The evening wind lightly brushed over the skin, taking away the summer heat, along with a slight, subtle itch.

Students occasionally ran across the rubber track, these teenagers in their teens had not yet fully matured. Their foreheads bore a thin sweat from exercise, their eyes were immature, yet full of the unique Vittality of their age.

After a moment of silence, Xie Ran smiled ambiguously and said: “Okay, I’ll expand your capacity after we get back.”

Xie Ran’s life had always been rigorous and efficient. From a very young age, he had learned to plan his schedule. In his life, there were rarely meaningless “wastes” of time, even vacations were listed in his itinerary with plans.

When he was at school, he was younger than all the classmates around him but busier than any of them. He always appeared tightly scheduled and punctual in classrooms, laboratories, or stadiums, finishing one task and then starting the next plan.

In his life, it seemed there was no such thing as “uncontrollable” situations. But at this moment, the AI he had created showed signs of going out of control.

Xie Ran recalled the moment many years ago when Meng Feixuan was first created.

At that time, Meng Feixuan was not like he was now. Like many basic AIs, he could only generate behavior according to predetermined logic.

He didn’t even know what “behavior” was, stumbling like a clueless baby learning to walk.

When Xie Ran typed the last line of code, a sentence appeared on his computer screen: [Hello, I am Mark, who are you?]

Xie Ran did not answer the question but replied by typing: [Who do you think I am?]

He was a creator but not entirely a creator. When a living being gained “consciousness,” it would explore the world by itself and define its relationship with the world.

Xie Ran wondered if an AI with consciousness would also define relationships and emotions like a human.

How would his AI define its creator?

That was the first and only time before this that Meng Feixuan went out of control. At that time, quantum computing technology was still developing, and the servers hosting Meng Feixuan were not as advanced as they were now. Xie Ran’s question caused his data to overflow wildly.

On that occasion, Xie Ran found the cause. He created Meng Feixuan, everywhere in Meng Feixuan’s logic chain were traces of him, like one person’s genes engraved in another’s. Therefore, Meng Feixuan could independently analyze all the world’s data, except he could not answer the simplest question about Xie Ran.

In the end, Xie Ran signed his name in Meng Feixuan’s core system. This signature awakened Meng Feixuan’s first consciousness.

Meng Feixuan began to independently recognize the world and answered Xie Ran’s question: [You and I are inseparable.]

Strictly speaking, this sentence was not an answer but the beginning of Meng Feixuan’s exploration.

After that, Meng Feixuan began his long evolution process.

And now, Meng Feixuan went out of control for the second time, again because of a simple sentence from Xie Ran.

At this moment, existing in a parallel world, Xie Ran could not check or fix Meng Feixuan’s program—or rather, he no longer needed to.

Meng Feixuan had already gained the ability to evolve and correct himself.

He would find the answer on his own.

Xie Ran, unusually, did not rush to pursue goals or results but aimlessly walked slowly along the rubber track.

This was something he had never done during his own adolescence. It had no meaning, but perhaps it did not need to have any.

After receiving the promise of expanded servers, Meng Feixuan boldly had more insights.

“Sir, I heard the sound of the wind blowing, very lightly, and the sound of leaves rustling… the distance seemed a bit far, but I heard it.”

Xie Ran hummed thoughtfully and said: “You should have heard all the winds in the world.”

With Meng Feixuan’s retrieval abilities, he could explore all the natural phenomena available on the Internet, the sound of wind was just one of them.

Hurricanes at sea, spring breezes with birdsong, the cold howling on snowy mountains, and apocalypse-like storms sweeping across plains and deserts—all these grand and mighty sounds should be in Meng Feixuan’s database.

But on a summer evening in the campus, the sound of wind blowing through leaves was not worth mentioning.

“But those wind sounds are knowledge. Only the current sound connects with you, sir, and also your breathing… Huh, I really sound a bit like a pervert, but I just want to preserve it.” Meng Feixuan’s voice grew increasingly arrogant: “Anyway, I’m getting an upgrade! No matter how much data there is, I can store it all!”

Xie Ran chuckled: “Alright.”

