Evolution of The Puppy Seme XVI
Duan Jingzhe was very confused. In the past few days, he's always been bumping into the old man he doesn't like on the path to class or in the laboratory.
And he always has on a strange smile.
"Be honest, do you really not want to study under me? I know a lot of things, and the other lab teachers don't have as much authority as I do. In the entire academy, only I can access all the laboratories." Professor Zhang was not afraid of failure. He doggedly stood in front of Duan Jingzhe, chiseling away at his resistance bit by bit, sliding up to him with a smile surrounded by wrinkles. "I can make it possible for you to access all those laboratories."
When Duan Jingzhe heard the words "access all those laboratories," his eyes brightened.
When Professor Zhang saw that, he smiled inwardly, sensing that he had found the way into Duan Jingzhe's good graces. Then he saw the child furrow his brows with an almost embarrassed expression. With great effort, and after much hesitation, he said loudly, “Even if you have the right to use all the laboratories, I still won't become your student!"
After Duan Jingzhe said this, he quickly walked away from Professor Zhang.
The assistant, who had been watching Professor Zhang again, couldn't help saying, "Professor, the child refused you again. Do you really want to continue asking him?"
Professor Zhang glared at him. “Mother Nature continues. If I am not able to impart all my knowledge to such a good child, I will definitely come back as a vengeful spirit!*”
(*Okay, so the "come back as a vengeful spirit" part isn't a very accurate translation. The original phrase is 死不瞑目[Sǐbùmíngmù] = even when I'm dead, I won't close my eyes. Basically, it means to die with a grievance.)
The assistant said sorrowfully, "You are still young, you know. Don't jinx yourself by talking about your death."
Professor Zhang looked at him strangely. "I'm an old man and I'm not afraid to talk about death. You're still young, so why in the world are you avoiding talking about it?"
Professor Zhang rolled up his sleeves for battle as he walked toward the laboratory Duan Jingzhe was in, ready to block him when he came out.
The assistant hesitated, "Professor, do you want to tell Duan Jingzhe about your public apology? If he knew, he might have a better impression of you."
Professor Zhang waved his hand, his expression awkward. "No, there is nothing to say on this matter. It was I who did something wrong in the first place, and it's only proper that I admit my mistakes. If I were to show that off to the child, I would really be losing face."
The assistant covered his face with his hands. Professor, do you not realize that you have already lost all the face you're capable of losing? Moreover, telling the child about your apology has nothing to do with showing off, didn't you want him to forgive you?
"And anyway, isn't the situation much better now? The child didn't recognize me when he first met me. It is a big improvement that he recognizes me now!"
After listening to this sentence, the assistant's mouth twitched. Professor, your expectations seem way too low.
The assistant still wanted to say something else, but Professor Zhang interrupted him.
"Come on, let's get to the lab. I want to take a good look at how the child assembles the mecha. If he runs into something he doesn't know, I can even teach him a little!" Having said that, the Professor moved with flying steps toward the laboratory building.
The assistant could do nothing but follow after him.
Ever since the professor publicly apologized, his temperament has become lighter, like an old man entering his second childhood.
————
Laboratory:
Duan Jingzhe looked at the wrist joint that had just been damaged and frowned slightly.
When Teacher Dong had taught him the process, he had remembered it very clearly. Now all he was doing was following the steps, so why wasn't it working?
Duan Jingzhe picked up the ruined parts, disassembled those parts one by one, and inspected them carefully.
Except for the most obvious b-s09-48 component, which was damaged badly, the other components did not have any obvious damage. The b-s09-48 installation difficulty is mainly due to its three control knobs. Within a second, all three control knobs have to be rotated to a specified angle. Only then will the metal slider inside move to lock the component into place.
And this b-s09-47 component's metal slider was seriously damaged. In particular, it popped up at the wrong time. However, Duan Jingzhe felt that he had done everything within the 1-second timeframe. Why was there still a problem? Just as Duan Jingzhe was turning this over in his head in frustration, a wrinkled hand suddenly reached over and took the damaged component in his hand.
"I think you're rotating these control knobs in the wrong sequence."
Duan Jingzhe had had the component in his hand stolen away. He was just about to get angry when he heard that sentence and immediately stopped. Almost in the blink of an eye, Duan Jingzhe moved closer to Professor Zhang. His whole person exuded a strong curiosity, and there was fiery eagerness in his eyes.
“These three knobs have their own trigger sequence. Each knob controls the direction in which the metal slider is moved. There are three layers of obstruction inside the component, and each obstructs the slider at a different angle. Each control knob controls a different degree of force. Each time you activate the correct knob, the metal slider will rotate a corresponding angle and line up with the empty space in the layer. As soon as that position is reached, the first layer will be able to be rotated with the metal slider."
"If the angle of rotation is wrong, it will cause damage to the component. If the order of rotation is wrong, you might cause damage as well, or the length of the metal slider that protrudes won't be correct."
