Mecha Chapter 9: Accident

Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: Sulo

 

Luo XiaoLou still arrived at the factory early today, greeted everyone and got into the workroom. He had studied for a long time last night and already had a few vague ideas in mind. But Grade 2 parts were much more complicated than Grade 1 parts, after all. And whether he could succeed or not, he didn’t have any hope in his heart.

Yang Yi originally wanted to pull Luo XiaoLou over to encourage him, but he lost his smile when he saw Luo XiaoLou leave in a hurry after taking the parts himself.

Luo XiaoLou pulled out some drawings from his bosom, and then started to put it together step-by-step according to last night’s idea. If anyone else saw it, they would be surprised or outraged, because the changes Luo XiaoLou had made were quite large. With thousands of years of heritage, people had become accustomed to those steps, and the kind of understanding or judgment that came along with it.

So this was where Luo XiaoLou had an advantage. He didn’t think in stereotypes. Many bold and innovative methods might fail, but failure was nothing to the current Luo XiaoLou. An hour passed, Luo XiaoLou wiped the sweat from his forehead and sighed under his breath. 

The first option, a failure.

The parts had actually been machined and looked good. There was no damage to the parts as Yang Yi had said, but the time taken wasn’t much different from the original twenty-three steps. In fact, it was even a few seconds slower.

Luo XiaoLou didn’t disassemble this part again, but directly brought a new one over, and then pulled out a second drawing. Another half an hour passed, the second plan was already half-completed successfully. Luo XiaoLou’s lips brought out a smile, he had a feeling that this time it would be successful.

When Luo XiaoLou looked at the design again, he noticed that perhaps because he had moved too much, the second sheet of paper had floated to the ground, and what he had actually been looking at was the third drawing.

Luo XiaoLou now began to hate the speed of his fingers, because by the time he realized it, he had already started working on the third design.

He stopped in frustration. Another hour was going to be wasted.

It was doubtful that he would be able to finish both sets today.

Luo XiaoLou fondled the part in his hand and looked at the drawing on the floor. Start reworking the part now? It would take even longer to disassemble and reassemble.

His hand tightened, and not knowing why, he was a little reluctant to let go.

Luo XiaoLou looked at the drawings on the table, and a sudden light flashed in his mind. Was he going to hang himself on a tree over this? His design was not set in stone, and he could combine two and three together!

Luo XiaoLou picked up the drawing from the ground, put the two drawings side by side, and started comparing them step-by-step. With the structure of the parts already firmly in his mind, and carefully eliminating the duplicate steps of the second and third drawings, Luo XiaoLou finally came up with a simpler solution!

This was a pleasant surprise.

Luo XiaoLou immediately dismantled the parts in his hands, pressed the stopwatch on the side, and quickly processed them according to the new steps he had just formed.

Fourteen, fifteen. Without a single pause, Luo XiaoLou had finished the entire part. Yes, it was eight steps less than twenty-three! In fact, none of the original three drawings even went below eighteen steps.

The stopwatch began to chime, “It has taken you 10 minutes and 58 seconds this time. Congratulations, you have exceeded the original record.” Luo XiaoLou’s smile narrowed his eyes. Taking out a morning to study the steps was indeed correct, it had sharpened the knife.

Looking at the remaining time, Luo XiaoLou began to process the parts skillfully.

At noon, Yang Yi purposely came over and saw that there were eleven parts on Luo XiaoLou’s table. He couldn’t help but say with a smile, “Okay, kid, keeping up yesterday’s speed, good! Hang on these next four days and Uncle Yang will give you a bonus!”

Luo XiaoLou’s eyebrows raised up, and he immediately answered, “Uncle Yang, I’ll remember that ah, four days later I’ll have to ask for a big red envelope.”

“Well, kid, you have the brightest eyes when it comes to money. Tell me, you’re not really hiding a golden house outside from your family, are you?” Afterward, Yang Yi looked at Luo XiaoLou’s constipated face and laughed.

Luo XiaoLou bought a boxed lunch as usual, a box of artificial rice that looked like white porridge for ten coins. Looking at the boxed rice, Luo XiaoLou unconsciously thought of the food that appeared in his bowl this morning. Perhaps, that bastard Yuan Xi was not so abominable and was kinda hopeless.

With a relaxed and happy mood, Luo XiaoLou finished his afternoon’s work very well, and almost every part was processed in about ten minutes.

At the end of the day, Luo XiaoLou pushed the tool cart and walked out of the workshop.

Yang Yi was stunned when he saw Luo XiaoLou. Luo XiaoLou worked overtime almost every day. He opened Luo XiaoLou’s work cart, took a look, and was shocked. Thirty-five, three and a half sets, shorter than yesterday, but more than the day before! Yang Yi’s eyes were not only surprised, but also determined. No matter what, he wanted to hook that big client while XiaoLou was still here.

