapers brushed the ceiling, alleys and courtyards snaked between them, overpasses and highways twisted, traffic signals blinked, signs caught the light, the “roads” crawling with countless tiny driverless cars. Red means stop, green means go, and when a “pedestrian” wandered out, the cars shuttled to a halt to let them pass.
Tiny robots marched across intersections, braving the crosswalks.
Not a step out of line.
Utterly mesmerizing.
Du Ruo just stood there, amazed for ages.
Right in front of her on a neighborhood street, she noticed a square marked “Interactive Zone,” with a sign nearby inviting her in.
She reached into the sandbox and tapped the “street” at the interactive zone, nothing happened. Just as she was about to pull her hand away, a “car” rolled forward. As soon as it “noticed” her fingers in the middle of the road, it slowed, stopping politely just a couple centimeters short, patiently waiting.
One by one, the cars behind stacked up in a neat, orderly line, waiting their turn.
She slowly drew her hand back, and the little car started up again, winding its way down the miniature road.
Incredible!
She let out a silent sigh of wonder.
Just then, a gentle voice spoke nearby: “The design is excellent, and your micro-city is beautifully done. But right now, real-world infrastructure doesn’t really match up with your system. There are regulatory hurdles too. Have you considered those?”
Du Ruo startled, turning to find an elderly man with silver hair, kind eyes fixed on her.
She realized, dressed in formal businesswear, he’d probably mistaken her for someone on the presentation team.
Lost for words, she struggled for an answer, when a clear, low baritone sounded from behind her:
“The mass adoption of autonomous driving will, in turn, drive development of supporting infrastructure, and prompt laws and policies to keep pace.”
Jing Ming had appeared behind her at some point, silent as a shadow.
He said,
“Science and technology should never be shackled by human rules. Tech exists to break the old and build the new, to ignite innovation and spark change, even revolution.”
“Technology exists to shatter old rules and create new order.” The old man weighed these words, nodding in approval. “Bold words, young man.”
Du Ruo glanced up at Jing Ming’s profile, sharp in his black shirt, the picture of youthful elegance, lips soft and skin clear, eyes burning bright with a fierce light.
The distinguished old gentleman quickly pressed on: “But why disrupt the rules? If people can drive, why go through all the trouble to teach machines to do it, to make cars drive themselves?”
Jing Ming replied, “Robots aren’t meant to imitate people, they’re here to solve problems we can’t handle ourselves: inefficiency, danger, traffic, redundancy, chaos.”
The old man laughed softly.
He turned back to the massive model layout, a flicker of youthful passion flashing through his aged eyes. Lost in thought, he murmured, almost to himself, “Research… innovation… it’s a long, lonely road.”
Even Du Ruo could tell this man wasn’t just any passerby, everything about him, from how he spoke to how he stood, said he was an expert, not an outsider.
No, he wasn’t confused, he was testing them.
“Tell me, son,” the old man said suddenly, “walking this path, do you ever get impatient? Or discouraged?”
Jing Ming raised a brow. “What do you mean?”
“The US and Europe, whether it’s in this field or any other, their AI research is decades ahead of us. You kids are smart and ambitious… I have to wonder, does that ever get to you?”
Jing Ming let out a small laugh. “If this were a hundred-meter sprint, sure, we wouldn’t stand a chance. But…”
He set aside the humor, and spoke sincerely:
“Artificial intelligence is a marathon. Take self-driving cars, for instance, building a prototype, that’s just the first hundred meters. There are still miles to go. Who’ll win or lose, who knows?”
Du Ruo froze, staring at him.
In that moment, she saw pride, and determination, in his eyes.
The old man, silent now, smiled with a touch of emotion he tried to hide. He thought for a while, nodding gently, and finally said, “Young man, I hope we’ll have more chances to talk in the future.”
Jing Ming handed him a Prime business card.
The old man accepted it with care, tucked it away, said his goodbyes, and left.
Jing Ming watched him go, standing in place for a while.
He had a hunch about the man’s identity, but couldn’t be sure.
He didn’t dwell on it. When he turned, he noticed Du Ruo still lingering by the display.
Expressionless, he walked over, picked up one of the slower little automated cars from the model track, and checked its battery.
Du Ruo couldn’t help her curiosity. “How do all the sensors fit in such a tiny car?” she asked absentmindedly.
He ignored her.
As if he hadn’t even heard.
Awkwardness crept up her cheeks in a blush; luckily, there weren’t many people around. Fidgeting with her fingers, she pressed her lips together, then quietly turned to sneak away.
Jing Ming replaced the battery and set the car carefully back in its miniature world. Only then did he look up and watch her figure fade into the distance.