Chapter 221
William and I exchanged glances, knowing this was the real purpose of today's visit.
Joshua wanted to test us, and he genuinely ran into a tough problem.
"No problem, Mr. Thomas," William was the first to agree.
We put on anti-static wrist straps and divided up the work.
William was in charge of checking the test bench's hardware connections, calibration, and basic parameter settings.
He operated skillfully, but after going through the whole process and testing several sets of sample data, the results displayed on the screen still showed a small but critical deviation from the ideal range Joshua had marked.
William frowned and carefully double-checked the parameters, then shook his head, "The hardware and basic settings should be fine. Can I take a look at the raw data and algorithm model?"
Joshua handed over an encrypted USB drive.
William plugged it into the computer and began carefully studying the complex algorithm model and massive raw dataset.
Time ticked by, and William's frown deepened. He tried several optimization and correction approaches, but none showed significant results.
"Mr. Thomas, this model has extremely high requirements for input data purity and feature extraction precision. The current preprocessing method may have introduced some hard-to-detect systematic errors," William analyzed, but seemed to have hit a bottleneck on how to make precise corrections.
Joshua nodded without speaking, but his gaze shifted to me, who had been quietly observing from the side.
"Grace, want to give it a try?" There was a barely noticeable hint of expectation in Joshua's eyes.
I didn't decline and walked to the computer.
William stepped aside and briefly caught me up on the situation.
I didn't immediately touch the complex model. Instead, I pulled up the raw data stream again, zoomed in, and examined it frame by frame.
Then I picked up the printed test bench structure diagram and sensor distribution map, comparing them with the data curves on the screen.
After about ten minutes, I pointed to several very inconspicuous, periodically appearing tiny fluctuation points in the data stream and asked, "Mr. Thomas, at the sampling moments corresponding to these points, is the temperature control system inside the test bench making compensation adjustments?"
Joshua's eyes lit up as he leaned in for a closer look, "Yes! To ensure constant temperature for the core components, the temperature control system works intermittently. But the fluctuation amplitude is within the design tolerance, so everyone before thought it could be ignored."
"Looking at them individually, they can indeed be ignored," I pulled up the sub-module in the algorithm model responsible for feature weight distribution, "But the problem is, the threshold used in this model to filter key feature parameters is set too critically."
"These periodic minor disturbances caused by the temperature control system that were ignored happen to fall right at the threshold edge. When large amounts of data accumulate, these disturbances in the gray zone get hesitantly included or excluded by the model, leading to systematic deviation and noise accumulation in the final extracted feature parameter clusters. This shows up in the final results as deviations that seem random but actually follow a fixed pattern."
As I spoke, I quickly modified that threshold parameter, widening it by a calculated amount, and adjusted the parameters of two associated filters accordingly.
"Can we test it again?" I looked at William.
William had already understood my approach. A look of approval flashed in his eyes, and he immediately restarted the test process.
This time, the test bench ran smoothly.
When the final data results appeared on the screen, the room fell silent for a moment.
That set of key data landed squarely in the center of the ideal range Joshua had circled in red pen, perfectly accurate.
Joshua stared at the screen for a good ten seconds or so, then let out a long breath, a smile spreading across his face.
Seeing that genuine and relaxed smile on Joshua's face, the weight that had been hanging in my heart finally dropped.
It wasn't just about solving the problem, it was this feeling of being recognized that quietly dispelled the gloom that had been hovering over my heart recently.
I instinctively looked at William. He gave me an almost imperceptible nod, his eyes showing clear support and encouragement.
That silent encouragement gave me courage.
Taking advantage of the good atmosphere and Joshua's pleasant mood, I took a deep breath, stepped forward, stood up straight, and looked at him with sincere eyes, "Mr. Thomas, I have a request."
The smile hadn't faded from Joshua's face as he raised an eyebrow, "What request? Let's hear it."
"I..." My voice was slightly tight with nervousness, but I spoke each word clearly, "I want to continue learning from you, complete the courses and research that were interrupted before, and earn the highest level doctoral degree."
"I want to prove myself properly, both for Star Tech and for myself, Mr. Thomas. May I?"
After speaking, I held my breath, carefully observing Joshua's expression.
At the last coding competition, I had won first place as Nightingale, which was another way of proving I hadn't completely abandoned my field.
But Nightingale was just a mask. Apart from William and a few core team members, no one knew it was me.
Grace was someone who had long faded from the core R&D circle, just a married woman in everyone's eyes.
I could reveal my identity and use Nightingale's honor to clear my name.
But I also knew that would be more like a gimmick. In the academic and high-end industrial circles that truly valued credentials and systematic academic backgrounds and accumulated achievements, a competition champion of unknown origin who suddenly appeared would be far less convincing than a doctoral degree from a top institution and the status of Professor Thomas's final and most important disciple.
I needed these credentials.
Not just to silence the gossip, but more importantly, to lay the most solid foundation for myself and my future path.
Joshua didn't answer immediately.
The smile on his face slowly faded, and those eyes that had seen it all looked deeply at me, churning with complex emotions.
There was reminiscence, scrutiny, and perhaps a trace of disappointment and heartache that hadn't completely dissipated.
My heart rose bit by bit as his silence stretched longer, feeling anxious and uneasy, like being fried in hot oil.
I knew why Joshua was hesitating.
Years ago, he had personally brought me—a student with decent talent who was willing to work hard—into the field, investing considerable effort.
But just when he had high hopes for me and was preparing to send me to a top overseas laboratory for advanced studies, I had plunged headfirst into marriage with George, voluntarily giving up a bright future within reach for so-called love and family.
He had tried to persuade me, even scolded me. Finally, seeing my mind was made up, he could only say in anguish, "You'll regret this someday."
Then he almost decisively blocked all my contact information, completely severing our teacher-student relationship.
Memories from my past life surged up uncontrollably.
At that cold and gossip-filled funeral held for me, my soul floated in mid-air, watching the sparse mourners.
Joshua was among them.
He stood before my portrait, tears streaming down his aged face, murmuring over and over, "Why were you so foolish? Why did you destroy yourself for someone like that..."
That scene was like a needle, piercing deep into my soul, bringing more guilt than any humiliation or betrayal.
Fortunately, I had been reborn.
I could protect Milly, and I also had the chance to make up for past mistakes, to pick up the dreams and dignity I had thrown away.
Seeing the atmosphere grow tense, William spoke up with a smile to ease the situation, his tone light but serious, "Mr. Thomas, Grace has really come back this time. You've seen it yourself—her current state, the research she's doing, her approach to problems—everything is more steady and sharper than before."
"She genuinely wants to continue on this path and achieve something. Won't you give her another chance?"
Gwyneth also walked into the study carrying cut fruit, just in time to hear this. She gave Joshua a reproachful look, "Joshua, don't be so petty. The girl is sincerely asking you, and you've seen how much she's changed recently—it's so obvious. Deep down, you've always cared about this student, haven't you? Just agree already and stop making Grace nervous."
Joshua's gaze lingered on my face for a long time, so long that I could barely bear the weight of that scrutiny and almost wanted to back down.