Luo XiaoLou looked at his account with satisfaction as there were another twelve hundred federal coins added into it. It was the same as yesterday, and because there were no broken parts, Yang Yi gave him an extra one hundred and fifty federal coins.

Luo XiaoLou returned home in a relaxed mood. When he opened the door, he was immediately shocked by the several large boxes stacked in the living room. Immediately, he saw Yuan Xi sitting on the sofa with his feet up and watching TV, spinning the remote control in his hand.

When Yuan Xi saw Luo XiaoLou come in, he lifted his chin and happily said, “It’s rare for you to be back so early, did you know you needed to unpack? Well, you’d better cook first, I’m hungry.”

Luo XiaoLou smacked the corner of his mouth and obediently turned to the kitchen.

He must have fallen. It had only been a number of days, and his work as a slave was already getting worse. On the other hand, though, it was a sign of improved adaptability, or else he would have already been pissed off at the biggest test from the future world, Yuan Xi.

He made scrambled eggs with tomatoes. But of course, one and a half tomato was used for the egg, and the other half was used by Luo XiaoLou to make soup.

By the time dinner was served, Yuan Xi was already seated in his seat.

Yuan Xi frowned, remembering that it seemed to have been like this since the beginning.

Yuan Xi looked at the boxed rice and stir-fried vegetables in front of him. There was also a large bowl of soup on the other side, a simple, plain food that he had hardly ever eaten, but now it was giving off an enticing aroma in front of him.

However, Luo XiaoLou didn’t take any of it. Did he not like it?

When there was only a small portion of the dish left on the plate, Yuan Xi suddenly pushed the plate towards Luo XiaoLou, and gingerly said, “Eat these.”

Luo XiaoLou lifted his face from the box of rice and he looked at Yuan Xi in confusion, wondering what this ancestor was up to again.

“Eat! Don’t you have any self-awareness that a slave should finish the rest of his master’s meal?” Yuan Xi said with a malicious voice.

Luo XiaoLou stared at Yuan Xi dumbly for a few seconds. Yuan Xi got angry and poured the food from his plate directly into Luo XiaoLou’s lunch box, “What! How dare you dislike me?!”

Luo XiaoLou didn’t open his mouth to defend himself against Yuan Xi, who was about to go into a rage. He just put his head down and ate, he wouldn’t get dirty if he ate the food he made himself anyway. As for Yuan Xi — who knew what was going on in the mind of someone like him.

After eating, Luo XiaoLou cleared the dining table and then began unpacking the large boxes left in the living room. Luo XiaoLou stood in the dressing room, panting and thinking to himself, ‘Rich people are the worst!’

Luo XiaoLou has only a few simple clothes in his wardrobe, and at a glance one could tell they were the plain and durable price discount type.

And, he’s obviously so rich! Why don’t you pay your living expenses?! Luo XiaoLou yelled in his heart, but he didn’t dare to question Yuan Xi like the last time or even this time. Every time he took one more step, the consequences would be more miserable for himself. Like cooking, like doing the laundry……

Maybe in the future he should consider buying cheaper and more unpalatable vegetables, and then make Yuan Xi suffer enough to buy his own?

Luo XiaoLou thought of this with a wry smile on his lips. Then, he saw Yuan Xi walk past him naked — without any clothes — as he asked, “Where did you put my underwear?”

Luo XiaoLou didn’t know if it would be too much of a fuss if he screamed, so he could only yell on the inside, ‘Bastard, you dare to be more perverted!?’

Yuan Xi impatiently started urging Luo XiaoLou, “Hurry up, even if I have a better body than you, don’t just peek at me.”

Luo XiaoLou weakly held on to the cabinet next to him, feeling like he was going to vomit blood if he stayed with Yuan Xi any longer, and weakly defended himself as he pulled open the cabinet where his underwear were stored, “I didn’t peek.”

Who wanted to look?! Even if you have a pretty face and a nice body, you’d still be no match for my fiancée, and I have absolutely no intention of betraying Josa! — Luo XiaoLou mumbled in his heart.

Yuan Xi sneered, as if mocking Luo XiaoLou for not being able to keep his mouth shut, took the underwear and walked out, “You put all my clothes there, so you should have remembered them well. Every morning and evening from now on, prepare the clothes I have to change into.”

Luo XiaoLou stared at the man who said this righteously. Before he could curse him, Yuan Xi turned around again, “Right, remember to come clean the bathroom later.” Seeing Luo XiaoLou staring hard into his eyes, Yuan Xi raised his eyebrows and proudly said, “See, I told you that you peeked.”

