Genius Playground

”Of course,”

Jiang Ran answered without a second thought.

”What do you need my help with?”

Old Tian got off his three-wheeled cart again and stood before Jiang Ran.

”If, in the future, my daughter really does wake up from her vegetative state, could you... be her friend? Look after her a little?”

Jiang Ran blinked, momentarily speechless.

He never imagined Old Tian would suddenly bring this up.

Of course, he didn’t misunderstand Old Tian’s intentions. He knew this wasn’t a deathbed request to look after his child, nor was it some kind of matchmaking.

It was just...

Every expert and doctor in the entire Dragon Country said there was no chance of Tian Xiaoli ever waking up.

So Jiang Ran knew that any promise he made now would just be an empty one, a hollow gesture meant to comfort him.

Unless Old Tian was willing to take a huge risk and accept Teacher Yan Chonghan’s project, letting Tian Xiaoli participate as a volunteer in the Consciousness Upload experiment.

If that happened, Tian Xiaoli would awaken in another form, becoming something akin to a Digital Life, an ”e-friend” on the web.

Jiang Ran wouldn’t mind being friends with a Tian Xiaoli like that.

Of course, he remained neutral on the option of Consciousness Upload. He would respect and understand Old Tian’s final decision, whatever it was.

Seeing Jiang Ran’s silence, Old Tian gave a helpless smile.

”You know, my daughter’s quite a bit older than you. You’re practically from two different generations, so there’s bound to be a gap.”

”But... my daughter’s been in a coma for so many years. No one knows what state she’ll be in if she wakes up.”

”Best-case scenario, she wakes up as if from a long dream, her personality, thoughts, and memories all still frozen from when she was a teenage girl.”

”Worst-case, she could have total amnesia, having to learn everything from scratch, babbling like a baby.”

”But no matter what, Jiang Ran, you’re a good kid. And you’re a top student at the university Lili dreamed of attending. If you can... I hope you can help her, talk with her, and guide her a little.”

...

Jiang Ran looked at Old Tian’s sincere, yet cautious, eyes.

He nodded.

”Mm.”

Whether out of kindness or sympathy, Jiang Ran agreed.

”Don’t worry, Old Tian. With a father who loves her as much as you do, Lili will grow into a daughter you can be proud of, no matter when or how she wakes up.”

”And like I said before, we should stay in touch. If you run into any financial trouble, you have to let me know... I might not look it, but I’m actually quite well-off. Please, Old Tian, don’t be a stranger about it.”

Hearing this, Old Tian gave an honest, simple smile and grabbed Jiang Ran’s hand.

”Thank you, Jiang Ran. Good people are rewarded. Good people are always rewarded!”

After that, Old Tian got back on his three-wheeled cart and wobbled away, disappearing around the corner of the building.

Jiang Ran stood there for a long time.

Finally...

The complex mix of emotions in his heart turned into a single sigh.

Sigh...

He suddenly realized that life was full of so many helpless moments.

Especially when it came to birth, old age, sickness, and death.

Cheng Mengxue had said that humanity was helpless against many diseases, with no treatment plans available. All they could do was rely on medicine to delay the inevitable and hope for a miracle from their own immune systems.

Teacher Yan Chonghan had also said that the cruelest thing about the medical field wasn’t the inability to create a miracle drug, but that even when one was created... patients couldn’t afford it.

In the movie *I Am Not the God of Medicine*, they say there’s only one disease in this world that can’t be cured: the disease of poverty.

In truth, this so-called ”poverty” didn’t just refer to financial lack. It also referred to a poverty of the heart, a poverty of society, the poverty imposed by the limits of flesh and blood, and the poverty of being trapped by the helplessness of an era.

A few months ago, Jiang Ran was still a carefree university student.

He truly hadn’t felt how complex the world was, nor had he realized just how much helplessness it contained.

But...

Ever since he’d come into contact with the Positron Cannon, experimented with Time SMS, and experienced a Worldline Jump, he had grown to feel the world’s complexity and his own powerlessness more and more keenly.

This also represented a huge shift in his mentality recently.

Faintly, it felt as though something... was taking root and sprouting deep within his heart.

...

It was Monday, and Jiang Ran had no classes that morning.

He went straight to Yan Chonghan’s office, knocked, and entered.

”Teacher Yan, there are a few things I’d like to ask you about.”

Yan Chonghan looked at the unexpected visitor and immediately sat up straight, as if facing a great enemy.

He slowly put down the thermos in his hand and looked at Jiang Ran with confusion.

”Well, this is a surprise, Jiang Ran. I never thought you’d come to me on your own to discuss academic matters.”

In his eyes, Jiang Ran was an arrogant genius with an extremely passive attitude toward his studies. For him to suddenly show up like this... ’Has he finally decided to get serious?’

”Sit.”

Yan Chonghan pointed to the chair opposite him.

”Have a seat and let’s talk. What did you want to ask?”

Jiang Ran got straight to the point.

”Teacher Yan, you’re from Dartmouth College, where the human and computer science programs are among the best in the world. That means you must be very knowledgeable and professional when it comes to AI technology, right?”

Yan Chonghan nodded slightly.

”That is indeed my major and my primary field of research. What specific area are you interested in?”

”It’s like this.”

Jiang Ran began to explain.

”Suppose I wanted to design a video chat application, but the people you could connect with on video calls were all virtual humans, created and simulated by AI.”

”These virtual humans wouldn’t exist in reality, but their images would look incredibly realistic, indistinguishable from real people. And they could also interact with us on this end of the call in real time.”