Algorithm system

The happiest delivery manThree days later, the first beta version of the algorithm was released.

The beta version couldn’t be considered the initial draft of the algorithm; it was merely a temporary product for testing purposes.

Lin Yuan wasn’t so foolish as to wait half a month to test if the algorithm worked, which would be akin to a gambler going all-in at the table—if the algorithm didn’t work then, wouldn’t those two weeks have been wasted?

Fortunately, the nature of IT software is like building with blocks. Building with blocks isn’t magic; it doesn’t appear out of nothing instantly, but rather involves a process of construction.

Lin Yuan’s next plan was to test this beta version of the algorithm; he would quietly embed this algorithm into Good Group’s Zijin Branch’s test server.

To complete some update tests for the food delivery platform, Zijin Branch was equipped with a complete simulated food delivery platform.

This test food delivery system had no merchant interface, no colorful advertising recommendations, and no sub-modules like finance. It was purely a food delivery testing platform.

Lin Yuan first needed to verify the basic functions of the algorithm on this platform. The basic process of receiving orders, picking up meals, and delivering them had to work.

With the support of the computing power system, the entire process went smoothly. The only problem was: insufficient computing power.

On the day the beta version was released, Lin Yuan glanced at the system panel.

“Accumulated Computing Power: 498P.”

In just three days, half of the computing power he had accumulated for so long was used up. Yet, the enrollment task in the task list was still stuck at 99.9% completion, still unsettled because he hadn’t officially enrolled.

Even though the system’s computing power was more precious due to the computing power exchange rate, this system was too much of a scoundrel, not providing many ways to acquire computing power.

As things stood, Lin Yuan could only first complete the delivery riders information collection, and then perform a simple functional verification of the beta algorithm. Subsequent work would have to wait until after school started, when the system settled his enrollment task and his computing power was replenished.

If he was lucky, there should be a few more tasks appearing by then, right?

Lin Yuan could only hope so.

But the problem was, his internship at Good Group would also end when school started. Without the opportunity to continue using Good Group’s test platform, how could he continue testing the algorithm?

If push came to shove, Lin Yuan would just have to exhaust his current computing power, try to iterate and update the algorithm as much as possible, and then submit it before school started. The main goal was to first pique the interest of Good Group’s senior management and ensure his connection with Good Group wasn’t severed.

After recognizing the current situation, Lin Yuan got on his scooter again one night and resumed his old job.

—

Lin Yuan resumed delivering food.

However, unlike before, he was now the happiest food delivery delivery riders in the world. Because Lin Yuan was testing his “Path and Delivery Algorithm—Beta Version,” every minute and every second he spent now was no longer for the three to five yuan delivery fee per order, but for building his personal life’s edifice.

Lin Yuan had two apps open on his phone—one was the delivery riders interface, and the other was the monitoring interface.

The delivery riders interface, as the name suggests, was because Lin Yuan was currently playing the role of a delivery riders simulating food delivery.

As for the monitoring interface, it was used to monitor the test progress.

On the monitoring interface, he could see many delivery riders avatars, but only Lin Yuan’s avatar represented a real person; the rest were simulated data dummies, because Lin Yuan couldn’t actually find a group of people to act as delivery riderss.

Simulated dummies naturally yielded slightly inferior test results, but this method of using simulated data instead of real data is very common in software testing. It’s like an airplane’s wind tunnel experiment; the wind in the wind tunnel is, of course, artificially simulated. But would you dare to fly an airplane without going through a wind tunnel simulation test?

AI voice guidance was constantly transmitted through his earphones.

“Detection indicates a high probability of meal preparation waiting time exceeding five minutes for subsequent orders. Please process immediately.”

According to the logic set by Lin Yuan’s algorithm, if a high probability of delayed meal preparation was detected in subsequent unpicked-up orders, the algorithm would trigger a backend notification to the delivery riders interface to send a message reminder. Then, the delivery riders could see which specific order had how much probability of delayed meal preparation exceeding what amount of time.

After that, the algorithm gave the choice to the delivery riders. Lin Yuan currently hadn’t made the algorithm too aggressive, still giving the decision-making power to the delivery riders himself.

The delivery riders had two choices: let the system handle it automatically, or stubbornly push through.

If the system handled it automatically, the algorithm would complete the self-dispatching of the order, reassigning it to a delivery riders who was more on the way and had less waiting time.

As for stubbornly pushing through, it was literal: you could wait if you wanted to.

Lin Yuan, alone on his scooter, happily delivered food around Zijin Aviation School at night. Of course, he was delivering ’air’ food; there was no delivery box on the back seat of his scooter.

If a bug or other optimization point was discovered during the test that night, he would address these issues during his internship the next day, followed by algorithm updates and iterations, then continue simulated testing on his scooter that same night.

All delivery riderss during the testing process, except Lin Yuan himself, were virtual dummies. However, the merchants from whom meals were picked up were all real.

For testing purposes, Lin Yuan had even specifically marked a small test area of merchants outside the school. Testing near the school was for convenience of transportation. Moreover, if he tested in Liu Huzi’s River West area, he would easily run into people he knew from delivering food before, and with many eyes around, it might attract Liu Huzi’s attention and cause unnecessary trouble.

Lin Yuan used this small area of merchants outside the school as a test sample. Naturally, he couldn’t actually place orders with these merchants; he simulated and estimated the meal preparation time based on their current operating status. Anyway, during the beta version testing, it wasn’t required for every step to be highly precise.

—

This was Xia Ye’s third night working at Nine Minutes Sweet Milk Tea Shop.

This milk tea shop was on the food street outside the school, a place she used to frequent, never imagining she would one day work there.

She was still sharing a rented single room outside the school with Song Xiaoxiao. Being closer to school, Xia Ye could occasionally use the school’s practice rooms, leveraging her familiarity with the teachers. The equipment at school was much more comprehensive than the flashy setups at training institutions, which saved Xia Ye the expense of going to a professional dance studio.

Xia Ye was working hard to save money; she planned to save fifty thousand yuan, then enroll in a tutoring class specifically for the Purple Arts dance major graduate entrance exam. After that, she would attend the training while only working one job, just enough to sustain herself until next year’s Purple Arts graduate entrance exam.

As for why Song Xiaoxiao remained near the school after graduation, in her own words: walking out of the main gate of Zijin Aviation School naturally commanded a higher price.

So Song Xiaoxiao would have the car picking her up wait at the school gate, not at the cramped rental apartment complex entrance.

Xia Ye didn’t concern herself much with Song Xiaoxiao’s affairs; while being good friends, they also left some personal space for each other.

What Xia Ye cared more about was whether she could see that person again. The person who poured warmth into her bewildered heart.