Chapter 42: The Union of Heart and Mind

The current engines are overly complex, consume a great deal of energy, and are rather bulky—posing many inconveniences. At her call, Gou Dan selected a set of engine parts, choosing the usable ones for assembly; he then reorganized the wiring, removing all unnecessary circuits.

“Master, the engine is too large. It requires you to refine it with your mental power.”

“Bring it here.”

“Yes.” Gou Dan carefully gathered the components that needed refining and brought them over.

Zhong Yuxiu set aside her work, refining each part in turn. Their shapes remained unchanged, but their sizes diminished; with the parts now transformed, the casing dimensions also had to be adjusted. She quickly redrew the schematics and handed them to Gou Dan.

“Take these to Hao Nan. He'll know what to do.”

“Yes, Master.”

Gou Dan accepted the items and headed downstairs. The sensors tracked Hao Nan's location, and Gou Dan bypassed the living room, exiting the small building. Hao Nan and Tian Shanguo were practicing sparring outside. Although they had to follow and protect their charge daily, their training never ceased.

“Beep beep.” Gou Dan issued a warning beep to announce his arrival.

Hearing the sound, Hao Nan and Tian Shanguo paused and turned. “Gou Dan, what brings you here?” they asked in unison.

Gou Dan approached, handed over the papers, and turned to leave.

Hao Nan glanced at Gou Dan entering the building, then lowered his eyes to the blueprints. Upon seeing the technical terms and part numbers, he pressed the papers against his chest.

“What is it?” Tian Shanguo’s curiosity was piqued.

“It’s a design from Comrade Zhong. I need to step out. Watch the house.” Hao Nan hurried inside to change clothes, and when he emerged, he added, “Ask Sister Li to bring some fruit and snacks up to Comrade Zhong as well.”

Tian Shanguo nodded. “Understood.”

Li Yun arrived, having overheard. “Where are you going?”

“I have to run an errand. Remember to deliver some snacks and fruit to Comrade Zhong; she’s busy right now. Just knock at the door and let her know,” Hao Nan said, donning his jacket and securing his standard-issue firearm before striding away like the wind.

“What’s the rush?” Li Yun wondered aloud.

Tian Shanguo shook his head. “All I know is Comrade Zhong gave him a set of blueprints—must be something important.”

“I see.” Li Yun, thoughtful, returned to the kitchen, arranged the snacks she had prepared and the fresh fruit delivered that morning, and carried them upstairs. “Knock, knock, knock. Comrade Zhong, I’ve brought you snacks and fruit.”

Zhong Yuxiu’s ears twitched. “Gou Dan, go fetch them.”

“Beep, beep, beep...” Gou Dan made his way to the door, opened it, and extended his hand.

Li Yun peered inside, but Gou Dan’s mechanical body blocked her view entirely; she placed the tray in his hand. “Comrade Zhong, don’t get so absorbed in your research—your health is the real foundation of the revolution. Remember to eat the snacks and fruit.”

Gou Dan switched to carrying the tray single-handedly, closed the door, and returned to the laboratory.

Zhong Yuxiu frowned. “What’s with this Sister Li? She’s always wandering upstairs.” Her room didn’t need cleaning—Gou Dan could handle the entire second floor.

“Master, Li Yun is still outside,” Gou Dan said in a hushed tone.

“What does she want?” Zhong Yuxiu took a deep breath. “Was she sent by the higher-ups to spy on me? That doesn’t make sense. With Hao Nan and Tian Shanguo here, she’s unnecessary.”

“If she wasn’t sent by the higher-ups to investigate you, then she must be a spy,” Gou Dan replied.

Zhong Yuxiu nodded mildly and said nothing more, immersing herself in research. With the engine problem solved and the data checked thrice for accuracy, she finalized her solution. Then, turning her attention to the sensor, she realized the robot’s current sensor was too large; she needed one suitable for a small vehicle. Furthermore, integrating a chip into the sensor and loading a map presented a significant challenge.

At present, there was no network to speak of, and satellite connections were out of the question.

For two days, Zhong Yuxiu was plagued by headaches until Old Yan delivered the vehicle’s shell and lithium battery, and Hao Nan brought the generator casing. Only then did she set the sensor problem aside to focus on the lithium battery—how to maximize its performance, make it reusable, and capable of high-power output.

Limited by available materials, it took her more than half a month to shrink the lithium battery to the size of a fist, with a storage capacity reaching five hundred thousand milliampere-hours. That was the best she could do. With better materials, the capacity could reach hundreds of milliampere-hours, making it last a week; as things stood, the maximum was three days.

“This will have to do for now.” With limited resources, she could only do her best.

Setting aside her battery work, Zhong Yuxiu refocused on the sensor and chip, aiming to integrate the two. She devoted another full month to the task, during which she left the house only to check in at the school; all meals were delivered to the lab by Li Yun and collected by Gou Dan.

“At last—success!”

Gou Dan’s mechanical head swiveled. “Congratulations, Master. With this invention, you now officially own a car.”

Though the vehicle was rudimentary and could not compare to the flying cars of the interstellar age.

“Congratulations to you as well—you share in this success.” As the saying goes, it’s easy to move from luxury to frugality, but hard to go the other way. In the interstellar era, she had the very best of everything; here, everything was crude and basic, making research anything but smooth.

Indeed, in her eyes, these materials were little better than inferior scrap.

“Will Master be celebrating with a feast?”

“You’ll cook?”

“Certainly, Master. I’ll prepare your favorites: Dongpo pork, shredded pork in garlic sauce, and Kung Pao chicken.”

“Hurry, hurry—I’m practically drooling.” After nearly two months in the lab, though her meals were adequate, she’d had little appetite.

“Yes, Master, I’ll get started right away.”

Gou Dan marched out of the lab on his mechanical legs and headed straight for the kitchen. His appearance startled Li Yun, who exclaimed, “Gou Dan?!”

“Beep, beep, beep.”

Without a word, Gou Dan bypassed her, checked the available ingredients, then ushered her out and closed the kitchen door. He began preparing soup and ingredients—after all, his master had worked hard and deserved a good meal.

Li Yun was left baffled.

“Sister Li, what happened?” Hao Nan and Tian Shanguo came over, having heard the commotion, and found Li Yun standing outside the door in a daze.

Li Yun sniffed and turned, saying, “Do you know who’s inside?”

“Comrade Zhong came out? So why did she send you out?” Tian Shanguo asked, unperturbed.

“If only it were Comrade Zhong,” Li Yun replied, exasperated. “It’s Gou Dan—Comrade Zhong’s robot. As soon as it went in, it pushed me out. I have no idea what it’s up to. My soup is still on the stove—hope it doesn’t boil dry.”

Hao Nan was noncommittal. “Gou Dan’s a robot; it doesn’t have independent thought... There’s no way it would push someone out.”

Li Yun: ...

“Sister Li, please step aside,” Tian Shanguo said.

Li Yun moved over, thinking, If you don’t believe me, see for yourself—I have no reason to lie.

Tian Shanguo gently opened the door and peeked in. Gou Dan’s mechanical hands were moving with astonishing speed as he cooked, his culinary skills rivaling any human’s—a revelation that left Tian Shanguo deeply impressed.

Sensing someone watching, Gou Dan didn’t turn around or slow his pace; only his movements became a touch stiffer, his mechanical limbs lacking the coordination of a human.