Chapter 22 一 No More Drinking Once You’re Off the Market.
In the early morning, Bai Ruogu was awakened by the noise outside. Rubbing his eyes, he could see the bright orange sunlight covering the green vegetation through the makeshift window.
He casually changed his clothes and went outside to find out. The voices of a group of men grew louder.
“Ai! How did the newly bought equipment break down?!”
“Ai, it’s brand new! They said it was made with a new material discovered two years ago. It was just delivered by logistics yesterday, and today it’s already broken from a fall!”
“Tsk, tsk, the casing is too poor, isn’t it? Shattering with just one fall? Do you think they’ll allow refunds or exchanges for this?”
“What are you thinking? This thing is very scarce, and it’s basically all custom-made. Where would there be any extras for us? And what’s more, when they handed it over to us, they repeatedly told us to be careful. Do you dare to exchange it?”
“Ai! But… this cost a lot of money. How do we explain this to Teacher Bai? All the money we spent is Teacher Bai’s money…”
The instrument was indeed expensive, costing nearly three million. However, at this moment, Bai Ruogu didn’t care much because all of his attention was focused on a piece of hose.
He pushed through the crowd, walked to the pile of mechanical debris, and squatted down. The people around him suddenly fell silent, afraid to speak as if they had done something wrong.
Just when they thought Bai Ruogu might be somewhat angry, they saw him furrow his brows slightly and raise his hand to pull out something slippery from the hose…
“Is this the so-called new material?” he asked calmly, but his gaze never left the object in his hand.
“Ye… yes.”
The thing was a deep blue color. When Bai Ruogu picked it up, it slipped out of his hand due to how slippery it was.
Everyone held their breath and dared not speak.
But Bai Ruogu remained calm, even somewhat accustomed to it.
Next to him, there happened to be a toolbox. He took out a pair of universal scissors from it, cut open the hose, and then clamped the new material using the hose.
This time, the new material was not easy to fall off and was lifted by Bai Ruogu.
But the properties of the thing were too strange, as if it had some weight below. When Bai Ruogu lifted it up, a long strip became thinner and thinner, until it was as thin as a hair.
Just as others felt curious and amazed, a glint reflected from Bai Ruogu’s glasses, and a slight smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.
The new material had become so thin that it was almost invisible to the naked eye, but it still hadn’t broken, just hanging there.
The strange light in Bai Ruogu’s eyes grew brighter and brighter, while the people around him became somewhat panicked.
Where had they ever seen Bai Ruogu with such a serious expression? Normally he looked laid-back and lazy, but now he seemed as if he had taken a stimulant. Even the bystanders could feel the difference in Bai Ruogu’s mood.
As Bai Ruogu continued to peel, everyone exchanged glances, and after hesitating for a long time, someone finally gathered the courage to apologize to Bai Ruogu.
“Teacher Bai, this…” The person scratched his head, feeling somewhat embarrassed, but Bai Ruogu interrupted him.
He said slowly, albeit somewhat absent-mindedly, “It’s okay, leave it to me to handle. At worst, we can buy another one.”
Ignoring the surprise of those around him, he called over a service robot to help him tidy up the debris and take it to his room.
As he was leaving, he didn’t forget to grab the toolbox, turning to ask everyone, “Are there chips in here?”
Others quickly responded, “Yes, yes, this is a newly bought all-purpose toolbox, it has everything.”
Upon hearing the word “all-purpose,” Bai Ruogu became even more delighted.
Thinking about the smooth texture in his hand just now, he squinted his eyes, and a lot of information about new materials appeared in his mind.
Because he was born into a family of mecha experts, it was not surprising that he knew more about materials.
At the same time, a bold idea flashed through his mind…
He turned to look at his smart brain, his fingers trembling for a moment before closing again.
Over the next two days, Bai Ruogu hardly left his room except for his daily necessities, and sometimes even late into the night the lights were still on.
During this time, Bai Ruogu handed a list to the logistics department, hoping to immediately purchase and have it delivered within four hours.
The logistics department took a look and felt a bit confused.
Most of the items on it were materials, all very soft, and there were many unfamiliar tools, some things they had never heard of.
A note below said: “No matter how much it costs, I need it urgently.”
But after all, he was the boss, and these things weren’t illegal. Even if the logistics department was puzzled, they couldn’t say anything and could only do as instructed.
The sentence could be revised for clarity and grammatical correctness:
Su Miao observed in the dark, watching the other party. There seemed to be a strange disturbance in the research and development space, as if something were blocked.
He could detect that this was an emotion called “unhappiness”, especially when he saw Bai Ruogu busy until so late in the evening, his emotions were accumulating more and more…
Should he activate the anti-addiction program?
A well-designed star network always has excellent health measures and frustrating settings.
As soon as he raised similar options, a bunch of analyses popped up right after.
——At this moment, Bai Ruogu’s research is at a critical stage. If the internet is suddenly shut down, the probability of this system being disliked is 66.66%.
Su Miao:…
He silently retracted his thoughts, pretending that nothing had happened.
Bai Ruogu busied himself day and night, yet his habits and problem-solving were familiar to Su Miao on the display screen.
He restrained his urge to approach by using a virtual body, revealing only a pair of eyes on the outside, which stared fixedly at Bai Ruogu’s figure.
