Meng Huai’s physiognomy skills were not as good as her artifact refining, so she did not recognize that the youngest of the rich young ladies who had just left was the original host’s half-sister.
Meng Huai also didn’t notice that among those who had mocked her earlier, there was a familiar face hiding behind them, her classmate Shang Pingying.
But these were not important matters to her; classmates and sisters were all strangers to her. Even if the original host’s biological father had appeared, he would have been an irrelevant person to the current Meng Huai.
Leaving the expensive nutrient solution shop, Meng Huai continued to wander the streets. Every shop here was novel to her, but she was more interested in things related to making mechs.
Meng Huai and Wang Ziming had learned to create strategies. Thus, she found out that this commercial street was a place where major mech masters liked to purchase materials. Meng Huai opened her optical computer to study where they said it was: “Turn left, then right, there’s no place to turn right.”
Meng Huai couldn’t find the place, and the optical computer’s map couldn’t navigate her there. While she was still studying, her mumbling was overheard by a passerby.
“Are you looking for the Mech Parts Street?”
Such a cliché name? But it was indeed the place she was looking for. Meng Huai looked at the man who had struck up a conversation with her. Dressed in casual clothes, with a scruffy beard, he didn’t look like a good person. However, Meng Huai had seen too many people over the past thousand years. Knowing that one should not judge a book by its cover, Meng Huai nodded: “Yes, but I haven’t found it.”
This man looked to be in his forties and said enthusiastically, “I’m going there too, let me lead the way for you.”
Since someone was leading the way, Meng Huai followed.
“Thank you, this…,” Meng Huai almost said “Daoist friend,” then added: “Sir.”
“You’re welcome, but it’s rare for young people to go there. Are you a mech master?”
The middle-aged man chatted with Meng Huai on the way. Seeing how young Meng Huai was, he wondered if she was a mecha reserve student from the military academy.
But Meng Huai answered truthfully: “Oh, I’m not a mech master. I just wanted to take a look and broaden my horizons.”
The middle-aged man nodded, thinking that there weren’t many young people like this nowadays. People nowadays preferred to shop on the Star Net, and few people liked to go out shopping. And to specifically find the mech parts street to broaden her horizons, this young girl was truly unusual.
“It seems you’re not a mech master, but perhaps an enthusiast.”
Meng Huai looked at the surroundings as she walked, memorizing the route so she could find it herself next time. The strategy wasn’t detailed enough; this mech material street was still quite remote.
“I would like to learn about it.”
After a series of turns, they finally arrived. This street was not as bustling as the commercial street they were just in. It looked very simple, with shops lacking any lavish decoration, and many people were setting up stalls on the street outside.
“So, street vending is also popular here.”
The middle-aged man laughed when he heard Meng Huai’s words: “Yes, mech masters. They’re all quite poor, selling some things to recoup some losses.”
Meng Huai looked at the middle-aged man and said, “Uncle, you must be joking. How can mech masters be poor!”
Thinking about it, she had never been poor since becoming an artifact refiner.
The middle-aged man didn’t answer Meng Huai’s question but instead asked, “Little girl, would you like to visit my shop?”
Meng Huai turned her head in surprise and said, “Uncle, you have a shop here too? Alright.”
Anyway, she was wandering aimlessly. Since someone invited her, she might as well go.
Originally, Meng Huai had walked ahead of the middle-aged man after arriving at this mech parts street, driven by her curiosity.
But upon hearing the invitation to go to the uncle’s shop, Meng Huai waited for him a few steps.
The middle-aged man saw Meng Huai’s action and said, “Little girl, aren’t you afraid I’m a bad person? What if I casually tricked you and wanted to abduct you?”
The middle-aged man didn’t say the rest of his words, which were: “After all, you are very beautiful.” But to avoid being seen as a frivolous person by the little girl, he still didn’t say it.
Meng Huai laughed at the middle-aged man’s words and retorted, “Then, Uncle, are you a bad person?”
The uncle was stunned and said excitedly, “Of course not!”
He just looked like a bad person. The middle-aged man awkwardly touched his nose, thinking this.
Meng Huai said indifferently, “It doesn’t matter if you are a bad person. After all, I am quite capable. If you were to make a move, you might not be able to defeat me.”
Hearing this, the middle-aged man raised his eyebrows and asked with interest, “Little girl, Uncle is really curious. Are you a student at a military academy?”
Meng Huai did not deny it, but she did not directly confirm it either. With just a look of understanding, the middle-aged man did not press further.
They arrived at the uncle’s shop, which was located in the very corner. Meng Huai looked at the dilapidated shop door and couldn’t help but say, “Uncle, your door can’t even block the wind, can it?”
The middle-aged man waved his hand and said indifferently, “Ah, it’s just decoration, it doesn’t matter. Little girl, feel free to look around.”
Meng Huai nodded. Although the shop’s decoration was a bit run-down, it had quite a lot of items.
She looked at the things displayed on the shelves. Having set up stalls with Qiu Han for several days, Meng Huai recognized some of the larger mech components like engines. However, she truly didn’t understand the smaller materials.
But for the future, she decided she needed to systematically learn about them when she returned. She wondered if she could audit courses in the mech engineering department.
“Uncle, what is this?”
Meng Huai had not forgotten her intention to draw talismans, so she asked about a type of red mineral.
“This is Jin Yi Ore. It seems you’re really not a mech master. This thing is very common.”
The middle-aged man now felt that this girl was not like a mech master. She had just said her strength was great; could she be a mech solo combatant? Solo combatants were rarely interested in materials. After all, if they were military academy students, they had dedicated mech masters responsible for maintenance.
“Hey, Uncle. Beginners need an adaptation process, right?”
Meng Huai touched the Jin Yi Ore while thinking about whether it could be used as pigment for drawing talismans after being ground into powder. Although the ore was named Jin Yi, it was indeed red. Meng Huai thought it was worth a try, so she asked, “Uncle, how much is this ore?”
The uncle was surprised that this girl didn’t know what it was but wanted to buy it.
“Little girl, do you know how to use this thing?”
Meng Huai shook her head: “I don’t know, but I have some ideas. Uncle, how much is it?”
Seeing that the little girl was serious about buying, the middle-aged man said, “This thing isn’t very valuable, just an A-grade material. If you want it, it’ll be one hundred Star Coins each.”