Chapter 22: “Control Your Dog.” part 1
Xie Ren was completely unaware of his impending disaster. Holding the freshly fired model in his hand, he scrutinized it for a long time.
Zhao Yi leaned in to take a look. “You carved words on the bottom?”
“None of your business.” Xie Ren dodged his hand.
“What did you carve? YSXR…” Zhao Yi grinned from ear to ear. “Hey, you didn’t make a lipstick gun, so why carve a bootleg YSL on it?”
Xie Ren felt suffocated. “…Talking to you literally lowers my IQ.”
Xu Bohan won first place in the model selection. Zhao Yi remarked, “I find Instructor Yu takes things too seriously. What’s the use of being ranked first? Is he going to give out a certificate?”
“No certificate, but there is a cash prize.” Yu Shi sent a red packet in the group chat, claimable only by Xu Bohan.
The crowd expressed their disdain.
“Does he really take us for kids to be coaxed? Who cares about a little… 8888??”
“How much? Did you miss a decimal point?”
“Holy shit, it really is 8888! Why didn’t he say the prize money was this much earlier? Look at this mess!”
“Ahhh, why didn’t I make my model properly! I instantly lost 8888, the sky is falling.”
“Turns out Instructor Little Fish is the sugar daddy. From now on, I am Teacher Fish’s dog.”
“Screw you, go queue up over there. As if it’s your turn.”
Xu Bohan hooted with joy, his tail practically wagging to the sky as he clung to Yu Shi, rubbing against him endlessly.
These Alphas were very realistic. Once the red packet appeared, they immediately became much more active. Some even volunteered to write field trip notes or participate in another evaluation activity.
Surprised, Li Yang secretly messaged Tang Jiadong: [Principal, can the museum tickets be reimbursed?]
Tang Jiadong replied: [Yes, address the invoice to the Materials Department. Are you guys team building? How is it going?]
Li Yang: [Going quite well. Instructor Yu is very approachable.]
Tang Jiadong: [You two are steady; I’m at ease with you leading the students. Have fun, the budget is sufficient.]
In the evening, everyone returned to Zone 1 for dinner. The restaurant was packed with customers, so they had to push several tables together in the lobby.
This time, everyone scrambled to sit at Yu Shi’s table, each wearing an expression of excitement and anticipation.
Li Yang nodded encouragingly at Yu Shi, signaling that he could bring out the ice-breaking mini-game.
Yu Shi asked, “Does everyone want to play a game while we eat?”
Zhao Yi immediately raised his hand. “Yes, yes, yes! I do, I do!”
“Is it the kind of game where you win cash prizes, Boss Yu? I want to play too.”
Three people from the next table squeezed in, looking pitiful. “Instructor Yu, we want to join this table for the game.”
Yu Shi took out the kindergarten stickers he had bought specifically for this and said, “There are too many people. I have stickers here; if you win a round, you get a sticker, and prizes will be distributed based on them at the end.”
At a nearby table, Han Po sneered, “He really thinks he’s a preschool teacher. Fuck, a bunch of useless Alphas circling around an Omega. Useless bunch.”
Zhou Jiahao showed a curious expression. “Actually, I want to go see… uh, just looking, not participating.”
“Screw you, are you sick?” Han Po kicked him in anger, though his eyes couldn’t stop glancing over there.
Yu Shi announced, “The game we are playing is called the ‘Mecha Knowledge Competition.’ As everyone knows, mechas are widely used on interstellar battlefields but rarely used in inland combat, so it has always been an elective course. To consolidate everyone’s basic knowledge, I will conduct random checks. The person with the most correct answers will get five points added to their daily score.”
Everyone: “…”
The enthusiastic atmosphere came to a screeching halt.
Xu Bohan’s mouth twitched. “This is the ice-breaking game Master thought about for several nights? I think calling it the ‘Ice-Hardening Game’ is more accurate.”
Qi Huan sighed. “He’s going to go down in history in the NDU teacher system. I’m really worried about his evaluation in three months.”
Xu Bohan said, “He won’t be maliciously downvoted, right? Oh my god, Brother Yang didn’t even try to dissuade him.”
“Maybe Brother Yang suggested it. Look at that satisfied look on his face.”
“…”
The table was silent until Xie Ren suddenly laughed. “Sounds interesting. Let’s start.”
