A Young Woman's Heart

"without……"

"Don't say it's nothing, okay?" Mo Xueyao quickly interrupted her. "You always say that. We're such good friends. If you consider me a brother... a true friend, you should tell me what's on your mind. Some things are better said out loud. Besides, if you don't tell me, how will anyone know what you're thinking?"

"..."

"Before, I was too embarrassed to ask too many questions because we weren't very familiar with each other. But now it's different. At least I can help you share some of your pain and sorrow, right?" Mo Xueyao plopped down on the bed, bouncing a few times with the bed. However, she felt a little guilty as she said this because she hadn't told Li Wanyan her own secret either.

Thinking about this, she suddenly realized that what she had just said was too selfish. She smiled awkwardly and said, "Uh, if you don't want to talk about it, that's fine. Actually, everyone has secrets they don't want to talk about..."

“It’s not a secret.” Li Wanyan shook her head gently. “It’s just that when I was a child, my mother and I would buy cheap meat from the market so that we could eat some meat every week. Because it was fatty, she would finely chop it into minced meat, then salt it and marinate it. Occasionally, she would take a little out and sprinkle it into the vegetables or noodle soup. But even so, there wasn’t enough meat. We could only eat one or two meals with minced meat a week.”

"Hmm." Mo Xueyao scratched her head. "Although my family couldn't afford meat before, we could at least eat a whole piece two or three times a week. If it was braised pork with preserved vegetables, we could even say we ate meat every day."

"Yeah, it's just that my mom is in this state, and that man still doesn't repent..." Li Wanyan pinched the corner of her eye, "I guess I miss my mom a little."

"Hmm, I think she'll definitely come back. Right now, she probably has some things to take care of."

"Perhaps."

……

Chapter 88 Mr. Xue and His Father

Mr. Xue was holed up in his room, which was filled with various metal materials and tools such as cutting machines and welding machines. If you didn't know better, you would think it was a small family workshop.

The room was divided into two parts: the floor area was the work area, while the bed was raised directly on the upper level.

The bed appears to be a converted bunk bed, except that the bottom bunk has been removed and replaced with a workbench.

Although the place was set up like a family workshop, it was very clean, with no messy dust or anything like that, obviously it was cleaned after each use.

There is a miniature landscape of about three square meters on the ground, which includes rivers, plains and mountains in a small area.

He was controlling the mechanical spider to crawl inside, but while flat ground or neat steps were fine, rugged mountain terrain like this always made it easy to slip or tumble down.

"Their coordination is still far too poor. With eight legs, they can basically only be divided into two parts, repeating the same movements. They can walk on flat ground, but they can't do it at all on rugged and complicated mountain roads." Mr. Xue turned off the switch and rubbed his head with a headache.

"Haha, if you can solve this problem, you can apply for a national patent! Maybe you can even use this technology to develop military mechanical spiders."

"Dad, is there nothing you can do?" Mr. Xue asked, somewhat distressed.

“Even engineers aren’t omnipotent. Complex machines like this require a team to develop.” Mr. Xue’s father walked in with his arms crossed. “That’s all I can do to help you. Although it’s an eight-legged mechanical spider, it uses a movement pattern similar to that of a four-legged spider.”

"It seems we'll have to study this further later."

"Hmm, no rush. Maybe you'll figure it out as you learn more." The father laughed twice. "What's the plan for today?"

“There’s nothing special planned.” Mr. Xue placed the mechanical spider on the cabinet. “I’ve finished all my homework, and there’s not much useful progress on the mechanical spider for the time being. Continuing to study it in the short term would just be a waste of time.”

"Let's go participate in a competition for enthusiasts."

"A competition for enthusiasts?"

“A chariot race.” Mr. Xue’s father stroked his small mustache. “It’s just seven or eight people gathered together. Some are my age, some are your age, and some are even older.”

"So, Dad, the tank you built was for this kind of competition?" Mr. Xue asked excitedly. "Finally, we can test it in real combat?"

"No, it's just that I joined this kind of hobby exchange group because I made a tank."

"Then let's set off now."

"OK, let's go. It's in the underground parking garage downstairs in our building."

Tank enthusiasts' exchange meeting.

The so-called war chariots were actually remote-controlled cars, since ordinary people couldn't possibly build and drive a real war chariot.

Remote-controlled vehicles are something that mechanical enthusiasts and military enthusiasts love, and even the older generation is no exception.

When Mr. Xue arrived, he discovered that he was not the youngest. There was also a boy in the second year of junior high school who was enthusiastically explaining his design concept for the tank to an elderly man with a white beard standing next to him.

Judging from their tone, the two are probably not grandfather and grandson, but met purely through this exchange meeting.

"Xiaoxue, you're here." The old man looked up and greeted Mr. Xue's father. For a moment, Mr. Xue thought he was being called.

"Here we go. Same old rules this time?"

"Yes, try not to damage other people's vehicles. If you're pushed off the field or flipped over and can't get up, you lose." The old man, who seemed to be the organizer of this gathering, smiled kindly and looked at Mr. Xue, asking, "Your son?"

"Correct."

"Tsk, they're practically identical."

"Haha, of course, it was me personally," the father laughed.

There are seven or eight people here, and each of them has a chariot, even the old man has one.

