Just do it—assembling a mecha shouldn’t be that different from assembling a model… Well, okay, the difference was massive.
Jiang Hui looked at the scattered parts on the floor. Even though she had mentally prepared herself, she couldn’t help but feel a wave of discouragement.
This was already her seventh attempt.
After painstaking effort, tweaking and adjusting, she had thought this time would be close enough. But it fell apart instantly, the fragile structure collapsing without holding for even a moment.
Was her approach wrong? Jiang Hui smacked her forehead in frustration, flipping through the reference book she had been using.
Of course, the book wasn’t exactly advanced. Many detailed sections were oversimplified, with the main content focusing on outlines and broad steps. Still, it was the most detailed guide she could find on the market, and she had relied on similar books to assemble mecha models before.
Okay, she admitted she was a bit overconfident—thinking she could jump from assembling models to a real mecha after just a few tries. People would laugh if they knew.
But she wasn’t satisfied. There’s a saying, “Master one skill, and a hundred others will follow.” It’s a bit exaggerated, but not entirely baseless. While she didn’t consider herself a genius who could master everything, she could at least draw connections and build on what she knew.
This time, Jiang Hui had chosen to work on a humanoid mecha’s finger joint. Its structure was similar to a human’s, making it easier to understand, and its size was manageable, so she decided to give it a try.
To prepare, she had disassembled six or seven different types and sizes of humanoid mecha finger joints, studying their internal structures, external contours, functional connections, and construction materials one by one before attempting assembly.
In theory, the “templates” she selected were nearly 1:1 matches in structure. The joint she used for her final assembly was intact, carefully disassembled piece by piece beforehand.
The result? After more than a day of work, she hadn’t succeeded, and she couldn’t even get the basic shape right.
Every time she managed to form a rough prototype, the moment she let go, it collapsed into a pile of loose parts—so scattered that even strong crystal adhesive couldn’t hold them together. This made Jiang Hui seriously doubt her abilities. Was the gap between models and real mechas that big? Okay, it definitely was.
But did it have to fall apart this completely? Jiang Hui crouched on the floor, picking up a piece of armor plating. The movable joint it had been snugly fitted to earlier had completely detached, landing half a meter away.
Over a hundred parts scattered in an instant, not a single one connected. Seriously—how were they so perfectly aligned when they fit together, but so perfectly cooperative when they fell apart?
Jiang Hui let out a long sigh, her fingers pausing. She clasped her hands together, deciding to pack up the parts for now and wait until she could find more detailed assembly guides back at school. Otherwise, she was afraid she’d drive herself to frustration.
‘Knock, knock, knock’—a dull knocking came from the door. Jiang Hui assumed it was the Zhou family staff delivering food, though she thought it was a bit early since dinner was still a while away. She reached for the remote to open the door, but then a familiar voice called out.
“Classmate Jiang.”
Wasn’t that Zhou Xiuwen? What was he doing here?
Without thinking too much, Jiang Hui quickly jumped up and opened the door.
As soon as Zhou Xiuwen stepped inside, he saw Jiang Hui sitting on the floor, a crate of unidentified metal objects beside her. She was fiddling with a final handful of parts before tossing them back into the crate with a swift motion.
He finally understood where the “clinking and clanging” noises from her room had been coming from.
“Are you… assembling a mecha?” Zhou Xiuwen had grown up surrounded by such things. Though he had little personal experience piloting mechas, lacked talent or interest in the field, and had even less to say about combat skills, he was far more knowledgeable than many of his interstellar peers. At a glance, he recognized the parts as mecha components.
Jiang Hui nodded casually, as if it wasn’t a big deal, and led Zhou Xiuwen to sit at the table, ignoring the mess on the floor.
Assembling a mecha? Had he heard that right? He clearly remembered that Jiang Hui, Clarens, and Xierman were all students in the combat infantry department. Were infantry students supposed to take on tasks like this now? Zhou Xiuwen couldn’t help but wonder, puzzled.
Jiang Hui could probably guess what was going through his mind. A combat infantry student secretly dabbling in mecha assembly? That must seem odd.
“Just messing around, nothing serious,” she said with a slight chuckle. “I think I mentioned before, but I never actually planned to join the combat infantry department. When I applied to this school, I didn’t pay much attention to the details, and somehow I ended up automatically enrolled in infantry. By the time I realized and wanted to change, the school had already finalized my enrollment, assigned my major, and placed me in a class. If I want to switch majors, I’ll have to wait until next year.”
“Later, I got exposed to mechas by chance and found them pretty interesting, so I thought I’d give it a try. After all, there’s still a long time until the end of the intermediate education term. No one can say for sure they’ll stick with their major forever, so learning a bit more doesn’t hurt.”
Besides, even if she did end up enlisting as an infantry soldier in the future, knowing more about mechas wouldn’t be a disadvantage.
Zhou Xiuwen’s eyes widened slightly. In his eyes, Jiang Hui was incredibly capable and sharp, so it was surprising to hear she wasn’t entirely certain about her current major. It was understandable, but the contrast with the Jiang Hui he had come to know over the past few days was striking.
For a moment, he didn’t know what to say. After a long pause, he managed, “That’s… that’s great, I…” He seemed to want to say more, but swallowed his words and changed the subject. “I think I have some basic books for mecha technicians, gifts from elders in the capital. They’ve just been sitting around, unused. If you need them, I can go grab them for you.”
Jiang Hui, considerate enough not to pry into what he held back, pretended not to notice. When she heard he had suitable beginner books, her eyes lit up with interest. Without hesitation, she eagerly said, “Yes, I need them!” Those were exactly the kind of books she was lacking.
To be honest, she was currently fumbling around blindly, completely disregarding any proper method. The feeling of groping her way across a river blindfolded was awful—she didn’t even know if she was still on the river. Jiang Hui was afraid that her reckless tinkering might cause problems, and this made her increasingly anxious.
But giving up wasn’t an option she could accept… Continuing like this was definitely not sustainable. It seemed she really needed to follow a proper course. Otherwise, she’d never even cross the threshold in her lifetime.