Chapter 2 - The First Step

The first step is always the hardest for everything.

Lihua once read the quote in a book. Thinking about the project was just a matter of a flicker of light bulb going on within her head. About how to build a robot is a project that will take so much effort, especially an articial intelligence robot that is going to behave like a human and is susceptible to human's emotions to provide its owner what it needs - emotionally. Even humans are incapable of reading others' emotions, how is she going to build one that reads emotions. 

'Just kill me now,' she murmured as she pulled out a book with empty pages and titled it with hasty handwritings 'Project -' She hesitated after writing the first word. She was not even sure of how to name her project other than Project Tenjo, which already sounded so much like a fangirl's dream than it already was. She pursed her lips and slid the book away from her on the desk. With a groan, she slumped forward and stretched out her arms on the desk. A few minutes later, she looked at her mobile phone and realized that it was time for her teaching class, so she picked up her bag from the floor and headed to the campus, where her class was going to be at. 

Lihua was one of the tutors in the robotics departments of her university. Following her successful graduation from an undergraduate course, the professors hand-picked her to assist a class alongside a lead tutor. That was how she met Shen, her current romantic interest. She had pretty much noticed Shen, another smart student in the department who was on his PhD thesis, ever since her undergraduate years. In her field of studies, people usually notice each other for their intellect and not for their appearances. Even though Lihua had decided that she would conceal herself away from future relationships, this did not mean that she can not have the rights to fantasize about her romantic interests. 

Shen is smart, intellectual, and is also one of the most praised students in the department. He has led multiple discussion workshops, delivered lectures, and wrote numerous articles in academics magazine. Look wise, he is tall, slightly tanned and slender, with a nose that reminded Lihua of eagles - slightly crooked. He might not be that much of a looker but his intellect was something Lihua admired and sometimes it would make her heart race whenever she glanced at his direction when they lead a class together - him as the lead tutor and her as the assistant. She hope she had the same effect on her the same way, which has led her to try so hard to gain his attention.

She tried so hard, so very hard to get his attention with the mindset that 'intellect is y' 

Unfortunately, it did not seem to hold true for Shen. He has a girlfriend called Jiayi. Lihua does not know much about Jiayi other than the fact that she is extremely pretty - an oriental beauty. Pale skin that seemed luminous, a set of almond shaped eyes, a small thin nose and a pair of thin bow-like lips. She met Jiayi during one of the parties in the department, where Shen introduced her to Jiayi. Lihua hates making assumptions based on how a person behaves but Jiayi behaves like a materialistic girl who is obsessed with anything designer branded and high end. Maybe it was her prejudice against the girl for winning Shen's heart with her looks. Lihua would never feel justified about how she was not noticed by Shen. She looked into the mirror multitudes of time and was appalled by the way she looked - eyes that always looked tired from extreme usage, her hair twisted up into a bun with either a pen or a pencil because she never bothered about what length it was at, her skin was free of makeup and the only thing she would bother putting on was skincare and sunblock, since her mother nagged her to do so. That was her in a nutshell; low-maintenance and oblivious about how she looked and the type of image she projects onto the people around them. Maybe Jiayi is a goddess afterall, as compared to someone with peasant looks like Lihua herself. Maybe people do care about looks afterall. 

"You look quite dazed today, Lihua, is there something wrong?" Shen asked after they have wrapped up their class. 

She looked up and saw Shen who was looking at her with concerned eyes. Her heart didn't fail to miss a beat at that. She didn't answer his question but shook her head to say that nothing was wrong while the deepest part inside her kept wishing that he would look at her the same way he looks at Jiayi and smile to send her heart fluttering away into the sky.

"I'm going to see Professor Han, would you like to come along too?" he spoke after he packed up the marker pens that the class used during class. She was going to shake her head but realized that she needed to ask her superiors about her ideas. Lihua nodded and smiled at Shen befre joining him to go back to their staff room in the Engineering department.

Professor Han had been her supervisor since she was in her final year of undergraduate degree. He supervised her papers as well as her final year project. Some of the professors in the department tend to be sarcastically ist but not him. He had always been sweet, supportive, and kind; always encouraging her to test her limits and go further.

"So, why are my two favourite students visiting me?" The corners of his eyes crinkled as he saw the pair entering his office.  

Shen grinned, "I just wanted to come visit you, Professor. And I asked Lihua since we were teaching a class before." She nodded to agree what Shen had said. 

The three of them sat down in Professor Han's office; drinking the Fujian green tea that Professor kept praising to heaven and eating almond cookies that he put in a box in his office. They discussed about how they lives had been going, what they had been doing, and the updates on technology they had been witnessing. 

Along the conversation, Lihua kept contemplating whether she should put down her idea of building a human robot in front of these two guys or not. In the end, she decided not to utter a word and nod along to what the others were saying. About an hour later, they all wrapped up the conversation and the two youngsters decided to leave. Lihua insisted that she washes the cups and saucers they used so she went to the staff kitchen to clean the dirty cutlery while Shen excused himself after receiving a phone call from his girlfriend. After Lihua had done washing up the cutlery, she went back into Professor's office to pick up her bag. 

As she had greeted the Professor, saying goodbye, he spoke, "Lihua, is there something that you wanted to ask me?" 

Her eyes widened in shock and she stood there - her body stiffened up. "Ummmm..." 

"Spill, what is it that is bothering you?" 

Her eyes looked downwards as she couldn't face Professor's eyes, "Actually, I want to do a side project for fun. Not the one I'm doing for the Master's degree of course. Something fun for myself." 

"But?" 

