Rebirth 08: Equipment God

Chapter 135 Who are the King and Queen?
After Zhai Da finished drawing, he looked at Xu Xuejun and asked, "And then?"

Xu Xuejun stared at the line and said, "Draw another one, even slower, as slow as possible!"

Zhai Da followed the same method and drew another one.

He was indeed very slow, and the slower he was, the more difficult it was. He took a full minute to draw a line that was only a few tens of centimeters long.

Xu Xuejun, at some point, took out a magnifying glass and carefully examined the two straight lines.

The astonishment in his eyes grew stronger.
Is this what they mean by inherited talent?
Zhai Da: "Are you still painting?"

Xu Xuejun's mind was a bit confused, but he still shook his head and remained silent for a long time.

After a long pause, he stared at Zhai Da and said, word by word, "You said you want to learn metalworking? Why?"

Zhai Da said, "Is it strange to learn a trade? It's just something I'm interested in."

Xu Xuejun took a step back, paced back and forth for a while, and then looked at Zhai Da: "I can teach you."

Zhai Da thought the old man was going to say something, like giving him the notebook, but Xu Xuejun didn't say anything, not even mentioning money.

Have you read your grandfather's notes?

"I skimmed through it, and to be honest, I didn't understand most of it."

Xu Xuejun returned to the inner room and quickly came out, holding a book wrapped in cloth, which he handed to Zhai Da:

“Yours is (one), and mine is (two), (three), and (four). Take this book back and take a look at it too. Bring (one) to me tomorrow night.”

Xu Xuejun, however, was decisive and gave Zhai Da a copy of the notebook directly, probably because he felt that Zhai Da might not be willing to bring it.

He probably knew that Yu Lihua's grandson was more qualified to possess the notes than he was, and that it would be foolish to guard against them.

Unfolding the cloth covering, the familiar thick red rubber notebook came into view. The portrait of the great man was still the only decoration. However, this notebook seemed to have been frequently flipped through, and even though it had been carefully preserved, it was in much worse condition than Zhai Da's notebook.

Older, more weathered.

The familiar zigzag line appeared in Zhai Da's field of vision.

"Congratulations, host. We have discovered a green special equipment: [Yu Lihua's Metalworking Notes (Incomplete) (2/4)]: Training materials that Yu Lihua poured his heart and soul into, and not many people have read them."

Ownership: Owned (temporarily), Activated (temporarily)

"Equipment effect 1: Carrying it can slightly increase metalworking learning ability, and there is a double bonus when studying the contents of the notebook itself."

"Equipment Effect 2: Focus on the notebook itself, there is a very small chance of temporarily resonating with the notebook's owner, greatly increasing the probability of becoming a 'bond' of blood, spirit, and emotion, and providing special feedback."

"Special effect 'Lingering Wisdom': When a person who has successfully triggered the resonance engages in learning, labor, or work related to 'manufacturing', there is a chance that a flash of inspiration will occur."

"Unsealing Quest: Independently craft ten items."

"Special effect 'Embrace the Heart': ??? (Equipment incomplete)".

"Unsealing Mission: ???"

"Note: Back then, my hands, which could control the precision to within two micrometers, were already trembling uncontrollably when I wrote these notes."

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

On the taxi ride back to Sanmao neighborhood, Zhai Da stroked the notebook.

Xu Xuejun had no idea that his grandfather had a past relationship with him.

Xu Xuejun didn't reveal anything about their relationship, but it must be quite close, and one can roughly guess that it involves some teacher-student affection.

Zhai Da opened the notebook, and sure enough, the contents were connected to the first one.
After flipping through a few pages, Zhai Dacai finally understood why Xu Xuejun said that his grandfather's notes contained content that would not be eliminated by the times.

The four notebooks are training materials left by my grandfather for the wool textile factory before his death, aiming to pass on the techniques and skills. He put a lot of effort into them.

Although it doesn't seem to have received much attention.

Therefore, the content progresses from simple to complex. The first book contains conventional content, while the second book introduces some different elements.

That was an old man's insights, advice, and reflections.

