Limited Ambiguity Chapter 31 Part 2

Chapter 31.2

Ye Pei and Mondrian were both highly efficient. When they gathered in the laboratory after finishing classes that day, Ye Pei had already meticulously outlined the task schedule.

Qi Yan glanced over it briefly. Indeed, it could be completed in five days, but the cost was that Ye Pei and Mondrian’s sleep time was compressed to only three to four hours a day. As for Qi Yan, he was already thinking about how to upgrade the processing model so that he could finish his work earlier and get more sleep.

Ye Pei’s eyes lit up as she spoke of her idea. “Mondrian and I got the inspiration from the task we did two days ago. In order to form a correct data sequence that can be interpreted by artificial intelligence, we need to embed a logical chain. The conventional approach is to preset different logical chains in advance and select the one that is needed. However, Mondrian and I found that this approach is very cumbersome.”

She gave an analogy, “The data is like metal balls in a box, and different logical chains are like different magnetic rods. If I use Rod A to probe the box, it will attract the balls with the magnetic properties of Type A. Then, if I use Rod B to probe the box, it will attract the balls with Type B magnetic properties. Once all the required balls are attracted, I will integrate them to form the correct sequence.”

Qi Yan understood her meaning. “You and Mondrian want to simplify this process, using only one magnetic rod to make all the metal balls form the correct sequence.”

This was why Mondrian enjoyed discussing ideas with Qi Yan. In Qi Yan’s eyes, nothing seemed impossible. “Yes, this can shorten the time needed for the entire process. However, Ye Pei and I are still in the preliminary stages of planning.”

“We could probably reduce the number of required magnetic rods from ten to seven.” Ye Pei gestured with a seven and chuckled. “This is probably where the joy of scientific research lies. Every tiny improvement brings me great happiness!”

Qi Yan looked at the arrangement table made by Ye Pei, then asked, “What did you use for the third embedding?”

Ye Pei: “GPD linkage!”

Qi Yan: “You can switch to Hadup linkage.”

“I thought about it, but it couldn’t be reconciled in the first stage, so I gave up.” Ye Pei noted down. “I’ll try again later!”

With only five days left, neither Qi Yan nor Ye Pei attended classes. Professor Fu knew that the current courses were of limited significance to them, so he let them arrange their own schedules.

Most of the people in the research group were still struggling with the task assigned by Professor Fu. The whole laboratory had almost become the territory of Qi Yan’s trio. Ye Pei and Mondrian didn’t want to waste time going home, so they slept in the laboratory, relying on nutritional supplements to stave off hunger. Only Qi Yan went home as usual.

Half an hour before the Roentgen Award deadline, Ye Pei finally successfully uploaded the entire work, and Mondrian wrote down the architectural ideas, which were also successfully submitted.

Ye Pei collapsed onto the table. “I can’t take it anymore, I’m dying. How many hours have I slept in the past few days? Twenty hours, maybe? Mondrian, can you calculate it? Mondrian?”

Qi Yan whispered, “He’s asleep.”

Ye Pei sat up straight, turning her head to see Mondrian lying on the table, actually fast asleep.

“What kind of hypersleep speed is this?” Ye Pei was also struggling, mustering the last of her energy to ask Qi Yan, “Are you going home later?”

Qi Yan nodded. “Yes.”

Ye Pei closed her eyes, waved her hand casually, lips moving but no sound came out. When he looked again, she had already drifted off to sleep.

It was the early hours of the morning, with no one to be seen around the school. Standing half a step away from Qi Yan, Lu Fenghan thought about Ye Pei and Mondrian falling asleep in an instant. “Are all of you researchers masters of staying up late?”

Qi Yan recalled the people he knew and concluded, “Most of them are.”

Curious, Lu Fenghan asked, “What about you? What’s the longest you’ve stayed up?”

Qi Yan: “Three years ago, I was working on something that reached its final stage, so I started splitting my sleep into intervals.”

“Splitting your sleep?”

“Yeah, working continuously for twelve hours, then sleeping for three, for 27 days straight. But afterward, I fell ill and spent most of a week in the treatment pod.”

Lu Fenghan couldn’t quite describe what he felt inside. “Why the rush?”

“Because getting that thing done and deployed earlier could prevent a lot of deaths.” Qi Yan considered it worth it. “I just sacrificed a bit of sleep.”

“Aren’t you afraid of sudden death?”

Qi Yan reminded him, “There’s still the treatment pod.”

Thinking about the Type VI treatment pod Qi Yan kept in his bedroom, Lu Fenghan fell silent. So, that’s one of its purposes?

The next day, after Professor Fu commented on the results of each group’s submitted tasks, he inquired a bit more about Ye Pei and their involvement in the Roentgen Prize.

Ye Pei had a good rest and was already feeling refreshed. She gestured and explained the specific ideas to Professor Fu.

Professor Fu nodded approvingly. “Very good, both in terms of ideas and execution.”