"I don't know. I feel like my dreams are too big and too complicated to even start. I am so confused and worried to even start," she started pouring her worries out in front of her favourite Professor. 

He didn't say anything but nodded, "Have you ever written down anything?" 

"No but-" 

Professor didn't listen to her but smiled, "You know, a lot of people struggle at that. They have dreams, ideas, suggestions to contribute to the world, but they never came to life. Do you know why?" 

Lihua shook her head and her hands gripped on her bag in nervousness.

"It's because they never wrote it down. We all forget to put our thoughts into words and write it down in the moment when we had it. We have everything in our head. Sometimes, our brains are very fickle. They forget, which is a flaw in human design. We cannot store every little details, but the ones that we deem important, which is quite opposite to machines, isn't it?" 

Lihua nodded.

"Going back to what I had been saying. We all need something solid to start from. We built the Great Wall of China, starting with one brick. The palace didn't just happen out of thin air too. They all started from little ideas, which turned into words on paper before everything blew up large scale. So, my suggestion is, Lihua, start things small. There will be struggles. There will be catastrophe. You'll fall down and want to give up but once you have started out, it's very hard to give up. Try it. Write it down. You'll get there." 

"Even if it's a stupid idea?" she asked, still dubious that her project is a silly fangirl's dream. 

"There is not such thing as a stupid idea..." Professor Han smiled, "Well...there are some but to the inventors, they don't think it's stupid. But it's up for others to comment on that. You just have to try!" he blinked his eyes at her, which she took it as a form of encouragement. 

~~~

''I CAN'T DO THIS ANYMORE!!!!!!!" Lihua screamed into her pillow as she fell on her bed. Her best friend Nan Shang remained oblivious, since she had became impartial to Lihua's mental breakdown along the years they had been friends. 

Nan Shang is Lihua's best friend. They met on the first day of university and became inseparable ever since despite belonging to different facultires. Nan Shang belongs to Commerce faculty while Lihua belongs to Engineering faculty. After graduating at the same time, Nan Shang decided to pursue her dream of becoming a Professor in the college so she remained to study. Even though the two girls live in different apartments, Nan Shang has a habit of visiting Lihua's house ever so often - claiming it's very scary for her to be in the house by herself. 

Lihua's breakdowns were no surprise to Nan Shang for she aiehaves the same way. They had both cried before their final year paper submission, from immense stress they had been carrying. They both had passed out from pulling way too many all nighters, had been sent to doctor's office from drinking way too many cups of coffee, any bizarre incidents related to stress in the whole university could be directed to these two - you name it, they have done it. That was how much they had tested their limits of how they could handle stress, which comes after the two of them procrastinating. Both of them claim themselves as queens of procrastination. 

"What are you doing?" Nan Shang asked from the living room area, where she sat, watching the television that Lihua connected to a computer, to catch up on her dose of Chinese Entertainment - the difference between Lihua and Nan Shang. The former is neutral towards the pop culture while the latter immerse herself in it. If there's a new boy band, Nan Shang knows it. If a celebrity starts dating, Nan Shang has gotten the updates about it. No wonder Nan Shang dresses fashionably for she had been following the pop culture closely. 

Lihua didn't look up from her pillow but murmured, "Project." 

"What project are you doing?" 

"Building a robot." 

"A robot?" Nan Shang asked, "How far have you gotten?" 

Lihua sat up on her bed and reached for her project book, which she titled 'Project Heaven'. She opened the book and scanned what she had scribbled down, "I've done a lot actually. I've built the infrastructure, sketched out the components, listed out materials I should test, softwares to run, programs to code, hardwares to assemble...there is only one thing left." 

"What?" Nan Shang peered at the book cover and pulled a face, "Project Heaven? Lihua, are you serious?" 

She nodded. 

"That's such a lame name," Nan Shang remaked with a shrug. 

Lihua threw a glare in her friend's direction, "Thank you, Miss Zhang, for supporting your best friend." 

"You are very welcome," Nan Shang chuckled, "But please continue." 

"I need a face." 

"A face?" her best friend echoed, "What kind of face? Just stick Tenjo's face on your robot and get done with it." 

Lihua laughed, "I wish it's as easy as that. I think it'll be a nightmare to implement a 2D into a 3D. Mind you, I still have to work out the body dimensions." 

"You do your stuff, sweetpea," Nan Shang dismissed Lihua's idea for the former knew that Lihua hardly ever listened to anyone's suggestion. She would ask for help and questions others but she hardly ever listened to other's idea. Lihua had always been one woman team for most of the time. "I'm just going to finish watching this red carpet segment of the award show." And Nan Shang diverted her attention back on the TV screen.

Lihua decided that it was about time to take a break and join her best friend to watch the award show. As her eyes fell onto the screen, there was someone who completely caught her attention. It was a guy, who is tall, impeccably dressed in fashionable outfit from head to toe. His presence was striking, which commands everyone to do nothing but focus on him - an overpowering alpha male aura. His face seemed like it had been crafted by a seasoned sculptor. Everything about that person is mysteriously attractive. Lihua just couldn't take her eyes off him. 

"That man is perfection..." she murmured, which made Nan Shang look at her in surprise. 

"Now that is very strange," she remarked, "I thought Shen is perfection." 

"Oh, shut up," Lihua snapped at her best friend, "He's not interested in me anyway. No point praising him as perfection. Tell me. Who is that man?" 

"Wu Yifan," Nan Shang replied as a matter of factly with a shrug, "He had been taking over China, except our campus of course cuz we're too nerdy to care about pop culture. What's with the sudden curiosity to know his name?" 

Lihua smiled smugly, "I think I have found the face I want to put on my robot." 

~~~