ARIWATM Chapter 046

Lin Zimao is in a trance today, his mind and concentration were not very good, he didn’t have the heart to listen to others.

The professor on the stage was giving a lecture, but he didn’t hear a word.

His mind was thinking about what happened in the morning, he ran too fast, as a result, he didn’t know if Jiang Xuan was angry with him or not.

He did something stupid early in the morning, biting Jiang Xuan.

What the hell is he doing?

His own behavior seems a little too much.

Besides, why is he dreaming about Jiang Xuan? They only ate one cake last night.

It’s not often that he have such big mood swings.

He has a lot of doubts, why he was so angry when he saw Jiang Xuan and Cheng Chen standing together and talking, why he was so upset when he knew that he had someone he liked, why does he feel sweet in his heart when he touches the corner of his mouth, he seemed to have a strange feeling for Jiang Xuan.

And this kind of feeling is beyond his previous experience with people, he doesn’t know what it is, but what is clear is that he has an inexplicable possessive desire for Jiang Xuan, he doesn’t want Jiang Xuan to be with other people, nor does he want Jiang Xuan to eat cake with other people.

He thinks there might be something wrong with his line of thinking.

They’re just living together, no one knows what will happen in the future.

Lin Zimao’s mind was filled with all the good things Jiang Xuan had done for him.

It seems that he could no longer remember the Jiang Xuan he saw for the first time, it’s all the daily life when he was with Jiang Xuan.

He thought that Jiang Xuan was as cold and uncaring as people said he was, didn’t think anyone is worthy of cursory attention¹不屑一顧 (bù xiè yī gù): lit. to not be worth a glance; to disdain as beneath contempt (idiom); infra dig; displeasing to look at; sneering; to scorn; to sniff at; to dismiss (work or a suggestion); will not spare a glance (for); regard as beneath one’s notice; do not think worthy of cursory attention; contemptuously disregard., but in private, Jiang Xuan is not like this, he will take care of Jiaoyan, insist on taking it for a run every day, secretly feed it small cans, and sometimes whisper to Jiaoyan when he wasn’t in the living room.

It’s not that Lin Zimao didn’t know, he just didn’t expose Jiang Xuan.

From the very beginning, the two of them hardly ate together, even when they ate, they only ordered takeaway, to now, as long as Jiang Xuan is at home, he can drink hot soup and eat hot dishes, the quality of life has been improved, and it’s still improving steadily.

For this kind of life that is both warm and comfortable, Lin Zimao has rarely experienced it, but he doesn’t want to refuse it either, because he wants to keep experiencing it.

Will Jiang Xuan do the same to others?

Lin Zimao is so worried about gains and losses²患得患失 (huàn dé huàn shī): to worry about personal gains and losses; to be mean; to be tight-fisted; to be overcautious; to tend to avoid risks; be overanxious about one’s own interests; From the Confucian Analects, Book 17 (《論語·陽貨》): 子曰：「鄙夫！可與事君也與哉？其未得之也，患得之；既得之，患失之。苟患失之，無所不至矣。」 The Master said, “There are those mean creatures! How impossible it is along with them to serve one’s prince! While they have not got their aims, their anxiety is how to get them. When they have got them, their anxiety is lest they should lose them. When they are anxious lest such things should be lost, there is nothing to which they will not proceed.”.

For some reason, the classroom, which had been so noisy just a moment ago, suddenly became very quiet.

Today’s class was a practical class, taught by Professor Yang, that is, Professor Yang, the dean of the department who called Lin Zimao to the office to speak alone last time.

His classroom has never required the students to be quiet and well-behaved, he prefers students to take the initiative to learn how to start repairing a mecha.

Today’s class is held in the largest mecha workshop in the school, where there are seemingly endless mechas.

Each student is assigned a malfunctioning mecha in front of them, Professor Yang doesn’t need them to learn how to repair them right away, but rather to use the knowledge he has taught them to find out what’s wrong with them during the learning process.

But he didn’t expect to get such a surprise today.

