At Long Last, There He Was, by the Fading Lights

Mo Jingchun's design had hit a dead end. He was making no progress. Unless he solved the problems at hand, along with the many questions on his mind, he was stuck.

Mo Jingchun had no idea that going from having no foundation at all to producing a first draft of the Smart Anti-Shake Spoon's design had already put his self-learning ability ahead of 99.9 percent of people!

Even among this year's students in mechanical-related majors, there were probably only a handful who could design a practical product from scratch at this stage.

No matter how talented Mo Jingchun was, he now had to face the problems in front of him. He needed help and guidance from a professional, along with some advice.

Where was he? Jing University! A place teeming with experts, professors, and academicians from every field. Surely there was a teacher who could help Mo Jingchun solve his problems and answer his questions. The trouble was, Mo Jingchun was just a student—and a freshman, at that. He had no idea whom to ask. And even if he did, why would anyone bother with him without an introduction?

For a while, Mo Jingchun often furrowed his brow, whether he was in class or back at the apartment building.

That Saturday, Mo Jingchun was, as usual, deep in thought, holding Candy as she bounced around in his arms.

Just then, someone pushed open the half-closed bedroom door. Mo Jingchun was so focused on thinking that he didn't notice.

It wasn't that Mo Jingchun had no sense of security. The outer door was locked, and since the start of the semester, his counselor had only come by twice—one of those times because Mo Jingchun had invited her over for dinner.

How could Mo Jingchun have guessed that Counselor Na Jie would suddenly show up today without a word, and make no sound at all?

Inside the bedroom, Mo Jingchun sat with his back to Counselor Na Jie, head bowed as he read a book he had borrowed from the university library the night before.

After a month of this, the library staff all recognized Mo Jingchun. They knew him as the oddball who borrowed a book every day and returned one every day.

The university had never said that was against the rules, though. At most, the library staff would give this oddball an extra glance or occasionally say, "You're here again." They never asked about anything else.

Candy, who had been bouncing in Mo Jingchun's arms, quieted down when she saw Li Na. Her big eyes were full of curiosity as she looked at her, and a smile remained on her little face.

Li Na raised a finger to her lips, making a "shh" gesture at the little one. She hadn't even considered whether Candy understood what it meant.

Over the past few days, more than one class officer had reported Mo Jingchun's unusual behavior to Li Na. In particular, Zhang Huizhen, the acting class monitor, had mentioned that Mo Jingchun seemed troubled lately.

So Li Na had come straight to the apartment building to check on him and, while she was at it, help him deal with whatever was bothering him.

The little one reached out her hand. Li Na's lips curled into a slight smile, and she reached out to touch it.

Standing behind Mo Jingchun, Li Na could now see the book he was reading on the desk, as well as the handwritten notes beside it.

"Mechanical engineering?" Li Na was baffled. Why was Mo Jingchun, this fellow, suddenly studying mechanical engineering instead of focusing on his own major?

Didn't he know the old saying about biting off more than you could chew?

Mo Jingchun's mouth felt dry, so he licked his cracked lips and got ready to go to the kitchen for a glass of water. He turned around—and found Counselor Na Jie staring right at him. He leaped into the air like an athlete.

A choice bit of profanity slipped out before he could stop himself.

The little one, on the other hand, was delighted and tried to get Mo Jingchun to lift her up high again.

Mo Jingchun swallowed and asked cautiously, "Na Jie, when did you get here?"

"You scared the life out of me."

Li Na glanced at Mo Jingchun, who was still shaken, then tapped the book on the desk. "Have you already taught yourself all your major courses?"

"Planning to take mechanical engineering as a minor?"

"Is this why you've been zoning out in class and looking gloomy every day?"

Faced with Counselor Na Jie's three questions in a row, Mo Jingchun's smile gradually froze.

"I-I've taught myself most of them."

"So you haven't taught yourself all your major courses, then?"

Mo Jingchun had no answer to Counselor Na Jie's retort.

"You haven't even mastered your own major, and you're already thinking about studying another one?" Li Na couldn't hide the worry between her brows.

But Mo Jingchun's next words made Li Na's worry turn to irritation.

"Huh? No, I'm not thinking about studying another major. Who said that?"

Li Na stared at Mo Jingchun and pointed at the notes on the desk. "If you're not planning to study another major, why are you reading all these books? Look—you've even been taking notes."

He'd made notes and still claimed he wasn't planning to study another major. Did he think she was a child?

Seeing the misunderstanding deepen, Mo Jingchun hurriedly shook his head and explained, "Na Jie, it's not what you think. I'm developing a product, and I've run into a lot of problems with the hardware and mechanical design. I haven't been able to solve them, so I've been reading books and looking things up every day."

"That's all?"

Mo Jingchun nodded. "That's all."

"Wait, that doesn't make sense. Even if you're developing a product, you'd be working on software. What does mechanical engineering have to do with it?"

Mo Jingchun replied a little sheepishly, "I designed a small product. The software is fine, but the hardware and mechanical linkages aren't working the way I expected."

As he spoke, Mo Jingchun turned his laptop toward Counselor Na Jie.

"This is it. I designed the Smart Anti-Shake Spoon."

Looking at the chubby spoon on Mo Jingchun's laptop screen—well, it was probably a spoon—Li Na didn't want to dampen his enthusiasm, so she could only bring herself to ask what it was for.

In an instant, Mo Jingchun became a full-fledged orator, raving about how amazing the Smart Anti-Shake Spoon would be once he solved its problems.

Li Na rubbed her temples in dismay and let out a soft sigh.

"So you've been working on this thing by yourself all this time? And that's why you've been frowning every day?"

Hearing her hit the nail on the head, Mo Jingchun felt a pang of distress.

"Yes, Na Jie. I've solved most of the problems. The rest are all tough ones."

"Then why haven't you asked Academician Chen Xihe, who lives right across from you? Hmm?"

"You've got an academician right in front of you, but you're running to the library to look things up instead. What good is that? Not everything is written in books."

Mo Jingchun froze. An academician? Academician Chen Xihe, right across the hall?

Wasn't he Professor Chen Xihe?

And he'd never heard that Professor Chen Xihe—no, Academician Chen Xihe!—was an expert in mechanical engineering.

Well, it wasn't as though anyone had said he wasn't...

Mo Jingchun fell silent.

With anyone else, Mo Jingchun might not have known how to ask for help. If he'd known sooner that Academician Chen Xihe's research focused on mechanical engineering, he would have gone to ask him long ago.

What was this called? At long last, there he was, by the fading lights.

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