However, his chariot was clearly larger and heavier than the others, as if he could crush the other chariots as soon as he drove it.

Of course, his vehicle doesn't participate in the competition; instead, he acts as a referee to ensure that other vehicles are not damaged.

After all, this is an exchange meeting, not a face-to-face competition. It wouldn't be nice to damage someone else's car.

Therefore, the rules are relatively mild; you just need to push your opponent out of the circle drawn with chalk.

Horsepower is not necessarily the most important factor; the skill of the driver and the design of the vehicle also matter.

The remote-controlled car in Mr. Xue's house was designed by the two of them. Although it was designed together, Mr. Xue basically only helped with the assembly. The design drawings were all completed by his father alone. The only suggestion he made that was adopted was to install two extra pairs of wheels on the top.

In this way, the car can still be driven even if it is flipped over, unless it is rolled over on its side, it can be guaranteed to drive normally.

The remote control is designed with a symmetrical structure on both sides. If it is flipped over, the joystick on the other side can be used to control it.

However, this also makes the operation less nimble and convenient.

The other people's chariots are also unique, but at least they all have the shape of a chariot.

Only the chariot used by the boy, who was about fourteen years old, was full of wildly imaginative ideas.

His chariot was made very flat, meaning the chassis was very low and not easily overturned; it was made of metal, which meant it was very heavy.

Of course, it will also consume power much faster than others.

Secondly, his chariot no longer has the shape of a chariot; it looks like a triangle. The tires are not around the perimeter but are hidden under the chassis, using solid tires about the size of a little fingernail.

"Now, the competition begins. After it's over, we'll share our experiences. Remember, don't maliciously damage other people's vehicles." The old man struck a referee's pose. Don't let his ordinary appearance fool you; he might just be a retired senior engineer!

"You give it a try." The father handed the remote control to Mr. Xue, who did not refuse, after all, he came here to try it out in practice.

Mr. Xue's vehicle is shaped like an off-road vehicle, with many crash bars around it, making it look very resistant to impact.

However, this also makes it less flexible to operate.

Fortunately, it had strong power and wasn't the first to be eliminated.

The most difficult to deal with was that triangular tank with its chassis so low it was almost touching the ground. It was as slippery as a fish in there, impossible to catch, and could dart around under other vehicles.

Although it doesn't have any tools or methods, it can remain invincible.

Mr. Xue's chariot was eventually pushed out by a chariot equipped with two large clamps. Since the chariot was front-wheel drive, the other side jammed its two front wheels, making it unable to move at all.

"I told you we shouldn't have made it front-wheel drive," Mr. Xue said helplessly. "It should have been rear-wheel drive or four-wheel drive, otherwise the defects are too great."

“But doing that would require more parts and consume more electricity.” The father picked up the tank. “Why not keep it simple and make the wheels bigger so that the enemy’s pincers can’t grip them?”

Mr. Xue instinctively wanted to refute, but he froze on the spot. After thinking about it carefully, he realized there seemed to be no problem.

That's a really simple and straightforward solution.

"It reminds me of the Russian MiG-25; they seem to have similar features."

"Don't overcomplicate things that can be solved simply. Sometimes, the simplest way is the best."

"That's right." A flash of inspiration seemed to appear in Mr. Xue's mind, but it vanished in an instant before he could grasp it.

The chariot with the giant pincers won in the end.

While others may not be able to use triangular tanks, this tank, in order to save materials, reduced its height, making it as flat as possible, and removed many things, including more batteries.

So later on, he ran out of power and was pushed out without any resistance.

“This car has a very creative design. As long as these flaws are improved…” Everyone started to gather together and chat.

The most talked-about vehicle was that uniquely shaped triangular chariot.

It was only at this time that Mr. Xue learned that he was only in the second year of junior high school.

"The world will never lack geniuses," he said with a touch of emotion.

"Of course, the world is so big, you don't think you're one of the smartest people, do you?" His father chuckled and patted him on the shoulder.

“Perhaps I should befriend him. Maybe he’ll become a member of my ‘Mechanical Spider’ development team in the future.” Mr. Xue smiled frankly and extended his hand to the boy who was two or three years younger than him.

We chatted for almost the entire afternoon, and then had a few more battles. Mr. Xue's chariot didn't win a single one, but enjoying the process itself is a kind of fun, isn't it?

Mr. Xue and his father were both avid enthusiasts of machinery.

Moreover, his father graduated with a degree in mechanical engineering.

Perhaps it was influenced by his father that made Mr. Xue interested in this area.

"Speaking of which, you'll be divided into different classes in your second year of high school, right? You should be going to the science class then?" On the way back, the father casually chatted about family matters.

"That should be true." Mr. Xue nodded, but for some reason, he hesitated when he said it.

Is it because you can't bear to part with your current classmates?

After all, we've spent so much time together that we're all quite familiar with each other.

"It's funny, you actually ended up in the humanities class, haha."

"Perhaps it's to balance out the average science score in the humanities class."

"If I'm assigned to the science class, I'll have to meet new classmates again."

"Ah."

"Then why don't we just stay in the humanities class?"

Mr. Xue was somewhat surprised by his father's words: "Why?"

"Anyway, it doesn't matter which one you go to, right? Isn't it more important to spend three whole years with people you know?"