Core setting: Internet algorithm engineer × ancient tree protection researcher, a career growth story with "urban memory" as the emotional bond.
Characterization: The male protagonist Chen Ze (29 years old): the person in charge of the Dachang algorithm, fell into a professional ethics dilemma because he led the "AI planning project for the reconstruction of old urban areas" - the algorithm recommended the demolition of a century-old alley, but received an anonymous email rebuttal. The email attachment was full of growth data of ancient trees in the old alley and the stories of residents. He has a typical "technological rationalism". He carries an electronic notebook that records KPIs with him, but he repeatedly looks at the film photos of his childhood in the old alley late at night. The heroine Su Wang (27 years old): researcher of ancient tree protection and anonymous email sender. Her work bag always contains a steel ruler for measuring tree diameters, a hand-drawn notebook for recording ecological data, and an old stethoscope inherited from her grandfather (used to listen to the "heartbeat" of ancient trees). After witnessing his mentor being forced to retire to protect ancient trees, he is extremely sensitive to the idea that technology overwhelms humanities. The professional conflict is concrete: the two met for the first time in an old alley - Chen Ze used a laser rangefinder to measure the density of houses, while Su Wang used a stethoscope attached to the trunk of an ancient tree to retort: "The growth rings of this hackberry tree contain the record of the drought in 1943. Can AI calculate it?" Subsequent montages of "Algorithm Optimization Meeting vs Ancient Tree Ecology Hearing" and "Code Logic Diagram vs Ancient Tree Growth Curve" intensify the opposition.