"When the precision approaches five micrometers, the naked eye and instruments can hardly assist us anymore. Perhaps our country will have such equipment in the future, but for now, we must rely on repeated practice and intuition."

"Technological progress is very fast, and one day the precision of equipment will approach or even exceed the limits of the hands, but there are still two hidden dangers."

"One of the reasons is that we have long been subject to scientific and technological blockade and suppression. Even if we can buy advanced equipment from abroad, maintenance and debugging are very difficult and costly. Some classified projects cannot be used. For example, the precision instrument branch of the wool mill was once spyed on."

"Secondly, in many advanced and high-precision engineering projects, many components are 'heterogeneous' or 'specialized,' requiring extremely high precision while having specific application scenarios, requiring very few in number, or even being dedicated parts. It is obviously unreasonable to prepare a processing and production line with sufficient precision for a single part. This is the case for aircraft, rockets, and special facilities."

"Therefore, a pair of steady hands will never be eliminated, and solid basic skills will not let down every hard-working person."

"Those who are interested can use the 'Six Precision Items' I have compiled to practice and test themselves. See the end for details."

Zhai Da flipped to the end and found nothing, guessing that his grandfather might be referring to the end of (Notes Four).

The traces of his fingertips tracing the pages, the pen marks reflected in his fingerprints, still evoked a flood of emotions in Zhai Da.

Unfortunately, this time I didn't experience the same resonance as before (Note 1), where I "saw" scenes of my grandfather's life.

He doesn't know if it's related to not having acquired ownership, but he believes there will eventually be a chance.

With his forehead pressed against the car window, the blurry night sky receded rapidly, and Zhai Da's thoughts were in turmoil.

"Tuk~"

The crisp sound of the wooden fish rang out, and turning around, I saw that Lu Wei had picked up the small wooden fish at some point.

"what happened?"

Lu Wei held the small wooden fish, thought for a moment, and then took Zhai Da's hand.

"It's nothing. I just think you need energy."

Zhai Da paused for a moment, then smiled slightly: "Probably." Back home, Yu Xiaoli was still watching TV on the sofa. Middle-aged women who don't do square dancing really don't have many other hobbies, so they always have to pass the time.

Zhai Da sat down next to his mother and told her what had just happened.

I thought I could get more information from Yu Xiaoli, but instead I only got more questions.

"Your grandfather's colleague? The wool mill used to be so powerful that there were probably tens of thousands of employees in Dongyang County. It's not surprising."

"I feel more like a mentor than just colleagues."

Yu Xiaoli shook her head: "Your grandfather taught many people, but he never took on any apprentices. I'm very sure of that. I don't know if Xu Xuejun came when Dad passed away, but he hasn't appeared all these years."

When Yu Lihua passed away, in accordance with her wishes, there was no funeral or mourning hall. People came to her home to pay their respects. At that time, the small house was extremely crowded. From 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., there were at least a dozen people sitting in the house every moment. This situation lasted for several days.

She couldn't remember it herself, but she could ask the other elderly people in the factory later.

After thinking for a moment, Yu Xiaoli said, "If you don't know, then so be it. But if you do know, you'll have to find a way to get your grandfather's notes back. I'll talk to him later. Theoretically, those notes were left by your grandfather to the wool mill. How could they be in this person's hands?"

Zhai Da thought for a moment and said, "No rush. He plans to teach me some metalworking skills, and I think he'll eventually give me my grandfather's notes."

It's probably a kind of intuition.

Yu Xiaoli asked in confusion, "By the way, why did you study metalworking? We don't need to work in a factory anymore."

Zhai Da couldn't very well say that he wanted to prepare for future equipment modifications; he could only say that it was out of interest.

"You want to choose a related major in college? By the way, since you're in education, I didn't ask you. What are you planning to study in college? And Xiaowei?"

Zhai Da buried himself in the sofa. He had attended six trial classes today, and he was actually quite tired.

He subconsciously looked at the ceiling and said in a deep voice, "I've done a lot of research and have a fairly good understanding of the employment prospects, difficulty levels, and advantages of different schools for various majors. I'd say I'm somewhat of an expert."

