36: Symbiotic inspiration and the gentle opening of the heart

The dormitory was filled with a strange, mixed scent: the faint char of rosin solder paste, the musty smell of old paper, and the subtle ozone emanating from electronic components after high-intensity operation. It was past midnight, and the urban din outside the window had settled into a vague, low hum, leaving only the adjustable LED desk lamp on Excellence’s workbench casting a cool white light over the chaotic yet creative space.

Excellence squatted on the floor, his posture awkward like a curled-up shrimp. The whites of his eyes were bloodshot, yet his pupils were constricted to pinpricks, intensely fixated on the complex waveforms and data streams flowing across his tablet screen. His fingertips flew across the touchscreen, sliding, tapping, zooming, and annotating, with tiny metallic fragments from previous soldering still embedded in his nail beds.

His world had shrunk to only this illuminated area before him. On the floor lay the commentary on the huainan wanbi shu, its yellowed pages adorned with brush-drawn, mystical astronomical cloud maps and energy flow diagrams, creating a bizarre and striking juxtaposition with the electromagnetic field simulations generated by precise algorithms on his screen. A rough copper coil, used for wireless energy transmission experiments, unceremoniously pressed down on a corner of the ancient text, its cold metallic sheen and the warm paper creating a tactile clash of eras.

"...Frequency coupling point... offset by 0.317 Hertz..." Excellence's lips were chapped and peeling, as he unconsciously mumbled, his voice hoarse like sandpaper rubbing. "'Restless heart and mind'... the superposition uncertainty of beta and gamma waves... Firefly's asymmetric filtering... Brilliant! Pre-process and then inject into harmonic nodes, it's like putting a bridle on a restless consciousness, and then guiding it to resonate..."

He abruptly grabbed a self-made black box beside him, covered in buttons and ports—it was his 'Frankenstein' processor, integrating EEG amplification and RF modulation functions—and quickly twisted several fine-tuning knobs. His movements were almost maniacally precise, completely absorbed in the dream woven by mathematics, physics, metaphysics, and intuition.

The system's alert sounded in his mind: "Detected abnormal intensity in Host neural synaptic activity, dopamine and norepinephrine levels remain high. Thought is in a highly excitable 'superfluid' state, knowledge integration and innovation efficiency increased by 278%. Severe warning: physical reserves are below safety threshold, cortisol levels are elevated, sustained long-term will lead to neuroendocrine system dysfunction." The alert, however, seemed to be muffled by a thick pane of frosted glass, unable to reach his burning core.

Just then, a soft yet persistent knocking, out of sync with the high-frequency hum indoors, tried to pierce his enclosed Perception bubble like a fine needle.

Excellence showed no reaction; his entire focus was on constructing a complex model in his mind that coupled brainwave harmonics, electromagnetic resonance, and a certain metaphysical concept of 'intentional movement'.

The knocking sounded a few more times, a little louder, with a hint of undeniable persistence.

Excellence jolted, as if forcibly pulled from deep water, his consciousness momentarily disoriented. He raised his head with extreme impatience, his vision blurring as it focused on the door: "Who is it?! Brother Zhang? The door's unlocked! Come in yourself!" His tone was abrupt, tinged with the agitation of being deep in thought.

The door hinge gave a slight creak as it was pushed open.

Standing at the doorway was Su Mu.

She was wearing a light gray knit cardigan over simple jeans, her dark hair loosely tied back, with a few strands falling by her neck. She held a plain insulated bag and was slightly frowning, surveying the scene in the dormitory, which looked as if it had just weathered a conceptual storm.

Her gaze quickly swept across: the precious ancient text 'defiled' by precision components on the floor, the dazzling, almost dizzying multi-dimensional data visualization images on the screen, the self-made equipment on the workbench flashing with various LED indicator lights and tangled with colorful wires, looking both dangerous and precise... and Excellence himself—his hair greasy and sticking up, eyes sunken, with a clearly dried silver solder paste mark on his face, looking very much like a cyberpunk-style battle-damaged makeup.

A trace of shock clearly flickered in Su Mu's cool eyes, quickly replaced by deep confusion and a very faint hint of worry that she herself hadn't noticed. She knew Excellence was tinkering with something, but the scene before her far exceeded her imagination. This was not a student's amateur research; this was clearly... a crazy exploration, fueled by a certain obsessive fervor, transcending the boundaries of eras!

"Ex... Excellence?" Su Mu's voice was softer than usual, with a hint of uncertain inquiry, as if afraid to disturb something.

"Class... Class Monitor?" Excellence fully snapped back to reality, recognizing the person, and instantly became flustered. He subconsciously tried to block the most chaotic work area with his body, fumbling to wipe the solder paste from his face, only to smear the dust from his hands onto his forehead, making him look even more disheveled. "You... why are you here?" His voice dropped an octave, filled with embarrassment.

