Genius

Chen Mu had always been filled with guilt toward his parents. Later, when he felt there was nothing left to live for, he chose to end his own life.

Now that he had come to this world, his parents were both still alive. That filled him with relief, and he resolved in his heart that he would repay them and make up for his regrets.

"What brought you to the factory?"

His father had Chen Mu sit down, then sat beside him and asked curiously.

"Dad, I need to borrow the factory's equipment to make something."

Chen Mu said.

"You want to make something?"

His father looked at Chen Mu strangely and instinctively reached for his forehead, wanting to see whether his silly son had a fever.

"Dad, I'm already twenty. I'm not a child anymore." Chen Mu did not know whether to laugh or cry. He brushed his father's hand aside, his expression earnest.

"Yeah, you're already twenty."

His father smiled, nodded, and said, "It's about time you found yourself a girlfriend."

"..." Fine. In his parents' eyes, their child would always just be a child.

But why did parents everywhere care about this issue?

It was time to find a partner!

"I designed a blueprint and wanted to try making it."

Chen Mu lied through his teeth.

"You? You designed a blueprint?"

This time, it was his father's turn to be speechless. How could he not know what his own son was capable of?

He had lacked talent since childhood, loved eating and hated working. If their family had not been fairly well-off, this brat would have ended up on the streets long ago!

And now he had designed a blueprint himself?

It was probably a blueprint for folding paper airplanes!

"A toy gun."

Chen Mu decided to prove himself through action. He took out a USB drive and placed it on his father's desk.

The toy gun was actually an improved M4 real gun. Chen Mu had simply modified it through research and made some drastic alterations.

The material had been changed from alloy to plastic. The bullets were the same, made into plastic products that relied on springs at their bases to generate kinetic energy and fire the projectiles...

As for everything else, it was no different from a real firearm.

Thus, a gun made of plastic could indeed be called a toy.

"Interesting."

His father smiled. Naturally, he did not take it too seriously, but he was still curious enough to plug the USB drive into the computer and begin looking through it.

Chen Mu had bought the USB drive from a random little shop on the way over, then had the Huaqiangbei System download the plastic gun's materials onto it before coming to the factory.

"Huh? This actually looks pretty good."

His father opened the files on the USB drive. They were full of various design blueprints, with every single component detailed down to the smallest particulars.

His father was utterly surprised. Since when had his son become so patient? Just drawing these plans must have taken a great deal of time!

"For a toy gun, you really only need a few simple parts. Yours has dozens, maybe even hundreds of parts. Is that necessary?"

His father could not help complaining, though he still could not conceal his amazement.

"This isn't a real gun. You don't need so many parts at all. You only need a barrel, stock, magazine, and firing mechanism. As for the ammunition, there's no need to customize it or make it look like real bullets. Ordinary plastic pellets would do."

"Hehe, actually, that's the other thing I wanted to say..."

Chen Mu's smile faded. He looked seriously at his father, who seemed to realize something as well and grew solemn.

"A few days ago, I read some books in the library about disassembling firearms. After I went home and studied them, I tried designing a gun myself. I think it's pretty much done, and I wanted to make it and test it, so..."

"So this is a real gun?"

His father sucked in a cold breath and cautiously looked around. Only after confirming that no one else was nearby did he lower his voice. "Do you know what this means? In China, this could land you in prison!"

"I know. That's why it's a plastic toy gun. I'm not making it to sell. I just want to borrow the factory's equipment and make one to see whether I have any talent in this area."

Not to mention anything else, but being able to produce such detailed blueprints already proved that he had talent!

"The factory's equipment can process metal parts too, so making metal components won't be much of a problem."

His father gritted his teeth, took a deep breath, and said, "You can use the equipment, but these parts must be divided into at least ten batches and produced separately. Only assemble them here afterward. No third person can know about the blueprints, understand?"

His father was extremely serious as he spoke cautiously.

He had no choice but to be careful. If this got out, it would be enough for that silly boy to spend the rest of his life in prison!

But if his son desperately wanted to prove himself, all he could do was support him. Besides, he was quite interested in the firearm Chen Mu had designed.

"Actually, there's no need for that..."

Chen Mu found it somewhat amusing. He looked seriously at his father and said, "The factory hasn't evaded taxes, right? Our family are all law-abiding citizens, right? I merely designed a blueprint. I'm not using it to do evil, so why be so cautious?"

"I'm not selling the blueprints, profiting from them, or manufacturing firearms to sell. My conscience is clear, so what am I afraid of?"

"Besides, if this thing is really useful, we can just give it to the authorities. Getting a Silk Banner in exchange wouldn't be bad either!"

"At the very least, I could gain recognition as a talented designer!"

To figure out a firearm simply from reading a few books?

If that was not genius, then what was?

And the title of "genius" was precisely what Chen Mu urgently needed right now. Only by becoming a "genius" could he speak with the authorities and have the chance to meet the "genius" Tony Stark!

Only a "genius" was qualified to help the military establish an arms factory!

"Then... let's give it a try..."

After hearing Chen Mu's words, his father felt that they made sense. They had neither evaded taxes nor accepted bribes. They conducted their business honestly and properly, and had never done anything shameful. What did they have to fear?

Besides, as Chen Mu had said, if the "firearm" he designed truly turned out well, it would indeed prove that his son was a genius!

That was extremely important. If he could gain recognition and praise from the authorities, then even if his university diploma had been bought, it would still prove that his son possessed genuine ability!

Those were things that could not even be learned at university!

Besides, if his son did not care, why should he hide it? At worst, they could "hand it over" to the state. It would be another point of pride for his son!

As a father, what he hoped for was not that Chen Mu would make a great deal of money, but that he would amount to something. If he could contribute to the country, no matter how great or small that contribution, his father would be immensely proud.