Mecha Chapter 18: Supplementary Cash Reserve

Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: Sulo

 

Under Luo XiaoLou’s puzzled gaze, the door opened and three people in white clothes came in. They turned out to be the group of people sent from above to check the quality of the parts.

Luo XiaoLou was stunned, was there a problem with his parts? No, there shouldn’t be. He obviously did the testing on the virtual web…

The young man who lead them was handsome and gentle, but his eyes under the lenses gave him a stern and cool feeling. He swept a glance at the workbench and looked up to ask, “Are you Luo XiaoLou who came here to work part-time?”

Luo XiaoLou couldn’t figure out their intentions and carefully nodded.

The youth looked at the workers who kept turning their heads this way from time to time, and asked the person behind him to close the door. Then, he looked into Luo XiaoLou’s eyes and slowly saw, “I saw the video just now, where you finished assembling a part in that old worker’s workroom.”

Looking at Luo XiaoLou’s wary and calm gaze, the young man’s serious face softened a little. He took out three parts from the box he was carrying and placed them on Luo XiaoLou’s work table, “So, these three parts should have been machined by you, right?”

As Luo XiaoLou looked at the Part 05 and the two Part 17s on the table, only one thought crossed his mind, was there really something wrong with the parts he had modified? Thinking of this, Luo XiaoLou couldn’t think of anything else, and he nodded his head heavily. I’m afraid that in the future, there will be no shortage of problems like this on my path to becoming a mecha maker, and I will have to bear such responsibility.

“Good fellow, you’re too good at hiding, making the three of us squat for seven days!” A dark-skinned young man behind the youth suddenly jumped over and ruffled Luo XiaoLou’s hair.

Luo XiaoLou didn’t dodge it for a moment and froze there.

The dark-skinned lad looked up at the Shen youth and said with a big grin, “Master, hurry up and carry him back, it’s already urgent over there.”

The youth smiled slightly, and the stern coolness on his face seemed like it was all an illusion, “Hello, I’m Shen Yuan, a mecha maker for the Kane Group. The last time, our company hired your factory to process a batch of parts. The delivery was on time and everything was perfectly normal, but when we tested it, we accidentally found three differences — or surprises, depending on what you can bring us.”

Luo XiaoLou was quietly relieved, and by the looks of it the problem shouldn’t be too big.

“Well, the rest is not convenient to talk about here, I hope you can come with us. I’ve already talked to your manager.” Shen Yuan continued.

Luo XiaoLou agreed. He couldn’t disagree if he wanted to keep this part-time job. Besides, he had a good impression of Shen Yuan.

The three of them took Luo XiaoLou outside into a business-type hover car, which was spacious and comfortable, but clearly different from Yuan Xi’s wild speedster. Luo XiaoLou didn’t even feel like he was in a speeding car as he sipped his lukewarm coffee.

The few people were very friendly to Luo XiaoLou, and the youngest of them, the dark-skinned guy, came over from time to time to banter with Luo XiaoLou.

All three of them were surprised to learn that he was a student at the Saint Miro Academy. The dark-skinned lad happily exclaimed to Shen Yuan, “Master, your school’s little brother!”

Luo XiaoLou’s eyes lit up, and he suddenly felt a little more affection for Shen Yuan. He had already seen that Shen Yuan was the head of these three people, and having an apprentice at such a young age, his skills must be amazing.

Although the other three people didn’t say anything, they were also surprised that the senior management of the Kane Group’s research department was so young. They thought the same of Luo XiaoLou… Such a young man, and his information showed that he was only seventeen years old. 

Was he a disciple of an ancient mecha manufacturing school? They didn’t ask too many questions because it wasn’t their place to ask. As long as they brought the teenager back first, there would be a way to keep him in the Kane Group.

As Luo XiaoLou got out of the car, he noticed that it was parked on the over-hanging giant parking lot that stretched out from the middle floor of a hundred-story building, and had no visible edges above or below it, an iron-gray building.

Luo XiaoLou sucked in his breath, this — such a large company, the processing plant he worked for part-time really couldn’t compare.

