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Published at 2nd of December 2022 06:43:25 AM


Chapter 3

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Since the factory, the little robot had been doing its job, strictly following the instructions on the chip, and all its behavior revolved around a core idea that ‘the guest is God’. Even if an angry guest kicked it over, it would pick itself up and have no complaints to the guest.

Now a guest said to it that they needed its help!

There was no distance beyond the limit. Its display for its eyes curved up like a crescent moon. Then it bumblingly followed Xie Quan into the side alley.

“May I ask what you need help with?” The little robot had just finished asking, when a pair of magic claws reached out to it mercilessly-

With a ‘beep’ sound, its power was turned off.

Xie Quan dragged the powered-off robot a little deeper into the alley, while a beetle-shaped device flew in front of the monitor above their heads. This was put out by Xie Quan just now to interfere with the monitor’s signal, allowing it to perpetuate the picture of the empty alley for a few minutes.

But just in case, Xie Quan hid behind the store’s discarded waste.

Sitting on the ground, Xie Quan opened the duffel bag he had been carrying, not a small duffel bag containing a portable toolbox, which held his usual tools, universal screwdrivers, adhesives, spare parts, and even a small can of spray paint.

The spray paint was something that he had created. It made things shiny and smooth so it would not wear, and could resist moderate acid corrosion. Spray paint development was a discipline, he was still too weak in this. He heard that the Imperial Research Institute had come up with a light defensive spray paint, not only could resist corrosion, but could increase the toughness of the material by two levels.

Xie Quan, while deconstructing the production method and principle of the spray paint in his head, thunderously dismantled the tracks and chassis of the small robot.

The robot’s structure was not very complicated, but it was only relatively speaking. It was, after all, a high-precision instrument. To disassemble the chassis was not so simple, it was from the abdomen of the axle wheel, and dozens of connection lines that needed to be disconnected.

Even if a skilled old mecha engineer did it, at the fastest, they would take ten minutes to complete. But Xie Quan took only seven minutes, and that was even when he was distracted by other things.

He breathed slowly, his long calloused fingers danced sensitively with rhythmic fluttering, his hand movements were not always fast, but very smooth; without a pause, without a hesitation, without a mistake, like the action of shoving food into the mouth, it was long engraved into his genes, innate behavioral patterns.

In the blink of an eye, the little robot’s tracks were fixed, and Xie Quan even helped with some warranty work on the joints and sprayed the surface with his own transparent spray paint. Xie Quan took the robot outside the alley and turned on the power.

After the power was turned on, the little robot blinked and then bent its eyes, “May I ask what help you need?”

Xie Quan looked at the little robot and thought for a moment, then reentered the store. Then he abducted the remaining sales robots. He was here anyway, so why not just fix them both? He had nothing to do anyway, and there wasn’t much going on right now.

Without realizing it, Xie Quan’s pair of jeans got dirty, not because of the repair, but because he sat anywhere with complete disregard. Even his back was a dirty pile of gray and white from unconsciously rubbing against the wall.

Just as he was putting the parts of the third robot back together and wrapping it up, the beetle-like device suddenly sent a weak electrical current to the terminal on his wrist, an alert that someone was approaching. Xie Quan’s eyebrows were pressed, and he kept moving to speed up, then immediately put his tools back into his backpack.

However, before the little robot could be sent back, footsteps entered the alley where Xie Quan was.

Xie Quan, who stood up, met up with the other side.

Then both sides were stunned.

Xie Quan, who was not very concerned about people’s looks, looked at the tall man wearing glasses a few steps away from him, and he thought something looked familiar, as if he had seen him somewhere before.

Ji Cheying, on the other hand, was surprised that he had met his new neighbor again so soon.

And–

Ji Cheying looked at Xie Quan’s stained pants and clothes, a wretched look as if he had rolled around on the floor.

How did this man get himself into such a mess in just an hour or so…? Such a mess?

The little robot that was just powered on by Xie Quan stood between the two and spoke in a brittle voice, “Hello, guest, how can I help you?”

The sense of presence was instantly filled.

Ji Cheying looked at the innocent robot and felt even more puzzled as to why the store’s salesman robot was here.

Xie Quan didn’t know Ji Cheying’s puzzlement, he was just thinking-

Where had he seen this person before?

His tools were put away and the robot was restored, so there should be nothing suspicious.

Ji Cheying spoke up at that moment, “What a coincidence that we met again.” He smiled gently and good-naturedly, plus the glasses looked somewhat elegant.