Because one of the student directly repaired the mecha, the helmet of the single-person mecha flashed a normal operation light.

Therefore, the whole class is quiet!

It was only then that Lin Zimao realized that everyone was looking at him.

He looked at the screwdriver in his hand, and realized that he seemed to have done something stupid again, it’s over.

After repairing the mecha that the professor used for class, Lin Zimao put down the screwdriver in his hand as if nothing had happened.

Professor Yang is looking at him with great interest: “Student Lin Zimao, you did a good job.”

Lin Zimao raised his hands: “I didn’t do anything.”

Professor Yang, holding a cup of Pu’er tea³普洱茶 (Pǔ’ěr chá): Pu’er tea or pu-erh is a variety of fermented tea traditionally produced in Yunnan Province, China. In the context of traditional Chinese tea production terminology, fermentation refers to microbial fermentation (called ‘wet piling’), and is typically applied after the tea leaves have been sufficiently dried and rolled. As the tea undergoes controlled microbial fermentation, it also continues to oxidize, which is also controlled, until the desired flavors are reached. This process produces tea known as hēichá (黑茶, lit. ‘black tea’) (which is different from the English-language black tea that is called hóngchá (紅茶, lit. ‘red tea’) in Chinese). Pu’er falls under a larger category of fermented teas commonly translated as dark teas. , said: “Today, I specially asked your seniors to pick out these dozens of mechas for you, I know very well that every one of them is broken, and all of them were in a dead state before you came in.”

Lin Zimao struggled a little: “I really didn’t do it, maybe the senior had some time to fix it?”

Professor Yang patted him on the shoulder: “I’ve been paying attention to you for a long time, from the simulation cabin competition to the command competition, it shouldn’t be difficult for you to repair this mecha, right? Student Lin Zimao, in fact, you know mecha better than they do.”
“You don’t have to pay attention to me, Professor Yang.” Lin Zimao tried hard to find a way to get rid of Professor Yang’s suspicion.

Professor Yang paid no attention to Lin Zimao’s struggle: “Tell everyone how you fixed it, and where did the problem come from, there is surveillance here, we can find out who fix it once we check it.”

Lin Zimao’s shoulders slumped, seeing more and more students gather around, his mood was quite complicated.

It’s all Jiang Xuan’s fault, what did he think about when he has nothing to do, moreover, he has a habit of moving his hands when he was thinking about something, he must change it!

Su Ran has calmed down a long time ago, he already knew that Lin Zimao was exceptionally gifted in mechas.

The other students didn’t seem to make a fuss over a trivial matter⁴大驚小怪 (dà jīng xiǎo guài): to make a fuss about nothing (idiom); describes being overly surprised at nothing remarkable; to make a fuss over a trivial matter; much ado about nothing; be surprised/alarmed at sth very ordinary; make an unwarranted fuss. either, he even took care of the mecha’s den in the Combat Department and the Command Department, being able to repair mecha was nothing, their department is neither awesome nor popular, the current Lin Zimao is the real top student!

Lin Zimao didn’t make any more excuses and said directly: “If I remember correctly, it should be due to excessive impact on the mecha, the system has a small malfunction, just separate the wires here and here, and after that…”

Professor Yang kept nodding his head, after he finished speaking, he praised: “Very good, the basic skills are very solid.”

But it is also beyond the scope of knowledge that first-year student should understand, Lin Zimao is very professional, Professor Yang wants to know how much he really knows.

Regarding this student, he can’t let him out of the Mecha Maintenance Department.

Since Professor Yang didn’t praise him too much, and his classmates didn’t continue to stare at him, Lin Zimao finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Because he completed the task assigned by the professor ahead of schedule, he sat cross-legged next to the mecha, turned on the communicator, and take a short break.

Received a picture from Jiang Xuan——tooth marks on the tip of the index finger.

He kept it.

Jiang Xuan said: You’re a dog.

Lin Zimao replied to him: You bit me first.

Jiang Xuan: When?

Lin Zimao: I dreamed about it.

Jiang Xuan: Where did I bite you?