Ye Pei lowered her voice and blinked. “Professor, do you think we can win an award?”

Instead of giving a direct answer, Professor Fu teased, “It depends on which level of award you’re aiming for.”

Catching the implication, Ye Pei’s smile deepened a bit without any modesty. “Of course, we aim for the Roentgen’s first prize!” Then, with some unease, she added, “Professor, do you think… the likelihood is high?”

This time, Professor Fu didn’t tease further. “Based on the standard of previous years, if there are no dark horses this time, the first prize should be yours.” Seeing the shadow under Ye Pei’s eyes, he added, “Alright, alright, calm down, get a good sleep for a couple more rounds. You look like a panda.”

After Professor Fu left, Ye Pei tapped the table with a metal pen, “I never even thought about competing before, but now, I’m surprisingly eager for it.”

Mondrian: “After giving it your all, you naturally want to achieve good results.”

Ye Pei laughed. “Exactly, you’ve perfectly explained my newfound competitiveness!”

She casually scrolled through Turan’s forum. “Quite a few people from our school are participating in the Roentgen Award this time. Hmm, two from the first year? When I was a freshman, the seniors thought I was useless and didn’t want to hang out with me.”

Lu Fenghan: “Are the first-year participants all guided by seniors?”

“Yep, they’ve only been in school for a short time, one or two months? Except for those who are self-taught, others have barely scratched the surface of the basics, let alone produce something substantial enough to compete for the Roentgen Award. So, most of those who participate are probably joining teams from higher years.”

Ye Pei: “That Jiang Qi should also have joined a team from a higher year. It’s just unclear how he convinced them to let him join. After all, if they really win the prize, Jiang Qi gets a share too.”

Lu Fenghan took note of that.

The results of the Roentgen Award selection were announced a week later.

The first to be announced were the third prize winners, both teams from Turan’s fourth year.

Gathered in the laboratory, Ye Pei joked, “Some used to say that the Roentgen Award is just an internal competition at Turan. With five slots each year, Turan pretty much monopolizes them.”

Two minutes later, the second prize winners were announced, and Ye Pei quickly retracted her previous statement, “Just forget what I said!”

The second prize-winning teams came from the First Military Academy across the river and a school on a planet not far from Leto—Ye Pei only recognized the names, likely dark horse contenders who emerged unexpectedly.

What surprised Ye Pei the most was, “Wait, why are there participants from across the river this year? Weren’t they always disdainful of participating in such competitions?”

Lu Fenghan glanced in the direction of the First Military Academy and thought, perhaps they used to disdain it because they didn’t know the prize money was this high, but this year, they might have found out.

The first prize was announced last.

Ye Pei twirled her long hair around her fingers at the shoulder. Despite Professor Fu’s assurance that they should win first place, that was under the assumption that nothing unexpected happened.

As the results were not yet out, she couldn’t shake off the unease.

Another minute passed, and the information about the first prize was displayed.

After reading it, Ye Pei frowned at first, then quickly smiled and relaxed. “No need to get too excited, it’s not us.”

Although they had the desire to win first place, not winning wasn’t unbearable for Ye Pei. She joked, “Professor Fu was surprisingly accurate, this is truly the dark horse team! There are five members in this team, two from the fourth year, two from the third year, and one—” she paused, “from the first year, Jiang Qi.”

Leaving the laboratory and heading home, Qi Yan stood at the school gate waiting for the hovercar. He heard a stranger’s voice calling his name, “Qi Yan.”

Qi Yan glanced over.

Lu Fenghan recognized the person at once—the woman from the Qi family who had sung in harmony with Jiang Qi at the Qi family’s celebration banquet, trying to discredit Qi Yan by accusing him of theft.

His gaze hardened slightly, becoming cautious.

Jiang Yunyue adjusted her hair gently. “What a coincidence to meet you here.”

Seeing Qi Yan’s lack of response, Jiang Yunyue’s smile remained unchanged. “Jiang Qi won first prize in the Roentgen Award, so I came specially to take him to the restaurant for celebration. His father is eager, and he’s already there. By the way, I heard you also participated? You must have won a prize, congratulations in advance.”

Lu Fenghan stood beside Qi Yan, his expression ambiguous. “The results were announced less than half an hour ago, and you’re already here at Turan. It seems your information network is very well-informed.”

Jiang Yunyue said modestly, “I have some connections in Leto, so I got the news a bit earlier.”

It should be more than just “a bit earlier.”

Lu Fenghan subconsciously glanced at Qi Yan.

Jiang Yunyue maintained her elegant posture and continued speaking to Qi Yan with a smile. “You’ve been in Leto for so long without coming home for a meal. Whenever you have time, come back for a visit. Or if you encounter any difficulties, just come back, and the family will naturally help you solve them.”

Qi Yan’s eyes, with a hint of casual coldness, replied with just four words, “No need to bother.”

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