A series of information flashed through his mind, and Zhai Da said, "In the end, I was overwhelmed by the choices and came to a conclusion."

"What conclusion?"

"I feel confident that I can achieve something in any field, even a so-called 'dead-end' major."

After all, it possesses a unique "cheat code" that is unique in all of humanity and even in all of history.

In just a few months since his rebirth, his life has already undergone a complete transformation, and it will only take off even further in the future.

As for school selection, with enough research, you'll know that even Tsinghua and Peking University don't have all the top-ranked majors in the country. Many top scorers from various provinces have chosen schools other than Tsinghua and Peking University, each with their own considerations.

"So my current idea is not to consider which majors lead to good jobs or which universities have a prestigious reputation. I should choose based on my own interests and then firmly follow those interests."

Yu Xiaoli: "So what are your interests?"

Zhai Da touched his nose: "I haven't decided yet."

This statement is made with absolute certainty.
I never went to university.
As for Lu Wei, it's simple; she just needs to be a math major from the same university.

Yu Xiaoli rolled her eyes: "So you're just rambling on with me?"

"Forget it, you and Xiaowei are both decisive kids. I've seen the materials you printed out, and with my limited knowledge, helping you choose a major would only make things worse. As for which university to choose, I only know a few of the best ones. You decide for yourself."

Zhai Da smiled and nudged his mother with his elbow: "Let's choose from the best ones. Besides, you're still the head of the family, so we'll need your approval after we decide, right?"

"That's about right. The results will be announced the day after tomorrow. We'll see who's the king and who's the queen between you and Xiaowei."

Zhai Da smiled but didn't say anything.

In fact, he recently researched a lot of information and also dabbled in the topic of "top scorers in the college entrance examination".

There is a piece of information that cannot be verified, but is estimated to be true.

That is, the time for releasing the college entrance examination results is fixed, but some top universities, well, actually the five top universities in Tsinghua, Peking, Zhejiang, Jiaotong and Fudan, can find out the identity of the "top scorer" one or two days in advance.

Then they set out ahead of time to compete for the top scorers in the college entrance examinations of each province.

Calculating the date, it's the day after tomorrow. He's even seen some unsubstantiated rumors online, saying that the top scorer in a certain province's college entrance examination has been locked in and that Tsinghua and Peking Universities are blocking his way to recruit him.

But he has not yet received any inquiries or contact, and Lu Wei is also...
To be honest, he's not so obsessed with being the "top scorer" anymore. Who knows, maybe some genius from other parts of the province might score 460 or even higher. These things are too far removed from his past life, and he has no memory of them.

However, it doesn't matter if neither he nor Lu Wei are the top scorers; with this score, they already have the freedom to choose.

At most, but a little regrettable.

probably.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Meanwhile, in Nanjing, at the Provincial Examination Authority.

Every year during the college entrance examination period, the Tsinghua and Peking University admissions officers who camp out in various provinces start cursing under their breath.

"They're still not out? There are only four gates, why are they taking so long?"

"This year, the new regulations were implemented for the first time, and even they were in a mess."

"I heard from teachers in Dong Province that they've already secured the top scorer in Dong Province, and I don't even know who that is. It's so annoying."

Each year, the selection of top scorers greatly enhances the strength and reputation of a school, bringing benefits far greater than those of a single student.

Top universities can communicate directly with provincial and municipal examination authorities, which is an unspoken rule that helps top students choose better universities.

In previous years, after waiting here and obtaining the list, several universities would start a race. Of course, the most confident and strongest were Tsinghua and Peking Universities, which take in 80% of the top scorers from each province every year.

Other institutions, including Zhejiang University, Jiaotong University, and Fudan University, have influence primarily confined to the provinces and cities where their schools are located.

As for the individual provincial top scorers, to be honest, although the province has several excellent universities such as "Nanjing University" and "Southeast University", when it comes to vying for top scorers.

It's not that Tsinghua and Peking University are bragging, but they wouldn't even get a chance!
(End of this chapter)