Lin Zimao: On the wrist.

Jiang Xuan: You bit me because of a dream?

Lin Zimao: Dreams are also a reflection of reality, although it hasn’t happened yet, maybe it will happen one day in the future? That’s why I’m retaliating in advance.

Jiang Xuan: Oh, I understand.

Lin Zimao: ?

Afterwards, Jiang Xuan never replied to him.

What exactly do you understand?

All day long, Lin Zimao didn’t pay attention to the class, until the squad leader used the break time to tell the class that the school was going to hold a week-long school sports meet, and asked everyone what events to sign up for.

The sports meeting is a traditional sports event that have existed since before the Star Alliance, and are held annually every autumn and winter, collectively referred to as the Autumn Games.

Don’t have to go to class for a week, it’s sounds great!

The students are all crazy with joy.

The sports meeting is ranked according to the total score of the group, but there are only two classes in the Mecha Maintenance Department, so they can’t beat the other departments, can they?

The Combat Department and Command Department have always been ranked number one in the Mecha Academy all year round. Of course, for the other departments, with them there, the Mecha Academy is practically invincible.

But this is not important, what’s important is that when ranked by department, the Mecha Maintenance Department has been at the bottom of the rankings every year.

The squad leader is Su Ran, he asked everyone if anyone wanted to sign up.

Because it’s a sports meeting for all students in the school, no major-related events are added, but there are sprints, long-distance running, relay race, high jump, long jump, ball games and other sports.

Everyone knew about Lin Zimao’s ability to run during the military training, Su Ran directly sent the registration form to Lin Zimao’s communicator.

Su Ran: “Brother Zimao, sign up.”

Lin Zimao sat crookedly and said: “Not signing up.”

Su Ran: “Why?”

Lin Zimao: “I’m lazy, isn’t sleeping good?”

Su Ran: “It’s a group activity.”

Lin Zimao: “Don’t want to participate.”

Su Ran: “Everyone has to participate, you can’t be an exception, you are so strong, wouldn’t it be cool to slay everyone in seconds?”

Lin Zimao lazily raised his eyelids: “What’s so cool about it?” Don’t want to read this registration form at all.

A message suddenly came from the communicator.

It’s Jiang Xuan’s.

Lin Zimao clicked it open in seconds.

Jiang Xuan: Do you want to sign up for the sports meeting?

Lin Zimao swiped back the registration form he just swiped away, and replied: Considering it.

Jiang Xuan: What are you going to sign up to? Each person can apply for three events.

Lin Zimao: Running?

Jiang Xuan: Sprints or long-distance running.

Lin Zimao: Then, what are you going to sign up to?

Jiang Xuan sent a form with the entries he had filled in: Pole vault, high jump, long jump.

Lin Zimao asked him: Why not run?

Jiang Xuan: It’s enough to watch you.

Lin Zimao: Oh.

Then Lin Zimao signed up for 3,000 meters, 5,000 meters, and 15,000 meters on the registration form.

The longer he runs, the longer he watches.

After filling out the registration form, he immediately submitted it to Su Ran, and Su Ran, who still wanted to persuade him, almost thought he was seeing things wrong.

Su Ran said angrily: “Lin Zimao, are you messing with me?”

He lay down on the table and said: “I just suddenly get over it.”

Wang Yi regards Lin Zimao: “Let’s run together in the evening.”

Lin Zimao looked at the big guy and said: “Not interested in running with you.”

Wang Yi’s feeling wounded: “Why? Where am I bad?”

Lin Zimao looked at him for two seconds: “Not good-looking.”

All the students around laugh wildly!

After arriving home in the evening, student Lin ate chicken curry rice served by the good-looking Senior Jiang.

Jiang Xuan asked him what events he had signed up for.

After dinner, Lin Zimao consciously cleared the dining table, and even cut a plate of fruit and put it on the table where Jiang Xuan was drawing his design draft.

Last time only saw hands and feet, this time the fuselage has come out.

Lin Zimao asked him, why hasn’t the mecha’s head come out yet?

