Mecha Chapter 10: Start of a New School Year

Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: Sulo is excited for the start of Luo XiaoLou’s school year!

 

“Hurry up! We’re going to be late! We only have twenty minutes!” Luo XiaoLou had the audacity to keep urging.

Inside the apartment, Yuan Xi had just changed into his clothes and walked out. There was no doubt that Yuan Xi’s clothes complemented his figure very well. He was like a jade tree, arrogant and handsome with a bad-to-the-bone evil aura, unusually attractive to the eye. It was as if he was an elegant and noble prince who was preparing to inspect his kingdom.

Even though Luo XiaoLou knew how bad and unreasonable this guy was, he still couldn’t help but stare for a moment. Then, Luo XiaoLou blushed slightly at Yuan Xi’s mocking gaze. He coughed a few times and turned his head, complaining in his heart: the heavens are so unfair, why did they give all the goodness to such a bastard!

Entering the elevator to go downstairs, Luo XiaoLou kept looking at his watch, “Well, let’s go. Today is very important for me, I can’t leave a bad impression on the faculty!”

Yuan Xi gave Luo XiaoLou a puzzled glance, wondering what his first day at school had to do with the faculty.

By the time the elevator doors opened, and Luo XiaoLou had already made a move to sprint a hundred meters, Yuan Xi said slowly, “Actually, you shouldn’t be late if you catch a ride with me.”

“Huh?” Luo XiaoLou looked at Yuan Xi, who had turned towards the parking lot, and couldn’t react. What was he talking about?

Yuan Xi swiped his card at the entrance of the parking lot, and five seconds later, a black streamlined car automatically appeared at the entrance.

Yuan Xi pulled open the driver’s door and glanced back at Luo XiaoLou, who immediately ran over in surprise and stammered, “Ah, you have a car! I didn’t even know there was a car!”

Taking one look at Yuan Xi’s scowl, Luo XiaoLou shamelessly opened the passenger door and quickly got in before Yuan Xi could regret offering him a ride.

Oh my god, he’d seen this car before! In that mall, parked right on the highest display stand! He couldn’t count the zeroes! It really is a premium product, this gorgeous driver’s seat, this comfortable seat……

Before Luo XiaoLou could finish his praise, the car disappeared with a whoosh.

Five minutes later, in front of Saint Miro Academy, Yuan Xi looked at Luo XiaoLou’s pale face and shrugged his shoulders, “See, I told you I wouldn’t be late.”

After saying that, Yuan Xi reached out to unbuckle Luo XiaoLou’s seatbelt — good thing he remembered to activate the safety system for Luo XiaoLou when he was driving.

“Hey, are you okay?” Yuan Xi frowned. There was still a medical examination on the first day of school, so he better save his idiot slave from his troubles.

“I’m okay.” Luo XiaoLou got out of the car with trembling legs. Mother fucker, hey, the poor really can’t enjoy the luxury of the rich, the rich are so annoying! Luo XiaoLou muttered, while secretly making up his mind to use the car every day from now on.

Yuan Xi poked his head out and said, “You go in first, I’ll park the car and you come over to me later.”

Although it wasn’t too late, it was still considered late now that there were many students in front of the school. People were either excitedly observing their school or paying attention to the people around them. This military academy was also known for its aristocratic nature, and the students were somewhat influenced by their families, wanting to get on good terms with their future partners or the sons of families that could provide assistance.

Luo XiaoLou, however, did not have the heart to think about this as he hurriedly walked inside. Luo XiaoLou only felt that two or three people looked familiar to him, but he couldn’t recall them, so he overtook them and quickly walked forward.

The black-haired girl turned her head and looked at the blue-eyed boy beside her with a smile and said, “Lin Xin, isn’t that the person you asked us to drive last time? He’s still such a bumpkin!”

Lin Xin smiled slightly and didn’t say anything. Instead, a person beside him asked in surprise, “Lin Xin, it’s rare that you would meddle in such idle matters. What, do you like him? Your tastes are so heavy these days, haha.” The teenager thought he had told a very funny joke and laughed to himself.

“Don’t talk nonsense, it’s nothing.”

Lin Xin carefully glanced at the two people walking in the middle. The tall silver-haired teenager and the teenager dressed in expensive black clothing were talking about something, and both of them didn’t notice Luo XiaoLou at all. Lin Xin was relieved. From those two people, one was half blood-related to that bumpkin, and the other had once shown interest in Luo XiaoLou, but it was similar to playing around. After all, who would really care about someone like that.

