Genius

Chen Mu had always felt guilty towards his parents, and it was only after he felt life was no longer worth living that he chose to end his own life.

Now, having arrived in this world, with both his parents still alive, he felt immense relief. At the same time, he resolved in his heart to repay them and make up for his past regrets.

"Why are you here at the factory?"

His father gestured for Chen Mu to sit down and asked curiously from beside him.

"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 with a strange expression, instinctively reaching out to touch his forehead, wondering if his foolish son had a fever.

"Dad, I'm twenty now, not a child anymore." Chen Mu said with a mix of amusement and exasperation, batting away his father's hand, his expression serious.

"That's right, you are twenty."

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

"..." Alright, in the eyes of parents, their children are always just children.

But why do parents everywhere care about this issue?

It's time to find a partner!

"I designed a blueprint and want to make it to see."

Chen Mu said, not entirely truthfully.

"You? Design blueprints?"

This time, it was his father's turn to be speechless. He knew his son's capabilities all too well.

He had no talent since childhood, was lazy and loved to slack off. If it weren't for their decent family background, this brat would have been on the streets long ago!

And now he was designing blueprints himself?

He probably designed blueprints for paper airplanes!

"Toy gun."

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

The toy gun was actually an improved version of the M4 real gun, but it had undergone some modifications by Chen Mu through his research.

The material was changed from alloy to plastic, and the bullets were also made of plastic. They would rely on a spring at the bottom of the bullet to gain kinetic energy and launch the projectile...

In other aspects, it was no different from a real firearm.

Therefore, a firearm made of plastic could indeed be considered a toy.

"Interesting."

His father smiled, not taking it too seriously, but out of curiosity, he plugged the USB drive into the computer and began to examine it.

Chen Mu had bought the USB drive from a small shop he found on the way. He then had the Huaqiangbei System download the data for the plastic firearm into it before coming to the factory.

"Huh? It looks pretty good."

His father opened the files on the USB drive. They were filled with various design blueprints, with every part meticulously detailed and extremely precise.

This greatly surprised his father. When had his son developed such patience? Just creating these drawings must have taken a considerable amount of time!

"For a toy gun, you only need a few simple parts. You have dozens, even hundreds of parts, is that necessary?"

His father couldn't help but complain, though he couldn't hide his surprise.

"This isn't a real gun, so you don't need so many parts. Actually, you only need the barrel, stock, magazine, and firing mechanism. For the bullets, there's no need for special ones; just make them look like real bullets and use common plastic balls."

"Heh heh, actually, that's another thing I wanted to talk about..."

Chen Mu's smile faded as he looked at his father seriously. His father also seemed to sense something and his expression turned solemn.

"I read some books about firearm disassembly at the library a few days ago. After thinking about it, I tried to create a design blueprint for a firearm myself. I felt it was good enough, so I wanted to make it to test it out, and that's why..."

"So, this is a real gun?"

His father gasped, glancing around cautiously. Seeing no one else, he lowered his voice and said, "Do you know what this means? In China, you'll go to jail for this!"

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

Putting aside everything else, just being able to produce such detailed design blueprints already proves you have talent!

"The factory's equipment can also process metal parts, so even metal components wouldn't be a big problem."

His father gritted his teeth, took a deep breath, and said, "You can use the equipment, but these parts must be produced in at least ten separate batches and assembled here in the end. And no third person must know about the design blueprints, understand?"

His father spoke very seriously and cautiously.

He had to be careful; if this matter were exposed, it would be enough to land his foolish son in prison for life!

However, if his son desperately wanted to prove himself, he could only support him. Moreover, he was quite interested in the firearm design Chen Mu had created.

"Actually, there's no need for all this..."

Chen Mu found it a bit amusing and looked at his father seriously. "The factory isn't evading taxes, right? Our family are all law-abiding citizens, aren't we? I just designed a blueprint, I'm not using it for evil, so why be so cautious?"

"I'm not selling the design, nor will I profit from it. I won't manufacture firearms for sale either, so I have a clear conscience. What is there to fear?"

"Besides, if this thing is truly useful, at worst I can give it to the government and get a silk banner in return. That wouldn't be bad either!"

"At the very least, I can get recognition. I'm a designer with talent!"

Just by reading a few books, he could figure out how to design a firearm?

If that's not genius, what is?

And the title of "Genius" was precisely what Chen Mu needed right now. Only by becoming a "Genius" could he converse with the government and have a chance to meet with a "Genius" like Tony Stark!

And only a "Genius" would be qualified to help the military establish an arsenal!

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

His father, after hearing Chen Mu's words, felt they made sense. They weren't evading taxes, nor were they bribing or accepting bribes. They were doing business honestly and conscientiously, and they hadn't done anything to betray their conscience. So, what was there to be afraid of?

Moreover, as Chen Mu said, if the "firearm" he designed turned out to be good, it would indeed prove that his son was a genius!

This point was very important. If he could gain recognition and commendation from the government, even if his university diploma was bought, it would still prove that his son possessed genuine talent and practical knowledge!

Those things couldn't be learned in university!

Besides, if his son didn't care, why should he hide it? At worst, he could "turn it over" to the state, which would also bring honor to his son!

As a father, what he hoped for wasn't how much money Chen Mu could earn, but whether he could achieve something significant. If he could contribute to this country, no matter how great the contribution, he would still be very proud.