Jiang Xuan told him he’s still working on the design, trying to figure out what he wants it to be.

Lin Zimao lifted up Jiaoyan, who became slim but didn’t lose weight, what do you think about his head?

Jiang Xuan immediately drew a cat’s head on the mecha.

Lin Zimao also said do you want to add a tail?

Jiang Xian listened to his suggestion and added a fluffy thick tail.

Lin Zimao hugged Jiaoyan and fell on the sofa laughing!

Later, Jiang Xuan didn’t even need him to give any more suggestions, and directly painted a layer of silver-white fur on the mecha.

Jiang Xuan show it to him: “Is it good-looking?”

Lin Zimao comment seriously: “Nondescript⁵四不像 (sì bù xiàng): common name for 麋鹿 (mí lù), Père David’s deer (Elaphurus davidianus), species of deer native to China that is critically endangered, which is said to resemble an amalgam of animals such as a cow, deer, donkey and horse; an odd mixture of disparate elements; hodgepodge; farrago..”

Jiang Xian thoughtfully looked at the mecha, raised his head and asked him: “Like it or not?”

Lin Zimao was taken aback by the question, and said: “Who doesn’t like mecha.”

Jiang Xuan suddenly asked him: “If the birthday of the person you like is coming up, what gift would you give them?”

Lin Zimao put away the smile on his face: “Don’t have someone I like, don’t have to give.”

Jiang Xuan was a bit disappointed and asked again: “Really don’t have?”

Lin Zimao blinked and asked him: “Have a face I like, does it count?”

Jiang Xuan’s eyes are slightly cold: “Who’s face?”

There’s someone who’s better looking than himself?

Lin Zimao looked at him and said: “But he has someone he likes.”

• 1
  不屑一顧 (bù xiè yī gù): lit. to not be worth a glance; to disdain as beneath contempt (idiom); infra dig; displeasing to look at; sneering; to scorn; to sniff at; to dismiss (work or a suggestion); will not spare a glance (for); regard as beneath one’s notice; do not think worthy of cursory attention; contemptuously disregard.
• 2
  患得患失 (huàn dé huàn shī): to worry about personal gains and losses; to be mean; to be tight-fisted; to be overcautious; to tend to avoid risks; be overanxious about one’s own interests; From the Confucian Analects, Book 17 (《論語·陽貨》): 子曰：「鄙夫！可與事君也與哉？其未得之也，患得之；既得之，患失之。苟患失之，無所不至矣。」 The Master said, “There are those mean creatures! How impossible it is along with them to serve one’s prince! While they have not got their aims, their anxiety is how to get them. When they have got them, their anxiety is lest they should lose them. When they are anxious lest such things should be lost, there is nothing to which they will not proceed.”
• 3
  普洱茶 (Pǔ’ěr chá): Pu’er tea or pu-erh is a variety of fermented tea traditionally produced in Yunnan Province, China. In the context of traditional Chinese tea production terminology, fermentation refers to microbial fermentation (called ‘wet piling’), and is typically applied after the tea leaves have been sufficiently dried and rolled. As the tea undergoes controlled microbial fermentation, it also continues to oxidize, which is also controlled, until the desired flavors are reached. This process produces tea known as hēichá (黑茶, lit. ‘black tea’) (which is different from the English-language black tea that is called hóngchá (紅茶, lit. ‘red tea’) in Chinese). Pu’er falls under a larger category of fermented teas commonly translated as dark teas.
• 4
  大驚小怪 (dà jīng xiǎo guài): to make a fuss about nothing (idiom); describes being overly surprised at nothing remarkable; to make a fuss over a trivial matter; much ado about nothing; be surprised/alarmed at sth very ordinary; make an unwarranted fuss.
• 5
  四不像 (sì bù xiàng): common name for 麋鹿 (mí lù), Père David’s deer (Elaphurus davidianus), species of deer native to China that is critically endangered, which is said to resemble an amalgam of animals such as a cow, deer, donkey and horse; an odd mixture of disparate elements; hodgepodge; farrago.