Cheng Feng was the first to step out of the simulation device. She let out a breath, tugged at her collar, and fanned away the heat that had built up from intense concentration.
The two instructors were still whispering to each other in front of the screen, heads pressed together, hands gesturing wildly at who-knows-what.
An exam proctor walked past the window and paused at the back door, peeking inside through the gap.
Sensing the danger, the two quickly shut down the interface, straightened up in their seats, wiped their faces with their hands, and gave Cheng Feng an appreciative yet restrained smile.
Cheng Feng asked softly, “Where’s my partner?”
The instructor replied with a hint of envy, “Probably still savoring the experience.” No matter which stage of the test, no one could resist the joy of being carried to victory by a Class B parent.
“Oh,” Cheng Feng responded, gathered her things, and left through the back door. Just as she stepped out of the classroom, she turned back, flashed a hand gesture at the instructors, and smiled. “Tell him – you’re welcome.”
Helping others was simply in her nature!
The proctor watched her leave with a puzzled look, then walked into the classroom and asked, “What were you two just doing?”
“We were checking the scores,” the taller instructor said, pointing at the screen. “Someone from our uni just broke a record!”
The proctor reached out to take the optical computer, and upon seeing the result, gasped in surprise, the muscles around his eyes instinctively tightening and lifting.
[15 minutes and 07 seconds.]
Were his eyes playing tricks on him?!
The middle-aged man maintained his tense expression and raised his gaze. The instructor across from him gave him an encouraging nod.
Be bold. Dare to imagine.
Although the field of manual mech piloting didn’t have a very long history, the record shouldn’t be shattered by a margin measured in minutes. After all, the First and Second Military Universities had many candidates obsessed with breaking records.
The last time this test record was broken was five years ago, with a time of 17 minutes and 46 seconds. The best results in the following years had all been above 18 minutes.
The proctor called up the individual scores and saw that when Cheng Feng served as the mech pilot, her run had taken only six and a half minutes.
“This Lu Yuan…”
The proctor took a deep breath, but the second half of the sentence simply wouldn’t come out. Everyone could tell what he wanted to say, though, and someone reached over and patted him on the shoulder.
By then, the other candidates had also finished their competitions one after another and were exiting the simulation pods. The exam hall immediately filled with a fair amount of scattered noise.
The several examiners stopped their conversations, arranged for the students to leave in an orderly manner, and checked that the equipment had been properly shut down.
Lu Yuan took some time to compose himself before finally stepping out of the simulation pod. During the competition, he had broken out in a cold sweat, soaking his white short-sleeved shirt through. When the air conditioning from outside hit him, he shivered from the chill.
A buddy he knew approached from behind, casually slung an arm around his shoulder, and cheerfully pushed him along as they walked out.
Once they were outside the exam hall, the young man finally dared to speak, asking, “Why are you so down? I remember your teammate was Cheng Feng. What happened? Did you mess up the coordination and crash?”
Lu Yuan hesitated for a moment, then shook his head. He wanted to say that it was because he had exhausted too much mental energy – Cheng Feng had been practically taking off, while he was still running on the ground.
Then another young man walked over and chimed in, “Don’t take it too hard. This kind of test doesn’t decide anything. Besides, maybe everyone did poorly. You have no idea – I was driving just fine, and then, holy crap, out of nowhere this heavy cannon came flying at me. We’re all from the same uni – no need to sabotage each other like that, right?”
Lu Yuan kept his mouth tightly shut.
A buddy elbowed him in the arm and said with schadenfreude, “Don’t be so gloomy. So how many minutes did you guys get? Tell me so I can cheer up. I promise I won’t tell anyone.”
As they chatted, the group had already reached the first floor. The wall directly opposite the entrance was already displaying the list of top-ranking students from this exam.
A crowd of examinees had gathered in front of the large screen, bustling and noisy. Among them, the name “Cheng Feng” stood out as particularly prominent – whenever those two syllables were spoken, they were laced with a rich mix of emotions.
Lu Yuan wanted to slip away quietly along the wall. But before he could even reach the glass door, he heard his friend’s furious roar.
“Go to hell, Lu Yuan!!”
Lu Yuan broke into a run and fled.
The results of this test were quickly reposted on the 3A platform, with a headline that was both eye-catching and spot-on –
#Downright insane: a record unbroken for five years has been shattered by two and a half minutes#
As soon as the post went up, the title alone sent it trending among netizens.
“Who broke the record? And by a full two minutes? Isn’t the time record for this event supposed to be down to the second? Are only humans allowed to compete? Oh, it’s Cheng Feng? Never mind.”
“May I ask who Lu Yuan is?”
“Tonight, Lu Yuan is the dream man of every manual operation major!”
“I don’t think I can break the record on my own. So how do I get matched into a team with Cheng Feng?”
“Stop dreaming. Just go out and burn some incense early next year. Speaking of which, can someone please @ Lu Yuan? I want to know which mountain is the most spiritually potent. When I go pay my respects, I’ll definitely say that Lu Yuan sent me – isn’t that a win-win?”
“Stop asking. Lu Yuan is my buddy. After riding in Cheng Feng’s mech, he could barely get out. His head was spinning, and he’s still suffering from the aftereffects. He can’t stand seeing a mech running ahead of him.”
“I’m willing to endure the painful aftereffects. I hope Cheng Feng picks me next time.”
