Chapter 186: Doomed Without the Machine!

After being diagnosed with leukemia, Li Xiao Lan abruptly resigned from her work. She was admitted to the ICU to receive the timely treatments arranged by the hospital. Chen Jin came to visit her at the hospital as well. He claimed to be a friend of the patient and learned about her situation from the doctors.

In the ward, Su Yun looked at her friend lying on the sickbed. Li Xiao Lan had a pale face and was wearing a ventilator. Su Yun grabbed her hands and said, “We work together, eat together, do sports together, and you’re as healthy as I am. How did you end up getting this disease?” Su Yun cried out of agony, as she still could not accept the fact.

Chen Jin stood beside her and comforted her. “This is no big issue, Su Yun. I’ve inquired with the doctors, the type of leukemia that Xiao Lan has is classified as the common type, there are many ways to treat the disease. The cure rate is above 90% as well. Besides, Xiao Lan discovered her sickness early, so her chance of getting cured is even higher.” In the recent 20 years, with rapid progress in molecular biology and biogenetics, the patients of leukemia that were deemed as “incurable” in the past could now have their lifespan significantly elongated with little to no issues. Leukemia had become less scary than it used to be.

“I know.” Su Yun nodded. She lowered her voice and spoke to him quietly, “The doctors told me the same thing. But Xiao Lan’s family is more or less the same as mine, they are not very wealthy. To cure her sickness completely, she would need at least a few treatments that would cost her millions of dollars… our unit has recently begun to fundraise for her. Our director gave 10,000 dollars to Xiao Lan’s parents just yesterday… but it was like trying to extinguish a cartload of firewood on fire with one cup of water. I don’t know whether Xiao Lan’s family can afford the treatment.”

“Don’t worry about money. You have my number, contact me immediately if money becomes a problem, I’ll help solve their difficulties.” Chen Jin said that with his current net worth, one million dollars of treatment costs was merely a drop in the ocean to him. He could get Xiao Lan out of her difficulties at any time. But there were principles even in helping people. You rather say to borrow and ask recipients to pay back slowly than to give for free. Helping a man once gains grace, helping the man twice gains hatred. It would be funny if the recipient of help thought that it was natural for you to help him and that you owed it to him.

“Okay, I’ll inform you if things really became difficult. Chen Jin, thank you. The doctors said that fortunately the disease was discovered in a timely manner, if she would have been a few days late, it would’ve really become very dangerous… your company’s Bang Bang Robot was truly amazing!” Su Yun looked at the man with adoration. This time, she was truly convinced. Every product that Xing Hai Technologies created astonished and shocked the world.

“Thanks for your compliment.” Chen Jin laughed. He raised his hand and gently patted the woman’s head.

Su Yun’s face turned red again.

After Chen Jin left the ward, Xiao Lan, who was on the sickbed, asked her curiously, “Su Yun, is he… your boyfriend?” Su Yun blushed for a while. She did not answer her question. Xiao Lan then took it as a tacit agreement. Tall, handsome, I’m so envious.

…

In January 20X1, schools were approaching mid-term. Primary schools, junior highschools, and senior highschools across the nation started holding their final exams preceding the winter break.

But the finals this year were quite different. They were particularly attractive. The Ministry of Education even requested every province to use centralized exam papers to ease statistical comparisons later on. What was to be compared? Naturally, it was to compare the exam results between the students with and without an intelligent learning machine. The finals in primary schools, junior highs, and senior highs ended swiftly.

Results were released hastily. Each zone announced its statistical data:

“Some experimental primary school in A city. In the mathematics paper for third graders, the average score is 99.5 for learning machine owners and 89.7 for non-owners. In the mathematics paper for fourth graders, the average score is 99.8 for learning machine owners and 86.4 for non-owners. For fifth graders, the score between the two classes is 99.6 to 84.1.”

“Top junior high in B city. In our first graders, the overall score of all subjects for learning machine users is 37 marks higher than that of non-users. In our second graders, the overall score for users is 45 marks higher than that of non-users. The gap is even wider for third graders, the overall score for users is 51 marks higher than that of non-users.”

