20: Chapter 20 Ding Runan's Shock

Wang Shuo left, and as he walked away, he took his Sun Wukong mask and the approved leave application form with him.

Teacher Ding Runan was completely oblivious.

She was simply staring in a trance at the A4 paper in her hand.

It was an ordinary sheet of A4 paper, but the content drawn on it had drawn Teacher Ding Runan in so deeply that she didn't even notice when her own thesis beside her fell to the floor.

"Wang Shuo, you..."

Teacher Ding Runan raised her head, only to realize that Wang Shuo was gone; she was the only one left sitting in the large office, dazed.

She regained her composure and pondered quietly, her expression shifting between disbelief, a furrowed brow, and a heartfelt smile.

After a long while, she took out her phone, checked the time, and dialed a number.

"Hello? Teacher, yes, it's me, Runan. I hope I'm not disturbing you?"

"Oh, Teacher, you're too polite. I just have something I'd like to report to you, and I wanted to ask about something while I was at it."

"Teacher, have you ever heard of... a Node-based Self-looping Neural Network?"

...

Wang Shuo walked along the school path, feeling satisfied.

Although the process had been convoluted, the final result was quite satisfactory to him; at the very least, he had successfully gotten his leave, right? Plus, he had preliminarily verified a few things, which made him extremely excited.

To win the bet against Chen Xin, he had really gone all out.

Thinking about having to submit a complete source code to the counselor within three days, the excitement on Wang Shuo's face collapsed.

It seems perhaps what Li Zongqiang said had some truth to it; he really had been having bad luck these past few days.

Who could have imagined that just asking for leave would force him to resort to his ultimate move? This counselor, Teacher Ding Runan, really was a person who held grudges.

Can't afford to offend her, can't afford to offend her. It's better to avoid her in the future.

Wang Shuo pondered secretly; he had a lot of things on his hands right now and absolutely no time to mess around with some "Node-based Self-looping Neural Network."

That's right, this name was something Wang Shuo had just made up on the spot, used to fool his teacher, who was obsessed with research.

As for what was written on the A4 paper, it was nothing special. It was just an architecture called "Smart Core" that Wang Shuo had randomly selected from a pile of basic software architectures from the Humanoid Race civilization. Seeing that it was related to intelligence, he just casually pulled it out to use.

And the teacher's reaction put his mind greatly at ease. Things from the Humanoid Race universe could actually be used normally on Earth! In that case, relying on the Smart Core architecture he had already mastered, Wang Shuo could create concrete things at any time.

So this... doesn't count as cheating, does it?

Who told you not to grant my leave?

Hummed a little tune as he returned to the dorm, only to see his three brothers lying on their respective beds acting suspicious. They were stealing glances at him, occasionally signaling to the others with their eyes, though he didn't know what it meant.

Wang Shuo pretended not to see them and busied himself packing his things.

"Ahem... cough cough, Second Brother, it's okay if you failed; you don't need to shut yourself off. You have no idea how difficult it was for me to ask the counselor for two days of leave back then just to go to the Hospital and take care of you."

Zheng Jun said with a sigh.

"Fortunately, my sincere devotion to you moved the old instructor; otherwise, never mind going to accompany you, I'm afraid you wouldn't have even seen me when you woke up."

"Yeah, yeah," Chen Cheng nodded. "It's fine if you couldn't get leave; at worst, just don't ask. Skipping class isn't that big of a deal."

Li Li also said, "Building a good relationship with the counselor is an important step toward entering society."

Only then did Wang Shuo smugly take out his leave application form, flicked it, and sighed. "Asking for leave is as difficult as ascending to heaven for you guys, but for me, it's not worth mentioning. It's truly... lonely."

"Are you trying to con a ghost?" Zheng Jun's loud voice boomed. "With that Old Witch's temper, and you having missed so much class, she would grant you leave?"

Chen Cheng also looked disbelieving and scoffed, "If that Old Witch really granted you leave—never mind fifteen days, even three days—if you can get it approved, I'll wash your socks for a week!"

"What if you got more than that?" Li Li asked at the right moment.

"Then for every extra day, I'll wash an extra week of socks, and underwear too!" Chen Cheng said with his eyes closed, without even thinking.

"Good, I, Zheng Jun, respect you, Fourth Brother; you're a real man." This decisive statement made even Zheng Jun look at him sideways, giving him a thumbs up. Then he snatched Wang Shuo's leave form away.

