Pure emotion error - Chapter 7
Chapter 7 The Lighthouse
Lin Yiqiao took a picture of Yan Lu. The picture included Maugham, Camus, Márquez, and Zweig. He even used his phone’s photo editing function to label each jellyfish with their names.
Mechanical Engineering Group Lin Yiqiao: [Image]
Mechanical Engineering Group Lin Yiqiao: [Look, there are small orange-yellow particles in their bodies; those are brine shrimp they just ate. Jellyfish use their tentacles to catch food. After eating, the food accumulates in their stomachs, and the bell-shaped cap turns orange-yellow because their stomach cavity is inside the bell-shaped cap.]
Yan Lu: [As expected, Márquez ate the most.]
Mechanical Engineering Group Lin Yiqiao: [Eating too much will kill them. I always watch them to prevent them from eating too much.]
Yan Lu zoomed in on the picture. On the glass of the jellyfish tank, a blurry figure in light-colored loungewear was reflected, holding a phone and taking a picture.
Yan Lu could imagine the loungewear printed with jellyfish or planet patterns, because Lin Yiqiao had liked these things since high school. The fabric of the loungewear must also be very soft, because Lin Yiqiao’s skin was very sensitive; even the slightest roughness would cause it to chafe.
Just as he was lost in thought, Lin Yiqiao sent another message.
Mechanical Engineering Group Lin Yiqiao: [Jellyfish are really simple creatures. You can tell at a glance how much they’ve eaten and what they’ve eaten. And they don’t like or dislike each other because they don’t have brains.]
Mechanical Engineering Group Lin Yiqiao: [If only humans didn’t have brains.]
Yan Lu: [Without brains, you wouldn’t feel happiness either.]
Mechanical Engineering Group Lin Yiqiao: [There aren’t many happy things anyway; there are more unhappy things.]
Yan Lu: [And you can’t eat delicious food; jellyfish will never know what brine shrimp tastes like.]
Mechanical Engineering Group Lin Yiqiao: [But jellyfish don’t care.] Yan Lu suddenly hissed, momentarily at a loss for words.
Sitting beside him, Yan Zhongyun asked, “What’s wrong?”
Yan Lu then roughly recounted his conversation with Lin Yiqiao. Yan Zhongyun, after listening, also found the other’s logic meticulous; jellyfish don’t have brains, so they certainly couldn’t care. “Was the person you were discussing this with Zhu Chizhou? So philosophical.”
Yan Lu said, “No, it was another friend.”
At this moment, Zhao Meixue spoke up, “The jellyfish’s indifference isn’t a choice they made; it’s their only option. To say they don’t care, they first need the right to choose not to care, and they didn’t have that choice.”
Yan Lu nodded in agreement: “Yes, it has to be you.”
So he forwarded Zhao Meixue’s message to Lin Yiqiao.
Mechanical Engineering Group Lin Yiqiao: [Without choice, there is no pain; humans suffer because of choice.]
Yan Lu: [Pain is a byproduct of consciousness, but consciousness is the meaning of human existence. Which do you think is more despairing: a problem with no answer, or no problem at all?] This time, it took quite a while for the other side to reply.
Lin Yiqiao from the Mechanical Engineering Group: [I like solving problems, so having a brain is definitely an advantage. But I also envy jellyfish because they don’t experience pain.]
Yan Lu: [Jellyfish also experience pain, they just don’t know it.]
For the next three days, nothing particularly noteworthy happened to Lin Yiqiao. She understood everything others said, so she didn’t message Yan Lu.
On Monday morning, the company held an all-hands meeting. Everyone in the company was crammed into the meeting room, the buzzing of voices giving everyone a headache.
Yan Lu stepped forward, and the room immediately quieted down. He first welcomed several new colleagues, his gaze sweeping over the crowd. When his eyes met Lin Yiqiao’s, a barely perceptible smile curved his lips.
Then, he announced that the company had secured $50 million in Series A funding. This news had already spread throughout the company, but hearing it from Yan Lu still sparked a very enthusiastic celebration in the meeting room.
A sudden burst of cheers and applause stung Lin Yiqiao’s eardrums, so he left the meeting room and returned to his workstation.
The following meeting content was relayed to Lin Yiqiao by Wen Wei. It stated that senior management had set a goal to achieve a continuously stable, unassisted walking prototype within six months, then apply for special review for innovative medical devices, complete registration, and expedite the clinical trial phase.
“Can you imagine!” Wen Wei exclaimed, her face flushed with excitement. “Paralyzed people can stand up and walk again using our exoskeleton! Completely free walking!”
Lin Yiqiao didn’t understand her excitement and replied calmly, “I can imagine it; that’s what we’re doing.”
Wen Wei continued excitedly, “They can completely recover and live normal lives! They can leave their homes! They can go to work!”
“But I don’t think we’re doing this project to help paralyzed patients leave their homes to work,” Lin Yiqiao said, looking puzzled. “They’re paralyzed; what if they don’t work?”