“The overall results for this year’s cohort are pretty good, partly thanks to the major technical revision. It shows that the direction of manual mech reform is correct.”
…
Cheng Feng packed up some food and returned to her dorm. As usual, she grabbed a bun with one hand and pulled up the footage and materials of Xiang Yunjian and the others to study.
Today, she planned to finish her analysis report on Jiang Linxia. She had only just watched the opening credits when a message from Jiang Linxia popped up in their small group chat. Startled, she immediately turned off the video, guiltily tidied up her desk, and only then opened the chat window.
What’s Good About Summer: Nice one, Cheng Feng! Broke another record? My entire Moments feed is filled with your name!
Ye Guicheng: Not bad, just my usual performance. Though it was a little rushed. My teammate did pretty well too.
Ye Guicheng: Why are your friends so obsessed with manual mech?
What’s Good About Summer: [Image] They’re not obsessed with manual mech – they’re obsessed with the sight of manual mech majors having a breakdown. It’s absolutely hilarious!
Cheng Feng opened the image and glanced at the screenshot. Most of it was screenshots of Moments posts or chat conversations, with text too small to read clearly. The captions generally said something like: “Ever since Cheng Feng came along, I’ve really loved making friends with the manual mech class!”
Cheng Feng thought to herself, Boredom truly is universal.
This Moments feed was almost identical to Shen Dan’s. Shen Dan had also sent her a similar picture not long ago.
A Little More Reckless: This morning, I went to the third teaching building for a meeting. Mr. Kong was teaching in the classroom right next to ours.
What’s Good About Summer: Hahaha!
A Little More Reckless: Our door was closed, and we’d even turned on the noise-cancellation mode. Just a little after 10:15, we heard Mr. Kong in the next room roaring in his big, bold voice: “How can you call this reckless? Has Cheng Feng ever crashed? There’s still a fundamental difference between her and the First Military’s style – this is just her normal performance!”
What’s Good About Summer: Oh right, Cheng Feng, from now on, remember not to use the phrase “my normal performance” when you’re out. You’ll get beaten up. Especially at other uni.
Ye Guicheng: …
This had nothing to do with her at all.
Mr. Kong was the one dragging all the hate onto her!
A Little More Reckless: Then he went on and on for a while, to the point where our meeting couldn’t continue – everyone huddled by the door listening to him. It might have turned into a heated argument. Then Mr. Kong said very proudly: “So what if Cheng Feng just spoke some truth? This year, she’s going to take the individual MVP for manual mech! She’s the pride of our entire manual mech program. Everyone, think bigger, share any good resources you have, and crush that arrogant attitude of those guys from the other uni!”
A Little More Reckless: Almost forgot to @ Xiang Yunjian.
Xiang Yunjian: No need to specifically @ me.
Cheng Feng took a screenshot and promptly sent it to Mr. Kong, followed by an emoji sticker [Owl Grinning].
A Little More Reckless: Don’t say I was the one who told you.
Cheng Feng quickly retracted the message, blurred out his ID, and sent it again.
Mr. Kong: …I’ve already seen it.
Cheng Feng couldn’t do anything about it. This wasn’t her fault.
A Little More Reckless: He also said he wants to apply for double the activity budget next year. You should go ask him for a scholarship.
What’s Good About Summer: You’re slow at getting things done, but your gossip game is top-notch. [Wicked grin]
Cheng Feng switched out of the group chat and went over to Mr. Kong.
Ye Guicheng: Can I apply for double the scholarship next year?
Mr. Kong: Can you get the MVP? [Loving gaze]
Messages started popping up in the small group chat again.
Xiang Yunjian: A budget increase next year is certain. Even the revenue share from San Yao has gone up because of Cheng Feng. She also saved the military university a huge amount on publicity expenses. Saying “double” is actually being conservative.
Xiang Yunjian: There will also be live one-on-one combat streams later, and UFU can advertise for free on the sets. Cheng Feng has set new records twice in a row – the hype has already built up. No matter how many matches she ends up fighting, it’s a win.
Xiang Yunjian: Ten times the scholarship. Go ask for it.
Cheng Feng learned something new. She copied and pasted his text, changing “Cheng Feng” to “me.”
Ye Guicheng: Ten times the scholarship! [Owl Roaring]
Mr. Kong: …
Mr. Kong: Get out of those shady, disreputable group chats!
Ye Guicheng: [Owl Poor Thing] [Owl Shedding Tears]
Mr. Kong: Fine, fine, I’m already applying for it for you! I was going to wait until after you finished competing to tell you, but Xiang Yunjian and the others have ulterior motives – they’re trying to break your fighting spirit!
Mr. Kong: Do you want the scholarship, or do you want personal housing?
Cheng Feng didn’t react right away.
Mr. Kong: 110 square meters. Two location options. One is near the school, where most UFU faculty and staff live. You can come over to the teacher’s house for meals when you’re free. The other is in a neighboring district – not downtown, but the commercial area is well-developed. That way, when you’re on break, you can go to your own home instead of staying in the dorm. And after graduation, you’ll have a place to stay.
Mr. Kong: Also, your official ID certificate from the Alliance has been processed. It should be mailed to you in the next couple of days. Remember to return your temporary UFU ID card to the Academic Affairs Office.
Mr. Kong: So, can you get the MVP? [Loving gaze]
Cheng Feng typed her response with heavy emphasis.
Ye Guicheng: Just you wait.
