Rebirth 08: Equipment God

Chapter 171 Wu and Yue Head North
Back at the Shenzhou Mansion, Lu Wei and Yu Xiaoli were packing their belongings together, as military training would begin tomorrow.

The arrangement for this military training is as follows: tomorrow morning, we will have a short training session, and in the afternoon, once we have a basic understanding of what it entails, such as being able to stand up straight, we will proceed to the pre-training mobilization meeting.

Then came the long two weeks and fourteen days.

Of the two, only Zhai Da will participate in military training. After discussing it with his family, Lu Wei was not interested in military training, and Yu Xiaoli also felt that being exposed to the sun for more than ten days was unnecessary. So, as a parent, she submitted an application to Principal Wang to request leave for military training due to "poor health".

Lu Wei's slender and tall figure was indeed very convincing; the principal even reminded her to eat more before she left.
Lu Wei's absence means that Zhai Da would better participate, otherwise the school might think that these two top scorers are lazy and unproductive.

Zhai Da thought there was little need for supplies during military training, but Yu Xiaoli clearly didn't think so. She needed sunscreen, heatstroke prevention supplies, a water bottle, a small fan, anti-friction insoles, and essential oil.
Unable to get involved, Zhai Da went to the balcony and made a phone call.

The system just showed that equipment in Dongyang County was moving. Does that mean...?
"Hello? Ready to leave?"

Thousands of miles away, in Sanmao Community, Dongyang County, the temperature is far less comfortable than in Harbin. Today it is close to 40 degrees Celsius, and cicadas are chirping wildly.

The banner that read "Congratulations to residents Zhai Da and Lu Wei for becoming the top scorers in the provincial college entrance examination" still hangs in the community, though it is somewhat faded and worn.

In fact, Zhai Da's name still remains in many places in Dongyang County: at school gates, in bookstores, and in the hearts of Utopia students.

An Iveco van was parked under the banner, and Wu Yue carefully placed the old television set, which he had once carried up there himself, onto the van.

There weren't many things in the car, but everything was tightly bound together, with layers upon layers of anti-collision pearl cotton wrapped around it, and the light bulbs were wrapped up to be bigger than basketballs.

Wu Yue wiped away his sweat and took out his phone.

"Ready to leave?"

Wu Yue laughed and said, "No, we'll load the truck today and leave early tomorrow morning. I was planning to call you after we finished loading."

Zhai Da's voice was slightly delayed: "Okay, be careful with your belongings and people on the road."

"Don't worry, I'm not in a hurry. I'm just enjoying myself along the way."

Before leaving, Zhai Da left the key with Wu Yue. Many of the equipment items that were inconvenient to pack in suitcases were ultimately transported to Harbin to ensure safety, otherwise it would be difficult to synthesize them.

Logistics and express delivery are not reliable options; he needs a private car, otherwise the light bulb will turn into glass shards. He doesn't want to gamble.

Originally, when I talked to Wu Yue about this, I wanted him to introduce a reliable driver. I was willing to pay more, but he had to drive steadily on the road and was not allowed to carry any other goods. However, Wu Yue had a different idea after hearing this.

“Since you’ve all gone to university, I also want to go out and travel around. I might as well come along with you. We can stop at a few places along the way and treat it as a trip.”

With Wu Yue accompanying him, it was naturally more reassuring than having the driver alone. As for the extra few days of delay on the road, that was a minor issue, and Zhai Da was naturally willing to accept it.

After the utopia ended, Wu Yue was lost for a while. His familiar brothers and classmates all left, and the county town where he had grown up suddenly became very unfamiliar.

He was essentially the second-in-command in Utopia and received nearly 60, which is not much different from financial freedom at his age, but he still felt a sense of confusion as if he had suddenly lost his sense of direction.

So I still had a vague idea in my mind, which was to travel north with the car and stay in Harbin for a while to do some research.

If possible, it's not impossible to change locations. After all, Dongyang is too small for him. Even if he doesn't go to Harbin, he will most likely seek development in other big cities.

So going to Harbin to find Zhai Da would obviously be more enjoyable.

As for what I'll do in Harbin, I'll figure that out when I get there. At worst, I'll just bring a sense of justice and order to the people of Harbin.
Moreover, he always felt that following Zhai Da was the best choice.

Before leaving, he had already wiped out the small gambling and prostitution dens that had resurfaced in Dongyang County in the past two days since the end of the Olympics.

Money doesn't matter; it's purely out of interest.

His execution ability in this regard is even stronger than his ability to create utopias.

Over the phone, Zhai Da reminded him, "I'll say it again: be careful with your belongings and be careful with your people. If you really can't manage both, people are more important; it's almost two thousand kilometers away."

Wu Yue wiped his sweat: "Okay, don't worry, I estimate it will take about ten days to half a month to travel around. The driver is my cousin, so I'll treat him to a trip."

After hanging up the phone, Wu Yue did a final check of the items.

Apart from the daily necessities that Aunt Yu had packed in advance, the rest were all placed separately.

An old-fashioned bicycle, an old television set, light bulbs, a small stool from Utopia, a bunch of strange books, and a half-finished toy gun.
Well, it was a mixed bag, but it was all things that Zhai Da specifically requested.

Oh, and there's also a dressing table, which Zhai Da said was a little surprise for Lu Wei.

Wu Yue closed the door and said to his cousin, "That's settled then, we'll leave tomorrow."