The others immediately looked at him in disbelief. Zhao Yi, who had scored a 61 in Mecha History, practically had the word “Traitor” written on his face.
Yu Shi opened a lottery mini-program. The table instantly became noisy; everyone wore terrified expressions and began drawing lots with extreme reluctance.
Zhao Yi was the first to be the scapegoat. Pale-faced, he said, “Instructor Yu, my history isn’t very good. If I can’t answer, will points be deducted?”
“No, it’s just a game,” Yu Shi said patiently.
Everyone relaxed, but they still looked nervous.
Yu Shi: “First question is about the Galaxy G10. Please state its color, production date, and manufacturer.”
The Galaxy series was ancient and complex, numbered from G1 to G30. This question was no less difficult than pulling a paragraph from a thousand-page textbook and asking for the page and line number.
Zhao Yi, out of his wits, said, “Galaxy… The Galaxy seems to have thirty series. I remember the production date… seems, seems to be… be… 2127?”
There was silence all around, save for the sound of breathing.
The dining table had turned into an examination hall, the atmosphere oppressive.
“Wrong, it was 2137,” Yu Shi said.
“Ah, right, right, right. And the manufacturer… the manufacturer is… is…”
Yu Shi said strictly, “Classmates nearby are not allowed to cheat.”
Proctor Xie Ren came online. With quick eyes and hands, he confiscated Xu Ze’s communicator.
Xu Ze: Hah.
Zhao Yi’s brain spun rapidly. “I remember, it’s the Father of Mecha, He Changwei! And the color, color… co…”
Yu Shi was puzzled. “Do you have a stutter? I remember NDU doesn’t recruit students with speech impediments.”
Zhao Yi was sweating profusely. “N-N-No, I… I really can’t remember. The Galaxy series has too many colors. Can you… give a hint?”
“Forget it, sit down. It’s black,” Yu Shi said magnanimously. “Next time you answer, you don’t need to stand up. This isn’t a classroom.”
Zhao Yi collapsed as if he had undergone severe torture, his eyes gradually losing their luster.
The second unlucky victim was Ye Bingyang, whose face turned purple when his name was drawn.
Yu Shi picked a relatively simple question. “The Guardian series. State its manufacturer, color, and main function.”
Ye Bingyang began to recall desperately, brain cells dying en masse. “The Guardian series is a modern mecha, uh… the manufacturer should be… Academician Li Xuan, right? Color… mainly silver-white. Main function is…”
Yu Shi’s expression slowly turned icy, his brows slightly furrowing.
“It’s a comprehensive improvement of the Galaxy series, serving as a link between past and future. It can carry laser cannons, fly into the sky, dive underwater…” Ye Bingyang couldn’t make anything else up. He said with a bitter face, “Instructor Yu, wasn’t this piece of scrap metal eliminated? I didn’t pay much attention when I learned it. Just let me off.”
Yu Shi’s face sank. “All wrong. The Guardian was never eliminated; the Wanderer was. And what did you call it? Scrap metal?”
“Hiss… shit, mixed them up.” Ye Bingyang scratched his head.
Yu Shi said coldly, “If you can’t even distinguish such basic knowledge, how will you cooperate with mechas to kill enemies in the future? I know 80% of you will stay in the safe zone and may never need to participate in interstellar war in your lives. But after visiting the museum today, haven’t you realized that peace is only a temporary main theme? The situation is not immutable. As soldiers, you should always be prepared for the worst!”
The atmosphere at the table was heavy; everyone lowered their heads in silence.
The air was eerily quiet. Hearing this, Han Po at the next table sneered but didn’t mock or refute him this time.
Li Yang also looked sheepish and didn’t make a sound.
Yu Shi looked at the crowd and shook his head, about to speak.
Xie Ren suddenly said, “The Guardian series. Manufacturer is Academician Tang Senmiao. Mainly yellow. It is an improved product based on the Hurricane series. Since the 9,000th unit, a nano-protective layer was added. The manufacturer after that was Yu Shi, Instructor Yu.”
He smiled and said, “Instructor Yu is right. For the 80% present, this ‘dead knowledge’ might not be important. You just need to make no mistakes, drift with the tide waiting for promotion, and live your life step-by-step.”
“But if you are the remaining 20%, then this dead knowledge might save your life in the future.”
Recommended Reads