…The probability of it being him is 72.1%.
The filming schedule was tight, and as soon as one scene ended, they hurriedly moved on to the next.
Bai Ruogu breathed a sigh of relief as he looked at the delicate square box on the bedside table early in the morning.
Last night, he finally made it.
He tidied up and went to the set, and the scene resumed shooting——
Huaxingyuan failed again, and he couldn’t help but feel disappointed holding the notification letter.
Actually, he could have just lived off his family’s wealth, since their fortune could never be exhausted even if he lived a carefree life forever.
He thought like this, but his heart felt heavier and heavier.
In fact, this wasn’t his first time repeating a grade. Since he met Eisley two years ago, he had repeated a grade twice already. The last time he felt quite lost, but this time it was even worse.
But why feel lost? He always felt like he had missed something.
Actually, he wasn’t stupid. There weren’t many people with SS-level mental power in the entire galaxy, and most of them were famous figures who had left their mark on history.
It wasn’t until he entered the Star Gazer that he understood, seeing His Majesty the Emperor personally bestowing the rank of Colonel on Eisley amidst the crowd.
He stood there watching as the old insignia was removed and the new one was replaced, his eyes gleaming.
Colonel…
He still remembered when they first met, Aisley was just a Major.
A surge of inexplicable emotions welled up within him, as if his confidence had been stripped bare, leaving him feeling flustered and exposed.
Yes, he finally knew why he felt lost.
Watching the person he liked step by step become excellent, while he remained stagnant or even regressed, always being a nobody.
What else does Hua Xingyuan have left?
…Only a lazy body remained.
Some things are only reassuring when held firmly in one’s own hands. There are many people around who have fallen from wealthy backgrounds. Once he loses the halo of his parents, he will have nothing, no trump cards or confidence left.
He looked at the dazzling Eisley in the crowd not far away. Eisley had a tough appearance, a healthy body, extremely strong military abilities, skilled in combat, horse riding, and shooting, capable of leading armies…
At the same time, with his excellent vision, he also noticed that there was an empty space beside Eisley, a space waiting for someone.
That position was meant for him!
He suddenly had an idea. He wanted to get into a prestigious school, study politics and military affairs, and then find Eisley to be his deputy, to fight together for territory!
He wanted to stand shoulder to shoulder with Eisley, to be worthy of him!
His mental power was extraordinary, and his family’s conditions were also impressive.
When Hua Xingyuan’s parents learned of his desire to study, they were thrilled and quickly hired the best tutors in the entire galaxy for him! They enrolled him in the best classes!
Hua Xingyuan himself didn’t realize how terrifying SS-level mental power was, but everyone around him could feel it. They looked at Hua Xingyuan’s progress with astonishment.
They said B was just an ordinary person, B+ was a bit clever, A had already entered the high IQ group, and those who could reach S could be counted on one hand, while Hua Xingyuan was SS.
Of course, unlike ancient Earth, mental power needs to be activated to be demonstrated, and under normal circumstances, it’s similar to that of an average person.
Hua Xingyuan’s progress was both unexpected and reasonable to everyone.
On that day, the army won a battle, and they stationed some soldiers to guard while a bunch of people got drunk in the tents.
Hua Xingyuan poured himself a glass of orange juice from the large container he brought from home. He was also happy that Eisley had won!
The shabby cup and the shiny glass seemed to collide in the candlelight, and Hua Xingyuan gulped down the orange juice.
The sentence is grammatically correct, but it could be polished for better clarity and flow:
A general stumbled and fell to the ground, clutching a wine jug in his arms. Drunkenly, he muttered, “My dear, wait for me. I’ll come back after the battle! By then, our son should be old enough to pour me some wine to drink!”
The surrounding big men laughed heartily. Someone patted Eisley on the shoulder and said, “What’s wrong? Are you teasing our boss for not having a family? Let me tell you, our boss doesn’t care! He’s going to get married someday, isn’t that a family?”
One general was drunk beyond recognition, laughing and shouting to Eisley, “Hey, boss, this wine is really strong! If you have a wife in the future, never let her drink this, the body can’t handle it, I’m almost passing out!”
Eisley felt a bit dizzy and responded directly, “He dares?!”
Hua Xingyuan’s eyes bulged when he heard this, holding a large container of orange juice, shouting, “Why can’t I drink? Just because you can drink, I can’t?”
Then Eisley said again, “He dares to drink? No… can’t drink, harmful to health, can’t bear to.”
Hua Xingyuan immediately closed his mouth and didn’t speak anymore, quietly drinking his orange juice, looking as obedient as could be.
As if it wasn’t him who had just argued.
Eisley seemed to envision the appearance of his future lover and smiled to himself.
“I think that person should be thin and weak, I can lift him with just one hand! Being so weak, I’m afraid he’ll drink himself to death.”
A bunch of people around joined in the teasing, “Hey, hey, if that person doesn’t listen to you and insists on drinking, then aren’t you in trouble?”
Eisley, upon hearing, chuckled drunkenly and put the wine bottle onto the table, feeling dizzy.
“If he drank…”
“What then?”
“I would push him onto the bed…”
“And then?”
“Kiss him fiercely.”
Hua Xingyuan: …
He grabbed the orange juice and ran away!