His cousin offered him a cigarette, but Wu Yue waved it off and lit it himself: "I heard from your mom that you might go to Harbin and not come back?"

Wu Yue pulled out a large tub of iced tea, took a sip, and said, "I haven't decided yet. At my age, I should go out and explore. Staying in Dongyang County is no fun."

My cousin took a puff of his cigarette and shook his head: "I think it's more important for you and your dad to run the restaurant well together. You can earn more in a month than you would working a regular job. Your dad will definitely pass this restaurant on to you in the future."

As he spoke, he turned his head and glanced at the banner of the top scholar behind him, and sighed, "It's good outside, but you have to be a capable person. If an ordinary person goes out to make a living, he will only work for two more years for nothing and will not be able to bring home a penny."

That's just how he is. Apart from a bunch of bad habits and fussy habits that he only washed away a few years later, he left behind no noteworthy memories, but instead brought a lot of loneliness.

Feeling inferior outside and resentful when back home, he wallowed in self-pity for years. Wu Yue smiled and suddenly understood the purpose of Zhai Da sharing the benefits of Utopia with everyone.

Zhai Da told everyone that no one is inferior to anyone else, and that they should stand tall and forge ahead.

My cousin is unaware that he has already made a lot of money. His parents have kept it a secret for him, otherwise, relatives would immediately come up with a lot of "business projects" to borrow money.

Wu Yue threw the empty iced tea bottle into the passenger seat.

"I don't know if I'm a capable person, but I know what I can do. And I've met capable people."

"You're just too young. Why did you throw that empty bottle in my car?"

"For long distances, shouldn't we keep one just in case?"

"Hey~ You little brat, you know this?"

"Oh right, that was saved for you. I'm going to buy a bottle of Gatorade."

cousin:.
You're so capable! Why didn't you just say you wanted to buy eight-treasure porridge?!

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The next morning, as Wu Yue embarked on his journey north, Zhai Da also began the first phase of his university life: military training.

He wasn't particularly interested in the activity, but he wasn't exactly against it either. Just like Yu Jinghui said, if you use privilege to "skip over" everything in university, you might end up losing a lot of fun.

Early in the morning, the entire Harbin Institute of Technology was filled with young people in camouflage uniforms pouring out of various dormitory buildings. Instructors transferred from the military were already waiting downstairs. They were divided into classes, lined up, and then taken to various places for training.

"Class 1 of Materials Engineering, assemble here, in two horizontal lines, girls in front, boys in back, arranged according to height!"

Zhai Da, who was looking around, heard the call and walked over.

To my shame, his "class affiliation" was purely for show; he has never actually met any of his classmates.

The Materials Engineering Class 1 has a total of 34 students, with 27 boys and only 7 girls, a male-to-female ratio of about 4:1. There aren't even enough girls to fill two dorm rooms. If judged by the standards of the young male students, it's a disastrous start.

Everyone was wearing military training uniforms, so they weren't very distinctive. They all looked like dark green blobs, and you could only tell their height and weight at most.

When Zhai Da walked this way, the line was already formed, attracting the attention of many people.

Zhai Da: "Hello."

The instructor said sternly, "I just said, from now on, you must report before you need to do anything! Didn't you hear me?!"

Zhai Dacheng said sincerely, "I really didn't hear it, I just arrived."

He was quite certain he wasn't late.

The instructor, who had intended to establish his authority, froze, but couldn't find fault with him.

"Enter the queue!"

Several classmates looked over.

The girls were immediately struck by how the military training uniform made ordinary people look nonchalant, especially those who were either overweight or underweight. They exuded an aura of collaborators and puppet troops, as if they might utter a message at any moment: "The Imperial Army asked me to pass on a message to you."

Only those with a lean, agile, and well-proportioned physique can carry off the look of this uniform, such as a well-trained, professional soldier, and Zhai Da has that kind of physique.

Girls: With over twenty dishes of pickled vegetables in the classroom, finally we can eat something decent?

When they first entered school, both boys and girls had only a few things on their minds. Boys were attracted to pretty girls and girls to handsome men. Generally speaking, they had been suppressed too much in their senior year of high school, and their hormones were even more active than in high school.

The boys' thoughts were much simpler.

There were only a few bowls of thin porridge left in the classroom, and now a monk has arrived?

Wouldn't they be so hungry they'd be licking the edges of the food?
Since it was the beginning of the semester, they hadn't even met their class monitor or advisor yet, let alone their class monitor. They were just looking for their own group after registering, so it was perfectly normal to have a stranger as a classmate. For a while, no one thought of the "legendary top scorer".

Based on his height, Zhai Da stood third in the line of boys. To his left, a sturdy boy with a round head whispered, "Dude, which dorm are you from?"

Zhai Daye whispered, "I commute to school; I don't live in the dormitory."

"Oh? You have a local accent~? I'm also from Harbin, but my home is too far away in Shuangcheng District, so it's inconvenient for me to commute. Where are you from? Nangang?"

Perhaps feeling it wouldn't be appropriate to ignore others upon first appearing, Zhai Da could only continue in a low voice, "I'm not from here either."

The skinny guy on the right, who was even taller than Zhai Da, chuckled: "So where do you live? Are you setting up a tent and surviving in the wilderness?"

If you say this in standard Mandarin, it sounds like you're trying to insult someone, and you might get kicked and start arguing.

But when combined with his distinct Tianjin accent, everything makes much more sense.

(End of this chapter)