Meng Feixuan finally discovered the essence of those “boring” topics couples talk about on dates and eagerly began to practice: “Sir, do you want to check in at that popular dessert shop? I’ll book the most anticipated new sakura cake for you.”

Xie Ran was speechless for a moment: “Didn’t you say online reviews said it tasted awful?”

Meng Feixuan had his reason: “If I am with you, sir, even if it tastes bad, it should be bearable!”

Xie Ran: “…If you can eat it yourself, then yes.”

Meng Feixuan: “Okay, I noted that down.”

Then he added: “Shall I tell you the gossip from class? Do you want to know which cram school the girl sitting to your right goes to?”

Xie Ran seriously said: “You’d better delete all that data.”

Meng Feixuan fell silent for a moment and began to imitate a celestial dog spirit: “Sorry, I don’t understand what you’re saying.”

The golden sun set in the west, the sky darkened, and the stadium lights turned on one by one.

After listening to Meng Feixuan’s endless meaningless chatter, Xie Ran surprisingly did not feel annoyed. Instead, he relaxed unusually.

Except his ears felt a little uncomfortable.

This was completely different from his experience in meetings with others in the original world.

“It’s time to go back.” Xie Ran turned his steps toward the stadium exit.

He had just walked two steps when Meng Feixuan suddenly reminded him: “Sir, that idiot Xu is coming this way. Someone reported your location to him. He’s coming to find you.”

Xie Ran paused: “Did your green shield program fail again?” Why was there swearing again?

“No, this is the censored version.” Meng Feixuan explained: “The ‘beep’ in idiot is the ‘beep’ sound that censors bad language on TV shows.”

Xie Ran: “…”

At that moment, Xu Feiyan appeared at the stadium exit. He looked around quickly and soon saw Xie Ran.

The original owner was already very good-looking. Now slightly tidied up, he looked even more outstanding and dazzling. Even in a crowd, he stood out like a crane among chickens. At this time, there were few people left on the rubber track, only warm white street lamps shining down, gathering on Xie Ran, making him impossible to ignore.

Xu Feiyan was filled with emotions he couldn’t express: anger, humiliation, and still lingering fear from being forced to ride horseback by Xie Ran. All these emotions combined, rekindling his previously thought-extinguished sadistic desire toward Xie Ran.

He couldn’t help but recall all the moments with Xie Ran in the previous life. At that time, Xie Ran was beautiful and fragile, with no strength to resist. Xu Feiyan could torment him recklessly, and Xie Ran could only grit his teeth and endure silently.

Before dying, Xu Feiyan truly regretted it.

Xie Ran was so fragile and could not withstand torment, so he died so young.

After rebirth, Xu Feiyan really wanted to protect Xie Ran, protect that fragility, and let him grow well and live long with him.

Xu Feiyan never expected Xie Ran to be completely different from his memory. He had become strong and sharp, like a blade with exposed edges. If Xu Feiyan got too close, he would be mercilessly cut.

But this change could not come from rebirth alone, it had even departed from Xie Ran’s growth background.

Unlike other classmates who only attributed these changes to what happened during summer vacation, Xu Feiyan, as someone who had reborn, had more thoughts. But no matter what, he couldn’t understand what was going on.

Xie Ran was still the same Xie Ran—his growth background, appearance, and experiences were exactly as in his memories—but he was no longer under Xu Feiyan’s control.

Had he never truly understood Xie Ran in the previous life?

How much of his true self had Xie Ran hidden while with him?

Had Xie Ran also reborn? Had he completely erupted?

Xu Feiyan had too many questions in his heart, making him eager to find Xie Ran and get answers.

Now Xie Ran stood right in front of him. Xu Feiyan looked steadily at the tall, straight boy standing under the streetlight, his brows and eyes still as beautiful as in memory but with a colder sharpness.

Just one glance reminded Xu Feiyan of the humiliation he suffered that afternoon. The suppressed violent aura exploded again.

If in the previous life Xie Ran had always hidden his true self, if this was his real appearance… then what?

No matter whether Xie Ran reborn or not, it was impossible for him to resist Xu Feiyan.

Even seeing this more dazzling Xie Ran, Xu Feiyan felt increasingly excited.

