The Real Daughter Just Wants to Pilot Mechas - Chapter 38

Jiang Momo was already stunned by the long list of assets Ling Yelin had offered. She was still debating when she suddenly heard the word ‘noble’ come out of his mouth.

“Noble? Me?” Jiang Momo pointed at herself to confirm. “Is that even possible?”

Wasn’t noble status really hard to get? She remembered Little Eight saying the Jiang family had been trying for years and hadn’t even gotten close.

“Of course,” Ling Yelin said. “The process of becoming a noble isn’t complicated. If you want, I can elevate the entire Jiang family to nobility.”

Although the Jiang family didn’t seem to treat Jiang Momo well, the relationship between parents and children is hard to define. Often, those who were mistreated valued so-called family ties even more.

Jiang Momo was startled and replied firmly, “I don’t need that!”

“Commoners can’t be registered under the same household as nobles. Your household registration is still with the Jiang family,” Ling Yelin said.

Without even thinking, Jiang Momo asked, “Can I transfer it out?”

“Of course.” Ling Yelin propped his face on one hand and smiled gently. “After transferring it out, how about registering it under my name?”

Jiang Momo hesitated. “Can’t I have my own household registration?”

“You can, if you’re sure you’ll be the only one becoming a noble. Once the registration is complete, a separate household record will be generated automatically. Legally, you’ll have no relation to the Jiang family.”

Ling Yelin thought for a moment and added, “Noble registration requires a notarization fee. I’ll cover it for you.”

“Deal!” Jiang Momo slapped the keychain in her hand onto Ling Yelin’s palm and then happily picked up her chopsticks.

“I thought you’d be in a hurry to register.” Ling Yelin pulled out the chair beside Jiang Momo and sat down.

Jiang Momo buried her head in the food. “Such good food shouldn’t be wasted. You’re right here. You’re not going to run away.”

Ling Yelin rested his chin on one hand and tilted his head to look at Jiang Momo. “I remember you have a piece of Golden Crow ore.”

Jiang Momo paused her chopsticks and said casually, “I didn’t bring it with me. Let’s talk about it another day.”

Ling Yelin’s blinking visibly slowed. He smiled, “So you know the name of that material.”

Then she should also know its value.

Jiang Momo felt a jolt in her heart but her expression remained unchanged. She nodded casually.
“I do. Didn’t you say it was expensive? I later asked Yan Chang to help me look up the price.”

“No wonder.” Ling Yelin accepted the explanation.

Jiang Momo sighed inwardly, ‘This guy is too sharp. I have to be extra careful with my words from now on. Luckily, I have Yan Chang. With their relationship, Ling Yelin wouldn’t verify it with him.’

They finished the meal smoothly. Ling Yelin picked up a napkin and wiped his mouth gracefully. Then he stood, calmly straightened the wrinkles in his clothes, and looked at Jiang Momo who had already stood up. “You don’t like the clothes?”

“I do,” Jiang Momo replied openly. “It’s just that when I received them, class was about to start, so I didn’t have time to change.”

That was only part of the reason. The main reason was that she didn’t know Ling Yelin’s intention behind giving those things and was wary it might be a fox’s gift, essentially a trap.

“There are no dresses among those clothes. I personally think dresses don’t suit you,” Ling Yelin explained.

Jiang Momo nodded. “I think so too. So where do I go to register for nobility? The Civil Department?”

“You don’t have to worry about that. I’ll handle it. It’ll take about 30 working days.” Ling Yelin took a card from a nearby robot and handed it to Jiang Momo. “This is the keycard for this private room. You can come anytime, it’s permanently free.”

Jiang Momo accepted it and put it in her bag. “Thanks.”

“When can we trade the Golden Crow ore?” Ling Yelin asked.

“Anytime,” Jiang Momo replied. “Are you in a hurry?”

“There’s an auction at the trading center in the next couple of days. We’re still short a few final pieces. Originally, we had a contracted supplier from the Chaos Star System but she had an accident recently.” Ling Yelin’s expression turned slightly annoyed but he quickly composed himself and returned to his usual polite demeanor.