He apprehensively followed Shen Yuan and the others into the building and took the elevator to a conference room on the upper floor.

When Luo XiaoLou was brought in, a middle-aged man inside immediately stood up, and Shen Yuan respectfully greeted, “Teacher Di Jia, the man has been found.”

The middle-aged man’s eyes gleamed, sized up Luo XiaoLou, and then looked at Shen Yuan in surprise, “Are you sure you’ve got it right?”

The dark-skinned lad moved his lips, but didn’t dare to speak in front of Master. Shen Yuan smiled, “I didn’t believe it originally either, but this little brother has demonstrated it himself, so it shouldn’t be wrong.”

The middle-aged man had a smile in his eyes and said kindly to Luo XiaoLou, “You sit.” Then he took a box from the side, gently pushed it in front of Luo XiaoLou and said, “If possible, I hope you can process these two parts again in front of us.”

Since he was here, Luo XiaoLou had recently studied the Grade 1 parts to two hundred and fifteen. He was almost a third of the way through, and with a little more confidence in his heart for the parts side of things, he nodded and began sorting through the tiny parts inside the box.

“They’re all Part 17, you want me to machine two?” Luo XiaoLou wondered.

“Mn, because we got two different kinds of Part 17, and according to our testing this week, the only person who processed these two parts could be you.” Shen Yuan said as he observed Luo XiaoLou. Luo XiaoLou’s pale face gave the impression that he was nervous, and so he immediately added, “Don’t stress about it and just process two. It doesn’t matter if they don’t meet the requirements.”

Luo XiaoLou smiled, the tiny parts had already been sorted into two piles by him. Although it was true that so many people watching closely made him stressed, Luo XiaoLou was used to ignoring all the people and things around him when he started machining.

Why were there two? Luo XiaoLou had an idea in his head. He had designed three processing options at the time, of course, but in the end only two were used. As for the first one, the one he had discarded because he couldn’t save time, he did process one.

Thinking about it, Luo XiaoLou began to remember his own processing steps.

Poor Luo XiaoLou automatically went into time-saving mode, and he used the latter method first, the one that was reduced to fifteen steps. This method was the one he used more often and was the most proficient in, and after ten minutes, a part had been completed.

Luo XiaoLou didn’t look up at the stunned few people as he slowly recalled the first method in his head, and he began to do it. Although it had actually only been used once, after all, having practiced it in his head countless times and having drawn pictures with his hands, Luo XiaoLou still had a general impression of it. Seventeen minutes later, it was also finished.

The middle-aged man’s eyes shone brightly as he took the two parts Luo XiaoLou had processed and asked Shen Yuan to inspect them, while he smilingly pulled Luo XiaoLou over and asked, “Little brother, is there anyone in your family who is a mecha maker?” 

If you find an heir to the gene, the rewards are great!

Luo XiaoLou looked at the middle-aged man with an increasingly suspicious attitude. Although he didn’t know much about his family, he didn’t think there was anyone in Ms. Jin or Major General Luo’s family who did this kind of work. So with some hesitation, he conservatively replied, “I’m not sure, but I don’t think so, because no one has told me.”

Upon hearing this, Di Jia’s heart went cold, and he grabbed Luo XiaoLou’s hand tightly and asked solemnly, “Then can you tell me, who did you learn these two processing methods from?”

After considering it for a while, Luo XiaoLou hesitantly said, “I’ll be honest, I hope you guys don’t embarrass me either. I thought of this haphazardly on my own, because I didn’t have enough tuition at the time, so I could only come up with this time-saving method.” In this situation now, if he didn’t tell the truth, he would be in even more trouble if he was targeted by such a large group, so he might as well tell the truth.

The dark-skinned lad finally managed to spurt out a laugh and honestly stood to the side after another glare from Di Jia.

At that moment, Shen Yuan returned with the two parts, “Master, the first one has an effective application rate of 93% and the second one has an effective application rate of 95%.”