"The original order is a2, a1, a3. After rotating each the correct angle, the length of the metal slider that protrudes should be 1 cm. And looking at the marks on this component, there's no way the length of the metal slider will lock correctly with the s09-23. The force of it will cause the metal slider to be damaged."
"According to the length of the metal slider that protrudes out from this component, the degrees you should rotate each knob are a1, a2, and a3. This way, the metal slider will fit into the groove of the b-s09-8."
As Professor Zhang talked, Duan Jingzhe’s eyes became brighter and brighter.
So this was how it worked!
Duan Jingzhe turned around and immediately opened another metal box. He quickly took out all the parts inside, his hands flying, and assembled them quickly.
In a short while, Duan Jingzhe had successfully completed a complete wrist part.
His joy and elation were hard to suppress.
Duan Jingzhe held the wrist component in his hand like it was a treasure*.
(*It's a tie between "treasure" and "baby." 宝贝[Bǎobèi] = treasure, baby, cowry shell. )
Next to him, Professor Zhang was also very happy. He had never seen a student with such talent. He had succeeded after Professor Zhang had mentioned the problem only once.
He used to teach students all the steps at once, but because mecha assembly was very complicated, they did many of the movements wrong and often moved with too much confusion and hesitation.
Professor Zhang looked at the finished wrist parts with excitement and then resumed his efforts to persuade Duan Jingzhe to study under him.
"You're a good kid. And look! I can help you with a lot of stuff! You should learn from me."
The assistant covered his face once again. He couldn’t bear to look at this scene.
A well-known, impressively qualified professor should not have to beg someone to take his money.
When Duan Jingzhe heard the voice beside him, he looked at Professor Zhang in confusion, not having realized that there was a person next to him.
He said without inflection, "When did you get here?"
Professor Zhang’s face fell, and he was speechless.
Duan Jingzhe gave him a strange look, and then he went to his own section of the lab.
Professor Zhang’s both disliked and appreciated Duan Jingzhe's reaction.
To meet someone who only thinks and breathes mecha is truly rare. This concentration is something most of the mecha masters don't possess.
He himself has occasionally fallen into this state of flow, where he has no idea what happens next to him, and single-mindedly assembles mecha. Once, in the midst of assembling a mecha, he had forgotten about an invitation from the Federal President.
In the past, he had been puzzled by the anger of others on the other side of the situation. Today he finally understood it.
... It really is an indescribable feeling.
In desperation, Professor Zhang could only sit down and prepare to wait for the child to finish his work and talk to him.
He looked at the child's movements attentively, ready to remind him if he noticed anything wrong.
But as time went by, Professor Zhang’s expression became more and more disbelieving.
He found that Duan Jingzhe was assembling faster and faster, to the point that for a moment, he could not see his individual movements at all!
Professor Zhang’s eyes were full of vast bewilderment. He knew already that the child's hands moved very fast. But to move this fast, his mental strength would have to be through the roof, or else his reaction simply would not be able to keep up with his movements!
He remembered the child's entrance scores for the physical and mental tests very clearly: physical strength E, mental strength D. But looking at the current movements as the child assembling the mecha, his mental strength is definitely higher than D!
Could it be that something strange occurred during the physical and mental test as well?
A seed of doubt was planted in Professor Zhang's heart. It had been absolutely impossible for him to question the authenticity of the entrance exam tests before, but in light of his blunder with Duan Jingzhe, he didn't trust the testing system as much as before.
At that time, Xiao Gao’s statements about Duan Jingzhe were absolutely wrong, but he himself was still not clear why they were wrong. This matter would require the school director's attention.
However, the child's physical and mental test may have to be taken again.
As he was thinking, a sharp, loud sound rent through the room and Duan Jingzhe walked over to the source of the sound with a blank expression.
It was a black box with craters in it, and, if he had to tell the truth, it was really ugly.
Professor Zhang suddenly had some serious concerns about the aesthetic taste of his hand-chosen disciple. When he assembled a mecha, it wouldn't also look like this thing, right
... (°ー°〃)
Professor Zhang decided to beg a design teacher to teach Duan Jingzhe some classes.
After Duan Jingzhe reset the alarm clock, he started to pack up and leave the lab. In another half an hour there would be a class in the lab.
He turned around and saw the strange old man there again. Again, Duan Jingzhe said blankly, "When did you get here?"
"Hah!" the assistant couldn't help the laughter that burst out. When he saw Professor Zhang glaring at him with anger, he immediately covered his mouth with his hand, his shoulders shaking.
"Your mental strength test might not be accurate. In a while, why don't you come with me to retake it?" Professor Zhang became very amiable when he spoke to Duan Jingzhe.
"Don't want to," Duan Jingzhe shook his head with no expression, and left.
Looking at the child's back, Professor Zhang felt powerless for the first time.
He thought of how the child's mental strength seemed so high, and a thought nibbled at his heart.
How in the world will he convince this child to retake the physical and mental test?