Three thousand a day!
Alex said wistfully, “That’s not what you said when you sent it over. ‘Just arrange any position’—those were your exact words.”
Basero muttered, “I’m not a prophet… So, how about it?”
Alex: “Do you think I’m dead?”
In response, One politely indicated that it needed to consider the offer.
The used dishes were casually piled into the sink. Basero stayed behind, saying he had more to discuss with Alex.
Alex nodded and told One and Xie Jianxun to head back to their room first. The two of them slipped into another small room.
After a day of chaos, Xie Jianxun was exhausted too.
He changed into fresh clothes in the washroom, splashed cold water on his face, combed back his damp bangs, and yawned.
The inn was closed for the day tomorrow, so he could sleep in for once, then head to the repair shop in the afternoon.
He picked up his discarded waiter uniform and returned to the storage room, where he saw One spreading a layer of bedding on the narrow floor passageway.
He exclaimed in surprise, “You’re going to sleep on the floor?”
“You’re resting tomorrow and need a good night’s sleep,” One replied, tilting its head up. Its tall frame sat down in the passageway, nearly filling it completely. “I wake up early.”
Xie Jianxun hurried over to pull it up, but the Mechanical Puppet didn’t budge.
“I sleep like a rock—I won’t wake up no matter what!” Xie Jianxun assured it earnestly, almost swearing on it.
Then a thought struck him, and he began to doubt himself.
“Wait, is it because I toss and turn too much and always kick you in the middle of the night?”
One chuckled. “No. You sleep… very obediently.”
“Then get up here quick—the floor’s cold.”
The young human scampered to the inner side of the bed and patted the outer spot. “Why sleep on the floor when there’s bed space? Watch out for rusty knees—or, uh, jammed parts!”
The light, rhythmic patting of the bedding sounded like an inviting drumbeat. The Mechanical Puppet leaned forward slightly.
“You’re not planning to be afraid of me anymore.”
It stated flatly.
Its perceptive words pierced through Xie Jianxun’s hidden reluctance, and he paused.
He flipped over like a fish, sprawling on the bed with his legs kicked up, scratching his chin with his knuckles. After a moment, he twisted his waist sneakily and peeked out from between his elbows with both eyes.
“Actually, just ten minutes ago, I was still thinking about this.”
The young human muttered to himself. “I’ve never really met anyone, so I don’t know who to trust… But maybe sometimes you should just go with your gut. Like that day stepping off the starship—I had a gut feeling Huo Jing wouldn’t kill me.”
One: “He’s your ex-boyfriend?”
Xie Jianxun: “What kind of way is that to talk… Are you getting up or not?”
What kind of horror story was this!
Glared at with wide eyes by the human, the Mechanical Puppet smiled faintly and finally abandoned the floor.
Its inorganic eyes flickered for a moment before it obediently lay back on the bed.
It lay ramrod straight, like a fence post.
Xie Jianxun smugly pulled the blanket up over his head and drifted off with squinted eyes. He didn’t sleep obediently through the night, kicking the Mechanical Puppet several times.
He balled up the blanket into a lump and hugged it like a ball. The oversized pajama pants rode up his legs, and even as his calves chilled in the cold, he refused to shake it loose.
One kept its eyes open—as a Mechanical Puppet, it didn’t need sleep.
For most of the night, it stared intently at a corner of the ceiling, seemingly studying the peeling plaster crack and calculating how long it had been there.
Until a foot rested on its abdomen.
The Mechanical Puppet looked down at the exposed calf and recalled its earlier words.
It did sleep “very obediently.”
It smiled silently, letting the human use the warmth of its abdominal plating for comfort in his sleep.
Xie Jianxun slept until noon. He’d actually woken around five in the morning, when the sky was still dim and the sun had just risen. His mind sprang awake like a wound-up clock.
Still groggy, he mumbled about work: “My morning shift—”
His eyelids too heavy to open, a warm palm reached over, covering his eyes and blocking all light.
One glanced thoughtfully at the narrow skylight.
“No morning shift,”
it said, watching the human burrow deeper into the blanket lump. “Sleep easy.”
When Xie Jianxun woke again, the storage room was still dim… Wait, why was it dark? Was it still the middle of the night?
Having slept so long for once, he stretched luxuriously, a deep sense of fatigue and bliss welling up from his bones. He hugged the blanket happily, nearly rolling over twice.
Opening his eyes again, he saw two pieces of cloth now covering the skylight.
One must have asked Alex for fabric to make “curtains” so the light wouldn’t disturb him.
Just then, One pushed the door open and saw the young human sitting up on the bed. When he looked over, his eyes brimmed with unusually deep dependence and trust.
One smiled faintly. “You’re awake? Perfect—Mr. Alex invited us for lunch.”
The black-haired human slid off the bed to put on his shoes, drawing out his words: “Hey, I slept so long—why didn’t you wake me earlier?” It sounded like whining, though he didn’t realize it.
The Mechanical Puppet replied, “You were sleeping so soundly.” It hadn’t had the heart to wake him.
As they spoke, Xie Jianxun walked over and naturally grabbed its wrist, heading out. “Let me see what delicious stuff Alex prepared!”