Luo XiaoLou held onto the wall and went back to his room, feeling that his internal injuries were especially bad today, and that maybe he should go to the hospital and see a doctor.

While he was at it, Luo XiaoLou washed himself, calculated the time and then went to Yuan Xi’s room. Luo XiaoLou took a quick look and saw that at least he was wearing clothes this time.

Five minutes later, Luo XiaoLou turned off the automatic cleaning system and headed out without looking.

“Wait.” Yuan Xi spoke up.

Luo XiaoLou waited but Yuan Xi had still not said anything, and so he looked up strangely. What was this guy doing with an odd look on his face? Was he embarrassed to do something?

Perplexed, Yuan Xi finally said, uncharacteristically, “That, you’re not allowed to cook so little for dinner from now on — will you be a good slave or not?!” By the second half of the sentence, Yuan Xi was already annoyed.

Luo XiaoLou quickly opened the door and went out of the master bedroom.

The door closed automatically behind Luo XiaoLou, and he finally couldn’t help but laugh quietly, is Yuan Xi hungry? Or was he not full at all tonight?

Luo XiaoLou closed his eyes and said, “Let’s talk about it later.”

In the next four days, Luo XiaoLou worked overtime every day. With his current speed, plus one hour of overtime, he could complete five sets at most every day. Yang Yi had gone from being shocked to numb to this. The increase in the number of Grade 2 parts made him even happier. However, because he was worried about causing unnecessary trouble for Luo XiaoLou, Yang Yi now started to assign parts to Luo XiaoLou himself.

Yuan Xi also disappeared every day, but almost every time Luo XiaoLou came home, there would be messy cardboard boxes on the floor. When he saw a lot of high-grade stationery, Luo XiaoLou hesitated for a moment, then threw away his face and begrudgingly asked Yuan Xi if he could use some of it, assuring him that he would never use more than he needed.

Yuan Xi glanced at him coldly, “Don’t you even remember what this owner said? As I said, you can move anything you want except this one around my neck. Maybe I should send you to a slave training center for a few days.”

Luo XiaoLou was immediately too scared to say more, just why would a future society have a place like that, ah!

Well, Yuan Xi then said to himself, “But it really is more satisfying to discipline you myself, I guess.”

Luo XiaoLou answered his statement about slaves with a hard scalp for the first time: “Yes, I’ll definitely cooperate with you, really.” Face and all, take it or leave it……

Five days later, Luo XiaoLou thanked Yang Yi profusely, and Yang Yi gave him a bonus of five thousand federal coins! Adding the eight thousand federal coins he had earned himself during these five days, his account had a whole extra thirteen thousand federal coins in the last five days.

In the previous twenty-five days, Luo XiaoLou had almost eighteen thousand federal coins of income, so this month, his total salary reached thirty-one thousand federal coins.

Now, Luo XiaoLou’s savings in his account had reached 69,000 federal coins.

In the past, he didn’t even dare to think that he could earn so much money without any education or documents. Looking at the money in his account, Luo XiaoLou thought to himself, Now I’m almost a member of the high-income group of the lower class. The income of the other petty workers working with him were definitely not comparable to his.

On this day, before Luo XiaoLou left the factory, many of his colleagues came out of the workroom to give him their wishes. Everyone knew that Luo XiaoLou wouldn’t be able to come every day from now on.

“XiaoLou, come back here when you have time in the future.”

“Kid, you have to go to school well, and when the time comes, your buddy will also have face when he goes out.”

“XiaoLou, we can’t help you with anything else, but if you need our help, just let us know.”

……

Luo XiaoLou’s heart was touched by the workers who were usually so happy and friendly. Even though there were no highly educated people here, he could feel their simplicity and sincerity. He smiled and said, “Thank you all for taking care of me for a month. But don’t miss me too much, I will be back again.”

Amidst everyone’s laughter, Luo XiaoLou walked out of the factory’s gates.

Yang Yi looked at Luo XiaoLou who was getting farther and farther away, not sure if it was an illusion or not, but he only felt that against the glow of the setting sun, the teenager was emitting a faint light around him. Soft, not dazzling, but very attractive.

He himself knew that the bonus he had given Luo XiaoLou was nothing compared to his achievements. But as a vice president, that was already the maximum amount he could give Luo XiaoLou within the scope of his duties.

This teenager, who was an absolute genius, wouldn’t be this mediocre forever. Plus, with that kind of school, he would go very far. Perhaps, when he saw XiaoLou again in the future, the teenager would already reach a height that the rest of them couldn’t even look up to.

With the end of Luo XiaoLou’s part-time job, Saint Miro Academy had finally started.

 

The author has something to say: 

 

School finally starts…