In the eyes of the two proud sons of heaven, they would never care about a bumpkin like that.

Luo XiaoLou finally found the payment office before he was completely overwhelmed. Most of the students transferred money directly and didn’t need to come here in person, so there weren’t many people in the office. Luo XiaoLou found an empty window and said to the teacher, “Teacher, I’m a first year student. I don’t have enough for the tuition fees, and I’d like to apply to pay it off in two payments. Do you think that’s okay?”

“Huh?” The teacher inside retreated from his online game and looked at Luo XiaoLou with bewilderment. He had never encountered this kind of situation before. Such a small amount of tuition was charged as a kind of symbolic fee, but someone couldn’t pay all of it? How in the world did this student get into this school?

“I don’t have that kind of money right now, so I’d like to pay it off in two payments. Can you see if you can work it out for me?” Luo XiaoLou repeated, and everyone in the office looked at him! They had never seen someone so poor — that’s okay, they got to see it today!

The teacher behind the window finally reacted, coughed and said, “Report your school number to me.”

Luo XiaoLou scanned his enrollment notice, frowned and said, “1000222.”

The teacher entered Luo XiaoLou’s school number and went silent for a moment. Meanwhile, the other teachers in the office were paying attention to how he was going to handle the situation. The teacher finally bit his tongue, stood up, and said, “Come with me this way. You and I will meet with the first year’s Academic Director, and if he agrees, there will be no problem.”

Luo XiaoLou nodded his head and followed the teacher to the Academic Director’s office. Luo XiaoLou bowed his head when he was brought in front of the Academic Director; the Academic Director was not very old, but his balding spot was very serious, and especially with that toupe, it was really unbearable.

The lead teacher told him about Luo XiaoLou’s situation and finally added in a small voice, “Director Wang, this student was brought by Major General Luo’s family.”

Director Wang’s originally serious face became even darker, “Your family has no money?”

“Yes, but I promise I’ll pay it off in the next year.” Luo XiaoLou calculated that the money he earned should be enough if he worked both summer and winter vacations.

Looking at Luo XiaoLou, who didn’t get his meaning, Director Wang restrained himself from yelling, “I’m asking you, if you don’t have the required money, why don’t you apply for a scholarship in advance?” Saint Miro Academy never treated students with genuine talent badly, and this guy’s appearance really tarnished the school’s image.

Luo XiaoLou blinked. He wasn’t sure if the scholarship was for everyone, so Luo XiaoLou handed over his documents and asked, “Do you think I can apply with my documents?”

With a quick glance, the Academic Director, whose face had turned the color of liver, took Luo XiaoLou’s secondary school graduation results and waved them in front of Luo XiaoLou’s face, “How the hell did you get into Saint Miro Academy with these grades?! I despise you trash who come in here by proxy!”

Luo XiaoLou took a step back, dodging the director’s spittle, and said calmly, “In any case, the school has already sent me a notice. I’ve come to see you about my tuition fees, do you think the solution I’ve told you can be settled?”

“We’ve never had a problem like this at our school!” Director Wang growled and turned his back on Luo XiaoLou and the head teacher.

Luo XiaoLou raised his voice from behind him and said, “Just because it’s never been done, doesn’t mean it’s impossible. Now that a student is in trouble, if the school can’t help with the problem, they should at least be accommodating. Or are you saying that if you don’t have the money, you can’t come to Saint Miro Academy?”

Even if what the director said was true, and even if he hated him because of those facts, Luo XiaoLou wasn’t going to give up because he had no choice. He couldn’t give up his only chance to go to school.

The teacher was already starting to sweat, he thought that Luo XiaoLou had a hard enough background behind him to bring him here. But he hadn’t thought that this student’s grades were really shameful. Director Wang was also probably in a bad mood today, and his deep-seated dislike for students who went through the back door was openly and honestly on display today.

And this student, actually — actually dared to speak to a school director like that! Ah, the director’s impression of him ah, it will be bad, for sure…

Director Wang Huo turned around and stared hard at Luo XiaoLou. After a long time, he laughed furiously and said, “Fine, I won’t accept you, but it seems that the school will. Fine, you can pay the tuition within the next year. However, I want to inform you that if you fail the final exam, no matter who is involved, you won’t be promoted to the second year. If you want to stay until you’re too old to graduate, then come on.”

