Chapter 80.1 A conversation
Yan Hao was stuck in the pile of parts and didn’t come out for a whole day and seeing that it was almost midnight and that he still showed no intention of leaving, Old Pang dragged him out forcefully and when Yan Hao was leaving, his ‘reluctant to part with the parts’ expression as he looked at Old Pang made him feel as if he had separated a pair of pitiful mandarin ducks, making him not know whether to laugh or cry.
“You have classes on Monday, so you can’t mess up your weekend routine.” Old Pang explained sternly.
Although Yan Hao could learn all that there was to know about mech from him, Old Pang didn’t want to deprive him of his university life.
“I’ve only disassembled half of this sensor.” Yan Hao said as he held up the sensor he had disassembled halfway.
The corners of Old Pang’s lips twitched. “Take it back and finish disassembling it there.”
“How about I finish it here and then go back?” Yan Hao suggested.
“So you can finish it and then take another one? Dream on.” This wasn’t the first time Old Pang had accepted a disciple, so this wasn’t the first time he was seeing such tricks.
Sure enough, a hint of disappointment appeared on Yan Hao’s face and he could only leave the lab with the half disassembled sensor in his hand.
After a good night’s sleep, Yan Hao woke up even earlier than the previous day, went to the third cafeteria to buy Old Pang’s favorite soup dumplings then arrived half an hour early at the entrance of the lab building. However it wasn’t until he arrived that he suddenly remembered that Old Pang had said he wanted to see Sheng Heng, so he quickly made a call to him.
Fortunately, Sheng Heng was already up and working out, so when he heard that Old Pang wanted to see him, he came running to the lab building in less than ten minutes. When he arrived, there were beads of sweat on his forehead, he was slightly out of breath and flushed, however his clothes were clean and fresh that with just one glance, one could tell that he had taken them off while working out and then put them back on just now.
“Xiao Hao, I’m not late, am I?” Sheng Heng stopped in front of Yan Hao.
“You’re not.” Yan Hao shook his head, then pointed to the button on the cuff of his right hand.
Lifting his hand, Sheng Heng found that the button on the cuff of his right hand wasn’t fastened. He quickly tried to fasten it with his left hand, however his left hand wasn’t as dexterous as his right hand was, causing him to try several times but still be unable to fasten it properly.
“I’ll help you.” Seeing that Sheng Heng was having difficulty with it, Yan Hao took a step forward, taking the initiative to fasten it for him.
“It’s done.” Yan Hao looked up, then was caught off guard by Sheng Heng’s smiling eyes. At the same time, a strong scent of testosterone mixed with the scent of sweat washed over him and for no reason at all, he felt a little uneasy.
“Thank you.” Sheng Heng thanked him.
“You’re welcome.” Yan Hao lowered his head then took a step back, a step that was particularly large.
Sheng Heng’s eyes flickered, however he didn’t say anything. He just said, “Let’s go in.”
“En.” Relieved that Sheng Heng hadn’t noticed his unease, Yan Hao quickly climbed up the few steps then pressed the button of the elevator. Soon, they arrived on the tenth floor.
Once inside the lab, Yan Hao gave Old Pang his breakfast then introduced Sheng Heng, after which he was sent by Old Pang to continue the disassembling of the pile of parts. After Yan Hao left, Old Pang found a table as he had yesterday then while eating his breakfast, watched Sheng Heng silently.
Old Pang’s scrutiny lasted throughout the entire meal and he didn’t say a word, his gaze fixed on Sheng Heng the whole time. The feeling of being stared at like this was unsettling, and most people wouldn’t be able to resist asking a question after being scrutinized up and down for more than ten seconds, however Sheng Heng smiled throughout, allowing Old Pang to scrutinize him.
“Young man, you have great composure.” Picking up a tissue, Old Pang wiped the soup off his hands.
“Old Pang, you flatter me.” Sheng Heng replied neither haughtily nor humbly.
“Xiao Hao must have told you why I want to see you, right?”
“He has.” Sheng Heng nodded.
“Then bring your mech out, let me see if there’s anything that can be modified.” Old Pang told him.
“I didn’t bring it.” Sheng Heng said in reply.
“What?” Old Pang’s eyebrows rose in surprise.
“I didn’t bring my mech.” Sheng Heng repeated.
“…. Did Xiao Hao not make it clear to you or did you yourself forget to bring it?”
“Neither.” Sheng Heng shook his head.
Old Pang stood up, then sat back down again: “You don’t want me to modify your mech?”
“I’m afraid there’s no one in the entire Federation who wouldn’t want you to modify their mech.”
“Then what is this about?”
“I didn’t bring my mech for two reasons.” Sheng Heng told him, “First, I’m only a sophomore in university and Black Soul is only a level six mech, so it will be like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut by having a Master Level Mech Builder like you modify it. Besides, I already have a partner who is very good. The mech he has modified for me is already enough for me.”
“And the second reason?”
“The second reason is that I know the reason why you want to help me modify my mech is to repay the favour I did for Xiao Hao.” Sheng Heng told him.
Children from prestigious families tended to have much more complicated minds, making them very intelligent, however Old Pang didn’t like it.
“So you’re determined to tie Xiao Hao to your Sheng family’s ship?” Old Pang’s eyes glinted sharply.
“Old Pang, you’ve misunderstood.” Sheng Heng explained in a tone that was neither servile or overbearing, “When I met Xiao Hao, he wasn’t yet your student. He and I are just friends, there’s no ulterior motive or scheming involved.”
“Then why did a sophomore like you search across the years to get Xiao Hao to be your mech builder?” Old Pang asked.
“Because no one in my year was willing to be my mech builder.” Sheng Heng replied.
A look of doubt appeared on Old Pang’s face.
“My hands are injured, so I can’t operate a mech for more than two hours a day. This isn’t a secret in the mech piloting department, so no mech builder is willing to partner with me.” Sheng Heng explained, “I came to study mech piloting just to fulfill my childhood dream. My original plan was to return home to do business after graduating from university, that’s why I didn’t plan on finding a partner in university. The very first time I allowed Xiao Hao touch Black Soul, was just to ask him to help me change a mech part.”
“What about now?” Old Pang asked.
“I want him to be my mech builder.” Sheng Heng said and not waiting for Old Pang’s reaction, continued, “But don’t worry, my relationship with Xiao Hao will only stay at this level and I won’t involve him in anything else.”
“You’re willing, but will the Sheng family behind you be willing?”
“Old Pang, as you can see, Xiao Hao is simple minded and pure hearted. If I wanted to trick him into serving the Sheng family, then I’ve had plenty of chances to do so before you showed up.” Sheng Heng said in reply.
“Perhaps it was because at that time, Xiao Hao wasn’t of enough significant value to you.” Yan Hao had modified Black Soul this semester and he had only accepted Yan Hao as his disciple this semester, which meant that before this period, though Yan Hao might have already been very excellent in Sheng Heng’s eyes, he hadn’t been valuable enough.
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Thanks for the chapter! The family inspection, lol, how fun
😚
Sheng Heng: “I’m courting him, you meddling old man, but he’s dense as a neutron star, so it’s taking a while. I’ll happily give him whatever freedoms he wants as long as he’s willing to be mine.”