Su Mu didn't answer immediately. Her gaze moved past Excellence's attempting-to-block arm and landed on his tablet screen. There, an extremely complex and beautiful dynamic spectrogram was being generated in real-time—it integrated brainwave frequency domain analysis, electromagnetic field intensity distribution, and a... simulation of energy flow akin to ancient meridian maps, all in an unprecedented way!

As a dual-major top student in physics and electronics, Su Mu was instantly captivated by this unprecedented concept, full of bold imagination and rigorously supported by mathematics. She instinctively took two steps forward, wanting to see more clearly.

"This is..." she asked softly, her tone filled with pure, academic curiosity, "Are you doing cross-modal energy-information synchronization? Coupling neural signals with far-field energy? How... how is that possible?" She even temporarily ignored the strange environment and Excellence's disheveled state, completely engrossed by this technological marvel.

Excellence jumped, like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, almost leaping to block the screen. But seeing the pure, unadulterated light in Su Mu's eyes, the kind a technician displays when seeing an astonishing concept, he swallowed the excuse he was about to utter. He remembered her worried questions under the streetlamp last time, and the warm soup she had brought.

A strong urge to be understood, especially by her, mixed with days of loneliness and pressure, surged up within him.

"Uh... well... something like that." Excellence took a deep breath, organizing his words, his eyes unusually bright with excitement and nervousness. "Class Monitor, do you know about 'resonance'? Not just sound waves or electromagnetic waves... but a deeper level, an information level, and even... a consciousness level of resonance."

He pointed to the 'Wanbi Shu' on the floor: "There are some records in this book that seem like metaphysics, but what it talks about, 'qi and intention sensing each other,' 'like voices responding to each other,' might be describing a very advanced 'underlying protocol' or 'interaction grammar' about the interconnectedness of all things, using vague language... I... I'm trying to interpret it, even... verify it, and realize it, using modern technical language and mathematical tools." He spoke somewhat disjointedly, some words not quite conveying his meaning, but the light in his eyes was incredibly sincere and fervent.

Su Mu listened quietly, her gaze shifting from the screen to Excellence's face—a face stained and weary, yet radiating astonishing brilliance when talking about what he loved. Her doubts and worries still lingered, but at this moment, they were quietly overshadowed by a more complex emotion: a respect for the pure spirit of inquiry, an indescribable touch, and even... a faint flutter of attraction to this focus and fervor.

She was silent for a few seconds, her long eyelashes lowered and then raised, ultimately not pressing for technical details. She gently placed the insulated bag in her hand on the edge of Excellence's bed, the only place that wasn't covered in parts and tools.

"My mom stewed yam and pork rib soup, made too much. You... drink some while it's hot." Her voice returned to its usual mildness, but if one listened carefully, it seemed to have a tiny, imperceptible hint of warmth.

After speaking, she once again took a deep look at the astonishing screen and the mysterious ancient book, then turned and left. She didn't look back, nor did she ask another word.

Excellence stood frozen, staring blankly at the insulated bag with small floral patterns on the bed edge, then raised a hand to touch the dry, hard solder paste on his face. An indescribable warm current, mixed with the aroma of the soup (he could already imagine its warm, rich taste), instantly flooded his entire body, dispelling the cold and loneliness of staying up all night. Somewhere in his heart, it felt as if a feather had gently brushed against it, causing a subtle and unfamiliar tingling sensation.

The system calmly reported the data: "Emotional state analysis: Target 'Su Mu' behavior shows significant care tendency and increase in trust level. Host multiple physiological indicators (heart rate, skin conductivity, facial microvascular congestion) show abnormal fluctuations, patterns highly match 'heart-fluttering' emotional response."

"Shu... shut up! Who's heart-fluttering!" Excellence's cheeks instantly flushed crimson, like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, as he whispered a reprimand to the air, as if the system could be scolded away. His gaze, however, involuntarily drifted towards the doorway, in the direction Su Mu had disappeared, his lips uncontrollably, foolishly curving upwards.

He carefully picked up the insulated bag, as if holding some fragile treasure. Opening it, a rich, warm aroma wafted out, instantly filling the space mixed with metallic and chemical scents, bringing a strange, reassuring sense of domesticity.

He spooned a mouthful of soup into his mouth; the warm liquid, tasting of home, slid down his throat, as if instantly nourishing his long-parched soul. In this moment, all thoughts of system tasks, Foundation conspiracies, and monitoring pressure seemed to temporarily recede.

Outside the window, the night deepened. But in Excellence's heart, a small, warm lamp seemed to light up.