Luo XiaoLou nodded his head and said without humility, “Then it’s no problem, I’ll pay my tuition in full within the next year.” He couldn’t change people’s perception of him, but he could change it later with his actions and grades. As long as he could come to school, what was this slight?

Luo XiaoLou was the first to head for the door, and as he opened the door, Director Wang spoke again, “If you are demoted three times, the school will advise you to leave.”

Luo XiaoLou turned sideways and calmly nodded his head, “Thank you for your advice.”

There was a drop of sweat that rolled down the teacher’s forehead and, not daring to look at Director Wang’s face, he immediately followed Luo XiaoLou out.

Returning to the payment office to complete the remaining payment procedures, Luo XiaoLou signed a fifty-thousand federal coin IOU, collected his basic textbooks and school uniform, and walked out in a cheerful mood.

He didn’t like people looking down on him, but what was there to look down on him for? Even if Luo XiaoLou was spineless, he still had his own pride. However, the road was his own, and he believed he could change his current dilemma.

This was not self-congratulation, but confidence. Luo XiaoLou had never failed to trust his own mind. In his previous life, Luo XiaoLou had a double master’s degree. In the past, no matter how complicated the school’s courses were, even if he didn’t attend classes for a semester and caught up with the syllabus in one night, he would never fail, and sometimes he would even get the best grade.

Now, the situation wasn’t the worst; at least, he got the chance to go to school. So, after some self-regulation, and with a strong recovery ability, Luo XiaoLou’s mood was now bright and sunny.

However, Luo XiaoLou himself didn’t realize that he, the only destitute student who had just surfaced, had actually become famous… 

An hour later, Luo XiaoLou managed to find the cold-faced Yuan Xi at the entrance of the Mecha Department. There was nothing he could do. Yuan Xi was so recognizable that even if there were many people around, it would be hard to hide his radiance. Moreover, Luo XiaoLou noticed that quite a few people around him secretly glanced at Yuan Xi several times, but didn’t dare to approach him, given his coldness to strangers.

Luo XiaoLou, dripping with sweat, ran over and greeted him attentively, “Sorry, there was a delay.”

Yuan Xi saw Luo XiaoLou and almost jumped up in fury, “Even the major division test has almost started, what’s your problem?! You, damn it — how dare you make your master wait for you!” Yuan Xi at least swallowed back the word ‘slave’.

Luo XiaoLou gave him a smile and quickly said something nice, “There was really something that happened. I’ll make sure to stay with you later!”

Yuan Xi snorted and glared at Luo XiaoLou twice before finally deciding to leave him alone, and started complaining, “It looks like the major division test might be in the afternoon, the school really isn’t efficient at all!”

Luo XiaoLou took a glance ahead and nodded. Just from the number of people waiting outside, he could tell that the Mecha Department was overcrowded.

Equally popular were the Department of Command, the Department of Ancient Martial Arts, the Department of Computer Science and Technology, the Department of Aerospace Engineering, the Department of Medicine, and the Department of Business. There were also quite a few people in front of the other faculties, but it was absolutely incomparable to these few.

Outside the door of the Mecha Department, there were even more people.

Luo XiaoLou had already solved the biggest problem of being able to attend school, so his whole body was relaxed, and he even suggested, “Why don’t we go to eat first, and come back later?”

Yuan Xi was about to nod his head when someone beside him finally couldn’t help but lean in, “This student, you’re also a first year student this year, right? My cousin and I are also going to apply for the Mecha Department, so we’ll be classmates from now on. Can we have lunch together?”

It was a little girl, with a clear voice and sweet looks that could easily make people feel good about her. Luo XiaoLou swallowed, leaned close to Yuan Xi, and said in a sour whisper, “Oh, you’re so popular. This pretty girl can score at least a nine. I can also get my own lunch if you want me to.”

Yuan Xi walked forward, then — kept walking away, ignoring the pretty girl who accosted him. Luo XiaoLou looked at Yuan Xi in stunned silence, then at the little girl who had an embarrassed and aggrieved face. He quickly followed after Yuan Xi, not even daring to look back, and whispered, “Hey, why did you ignore her? So —”

“Why should I care about her? I don’t know her.” Yuan Xi looked at Luo XiaoLou like he was an idiot.

