The Real Daughter Just Wants to Pilot Mechas - Chapter 76

“Huh?” Xiang Jiuming scooted a bit away, trying to read Shi Qin’s expression. Seeing that he really didn’t seem to be joking, his brain short-circuited. “Why?”

Shi Qin didn’t answer.

Xiang Jiuming lowered his voice. “You know only by entering the research institute can you study S-grade mecha, right? Even if Teacher Momo can build them, she’s not allowed to teach. Do you get it?”

Seeing that Shi Qin remained completely unmoved, Xiang Jiuming grew frustrated. “Shi Qin! You know it’s illegal in the Federation to privately learn S-grade mecha, right?”

Shi Qin was the class monitor, the most talented among them. Even if it meant another competitor, Xiang Jiuming didn’t want him to end up like some arrogant upperclassmen who ruined their futures.

Shi Qin, seeing how sincerely worried he looked, smiled faintly. “It’s fine. I know what I’m doing.”

Xiang Jiuming saw his stubborn look and sighed in defeat, scooting further away and facing the corner in self-imposed exile.

Meanwhile, Jiang Momo was still chatting with Li Yu.

“So, is it true that you work one day and rest two, with an eight-hour workday?”

Li Yu nodded. “Yeah, it’s true, but it’s defined differently from what people outside think. We stay in the institute 24/7. So, in three days, there’s one eight-hour period of actual S-grade mecha maintenance. It drains your mental power, so you need frequent breaks. We usually work for at least 24 hours before we’re allowed to rest.

“Then there’s physical training and other duties. It’s nothing like the rumors. The pay and benefits aren’t that great either. Sure, we have high status, but we’re locked up all the time, so it doesn’t feel like it.”

“You can’t leave? No holidays?” Jiang Momo asked. “Can you contact your family?”

“We can’t leave. We only get a few days off each year and contacting family needs work points. You have to do extra mecha repairs or builds on top of your basic duties to earn time for video calls. There’s someone monitoring the call too,” Li Yu said, eyes dimming with helplessness.

“You must get extra pay for the additional mecha work, right?” Jiang Momo asked.

Li Yu slammed the table so hard it almost cracked his molars. “No! We’re on fixed salaries. Either we do more or less, it’s all the same pay! Might as well be a freelance A or B-grade mecha manufacturer outside!”

Back when they joined, they all did it for their love of S-grade mecha. But once they got in, they were just exploited. If the Federation didn’t monopolize S-grade manufacturing technology so tightly, the Military Research Institute would never get any recruits.

After saying all that, Li Yu glanced around at the students. Seeing none of them looked convinced, he knew it wouldn’t be long before he saw their faces inside the research institute.

Come on then. Join. None of you will be making a sound once you’re in.

***

Two hours later, Jiang Momo received a reply from Lu Feng.

[The work culture in the research institute is more or less what you heard. It’s one of the downsides of military-style management. But Li Yu, due to his wealthy background, is one of the people who benefits from this system. He was never bullied.]

Jiang Momo understood instantly.

So basically, he was the one doing the bullying.

Jiang Momo glanced at Li Yu, who was still pouring out his grievances beside her, and patted his shoulder. “You’re going to scare the students so badly they won’t want to come to the research institute.”

Li Yu shut up instantly and let out a long sigh, raising his tired eyelids. “Everyone is welcome to apply.”

The students had already been numbed by his complaints. When they heard his words, they finally looked up at him distractedly and then went back to their own tasks without a word.

“How much longer till we get there?” Li Yu fiddled with the hem of his clothes, licking his lips which had gone dry from talking too much. He didn’t dare to ask Jiang Momo to get him water, so he asked resentfully.

“About two more hours.” Jiang Momo checked the time.

Li Yu yawned. “Then I’ll go take a nap.”

He walked into the nearby teachers’ lounge. Just as he stepped inside, he looked up at the name on the door, suddenly thinking of something. He turned and asked Jiang Momo, “Do you need to rest?”

“You go ahead and sleep.” Jiang Momo shook her head.

***

When Li Yu came out of the lounge again, Jiang Momo had already assembled the group. They were lined up neatly with their luggage, waiting at the spaceship entrance.

Li Yu glanced out the window. A vibrant forest spread before him but the ground beneath the trees was littered with all kinds of mecha parts. It looked messy and grimy.

“I thought we weren’t going to a junk planet?” Li Yu blurted out.

Jiang Momo took a deep breath. “This is a scenic tourism planet. Professor Ge Qing and I placed these materials here last night. When you came to teach, didn’t Professor Ge give you the lesson plan in advance?”

Li Yu looked baffled and opened his light brain to check. “Oh, yeah. I’ll download it.”

Two seconds later, he looked up sheepishly. “It’s expired.”