"Let me see. The Old Witch couldn't possibly have signed... You really got it approved?" Zheng Jun's eyes widened as he looked at the handwriting of approval, struggling to discern if Wang Shuo had forged it himself. A moment later, he had to admit that it really seemed to be the signature of the Old Witch, as he called her, and it even had the Academic Affairs Office's stamp.

Zheng Jun jumped off the bed and handed the form to a stunned Chen Cheng, patting his shoulder with sympathy. "Fourth Brother, a real man's word is his bond; you have to keep your promise! Our socks—oh, and underwear—are all yours for this semester. This is your Big Brother's final show of support for you!"

After saying this, he clicked his tongue and jumped back onto his own bed.

Chen Cheng held the leave form, looking at Teacher Ding Runan's handwriting on it, his eyes nearly popping out of his head.

Li Li also looked sympathetic and retreated back to his bed.

Watching the three brothers acting like drama queens, Wang Shuo could no longer hold back. He snatched the leave form back from Chen Cheng's hand and laughed, "Alright, you guys. By the way, Big Brother, I won't be coming back to sleep for the next few days."

"Not coming back to sleep? Where are you staying?" Zheng Jun asked, looking confused.

"I have a place." Wang Shuo waved his hand and was about to walk out of the dorm when he suddenly seemed to remember something and stopped in his tracks.

"Fourth Brother, how is your company doing recently...?"

Chen Cheng, who was lying on his bed in a foul mood with his eyes closed, opened them upon hearing this and looked at Wang Shuo with some confusion.

Wang Shuo coughed embarrassedly and said, "You're a rich second-generation kid, after all; you should at least care about the company's current situation."

"My uncle and my dad worry about company matters; why should I worry about it blindly?" Chen Cheng said gloomily. "Besides, even if I wanted to worry, I wouldn't know how. My dad and the others wouldn't tell me about company business. Where did you get some news? Did Chen Xin tell you something?"

"No..." Wang Shuo quickly shook his head and said seriously, "I swear I am irreconcilable with Chen Xin! But I advise you to find some time to ask around; I'm very curious too. Remember to tell me if you find anything out!"

Chen Cheng lay back down and grunted in response.

"Brothers, I'm off! See you all... in fifteen days!" Wang Shuo shouted, holding back hot tears.

A listless response came from the dorm, sounding like a litter of newborn puppies, completely lacking energy.

Wang Shuo grinned, grabbed his packed belongings, and quickly went downstairs to leave the dorm. Then he ran all the way, and after exiting the school gate, he saw a black car with a very familiar license plate parked on the side of the road.

He hurriedly ran over, opened the car door, and got in.

"Classmate, you're a bit late. I've been waiting for you for two extra minutes."

"Sorry, driver." Wang Shuo apologized quickly. "We're going to the Optics Valley Software Park."

...

When Teacher Ding Runan arrived at the Graduate School of Huazhong University of Science and Technology, it was already four in the afternoon.

More than an hour had passed since she made the phone call.

To be honest, Teacher Ding Runan really wanted to fly over to her mentor immediately to discuss it, but looking at the thesis on her desk, she blushed a little and had to patiently revise it carefully before hurriedly bringing the thesis over.

Her mentor seemed to have been waiting for a long time.

"I'm sorry, Teacher, I'm late." She didn't dare to be negligent and hurried forward.

Her mentor, who was deep in thought about something, raised his head upon hearing this, revealing a somewhat weathered face. Thin-rimmed glasses perched on the bridge of his nose, and Teacher Ding Runan was very worried they would fall to the floor in the next second.

Fortunately, what she feared didn't happen, as the mentor casually took off his glasses and placed them on the table nearby.

"Runan, you've come at the right time." The mentor pinched the bridge of his nose. "I was just pondering this thing you mentioned earlier... what was it? Node-based... loop neural network?"

"It's a Node-based Self-looping Neural Network, Teacher." Teacher Ding Runan added. "And it has a ready-made architecture; I took a look, and it's very complex."

"Your research direction includes neural networks and their applications, so I wanted to ask your advice, Teacher. Is this something proposed by some foreign scholar I don't know about?"

As she spoke, she took out the carefully folded A4 paper and handed it to her mentor.

"I find it very hard to understand some of the content inside. It seems to make some sense, but upon closer thought, it feels off, so I had to come to ask for your guidance, Teacher."

The mentor nodded. What he liked most about Teacher Ding Runan was this unyielding spirit—her drive to understand everything and get to the bottom of things.