After lunch, Xie Jianxun checked the time and left the inn, walking to the Mechanical Repair Shop for his part-time work and training.
He could have taken the convenient monorail, but after one ride, he’d given up—it cost two bucks each way, four total.
He couldn’t bear to spend the loose change he’d earned.
Passing the Fat Lady Cake Shop on the street, Xie Jianxun resisted the temptation this time.
…Actually, because he’d just eaten lunch and wasn’t hungry.
Sweets weren’t as appealing right now. He firmly refused them… planning to buy some to take home when they went back on sale at 6.6% off at six.
Entering the Mechanical Repair Shop, he spotted Old Man Desmond sitting behind the furnace and toolbox as expected.
The hot air flushed his face red and fluffed up his hair, making him look like a lion with wind-tousled mane.
Seeing him arrive, Old Man Desmond didn’t even blink.
His hands kept working while his mouth greeted Xie Jianxun: “You’re here—go sit over there. No time for you right now.”
Xie Jianxun obediently agreed and sat at the table.
He saw two small toolboxes laid out on it, each filled with repair tools and lubricant originals, fully stocked.
Old Man Desmond’s mouth never stopped.
“Everything’s there—count them out. From now on, that’s your basic repair kit. If you run out of materials, write it on the shop’s procurement list, and I’ll have someone buy more… Where’s that Delin kid? Why isn’t he here yet?”
Xie Jianxun guessed, “Traffic jam?”
Old Man Desmond snorted. “Late—dock his pay!”
Soon, Delin arrived out of breath, wiping sweat from his face.
Feeling the shop’s cool air, he relaxed and slumped next to Xie Jianxun, complaining, “The monorail’s under maintenance today. Waited half an hour with no one coming, so I grabbed a cab. What a nightmare.”
Old Man Desmond gave the same line: “Those on the table are your basic toolkit. Book’s right there.”
With everyone present, Old Man Desmond finished his current job, pulled up a chair in front of them, and held up a badly damaged part in his hand.
He raised it high, showing them the structure and details. Xie Jianxun and Delin sat up straight, staring intently to memorize every detail.
Apprentices were apprentices—besides chores, they had to learn.
When it came to teaching students, Desmond seemed like a different person.
He was gentle, patient, answering every question, even his tone softening with a hint of someone else.
Xie Jianxun guessed it was the mysterious mechanic who’d taught him.
“…We can’t just guess crack repairs by eye—we need precise diagrams. But once you’re proficient, you won’t need them.”
“They’re in the box—take a look first.”
The two apprentices nodded and picked up a stack of hand-drawn diagrams from the toolbox, detailing a dozen common shop parts.
One stack hand-drawn, one photocopied.
Delin glanced at the diagrams and suddenly said, “Old Man Desmond, you stayed up late last night drawing these, right? You said you’re old and go to bed early, but I saw your house lights on forever yesterday.”
Called out, the shopkeeper grumbled like he’d lost face. “Kid, what were you doing wandering the streets at night?”
Desmond’s brows furrowed, but there was no real menace.
Delin huffed. “What’s it to you?”
Old Man Desmond ignored him and continued the lesson: “Cough, anyway—you need to memorize them as fast as possible, figure out exactly where every line goes on each part. I’ll show you the repaired versions later.”
He acted like a real teacher, not their boss, instructing them on next steps.
“And you, Delin—go home tonight and memorize the book, so you don’t mix up the mineral pastes tomorrow. Quiz time.”
Delin nodded, then noticed Xie Jianxun’s table was empty—no book.
He yelped in horror: “How come he doesn’t have a book?”
Did that mean he had to memorize two shares?!
Desmond thought for a moment and turned to Xie Jianxun. “At your skill level, you probably don’t need it, right?”
Xie Jianxun nodded honestly. “I’ve studied the basics recently, and this is all within that range.”
As expected.
The shopkeeper turned to the youth and exhaled gruffly: “Look at him—now look at you.”
Delin: “…Wah.”
The rest of the time was spent memorizing the book, observing parts, trying hands-on, then back to memorizing, observing, hands-on.
After a few rounds, the rough outline of a simple part was etched in their minds.
Even while working at the inn, wiping tables with a cloth, Xie Jianxun muttered the details under his breath.
Alex passed by and doubled back.
“Great Mechanic, how’d you get bags under your eyes?”
Alex pointed under his eyelids.
Before Xie Jianxun could speak, One stated flatly, exposing him: “Because he stayed up all night secretly reading part diagrams by lamplight.”
Damn! A snitch!
Xie Jianxun schooled his face and nudged the Mechanical Puppet’s calf with his toe. It gazed back innocently.
Alex pursed his lips.
He said sternly, “I was nice enough to let you do the side gig. If the repair shop messes up your inn work, no more going. You need to sleep properly at night!”
Xie Jianxun mumbled guiltily.
Alex stared at him a while, saw he got the point, and left satisfied.
Over the next few days, they mastered the basic parts. Desmond allowed them to handle customer jobs for the first time.
After watching a few rounds with no mistakes, he relaxed, left the shop to them for the first time, and rushed off to care for his ailing mother.
Leaving the two novice repairmen to stare at each other.
“Wait, isn’t he a bit too trusting…” Delin said dryly. “What if we hit a part we can’t fix?”