Jiang Momo: “…”

“Give me your light brain number, I’ll send you a new one.” Jiang Momo took a deep breath.

Li Yu gave his number right away, looking cheerful. After receiving the file, he didn’t open it immediately. Instead, he walked quickly to Jiang Momo’s side and whispered, “Teacher Momo, if I perform well this time, could you recommend me to Major General Lu?”

He had just asked his family and learned that Major General Lu had recently signed a new mecha repair technician. It was Jiang Momo.

It clicked immediately that Major General Lu must have been desperate. The number of repair quotas in the First Military District was obviously fewer than in his previous district and the repair priority was lower. Since they still needed to fight alien beasts, the existing maintenance team wasn’t enough anymore.

So now they needed a personal technician. Anyone could guess that outside technicians wouldn’t be that good and they could only handle minor issues.

If he had a chance to show Major General Lu what a real repairman could do, who would Major General Lu choose? Li Yu tugged at his collar, feeling smug.

Jiang Momo saw his strange expression and instinctively stepped away.

Li Yu didn’t mind that she didn’t respond. His family had ways to meet Major General Lu anyway. That had just been a hint for her.

“Alright, students, this is our first study site, the primitive forest scenic area. Let’s give a warm welcome to Teacher Li Yu for his explanation.” As soon as they got off the spaceship, Jiang Momo called out loudly once the students were in place.

Li Yu walked over immediately and pointed at the two students in front. “You two, turn on the recording equipment. The others will be observing.”

Shi Qin and Xiang Jiuming looked at Jiang Momo first. After she nodded, they started setting things up.

Li Yu cleared his throat. “In the future, you’ll likely enter the military and travel with combat teams to exterminate alien beasts. So, we need to understand the features of different terrains and learn to assemble mecha in any environment. Right now, we’re in a forest environment, which is characterized by…”

Jiang Momo stared at Li Yu’s eyes and saw he was clearly reading from a script. Surprisingly, the students were listening attentively.

So what was the point of her memorizing everything yesterday? Just to show off her good memory?

She stopped listening and turned her head. Not far away, a small squirrel-like creature was clutching a nut on a branch, ears perked as it watched them. The moment it made eye contact with Jiang Momo, its fur puffed up and it bolted.

“Little Eight, what kind of little animal was that? So cute,” Jiang Momo asked.

[Unable to identify,] the mechanical voice of Little Eight replied emotionlessly.

“There are things even you can’t identify? Haven’t you updated your database?”

[I’m synced with the latest Federation database.]

Jiang Momo found it odd. She walked a few steps in the direction the animal had run and pushed aside some leaves. In the distance, a group of small animals scattered.

“They’re so timid,” Jiang Momo murmured.

She was still watching when Li Yu’s voice roared from behind her, “Teacher Momo! Don’t wander from the group!”

Startled, Jiang Momo turned back to see the students still standing in place, all staring at her. She quickly raised a hand in apology and hurried back.

[Momo, based on analysis, the animals that ran off just now weren’t all the same species,] Little Eight suddenly said once she stood at the back of the group again.

[Also, I checked this tourism planet’s data and those animals used to be quite friendly. They’d even grab stuff from visitors.]

“So Professor Ge chose this place to simulate assembling mecha in a tough environment?” Jiang Momo scratched her head. “Should I have gone even farther?”

[That’s not the point. Do you remember what kind of animals run off the moment they see you?]

“Huh? I haven’t seen that many small animals in total. Weren’t most animals on the desolate planet just alien beasts?” Jiang Momo paused and then her eyes widened. “Wait… are those alien beasts’ cubs? They don’t look like it though.”

[That possibility cannot be ruled out.]

“I need to tell Major General Lu.” Jiang Momo immediately lowered her head to type a message but before she could finish, someone tapped her on the back.

“Momo, let me introduce you. This is the planet’s governor, Eli,” Ge Qing said cheerfully, standing behind Jiang Momo and pointing to the middle-aged man next to them. “Eli used to be my student. He said he’s a fan of Teacher Momo, so I brought him to meet you.”

“Hello, I’m Jiang Momo.” Jiang Momo extended a hand.

Eli shook it a bit excitedly. “Hello, hello, I’m Eli. I’ve liked you for a long time. I’m finally seeing you in person today!”

“Thank you.” Jiang Momo paused for a moment and then asked directly, “I noticed there are a lot of little animals on this planet that I’ve never seen before. What kind of species are they?”

“There’s no real species, they’re just hybrids,” Eli answered straightforwardly. “When this planet was being developed, funding was tight, so we only bought one of each species. They’ve interbred to the point where you can barely tell their ancestry anymore, but they’re really friendly. Every time guests visit, they run over to snuggle. It’s quite strange that none of them showed up today.”