Luo XiaoLou finally shut up. His bad, flawed character was showing! He’s not a victim anymore! Luo Xiaolou had no idea what his excitement and schadenfreude were.

The cafeteria was worthy of being the cafeteria of a famous university. It was spacious, clean and elegant. Luo XiaoLou looked at the window and suddenly thought that his meal card had not been charged. Now he had 19,000 federal coins left.

While considering how much to charge his meal card with, Yuan Xi tossed Luo XiaoLou a card and casually said, “Go buy the rice, quickly.”

Luo XiaoLou took it and decided to scrounge up dinner for today. Anyway, Yuan Xi ate his food every day when he was home. When he got to the window, Luo XiaoLou found that there were regular boxed lunches, and while they all had some vegetables in them, the price wasn’t too expensive.

At the high-class window, there were all kinds of stir-fried vegetables, as well as fish and meat that Luo XiaoLou hadn’t seen for a long time. Luo XiaoLou’s eyes turned red as he stared at the meat. It had been so long — so long since he had eaten it! This miserable life!

“What would you like, student?” One of the chefs asked.

Luo XiaoLou counted the zeros on the back of Yuan Xi’s card and felt jealous to death. The chef urged him once again, and he ordered two set meals, one with braised pork ribs and one with chicken — it was paid for by Yuan Xi anyway.

Luo XiaoLou put the braised pork ribs in front of Yuan Xi and gave himself the chicken set meal.

Yuan Xi glared at Luo XiaoLou, didn’t say anything, and bowed his head to eat.

Luo XiaoLou couldn’t help but feel guilty, and as he handed the card back to Yuan Xi, he whispered, “I’ll recharge it tomorrow.” Why did he feel bad for using someone else’s money?! Is this what separated people from each other? 

“No, keep it. You’ll be in charge of buying food from now on, I’ll just have it charged enough for two people until graduation. What? Did you think I wouldn’t buy you food?” Yuan Xi looked up and asked coldly.

“Huh? I didn’t mean it that way, but — you’re saying I can use the card to buy food for myself too?” Luo XiaoLou’s eyes were wide open. He was not used to it, and he really felt terrible about suddenly getting payback from Yuan Xi — this guy isn’t planning something more sinister, is he?

Yuan Xi said impatiently, “Of course you’ll use mine. You will eat with me every day, so you’d better be behind me at all times. I don’t want to have to find someone to find you when I need you.” It seemed that Yuan Xi was still holding a grudge about Luo Xiaolou’s absence in the morning.

“Oh, I see.” Knowing what Yuan Xi was up to now, Luo XiaoLou was a little weak, but finally, Yuan Xi had the sense to pay for his own living expenses!

“That, are you going to sign up for the Mecha Department?” Although he hadn’t heard it from Yuan Xi, Luo XiaoLou intuited that it was.

“Mm.” Yuan Xi simply responded.

“Do I need to join the Mecha Department as well?” Luo XiaoLou whispered even though he knew that he wanted to enroll in the department anyway. He really wanted to fly a mecha into space, which was every man’s dream — especially since he was a man from four thousand years ago. But Teacher Song said he should choose the Mecha Manufacturing Department.

Yuan Xi snorted, “Of course you should enroll in the Mecha Department as well.”

Hearing Yuan Xi clap his hands, Luo XiaoLou no longer hesitated even though he knew Yuan Xi actually said it because he didn’t want him to leave his side.

As the time for lunch arrived, the cafeteria started getting crowded. Yuan Xi had gotten used to the attention directed at him and didn’t do anything other than showing impatience. Luo XiaoLou cared even less, but he could faintly hear someone whispering.

“See, that’s the poor guy who can’t study well and has no money.”

“What a rarity these days!”

“How the hell does he have the nerve to come to this school? I hear he’s got an IOU…”

Luo XiaoLou stopped moving his chopsticks. Damn, what’s wrong with being poor? At least I’m self-supported! Much better than you rice worms who still live at home! You despise me, and I despise you even more!

Apparently, Yuan Xi heard it too because he looked up at Luo XiaoLou, shrugged his shoulders and said, “I didn’t know there was such an idiot.”

That, that idiot is sitting right in front of you right now! Luo XiaoLou gritted his teeth as he looked at Yuan Xi.

“Come on, let’s go take the test now.”

 

The author had something to say: 

XiaoLou is still willing to be self-reliant… so he took care of the tuition issue himself.