Xie Quan heard the voice, his eyes on Ji Cheying’s wrinkled shirt and scratchy leather shoes, his mind instantly went to the feet in the torn socks and the holey T-shirt. He looked back at the other man’s face, ruffled the frontal hair up in his head, and removed the glasses from his face.

He remembered.

“Hello, Mr. Ji Ming.”

Ji Cheying sighed, “I didn’t think we’d be so lucky to meet so soon.”

Xie Quan nodded, “Mn, yes.”

Ji Cheying asked, “What are you doing here?”

Xie Quan replied, “I came to the store to buy some household goods.” With that he remembered that he had left his kit on the floor and looked for it, then saw it lying on the ground next to the box with some scraps next to it.

He bent down and picked up the bag of utensils. Then he explained a little, “I just fell here.”

The little robot heard it and branched out, “May I ask if the customer needs help with this? There is a medical kit in the store for customers to use.”

Ji Cheying pointed to the little robot, “Why is it here?”

Xie Quan was silent for a moment and replied, “Maybe it’s tired from work and came out for a walk.”

The little robot’s eyes twinkled, “0386 would never neglect its duties.”

Ji Cheying gave a laugh and suggested, “Why don’t we just go ahead and take care of it? I hope you’re not hurt.”

Xie Quan, who had been herded into a duck’s nest, could only nod. Arriving at the rest area of the store, Xie Quan and Ji Cheying waited for the little robot to get the medical kit while sitting there sipping tea.

Ji Cheying chatted as if to ease the awkward atmosphere between them, “Are you new to Noel City?”

Xie Quan was holding a paper towel to wipe the stains on his kit, and he carefully replied, “Yes.”

“Are you here to work?”

“To visit relatives.” Xie Quan smiled coyly, “I’m not doing very well outside, so I wanted to see if there were any opportunities on my uncle’s side.”

Ji Cheying looked at his handsome face, his eyes as clear as the icy lake on the snowy mountains of Vichia. He found Xie Quan’s words very unconvincing. He raised his eyebrows and said, “With your good looks, you shouldn’t be able to mix badly?” He was good enough to be a model artist.

Xie Quan was prepared for this, his smile faded and he took on a bit of melancholy, “I’m not very smart, my brain is not good. Every time, I don’t work for too long, and then I get fired.”

Ji Cheying was silent for a few seconds, although he felt confused, but his situation was not very convenient to ask, because –

He smiled bitterly, “Coincidentally, I am the same.”

Xie Quan raised his eyes to look at him.

He said with a sigh, “Don’t look at me, but I’m actually particularly thick and clumsy, my limbs are uncoordinated, and I often break things and do things wrong, causing me to have no job now and live in great distress.”

“…”

Ji Cheying sighed, “I wish I were an alpha, so I would be a little better physically and definitely a little smarter.”

“…” Xie Quan indeed did not feel the alpha pressure and pheromone from the other side, nor did he see the glandular patch on the back of the other side’s neck to isolate the pheromone. When he heard Ji Cheying’s feelings, Xie Quan, who is not good at comforting people, spoke with difficulty. “Actually, I think it’s good to be a beta, it’s good to practice more.”

After saying that, he thought about it. In fact, with his current status as ‘Xie Quan’, it seems that he was not really qualified to comfort the other party.

Ji Cheying shook his head, perfectly playing the persona of the ‘eager to get rid of the beta status self-pity’, “You don’t understand, if you can be an alpha, there must be a lot more job opportunities.”

Xie Quan listened to the other party’s words with some confusion, “Why don’t you want to be an omega?”

Ji Cheying didn’t expect the other party’s focus to be on this. He froze for a moment, then said with goodwill, “Becoming an omega is also very good.” He concluded, “As long as it’s not beta.”

Xie Quan didn’t deny it. It would be good to be a beta, since alpha would have a susceptibility period, and omegas would have an estrus period, both were controlled by pheromones, only the beta was the most free to live.

He would love to be a beta.

Ji Cheying inadvertently looked at the street outside the window. The alley where Xie Quan was just now was the exact spot where the latest victim was found. Could it be a coincidence that this beta, who happened to move into his apartment, appeared there?

The author has something to say:

Xie Quan: I’m good looking, but I’m stupid, so I’m living a miserable life.

Ji Cheying: ???! Why does this reason sound so familiar?

Neither of them was afraid to state this reason and they would only be embarrassed if their bad acting was caught.




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