CH 53.2

At dinner time, Chu Rong’s face was as dark as the bottom of a pot after listening to Qiao Zhiya’s jubilant narration.

Master Ren was so cunning that he cheated Qiao Zhiya’s weekend time behind his back. In his mind, Qiao Zhiya only needed to ask and Chu Rong would give the Chu family’s many mineral mines and parts factories they had. And as for money, Qiao Zhiya could easily sell all the things he made during his downtime for profit – for the rest, Chu Rong would gladly give Qiao Zhiya all the money he needed. 

In fact, while you needed a big capital to start learning mecha manufacturing, the income was also equally big in the end. Master Ren was a master in misdirection too, it seems. 

“You, don’t you want me to make money…” After Qiao Zhiya finished speaking, he saw Chu Rong with a cold face and not speaking. His excitement disappeared, and he began to feel uneasy and nervous again.

Seeing this, Chu Rong quickly restrained his emotions. He raised his hand and touched his head, frowned, and said reluctantly, “You can do it if you want, but don’t overdo it at your expense. As for parts, materials, and other instruments, it’s something that I, as your guardian, will naturally provide, so you can devote your time and effort for your study. No need to worry about this.” 

After hearing what he said, Qiao Zhiya’s uneasiness and tension disappeared immediately. He nuzzled Chu Rong’s palm on his head, then nodded with a big smile on his face.

–However, in his heart, he thought of something else. 

‘It’s not easy for the White-Haired Monster to make money, so I can’t waste it. I need to make him money instead, fast. I want the White-Haired Monster to be able to live a relaxed life.’ 

Although he promised Qiao Zhiya to let him take weapon commissions, Chu Rong still had something to say to Master Ren. He insisted on cutting the two days into only one day, and in the process, Ren Mo was so angry at Chu Rong that the material in his hand almost sent flying. 

When Qiao Zhiya went online again in the evening, the bearded teacher was also online. Qiao Zhiya hurriedly logged into the classroom, apologized again, and then reported on his recent learning results.

The bearded teacher wasn’t angry because he didn’t come back to class after so long. Instead, he took a long look at Qiao Zhiya’s avatar, and said, “Did you delay for so long because your spiritual power has upgraded? How much has it reached?” 

Thinking of his current secret identity, he downgraded it by one level. “It’s A-level.”

‘A? Although it’s not as good as Luo Li’s S-level. It’s really still a miracle to be able to raise it this high in a few months.’ 

The bearded man nodded in satisfaction, and checked his study progress. Seeing that he had gone through all the materials in the textbook, he felt more satisfied. He helped him screen the knowledge points again, and made up some of the points Qiao Zhiya missed. After an hour or so, he ended it early. “Go log off and rest. You have just improved your spiritual strength, and it should not be stable. You should rest more and spend less time online.” 

The more caring the teacher was, the more guilty Qiao Zhiya felt. He insisted that he had fully recovered, and he could continue on the next course. He also said that he was currently on a leave of absence, and he could extend the class time appropriately, except that he might not be free on weekends.

Seeing that he persisted, the bearded man hesitated for a moment. He asked him to process a piece of material, and found that Qiao Zhiya could do it with flying colors, without any drawbacks. Seeing this stellar result, he agreed to Qiao Zhiya’s request. “Then, we can resume the arrangement of class every afternoon for the time being. Now that your spiritual strength has improved, you can learn how to deal with advanced materials. I will give you a textbook. After this part is finished, I will give you a systematic review before continuing to the next chapter.” 

Qiao Zhiya nodded quickly and happily took over the new textbook.

In the next few days, he successively received communications from his roommate Sang Bu and his (ex-)classmate Yun Xiachu. The former asked him if he had been expelled from school, or if he thought he could waste his studies after he became popular. The latter was angry with him for not giving him news. Qiao Zhiya didn’t come to school after the holiday, and the special products he bought haven’t been given out.

Qiao Zhiya hurriedly explained the reason for not going to school, and mailed them the gifts, barely appeasing them.

A few days later, Ning Kongran suddenly sent a message, asking him if he had processed five materials during the grade-skipping exam. He was puzzled, and honestly gave an affirmative answer. Ning Kongran was silent for a while, said thank you, and then hung up the communication.

Qiao Zhiya was even more confused, not knowing what the older man was thanking him for. Though, he didn’t ask further, and instead mailed him a gift. 

Intermediate Academy, practical-course building.

Looking at the freshly processed parts on the stage, Qiu Guangji was amazed, “Your previous research direction is actually correct. However, your requirement is 100% completion, which is a little too strict, don’t you think? Your performance did improve, though, by at least 50%. In my opinion, this new method of yours is destined to not be very popular.” 

“It doesn’t need to be popularized,” Ning Kongran put the parts away in a safe, and said with a flat intonation, “I’m just proving that the path I chose was not wrong.”

He learned mecha manufacturing not because he liked mechas, but simply because he didn’t want to follow the road paved by the Ning family.

Qiu Guangji glanced at him, and tentatively said, “With your aptitude, you will definitely get good grades if you become a mecha pilot instead.” 

“Not suitable,” Ning Kongran shook his head and continued, “That’s too conspicuous.” 

In his opinion, he only had one way to go – that is, to enter the Advanced College of the Federal Military Academy and develop in the military department in the future. However, this want of his was destined to be blocked by his family. 