Di Jia looked at Luo XiaoLou with complex eyes. This was the most talented young man he had ever met. However, it was not because of the discovery of a new gene he had originally envisioned, but a completely different theory of machining that they were unfamiliar with and which originally did not exist.

Di Jia sighed and exchanged glances with Shen Yuan. He pulled Luo XiaoLou back to the table and sat down again.

“So how many machining methods have you done variations on?” Di Jia chimed in and asked first.

“Three kinds, only Part 05, and Part 17. In fact, I’ve only touched those two.” Luo XiaoLou said with clear eyes.

“That’s fine, our group would like to buy out the two processing methods you have for Part 17, is that okay with you?” After Di Jia had sorted out his frustration, he quickly regained his shrewdness and began to work for the company’s benefit.

Luo XiaoLou’s mouth quivered and his eyes lit up, “You can sell this for money too?” Oh my God, he must have gotten lucky, what he needed now was money!

Di Jia looked at the bumpkin in front of him who had instantly transformed into a success and smiled politely, “Of course, and I’ll properly fight for your maximum benefit. The first machining method you just used, the one that saves time, we can pay you 300,000 federal coins to buy it; and the second, the one with a high effective application rate, pays you 600,000 federal coins. As for Part 05, because it’s a Grade 1 part, the alterations don’t mean much, but we’ll still buy it for 50,000 federal dollars.”

Luo XiaoLou was literally at a loss for words in surprise, he — he had money! That’s 950,000 federal coins! He was going to throw 50,000 federal coins in the school head’s face!

This middle-aged man in front of him was really getting more and more interesting to look at, he was nice and gentlemanly, especially good to him — wait, he doesn’t have an agenda, does he?

Luo XiaoLou quickly calmed down, he coughed and cautiously asked, “Why do you want to help me?”

Di Jia smiled and looked at Luo XiaoLou, “You really are a little smart. I’m helping you so much because I want you to stay part-time at the Kane Group. Anyway, for you, it doesn’t matter where you can work part-time, I’m sure our side will treat you much better than that small processing factory. And the only thing I ask is that if you have any more innovations in this processing method to sell, I hope you give priority to our group.”

Luo XiaoLou was secretly enthused, and according to Di Jia’s statement, he had absolutely nothing to lose.

As happy as he was, Luo XiaoLou still cautiously said, “Yes, but there’s something I have to say up front. I’m still a student, I can’t sign a contract, and there’s no guarantee I’ll find a new way to process other parts.”

Shen Yuan and the people around him rarely saw such a teenage fox wagging his tail like a big fox and bargaining with the head of the Kane Group’s research department. They all forced a smile. Di Jia said helplessly, “Fine, it’s all up to you. You won’t come here for free anyway, you have to work.”

Luo XiaoLou was full of joy and drew out the designs of the two options for Part 17, then stared at Shen Yuan who transferred the money to him, his eyes curving into crescent moons.

He was also rich now. Well, he had to fill the fridge with chicken, duck and fish first when he got back, and given that Yuan Xi had been doing well lately, he could also put a few cakes in the fridge, but there was enough room anyway.

“And, XiaoLou, you come with me to meet someone.” Di Jia, who had already walked out, returned to the conference room, “You little brat are lucky, Master Yan happens to be in his research lab today.”

Amidst the envious gazes of several people around him, Luo XiaoLou followed Di Jia to a door.

Di Jia paddled forward while looking at his communicator until the door opened five minutes later.

Luo XiaoLou’s mouth opened wide as he entered the room. The room was huge, the one outside was bigger than Luo XiaoLou’s entire three-bedroom apartment, with mecha parts piled everywhere and different machines running on the test bench.

A few assistants in grey clothes were busy inside, while an old man in a white coat was concentrating on a reactor.

Luo XiaoLou’s eyes were filled with envy as he saw a row of mechas in the corner.

Di Jia briefly explained Luo XiaoLou’s situation to the old man during his free time, but because Luo XiaoLou only knew three methods, he didn’t know whether he should bring Luo XiaoLou over or not.

The old man just waved his hand, “You go ahead and let him stay.”