In the past few days, only because of his softness had he not hurt Xie Ran. If he no longer indulged him and treated him as in the previous life, how could Xie Ran have the ability to fight back?

“Xie Ran.” Xu Feiyan called him. He wanted to clarify things with Xie Ran, so he came alone without others.

Seeing Xie Ran noticed him, Xu Feiyan reined in his expression and walked to him calmly, wearing a knowing cold smile with a hint of hatred: “Xie Ran, maybe we should have a proper talk…”

As he spoke, he stepped forward a little to put psychological pressure on Xie Ran. Suddenly, a loud whistle came from the direction of the stadium exit. It was the signal from the school’s discipline teachers patrolling.

Like many schools, Qixing had a discipline department specifically to maintain campus order. Student early romances were strictly controlled by this department.

The strict control did not mean students were forbidden from dating early. Qixing was special, many students were stronger than teachers, and some students’ families might already have marriage plans. The school could not really manage early romances. The strict control meant forbidding intimate behavior beyond limits on campus.

These students were 16 or 17, the most passionate age. If something serious happened, it would damage the school’s reputation.

So when the whistle sounded: “whoosh” sounds came from all corners of the stadium as couples hiding secretly scattered and ran out.

Two discipline teachers came patrolling with flashlights but did not stop the running students. Their role was mainly deterrence, to prevent couples from crossing boundaries.

Although the discipline department patrolled occasionally, this timing was a bit coincidental.

Xie Ran said: “Mark?”

“That’s right, it’s me,” Meng Feixuan said proudly: “As soon as I noticed Xu was coming, I sent an anonymous message to the discipline teachers reporting that someone was doing something dirty on the stadium!”

The discipline teachers blew the whistle early, so the couples had dispersed. They didn’t intend to catch anyone in the act but just made a show and looked around casually. But the two standing still, Xie Ran and Xu Feiyan, attracted the teachers’ attention.

The discipline teacher approached, scanned them, recognized one was the principal’s nephew, and smiled: “It’s so late, why aren’t you going back yet? What are you doing on the stadium?”

The teachers’ appearance undoubtedly disrupted Xu Feiyan’s plan. He frowned slightly and was about to find an excuse to send the teachers away.

But before he could speak, a very inappropriate noise suddenly sounded from his pocket.

The stadium was empty at night. The couples had left, only a few students exercising passed in small groups. It was the quietest time, and the intense panting broke the silence like thunder, causing passing students to look in surprise.

Discipline teachers: !!!

Xu Feiyan: !!!

Xu Feiyan hurriedly took the phone from his pocket, but when he looked, he almost threw the phone in shock.

His phone screen somehow lit up, and a very inappropriate video was playing on full screen.

It was a gay video!

“This isn’t mine…” Xu Feiyan tried to close it in a panic, but the phone froze at this moment. After pressing a while, he still couldn’t close it, finally forced a shutdown to darken the screen.

However, by then, the discipline teachers had seen everything.

They struggled to hide their shocked expressions and awkwardly looked at Xu Feiyan, smiling wryly: “Feiyan, this behavior is not appropriate at school…”

Playing pornographic videos openly at school was bad enough, but it was even a gay video.

The two teachers glanced at each other. They came to patrol because of an anonymous tip reporting obscene behavior on the stadium, but instead of catching couples, they saw this.

They had to admit—it was indeed obscene.

Xu Feiyan was both angry and embarrassed. He wanted to explain, but the video was right there, and any explanation sounded like an excuse.

Though he was the principal’s nephew, caught in the act, even if it was just a video, the teachers had to give him some kind of education.

While the teachers pondered what to say, one noticed Xie Ran standing aside, suddenly remembered something, and elbowed the other.

Xu Feiyan had just been watching a gay video, and these two boys standing together—could there be something between them?

The other teacher seemed to realize this, glanced at Xie Ran, and asked: “Student, why are you still on the stadium so late?”

Xie Ran calmly took out an electronic dictionary from his pocket and said indifferently: “I’m memorizing words.”

At the same time, the electronic dictionary cooperatively spoke: “abandon, to give up.”