He lowered his head and scanned the A4 paper in his hand. With just a single glance, he was stunned.

"This... this is..."

Even though he had already heard Teacher Ding Runan introduce some of the situation and had some guesses about this so-called "Node-based Self-looping Neural Network," when he actually saw the architecture, he was still stunned by the architect's whimsical imagination.

"This is truly... unbridled imagination..." The mentor shook his head and sighed. "But... it's a pity..."

"Teacher... is this... invalid?" Teacher Ding Runan asked hurriedly. Thinking about how she had been stunned by a piece of paper from Wang Shuo and had obediently signed the leave form, she felt a burst of anger.

Wang Shuo, oh Wang Shuo, don't let me catch you. To think you dared to toy with me! If I don't teach you a lesson, you won't know how the nickname "Huazhong Mother Tyrannosaurus" came to be!

"That's not it..." The mentor took off his glasses again and said, "Runan, you know that I study neural networks and their applications, including the convergence of artificial neural networks and their applications in pattern recognition, as well as theoretical research on pattern recognition and associative memory based on neural networks. I have dabbled in all neural network algorithms both domestically and internationally. So, first of all, I can confirm that in the circles I know of, no similar algorithm has ever appeared yet. Or rather... it is not an algorithm; it is a system, a complete engine."

"A system? An engine?" Teacher Ding Runan was a bit puzzled. Was this thing really that profound?

"Then... is this thing valid?"

The mentor shook his head.

Teacher Ding Runan was completely confused. Was it valid or invalid? Was that kid Wang Shuo just playing tricks, or had he really designed an independent algorithm?

"This thing... is theoretically valid." The mentor explained. "The person who designed it proposed a hypothesis: node-based distributed computing. By using this method, all current algorithms are reprogrammed and incorporated into this network. But this creates a problem: there are so many algorithms, and each one corresponds to a certain situation, each with its own advantages and flaws. How do you determine which algorithm to use to solve a problem when encountering a specific data input? According to existing technology... it cannot be solved."

"But this architecture proposes a solution: the Node-based Self-looping Neural Network. If my inference is not wrong, this should be a set of computer logic algorithms that can allow a computer to perform logical operations according to preset conditions, fully deploying the participation of different algorithms to achieve the expected results."

"In a sense... this is a most primitive computer brain! It will continuously add different algorithms, making the computer's functions increasingly numerous, and perhaps even generate a certain sense of intelligence. If there were also a learning module..."

The mentor thought for a moment, seemed to feel it was impossible, and couldn't help but shake his head and laugh.

"Indeed... it is unbridled imagination."

"But there are many problems with this. First of all, there is the issue of feasibility. If the person who designed this system cannot perfect a reasonable logic algorithm, then this system is fundamentally invalid."

"The second problem is volume. All algorithms need to run through a database, and all inputs and outputs of algorithms are carried out through data. Different algorithms require different data inputs, and therefore require different databases for storage. As a result, the sheer size of the databases is unavoidable... Wait, I seem to have missed something..."

Watching her mentor fall into deep thought, Teacher Ding Runan's brain was already somewhat stalled. If her initial feeling upon seeing this paper was amazement, profundity, and confusion, now it was shock.

Yes, shock.

Especially when she heard the words "primitive computer brain" from her mentor's lips with her own ears, she was already shocked beyond control.

What does "primitive computer brain" mean? Perhaps if you change the term, it becomes clear: it's primitive artificial intelligence!

The research direction she and her mentor had pursued their whole lives was just so easily solved by a piece of paper, by a so-called "Node-based Self-looping Neural Network"?

Perhaps there were still various difficulties, but at least there was a clear direction, right?

As for whether this most basic computer logic algorithm could be implemented... Teacher Ding Runan was certain. Even now, she could still remember that brat's detestable, serious, and confident gaze, and of course, those words that made people hate him so much their teeth itched.

"Your thesis mentions decision trees, support vector machines, Naive Bayes classification, recurrent neural networks, and other algorithms, so why not add a neural logic module to the computer?"

"I designed a logic algorithm called a Node-based Self-looping Neural Network."

"Teacher, if you agree to grant me leave, I will write the algorithm out for you to see, and I will even provide the source code unconditionally, oh."

Teacher Ding Runan gritted her teeth, and finally, she couldn't help but let out a sound.

"Wang Shuo, you brat, I've got my eye on you!"