Not long after their conversation, the R&D department also called a meeting.
From announcing the goals at the general meeting to each department and technical team creating task lists, and then assigning tasks to each employee, the entire company sprang into action in a very short time.
In the R&D department’s conference room, Lin Yiqiao watched Yan Lu stand in front of the whiteboard, breaking down the grand goals layer by layer and precisely defining the task lists for each technical team. The timelines were impeccable, and the priorities were clear at a glance.
Yan Lu spoke and wrote simultaneously. When he finished, a battle map ready for immediate implementation appeared on the whiteboard.
In terms of seniority, those present included PhDs with years of experience; in terms of reputation, there were renowned engineers in the industry; in terms of academics, there was even a tenured professor from MIT. They were all more qualified than Yan Lu to issue orders. Yet, at this moment, they were all completely focused on following Yan Lu’s instructions.
Lin Yiqiao felt that Yan Lu possessed a compelling charisma that transcended age and technical expertise, capable of inspiring a group of the most intelligent people to follow in his footsteps.
Previously, when Jing Xin asked Lin Yiqiao to choose a word to replace Yan Lu, Lin Yiqiao chose “lighthouse.”
Now, Yan Lu has become a lighthouse for many.
Cai Dong assigned tasks to the mechanical engineering team, and Lin Yiqiao was again involved in improving the force feedback accuracy. He had no objections, but repeatedly confirmed with Cai Dong when receiving the assignment.
“You didn’t hide anything from me this time, did you?” Lin Yiqiao asked.
Cai Dong said, “No, I gave you all the documents and information.”
Lin Yiqiao: “Are there any potential problems that weren’t explained clearly?”
Cai Dong sighed: “No.”
Lin Yiqiao said: “Swear it.”
Cai Dong took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and said, “Get out of my sight quickly.”
Lin Yiqiao, Mechanical Engineering Team: [Team Leader Cai said he’s told me all the relevant information for the task he assigned me this time. He wouldn’t lie to me, would he? Can I trust him?]
Yan Lu: [No, trust him.]
Lin Yiqiao was satisfied.
Once he got into work mode, his world consisted only of the screen in front of him: on the left, the active noise reduction algorithm code; on the right, the stress distribution diagram of the 3D model of joint movement.
From morning to afternoon, Wen Wei passed by him several times, even leaving a sandwich delivery on his desk, but he didn’t notice at all.
The sky outside the window changed from azure to warm yellow. The sandwich sat there quietly, the moisture on the wrapper condensing and evaporating, the green leafy vegetables inside wilting, completely losing their dignity as food.
His phone vibrated on the table for a long time. Wen Wei, unable to bear it any longer, kicked his chair twice, and Lin Yiqiao finally turned around slowly.
“Your phone has been ringing,” Wen Wei said.
“Ah,” Lin Yiqiao realized, picked up his phone, and saw it was already past six.
The call was from Lin Yimiao. Lin Yiqiao answered, and the other end yelled, “Why didn’t you answer the phone? I was about to call the police!”
Lin Yiqiao said, “The police won’t handle it.”
“Come down quickly, I’m waiting for you downstairs!”
Lin Yimiao had come to pick him up from work.
Lin Yiqiao looked around. His colleagues showed no sign of leaving, and he was engrossed in his work, so he didn’t want to leave. He told Lin Yimiao, “I have to work overtime today.”
Lin Yimiao’s voice suddenly rose: “Lin Yiqiao, you’re asking for it! Why didn’t you say you were working overtime? I’ve been waiting for you for half an hour!”
“…I forgot, you go first,” Lin Yiqiao said softly.
“You’re so annoying!” Lin Yimiao huffed. “Then I’ll leave. What time will I pick you up tonight?”
Lin Yiqiao calculated that after nine o’clock at night, the buses would be less crowded, and the streets would be relatively quiet. Wearing noise-canceling headphones beforehand wouldn’t be a problem. Lin Yiqiao said, “I’ll take the bus myself.”
Another call came from an unknown local number. Lin Yiqiao didn’t answer and checked the new messages on her internal messaging app.
The first message was at 13:45.
Yan Lu: [Didn’t you eat lunch?]
The second message was at 13:50.
Yan Lu: [I ordered you a sandwich, but it didn’t have salad dressing.]
The third message was at 18:48, which was two minutes ago.
Yan Lu: [Answer the phone.]
Based on the time of the missed call, Lin Yiqiao deduced that the unknown local number was probably Yan Lu’s. She saved the number and replied on the messaging app: [I forgot, I’m eating now.]
Yan Lu: [Don’t eat, come to my office right away.]
Mechanical Engineering Group Lin Yiqiao: [No, I still have work to do.]
Yan Lu: [Engineer Lin, the CEO is calling you now.]
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Thank you for all the encouragement!
My second uncle’s typing speed has improved a lot since receiving the comments! (＾ω＾)
Four more chapters until they live together, so exciting!