Qiu Guangji also remembered his worries, sighed, and said, “You’re right, you can only compete only with mecha manufacturing… By the way, for your graduation exam, you have to complete processing three copies with a similar degree of completion. You can’t give it up to chance. The teacher only gave you materials needed to make one part for your exam too, so what are you going to do with the remaining two parts? Do you want it from that Native boy?”

Ning Kongran was silent. He touched the safe, and said, “I’ll try it myself first. Can you come up with materials that are 100% complete? If not, go to Qiao Zhiya for help, and I will add his name to the graduation results.” 

“Huh? Add his name?” Qiu Guangji was surprised and said, “Wouldn’t that help him graduate from the fifth-grade mech manufacturing course? Wouldn’t that be too…” 

Ning Kongran knew that he didn’t design this novel part processing, only did it according to the result he saw – it’s most likely a different method from the one that Qiao Zhiya employed, so it was still his. However, he always felt a bit guilty of this supposed “cheating” in his conscience. 

Moreover, the sharing of results was not just as simple as adding a name. Subsequent patents and profit distribution must also be given out after adding a name.

Qiu Guangji knew that his friend has been crazy about making money recently. And now, he was willing to actively give away the benefits?

“It was him who helped me find the reason why my research was always unsuccessful. He deserves these,” Ning Kongran put the safe into his space button. He looked at his friend, changed the subject and said, “Anyways, I can finish this in a month’s time. After that, we can take care of other things.”

Qiu Guangji saw that he didn’t want to talk about this topic, so he raised his arms and stretched his waist in cooperation, and sighed, “Yeah, I can finally relax, it’s not easy.”

A month passed quickly, and Qiao Zhiya’s emotional state became more stable. His learning progress also was getting faster and faster. Finally, before another weekend came, he finished sorting out material knowledge and could start on the next chapter. 

“For next Monday, the class time will be changed to two hours in the morning and four hours in the afternoon. Don’t be late,” The bearded teacher gave him a new textbook, and after setting the class time, he went offline directly.

Qiao Zhiya happily accepted the teaching materials and obediently logged off. He took off his helmet,  went around to the study next door, and ran to Chu Rong, who was reading documents at the desk. Without hesitation, he went in for a hug, settling his head comfortably on Chu Rong’s wide chest. 

Chu Rong retracted one hand to return the hug very naturally, without taking his eyes off the document. “What do you want for dinner? I will allow you to have an extra dessert after dinner today.” 

“I want to eat fried rice, the kind that has a lot of vegetables and meat,” Qiao Zhiya replied, arching in his arms, while his ears twitched excitedly. He had an unbridled excitement he couldn’t hold back. “I can start learning new parts next week. “

Chu Rong finally moved his eyes away from the document. He frowned and pressed the youth’s wobbly body, and said, “Don’t mess around. Tell me, what do you want?” 

When his intention was discovered, Qiao Zhiya blushed and said in a low voice, “I, I bought some instruments and parts from Grandpa Ren. I want to organize a laboratory for myself, which is next to your study. Is that possible? I don’t want to be too far away from you…” As he spoke, his face turned redder, and so was his ears. He tried to hide them in his bangs, as he felt a tad ashamed of his clingier-than-usual behavior lately. But, he didn’t want to change. 

A sweetheart in his arms, showing his utterly adorable expression – not even a saint could not bear it. Let alone Chu Rong, who was not a saint. 

“Okay, I’ll ask the housekeeper to tidy up the room next to my study. There will be a room for you at home,” Chu Rong’s voice was a little hoarse. He restrained his desire and only hugged Qiao Zhiya in a polite manner, then put down the documents in his hands. He got up, put the clingy youth on the ground and said, “Let’s eat dinner now.” 

Qiao Zhiya didn’t care about being shy anymore, and looked at Chu Rong’s eager movements suspiciously. His ears fluttered, and asked in a worried tone, “Your body temperature seems to have risen again… Are you okay? Do you still have a sequelae? It’s happened many times recently…”

“I’m not sick,” Chu Rong dispersed his spiritual power to surround himself as proof. He quickened his pace, and said, “This is a natural reaction when the power is assimilated. Well, it’s time to eat, and I will cancel the dessert if you keep delaying it.” 

Qiao Zhiya knew an ultimatum when he heard one. He quickened his pace, and even entered the kitchen one step ahead of him, and said happily, “I want pudding for dessert! With red beans too!” 

Chu Rong slowed down and answered him. He secretly adjusted his breathing, but couldn’t help laughing. ‘What a greedy Bald Chicken.’

Chu Yan, who came back excitedly to spend the weekend with Qiao Zhiya, exited the living room with a dark face, as if he was struck by lightning. He looked at the butler who came out to greet him, and asked dryly, “My Erge.. .does he often laugh now?” 

The old butler didn’t answer, he only laughed. 

‘Fuck… the power of love is so great…’ Chu Yan mulled as he suddenly understood why his dage and dasao insisted on going back to their house. It must be to get away from this dog food force-feeding from his erge and Qiao Zhiya. On top of that, they also wanted those two to cultivate their relationship fast! 

“I’ll go to Dage’s house for the weekend, I bet Dasao must’ve missed me,” After giving out an excuse, he immediately turned around and said with a serious face, “Don’t tell Erge and Qiao that I have been back. I am leaving, goodbye!” After speaking, he speed-walked without any regrets.

The old butler watched him leave. He glanced sideways at the looming figure in the direction of the kitchen, squinted, and smiled.

After ten years, this empty and lifeless main house was finally bustling again, which was a downright miracle.