Jiang Momo felt that the supplier he mentioned sounded familiar. She asked, “Is it Wu Yue?”

“You know her?” Ling Yelin looked surprised. “You’re from the Chaos Star System too?”

He had previously investigated Jiang Momo but found nothing. According to the Federal Data Bureau, all records about Jiang Momo’s origins had been lost.

“I met her during a job interview. She even offered to sell me colored contact solution and hair dye,” Jiang Momo said as she subconsciously touched her hair. “Do you know which hospital she’s in?”

“That’s inconvenient to say but don’t worry, she’s almost recovered. And she’s very trustworthy. Since you two agreed to trade, she’ll contact you herself.” When Ling Yelin mentioned Wu Yue, there was a strange tone in his voice.

Jiang Momo picked up on it. Judging by his tone, their relationship might not be ordinary. “I have a piece of intel. If you’re interested, you can look into it.”

“What is it?” Ling Yelin asked.

Jiang Momo repeated exactly what Little Eight had told her before.

“I see. I’ll have someone look into it right away.” Ling Yelin frowned and for the first time, there was a real trace of anger on him. “I’m heading back to school. Are we taking the same aircraft or going separately?”

Jiang Momo checked the time. “Separately.”

“Alright, I’ll have the robot take you.”

Ling Yelin gave a few instructions to the robot standing nearby, told it to prep the aircraft, and bring them to the window. He then pressed a button on the glass.

Under Jiang Momo’s amazed gaze, the edges of the floor-to-ceiling window flashed twice and the glass in the middle vanished.

Two small aircraft hovered by the window.

“Get in.” Ling Yelin reached out, helping Jiang Momo on board and closing the hatch for her. “Send me a message when you get to the academy.”

“Okay.” Jiang Momo waved at him through the window.

Soon, the restaurant building grew smaller and smaller in her view until it was hidden behind other buildings and disappeared.

***

Jiang Momo returned to the academy and went straight to her dorm, then pulled a spatial compression storage box from under the sofa. She used her consciousness to retrieve the previously returned Golden Crow ore and then began rummaging for other things she could sell.

“Little Eight, is there anything else in here that’s worth some money?”

[Just sell those two for now. Having treasure invites trouble. If you take out too much at once, it’ll cause problems.]

“So I really do have other valuable things?!” Jiang Momo asked excitedly.

She hadn’t actually planned to sell more. She was just curious about her net worth.

[Most of it is quite valuable,] Little Eight assessed briefly. Not only valuable but rare. [If you ever want to craft and sell mechas in the future, don’t use the materials you brought back from the desolate planet.]

“Why?” Jiang Momo pondered for a moment and then clapped her hands in realization. “Because the materials are worth more than the average mecha?”

[Exactly. And many of them are non-renewable. The more you use, the less there is.]

“I get it now. So these materials are meant to be traded with Ling Yelin, not used for making mechas!”

Jiang Momo suddenly saw the light and happily held up the black fist-sized ore, trying to figure out what to trade it for. She had no idea.

Jiang Momo rolled over on the carpet, surrounded by piles of clothes. “Little Eight, any suggestions? What should I trade this rock for?”

[You could get a small villa on a high-tier floating island.]

Jiang Momo sat up. “How small?”

Little Eight was silent for a moment. [Very small.]

“Forget it.” Jiang Momo lay back down.

***

That afternoon, Jiang Momo woke up on the carpet and realized she had fallen asleep while thinking.

The Siamese cat was lying on the screen, looking sulky.

“What’s wrong, Little Eight?” Jiang Momo poked the cat on the screen and asked.

[Momo, I think being a robot was more convenient.] Little Eight buried its face in its paws, sulking.

It had just seen Jiang Momo asleep and wanted to move her to the bed, only to realize there were no robotic arms in the room and as a virtual cat, it was helpless in such situations.

So frustrating!

“Alright, once this class is over, I’ll go to the school warehouse and pick out materials to make you a new body,” Jiang Momo said with a chuckle, never having seen Little Eight act like that before. Then she glanced at the time and slowly got up from the floor.

