Chapter 184: Recognition

Hearing Che Yucheng’s suggestion, Chai Lun’s mouth fell open, a hint of bitterness in his eyes, and he still wanted to refuse.

"Teacher Che," Chai Lun began, "making puppets is incredibly time-consuming. This junior student is only in his first year, and his studies are demanding. We can't let this affect his learning. Although he’s a new student in the Puppetry Department, he only has theoretical knowledge at this point. Actual production, assembly, and even debugging require a lot of practical experience…”

"I'm only making a suggestion," Che Yucheng said with a smile.

Although Chen Mobai didn't know why he was suggesting he help out, he knew the academy's dean of students wouldn't harm him, and he immediately nodded in agreement.

"I can help out for free," Chen Mobai quickly offered. "This is a rare internship opportunity, and it's a demonstration puppet based on me! With me here, the production progress should be much faster, right?" Chen Mobai thought Chai Lun was worried he would ask for a price reduction if he helped, so he immediately spoke up.

"Since young Chen has no objections," Che Yucheng said gently, "you can take him on."

If it had been anyone else, Chai Lun would definitely have refused, but it was Che Yucheng speaking.

"Alright."

In the end, he could only nod in reluctant agreement.

Chai Lun finally understood now why Che Yucheng had introduced this business to him — the real reason was here. He clearly knew the difficulty of mentoring newcomers, especially novices in puppetry. Unless they practiced for half a year to a year, they wouldn't get the hang of it.

Puppetry was considered a niche major in the entire Wuqi Academy. That's why Che Yucheng was willing to guide every student who was committed to learning this craft.

"My temper isn't great when I'm working," Chai Lun suddenly said after they left Building One. "If you can't stand it, you're free not to come."

Chen Mobai said it was no problem.

But the very next day, he regretted it.

Chai Lun's temper wasn't just bad; when he was making puppets, he seemed like a completely different person. The originally gentle and polite man instantly transformed into a fanatic. A single part Chen Mobai cut, off by merely half a millimeter, led to him being furiously lectured for half an hour.

"Do you know that a life-sized puppet is made of at least twelve thousand parts?"

Chen Mobai happened to know; he had learned it in class.

"So, if every single part is off by half a millimeter," Chai Lun pressed, "what do you think your demonstration puppet will look like when it's finally assembled?"

As Chai Lun said this, Chen Mobai thought for a moment, then scratched his head. "Maybe, probably... it'll just be a slightly fatter version of me."

"A little fatter!" Chai Lun's voice suddenly rose five octaves, and he immediately launched into a tirade. "It won't just be a little fatter, I'm telling you! What you'll end up with is a goddamn deformed monstrosity! It'll deviate during the demonstration, and when you eventually go berserk and die in the cultivation chamber, it'll all be because this one part you made today was half a millimeter too long..."

After he had ranted enough, Chai Lun snatched the tool from Chen Mobai's hand and, with a look of disgust, pointed to a small stool in the corner. "Just sit there, rest well, and don't move," he said. "I'll consider you the supervisor; just don't cause me any more trouble."

Chen Mobai felt indignant. He was a novice who had never made a puppet before. Wasn't it normal to make mistakes at first? Couldn't he just teach him more?

But as he sat on the small stool, after watching Chai Lun's movements for a while, he realized that the latter's meticulous focus on every single part was something he truly needed to learn. He personally saw a part that was already perfectly made, but because the spiritual energy transmission through it was half a second slower than usual, Chai Lun remade three more, until the measured data showed no deviation on the stopwatch.

Chen Mobai, who had initially planned to watch for a bit and then leave, unknowingly stayed until evening.

Chai Lun stood up, preparing to turn off the lights and leave, when he suddenly noticed a takeout box on the table and was momentarily stunned.

"I saw you hadn't eaten, so I ordered something for you," Chen Mobai said.

Chen Mobai's words made Chai Lun feel slightly that having an extra person in the workshop wasn't entirely without its benefits. At least they could order takeout.

After eating, the two of them walked out of the workshop.

The next day, Chen Mobai attended his registered major courses in the morning, took two elective classes in the afternoon, and then hurried to the workshop.

Chai Lun was already there. He was holding a fully assembled right index finger and comparing it against the projected data model of Chen Mobai's body to see if any adjustments were still needed.

After Chen Mobai entered, Chai Lun glanced at him and then pointed to the small stool in the corner. Seeing the warning in his senior's eyes, Chen Mobai, who had originally wanted to show off his skills, could only obediently sit down.

At this moment, he finally understood why Chai Lun's expression had been so bitter when Che Yucheng said he should take him under his wing. Puppetry was indeed incredibly difficult to master. Without someone guiding you, even if you wasted a lot of materials, you still might not be able to get started.

After helping order takeout for seven consecutive days, Chen Mobai finally got a chance to help out. Some materials Chai Lun ordered had arrived, and he asked Chen Mobai to sign for them and bring them into the workshop. After moving them in, he naturally helped unpack them. Some items had been covered in class, such as spiritual energy conduits identical to meridians, organic synthetic materials for bones, and movable gears for joints.

But there were also some things that hadn't been taught in class yet, such as a fist-sized green square chip. It was densely micro-engraved with countless unknown formation arrays and restrictions, making Chen Mobai's eyes blur without him being able to make sense of anything. He could only humbly ask, "Senior, what is this?"

"The main controller," Chai Lun explained. "This is the most expensive part, and the ones from Butian Academy are the best quality."

Thanks to the bond formed over ordering takeout during this period, Chai Lun would generally explain Chen Mobai's questions thoroughly, as long as he wasn't in a bad mood. After all, this was the junior student Che Yucheng had asked him to mentor.

After Chen Mobai learned its name, he immediately searched for related information online. It turned out that this small square chip was capable of controlling the entire puppet. This tiny piece contained the essence of immortal sect puppetry, and its price accounted for more than half of the entire demonstration puppet.

Under the guidance of Chai Lun, an experienced hand, Chen Mobai's demonstration puppet began to be systematically produced.

Half a month later, Chai Lun seemed to have forgotten what happened before and surprisingly asked Chen Mobai to start hand-filing parts again. This time, a very serious Chen Mobai meticulously followed the dimensions on the blueprint, not erring by a single millimeter. But after Chai Lun inspected it, he still found three flaws. However, this time he didn't rant. After guiding Chen Mobai to make parts that satisfied him, he gave him twenty more blueprints for parts.

The moment Chen Mobai received the blueprints, he felt a sense of validation. It made him happier than ranking in the top three in his puppetry monthly exam.