This Master Yan was not young, but his eyes shone brightly and he was very strong.

Di Jia instructed Luo XiaoLou to be good then, with a pitying glance at Luo XiaoLou, he left.

Luo XiaoLou stood by honestly and didn’t dare disturb them, but was interested in what they were doing.

There was machining of parts, but there was also machining of raw materials, which could not be easily seen. Luo XiaoLou happened to be interested in this and was watching with great interest.

After standing around for three or four hours, when the assistants got up and left, Luo XiaoLou realized that it was now almost six o’clock. And now only he and the bad-tempered old man were left in the room.

God, Yuan Xi was going to kill him! That guy must be hungry.

“What are you doing stupidly standing there!? Why don’t you come and help? Why no eye contact at all?” The old man suddenly said coldly.

Luo XiaoLou slandered him in his heart, but came over to help the old man carry a rectangular part. Luo XiaoLou had just learned how to use this part for the mecha’s knee the day before yesterday. He came up and closed the protruding piece with his bare hands, and then lifted it with the old man.

The old man looked at Luo XiaoLou until he put the part away, then said slowly, “A first year student and has only touched three parts?”

At that disdainful glance, Luo XiaoLou almost felt like he was guilty of something — he certainly didn’t know at this point that this was just the beginning, and that there would be more of that desire from him later.

“Well, yes.” Luo XiaoLou replied cautiously. Why did this old man give him the feeling of an elderly Yuan Xi, that stinky face was very alike…

“You’ll follow me from now on, and if you’re really too stupid to satisfy me, you won’t have to appear before me for a month.” The old man said self-righteously.

Can you at least ask me what I want, I still have this human rights thing, right — Luo XiaoLou looked at the old man speechlessly.

“Alright, you go back first! Can’t do anything, and you’re still standing here in the way!” The old man tossed the contents in his hand onto the table and led the way out.

“Well, do you know I can only come on Saturdays and Sundays?” Luo XiaoLou plucked up the courage to ask, leaving the old man unsatisfied. That was too easy. The old man just kept cursing! In Luo XiaoLou’s opinion, those assistants were already skilled and doing a good job.

In case this old man was unreasonable and let him leave after a month, he wouldn’t even have a part-time job. That little processing factory probably wouldn’t want him anymore, after all, it was considered a subordinate of the Kane Group.

The old man sarcastically rolled his eyes at Luo XiaoLou, “Since you know that too, I’ll see you next Saturday at eight. I don’t have time to be your sweet mother-in-law — don’t even ask me such a simple and idiotic question.”

“……” Actually, God really did want to test him after all, didn’t he!

Regardless, Luo XiaoLou went back with a brisk step! His mood was joyful! He got off halfway from the bus to buy Yuan Xi’s favorite cake, and also packed a fish and a chunk of beef. As for the rest, he was going to fill the fridge by ordering online, since it would be too much to carry.

When he opened the door, Yuan Xi’s face was really ugly. It turned a little better when he saw the cake in Luo XiaoLou’s hand, but he was still furious.

“Do you have the self-awareness of being my person or not?” Yuan Xi stood in the kitchen doorway, questioning — he didn’t even eat the cake Luo XiaoLou had specially placed in front of his seat first.

“Sorry, I’ll be sure to report next time if I’m late. You’re hungry, so I’ll make something right away.” Luo XiaoLou said with a smile.

Looking at Luo XiaoLou, who was shorter and thinner than himself in the kitchen, trying to get busy, Yuan Xi’s fires couldn’t come out. His thought was actually that slaves were supposed to be kept by their masters, he was simply embarrassing him as a master. Couldn’t he just stop working — it was quite tiring again. But those fires couldn’t come out anymore when he saw Luo XiaoLou’s smiling face.

Yuan Xi’s brows furrowed. No, he must hide Luo XiaoLou tightly, and not let his family know.

 

The author has something to say: 

 

(⊙o⊙) Anyway, for the first time, our Luo XiaoLou has his own little vault — although, it’s far from enough…