Approaching the clothes rack, Jiang Momo casually picked up a dark green suit and changed into it, then headed downstairs.

[Momo, Ge Qing sent a message,] Little Eight reminded her.

At that moment, Jiang Momo had just exited the elevator and immediately opened her light brain upon hearing this.

[Ge Qing]: This afternoon is the practical class. You can go to the school warehouse first to pick out teaching tools. The progress of the students in the graduating class varies a lot, so teaching may be a bit complicated.

[Ge Qing]: Some of them passed the Level C Mecha Certification Exam a long time ago and now need to learn assembly. Others just passed, so they have to start learning from the energy pathways.

[Ge Qing]: The school warehouse is where you got the materials during the exam. You can access Building B’s basement floors 1 through 15.

[Jiang Momo]: Got it, Professor Ge. Thanks for the reminder.

Ten minutes later, on the top floor of the teaching building, inside the Mecha Manufacturing Practical Base, a figure carrying a stack of material panels taller than two people appeared at the elevator doors and walked into Base No. 1 under the stunned gazes of students.

“Who is that? I thought our academy doesn’t allow robots for transport?”

“From the back, it looks like Teacher Jiang Momo. Did she move the whole school warehouse over here?!”

“I remember now, she’s this year’s star teacher. She can use the school’s material stock however she wants. So lucky. I want to be her student too.”

“Too bad you need to scan your ID to enter the base for practical class. Otherwise, I’d sit in and watch.”

Jiang Momo didn’t know what the students were discussing as she passed by. All she knew was that as she moved the materials into Base No. 1 for the upcoming class, her students suddenly erupted in thunderous cheers and applause.

“Teacher Momo, you’re so cool!!!”

“I love you, Teacher Momo!!!”

“Ahhhhhhhhhh!!”

“Calm down, everyone.” Jiang Momo raised her hand slightly and the scene quickly quieted down.

The immediate obedience actually stunned Jiang Momo a little. She quickly glanced around and realized that the students there were highly overlapping with the ones in the morning’s class.

“Looks like everyone came to my class this morning?” Jiang Momo asked with a smile.

The classroom that morning had been large, probably because the school anticipated students wanting to audit, and it could hold about 500 people.

But in the base, she had quickly counted and a class was only around fifty people.

Hearing her question, the students got excited again.

“Of course!!! We admire you so much, Teacher Momo!”

“Not me, I couldn’t squeeze in this morning!”

“Teacher, can we take a photo with you now?!”

Jiang Momo raised her hand again.

Once more, the room instantly quieted down.

She glanced at the time and then looked up, her gaze sweeping across the students staring at her with starry eyes. “Has everyone in our class passed the Level C Mecha Certification Exam?”

The students responded in unison, “All passed!”

One student raised a hand. “Teacher, our practical class is divided by learning progress. The ones allowed into Base No. 1 are all qualified to manufacture B-grade mechas.”

“Are you the class monitor?” Jiang Momo looked over.

“No.” The student stood up. “We don’t have a class monitor yet.”

“Then you are now,” Jiang Momo said. “Anyone else have objections?”

“No!” the students replied.

“Alright, Class Monitor, organize the students who haven’t learned how to carve energy pathways yet to come to the front and collect the material panels,” Jiang Momo said. “Those who already know how to carve them, come to me.”

Soon, the students in the base split into two groups.

Jiang Momo counted roughly seven students standing in front of her. “What stage are you all at in your studies?” she asked.

“I’m up to the internal structure of the front cockpit.”

“I’m at the part where the right upper arm connects to the main body of the mecha.”

“…”

The seven students gave different answers but all of them mentioned very specific components they still needed to learn.

Jiang Momo scratched her head and sucked in a sharp breath.

How was she supposed to teach manufacturing at such specific parts? It looked like she couldn’t use the method Little Eight had used to teach her.

Back then, when she was learning, Little Eight had only said one thing, [Just follow the diagram and piece it together. It’s not that complicated.]