“Some renowned high school in F city. Our school did not analyze the statistics of our seventh and eighth graders. We only analyzed the performance of our ninth graders in the finals. The results are shocking. Among science students, the total average score for learning machine owners is 56 marks higher than non-owners. Less students from the arts purchased the learning machine, therefore statistical analysis was not conducted. Owners probably scored a few marks higher.”

“Some regular high school in Z city. Centralized exam for ninth graders. For the average total score for science students, owners are 44 marks above non-owners.”

“For the science ninth graders in some high school in X city, the score for owners are 52 marks higher than that of non-owners…”

Innumerable result comparisons were announced. News about the absolute triumph of machine learning owners was spread all across the country.

Netizens had heated discussions on the internet, expressing their own opinions:

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“Students nowadays are doomed without a learning machine!”

“The intelligent learning machine launched not more than half a year ago, and the difference in average scores are already 30, 40, 50 marks apart or even more! How could the non-owners even compete?”

“I hate intelligent learning machines! Formerly, I was the first place in class, and now I’ve dropped to tenth place. I asked my dad to buy me a learning machine, but he scolded me for being incapable and not being attentive in learning, but I really couldn’t catch up. I even got spanked by my stubborn old man just yesterday. I really despise the learning machine!”

“The top 10 in my school are all owners. The non-owners are all squeezed down. How could fair competition go on?”

“I will not accept this unfairness! Make it so that either everyone has it or everyone doesn’t! Make it fair! I refuse to accept my loss.”

Many parents complained as well:

“It’s not that my family is poor, but it has been half a year and we still can’t get our hands on the Little Star learning machine or the Educational Machine! I and my child are worried sick!”

“Xing Hai Technologies, if you still can’t sell a learning machine to my child, you will ruin him!”

“My son is in the ninth grade, another few months and he will be seating for the College Entry Examination, but we still can’t get a learning machine. I’m really anxious. If this goes on, how can my son enter a good university?”

“Yea, there’s only a few months till the College Entry Examination. I haven’t gotten a learning machine. My daughter was already telling me to go make trouble at Xing Hai’s doorway.”

“Xing Hai Technologies, I don’t care about your excuses, give my child a learning machine right now!”

“Last warning! Give me a learning machine!”

After the result comparisons were released, the parents were very agitated, especially those who were not yet able to buy the intelligent learning machine. They bombarded Xing Hai Technologies’ official Weibo and Chen Jin’s personal Weibo with countless angry and threatening messages:

“I’m giving you three days, give my child a learning machine!”

“If I do not get a learning machine within 10 days, I will perish together with you!”

“Last warning! Send me the goods immediately!”

Xing Hai Technologies was trying to explain on their official Weibo account and Chen Jin’s personal account that they were working hard to increase production capacity. It was estimated that the daily output of the learning machine would reach 350,000 units a month later. They were also striving to push the number of owners above 50%. Sales would prioritize sixth and ninth graders with goals to push owners among ninth graders above 90% and that of sixth graders above 80%.

But what they mentioned was two months or even three months, how could those parents who were like cats on hot bricks wait any longer? They could not wait for even a while, what they wanted was to get a learning machine immediately! Without a learning machine, their children were destined to be doomed! There was no way for their children to compete against those who owned a learning machine. Therefore, those parents who were on the verge of exploding could possibly do something irrational at any time.

Fortunately, the Ministry of Education came forward. “To ensure fairness, there will be some minor adjustments to the Senior High School Entrance Examination and College Entry Examination. We will try to minimize the effects of the learning machine towards the justness of the exams (increasing the weight of language subjects, reducing the difficulty of mathematics and comprehensive science papers, adding higher order thinking questions that learning machines couldn’t answer, etc.).”

Of course, the best solution was still to ensure that every student owned a learning machine… that would be the best form of fairness. However! Just when the parent’s agitated emotions had slightly eased by a little, there was an unexpected turn of events!

Samsin from Gorea suddenly enforced a ban towards the sales of core components to Xing Hai Technologies. Stock supplies for 70% of the flash memory chips that needed to be imported from Samsin were abruptly cut off. The productivity of the intelligent learning machine was chopped at the waist as daily output was reduced to less than 100,000 units.